Browse content similar to In the Grip of the Seasons (Arctic). Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
The High Arctic in winter. | 0:00:37 | 0:00:39 | |
One of the toughest places on Earth in which to live. | 0:00:43 | 0:00:46 | |
Only three top predators are able to survive here. | 0:00:51 | 0:00:54 | |
The wolf, searching for its prey over the frozen lands. | 0:00:57 | 0:01:01 | |
The Arctic fox, scraping a living on the empty coasts. | 0:01:07 | 0:01:11 | |
And out on the sea ice, the polar bear. | 0:01:14 | 0:01:18 | |
To live here, year round, | 0:01:20 | 0:01:22 | |
these hunters must exploit the good times | 0:01:22 | 0:01:25 | |
so that they can endure the bad. | 0:01:25 | 0:01:27 | |
All life in the Arctic must face one fundamental problem. | 0:01:29 | 0:01:33 | |
Not the cold, | 0:01:35 | 0:01:37 | |
but the endless cycle of change. | 0:01:37 | 0:01:40 | |
When the sun returns to the Arctic in spring, | 0:01:52 | 0:01:56 | |
it launches the greatest event of seasonal change on Earth. | 0:01:56 | 0:02:01 | |
A change that rules the life of the world's only sea ice hunter. | 0:02:04 | 0:02:09 | |
The polar bear is totally dependent upon the sea ice in order to hunt. | 0:02:14 | 0:02:19 | |
It must eat two thirds of the food it needs for the whole year | 0:02:20 | 0:02:25 | |
in the next three months, | 0:02:25 | 0:02:27 | |
before the sun melts the ice from beneath its feet. | 0:02:27 | 0:02:31 | |
Seals are the bear's most important prey. | 0:02:37 | 0:02:40 | |
At the start of spring, | 0:02:43 | 0:02:45 | |
they come out onto the ice to give birth to their pups. | 0:02:45 | 0:02:48 | |
Beneath it, they can't stray far from their breathing holes. | 0:02:53 | 0:02:57 | |
That makes it easy for the bears. | 0:03:00 | 0:03:03 | |
But that window of opportunity is brief. | 0:03:13 | 0:03:16 | |
Soon, the sea ice is riddled with melt holes. | 0:03:17 | 0:03:21 | |
The seal pups have grown large enough to swim | 0:03:25 | 0:03:28 | |
and disappear into the water. | 0:03:28 | 0:03:30 | |
It's increasingly hard-going for the polar bear. | 0:03:37 | 0:03:40 | |
Now, resting seals are surrounded by holes in the ice, | 0:03:45 | 0:03:49 | |
so they have their pick of escape routes. | 0:03:49 | 0:03:52 | |
And, once in the water, they can easily out-swim a bear. | 0:03:52 | 0:03:56 | |
Each seal is very sensitive to every movement on the surrounding ice. | 0:04:10 | 0:04:14 | |
A bear can only hope to get close enough to pounce | 0:04:17 | 0:04:21 | |
by taking advantage of the melt holes. | 0:04:21 | 0:04:24 | |
Ah... Not as straightforward as it looks. | 0:04:45 | 0:04:48 | |
The trick is to find the hole nearest to the seal... | 0:04:54 | 0:04:58 | |
..without popping up in view... | 0:05:03 | 0:05:05 | |
..and ruining the surprise. | 0:05:07 | 0:05:09 | |
Almost there. | 0:05:16 | 0:05:17 | |
But once under the ice, | 0:05:27 | 0:05:30 | |
it's easy to lose your bearings. | 0:05:30 | 0:05:32 | |
Blast! | 0:05:39 | 0:05:40 | |
Gently does it. | 0:06:08 | 0:06:09 | |
ICE CRACKS | 0:06:11 | 0:06:13 | |
Oops. | 0:06:14 | 0:06:16 | |
Only one in five stalks is successful on this thin ice | 0:06:21 | 0:06:26 | |
at the end of spring. | 0:06:26 | 0:06:27 | |
The bear's best season is ending. | 0:06:29 | 0:06:32 | |
An expanse of sea-ice the size of Australia will soon break up. | 0:06:34 | 0:06:39 | |
The Arctic's best hunting is no longer out on the frozen ocean, | 0:06:41 | 0:06:46 | |
but on the land that surrounds it. | 0:06:46 | 0:06:48 | |
And that is the territory of a different kind of hunter. | 0:06:51 | 0:06:55 | |
