01x02 - Frozen Ocean

[bunniefuu]

DAVID ATTENBOROUGH: In winter,
at the top of the planet

lies an icy wilderness...

...not of land
but of frozen water.

The Arctic Ocean.

Its surface forms
an almost solid platform

that is bigger than
the whole of the United States.

(WIND HOWLS)

Its presence and condition

dominates the lives of
all the many and varied animals

that live both on it...

...and beneath it.

In the coming months,
the sun's warmth

will melt much of it and expose
the rich waters beneath.

(ICE CRACKLING)

To survive here,
life must adapt to this world

that alternates
between ice and water.

(CRACKLING)

After three months
of winter darkness,

the sun rises
across Arctic Norway.

A newly emerged
polar bear mother

encourages her cubs

to take their first
tentative steps on the sea ice.

Cubs will stay with
their mothers for two years,

learning the skills needed
to survive out here.

(GRUNTS)

But thereafter,
they will be on their own.

Further out on the sea ice...

(GRUNTS)

...this young female bear,
less than six years old,

is already fully independent.

She's superbly adapted to life

on the frozen ocean,

protected from the cold
by thick, insulating fat

and a double layer of fur.

This time of year
is the best time for feeding.

The ringed seals
on which she depends

feed on fish,

and are swimming
metres beneath her.

But after ten minutes
down there,

they must return
to the few gaps in the ice

to take a breath and rest.

She has acute hearing

and one of the most sensitive
noses in nature.

(SNIFFS)

She can detect a seal's lair
beneath two metres

of snow and ice.

Timing is everything.

Only one in ten attempts
is successful...

...so for a young bear,
each meal is very important.

But a male has picked up
the scent of the k*ll.

Large males pose
a real thr*at...

...and could inflict
fatal injuries in a fight.

But she stands her ground.

Remarkably,
rather than fight...

(GRUNTS)

...they start to play.

And then,

they set off
to explore together.

Well fed and still young,

these two seem to be
forming a friendship.

She shows off
the swimming skills

that enable her to move with
ease between water and ice.

(GROWLING)

She's behind you!

Dancing on ice...

...apparently
just for the joy of it.

After three hours together,
they part company...

(GRUNTS)

...and return once again
to their solitary lives.

(GRUNTS)

Polar bears thrive
at this time of year

thanks to the huge platform of
sea ice on which they can hunt.

The Arctic Ocean lies

across the top
of the northern hemisphere

and over
the North Pole itself...

...and is surrounded
by three continents -

Europe, North America and Asia.

In winter, the sea ice extends

across an area of
over five million square miles.

But off the coast
of Arctic Russia,

a tiny pocket of water
has been kept open...

...by the continuous stirring
of trapped beluga whales.

These four-metre-long arctic
whales are superbly adapted

for hunting far beneath
the surface of the sea ice.

(BUZZING)

Nonetheless, being mammals,

they must return to the surface
to breathe

every minutes or so.

But this cold spell
is exceptionally severe.

And there's not another
breathing hole within miles.

(WHISTLING)

Nearby fish and squid
disappeared long ago.

These emaciated whales
have been imprisoned by the ice

for five months,
and they're now starving.

Their only chance of escape
will come

when there is a change
in the season.

As spring finally reaches
the north of the planet,

air temperatures
creep above freezing.

(CRACKLING)

The impenetrable ice ceiling
begins to fracture.

Small life-saving channels
open up...

...bringing freedom.

But spring is a dangerous time
for beluga.

As tides and currents
pull ice apart,

the beluga find themselves

in a labyrinth
of shifting ice floes

that could close
their breathing holes

at any point,
and so drown them.

(WHISTLING)

(BUZZING)

Using their
sophisticated sonar,

they try to find a way through
the icy maze...

...and eventually reach
a patch of open water.

They're not
the only whales here.

Narwhal,

the unicorns of the sea,

are closely related to beluga.

In a rarely seen encounter,

these two kinds of whales
appear to socialise.

Who knows what's going on
between them?

But soon, they set off together

through the shifting fields
of ice...

...a journey
of up to , miles...

(BUZZING)

...before they reach
ice-free waters,

where they can
rear their young.

As the spring sunshine
strengthens,

the broken pack ice
off the coast of Greenland

becomes a nursery.

A harp seal pup...

...born just a week ago.

He has little fat.

(TRILLS)

His thick fur

is his only protection
from the arctic chill.

In between dozes, he waits
for his mother to return.

(MOTHER GRUNTS)

She has only one pup a year...

(PUP SQUEALS)

...and will produce milk
for only days,

one of the shortest
nursing periods in nature.

