Did anyone catch 60 Minutes just now? Bob Simon—who always seems to get the really interesting international assignments—was invited to go along on a polar bear expedition at the top of the world. What he saw there was amazing and… robotic?
Yes! Robots. Robot spy cameras, to be precise, that were used to capture truly magical scenes in the wild without any fear of taint or manipulation by human hand. One of the cameras used during an older documentary in Africa was even smothered in dung before it was deployed to the centre of an annual wildebeest migration.
The polar bear segment at the end, when the team gets its first glimpse of a baby polar bear emerging from its den for the first time, is reason enough alone to give this a view (and a read).
Truly, documentarian John Downer has perfected the art of capturing animals in the wild. With a camera, I mean. Bonus: Richard Attenborough sighting! [60 Minutes]