0:00:08 > 0:00:15The only continent on earth with no native human population.
0:00:15 > 0:00:21But Antarctica's coasts are teeming with life.
0:00:21 > 0:00:28So how can scientists study and protect that wildlife
0:00:28 > 0:00:33year-round through the harshest winter on the planet?
0:00:33 > 0:00:36I'm Victoria Gill and I'm following a team of scientists who
0:00:36 > 0:00:39are setting up remote cameras in penguin colonies here.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45Here in the Antarctic Peninsula, penguins are largely declining.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47Why?
0:00:47 > 0:00:48That's OK, bud.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51I want to understand what the threats are to penguins
0:00:51 > 0:00:54in this region and how to get rid of those threats.
0:00:57 > 0:01:02Climate change is already having an impact on penguin populations here.
0:01:02 > 0:01:08So what can Antarctica's most famous residents reveal about the future of
0:01:08 > 0:01:10our planet's greatest wilderness?
0:01:28 > 0:01:32We are on the shortest possible crossing to Antarctica
0:01:32 > 0:01:36from the southern tip of Argentina.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40It's actually quite hard to breathe when you put your face in the wind.
0:01:40 > 0:01:45It takes more than two days to cross the infamously rough Southern Ocean.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48We're about half a day's sail away from the Antarctic
0:01:48 > 0:01:51peninsular, and I guess this is the weather they talk about when you've
0:01:52 > 0:01:55got to cross the Drake Passage.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57The winds are uninterrupted by any landmass.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59And yes, pretty brisk.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02We've got our first iceberg just over my
0:02:02 > 0:02:05shoulder, which is very exciting.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10It might look uninviting but this is a highly productive ocean.
0:02:10 > 0:02:15It's the foundation of the Antarctic food chain.
0:02:15 > 0:02:19Seabirds, including glider like albatrosses,
0:02:19 > 0:02:25follow the ship throughout our 1000-kilometre voyage.
0:02:25 > 0:02:32But these displays are only a glimpse of why scientists make
0:02:32 > 0:02:36this journey and of what's to come.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45Antarctica is this vast thermostat for planet Earth, so we need to
0:02:45 > 0:02:48understand what's happening here, not just to protect its wildlife but
0:02:48 > 0:02:52to predict what's going to happen to our own climate in the future in
0:02:52 > 0:03:04places that are much more populated than this. There's a glimpse of
0:03:04 > 0:03:06Antarctica, even more spectacular than I could have thought.
0:03:06 > 0:03:12Gorgeous day, perfect day for camera setups.
0:03:12 > 0:03:13Perfect day for penguins.
0:03:13 > 0:03:15On the deck of our ship, the Ocean Endeavour, I meet
0:03:15 > 0:03:18Antarctic biologist Tom Hart.
0:03:18 > 0:03:23He's been working here for ten years and spent
0:03:23 > 0:03:26the last five setting up a network of penguin monitoring cameras.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29This is the first of just five days he'll have to work
0:03:29 > 0:03:31in the peninsular.
0:03:31 > 0:03:36So as soon as he spies the mainland he's making a plan.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39The harbour is at the eastern end of the bay.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43But a day like this here is rare.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47The sun's out and it's a balmy zero centigrade.
0:03:48 > 0:03:50Landing ashore, though, can be risky.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54Weather conditions can suddenly change and we have to be prepared.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58OK, a quick safety check, has everyone got water?
0:03:58 > 0:04:03Tom and his team will go ashore more than a dozen times during this trip,
0:04:03 > 0:04:07but every landing is taken very seriously.
0:04:07 > 0:04:16OK, let's go.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18And it's not just about personal safety, we have to
0:04:18 > 0:04:20protect the environment here too.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23This is the gangway on the side of the ship where we get onto
0:04:23 > 0:04:24a smaller boat.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27Before we go ashore, we have to wash our boots.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29We can't take anything onto the Antarctic mainland
0:04:29 > 0:04:34which wouldn't be there.
0:04:37 > 0:04:43It's just a short ride from the ship to reach the shore.
0:04:43 > 0:04:46But with relatively sparse sea ice, access to this bay and its nesting
0:04:46 > 0:04:51residents is smooth sailing.
0:04:51 > 0:04:57Here in their hundreds, these are gentoo penguins.
0:04:57 > 0:05:03This is one of the cameras.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06Right.
0:05:06 > 0:05:12As you can see there are a bunch of nests in view.