That is just long enough

for him to develop
a thick layer of blubber...

...thanks to his mother's milk,
which is % fat.

And his mother stays alongside

while he learns
an important survival skill

for any seal...

(SQUEALS)

(MOTHER GRUNTS)

(SQUEALS)

...how to swim.

He may not be keen
to take the plunge.

The salt water is minus
two degrees Celsius, after all.

Pups start with a doggy paddle.

Mum stays reassuringly close.

Still developing
his insulating blubber,

a pup is at risk
of hypothermia,

so needs to rest

and warm up.

Each day,

he puts on another two kilos...

(SQUEALS)

...and practises swimming

for just a little longer.

Since birth,
this pup has tripled in weight,

and he's now at ease
in this curious other world.

days gone by.

A mother's work is done.

(GRUNTS)

In producing milk, she's lost
a third of her body weight.

Now she must return
to her feeding grounds.

(SQUEALS)

She will never see
her pup again.

The next four weeks
he spends alone,

sticking close
to the ice platform...

...surviving
on his fat reserves

as his downy fleece is replaced
by a sleek coat

more suited to swimming.

(SQUEALS)

But temperatures
in the Arctic are now

rising faster
than ever before...

...creating storms
that break up the ice floes

earlier each spring.

(SQUEALS)

Harp seal pups are being
tipped into freezing waters

before they're ready to endure
long periods at sea.

In some pupping areas,

almost none survive.

As spring turns to summer,

life on the sea ice
suddenly begins to proliferate.

The daylight increases,

and algae that had
remained dormant

within the ice all winter

begin to bloom.

This upside-down meadow
is now cropped

by plankton.

For a little skeleton shrimp

living at the bottom
of a towering forest of kelp,

the best way to get
a share of the food...

...is to climb.

If you're only
two centimetres long...

...this is like
scaling a skyscraper.

And yet it's not alone.

Hundreds of fellow shrimps

are attempting the same ascent.

A new mother

has parked her brood
halfway up.

And she's not
about to give way.

This one is
a determined commuter.

But the mother's drive
to protect her young

is now causing a traffic jam.

At last...

...many have made it
to the topmost branches

of this underwater forest.

And it's been
well worth the effort.

The prize...

...is a plankton feast...

...raining down from above.

By midsummer,
arctic waters are filled

with food...

...making them into one
of the richest of all oceans...

...feeding billions
of microscopic mouths,

as well as...

...the biggest mouth
on the planet...

...the bowhead whale.

Its four-metre-long
baleen plates

enable it to sieve out

up to six tonnes of plankton
a day.

And it grows swiftly into
an -metre -tonne giant.

In summer,
the bowheads are so well fed

they head for
an annual get-together.

After a year of wear and tear,

their skin needs
reconditioning.

(BOOMING)

This is a whale health spa.

(BOOMING)

Rocks and sand in the shallows
are used like pumice stones

with which to rub off
dead skin and parasites.

Such places can become
very popular.

This bay,
off the coast of Russia,

attracts an immense gathering

of over bowheads.

They are the longest-lived
of all mammals.

Some are years old

and have been coming here
for many decades.

Suddenly,
their peace is shattered.

k*ller whales have arrived
from the south.

Nine metres long,

weighing nine tonnes...

...and renowned for their
exceptional intelligence...

...this particular pack
specialises in hunting

bowhead whales.

The bowheads retreat
into the shallows...

...where it will be harder

for k*ller whales
to launch an att*ck.

But the K*llers can swim
much faster than the bowheads.

The group tries to close ranks.

But the K*llers attempt to
separate them.

They look for individual signs
of weakness.

In the shallows,
the bowheads lash out...

...with their
seven-metre-wide tails.

But in the confusion,
some run aground.

Others try to reach
deeper water.

This youngster,
half the size of an adult,

is extremelyvulnerable.

The k*ller whales

take turns
to ram into its sides...

...cracking its ribs so that
it struggles to breathe.

Then they push the youngster
down until, finally...

...it drowns.

The battle is over.

It lasted an hour.

Yet now the k*ller whales eat
only one part of their prey...

...the young bowhead's
soft, fatty tongue.

Today, more and more bowheads

are falling prey
to k*ller whales,

as the warming climate

causes the protective barrier
of sea ice

to melt earlier each year.

By midsummer, millions
of migratory sea birds,

having flown thousands
of miles to get here,

are feeding
in the Arctic's rich waters.

(BIRDS CALL)

Over a million

crested auklets,
no bigger than puffins,

now descend on Alaska's
Saint Lawrence Island

and are preparing to breed.

To win a mate, a male must try
to stand out from the crowd.

And auditions are already
under way.

(CHEEPING)

Males and females, unusually,
look very similar,

each adorned
with an Elvis-like crest.

But it's the size of the crest
that matters.

And this male's headgear
seems to be

no more than adequate.

(SCREECHES)

A position on the ground
is also important.

(SCREECHES)

One large male
wants this particular perch...

...and having got it,
he breaks into song.

(WHOOPS)

He now releases
a potent tangerine scent

from the back of his neck...

...and a mob of fans go wild.

This male, however,

seems to have nothing to offer.

But a gaggle of groupies can be
a dangerous distraction.

An arctic fox.

(BIRDS SCREECH)

It's found an egg.

With the stage cleared,

the highest perch
has become vacant.

This is a moment to shine.

(WHOOPS)

His display
doesn't go unnoticed.

And his tangerine perfume
attracts an admirer.

And not just one.

Now it's down to the females
to impress him.

In auklet society, both sexes

have a say when it comes
to choosing a mate.

At the height of summer,

with hours of sunlight
a day,

over half the sea ice
melts away.

(BIRDS CALL)

The beaches of Svalbard

provide safe places to haul out

for one of the Arctic's
special residents...

...walruses.

They forage for shellfish

for up to hours
at a stretch.

Now...

(GRUNTS)

...it's time for a rest.

Each adult male
weighs more than a tonne.

And heaving oneself
over the sand...

...without the support of water

is very hard work.

This male has a particular
sunbathing spot in mind...

...right in the middle

of the -strong huddle.

(GRUNTING)

A prod helps
in parting the crowd.

Almost in.

At last, he can settle down
for a snooze...

...swaddled on all sides

by the bodies
of his neighbours.

(GRUNTS)

But it's not a peaceful spot.

(BELLOWING GRUNTS)

Sleep isn't easy
when a fidgety bedfellow

decides that he has an itch

that needs scratching.

This is the time to moult,

to get rid of one's old fur
with all its parasites,

and expose the healthy
new coat beneath.

These days,
Svalbard's summer temperatures

can soar to degrees Celsius.

Flushing red by bringing blood
close to the skin

helps them to keep cool.

But some overheating
is unavoidable...

...especially for a big male.

Enough is enough.

Getting up here...

...was a slog.

But this male has found
a better way of getting down.

Let gravity do the work.

Now, that... is cool.

Ahhh!

Everyone is doing it.

It saves both time and energy.

But walruses will need
all the tricks they can find.

The Arctic is warming,

and these cold-loving animals
are facing

a precarious future.

For millennia, the Arctic Ocean
has frozen over in the winter

and then gradually melted

throughout the spring
and summer.

But in the last years,

the extent of the summer
sea ice has declined by %.

Some predict
that it will be ice free

as early as .

This profound change...

...is already having an impact

on the Arctic Ocean's
highly specialised wildlife.

With less summer sea ice
from which to hunt seals,

some polar bears are now
travelling up to miles...

...swimming continuously
for up to ten days

in search of land.

Wrangel Island,
off Arctic Russia...

...the only land
for almost miles.

Each summer, more and more
polar bears come ashore here.

This newly arrived mother

needs to find food
for her family...

(GRUNTS)

...but knows not to approach
other adult bears.

A full-grown male

can k*ll and eat a cub,

and will do so if other food
is in short supply.

There are over , bears
on this one island.

It's the greatest concentration
of polar bears on the planet.

But there is food to be had
on these remote shores.

A walrus colony...

..., strong.

The walruses panic.

And there are casualties.

(GROWLS)

Fights break out.

This is no place
for a young family.

The mother calls her cubs away.

(CHUFFS)

They must search elsewhere.

Grass is a poor meal
for a growing cub...

...and starvation in summer
is a real thr*at.

But this opportunity to feed...

...is one she cannot
afford to ignore.

It's time to gamble.

Her cubs follow her.

(GROWLS)

She urges them to stay back.

(BRAYS)

The males are twice her size...

...but, preoccupied
with feeding,

they tolerate her presence.

(WHIMPERS)

The distress calls
of her cubs, however...

(GROWLS)

...attract unwelcome attention.

(WHIMPERS)

(WHIMPERS)

Their mother rushes
to shield them with her body.

(GROWLS)

But she seems torn
between guarding her family

and feeding herself.

Cubs left by themselves

are easy prey
for a hungry male bear.

But now her maternal instincts
take over.

(GROWLING)

Faced with a mother's fury,

the dominant male
backs down.

