Arctic Deadly Pole to Pole

-SLIGHTLY BREATHLESSLY:

-These are the first few steps

of an expedition that's going to take me right round the planet.

We start here...

on a glacier in the high Arctic

at the very top of the world.

And then we head south

through jungles, oceans and mountains

until we reach the greatest wilderness on Earth - Antarctica.

My name's Steve Backshall.

And this...

is Deadly Pole to Pole.

Cor!

From the top of world to the bottom...

Whoa! Haha!

..deadly places,

deadly adventures

and deadly animals.

And you're coming with me,

every step of the way!

Aghhh!

Incredible!

Svalbard is an archipelago,

a group of islands surrounded by the Arctic Ocean.

In fact, pretty much everything below us now

would be pack ice for much of the year

and the sun doesn't even rise for about four months,

it's total darkness.

Right now though, it's completely the opposite,

there are 24 hours of sunlight

and we're going to use every single one of them to find deadly wildlife.

Svalbard lies at the top of the world,

well within the Arctic Circle

and just a few hundred miles from the North Pole.

It's the perfect starting point for my epic global adventure.

I come toe-to-tusk with the sumo wrestler of the north, the walrus.

Get dive-bombed by a feathered fury

and sniffed out by the ultimate polar predator.

But first, I've got a rendezvous with an Arctic icebreaker.

She's called the Havsel and she's our ticket to the extreme north.

This is the beginning of a journey that will span the planet.

Well, that was a pretty dramatic way to get started,

but from here on in, we're all at sea!

The Havsel sails us 30 hours North

to the edge of the frozen sea

where our search for polar bears can begin.

It's only here amongst the ice floes

that the bears can hunt for seals hauled out on the ice.

Blending into the icy wilderness,

drawn on by their heightened sense of smell, bears stalk up on seals.

The seals stay close to holes in the ice,

so they have a quick escape route.

It's a brutal death match, but only one in ten hunts end in success.

The seal's energy-rich blubber makes the odds worthwhile, but only just.

There are more polar bears in Svalbard than there are people,

making it one of the best places on earth to see one,

and we soon have our first sighting.

Where is he?

We have a bear... on the move!

The polar bear spends its whole life on or in the frozen sea,

so is considered a marine mammal, like seals and whales.

Their scientific name literally means, "the sea bear".

When the sea ice melts in the summer, they may have to swim for

mile upon mile in temperatures that would kill a human being in minutes.

Moving from ice floe to ice floe,

the polar bear follows its nose in the search for food.

He's sniffed out an old seal carcass.

Polar bears have been observed going in a dead straight line

for 20 kilometres to the carcass of a seal.

The only way they can have detected it has been through smell.

I mean, they probably don't have that much better a sense of smell

than their close cousins, the brown bears,

but here, in the Arctic, there's so few scents.

No pollution, completely clear air, it's no wonder they can actually

pick up scents from so far away and why smell is so important to them.

No way of knowing whether this bear actually made the kill himself,

but, the seal's been fairly well fed on.

It could be two or three days old and all of the blubber, the fat,

the most energy rich part of it has already been eaten away.

So, this bear must be quite hungry.

Usually bears will only focus on that really fatty,

fatty layer. I mean, we might think of it as being unhealthy,

but fat has an enormous amount of calories in it which means energy.

It's really, really valuable stuff

and that's the choice bit that the bears will eat first.

I reckon he is now,

having a good old roll around,

getting rid of that blood from his face,

making sure that the pure white camouflage is back in full effect.

As the bear moves on from its seal meal, it gives us a chance to

move to the smaller boat and investigate the scene of the kill.

Our bear's eaten its full and has moved away from the prey.

This is a great chance for us to move in closer because he's fat and

happy and certainly isn't going to be too bothered by us being around.

But I mustn't forget that this is a top predator that may see us

as another meal should we get too close.

Think the first thing we're going to do is go

and have a look at that seal carcass and see what's left.

This was quite a big seal.

Em... I would say certainly a bearded seal.

