Plunge into the Pacific with researchers and cinematographers and see the ocean’s rare and dazzling creatures in a way never before seen on television. The show examines an ocean that covers a third of the Earth’s surface.
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipProviding Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipHow to Watch Big Pacific
Big Pacific is available to stream on pbs.org and the free PBS App, available on iPhone, Apple TV, Android TV, Android smartphones, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire Tablet, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, and Vizio.
About the Show
The Pacific Ocean covers one third of the Earth’s surface. It is larger than all Earth’s land combined, holds half of our world’s water, and hides the deepest place on our planet. It is a place where huge and iconic, rare and dazzling creatures live – and where creatures yet to be discovered lurk.
Over five cinematic episodes, "Big Pacific" breaks the boundaries between land and sea, moving throughout the Pacific Ocean to present a broad range of locations, species, natural phenomena and behaviors. The series presents the ocean and its denizens in ways never before seen on television, exploring the monstrous to the minute; the alien to the intimate.
Episode 1: Mysterious
Man has explored land, the ocean’s surface, and large parts of the solar system, and in the 21st century we are just beginning to explore the depths of the Pacific Ocean. We yearn to unravel the mysterious Pacific – but she does not give up her secrets willingly.
Episode 2: Violent
Surrounded by the Ring of Fire, the Pacific Ocean is the epicenter of natural mayhem. Violence is part of life in the Pacific and creatures that live here must choose whether to avoid conflict or rise to meet it.
Episode 3: Voracious
There is plenty of food in the Pacific Ocean, but it is the challenge of finding that food that drives all life in the Pacific. In the voracious Pacific we meet a destructive army of mouths, a killer with a hundred mouths and the biggest mouth in the ocean.
Episode 4: Passionate
In the Pacific, the quest to multiply has spawned a stunning array of unusual behaviors and adaptations. There are forest penguins with a tenuous marriage, the secret rendezvous of great white sharks, and the tale of male pregnancy.
Episode 5: Behind the Scenes
Follow the adventures of the filmmakers behind "Big Pacific."This "Making Of" special explores the highlights and challenges of wildlife filmmaking.
Producers and Funders
Blue whale at Baja California, Mexico.
1/10
Bob Cranston
Whale shark cruising at La Paz, Mexico.
2/10
Johnny Friday
Bluestreak wrasse cleaning lionfish mouth at Kenting, Taiwan.
3/10
Scott Snider
Male Big Bellied Seahorse giving birth at Newport Aquarium, Newport, Kentucky, USA.
4/10
Brian Canavan
Humpback whales during heat run at Lahaina, Hawaii, USA.
5/10
Jason Sturgis
Female Olive Ridley sea turtle coming ashore during arribada at Ostional, Costa Rica.
6/10
Scott Snider
Clownfish in sea anemone at Okinawa, Japan.
7/10
Scott Snider
Peter Kragh filming white-spotted pufferfish at Amami Oshima, Japan.
8/10
Ernie Kovacs
Pile of human skulls at Tawali, Papua New Guinea.
9/10
Scott Snider
Hammerhead sharks swarm swimming at Malpelo Island, Colombia.
10/10
Johnny Friday
