“Imagine cruising the ocean floor, looking over the dorsal fin of a great white shark; or diving a mile down - where no light penetrates - on the back of a sperm whale”

Enter the secret world of ferocious predators and witness never before seen perspectives as revolutionary camera technology goes where no human is safe.

The advent of Crittercam technology at National Geographic Television has made it possible to make visual records of animal behaviour and habitat that no human can do. Crittercam is rapidly changing science fiction into reality.

Harnessed or attached to an animal, the Crittercam records images from the critter’s point of view. Packaged in a small, streamlined housing, the video system enables an unobtrusive study of natural animal behaviour by eliminating human presence and allowing us entry into otherwise virtually inaccessible habitats.

After a predetermined study period, the camera is removed or automatically released from the animal, then tracked by radio signals, and finally retrieved. The critter that was temporarily recruited to serve science moves on, unfazed by its contribution.

With a Crittercam you can:

• crash through the bush with Alaskan Grizzly bears
• swim alongside massive humpback whales
• pick up a penguin’s eye view
• hunt in the African plains with the lion that bounds after its zebra prey
• glide over the Great Smokey Mountains on the back of an American Bald Eagle
• sneak a peak into the elusive life of an ordinary household cat.

The inventor of Crittercam, Greg Marshall, is a marine biologist and a co-ordinating producer in the natural history unit at National Geographic Television. He has dedicated much of the last ten years to developing this technology.

Images gleaned from hours of field research and production have resulted in some of the most exciting natural history footage to appear on television in decades.

To see more details about how Crittercam works, see the YouTube video below: