That's 'Life': Discovery Channel's documentary series is absolutely astonishing

The life of an underwater cinematographer can be exciting. And dangerous.

Particularly if you're the first person ever to capture on film a humpback whale mating run.

"My job was to get as close as possible to 10 testosterone-filled, male humpback whales the size of trucks as they chased tail, literally," said Roger Munns. "These 10 bull males would be steaming after (a female) with one thing on their minds. My job was to basically jump in front of that train of humpbacks. ... "I kind of liken it to putting yourself on a freeway with the oncoming traffic and having 10 trucks just steaming toward you. And you just kind of hope that the drivers of those trucks see you and get out of the way."

The results, however, are spectacular. As is the entire documentary series "Life," a Discovery Channel/BBC co-production that explores the diversity of life on Earth. The photography is astonishing, and the stories are compelling. And they're drawn from across the globe.

"You have got the entire planet to choose from, and there's somewhere between 10 and 30 million different species," said Mike Gunton, executive producer for the BBC. "So it's quite a long list to start with. But we were very keen to show things that people hadn't really seen before."

To that end, they were looking for things that would surprise viewers. That would elicit an emotional response.

"And there's all sorts of other things that they find emotionally engaging, either funny or dramatic or sad," Gunton said.

But "Life" — which is narrated by Oprah Winfrey — is not about everyday, average animal behavior. The filmmakers were looking for the extraordinary, not the ordinary.

"We're showing people animals in extremis. ... This series is not about how cheetahs or how elephants or how whales behave. It's how a particular cheetah, how a particular lion, how a particular humpback whale is behaving at one particular time in its life," Gunton said. "And that's very important because that gives real drama and real impact."

The premiere episode provides an overview for the series. Subsequent episodes focus on birds, deep sea marine invertebrates, fish, hunting mammals, insects, mammals, plants, primates, and reptiles and amphibians.