0:05:12 > 0:05:19This is the cool one, it takes a photo every hour all year
0:05:19 > 0:05:22which shows when they arrive, when they depart,
0:05:22 > 0:05:24the reproductive success, which chicks survive and which don't.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27But this has to survive an entire Antarctic winter.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30It actually looks surprisingly simple to me.
0:05:30 > 0:05:35It's simple, very cheap, a basket of rocks that holds up
0:05:35 > 0:05:37the pole and that works.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40It's light so we can carry it up here, we can buy these locally
0:05:40 > 0:05:42or ship them round the world.
0:05:49 > 0:05:54These penguins provide scientists with a barometer of Antarctic
0:05:54 > 0:05:56environmental change.
0:05:56 > 0:06:00The birds will return to this exposed rocky spot every year.
0:06:00 > 0:06:06Gentoo nests painstakingly built from valuable bite-size stones that
0:06:06 > 0:06:11they seek out are vital to protect eggs and chicks
0:06:11 > 0:06:13from the ice-cold ground.
0:06:14 > 0:06:18As few as a quarter of these birds will survive their first year,
0:06:18 > 0:06:22but those that do will return to this site as adults to breed.
0:06:22 > 0:06:27What Tom's camera's capturing here, and what he's come all this way to
0:06:27 > 0:06:30retrieve, is a rare glimpse of a whole year in
0:06:30 > 0:06:33that struggle against the elements.
0:06:34 > 0:06:38What we're going to do today is check this camera, change
0:06:38 > 0:06:41the batteries and the SD card, then that's good for another year.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44There are a number of threats to penguins.
0:06:44 > 0:06:48We understand some of them and we don't understand others.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52This is the equivalent of having 70-100 biologists all around
0:06:52 > 0:06:56Antarctica and simultaneously recording and comparing notes, and
0:06:56 > 0:07:00they do that 365 days of the year without complaining how cold it is.
0:07:00 > 0:07:12With the first camera reloaded its back to the ship to prepare for the
0:07:12 > 0:07:15With the first camera reloaded it's back to the ship to prepare
0:07:15 > 0:07:18for the first landing in just two hours.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21The Ocean Endeavour is the base for the scientists, but this isn't
0:07:21 > 0:07:25a research expedition, this is a tourist cruise.
0:07:28 > 0:07:31The researchers work in partnership with an American tour
0:07:31 > 0:07:35company, so they are amongst almost 200 holidaymakers on this trip,
0:07:35 > 0:07:41but nearly 4,000 tourists will have visited Antarctica this season,
0:07:41 > 0:07:44but nearly 40,000 tourists will have visited Antarctica this season,
0:07:44 > 0:07:45hoping for close-up encounters like this.
0:07:45 > 0:07:51A century ago a place that explorers risked their lives just to set foot,
0:07:51 > 0:07:55Antarctica is now an adventure traveller's dream destination.
0:07:55 > 0:08:04The team has now installed 40 cameras throughout the peninsular.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06Try and get it nice and tight.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09Some like the one here on Booth Island are more difficult to
0:08:09 > 0:08:11reach than others.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15Touring from place to place like this means they can visit up
0:08:15 > 0:08:18to three of these sites everyday.
0:08:18 > 0:08:23They'll have their first glimpse of what the cameras captured
0:08:23 > 0:08:25when they are back aboard.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29For now the aim is to reach as many of their monitored colonies
0:08:29 > 0:08:31as possible.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35To make the most of every excursion once they've
0:08:35 > 0:08:43retrieved images from the camera, Tom and his colleague, Ph.D.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45student, set about gathering a very different type
0:08:45 > 0:08:50of information from the penguins.
0:08:50 > 0:08:51Hey, buddy.
0:08:51 > 0:08:53So today I'm collecting a bit of guano sample,
0:08:53 > 0:08:54essentially penguin poo.
0:08:54 > 0:08:58I'm also getting a couple of swabs on some adults and chicks,
0:08:58 > 0:09:01and we're looking to see if the viruses and the microbes are
0:09:01 > 0:09:03shared from adult to chick since the adults recurred to take
0:09:03 > 0:09:05their food and feed their chicks.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11It's actually a fairly common procedure.
0:09:11 > 0:09:13I'm not sure it's ever been done on camera.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16Sometimes it involves a little bit more defensive posturing on my part.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19It's OK, bud.