There's a little bit of meat left,

but certainly no blubber. All of that's long gone.

What else can we see around here?

It's absolutely covered with footprints.

And you see how heavy the animal is. This is quite compacted ice,

yet even so, it's created deep indentations in the ice,

purely from the weight of the animal.

I'm pretty sure, though, these are not all from one bear.

This animal could rest for hours, so we decide to let sleeping bears lie

and go in search of another polar bear.

I also decide to switch to a kayak.

Paddle power is quiet, and much less likely to disturb wildlife.

I think the best way for me to approach is in the kayak,

because, I'm much more manoeuvrable, and really quiet as well,

so hopefully, the bear should just be completely cool with me

getting close to it and let him dictate how close we can get.

The bear's out in the open swimming.

He could merely be travelling between these ice floes,

could also be hunting.

They have a great way of managing to keep hidden with almost

all of their body below the surface and just the eyes and the nostrils

above it and it's a fantastic way of being out of the view of seals

which are up on the ice floes and then all of a sudden caught

unawares by this enormous beast which has just come out of nowhere.

For the first time I can really feel

how it must be to be a seal out here.

Looking right at me.

BEAR BREATHES HEAVILY

Ooh, he's diving under it.

'Bears sometimes dive underwater as they're about to begin hunting.'

We need to watch him very carefully.

There he is.

Watching me very, very closely.

Looks like he might just swim right in front of me.

(Hey there, big fella.)

He's OK.

He's just keeping a very careful eye on me.

He's just watching me.

Wow! I certainly didn't expect

to get that close.

Just for a second there, he had me in his sights

and a lot of the bears in this part of the world will never have

seen a human being before, and polar bears are one of the only

wild animals that will deliberately target and hunt a human being.

It's desperately rare, but it's something that you

really need to have in the back of your mind at all times.

An enchanting encounter, but this is only the beginning.

More from the king of the ice, later.

Summer is the signal for millions of sea birds to flock to Svalbard.

24 hour daylight and a bonanza of food in the Arctic Ocean

make it a great place to raise young chicks.

Auks are like penguins of the north,

hunting in much the same way.

They're vigorous, tireless, underwater fishermen

diving many metres down in search of small fish and crustaceans.

Here in Svalbard, they can be found in their millions.

There are very few places where I've felt

quite so totally overwhelmed by a place and by a spectacle

and that I just can't take all of it in with my own eyes.

BIRDS SQUAWK

As far as the eye can see, in every direction, is a blizzard of birds.

It's almost more like mosquitoes or, I don't know,

just tiny insects filling the air.

But they're not, every single one is a sea bird.

These sea cliffs have so many advantages for nesting birds.

Because they're so steep sided, there are very,

very few predators that make their way up there

and so it's a great place for them to lay their eggs.

But even here, on the precipitous cliff faces,

they're not completely safe.

To find sea bird-snatching predators,

'I need to find a place where I can get ashore.'

Unfortunately, as we arrive, the weather takes a turn for the worse.

It may seem pretty miserable here,

with this thin rain and heavy wind, but this is as good as it gets.

For much of the year this would be knee deep in snow

and blasted with Arctic winds.

So any animal that can live here, has to be a survivor.

Eurgh!

Squelchy... Oh, no!

I didn't want to do that!

Gordon Bennett!

Thank you very much.

Sopping wet feet for the whole of the rest of the day, hooray(!)

SKUA CRIES

As I squelch towards the cliffs,

I'm soon met by a traditional Arctic welcome.

Skuas are what are known as kleptoparasites.

It sounds like quite a long convoluted word,

but actually it just means "thieves".

These are birds that mostly get their food

by stealing it from other birds.

I've seen skuas catch a gull midair by the leg

and shake it until it vomits up the fish that its been feeding on

and then the skua will dive down

and catch the regurgitated food whilst still on the wing.

As well as harassing sea birds for food,

skuas are also highly protective of their territories

and will drive away any intruders no matter how big.

Leaving the skuas menacing reindeer,

I clamber up into the sea bird colony.

An incredibly heavy smell here of guano,

of years and years of bird droppings.

And all these wonderful little shapes just flitting around my ears,

from the little auks.

Look at that!

And these holes, in amongst the rocks,

that's the kind of places they're bringing up their young.

Dry moss, little feathers...

a chick has been raised and headed out to sea from that very spot.

As with any sea bird colony, it's noisy, smelly

and there are always those that would like to get an easy meal

from the birds and their fledging young.

These little auks travel along the cliff sides in enormous flocks.

This is for very good reason - it throws off predators,

it makes it much more difficult to pick out one single individual.

These birds have so many foes to fear up here,

but the one that seems to be causing them the most trouble at the moment

is a gull.

This bully of a bird is the glaucous gull.

They're one of the largest gulls,

and use their size to their advantage,

bossing the sea bird colonies of the Arctic.

In effect they play the role of a bird of prey,

scoffing sea birds and their eggs.

Only difference is, there's loads of them!

This is a glaucous gull.

Up close you can see they're quite a big, intimidating presence,

even for a human being like me, let alone a tiny little auk.

Further investigation of the rocks reveals a grisly seashore graveyard.

Oh, yes.

Well, this is obviously where the gull brings back

everything it feeds on.

Bits of crab. Bones from - I'm guessing those are from little auks.

I mean, this just shows

what unbelievable opportunists these birds are.

They have the ability to take advantage

of pretty much any food source that comes their way.

Whoa!

The glaucous gull, fearsome winged terror.

They're menacing, intimidating and, if you're a little auk...

definitely deadly.

A fast, agile aerial hunter.

Feeding on other sea birds.

The big bully of the Arctic skies.

It's the greedy, bird-gulping glaucous gull.

But there is another predator here

that even the menacing glaucous gull has to fear.

At this time of year they patrol the base of these sea cliffs

in search of an easy meal.

So, we shoulder the kit and soldier on,

and as luck would have it find not just one but two.

There are a pair of arctic foxes

right at the base of this bird cliff here,

but at the moment, they're just playing.

Playing is fun, and cements friendships,

but it's also an essential part of a fox's life.

They're practising the hunting skills they'll need later in life

if they're to survive in the Arctic.

The foxes come to base of these cliffs to hunt young guillemots.

At this time of year, over the space of just a few days,

the chicks are fledging and have to make their first flight

down to the water.

It's a long way down and out to sea.

Not all of the chicks make it, and come down to earth with a bump.

Having barely learnt to fly, now they have to learn to run.

This means that they have to run the gauntlet of waiting, hungry foxes.

Life here is full of challenges,

but this arctic fox will be able to provide for her own youngsters,

for today, at least.

And these two young foxes seem to be in fine form.

They're certainly well fed enough for a tussle or two.

This won't be our only encounter with arctic foxes.

We'll meet them again as our Pole to Pole adventure heads south.

We return to our icebreaker boat home,

and move on in search of another frozen world heavyweight.

Over 200,000 Pacific and Atlantic walrus can be found

in the Arctic Ocean.

Often gathered in large numbers,

with males reaching up to nearly two tonnes in weight,

over three metres long and armed with impressive tusks,

they're an animal I've always wanted to see on Deadly.

I've never filmed walrus before.

Never even been close to one, so this is incredibly exciting.

I mean, these animals are seals, essentially,

but they're different to any other seal that I've ever got close to.

First of all, they can weigh two metric tonnes,

certainly the males, anyway.

And those enormous tusks would easily be enough

to puncture my kayak and send it to the bottom of the sea.

So, I have to admit my heart is going a little bit.

But mostly with excitement.

Oh, I see one!

I see one!

That is enormous!

Oh, wow.

I've just got to hope that they see me and my little plastic kayak

as an interesting plaything.

They're a very imposing presence.

Converging on me in a... rather intimidating mass.

The males are the ones that have the biggest tusks

and they can get to be over a metre long.

But the females have them too,

and they would have to be one of the most curious creatures

I have ever seen,

and I didn't think for a second I'd get to see one this close.

