Alaska Deadly Pole to Pole

My name's Steve Backshall...

..and this is Deadly Pole To Pole.

Oh!

From the top of the world to the bottom...

Whoa! Ha-ha.

..deadly places,

deadly adventures

and deadly animals.

And you're coming with me every step of the way.

Argh!

This is Alaska.

It's the largest state in America

and the scale of it is simply impossible to comprehend.

You can fly for hours and below you see nothing but lakes,

mountains and forests.

For lovers of the wild world, this the last frontier.

Alaska is the most northerly state in America.

The top is just 1,300 miles from the North Pole.

It's the next wild wonderland in line as we continue south.

We see the largest land predator hunt...

..get a dazzling display from an ocean giant,

and explore where no-one's been before.

For the first time on Deadly we're not looking for an animal

but a feature of Alaska itself,

a deadly force of nature.

So unstoppable that it's shaped the world we live in.

It's of such a size and scale,

the only way to appreciate it is from the sky.

We're pulling up at what appears to be a vast white-water river.

But this is in fact a river of ice.

It's a glacier.

Alaska's home to more glaciers than the whole of the rest

of the inhabited world put together.

About 75% of the world's fresh water resides in glaciers

but even though these are incredibly important life-giving forces,

they can also be deadly.

Constantly moving glaciers have the power to sculpt mountains,

carve valleys and give birth to giant icebergs.

Made up of millions of tonnes of ice,

they plough through everything in their path.

These mighty cliffs of ice are called ice-falls.

They're sort of like the glacier's equivalent of a waterfall.

It's where the ice comes over areas that are so steep

that they simply tumble down, they collapse over each other.

This is one of the most dangerous places you can possibly be

in the mountains.

If one of these huge, great big towers of ice goes,

it is an unstoppable force.

But safe as we are up here,

you can't learn much about its deadly side from the sky.

We're going to take a journey into the icy heart of this glacier,

into a dangerous and challenging world where anything could happen.

As a mountaineer, I've spent many months in environments like this,

camping out on the ice as it creaks and groans around you,

but where we're going nobody will have ever been before.

It looks like one big, white, solid object.

A glacier is almost a living, moving thing,

All of this forms way up high in the mountains

in a place called the ice field,

so snow will accumulate over centuries and centuries

and it gets compacted by its own weight

and turns into ice and that ice starts to flow down like a river,

forming these incredible ice-falls and great sheets of ice.

But we're not just interested in what goes on at the surface.

All of the ice on the surface of the glacier

is constantly heated by the sun

and forms little streams like this,

which eventually run into big rivers.

Now, these rivers create an enormous amount of water

and that water has to go somewhere.

Eventually, it finds a weak point in the glacier

and it burrows down into a whirlpool...

..called a moulin.

This is the gateway to the guts of the glacier.

It's an incredibly frightening place and believe it or not,

that's where we're going.

So the team and I get to work setting up a rope system

to allow myself and Johnny to climb down into the moulin.

Whilst they are very dangerous places,

moulins are incredibly exciting

and you can say with confidence

that no-one has ever been down this before

because the place itself is always changing.

It's never been like it is right now

and that, to me,

is the most exciting thing about this environment.

After some final checks, and with the ropes in place,

it's time for me to head off into the unknown.

I have no idea what we're going to find

cos no-one's been down into this before but it's going to be loud,

it's going to be wet

and, of course, it's going to be very, very cold.

I'm trying to find a dry ice cave, so cameraman Johnny can join me.

The second I leave the sun behind,

the temperature drops below freezing.

Holy moley.

OK, so, for the first time,

I can kind of see what it is I'm taking on.

The waterfall has cut its way

into a massive cataract.

It's a tunnel that goes right down to the very base of the glacier

and just below my feet here there's a cave.

Wow!

This is so awkward.

I can see right inside.

It's unbelievably beautiful.

Well, I guess the next move is to get you down here, Johnny.

I'm not sure how far this cave goes.

It's an incredible deep, deep blue colour.