0:09:19 > 0:09:21But it's generally OK and pretty quick.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24It's OK. It's OK.
0:09:28 > 0:09:29For Antarctic biology, this is a very special site.
0:09:29 > 0:09:38All three species of penguin that inhabit the
0:09:38 > 0:09:41peninsular, gentoos, chinstraps and adelie penguins nest here together.
0:09:41 > 0:09:45For disease monitoring it's really cool to be able to be in
0:09:45 > 0:09:49a place where we can see if diseases or bacteria and viruses are shared
0:09:49 > 0:09:54across the three species whether they are live together or not.
0:09:54 > 0:09:58This is a new vein of conservation research.
0:09:58 > 0:10:02Very little is known about the impact of disease here.
0:10:02 > 0:10:08But along with climate change, that scientists have already linked
0:10:08 > 0:10:11to declines in chinstrap and adelie penguins, it is a suspected threat.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13This is an area where policies tend to be
0:10:13 > 0:10:17implemented that might be damaging and then only when the research
0:10:17 > 0:10:20shows that things are damaging are they reversed, I think it should be
0:10:20 > 0:10:21more pre-emptive and proactive.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24Getting that data with the cameras and now getting the baseline disease
0:10:24 > 0:10:28data is an important way to set things up properly for the future.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49This project provides scientists with Antarctic CCTV,
0:10:49 > 0:10:52a window into how exactly this environment is changing,
0:10:52 > 0:10:57and what might be done to help.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09Having spent the day ashore captivated by the wildlife,
0:11:09 > 0:11:12I can't wait to see what the remote cameras have been gathering when
0:11:12 > 0:11:14there's no-one here to witness it.
0:11:14 > 0:11:14Hello.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17At the end of each day the ship will move on,
0:11:17 > 0:11:20and it's during these journeys that Tom finally has a chance to see
0:11:20 > 0:11:30what his cameras have captured.
0:11:30 > 0:11:33These are some of the cards you have got from this trip?
0:11:33 > 0:11:35This is everything from this morning and yesterday.
0:11:35 > 0:11:35Has everything worked?
0:11:35 > 0:11:36Do you have...
0:11:36 > 0:11:37Looks like it.
0:11:37 > 0:11:38Great, that must be a relief.
0:11:38 > 0:11:39Yeah, massive relief.
0:11:39 > 0:11:40That's really good.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43So that is a year in the life of that penguin colony.
0:11:43 > 0:11:43Yes.
0:11:43 > 0:11:48That's amazing.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50The cameras captured a glimpse of every hour
0:11:50 > 0:11:56of an entire Antarctic year.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59This network means researchers can see how penguin colonies are
0:11:59 > 0:12:01affected by weather, and by human activities like tourism and fishing.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04So you're just going to scroll through all these images?
0:12:04 > 0:12:04Absolutely.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08This is the early stage of a long-term monitoring project, and it
0:12:08 > 0:12:12has been revealing some unexpected information, including how penguins
0:12:12 > 0:12:15seem to use all that messy guano to clear the ice, leaving
0:12:15 > 0:12:17the rocks ready for nesting.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22The times when you are not here, seeing what is going on
0:12:22 > 0:12:25in winter is really beautiful, and it is just something that you
0:12:25 > 0:12:27wouldn't get to see.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30So nobody gets to see these cycles in the way that we get to see them.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40Another day, another icy journey to the next site.
0:12:40 > 0:12:46We sail through the famously stunning Lemaire Channel.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49Tourists gather on deck to take in the scenery and the wildlife,
0:12:49 > 0:12:56including this large pod of orcas.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59As we approach the end of this narrow passage,
0:12:59 > 0:13:02our path is blocked by the ice, but that brings us even closer to
0:13:02 > 0:13:08some of Antarctica's inhabitants.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14The icy platform these animals rely on looks substantial, but it
0:13:14 > 0:13:18is relatively thin and brittle.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21A careful nudge satisfies the crew that we can safely push through,
0:13:21 > 0:13:23and we are back on our way.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36Over the course of the next few days,
0:13:36 > 0:13:43we visit ten different colonies.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46The team is also counting the birds, working closely with the US
0:13:46 > 0:13:49organisation.
0:13:49 > 0:13:55Since 1994, they have been tracking migrations on this peninsula.