(BRAYS)

Having fought her way in...

...her cubs can now feed

for the first time in weeks.

Polar bears were once

the supreme hunters

on the sea ice.

Now, each summer,

more and more of them

have to come to land

in search of food.

Whether the ice bear
survives into the next century

depends on what happens to
the sea ice on which they rely.

As with all of the Arctic
Ocean's remarkable wildlife,

it's how the climate changes
over the coming years

that will determine
their future.

In today's unpredictable
and changing Arctic,

filming its wildlife is
an ever-increasing challenge...

...none more so than trying
to capture the brief time

that a mother harp seal spends

preparing her pup
for life at sea.

To find the seal's
pupping grounds,

the crew have sailed
to a remote area of the Arctic

off the east coast
of Greenland.

But here, they quickly discover

that its usually solid platform
of sea ice

has broken up into
thousands of floes.

It's a surprising sight
even for veteran captain

Bjørne Kvernmo.

And with the sea ice
so fractured,

there's no sign
of any wildlife.

We've been at sea
for well over a week now.

We still haven't
filmed a thing.

With mother and pup together
forjust days, it's a race

to find the dense pack ice

on which the breeding seals
give birth.

The team head a further
miles up the Greenland coast,

to an area no film crew

has ventured into before.

Their gamble pays off.

(SQUEAL)

Our first harp seal baby!

From the smaller,
more manoeuvrable tender,

cameraman Jamie McPherson

hopes to record
the precious time

mother and pup spend together

on the ice.

(WHISPERS) I've been filming

probably one of the cutest
animals in the world.

And there was suckling,

which is really cool,
because it's really funny,

because the baby goes from
one nipple to the other nipple

and just goes
backwards and forwards.

(WHISPERS) That's one of the
sweetest things I've ever seen!

Utterly adorable!

With mum now calling it
into the water,

this pup may be ready
for its very first swim.

(PUP CRIES)

It's the cue
for underwater cameraman

Hugh Miller.

We're going to try
something different

and actually get into the water
with the seals.

We're definitely
in new territory here.

To film this rare moment
under water,

Hugh will need to get
a lot closer

without disturbing them.

But with arctic waters
at minus two degrees Celsius,

even with a protective
thermal dry suit,

Hugh only has an hour before he
risks developing hypothermia.

It's now a matter of waiting
for the pup to take the plunge.

The guys have now
been in for about...

... minutes.

I can guarantee you
they'll be freezing cold.

Hugh's body temperature
is getting dangerously low.

HUGH: Conditions have been...

...really hard.

The cold just...

It's been very, very
difficult! (LAUGHS)

DAVID: With less than
a week to go

before this mother is likely
to leave her pup for ever,

Jamie continues to capture
their intimate interactions...

...while Hugh is yet to film
a single sh*t.

To make matters worse,

temperatures fall to minus
degrees centigrade.

And as the wind direction
changes,

the floes are forced
closer together.

Pack ice has just come in
from all around us.

It could flip the boat,

and that would be
the end of the sh**t.

Hemmed in by blocks

weighing several tonnes,
the small skiffs

are at risk of getting crushed.

They radio for help.

But as the mother ship
approaches, she shunts

even more ice their way.

So, we've got these big
chunks of ice either side of us

and they've got to go
somewhere, so...

With help three days away,
the crew

can't afford any mistakes.

In the nick of time,
a lifeline.

Safely aboard!

That was a bit full-on!

By the next day,
the pack ice has drifted apart.

And not a moment too soon.

RACHEL: Awww!

JAMIE: (WHISPERS) We just
saw it go for its first swim.

It was amazing.

It just sort of flops about on
the surface. It was very cool.

With the pup finally in the
water, Hugh seizes his chance.

But what will the pup make
of this curious sea creature?

This pup is playing with - playing with!
- the camera.

I can see Hugh's smile
from here.

HUGH: Oh, lovely. Wow!

That was great!

- Yeah, we saw.
- That was great!

HUGH: So nice.

Just as Hugh gets his reward,

the arctic conditions
take a turn for the worse.

(WIND HOWLS)

We've been getting
some amazing stuff,

but now the wind's picked up,
so we're trying to get out.

With a storm brewing,

not even the mother ship
is safe among the ice floes.

The crew have no choice
but to leave the seals behind.

It would roll in by the storm?

And they drown?

Today, the combination
of reduced arctic sea ice

and heavy storms

is leading to more and more
tragedies like this.

Unless this trend is reversed,

the future for much of
the Arctic's unique wildlife

hangs in the balance.