After a lean winter and spring, | 0:07:07 | 0:07:10 | |
the good times have finally arrived for the Arctic wolf. | 0:07:10 | 0:07:15 | |
On the land, the snow is melting away as summer approaches... | 0:07:30 | 0:07:34 | |
..and that makes the job of finding prey... | 0:07:36 | 0:07:40 | |
..considerably easier. | 0:07:42 | 0:07:44 | |
Arctic hares. | 0:07:54 | 0:07:55 | |
Like the wolves, they stay white throughout the short summer. | 0:07:59 | 0:08:03 | |
While they can run, they can't hide. | 0:08:05 | 0:08:08 | |
And to make matters worse, now is the time they have their young. | 0:08:10 | 0:08:13 | |
A mother hare risks feeding her leverets | 0:08:18 | 0:08:21 | |
for only a few minutes each day. | 0:08:21 | 0:08:24 | |
Her white colour makes her only too conspicuous. | 0:08:25 | 0:08:28 | |
When wolves are spotted, Mum runs for it. | 0:08:33 | 0:08:36 | |
That makes sense. Her leverets have a better chance without her. | 0:08:44 | 0:08:48 | |
Unlike their mother, the leverets are camouflaged. | 0:09:03 | 0:09:06 | |
They're nearly impossible to spot, even when right upon them. | 0:09:12 | 0:09:16 | |
What they must do... | 0:09:25 | 0:09:26 | |
..is keep their nerve. | 0:09:28 | 0:09:30 | |
When forced to break, | 0:09:53 | 0:09:54 | |
they can still give the wolves a run for their money. | 0:09:54 | 0:09:57 | |
The leveret hunt may appear an unfair contest. | 0:10:30 | 0:10:33 | |
But for every one caught, hundreds more remain hidden. | 0:10:36 | 0:10:39 | |
Food is so hard to find this far north | 0:10:44 | 0:10:47 | |
that a wolf pack must search hundreds of square miles | 0:10:47 | 0:10:50 | |
if it's to be successful... | 0:10:50 | 0:10:52 | |
..and success means raising the next generation. | 0:10:54 | 0:10:58 | |
WOLF PUPS WHINE | 0:10:59 | 0:11:01 | |
To do that here, the wolves must work together. | 0:11:03 | 0:11:07 | |
So, the young are raised not only by their parents, | 0:11:10 | 0:11:14 | |
but by their aunts and uncles as well. | 0:11:14 | 0:11:16 | |
Together, they try to ensure that each pup reaches near-adult size | 0:11:22 | 0:11:26 | |
before the snow returns. | 0:11:26 | 0:11:28 | |
A growing pup needs more than just a few leverets. | 0:11:32 | 0:11:35 | |
The wolves need bigger prey | 0:11:37 | 0:11:40 | |
and, to catch that... | 0:11:40 | 0:11:42 | |
WOLF PUP HOWLS | 0:11:42 | 0:11:43 | |
..they must hunt as a pack. | 0:11:43 | 0:11:45 | |
WOLF HOWLS | 0:11:46 | 0:11:49 | |
WOLVES TAKE UP HOWL | 0:11:51 | 0:11:54 | |
Adult hares may be easy to spot, | 0:12:07 | 0:12:10 | |
but they are far from easy to catch. | 0:12:10 | 0:12:12 | |
They run at 40mph. | 0:12:15 | 0:12:17 | |
To catch one, the wolves work as a team. | 0:12:23 | 0:12:26 | |
One of them gets close enough to bite the hare's tail... | 0:13:08 | 0:13:11 | |
..but a hare can change direction in an instant. | 0:13:15 | 0:13:18 | |
If it can continue to sidestep and jink, | 0:13:27 | 0:13:30 | |
it may ultimately outlast them. | 0:13:30 | 0:13:32 | |
Finally, it gets away. | 0:13:46 | 0:13:48 | |
For the next hare, the whole pack gives chase. | 0:14:01 | 0:14:05 | |
Now, numbers count. | 0:14:20 | 0:14:22 | |
The lead wolves keep up the pace. | 0:14:24 | 0:14:26 | |
Others run on either side, so the hare can't change direction. | 0:14:26 | 0:14:31 | |
A tiny meal for the whole pack... | 0:14:38 | 0:14:40 | |
..but the only one there is. | 0:14:43 | 0:14:44 | |
By July, time is running out for the polar bear. | 0:14:58 | 0:15:01 | |
Three million square miles of ice are fractured and adrift. | 0:15:07 | 0:15:12 | |
The seals are now much harder to find. | 0:15:15 | 0:15:18 | |
