Blake Lively-narrated, James Cameron-backed 'Secrets of the Penguins' to tell unprecedented wildlife story

Emmy and BAFTA winners Ruth Roberts and Martin Williams from Talesmith also serve on the show as executive producers.

This also marks the first time when penguin behaviours are captured on film. The Talesmith’s team, led by wildlife filmmaker Bertie and over 70 world-class scientists and filmmakers, embarked on a two-year, globe-spanning adventure, from the rocky beaches of Cape Town and the icy shores of South Georgia Island to the tropical Galapagos and Namibia’s desert caves, capturing the penguins. Pushing the boundaries of wildlife filmmaking, a three-person crew set on a journey of 274 days of filming on the Ekstrom Ice Shelf in Antarctica, home to a colony of 20,000 emperor penguins.

Facing one of the planet’s harshest environments, they captured never-before-seen moments like a bonded pair of emperors practicing egg transfers with a snowball to hone their skills for the moment they would need to transfer a real egg, tenacious chicks navigating brash ice amid climate change, and young penguins using their beaks to hoist themselves out of a crevasse.

The series captures “rockaroni” chicks, a rare hybrid of rockhopper and macaroni penguins, offering a fascinating glimpse into potential evolution and adaptation. Other remarkable scenes include a brave rockhopper fending off a southern sea lion, the first-ever footage of a hidden cave colony of African penguins, and clever Galapagos penguins teaming up for a daring heist: stealing fish straight from pelican beaks and skillfully herding sardine bait balls.

The series taps into the expertise of scientists and conservationists, including National Geographic Explorer and marine biologist Dr. Pablo Borboroglu, conservation biologist Dr. Michelle LaRue, African penguin expert Dr. Andrea Thiebault, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Dr. Gustavo Jiménez Uzcategui, penguin expert Dr. Jessica Kemper, and marine biologist Dr. Katta Ludynia.

The series is set to drop on April 22 on National Geographic, with all episodes streaming on JioHotstar.