For “Frozen Planet” director Chadden Hunter and cameraman Didier Noiret, the challenges of photographing emperor penguins rocketing through ice holes from the water below at high speeds were significant, but shooting them underwater was even more daunting. In order to show the penguins with the jet stream of bubbles behind them, they had to dive unthethered (a rope could get tangled with the camera) and film with a slow motion camera that they had never used underwater before.

The documentary “Frozen Planet” will premiere in the U.S. on Discovery Channel on March 18 at 8 p.m., and the companion book is available January 2012 from Firefly Books. All images courtesy Firefly Books/BBC Earth.

Didier Noiret in action under water, where the massive camera is weightless, allowing him to track the emperors. Those that have swum up from the depths are circling around the exit point, waiting for their heart rates to return to normal. They then jet-propel themselves upwards, leaving a rocket trail of bubbles in their wake as all the air is forced out of their feathers. With no limbs to pull themselves onto the ice, this is the only way to exit. But it means they can’t see what’s on the surface, and beak-breaking collisions with ice blocks can happen. Continue reading »