Scattered within an ever-shifting maze... | 0:15:20 | 0:15:24 | |
..the advantage has swung away from the bear. | 0:15:28 | 0:15:32 | |
With the ice now broken up, the bear can't even get close. | 0:15:48 | 0:15:52 | |
She's too visible and noisy in her approach. | 0:16:06 | 0:16:10 | |
She has no choice but to change her tactics. | 0:16:41 | 0:16:45 | |
She swims amongst the drift ice... | 0:16:56 | 0:16:59 | |
..and keeps a low profile. | 0:17:03 | 0:17:05 | |
Once the seal is in the water, it's as good as lost. | 0:17:19 | 0:17:23 | |
She has to grab it before it hits the water. | 0:17:28 | 0:17:32 | |
The margin for error is tiny... | 0:18:02 | 0:18:05 | |
..and the cost can be great. | 0:18:10 | 0:18:13 | |
Each failed attempt brings her closer to starvation. | 0:18:21 | 0:18:25 | |
At this time of year, polar bears, on average, | 0:18:28 | 0:18:31 | |
succeed only once in 20 hunts. | 0:18:31 | 0:18:34 | |
If the hunter is skinny, like this one, that may not be often enough. | 0:18:39 | 0:18:44 | |
All she can do is keep trying. | 0:18:53 | 0:18:56 | |
To prevent her scent betraying her, | 0:19:34 | 0:19:36 | |
she makes a wide sweep to get downwind of the seal. | 0:19:36 | 0:19:40 | |
Getting close. | 0:19:52 | 0:19:54 | |
She's now right behind the seal. | 0:20:16 | 0:20:19 | |
Incredibly, she caught the seal underwater. | 0:21:02 | 0:21:06 | |
It's only small, but even so, | 0:21:12 | 0:21:14 | |
its blubber alone will contain 100,000 calories - | 0:21:14 | 0:21:18 | |
enough to sustain this bear for a week. | 0:21:18 | 0:21:21 | |
And, in that time, she might even catch another. | 0:21:32 | 0:21:35 | |
But this can't go on forever. | 0:21:45 | 0:21:47 | |
As summer continues, temperatures are rising. | 0:21:47 | 0:21:50 | |
Each hunt requires more energy, | 0:21:52 | 0:21:55 | |
draining the bears of their reserves. | 0:21:55 | 0:21:58 | |
When the melt is finally complete, | 0:22:14 | 0:22:16 | |
it reveals some of the ocean's richest waters. | 0:22:16 | 0:22:20 | |
There is an explosion of life. | 0:22:27 | 0:22:29 | |
Millions of birds arrive from the south. | 0:22:32 | 0:22:35 | |
In the 24-hour daylight, they can feed around the clock. | 0:22:38 | 0:22:43 | |
The Arctic coasts are suddenly thronged by breeding birds. | 0:22:51 | 0:22:55 | |
CHICKS CHIRP | 0:23:05 | 0:23:07 | |
The window of opportunity has now opened for a third hunter - | 0:23:20 | 0:23:24 | |
the Arctic fox. | 0:23:24 | 0:23:26 | |
After a winter spent scavenging, the foxes can now finally hunt. | 0:23:28 | 0:23:33 | |
It's the best time to have pups. | 0:23:34 | 0:23:37 | |
PUPS GROWL AND YIP | 0:23:37 | 0:23:40 | |
Up to 20 of them will be raised to independence in just 90 days. | 0:23:40 | 0:23:46 | |
But none of them will survive their first year, | 0:23:48 | 0:23:51 | |
unless their parents make the most of the short summer. | 0:23:51 | 0:23:55 | |
With the snow gone, the foxes shed their white fur | 0:24:00 | 0:24:03 | |
and become a camouflaging brown. | 0:24:03 | 0:24:06 | |
It makes hunting easier. | 0:24:06 | 0:24:08 | |
But some birds have a dramatic answer to the fox problem. | 0:24:11 | 0:24:15 | |
There are no trees, so they make their nests high on sea cliffs, | 0:24:18 | 0:24:23 | |
well out of the reach of a fox. | 0:24:23 | 0:24:26 | |
The vast majority, however, are forced to nest on the ground. | 0:24:34 | 0:24:38 | |
Many of them rely on camouflage. | 0:24:43 | 0:24:46 | |
Eider ducks slow their heart beats, which helps them avoid detection. | 0:24:49 | 0:24:53 | |
Others have no need to stay out of sight. | 0:24:57 | 0:25:01 | |
