Animal migrants like the Philippines

MANILA, Philippines - Every year, the Philippines hosts some of the world’s greatest animal migrations, including that of thousands of humpback whales, sea turtles, whale sharks and wild birds.

“In the global theater of animal migrations, our archipelago is a major destination. The Philippines plays a key role in ensuring the survival of some of the world’s most vulnerable and endangered species,” explains Jose Ma. Lorenzo Tan, CEO/vice chairman, board of trustees, WWF-Philippines.

“With the onset of winter, humpback whales come to the Babuyan Islands from as far away as Alaska’s Bering Sea, in order to calve. Migratory birds from Japan, Korea and China come to feed at the Candaba Marsh in Pampanga, Olango Island in Cebu, the Agusan Marsh in eastern Mindanao and the dozens of other Philippine ‘refueling stations’ along the East Asian Flyway,” Tan said.

Learn about animal movements across the Philippines as part of the National Geographic Channel’s Great Migrations, premiering Nov. 7 following Sundays, at 9 p.m.

The most ambitious documentary in the 122-year history of the National Geographic Society, Great Migrations is a seven-part global television program that features the difficult journeys millions of animals embark on to ensure the survival of their species.

Shot from land and air, in trees and cliff-blinds, on ice floes and underwater, in some of the most unforgiving places on planet, Great Migrations took three years to produce using some of the most advanced filming technology to reveal new scientific findings, including bull elephants scouting migration routes and transferring knowledge to matriarchs and rediscovery of epic knob migration in Sudan thought destroyed by civil war.

Great Migrations (Sundays, 9 p.m.) features Born to Move, Need to Breed, Race to Survive and Feast or Famine  four one-hour episodes that focus on incredible animal journeys, the reasons for their great migrations and the overwhelming challenges they face.

Great Migrations also features episode on the science behind animal migrations (Great Migrations: Science of Migrations, Dec. 5, 9 p.m.) a montage of behind-the-scenes videos of dramatic or comical moments (Great Migrations: Behind-the-Scenes, Dec. 12, 9 p.m.), and montage of behind-the-scenes videos of dramatic or comical moments (Great Migrations: Behind-The-Scenes, Dec. 12, 9 p.m.) and a narration-free music video that combines the best Great Migrations footage with an original orchestral music (Great Migrations: Rhythm of Life, Dec. 19, 9 p.m.), Marathon episodes of Great Migrations will air on Dec. 26, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.