Episode 3 Wild Alaska Live


Episode 3

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We are going big in Alaska. Over the next hour we are going to be

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watching as the biggest beasts stand shoulder to shoulder to make the

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most of this feast. We'll be watching it all live. Shia in the

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national park the largest land predators are coming together, vying

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for top position as the salmon make headway upriver. Out here on the

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ocean, the most massive marine predators have gathered to plunder

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the season in style. This is Wild Alaska Live.

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MUSIC: "Running With The Wolves" by Aurora.

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# I'm running with the wolves tonight

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# I'm running with the wolves tonight

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# I'm running with the wolves tonight

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# I'm running with the wolves tonight

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Hello and welcome back to Wild Alaska Live. Let's have a look at

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our live cameras if we can. There is no bear action at the moment but we

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are watching from the Tongass National Forest. 4500 miles from

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where you are watching at home. We've got crews all over the

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wilderness. We also have our eye in the sky for the last time, as it is

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our last programme. Debbie and Daniel are just off the coast near

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Juneau and scanning the oceans. Steve is going in search of one of

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the biggest wildlife spectacles that we know has arrived. How are things

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looking at the moment? Absolutely unbelievable. We've had dramatic

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spectacles in the seas around us. Just minutes ago we had an explosion

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of life as about 11 humpback whales erupted up to the surface in

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something known as bubble net feeding. It was quite an exceptional

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thing to see. There are several thousand humpback whales coming to

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this area of Alaska. When you see this coordinated, synchronised hunt,

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it takes your breath away. Every single time they come to the

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surface, huge shoals of herring and taking down tonnes with every single

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hunt. It has, arguably, a call to be one of the grandest wildlife

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spectacles on the planet and it's happening in the seas around us

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right now. And welcome back, it is a beautiful, peaceful morning here.

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The sun is out and the bears are taking it easy. There is no sign of

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them quite yet. Last time you were with us we treated you to

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magnificent images of the wolves scavenging. Now as the salmon are

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travelling in one direction upriver, things are getting even more

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interesting. Some of the biggest bears we've seen yet are arriving.

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Just who is the king of this stretch of the river? Not only that but has

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the biggest bears and bravest wolves come together will try and get you

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some of that action, live. We'll be back with you shortly. Just the word

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on the bubble netting, if it starts to happen we'll go to Steve live

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straightaway so you can watch as the magic unfolds. Here in the Tonga

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will part, the rivers and trees that surround us are ripe with food. That

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is the case across a Alaska which is why we are here right now. Since we

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last saw you, our teams haven't stopped filming. This is just some

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of what they've captured. So, we're on bubble net stand-by and

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brown bear stand-by, and black bear stand-by. Black bears are all around

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us and could pop out at any time. Let's give you an idea of how many

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of the species we have been observing over the last week. We'll

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start down here at Katmai National Park where Liz is stationed. As far

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as Brown bears are concerned, she's seen up to 30 of those. Things

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looking very good indeed. We think the whales are up. If they start

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bubble net feeding we'll go straight to Steve. While we are talking about

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marine life, let's go to the Kenai Straits. We did a piece on orca.

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Numbers orca at the moment 187. I'll deal with famine while I'm down

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here. At the moment, 59 million salmon have been counted. I don't

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know who was counting them but it's very impressive. 59 million. On

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Wednesday it was at 50 million. There has been a real increase as

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well there. Eagle numbers in the Chilcot Valley at the top of this

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stretch of water here, we are talking 3000 eagles. Black bear

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numbers, we are on the lookout for them. Nine have been spotted just in

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this place here alone. This is the great time to bring our head range

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at the Tongass National Forest. We wanted to bring black bears live to

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the UK audience. We are on the lookout and actually we've noticed a

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really interesting change in their behaviour in the past week. That's

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right, the salmon are in and the bears are after them. We've noticed

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especially in the case of 153, she's been taking her three cubs out into

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the water to teach them how to fish. Exactly. We noticed yesterday and

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the day before. This is mum in the stream. She's got three cubs, there

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is one of them jumping in the stream. He's looking around,

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pretending like he knows what he's doing but it's all an experiment

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because he's in his first year in the stream. Some of the salmon are

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as big as the clubs themselves! They are! This guy seems to be more

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worried about the salmon and interested in catching them. A

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bird's eye view for this one. Checking out the salmon from above.

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LAUGHTER Really, they only have this summer to learn how to fish from

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their mum. In that very first programme, we are talking about the

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fact these cubs were born in the den, coming out and experiencing

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this environment for the very first time. You'd the smells and the sense

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of smell that aids bear has anyway -- a bear has anyway. During this

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programme we are going to be finding out more about these heroic fish

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that make their way here. They are the winners. They've dodged all of

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the obstacles. They are going to be the key to us potentially spotting

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black bears live. I've got a great question. How competitive do the

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Cubs get with their food? They are always battling each other to try

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and get those scraps. You can hear sometimes the bawling after the mum

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brings the fish and they are going at it with each other. They will

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continue to compete but also cooperate. As usual we've got our

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experts here so if you have any questions please get in contact.

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We'll also be popping up live on Facebook with our remote cameras and

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updating you with any animal sightings. One animal that really

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did take us by surprise on that first programme was the Wolf down

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here in Katmai. Liz has spotted nine wolves in that area. All this week

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as well as living with brown bears, Liz has been following on the trail

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of this Alaskan icon. Wolves. The ultimate wilderness icons.

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Masters of stealth, these strategic predators thrive in the harshest

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environments. Altered thick coat shield them from temperatures as low

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as -50 degrees. And when food is scarce, they can go

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for 14 days without a meal. Super packs patrol together to increase

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chances of a kill. Stalking caribou and elk for days on end. At speeds

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of 40 mph, they will drive their targets into deep snow to overwhelm

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prey much bigger than themselves. But there are two sides to these

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elusive animals. With complex social structures, they live in large

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family groups, working together to raise litters of up to seven pups.