The powerful Arctic skuas defend their eggs with aggression... | 0:25:12 | 0:25:16 | |
..and dirty tricks! | 0:25:26 | 0:25:28 | |
BIRDS CAW | 0:25:42 | 0:25:45 | |
There are other options for the fox. | 0:25:49 | 0:25:52 | |
Each year, upwards of 30 million little auks come to the Arctic. | 0:25:58 | 0:26:02 | |
They nest in the scree slopes at the base of the cliffs. | 0:26:03 | 0:26:06 | |
Their answer to the fox problem is to hide deep among the boulders. | 0:26:14 | 0:26:19 | |
And it seems to work. | 0:26:41 | 0:26:43 | |
A hungry fox can get very frustrated. | 0:26:51 | 0:26:54 | |
Running at the auks is not the answer. | 0:27:12 | 0:27:15 | |
He needs to be more patient. | 0:27:21 | 0:27:23 | |
It's time to use that famous foxy cunning. | 0:27:26 | 0:27:29 | |
If the boulders can hide the auks, they can also hide a fox. | 0:27:34 | 0:27:38 | |
A tiny head, in among the boulders. | 0:27:50 | 0:27:53 | |
The auks are just too quick off the mark. | 0:28:34 | 0:28:36 | |
What is needed is a distraction of some kind. | 0:28:40 | 0:28:43 | |
A glaucous gull, also hunting auks. | 0:28:48 | 0:28:51 | |
Little auks may cope with one threat, but what about two? | 0:28:57 | 0:29:00 | |
The auks are out-foxed... | 0:29:24 | 0:29:26 | |
..and the pups will get their supper. | 0:29:30 | 0:29:33 | |
It's now the final weeks of summer. | 0:29:43 | 0:29:45 | |
The sea ice has completely gone. | 0:29:47 | 0:29:50 | |
The bears that wandered freely over the frozen ocean all winter | 0:29:52 | 0:29:56 | |
are now marooned on beaches. | 0:29:56 | 0:29:59 | |
The seals are fishing out at sea. | 0:30:07 | 0:30:10 | |
Only walrus join the bears on the shore. | 0:30:11 | 0:30:14 | |
But adult walrus are gigantic. | 0:30:18 | 0:30:21 | |
They weigh two tonnes and, armed with long tusks, | 0:30:21 | 0:30:25 | |
they're too dangerous for bears to take on. | 0:30:25 | 0:30:27 | |
During these ice-free months, the bears' bodies almost shut down. | 0:30:34 | 0:30:39 | |
They are zombie bears... | 0:30:47 | 0:30:49 | |
..overheated, hungry... | 0:30:50 | 0:30:53 | |
..pining for the ice to return. | 0:30:54 | 0:30:57 | |
But some bears refuse to take the summer lying down. | 0:31:02 | 0:31:06 | |
This bear is doing something really extraordinary. | 0:31:25 | 0:31:29 | |
It's hard to imagine a place less suited to a polar bear | 0:31:48 | 0:31:52 | |
than 300 metres up on a crumbling sea cliff. | 0:31:52 | 0:31:56 | |
Guillemots nest here in their thousands, | 0:31:59 | 0:32:02 | |
precisely because it's so dangerous for land-living predators. | 0:32:02 | 0:32:05 | |
But the sounds and scents of a bird cliff can be irresistible | 0:32:15 | 0:32:19 | |
to a starving bear at the end of summer. | 0:32:19 | 0:32:22 | |
Desperation has led him to risk his life. | 0:32:26 | 0:32:29 | |
The only prize to be had - a few eggs and chicks. | 0:32:36 | 0:32:40 | |
It is an extreme gamble. | 0:32:49 | 0:32:51 | |
He works methodically, | 0:33:06 | 0:33:08 | |
scooping up the contents of every nest he can reach. | 0:33:08 | 0:33:11 | |
The bear moves slowly and carefully. | 0:33:27 | 0:33:30 | |
He lives and sleeps amongst his prey. | 0:33:40 | 0:33:43 | |
The guillemots can't prevent the carnage. | 0:34:02 | 0:34:05 | |
Nonetheless, some bravely try to do so. | 0:34:08 | 0:34:11 | |
The polar bear will remain on the cliff until the end of summer, | 0:34:41 | 0:34:45 | |
when the guillemots will leave. | 0:34:45 | 0:34:47 | |
And, at that moment, | 0:34:49 | 0:34:51 | |
a fox will take his chance. | 0:34:51 | 0:34:54 | |
Far inland, the wolves have a problem. | 0:35:03 | 0:35:06 | |