0:13:55 > 0:14:00But as their network grows, they are amassing millions
0:14:00 > 0:14:05of images, too much data for them to study on their own.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09The solution - enlisting the public's help.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12All of the images will go online, in a vast Antarctic citizens'
0:14:12 > 0:14:14science project.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17The team wants as many eyes as possible helping them to monitor
0:14:17 > 0:14:20the birds' survival.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24For the first time, people really can take part in Antarctic research
0:14:24 > 0:14:26from anywhere in the world.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29And we really need them, because we have millions of images.
0:14:29 > 0:14:30We can't do this without them.
0:14:30 > 0:14:35This will make a difference to how we manage Antarctica.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44Science is the one human activity that is truly prioritised
0:14:44 > 0:14:48and promoted in Antarctica.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52In a land with no borders, where there has never been a war,
0:14:52 > 0:14:57a land that belongs to no state, 30 countries operate research bases.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00Each one is a microcosm of national culture.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03And with Antarctic summer tourism growing, many of them,
0:15:03 > 0:15:05like the Ukrainian Vernadsky Research Base, welcome visitors
0:15:05 > 0:15:09into their little world.
0:15:18 > 0:15:22It is the world's most remote gift shop.
0:15:27 > 0:15:32Apparently if you leave your bra you can get a free shot of booze.
0:15:32 > 0:15:37I'm not going to do that.
0:15:37 > 0:15:39It is the relatively busy summer research season, and the scientists,
0:15:39 > 0:15:44all male, live and work on-base.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47The people running the gift shop and serving drinks at
0:15:47 > 0:15:52the bar are also botanists, marine biologists, and climate scientists.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55It is an isolated existence here, and just 12 men will make this
0:15:55 > 0:15:58place their home throughout the long Antarctic winter.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01How is it to live here for 14 months?
0:16:01 > 0:16:02That's a long time.
0:16:02 > 0:16:04It is a long expedition.
0:16:04 > 0:16:06Yeah.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09And during this expedition I made 100 dives.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12You dive there?
0:16:12 > 0:16:14Yes.
0:16:14 > 0:16:16So you do marine research.
0:16:16 > 0:16:20I am a scuba diver.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23I made this myself.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26That is lovely.
0:16:26 > 0:16:31We have, in winter, a lot of.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34This used to be a British research base.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37It was sold to Ukraine in 1996, and with it an instrument that was
0:16:37 > 0:16:41key in a major Antarctic discovery.
0:16:41 > 0:16:45This is the station where the ozone hole was discovered in 1985.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48A lot of ultraviolet comes here.
0:16:48 > 0:16:55Outside, only 20 minutes, you have red skin.
0:16:55 > 0:17:00It seems typical of an Antarctic research base to find
0:17:00 > 0:17:02an instrument that gathered information that changed the world
0:17:02 > 0:17:03in someone's bedroom.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06This is Nobel Prize-winning research that went on here.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09That is about as rock 'n' roll as it gets in science.
0:17:09 > 0:17:10That's...
0:17:10 > 0:17:14That's amazing to see.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17For the tourists we are travelling with, this is a curious glimpse
0:17:17 > 0:17:20of the people who work here.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23But for these visitors, who are from all over the world
0:17:23 > 0:17:25and of a surprisingly wide age range, Antarctica's allure is
0:17:25 > 0:17:27its landscape.
0:17:28 > 0:17:29How old are you?
0:17:29 > 0:17:31Nine.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33Nine, and is this your first time in Antarctica?
0:17:33 > 0:17:34Yes.
0:17:34 > 0:17:36What do you think of it?
0:17:36 > 0:17:39It's awesome.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42I look at it as looking at God.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44This is God's hand, this is God's handiwork.
0:17:44 > 0:17:50I mean, it is stunning.
0:17:50 > 0:17:54You can tell stories, you can show your mates, "I have these photos,"
0:17:54 > 0:17:58but until you are actually here, it doesn't do it justice.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09We are here to provide people a way to see this, and experience
0:18:09 > 0:18:13it, and build a relationship to it, and have a reason for it to be
0:18:13 > 0:18:16relevant to their lives.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19We are really attentive to impacts.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22So we have, you know, a series of guidelines that we follow,
0:18:22 > 0:18:25and the International Association for Antarctic Tour Operators is
0:18:25 > 0:18:30a really good example of industry advancing on regulation.
0:18:30 > 0:18:32You know, we have collectively decided we want
0:18:32 > 0:18:35to be really as light-handed as we can, and these are the things
0:18:35 > 0:18:39we are going to do to do that.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47There is a certain paradox in the very fact of bringing large groups
0:18:48 > 0:18:50of people to a pristine environment.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53But by being on this cruise, these tourists are subsidising
0:18:53 > 0:18:55Antarctic science.
