Let the humpbacks, and the camera, roll

“Coming up! Lunge!” shouts host Dr. Mike Heithaus, as we watch a pod of 40,000-pound humpback whales breach in a feeding frenzy in the fiords of southern Alaska. Via the Crittercam, a camera suctioned onto a whale’s back, we dive beneath the roiling waters to discover the giants teaming up to drive their mackerel prey into a sparkling “bubble net,” making dining a snap for the endangered leviathans.

The Crittercam, a powerful research tool that includes a video camera and microphone, is the undisputed star of this highly entertaining, informative new series. Affixed -- at considerable peril -- onto a whale, lion or other wild creature, it allows us to go where they go and see what they see.

Unlike other hyped-up wild animal shows, “Crittercam’s” visionary missions are meaningful, the technology is dazzling and the participants are fired up about biology and conservation. It’s an eye inside the life of beasts and a riveting must-see.

-- Susan Dworski