The adult hares have dispersed... | 0:35:07 | 0:35:10 | |
..and the leverets have got organised. | 0:35:12 | 0:35:15 | |
Their adult coat of fur has turned white for the winter, | 0:35:22 | 0:35:26 | |
so they can no longer hide. | 0:35:26 | 0:35:28 | |
Instead, they gather together. | 0:35:30 | 0:35:32 | |
The wolves' hunting technique, it seems, | 0:35:39 | 0:35:42 | |
can't deal with groups like this. | 0:35:42 | 0:35:44 | |
They now leave the hares | 0:35:56 | 0:35:58 | |
and instead go in search of a much more dangerous prey. | 0:35:58 | 0:36:03 | |
The largest animal in their territory. | 0:36:17 | 0:36:20 | |
Musk oxen. | 0:36:28 | 0:36:30 | |
WOLF HOWLS | 0:36:34 | 0:36:37 | |
A single bull weighs more than the entire wolf pack put together. | 0:36:40 | 0:36:45 | |
It has a reinforced skull, armed with horns. | 0:36:46 | 0:36:50 | |
There are also calves in the herd, | 0:36:54 | 0:36:57 | |
but they are well-protected. | 0:36:57 | 0:36:59 | |
The alpha female leads the hunt. | 0:37:13 | 0:37:15 | |
First, they run directly at the herd. | 0:37:21 | 0:37:24 | |
The aim is to panic them. | 0:37:27 | 0:37:29 | |
A stampeding herd might leave a calf behind. | 0:37:31 | 0:37:34 | |
The tactic begins to work. | 0:37:38 | 0:37:40 | |
But then, the herd regains control. | 0:37:45 | 0:37:47 | |
They stand defiantly in a protective ring around the calves. | 0:37:53 | 0:37:57 | |
There is no way in. | 0:38:05 | 0:38:07 | |
The alpha female calls off the hunt. | 0:38:15 | 0:38:17 | |
But the search for food must go on. | 0:38:26 | 0:38:28 | |
To stand a chance of surviving the winter, | 0:38:30 | 0:38:33 | |
the pack needs to feed well now, even if it puts their lives at risk. | 0:38:33 | 0:38:37 | |
A lone bull - the most dangerous prey of all. | 0:38:47 | 0:38:51 | |
One blow from his horns could kill a wolf. | 0:38:58 | 0:39:01 | |
But the wolves are now ready to risk everything for a meal. | 0:39:06 | 0:39:09 | |
The bull is easily their match, physically... | 0:39:52 | 0:39:55 | |
..but the wolves take it in turns to wear him down, | 0:39:58 | 0:40:02 | |
risking their lives to do so. | 0:40:02 | 0:40:05 | |
Trapped in the gully, the bull has nowhere to go. | 0:40:22 | 0:40:26 | |
Despite the danger, the wolves keep up their attack. | 0:40:33 | 0:40:36 | |
The bull may take hours to defeat... | 0:40:38 | 0:40:41 | |
..but this kill will feed the whole wolf pack for a week. | 0:40:43 | 0:40:47 | |
With the good times soon to end, | 0:40:51 | 0:40:53 | |
the lives of their pups may depend on it. | 0:40:53 | 0:40:56 | |
Summer on the coast comes to an end with one last spectacle. | 0:41:06 | 0:41:12 | |
Hundreds of thousands of guillemot chicks | 0:41:14 | 0:41:17 | |
are in the final stages of their preparations. | 0:41:17 | 0:41:19 | |
Ahead is the biggest day of their lives. | 0:41:29 | 0:41:32 | |
The day they will leave their nest by jumping from the cliffs... | 0:41:34 | 0:41:38 | |
..and try out their wings for the very first time. | 0:41:39 | 0:41:43 | |
It's quite a test flight. | 0:41:45 | 0:41:47 | |
Half a mile to the safety of the sea. | 0:41:48 | 0:41:51 | |
When the time comes, encouraged by their fathers, | 0:42:02 | 0:42:05 | |
the first take the leap. | 0:42:05 | 0:42:07 | |
The chicks have tiny, stiff wings, | 0:42:27 | 0:42:31 | |
so they can do little more than glide. | 0:42:31 | 0:42:34 | |
Their fathers try to nudge them, to keep them on a good flight path... | 0:42:36 | 0:42:40 | |
..one that will take them all the way to water. | 0:42:42 | 0:42:45 | |