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With the youngsters to feed and no snow to help them bring down large

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prey, this is the wolves' toughest time of the year. HOWLS. So, we are

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moving down river to a key fishing spot for the bears and wolves. We've

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got no bears and wolves right now but we have wonderful live images of

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humpback whales moving along the coastline. When they come together

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like that, normally solitary creatures, that means they've come

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together to feed. Fingers crossed we'll get you bubble netting live.

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They are just breathtaking. Ever since we've arrived, we've spotted

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wolves near the camp and we've also got to those really great images of

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the wolves amongst the bears on the coast. Now we're getting to know

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that one particular pack. They keep coming over towards this patch of

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the river. Our head guide is still with us, thank goodness! You know

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them pretty well. How well are they doing? How many are in the pack?

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We've known for about five years. They started with four and are up to

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seven. Why are we seeing them as solitary animals right now? Right

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now they are fishing at the Creek and the other ones have gone to

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other areas to see if they can find anything else to eat. Is that

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because there aren't enough salmon quite yet? It is. Once the salmon

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start surging up the creeks, the pack will start fishing together.

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Why are they always spotted coming over this stretch of river in

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particular? They are coming from upriver where the rendezvous sites

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are. This section is a lot easier for them to catch fish because the

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fish get caught on the sand bars and it makes life easier. We know

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they've preyed on moose, elk and caribou, why would they target

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salmon? It is easier to catch. The risk reward ratio is better and the

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fat content is great. If I was a wolf I know I would. Just like the

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bears, the walls are seeking out this highly nutritious food source.

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The salmon get caught and there are footprints of the wolves all along

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the river bank. Beside them, the huge paw of bears. They've got scent

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glands on the pads of their feet signalling what their age is, how

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dominant or subordinate they might be to the other bears. It's a great

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way of communicating who you are. But I really, really wanted to show

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you one of these. These are littered across the river bank us well. This

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is an bear daybed. These are dug out by bears pretty much whenever and

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wherever they please. They can dig these out with a view swipes of

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their massive paws that act as huge shovels. There are two functions.

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The first is actually to help them to cool down. Bears have two layers

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of fur. They have a softer highly insulating fur underneath and at

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this time of year it might be a bit cool for us, but it's really warm

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for the bears. They are revealing deep underneath, waterlogged sand

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is what they like and then they lie in it to cool down. Look at the size

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of this cavity. This is to make space for their big fat bellies as

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they lie down full of salmon, so they can buy just easily. It's only

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when you get into one that you realise how big they are. This is

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only the space for their bellies. Incredible stuff. The tide is still

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going out in Katmai and that means the fish are most likely going to

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start getting caught in the sand bars. There are still no bears

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around. Hopefully now as there are more salmon getting caught we might

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see some bears and wolves. We are going to keep our cameras focused on

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the River we'll see you soon. So, the images that Liz has been

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bringing us of bears and wolves out in broad daylight and totally

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oblivious to Liz and the crew are very much due to the vast expanse of

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wilderness that we have in Alaska. We are looking at some of that from

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an eagle eye view up in our helicopter. This is our group of

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humpback whales travelling. There are several thousand in this area at

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this time of year. Most of them are hunting individually, perhaps two or

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three at a time. When you get them coming together in large groups,

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that's when the magic really happens. At present there is a group

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of 11 animals and they are travelling in quite a dispersed

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group. They haven't yet focused together in the sense that shows me

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they are likely to begin bubble net feeding yet. When that happens you

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will see them died simultaneously and that's when we will know

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everything will kick-off. From the air what you see, which is hard to

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see at sea-level, is the site of the white fins coming to the surface

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almost like wings as they travel along. That is the largest limb in

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nature, as much as five metres in length, driving them through the

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water almost like wings. It's something you really only see from

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this wonderful... You can see at the top of your screen. That is part of

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the scientific name of these humpback whales.

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The hyper abundance of food is drawing them together. They are

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feeding on herring. Herring are brought here by the same forces that

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drive the aggregations of salmon. You have all the freshwater running

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down from the glaciers to the sea, causing up welling of nutrients,

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feeding plankton, which feeds herring. It can lead to hundreds of

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millions of animals strong, and can be seen from space. They are the

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things drawing in these marvellous, enormous whales.

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The mighty humpback whale, these 15 metre giants are longer than a

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double-decker bus. One flipper alone can be five metres

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long. And massive tail foods can propel their 40 tonnes up into the

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air. Some travel 10,000 miles to reach

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some of feeding grounds, barely eating along the way.

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For those that arrive in Alaskan waters, they will show off

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extraordinary hunting skills. Working in teams, they form rings of

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bubbles, trapping fish and forcing them to the surface.

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Their colossal mouse will suck in 1.5 tonnes of herring, even small

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salmon every day, to make up for four months of farming on their epic

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migration. Now they are here, has it been worth the trip?

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That is very much what we are hoping to find out, after all the summer

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months here in Alaska are just as important to our whales as they are

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to the bears. They feast on the salmon to build up fat reserves to

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take them through winter. The whales are doing the same thing, because

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through their winter, they won't feed either. They will travel to

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Hawaii and back. In enormous migrations, they live off their fat

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reserves. Here and now is critical. Let me show you a bit of my boat

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because it is the perfect whale watching platform. Most of the time,

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it is used for taking tourists out to view whales. We have a captain

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and crew that no disease intimately. Even though the individual whales as

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well. We have made if you alterations to turn it into a

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filming platform, so we ripped out a bunch of seats, we asked if we could

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first, and put in transmitting equipment. We have an editing desk,

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scientists on board to help us identify exact whales. And this

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fabulous space age camera, which is stabilised, and can look out as far

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as a mile on rough seas to allow us to get shots of whales. Daniel, you

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are up in the helicopter looking down. He is in the same area as ask,

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is there anything you can see right now?

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We are up in the helicopter, and below us there are nine whales. A

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few minutes ago, they were bubble net feeding, and we will follow them

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to see if they bubble net feed again. As soon as we see it, we will

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bring it to you live. We are so, so lucky to have those

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guys up in the helicopter. They have brought us superb views. We have

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seen whales around us all the time, but they have managed to find a

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group we have been following for the last four days or so. We have 11

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animals, Daniel says not, perhaps two have disbursed. As many as 11,

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one is a cough that was borne no more than six months ago, enjoying

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its first Alaskan summer. They have been bubble net feeding over and

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over, and over again. Truly, if we could capture that live on camera,

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you are going to have a very, very excited crew here. We believe it

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would be a first, not seen before on live television, and we have all the

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tools at our disposal. Everyone back at base camp, keep your fingers

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crossed for us. We will! Debbie and Daniel are only

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ten miles away from where we are. It is the most magical and incredible

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place. Thinking of the ocean out there, you know well that the salmon

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that have arrived here, winning fish that are going to be spawning in the

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next few days have through an incredible amount of thanks to and

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obstacles. I mean, we are talking salmon sharks, orcas. These are the

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best of the best. Less than 1% make it back to a successful spot. They

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have made it here. The timing is absolute perfection. The timing is

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perfect, the temperatures warms up, the spring flows have calmed down,

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allowing fish to come in. This gives the egg is plenty of time to start

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hatching and developing in the gravel, and hat in the winter time.

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We have wonderful shots of the red salmon jumping. We find to stand in

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this area, because they are making nests a bit further away from where

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we are. That is correct. The females look for places that have good

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oxygenation for the eggs. Right here is a good spot. As far as the nests

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are concerned, they are quite sizeable. They end up being a good

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size. The female selects a spot, and turns on its side, moving some of

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the gravel out of the way. It makes a bit of a pit, and they put their

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eggs in the gravel to make a nest. How much water does she need above

:21:57.:22:01.

that nest am and what are the ideal conditions? It can be surprisingly

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thin water at times. As long as it stays covered most of the year,

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through the winter time, it will be fine for the eggs. They are just

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like patches, really, on the gravel bottom. We can see the males

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circling, and they become very territorial, and quite aggressive

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towards each other. Exactly. Once she selects a spot, she will start

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digging, and it attracts the attention of the males, they will

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vie for her attention. We have some fighting and wrestling here as well.

:22:35.:22:39.

You can see the red colouring, and the huge jaw that develops. Exactly.

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Their teeth become more prominent. The males use that to fight for the

:22:44.:22:49.

rights to make on the spawning ground. They are not afraid to bite

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each other. They hook up and the spawning process starts. This is

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quite incredible in itself. The fish start opening their mouths. The

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female wants as many eggs as she releases to get into the nest as

:23:06.:23:09.

possible. Anywhere there is current, it sweeps the eggs away. By opening

:23:10.:23:14.

their mouths, it allows their bodies to get more drag, sinking them down

:23:15.:23:21.

closer to the gravel. If they don't make it into the nest, the eggs are

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gone. At the other end, what is the success rate of the eggs? How many

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fish do you expect to leave here and return? I think about 100,000 leave

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this system in spring, and we get 1000 or 2000 adults escape to make

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it back to successfully spawn, usually less than 1%. As far as the

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returning ones are concerned, you call them the escapement. Anything

:23:50.:23:54.

that makes it back, these are the best. It is a beautiful process. I'm

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sure. With over 5000 rivers and streams here in Tongass, there are

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salmon everywhere. The key for them getting into the breeding sites is

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safety in numbers, especially when there are walls like this. We have a

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wolf here jumping around in the shallows to find his dinner. Rightly

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so. Liz is in the area, have you seen wolves this morning?

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Matt, we saw two wolves this morning strolling down the river bank, but

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they have disappeared. However, the bears have reappeared. Three we had

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early on. It was quiet and peaceful, and beautiful, but thankfully, now,

:24:46.:24:49.

they are on the river bank. Salmon are getting caught in the shallows,

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and this bear is having a go. So far, there are no salmon in his

:24:54.:24:56.

mouth, but we will keep an eye on him. As you mentioned, yes, there

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are wolves all around here in Katmai. They focus on the salmon,

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but they are also known to take cubs. We introduced you to a mother

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on Sunday, and she has to be wary of it. We filmed her in a meadow a

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couple of days ago, and here is what happened. A solitary wolf appeared.

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With her stance and behaviour, you can see he is hunting for voles and

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mice. The cubs are wary because, even though the cubs are two and a

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half, a single wolf might not be able to take a two and a half year

:25:36.:25:39.

old on its own, but it can summon other members of the pack to take

:25:40.:25:45.

down a cub. You can see Anna has taught her cubs well. They get up on

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their hind legs, and they can call the alarm for their mum as well.