There's this ice here

that's formed over hundreds of years

and it's incredibly solid.

I'm not sure how far this is going to go.

It's like tiptoeing on cold glass.

My metal crampons skid about on the ice.

This is incredibly beautiful.

It's like a little fairy cavern.

It's kind of easy to get carried away

with the beauty of the place

and forget where you are,

but I guess the nightmare would be

if the glacier continued to move

and the walls just closed in.

You'd get squashed like a mosquito.

Myself and Johnny travel deeper and deeper inside the glacier

to see how far we can travel down this unexplored cavern.

Oh, ho-ho!

There's a big drop down there

but it looks too thin for a person to go through.

I think that's a dead end.

Well, can't carry on through the dry part of the cave,

so the only way to continue exploring

is down there beneath the waterfall.

There's no way the cameraman can come with me.

It's much too wet, the camera would die,

so I would have to go down there on my own.

But that is a whole new level of risk and challenge.

I'll need protective clothing,

but even that won't completely keep the icy water at bay.

OK, I'm all prepared for my trip into the underworld.

I've got my waterproof suit on,

I've also got this camera

which we usually use for filming underwater

and as soon as I get over the edge and I'm into the waterfall

I'll lose contact with the rest of the crew,

so I've got a radio to be able to talk to them

and I can't put it off any longer.

This is going to be seriously cold.

That is the understatement of the century.

The glacial meltwater thunders into the blue depths

and in a few minutes it's going to be crashing over me.

I'm going to get absolutely hammered here.

Whoa.

This looks absolutely brutal.

I've got two separate falls coming in.

The big one over there I'm going to be able to stay clear of

for most of the way.

That one's going to hit me

within a few metres...

..and the water is going to numb my brain and my fingers

and my whole body will start to shut down really quickly.

This would have to be one of the most hostile places

you can ever be in.

This is a place that human beings are simply not supposed to be.

I'm looking down

to the very bottom of a glacier,

an enormous, moving river of ice.

If I didn't have my drysuit,

I wouldn't last seconds here.

The water is only just above freezing

and thundering down around my ears.

Steve, are you OK down there?

Uh...

Uh!

I'm not sure if he's going to hear it.

Uh.

Oh, my fingers!

I can't feel my fingers.

Is he coming back, Johnny?

Oh!

Whoa!

It's such an incredibly beautiful place...

..but it's almost too frightening and too overwhelming to appreciate.

I don't think I should go on any further.

I think it'd just be too dangerous.

And look at all that water thundering down below me.

I think, if I tried to head down there...

..I wouldn't make it.

OK, I need to start climbing back up now.

One last ledge.

But the water has frozen my fingers solid.

I can't get back onto the ropes to start climbing out.

It seems things could be about to go bad.

But then finally I get it together

and start to escape the waterfall,

very glad to see sunlight again.

Come on!

That was probably the most hardcore thing I've ever done on Deadly.

It's going to be hours before I can feel my fingers again.

I am

totally

smashed...

..but there's no doubt that

places like moulins

are a lethal environment.

Definitely deadly.

Crevasses and moulins are gateways to the abyss.

A glacier can shift

and collapse without warning.

They're an unstoppable force that can carve mountainsides,

bulldozing everything in its path.

A force of nature that's...

Deadly.

Alaska's so huge and has so few roads,

that to really explore, you need to fly.

And in a plane that doesn't have to rely on having a runway to land on.

We're heading to Admiralty Island on the southeast coast.

And we're here to find a real wild record breaker.

The largest land carnivore, the grizzly bear.

With their cousin the polar bear,

this is the largest carnivore on Earth.

The record breaker was a brown bear who weighed over a tonne,

and standing upright was double my height.

So this is it.

With approximately one bear for every square mile here,

every single step we take now is a step further into bear country.

The floatplane flies off, leaving the crew and I behind.

And there he goes.

From here on in, we are on our own.

Just us and an awful lot of bears.

This island has one of the highest concentrations of grizzlies

found anywhere.

