(6 December 2005 3:00 pm)

MUMBAI: National Geographic Digital Media is expanding its digital archive in alliance with Lindblad Expeditions. With this alliance, Lindblad’s rare, high-definition footage from the company’s fleet of six ships operating in remote and pristine environments around the globe will be available through the National Geographic digital archive.

This new deal builds on a multifaceted alliance between National Geographic and Lindblad Expeditions that includes expedition travel aboard the ship National Geographic Endeavour and the new television series Wild Chronicles, which premiered this fall on PBS. Wild Chronicles is a collaboration among Lindblad Expeditions, the World Wildlife Fund, WLIW New York and National Geographic Mission Programs, the science and education arm of the National Geographic Society.

"At any given moment, our fleet of six ships is exploring remote and pristine corners of the world - from the Galápagos Islands and Antarctica, to the South Pacific, Alaska or Baja California. The caliber of our naturalists and experts, combined with our unique point of view (up close in a zodiac or kayak), means our eyes are documenting events constantly - like last month’s eruption of the Sierra Negra volcano in the Galápagos,” said Lindblad Expeditions founder and president Sven Lindblad.

This also includes high-definition footage taken within close range of the volcano of the erupting volcano captured spewing molten lava. Previous voyages have filmed untouched landscapes in the Arctic and Antarctic, as well as other breathtaking locales around the globe.

National Geographic Digital Media director of worldwide digital footage sales Jocelyn Shearer said, "The footage that Lindblad Expeditions has provided is phenomenal. We are pleased to add this material to our collection and we look forward to working closely with them in the future, providing shoot lists based on their itineraries. But, of course, some of the best material comes from extraordinary events or wildlife behaviors they simply happen upon by virtue of being in wonderfully remote locations."

National Geographic’s Digital Media Group offers a vast array of media elements in high-definition and standard formats, and includes raw footage, short programming, long programming, scientific experiments, interviews, lectures, news, history and cultural materials to traditional media licensees, as well as to online, mobile, computer and video game developers and other new and emerging technologies.