Unter Orcas: Tauchen mit den Jägern der Meere – mit Sarah Connor | NDR Doku

Let's go to the giants of the sea. They have conquered all the oceans, live in families run by strong mothers, communicate with each other all the time and they even have a super sense. They can look through me, so to speak. They feel my heart, they feel my camera. I am often asked, aren't orcas totally dangerous if you touch them? They end up in the headlines and stories because they damage sailboats and attack white sharks. And yet these perfect hunters are in danger themselves. Who do they need to be saved from? From you? From me? From us? The hunters are being hunted. It has an impact on the entire population for a long, long time. Orcas don't belong in prison. They suffer a lot. I'm sure they have feelings, I'm sure. We know how wrong it is to keep orcas in pools, in parks, to make money with them. There are still a few tens of thousands in freedom. If we lose them, we will never get them back. Since my first encounter with orcas, I have an enormous fascination for these animals. I want to bring their hidden life closer to people and find out what their future holds. During the winter months, the water is often very clear in northern Norway and I want to try to film orcas underwater to get a special insight into their close family ties and their teamwork on the surface. I'm Kristina Karliczek-Skoglund and I'm an underwater camera woman and animal photographer. Here on the Norwegian Arctic coast, an incredible spectacle happens every year. And that is the arrival of the North East Atlantic herring. Almost the entire population comes here. But that also attracts large whales, like orcas, for example. Orcas come here to seize the opportunity to eat as much herring as possible, which they have collected here. As an animal photographer, we have the opportunity to get closer to these animals than we could otherwise without disturbing them. They are very busy eating and after they have eaten, they are often very relaxed and playful because they have enough food. The port of Chervoy. In my team with me are underwater cameraman Kjetil Astrup and scientist Lars Kaivane. Expeditions in the Arctic winter are not without. If something happens, you listen to me as captain. Lars and Kjetil help you if we have an emergency situation. It goes beyond to the world of the fjord. Per Börek Hiseret, our captain, watches the whales here every winter. The water temperature is 7 degrees. We dive with thick neoprene, but without a respirator. Because I'm just faster and more agile and can react much more easily to the animals. And without breathing noises you can hear them. You get a much better overview of their sound world. They make constant noises, talk to each other, give signals and we can hear all that stuff. We test the serious shark. Safety always comes first with such an expedition. Yes, nice and quiet. The animals are not a danger to us, but they are big animals. And to get a whiplash from a whale is not without. That's why it's important for us to always train a scenario when we have an unconscious or injured diver it's not that easy. My tension is rising. But first we have to search. The fjords are cliffed and twisted and wind and waves don't make it easy for us. This is a good start. Orcas were reported nearby. We'll be there in about 10 minutes. Looks promising. I'm so excited about what awaits us today. Every day is an incredible opportunity and you never know what will happen. Maybe we won't see anything and maybe we'll have the best moment of our lives. Then they dive right next to us. What a moment! Now we have to be quick. We might only have one chance to film the animals underwater. From one second to the next I'm a guest in their home. Suddenly we're experiencing an incredible moment. A mother is breastfeeding her baby right in front of us. It's a very special moment to be able to dive with orcas and to experience these animals in their group. But we only get a small part of their lives that they experience underwater. 24 hours a day, every day of the year and for me as an underwater filmer it's always exciting to get new insights. Every time we see something new or different. Chetzil and I can't believe what we've just experienced. A deep bond with the mother that often lasts a lifetime begins with breastfeeding. Incredible, especially in the water because the orca group we saw actually came to us and turned around to see who we are. It was really crazy. What a first dive! Go, go! I'm always fascinated by the elegance and the power with which orcas move in this three-dimensional space. It's exciting because orcas also hunt other large marine mammals. These are their prey. Some orca groups are specialized in hunting seals or other whales. Of course, they don't deal with these animals in a timid way, but when they meet people, like me, all I encounter is curiosity about these animals, and that's something that's fascinating to experience. Orcas use calls to communicate. These high click sounds almost illuminate their surroundings. An orca can scan me