And at this time of year, it's all about hunting salmon.

Once at the inlet the bears are already putting on

quite a performance.

-BEARS GROWL

-Whoa.

There are two young bears doing what

a lot of young mammals will do at this age,

just play fighting, trying out their skills on each other.

They're standing up like a couple of big, furry wrestlers.

They're learning how far they can go,

how strong they are

and all of these skills are going to be put to use, catching prey.

And you can certainly see evidence that there is

a lot of food around cos the bears aren't the only predators here.

There are lots and lots of bald eagles

lining the side of the stream.

Which means that, almost certainly, there's fish around.

But it seems that for the bears, fun is more important than fishing.

Then, abruptly, one bear's attitude changes.

This youngster is into hunting mode.

And it doesn't take long before it catches its first salmon.

Whoa. That was just too easy.

Success. Yeah, success.

The bears continue to catch salmon over and over again

and this is quite a feat.

Salmon are predators themselves - they're snappy, slippery and quick.

Right now, it's just about piling on the pounds.

Over these few months they could put on my bodyweight in fat,

just purely from munching down on salmon...

..and he's despatching it right now.

And all that fatty salmon attracts bears in their droves.

We have new arrivals in every sense of the word.

A mother's just arrived with two very small cubs

and these are this year's cubs.

They're just little teddy bears, bundles of fluff

and she now has three mouths to feed,

so she's going to have to get busy fishing.

A mother bear has much to fear from other bears.

An adult male will not hesitate to kill her young cubs.

With the two over-excited bears already fishing,

she needs to act fast.

Luckily, they're more interested in the salmon than in her cubs.

There are very few cuter animals in the whole natural world

than a bear cub.

It really is quite something to see what they turn into.

I mean, this little animal you just really want to go over

and give a great big hug is going to turn into one of the most

awe-inspiring carnivores on Earth.

The mother's experience and skill is obvious.

Oh, Mum's off, Mum's running.

It's a flurry of feet, claws and teeth.

And she's under, her muzzle beneath...

Yes, look at that!

That's an enormous salmon,

an enormous amount of meat on it.

She's coming closer and closer to us with it.

I think probably the reason that she's run with it like this,

is so that she can take it away from the two other younger bears.

She wants to make sure that her and her cubs

can enjoy the meal in peace.

It's been a rare bear day.

Fighting, splashing, playing, hunting.

The grizzly bear in all its glory.

The largest land carnivore.

Could out-sprint an Olympic athlete.

Long, curved claws to snag slippery salmon.

Nothing like as cuddly as they look.

Deadly.

For our final mission,

we're ocean-bound to find another Alaskan giant.

For the next few days we're going to be out at sea in search

of one of the largest predators on the planet - the humpback whale.

Humpbacks are one of the most massive creatures on earth.

They can get to be over 15 metres in length,

weigh 40 tonnes, and eat a tonne and a half of small fish,

crustaceans and plankton in a day.

They focus on areas where there's most to eat,

and can move massive distances to find it,

so we have to follow, bouncing all day long in our little boat.

The crew are eagle-eyed and ready for action.

Some of the time.

We're now miles away from civilisation so we need to find

somewhere to camp and I'm thinking that this beach here looks perfect.

Doesn't get much more dramatic than this.

It's a classic wild campsite,

but tent spots need to be chosen with care.

There's lots of things to consider

when you're making a camp round here.

The first of which is going to be

where the water's going to come up to

when the tide rises and the second is animals.

These are bear tracks.

They're not new, they're quite old,

but bears wandering through here

is something we'll have to be very, very careful of.

The last thing anyone wants is to wake up next to a grizzly.

We make sure all our food that might attract them

is kept well away from camp.

Once camp's set, we make the most of the long hours of daylight,

to head out on an evening whale search.

We head to Inian Pass,

which is where our captain's seen the whales recently.

In order for me to try and get close,

I'm going to head out in a kayak.

So first I need to get kitted up.