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Great page. The wolf on this occasion has no interest. He is

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looking at the cubs and the mother, and it is not worth the effort and

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risk of injury. But a few seconds later, and had to be on her guard

:26:04.:26:07.

against. A male bear appeared out of the trees. Mail bears are a constant

:26:08.:26:18.

threat, they get up on their hindlegs and the cubs and her move

:26:19.:26:22.

away, bolting to the other side of the meadow. It goes to show how well

:26:23.:26:29.

she has taught the cubs. They stick to her side. They are doing the job

:26:30.:26:33.

of being on sentry duty for their mum. That is really important. Even

:26:34.:26:41.

just in those two moments, and seeing her teaching her cubs to fish

:26:42.:26:46.

on our last programme, as they were learning to snorkel, it shows Anna

:26:47.:26:50.

is a terrific mum. The cubs are doing really well, it is her second

:26:51.:26:56.

litter. Gives the signs she will rear these successfully as well. As

:26:57.:27:01.

you can see, the bears are behind us. Bears appear all the time. This

:27:02.:27:05.

is when the hierarchy begins to take shape. You have one male on every

:27:06.:27:10.

stretch of river like this one, who assumes a top position. All the

:27:11.:27:15.

other bears in the area assume a rank beneath him. Because we have

:27:16.:27:19.

been here for a little bits now, we have spotted who the king of this

:27:20.:27:23.

river might be, and it is this magnificent chap, he is 12 years

:27:24.:27:26.

old. Whenever he is around, all the other bears no matter what age or

:27:27.:27:31.

sex, they move away, they don't try to challenge him at this river.

:27:32.:27:35.

Usually, body language will be effective enough. If you are going

:27:36.:27:40.

to be the top bear, inevitably, you have do have some battles. This is

:27:41.:27:45.

one of the bears that looks at him and walks away into the bushes. But

:27:46.:27:49.

look at him, he is bearing the scars of battle. He earned his position on

:27:50.:27:54.

the river. He has the run of the river now. The only potential threat

:27:55.:27:58.

that can come to him now is if another bear from another part of

:27:59.:28:03.

the river or another river has lost his Brown and wants a position

:28:04.:28:06.

somewhere else, and might come down here and try it out with this

:28:07.:28:10.

12-year-old. Look at him, he has the run of the river. He was joyfully

:28:11.:28:14.

hunting for salmon the day we filmed him. It was a beautiful thing to

:28:15.:28:20.

see. Let's take a look at the cameras before we leave you for a

:28:21.:28:26.

moment. We have bears on the river fishing this morning. He is quite

:28:27.:28:32.

quiet still. But we will keep an eye on who else appears. Certainly, we

:28:33.:28:36.

will look out for the king himself, and whether there are any wolves

:28:37.:28:38.

around. It is fascinating to look at the

:28:39.:28:45.

size of the brown bears now. At the start of the week, they were a

:28:46.:28:49.

different shape. It is incredible, the speed they fatten up once the

:28:50.:28:55.

salmon comes in, the 59 million that I was talking about earlier, that is

:28:56.:28:59.

just around the corner from where these bears are feasting, so proof

:29:00.:29:04.

that this feast is at a high point at the moment.

:29:05.:29:07.

We will turn our attention to the humans that live here. Everyone you

:29:08.:29:14.

talk to is connected in some way to fishing. 96% of Alaskans say salmon

:29:15.:29:18.

is essential to their way of life. This time of year is critical for

:29:19.:29:19.

fishermen like Joe Trotter. I have been fishing for salmon for

:29:20.:29:29.

the last 21 years. Picking the fish with your hands, out on the water

:29:30.:29:36.

every day. It is such a condensed part of the year, the salmon are

:29:37.:29:40.

only here for a month, a diesel which more. OK. I have had big

:29:41.:29:45.

seasons and small seasons. This year looks a decent one, there is quite a

:29:46.:29:47.

bit of fish out. They let us know if we can or can't

:29:48.:29:59.

fish. It is a tool to slow down the run or the amount of fish going up

:30:00.:30:03.

the river, or they close us down to let more fish up the river and

:30:04.:30:07.

ensure we have jobs and there is salmon up the river for generations

:30:08.:30:09.

to come. Sometimes all these boats are in one

:30:10.:30:19.

little section, and we are all fighting for that same spot with the

:30:20.:30:22.

fish coming across the line into the district. The nets are all tangled

:30:23.:30:30.

up. The guy has his web in that other guide's wheel. Some people

:30:31.:30:38.

don't really care about getting too close, there is a bit of etiquette

:30:39.:30:41.

but some people are still learning that one! LAUGHTER Drop it! We've

:30:42.:30:50.

been fishing the last three days straight, two opening today with a

:30:51.:30:55.

couple of hours sleep in between. We can start picking, guys. Can you

:30:56.:30:59.

imagine doing this eight hours a day, twice a day? Maybe get a couple

:31:00.:31:04.

of hours of sleep, then get up and do it again. We aren't here for a

:31:05.:31:09.

good time, we are here for a short time! We only have a month and a

:31:10.:31:17.

half to make a living. If we have a bad year it hits directly to the

:31:18.:31:26.

pocket. When you're out on the water, like nowhere else ever been.

:31:27.:31:32.

This is what I'm going to be, I'm going to be a fisher man. We are out

:31:33.:31:39.

there, bringing salmon to the world. We fished 41 hours straight before.

:31:40.:31:48.

It eat, sleep and fish. I'm now here with Carla who has told us so much

:31:49.:31:54.

about native Alaskan culture over the last week. As far as fishing is

:31:55.:31:57.

concerned how many of your family and friends are connected? Is easier

:31:58.:32:03.

to count how many are not connected the fishing. Whether they are

:32:04.:32:10.

fishing for personal consumption or commercial fishing. When do you

:32:11.:32:15.

decide to take fish from the waters and leave them to protect them for

:32:16.:32:20.

the next generation to come through? We watch the animals and learn from

:32:21.:32:24.

them. We make sure the first run of salmon are up into the stream to

:32:25.:32:30.

propagate so we know they'll return the next year. After the first run

:32:31.:32:33.

has happened then we will harvest our salmon. The interesting thing

:32:34.:32:40.

is, there are no farms around here. But you are harvesting from the

:32:41.:32:46.

land. At this time as far as other native cultures are concerned, what

:32:47.:32:50.

is happening right now? Everybody is getting their share of the land,

:32:51.:32:54.

whether it's from the beaches or from the ocean or from the bushes.