0:18:57 > 0:18:59We have quite a close partnership.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02We would never have the access without them.
0:19:02 > 0:19:04They drop us off where we want to go, and
0:19:04 > 0:19:06in return we educate their tourists about conservation, and hopefully
0:19:07 > 0:19:13inspire them to conserve penguins.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16But even with scientists on board, should tourist ships visit
0:19:16 > 0:19:20Antarctica at all?
0:19:20 > 0:19:23What does it make you feel to see a troop of tourists in yellow
0:19:23 > 0:19:25parkas walking along the shore?
0:19:25 > 0:19:29It gets odd, it is really odd.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32But the data suggest that tourism is not having an impact.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34There are far bigger threats, and these are threats that are
0:19:34 > 0:19:37actually going unchecked.
0:19:37 > 0:19:39Because of tourism there has been clean-ups of scientific bases,
0:19:39 > 0:19:42and that is ongoing.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45It is actually only going to improve with the internet, and with
0:19:45 > 0:19:49people reporting the bad stuff.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53That's what actually forces governments to clean their act up.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56This is high-end ecotourism.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58Tom's lectures are full.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00The passengers want to learn more about
0:20:00 > 0:20:01the environment they are visiting.
0:20:01 > 0:20:05But some of the travellers aboard have spent up to $15,000 to come
0:20:05 > 0:20:10here, so they want to have some fun.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13On the ship, one of the things you can do is an
0:20:13 > 0:20:16activity called polar plunge, which is pretty much what it sounds like.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18A dip in the sea.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21These people in front of me are queueing to jump
0:20:21 > 0:20:24into the sea in Antarctica.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27The lack of judgement on display in this room is pretty phenomenal.
0:20:29 > 0:20:30I'm terrified.
0:20:30 > 0:20:36This has actual sea ice.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40Swimming in near-freezing water is a one-off experience, in what for most
0:20:40 > 0:20:45will be a once-in-a-lifetime trip.
0:20:50 > 0:20:51How is it? How is it?
0:20:51 > 0:20:53Holy BLEEP!
0:20:53 > 0:20:55How is it, without swearing?
0:20:55 > 0:21:00It's cold.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05With the water just a fraction of a degree above freezing,
0:21:05 > 0:21:06you can't swim for long.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09I managed to last just over 30 seconds.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12It's so cold!
0:21:14 > 0:21:18With experiences like this, and the brutal beauty of this place,
0:21:18 > 0:21:22you can see what brings the growing number of visitors.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25But what drives people like Tom to spend months every year working
0:21:25 > 0:21:29here, and to keep coming back?
0:21:29 > 0:21:31I'm really trying to make a difference, but there's no doubt
0:21:31 > 0:21:37that this is personally just very very rewarding.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41Sites like this, even when you are focused on the science,
0:21:41 > 0:21:45and you forget every now and then to look up, after a few hours you
0:21:45 > 0:21:49look up, and it's phenomenal.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53So, yeah, there's really - yeah, kind of feeds your soul.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01So there is - this is the last camera for this expedition now.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04For this one.
0:22:04 > 0:22:06And so I think that is...
0:22:06 > 0:22:08That's it for this year, for this camera, anyway.
0:22:08 > 0:22:13And now it's just to turn it on, and fingers crossed.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17So does that mean we can go back to the ship now for a cup of tea?
0:22:17 > 0:22:18Yes, let's go.
0:22:18 > 0:22:19Excellent.
0:22:23 > 0:22:25The penguins are unbelievably cute, but beyond that,
0:22:25 > 0:22:29they are such an important part of the ecosystem here.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34Watching over that ecosystem, as it responds to man-made threats
0:22:34 > 0:22:38like climate change, pollution and fishing, will take time.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41But this project will eventually provide a view of the impact people
0:22:41 > 0:22:44are having on this environment,, and on the wildlife that inhabits
0:22:44 > 0:22:47our planet's last great wilderness.
0:23:09 > 0:23:10Hello, welcome to the weekend.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13It starts for Saturday with warm, sunny spells for many.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16But the threat of heavy and thundery downpours for some.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19In fact, this zone here, already first thing in the morning,
0:23:19 > 0:23:22a few showers and thunderstorms starting to break out.