We've found ourselves an absolutely perfect spot.

We're in a channel with the water completely flat calm.

The opportunity couldn't be better.

All we need now is for the whales to play ball.

After a while. I put down my paddle, sit and wait.

Goodness. Whoa!

And in no time at all I am surrounded,

with whales everywhere, spouting from their blowholes.

The water looks like it's alive with cannons firing.

Oh, my goodness.

But there's an unexpected, uninvited guest -

Steller sea lions.

There are hundreds of them, in a mood for mischief.

This is out of this world.

The sea lions seem to see the whales as a big plaything

and they're showing off to us too.

They're so playful.

And these animals are here for the same reasons as the whales are -

food.

There's an abundance of fish here, primarily herring,

but also the salmon that are waiting to head up-river to spawn

and these Steller sea lions have got food in abundance.

So much food that they can just afford to spend

an enormous amount of time mucking about.

With the constant irritation of sea lions leaping all over them...

Uh!

..the whales are showing no signs of hunting.

All they seem to want to do is rest, and talking of which...

Oh, I am a bit on the chilly side.

We didn't get to see them actually feeding today

but got very, very close to those extraordinary animals.

Hopefully tomorrow, we'll have a bit more luck.

With the sun up, after a quick wash in the icy Alaskan water,

and a perfect camp breakfast,

it's back on the boat for what I hope

will be another fantastic day for whales.

We head back to the channel, in the hope to see them hunting.

And the signs are looking good.

This looks like the perfect scenario.

Exactly what we've been hoping to see.

We've got a group of whales ahead of us,

I'm not sure how many,

there could be eight of nine animals

and they're all very close together.

And it looks like something's going on at the surface.

All the animals are going down at the same time

and that can be a very, very good sign.

I get back in the kayak to investigate.

But the whales dive.

It's a crazy feeling.

I know that there are at least ten animals...

..each of which could weigh 30 or even 40 tonnes

and they're beneath me right now and yet they totally disappear.

The second they go beneath the surface, they're invisible.

Then, suddenly, one surfaces right by my kayak.

Whoa!

This one's getting a little bit close for comfort.

Might just move away a bit.

Look at the size of that tail.

The flukes must be as broad across as my kayak is long.

Oh!

That frightened the life out of me.

The sound just goes right through you.

The driving all of that air out of those enormous lungs.

I mean, these are vast, vast creatures,

but all you see is that black hump as it breaks the surface.

But it seems the pesky sea lions are still putting them off their game.

It's time for a new plan.

Back on the boat,

we decide to try our luck further out in the open ocean.

And on the way, something quite extraordinary happens.

Oh, look at that!

Whoa!

I don't quite believe what I've just seen.

That is an animal that weighs probably more than a fire truck

and it's just propelled itself out of the water,

mere metres from the side of our boat.

The shower that came off it as it hit the water was phenomenal.

This whale is definitely in a playful mood.

Breach after phenomenal breach.

This whale just doesn't want to stop.

Scientists are still unsure as to why whales breach.

It could be to get parasites off the skin,

to communicate with each other

or to get a better look around at what's going on.

But it kind of seems like this whale is just having fun.

It's only when you're this close,

that you get any real sense of the size and scale of humpback whales.

Most of the time all you see is that distinctive hump shape

as they just come out of the water breathing,

but when they breach, you can see the whole thing

and it is simply enormous.

And this whale is putting on an acrobatic performance

we will never forget.

Breathtaking.

Absolutely breathtaking.

Despite its size, with just a couple of sweeps of that mighty tail,

it can propel itself clear of the water.

I've never had a breach that close to me before.

Extraordinary, absolutely extraordinary.

The vast, intelligent, fish munching,

acrobatic whale is one of the great sights of nature.

They're also deadly.

Weighing more than a fire truck...

..their huge gaping mouths can guzzle tonnes of fish in a day

and they have the force to launch their whole bodies out of the water.

These ocean giants are...

Deadly.

Join me next time for more Deadly Pole To Pole.