:32:55.:32:59.

We all make sure we utilise this time very well to stock up our

:33:00.:33:03.

pantries. You've kindly brought the contents of some of your cupboards

:33:04.:33:07.

so everybody can see the kind of things you are eating. Let's have a

:33:08.:33:12.

look, this is dried salmon. This is actually the main staple of the diet

:33:13.:33:19.

and what has sustained our people over 10,000 years and helped us

:33:20.:33:22.

survive the long winters. Smoked salmon. Fish eggs and black seaweed.

:33:23.:33:33.

When you come in of an evening you are preparing... A busy day at the

:33:34.:33:37.

office means nothing because we know we have to get back to work to put

:33:38.:33:44.

our food up. We heard earlier on about your connection to brown bears

:33:45.:33:48.

but it's not just Liz who has been out in the middle of nowhere looking

:33:49.:33:56.

for brown bears. Last week I took to the skies to find out what the

:33:57.:34:00.

Kodiak brown bear means to the people that live on the island. That

:34:01.:34:12.

is beautiful. This lush landscape is home to thousands of Kodiak bears.

:34:13.:34:16.

Unique subspecies of brown bear. They're awesome size has made them

:34:17.:34:20.

the stuff of legend across Alaska and the United States. No more so

:34:21.:34:30.

than right here on Kodiak island. The Kodiak brown bears hold Kodiak

:34:31.:34:34.

together. They literally be soul of the island. You can feel their

:34:35.:34:45.

spirit, you can sense them. With 3500 bears living here, the

:34:46.:34:50.

population has to be carefully managed but hunting permitted and

:34:51.:34:53.

tightly controlled, meaning these treasured animals are here for all

:34:54.:34:58.

to enjoy. I feel my kinship with them. I would do everything I could

:34:59.:35:06.

to protect them. To experience for myself what sets them apart, I'm

:35:07.:35:10.

heading to their heartland with another resident who holds them

:35:11.:35:19.

dear. Are you ready? I think so. My heart is pumping slightly. It's the

:35:20.:35:26.

strangest feeling, walking through here, knowing there are no other

:35:27.:35:31.

humans around. Just you and the bears. Not just any bears. The

:35:32.:35:41.

biggest bears in the world! A milder climate here creates lots of

:35:42.:35:45.

vegetation for the bears to eat, and with salmon and shellfish in

:35:46.:35:49.

abundance, it's their diet that allows them to grow bigger than

:35:50.:35:53.

brown bears on the mainland. You can see how they've been tracking down

:35:54.:36:07.

through here. Bear hair. After a long trek, we've reached a bear

:36:08.:36:13.

feeding hotspot. Oh my word, look at this! He's coming out of the corner.

:36:14.:36:22.

Oh my word, look at this! It's a young male between 3-5 years old.

:36:23.:36:31.

We have bubble netting live. What you can see on the surface, those

:36:32.:36:39.

ripples of bubbles and the thrashing fins, that is our group of humpback

:36:40.:36:45.

whales, they are back in action! You can still see them disappearing,

:36:46.:36:49.

it's incredible how little information is created on the

:36:50.:36:54.

surface, considering there are 10-11 whales. Each one can weigh 40 tonnes

:36:55.:36:58.

and they've just come lunging out of the water. Already it is, again. The

:36:59.:37:04.

fact they are back in action is great. We are going back to that

:37:05.:37:08.

film but hopefully we stand a chance of showing you the spectacle life.

:37:09.:37:13.

It's a young male, between 3-5 years old. It's just incredible. And not

:37:14.:37:22.

quite a giant yet. When you look at him now, what would you say the

:37:23.:37:27.

condition of him is like at this stage of the season? I'm not seeing

:37:28.:37:33.

any ribs, he's got a nice layer on him. He's just lanky looking. When

:37:34.:37:42.

things get even better. An adult female Kodiak bear, resting on the

:37:43.:37:47.

river bank. You can absolutely understand why they are so special

:37:48.:37:51.

to the people around here and why for generations, people have talked

:37:52.:37:55.

about the spiritual connection. The aura that they have and the energy

:37:56.:38:00.

that they give off is like nothing I'd ever experienced before.

:38:01.:38:12.

This is much more what we've been hoping to see. It seems the humpback

:38:13.:38:18.

whales had gone into lazy mode and were wandering about, possibly

:38:19.:38:22.

searching for food. Now it seems they are back on target so they

:38:23.:38:26.

probably found a dense shoal of herring. Everything about their

:38:27.:38:30.

movements is more what we were hoping to see, moving in a

:38:31.:38:33.

coordinated fashion, each of them like a squadron of fighter planes

:38:34.:38:38.

travelling in one single direction, absolutely intent on their food.

:38:39.:38:43.

We've just had a dive right behind me and we are hoping to see some

:38:44.:38:46.

more action. This is what we saw mere seconds ago. A bubble net

:38:47.:38:52.

happening right below our camera. It's just one of the most explosive

:38:53.:38:59.

forces on the planet. These are one of the largest creatures ever to

:39:00.:39:03.

have lived on earth. Coming together in these numbers to feed

:39:04.:39:07.

simultaneously, it has called to be one of the biggest feeding

:39:08.:39:11.

spectacles that's ever been seen. We are also seeing an awful lot of very

:39:12.:39:16.

dramatic visual action from individual whales, particularly from

:39:17.:39:22.

our calf which has been breaching over and over again. It's tempting

:39:23.:39:25.

to put this down to youthful exuberance but it's more than that.