and see if I have something in my stomach, if I've had breakfast, if I'm excited. They could see if I'm pregnant. That's part of their communication and part of how they interact with each other, how I move. I think that's also something that they perceive very precisely. And then of course we have such a luminous camera equipment, which may also arouse their curiosity. That was actually... Wait, your mask. Ah, my mask. He did something like this. Yes! Simply incredible. Everything, really everything excites me about these animals. And I can't understand why they're still called killer whales. Our way of naming animals says a lot about how we deal with animals and what perspective we have of them. And I think names like killer whales are very far from a peaceful coexistence with these animals. And actually, marine animals need our support a lot. Because we've already destroyed so much in their habitat that it's really time to change our own perspective. I can hardly believe what we've already experienced today. But so close to the Arctic Circle it's getting really dark at 3 p.m. and it's time for a special visit. Singer Sarah Connor is getting ready for Orcas. She's preparing for the threatened Iberian Orcas in front of Spain. I invited Sarah Connor to join me on this journey because I think she plays a very important role in giving Orcas a voice. It's also important to be able to see these animals in their natural habitat. Sarah and Yannick Andree have founded the Iberian Orca Guardians Foundation. Together they want to address the problems this small Orca population has to deal with. It's incredibly urgent to get used to sailing and to play on the rudder. Orca populations often develop certain trends and play certain games and carry on in the population. This led to unpleasant interactions. The media wrote about the animal being a human-safe animal and Orca attacks on humans. It's a playful behavior. I'd like to strongly oppose this narrative that all people are afraid. They just need help. That's why I'm doing this now. And so it goes out to sea. The weather conditions are not the best today either. What inspired you to become interested in Orcas? When I was a little kid I was 7 years old when I saw my first Orca. I was so moved. I remember my parents holding me to the railing and not wanting to go home. I wanted to wait for the Orca to smile but at the same time look sad. My dream has always been to study marine biology. Music is a detour to my current job. I have a great fascination for these animals. I had the opportunity to go into the water for the first time and I remember the moment of meeting such an intelligent, beautiful, strong, powerful animal. You can't destroy it if you don't want to. It touches me that we have the opportunity to go into the water and experience such a moment. And of course about every Orca. We are already there! Hello! Come to us! But they don't seem to be interested and we stay at a distance. We continue to observe the group where there are also young animals. It's beautiful to see the mothers who often have to catch their breath and who are always protected by the group. And then you realize that this is not quite right. They turn around and show that they don't relax. They come here to eat because it is so important for them to eat their reserves. We have to investigate if the tourism and the boats have an effect on the animals. I'm sure it will be like that. But I think it's much more important because tourism is increasing. It has to be strictly regulated We discover another group. It looks like we could go into the water and be really fast again. Orcas can reach speeds of over 50 km per hour. It is impossible to keep up. This group also doesn't seem to be interested in us. So we go out again quickly. I saw you underwater. I was in the water and saw a lot of air bubbles. I don't know why they are here. They are diving down and away. The water is very green. You can't see far. But it was nice to see you. At 1 p.m. the dusk breaks in. Underwater it is too dark. We are so happy about the little moment we had. I didn't know Sarah Connor before but I understood her very well. She is a wonderful diver. It was easy to work with her. We clicked right away. I am so grateful that she took the time to experience the animals with me. Tomorrow I have to leave this special place again. Here in northern Norway the Orcas population is very large. They seem to be doing well. People from all over the world come here to observe the Orcas. At the same time intensive research has been done in the last decades. But this research only covers a small fraction of what we know about the Orcas. We don't have the basic knowledge to take action and act positively for these animals so that they can live here in the future. That's why I want to go to a place where the Orcas have been intensively researched for several decades and are among the best-researched whales in the world. SeaWorld presented itself as a circus with sea urchins. The Orcas were floating in the water waiting for the next show, for the next food.