Look at that!

They're simply immense.

And a lot of that weight is made up of blubber.

It's a thick fat that sits below the surface of the skin

and helps insulate them in these freezing cold Arctic waters.

They kind of look like vast, dark sumo wrestlers.

And they would have quite a comical appearance

if it wasn't for those tusks.

Walrus have only tiny stubby little whiskers.

They're used for foraging on the very sea bed.

They'll dive down and feel around with those tactile whiskers,

just hoping to find clams and molluscs on the sea bed,

and the way they feed on them

is by sucking them clean out of their shells.

An adult walrus has literally nothing to fear

in its natural environment.

It's even said that orca, killer whale,

if they hear the bellow of a walrus will get out of there quick smart.

And you can see why.

When you have this many animals together in a tightknit clan,

they're a truly ferocious prospect.

And they're certainly eyeballing me.

Walrus are predators.

Most of the time what they feed on are just things like clams,

but they have been known to kill seals.

To take rather larger living prey...

and I just got a puff of walrus breath.

-I don't know about you, but...

-WALRUS GRUNTS

OK, I barely want to move...

I tell you what,

they are getting a little bit too bold for my liking right now.

-OK...

-WALRUS GRUNTS

Well, that animal has definitely decided to show me who's boss.

And I think he's made his point.

The vast two-tonne walrus, with tusks that can be as long as my leg,

they're intimidating, menacing, massive...

and deadly.

Armed with metre-long tusks.

With sensitive food-finding whiskers.

It hoovers up clams from the sea floor.

A blubbery behemoth worthy of respect.

As sea ice breaks up in the summer,

some polar bears are stranded away from the ice on dry land.

That means they have to be a bit creative in what they choose to eat.

And, unbelievably, it looks as if

our two heavyweight deadly contenders,

the polar bear and the walrus, are about to go head-to-head.

The bear is just wandering straight for the walrus

laid out on the beach,

and they really don't seem bothered by its presence.

Polar bears have been known to attack walruses.

But, hungry as the bear may be,

the tough skin and thick layer of blubber protects the walrus

from even the most determined bears,

who risk serious injury from sword-like walrus tusks.

But despite this risk, our bear continues its approach

to the walrus group.

Well, this is absolutely out of this world.

But you can see they're just lying there,

they really are not bothered by it at all.

They're getting very, very close, though.

That male walrus is starting to show some interest,

and I'm not surprised. Just showing off those tusks.

And that's enough to send the polar bear packing.

A polar bear would have to be really desperate

to take on an adult walrus.

It's coming back our way.

But now there's a more unusual scent in the air

that's attracted the bear's attention.

That's me and the crew.

Polar bears are on average the largest land carnivore on earth,

and as she's striding towards me...

getting closer than actually I'm totally comfortable with -

she could certainly cover that distance in a matter of seconds -

I'm quite glad that the engine's running again.

These are huge animals.

In weight, a fully grown male

could be three quarters of a metric tonne,

that's as much as a small car.

The feet are huge, the claws,

the bite force, to my knowledge, has never been measured,

but I'm guessing it will be absolutely extraordinary.

Certainly enough to cut through blubber, flesh and bone.

And for a second there, she was strolling towards us

as if she thought we could be her next meal.

And I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one on the boat

that wasn't a little bit nervous.

There's a lot of heads nodding behind me right now!

What a staggering sight.

The polar bear, the great white hunter that truly rules the Arctic.

One of the most magnificent beasts on the whole planet,

and definitely deadly.

Able to detect prey many miles away with its sense of smell.

Smashing through snow and ice.

Supremely adapted to life in the Arctic.

The near-perfect polar predator that showed me exactly who's boss.

This is the start of a journey

that's going to the ends of the earth.

Through fire and fury, ice and high seas.

Whoa!

Meeting the deadliest predators that have ever lived.

Oh! So close.

But we're not leaving the Arctic, or Svalbard, just yet.

Join me next time for more Deadly Pole to Pole.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd