The PBS Kids show "Wild Kratts" educates elementary school keiki about biology, ecology, and the animal kingdom. It mixes fun animation with live-action segments that showcase animals in their natural habitats.
It also includes interviews with scientists like Adam Pack, a University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo biology and psychology professor. He made waves in a recent season premiere about humpback whales.
"I've got my camera here with a nice long lens to get in close. And what I'm doing is when a whale dives, I'm getting the underside of its tail. And that's like our fingerprint. It's unique to each whale," Pack said during filming.
"So we're going to take those photographs. And we're going to match it to our archival catalog. And it allows us to trace the life histories of these whales over time."
The show's seventh season premiered Monday with the episode “Our Blue and Green World.” The Conversation spoke to Pack about the whale research highlighted in the show.
"It was an incredible experience to really be able to communicate the latest work that we're doing to children across the world. They gave us an incredible amount of freedom, which I just love. They were really in a learning mode, and they wanted to hear from us," Pack said.
Hosts Martin and Chris Kratt visited Maui in February 2023 to film the live-action parts of the episode.
"It is pretty remarkable for a kids' show in that it really is, through a fun process, showcasing the importance of both the ocean and the land... mauka to makai," Pack said.
Fun fact: The creators and stars of the series, the Kratt brothers, created PBS shows you might remember from your childhood: "Kratts’ Creatures" and "Zoboomafoo."
This story aired on The Conversation on April 2, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
