Secrets Of The Octopus Filmmakers Answer Whether Octopuses Could Rule The World & Other Burning Questions

National Geographic’s Secrets of the Octopus is the third docuseries created as a collaboration between the company and filmmaker James Cameron. Following Secrets of the Whales and Secrets of the Elephants, this three-part outing examines the intelligence, adaptability, and social structures of some of the sea’s most alien creatures. In keeping with the trend of previous series, an A-list actor has been enlisted to guide viewers along—this time, it’s Ant-Man and Anchorman star Paul Rudd.

Like its predecessor, Secrets of the Elephants, Secrets of the Octopus offers audiences stunning cinematography and a unique look into the way some of the world’s best-known creatures live. This is thanks to people like executive producer Adam Geiger and National Geographic Explorer Alex Schnell, who spent two years and countless hours beneath the waves to capture certain behaviors on camera for the first time ever. Schnell even bonded with an octopus she named Scarlet, which leads to some of the series’ most beautiful moments.

Screen Rant interviewed Adam Geiger and Alex Schnell about documenting octopus behaviors and putting the series together. They detailed the immense amount of work that went into creating the series and joked about “what if” of octopuses living as long as humans.

Secrets Of The Octopus Took Two Years And 200 Days In The Water To Make

Screen Rant: Adam, it’s revealed that this series took two years to make. What is the bulk of that work?

Adam Geiger: We spent around 200 filming days in the water in various locations around the world, all identified by our research to figure out which species to highlight for certain behaviors. Most of the days consisted of a tremendous amount of prep work with the cameras, then getting out there underwater. We were using rebreather technology for a great deal of this because that allows us a tremendous amount more time underwater with the animal, which is what the octopus needs to become comfortable with your presence. We would spend anywhere between four and four and a half hours underwater with up to six camera systems.

Alex Schnell Had An “ET Moment” Connecting With Scarlet The Octopus

Alex, one of the big threads of these three episodes is you building a relationship with an octopus. What was that experience like?

Alex Schnell: I think you’ll find that a few people have had these fantastic kind of ET moments where they first have a connection with an octopus, and the octopus will initiate reaching out and touching you. My relationship with Scarlet was a little bit different because I got to spend such a huge chunk of time with her, and continually returned to go and visit her. While I had met other octopuses before, this was the first time where I built a bond with one. She grew to trust me really quickly. Maybe this was because she had already accepted the crew—Adam and the rest of the camera crew had spent a few weeks with her.

She reached out to touch me after maybe 30 minutes of spending time with her, which blew my mind. Then, she let me swim alongside her as she hunted. Each time I would return, she would appear to recognize me quickly and let me back into her world. I guess that doesn’t really sound like much, but you’ve got to imagine you are a creature with no skeleton, no shell, no teeth, and no claws to protect yourself, and despite that vulnerability, you let your guard down and you trust this alien creature that’s 10 times your size. It just took my breath away every time.

On What They Wanted to See & What They’re Excited To Share

Alex, was there anything had wanted to explore about octopuses that this show gave you the opportunity to dive into?

Alex Schnell: Absolutely. At the time when we started the production, I’d just gone on maternity leave, and so I wasn’t involved in any particular project at that time. It gave me the luxury to have a really wide lens on all the octopus behavior that we were seeing. When you’re involved in a project, you can sometimes get tunnel vision because you’re just out there trying to see this particular behavior. I was just able to go out and just immerse myself in the octopus’ world, and witness behaviors that I’d only really read about in the published literature—and behaviors that we’d never even heard about. It was such an incredible time to spend so many days just out there hanging with octopuses and seeing what we were going to get.

And is there anything both of you are excited to share with people when this comes out?

Adam Geiger: I’m really excited about two things. One is that people will get to experience and see these incredible animals and understand how much more there is to them—that they are intelligent, that they’re emotional, and that there is a real being in there despite being separated by half a billion years of evolution. The second thing is that I hope people can fall in love with the octopus and, by doing so, fall in love with the natural world, the underwater world, and learn to protect it.

Alex Schnell: I have a similar view. I really hope that the series can highlight the life of an octopus, this extraordinary creature that lives in every single one of our oceans. And we showcase these traits that you don’t expect to see in an animal without a backbone, that they’re vulnerable, that they’re intelligent, that they can socialize with different types of species. So I think that the octopus is a really compelling ambassador to make people care about our oceans.

On The Possibility Of Octopus Overlords

That is everything I have for you, except this: if octopuses lived as long as humans did, would they be ruling the world? That’s the impression I got.

Adam Geiger: Yes.

Alex Schnell: Yes!

That was my takeaway.

Adam Geiger: I’m glad. That’s great.

About Secrets Of The Octopus

Octopuses are like aliens on Earth: three hearts, blue blood and the ability to squeeze through a space the size of their eyeballs. From Academy Award-winning filmmaker and National Geographic Explorer-at-Large James Cameron, the next installment of the award-winning Secrets Of franchise returns with Secrets of the Octopus. The three-part series explores their one-of-a-kind superpowers, extraordinary intelligence, and secret social lives. There is so much more to these weird and wonderful animals that are intelligent enough to use tools, transform their bodies to mimic other animals, and even communicate with different species. Narrated by award-winning actor Paul Rudd and featuring National Geographic Explorer, Wayfinder Awardee and science communicator Dr. Alex Schnell, Secrets of the Octopus will bring us closer than ever to these elusive creatures.