With the first few safely away, the sky begins to fill with jumpers. | 0:43:14 | 0:43:19 | |
Wave after wave of chicks and their parents career down towards the sea. | 0:43:21 | 0:43:27 | |
No chick takes this first flight alone. | 0:43:29 | 0:43:33 | |
In just a few days, | 0:43:40 | 0:43:41 | |
an entire generation - thousands of chicks - will take this leap. | 0:43:41 | 0:43:46 | |
With luck and a fair wind, the majority make it to the water. | 0:43:51 | 0:43:55 | |
But nonetheless, many fall short. | 0:44:02 | 0:44:04 | |
Glaucous gulls are quick to grab a meal. | 0:44:13 | 0:44:16 | |
A guillemot chick has no defence against gulls... | 0:44:26 | 0:44:29 | |
..unless father can get back in time. | 0:44:38 | 0:44:40 | |
The chicks continue to rain down. | 0:44:48 | 0:44:51 | |
Those that get separated from their parents stand little chance. | 0:44:54 | 0:44:59 | |
And even a father's protection may not be enough. | 0:45:02 | 0:45:05 | |
This is the fox's moment... | 0:45:13 | 0:45:15 | |
..the easiest hunt of the year... | 0:45:18 | 0:45:20 | |
..but it's also the briefest. | 0:45:22 | 0:45:24 | |
The chicks all come at once. | 0:45:26 | 0:45:28 | |
The synchronisation of the jump overwhelms the fox. | 0:45:28 | 0:45:32 | |
The bad luck of some allows the escape of others. | 0:45:39 | 0:45:43 | |
The last chance to fill his family's bellies is gone, | 0:46:01 | 0:46:05 | |
almost before it started. | 0:46:05 | 0:46:07 | |
The chicks that have made it to the water have no time to rest. | 0:46:15 | 0:46:19 | |
Unable to take to the air, they must swim 100 miles south | 0:46:20 | 0:46:24 | |
before the ocean surface turns to ice. | 0:46:24 | 0:46:27 | |
Winter is approaching fast. | 0:46:32 | 0:46:35 | |
The sea ice is starting to form. | 0:46:45 | 0:46:48 | |
A floating continent is about to materialise. | 0:46:53 | 0:46:57 | |
The land becomes white once more... | 0:47:04 | 0:47:07 | |
..as does the fox. | 0:47:10 | 0:47:11 | |
For it, months of scavenging lie ahead. | 0:47:15 | 0:47:18 | |
But for the bears, the good times have finally returned. | 0:47:25 | 0:47:29 | |
Their window of opportunity is back. | 0:47:31 | 0:47:35 | |
Every summer, polar bears must adapt to the changing Arctic | 0:48:04 | 0:48:08 | |
by switching their hunt from the ice to the sea. | 0:48:08 | 0:48:11 | |
In order to film this behaviour for the first time, | 0:48:13 | 0:48:16 | |
the crew of The Hunt must be prepared to do the same. | 0:48:16 | 0:48:19 | |
While the bears remain on the ice, the crew will rely on | 0:48:23 | 0:48:27 | |
the traditional approach of long lens and tripod. | 0:48:27 | 0:48:30 | |
I prefer to be as close to the animal as possible with the tripod, | 0:48:30 | 0:48:34 | |
that's my style. | 0:48:34 | 0:48:36 | |
But when the ice starts to break up, | 0:48:38 | 0:48:40 | |
they plan to take to the water alongside the bears. | 0:48:40 | 0:48:44 | |
Why do you need so much kit? | 0:48:44 | 0:48:45 | |
It's not so much kit, it's just kit that allows us | 0:48:45 | 0:48:47 | |
to film a completely stabilised image from a moving boat, | 0:48:47 | 0:48:50 | |
so that's the best way of doing it. | 0:48:50 | 0:48:52 | |
Two different approaches... | 0:48:52 | 0:48:54 | |
So, Rolf, do you think Jamie has a better chance of getting | 0:48:54 | 0:48:57 | |
polar bear behaviour with all this technology? | 0:48:57 | 0:48:59 | |
No! | 0:48:59 | 0:49:00 | |
..two different cameramen, | 0:49:00 | 0:49:02 | |
one inevitable competition. | 0:49:02 | 0:49:04 | |
With time against them, | 0:49:08 | 0:49:09 | |
the crew seek out the final patches of sea ice, | 0:49:09 | 0:49:12 | |