:39:26.:39:31.

Young whales will breach for an hour on end, never stopping. It seems

:39:32.:39:33.

they are essentially training, building up their muscles and

:39:34.:39:40.

building up their ability to hold their breath for longer and to join

:39:41.:39:46.

into the bubble netting feeding. To interpret the behaviour and

:39:47.:39:48.

introduce you to some of the individual animals we are joined by

:39:49.:39:53.

Doctor Heidi Pearson. You know some of these whales like old friends.

:39:54.:39:57.

I've been working with them for six years and it's always a treat to

:39:58.:40:01.

identify them. One of the coolest things we've been hearing is some of

:40:02.:40:04.

the sounds. If we listen to what we've been getting from your

:40:05.:40:13.

hydrophone... WHALE SOUNDS. To begin with it sounds like a traditional

:40:14.:40:16.

humpback whale song but this is just as they are about to dive. This is a

:40:17.:40:21.

feeding call they used during bubble net feeding. It is a single whale

:40:22.:40:27.

making this call and then it'll get louder and louder. The call gets

:40:28.:40:31.

really loud and then you'll see the whales break the surface and feed.

:40:32.:40:37.

They've all dived down together in unison, and then one individual

:40:38.:40:40.

whale is taking on the role of blowing the bubble net? Usually one

:40:41.:40:45.

takes the lead but others can join in as well. Then you have all of

:40:46.:40:50.

them erupting to the surface with their mouths open, following those

:40:51.:40:54.

fish. Yes. Usually around this time of year it will be 1-2 -year-old

:40:55.:41:00.

herring they are feeding on. Why is it that right here right now is so

:41:01.:41:05.

important to humpback whales? It is the height of Alaskan summer, we

:41:06.:41:09.

have long days, the sunlight causes the plankton to grow which feeds the

:41:10.:41:13.

fish which the whales feed on. The other marine mammal we have in this

:41:14.:41:21.

area are orca. We've got some truly spectacular shots of orca feeding on

:41:22.:41:27.

salmon. Not only that but in this group here, you can see two adult

:41:28.:41:33.

orca passing on a king salmon which could have been the length of my leg

:41:34.:41:37.

from one animal to the next. As much as 95% of the diets of this

:41:38.:41:42.

particular kind of orca right now is going to be made up of these Chinook

:41:43.:41:49.

or king Salman. We will be doing our best to keep an eye on these whales.

:41:50.:41:59.

You can see this the whales are in coordinated squadron position. They

:42:00.:42:07.

are coming to the surface like giant wings. I think any second they are

:42:08.:42:12.

going to dive. I'm deep in the forest with John and we still on a

:42:13.:42:16.

black bear mission. Look at John you could never tire of that. Those

:42:17.:42:23.

whales are beautiful. Let's talk a bit about our surroundings. And the

:42:24.:42:28.

magic that is within the soil in this forest. Although the salmon

:42:29.:42:32.

.com here, it's a one-way trip and suddenly they are going to end their

:42:33.:42:35.

lives but what they offer displays quite something. Yes. It all comes

:42:36.:42:45.

down to nitrogen 15. The dye judging is a heavy nitrogen found in marine

:42:46.:42:50.

species like plankton, fish and crustaceans. The salmon eat that

:42:51.:42:54.

when they are in the ocean. They bring the nutrients through the lake

:42:55.:42:58.

up into the stream just 25 metres behind us. When they die, the eagle

:42:59.:43:03.

catch them and bring them on the bank, they get what they need. Then

:43:04.:43:08.

the rest is left to rot into the ground and fertilise the big trees.

:43:09.:43:14.

Their roots are grabbing the nitrogen and bringing it up into the

:43:15.:43:18.

tree. You can track the salmon from the marine environment into the

:43:19.:43:23.

trees. Is it right that roughly 70% of the nitrogen that is found here

:43:24.:43:28.

in this forest, ten miles from the coast, comes from the ocean floor?

:43:29.:43:34.

It can be that much. This is nitrogen porous soil. They need that

:43:35.:43:37.

nitrogen and the salmon are what provide it. That's why these trees

:43:38.:43:42.

are so big. And actually that's why it along the water's edge you get

:43:43.:43:47.

the biggest trees. That's right, between the well-drained soil along

:43:48.:43:50.

the stream bank and that nitrogen and phosphorus put in there by the

:43:51.:43:53.

salmon, that's the best condition for a tree growth. Let's talk more

:43:54.:43:58.

about landscape and wilderness because the area that Liz is located

:43:59.:44:07.

in is true wilderness. As far as that landscape is concerned, why is

:44:08.:44:12.

it so special and what does wilderness mean to you guys here?

:44:13.:44:20.

Wilderness is a huge expanse of land in Katmai. Same with Tongass

:44:21.:44:23.

National Forest. We have designated wilderness. This is the highest form

:44:24.:44:27.

of Converse and macro conservation protection. Look what's happening

:44:28.:44:38.

here! Oh my goodness. Her cubs are in the tree. It's great that she's

:44:39.:44:43.

down in the stream for us to see now! I'm so pleased it's her because

:44:44.:44:48.

she is such a wonderful character. She is 11 years old, she is the bear

:44:49.:44:54.

with the three cubs that we've been monitoring. You see all of the

:44:55.:44:57.

salmon in the foreground and this really is proof that the feast is at

:44:58.:45:02.

its height and that all of these bears are making the most of this

:45:03.:45:06.

short time. She's lying in wait, she wants to pounds. That, I guess, is

:45:07.:45:12.

the message of how important protecting this land is.

:45:13.:45:16.

The key message with that is, and the whole idea was... It is a

:45:17.:45:24.

glimpse of the way the world was in the beginning. It is a chance for us

:45:25.:45:31.

to recreate, leave the boundaries open. And you get to see sites like

:45:32.:45:38.

this. There she is fishing! There is a cub behind her. Mum is trying to

:45:39.:45:42.

get some salmon. And we are cutting to feeding out in the ocean as well,

:45:43.:45:44.

Steve, over to you, my friend! As if it wasn't enough to get our

:45:45.:45:54.

first black bear, we have live bubble netting happening right now.

:45:55.:45:59.

It is an exposure of life. It harks back to Everything happening. The

:46:00.:46:09.

bubbles at the surface is our huge pod of whales. They have dropped

:46:10.:46:12.

back below the surface. But seriously, we have to go back to

:46:13.:46:14.

Matt and those bears. We are moving our way across the

:46:15.:46:27.

forest here to get back to a monitor, but we know she is their

:46:28.:46:32.

Mac or she is there with her young cubs

:46:33.:46:38.

-- we know that she is there. You can see her prowling in and the

:46:39.:46:46.

young cubs coming through. John, look at this. We have run to a place

:46:47.:46:51.

where we have some technology and can see what is happening. This bear

:46:52.:46:55.

discovering this environment, as we were saying, John, for the first

:46:56.:47:00.

time. Look at that. This cub was born in January, and is testing the

:47:01.:47:03.

waters, literally, looking for salmon, looking at mum to get

:47:04.:47:08.

direction on what to do here. Not really quite knowing what exactly to

:47:09.:47:15.

do, but very dependent on 153 to get fish for it. Talking about salmon

:47:16.:47:20.

spawning in the shallows earlier, but you can see the numbers

:47:21.:47:23.

gathering right now. Yes, the numbers are increasing each day, and

:47:24.:47:32.

there is 153 reuniting with her cub. It is great, so exciting to have

:47:33.:47:38.

this live. How many cubs has she had? She had four originally when

:47:39.:47:42.

she showed up in this brain, now down to three. One got sick and died

:47:43.:47:46.

as we said earlier, but these three are doing pretty well. But

:47:47.:47:49.

throughout her life as a mother? She had another little four years ago,

:47:50.:47:55.

it was 2013. That letter did well. She stayed around. She is a dominant

:47:56.:48:01.

there now -- there now. We really wanted to try and bring

:48:02.:48:13.

these shots to you watching in the UK. Since their aura. I got to see

:48:14.:48:20.

the Kodiak brown bears, but there is something very special about these

:48:21.:48:24.

black bears, they are smaller in size, but full of character. Yes,

:48:25.:48:29.

and the other thing about them that I love, they can move right amongst

:48:30.:48:34.

us. They have figured this out, being in our backyard. I am so

:48:35.:48:38.

pleased, 153, that you showed up and brought the family for everyone to

:48:39.:48:42.

witness. Let's go to Katmai National Park and Liz.

:48:43.:48:48.

How just wonderful it is to see black bears and cubs fishing on the

:48:49.:48:54.

rivers where you guys are. 700 miles away from you, we have been watching

:48:55.:48:59.

a brown bear along this river, but it has gone around the bend I am sad

:49:00.:49:03.

to say. But wow, that is a sight for sore eyes, well done, guys. Can I

:49:04.:49:09.

give you an update on the six-year old you have all become very fond

:49:10.:49:14.

of. We have kept an eye on him, and caught up with him on the coast. It

:49:15.:49:18.

is to let you know that his fishing techniques have improved. The way he

:49:19.:49:21.

is behaving with all the other bears is telling everyone that he is the

:49:22.:49:27.

dominant bear in his age group, meaning he has every chance of

:49:28.:49:31.

staying dominant as he gets older. And eventually, one day, becoming

:49:32.:49:35.

king of this stretch of the river. It is a lovely way to leave our

:49:36.:49:38.

six-year-old. This place really has truly blown me

:49:39.:49:42.

away, thanks in no small part to everything I have been taught about

:49:43.:49:47.

the subtleties and complexities of bear behaviour. To watch wolves and

:49:48.:49:52.

bears together, apex predators, it has been the most incredible

:49:53.:49:57.

experience for me. How is it possible in Katmai? What makes

:49:58.:50:00.

Katmai special in that regard? There is an abundance of food source.

:50:01.:50:05.

I have to stop you because we have bubble netting live with Steve, over

:50:06.:50:07.

to you, my dear. Yes, yet again! It is incredible to

:50:08.:50:17.

see it happening over, and over, and over again. Quite often, bubble

:50:18.:50:22.

netting might have times of maybe 15 minutes. There is a whale behind me

:50:23.:50:27.

right now his head below the surface. But the fact it is

:50:28.:50:31.

happening with such intensity and frequency means there must be a vast

:50:32.:50:35.

shoal of herring here at the surface. You can see the remnants of

:50:36.:50:39.

the bubble there, which has been blown by one single whale, circling

:50:40.:50:47.

around the shoal, trapping it in a corral so the whales can focus on

:50:48.:50:52.

it. Making the most of the small fish that have been passed on.

:50:53.:50:54.

Anyway, back to you, Liz. Thanks very much, Steve. To get back

:50:55.:51:05.

to your experience of Katmai and what makes it so special, tell me

:51:06.:51:10.

why this place keeps you coming back year after year. I just love it

:51:11.:51:15.

here. Bears, they envelope you in their world. They have catalogued my

:51:16.:51:22.

sense over the years, and use it with them at the Meadows with the

:51:23.:51:26.

mums and cubs, and you feel like you are part of their world and

:51:27.:51:31.

experience what they experience every day, the heartbreaking stuff,

:51:32.:51:36.

the joy. ... It is amazing. Can we get complacent about a place like

:51:37.:51:39.

this? We talk about millions of salmon, but can we rest easy with

:51:40.:51:44.

places that this? It is a dear Nick very fragile. -- Gillett.