locked in sheltered bays. | 0:49:12 | 0:49:14 | |
Jamie has no chance to go into that ice with the boat, | 0:49:16 | 0:49:20 | |
so it's my turn to move with the snow scooters | 0:49:20 | 0:49:23 | |
towards the polar bears and try to film them, the first time. | 0:49:23 | 0:49:27 | |
As it turned out, Rolf didn't have to move far. | 0:49:27 | 0:49:30 | |
Polar bears are one of the few animals on Earth | 0:49:30 | 0:49:34 | |
that will come and find you. | 0:49:34 | 0:49:35 | |
Crazy! | 0:49:37 | 0:49:39 | |
It's coming straight at us. | 0:49:39 | 0:49:41 | |
This one was ready for his close up. | 0:49:41 | 0:49:43 | |
I just grabbed some shots of him walking towards us, | 0:49:48 | 0:49:51 | |
but he didn't stop, and came closer and closer. | 0:49:51 | 0:49:54 | |
At the last second, we escaped, and he was even running behind us, | 0:50:02 | 0:50:07 | |
so it was pretty intense. | 0:50:07 | 0:50:08 | |
Even a crazy bear is better than no bear, | 0:50:11 | 0:50:14 | |
so Rolf continues to film him through the Arctic night. | 0:50:14 | 0:50:18 | |
They get used to us quite fast. | 0:50:19 | 0:50:22 | |
They realise we are not a danger | 0:50:22 | 0:50:24 | |
and, as long as we stay a certain distance, we can observe them | 0:50:24 | 0:50:27 | |
and, hopefully, get all the behaviour that we are looking for. | 0:50:27 | 0:50:31 | |
Suddenly, we recognised he was heading towards a bearded seal. | 0:50:35 | 0:50:40 | |
He approaches the seal | 0:50:45 | 0:50:47 | |
and does that meltwater stalk that has never been filmed before. | 0:50:47 | 0:50:50 | |
He seemed to have some problems to find the right way, | 0:50:53 | 0:50:56 | |
by diving through these pools. | 0:50:56 | 0:50:59 | |
We all got really excited. | 0:51:01 | 0:51:03 | |
We thought, "This is going to happen." | 0:51:03 | 0:51:05 | |
And, finally, the seal just jumped in the water. | 0:51:05 | 0:51:08 | |
And we got a little bit nervous because we saw the bear | 0:51:11 | 0:51:14 | |
coming up again at some point, looking at us, | 0:51:14 | 0:51:17 | |
and it was not that far any more, perhaps 50 metres, | 0:51:17 | 0:51:21 | |
and then he disappeared again. | 0:51:21 | 0:51:22 | |
I look up at Rolf and I look back down at the melt ponds around us | 0:51:22 | 0:51:26 | |
and realise that, in any of those ponds, | 0:51:26 | 0:51:29 | |
the bear could explode out and take us. | 0:51:29 | 0:51:31 | |
To be stalked by a bear is...quite dangerous. | 0:51:32 | 0:51:36 | |
You think I should do it that way? | 0:51:38 | 0:51:40 | |
I mean, if I'm honest, I think it's just exciting! | 0:51:40 | 0:51:43 | |
ROLF LAUGHS | 0:51:43 | 0:51:45 | |
A brand-new bear behaviour in the can, | 0:51:47 | 0:51:50 | |
the crew pack up the camera and head back to the ship... | 0:51:50 | 0:51:53 | |
..a little too late. | 0:51:54 | 0:51:55 | |
Within minutes, a fog descends | 0:51:57 | 0:52:00 | |
and they find themselves travelling blind through bad ice. | 0:52:00 | 0:52:04 | |
As I do the swing to try to head back to the better sea ice, | 0:52:08 | 0:52:12 | |
I realise that I'm missing Oskar. | 0:52:12 | 0:52:14 | |
At the end of the sled, I banged into the ice. | 0:52:16 | 0:52:19 | |
I was thrown over the scooter, | 0:52:19 | 0:52:21 | |
and the scooter just slowly started to sink, | 0:52:21 | 0:52:24 | |
pulling the sled with all the gear into the water. | 0:52:24 | 0:52:26 | |
Oskar had to cut loose the snowmobile to save Rolf's kit | 0:52:28 | 0:52:33 | |
and walk all the way back to the ship. | 0:52:33 | 0:52:36 | |
We either had a chance of losing the snowmobile or a Swede. | 0:52:36 | 0:52:39 | |