:51:45.:51:51.

All of us, no matter where you live, you have a stake in these type of

:51:52.:51:57.

environment to keep it pristine. Teach children how to act, leave no

:51:58.:52:03.

traceable in the wilderness and keep the stuff after generations and

:52:04.:52:07.

generations. Amongst these magnificent predators

:52:08.:52:12.

is an experience I will never forget. We have only begun to

:52:13.:52:16.

scratch the surface on how intelligent and complex these

:52:17.:52:19.

animals are. I hope it has given you a sense of how amazing the animals

:52:20.:52:24.

that we share the planet with R. All of this is ours to protect. The

:52:25.:52:29.

brown bear and its home is in our hands. I will leave you with another

:52:30.:52:34.

scene of Katmai that has well and truly stolen our hearts here.

:52:35.:52:43.

We have, coming in behind us now, a big pod of Dole's paupers. We have

:52:44.:52:53.

focused on the humpbacks, and instead we have a large pod of

:52:54.:52:57.

probably the fastest of also to Asians. They have ducked beneath the

:52:58.:53:04.

surface now. I don't know where to look right now. Our group of whales

:53:05.:53:09.

has been hunting right in close to the shore. Unusually close for

:53:10.:53:14.

animals of this size, but it seems they are operable be using their

:53:15.:53:20.

proximity to the shore as an additional way to herd herring, that

:53:21.:53:26.

is what bubble netting is all about. It is about focusing a large

:53:27.:53:30.

disparate shoal into a concentrated ball so that the whales can feed in

:53:31.:53:36.

unison. If they hunted one by one, that would probably result in lots

:53:37.:53:39.

of herring dispersing off in different directions, and it not

:53:40.:53:42.

being anything as effective and efficient. Heidi, what you can see

:53:43.:53:51.

if our porpoise popping up over our shoulder. Is this what you expect

:53:52.:53:55.

here right now? It is. But the unique thing about the footage is

:53:56.:53:58.

the whales are diving down repeatedly with short dive times,

:53:59.:54:03.

two minutes or so, indicating a big ball of herring they are attacking

:54:04.:54:08.

over and over again. And what we have seen here just over the space

:54:09.:54:13.

of while we have been on air has been, I have counted six different

:54:14.:54:17.

bubble net hunts, having one after another. What does that tell us

:54:18.:54:22.

about the abundance of Alaska's sees right now? It tells us there is an

:54:23.:54:27.

abundance of fish that they are attracted to this summer. Let's try

:54:28.:54:31.

one more time to see if we can see the whole thing in sequence, back up

:54:32.:54:36.

from helicopter. Right now, because the sea is flat calm, they are below

:54:37.:54:41.

the surface right now. They are coordinating their actions using

:54:42.:54:44.

sound. All of these whales are just trying to focus on the shoal of

:54:45.:54:49.

herring, really tricky for Daniel to figure out where they will come up

:54:50.:54:53.

to the surface, it could be hundreds of metres away from where they dive.

:54:54.:54:57.

But as it happens, he is so good at picking up the very first bit of

:54:58.:55:01.

movement as the bubbles hit the surface, and zooming in on it. Then

:55:02.:55:06.

we should see the whole thing in full form. I will have to go to

:55:07.:55:11.

match soon, but when we do, we will leave this in a box so you have a

:55:12.:55:15.

chance to see the whole thing. The only way this can happen, the only

:55:16.:55:22.

way we we can have this exposure of life is maintaining the wilderness.

:55:23.:55:26.

We have to learn to treasure them because they are extraordinarily

:55:27.:55:27.

important. We will keep looking at the pictures

:55:28.:55:33.

because we are almost out of time. In a nutshell, what will be

:55:34.:55:38.

happening with this place? It will close down for winter... We have

:55:39.:55:44.

three weeks of salmon run left, then the silvers will come in in October

:55:45.:55:47.

and we have another few weeks of that before we slowly start to get

:55:48.:55:52.

cooler and the days shorten, arriving on the upper peaks,

:55:53.:55:55.

creeping down the mountains, then it is done. Then you batten down the

:55:56.:56:00.

hatches? There you go. We have been blown away by what we have seen

:56:01.:56:03.

here. We hope you have enjoyed discovering Wild Alaska Live whilst

:56:04.:56:05.

we have been exploring it. Welcome to Wild Alaska Live. I don't

:56:06.:56:18.

even know what to say. This incredible bear has been fishing so

:56:19.:56:19.

close to me, I lost my breath. Goodness me, these pictures, we

:56:20.:56:26.

never thought we would get these. I can't quite believe what I am

:56:27.:56:54.

looking at, it is almost surreal to see these magnificent creatures so

:56:55.:56:55.

close up. We've seen this huge female fishing

:56:56.:57:07.

just around the corner from where we are. So they are not camera shy,

:57:08.:57:08.

look at that for a shot, John! Wow! They were so close and they are

:57:09.:57:13.

totally oblivious to us. This place is just a magical,

:57:14.:57:28.

magical experience. Well, a very big thank you to

:57:29.:57:43.

Tongass National Park and the people of Alaska for sharing their homes

:57:44.:57:48.

with us. Thank you for showing us live in this very, very special

:57:49.:57:50.

place. From all of the team here, goodbye.

:57:51.:58:00.

# I'm running with the wolves tonight

:58:01.:58:01.

# I'm running with the wolves tonight

:58:02.:58:04.

# I'm running with the wolves tonight

:58:05.:58:09.

# I'm running with the wolves tonight

:58:10.:58:20.

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