Unfortunately, we lost the snowmobile. | 0:52:39 | 0:52:41 | |
LAUGHTER The Swede's fine! | 0:52:41 | 0:52:43 | |
This is the way we go swimming in the Arctic, you know? | 0:52:45 | 0:52:49 | |
But while everyone is safely back on board, | 0:52:49 | 0:52:52 | |
Rolf's kit is still out there, somewhere on the ice. | 0:52:52 | 0:52:55 | |
Without his kit, Rolf's shoot is over. | 0:53:02 | 0:53:06 | |
See? I'm nice. | 0:53:09 | 0:53:11 | |
Finally, at three in the morning, relief. | 0:53:16 | 0:53:20 | |
The thing about a meltwater hunt is | 0:53:37 | 0:53:39 | |
that you can only observe them in meltwater, which means in thin ice. | 0:53:39 | 0:53:44 | |
And, I mean, there's a reason that nobody filmed it before. | 0:53:44 | 0:53:47 | |
It paid off, to take the risk. | 0:53:47 | 0:53:49 | |
When the sea ice breaks up, it creates drift ice - | 0:53:52 | 0:53:56 | |
a constantly shifting, floating maze. | 0:53:56 | 0:53:59 | |
The place for Jamie to try his luck. | 0:54:01 | 0:54:03 | |
Now we're in the drift ice, | 0:54:07 | 0:54:08 | |
I can actually get this boat in the water and do some work. | 0:54:08 | 0:54:12 | |
There's no drama, there's no falling through the ice, | 0:54:13 | 0:54:15 | |
nobody's running around screaming, getting chased by bears. | 0:54:15 | 0:54:19 | |
We're just following bears around calmly | 0:54:19 | 0:54:21 | |
and, hopefully, we'll film them hunting. | 0:54:21 | 0:54:24 | |
BLEEPING | 0:54:26 | 0:54:28 | |
We're a little bit stuck in the ice. | 0:54:29 | 0:54:31 | |
BLEEPING | 0:54:31 | 0:54:33 | |
There's no drama, | 0:54:33 | 0:54:35 | |
there's only a couple of kilometres of ice to get through. | 0:54:35 | 0:54:37 | |
Plenty of time before lunch(!) | 0:54:37 | 0:54:39 | |
Trying to navigate through a shifting maze | 0:54:43 | 0:54:46 | |
takes a bit of practice... | 0:54:46 | 0:54:48 | |
..but it's full of rewards. | 0:54:50 | 0:54:53 | |
It's absolutely amazing. So beautiful. | 0:55:02 | 0:55:05 | |
So many different shapes. It's just... | 0:55:06 | 0:55:09 | |
Everywhere you look, there's just amazing sculptures of ice. | 0:55:09 | 0:55:12 | |
Being more mobile means the crew start to find more and more bears... | 0:55:18 | 0:55:23 | |
..each one, a character. | 0:55:26 | 0:55:28 | |
With such access to the Arctic's top predator, | 0:55:33 | 0:55:36 | |
the crew eventually find their star. | 0:55:36 | 0:55:38 | |
The elusive summer stalk of the polar bear | 0:55:46 | 0:55:49 | |
is finally captured on film. | 0:55:49 | 0:55:51 | |
It came up right behind the seal, the seal dived in the water, | 0:55:54 | 0:55:57 | |
but the bear jumped off the ice into the water | 0:55:57 | 0:56:00 | |
and then came up a few seconds later with the seal in its teeth. | 0:56:00 | 0:56:03 | |
Everything came together, really. | 0:56:07 | 0:56:09 | |
It was incredibly lucky that we were in the right position. | 0:56:09 | 0:56:12 | |
We could so easily have missed everything that happened. | 0:56:12 | 0:56:15 | |
Yeah, I'm chuffed to bits that we actually got a successful hunt. | 0:56:21 | 0:56:24 | |
It played out in front of us and we were able to catch it. | 0:56:24 | 0:56:27 | |
The only way to succeed in the Arctic, | 0:56:28 | 0:56:31 | |
whether you're a polar bear or a film crew, | 0:56:31 | 0:56:34 | |
is to have more than one trick up your sleeve. | 0:56:34 | 0:56:38 | |
Next time, The Hunt is on in the forest... | 0:56:44 | 0:56:47 | |
A tangled world | 0:56:49 | 0:56:51 | |
that hosts the ultimate game of hide and seek. | 0:56:51 | 0:56:55 | |
To succeed here, a predator must perfect the art of the ambush. | 0:56:58 | 0:57:04 |