0:00:42 > 0:00:47It's September - early spring in the southern hemisphere.
0:00:47 > 0:00:52The Antarctic continent is encircled by sea-ice
0:00:52 > 0:00:59that extends for hundreds of miles northwards around its coasts and encloses all but a few islands.
0:00:59 > 0:01:04These ice-free islands, like South Georgia, are very precious,
0:01:04 > 0:01:12for here the sea never freezes and any sea-animal that needs to, can always get ashore.
0:01:44 > 0:01:49First to return each spring are the bull-elephant seals.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02They are about to land on a breeding beach
0:02:02 > 0:02:07and each one knows that when he does, he will have to face rivals.
0:02:07 > 0:02:13A full-grown male weighs over three tonnes.
0:02:15 > 0:02:22Half the world's population will come here, 8,000 to this beach alone.
0:02:23 > 0:02:30This immense gathering of elephant seals extends for two miles along this beach.
0:02:30 > 0:02:36It might appear to be totally disorganised, but there is a pattern to it.
0:02:36 > 0:02:43All these are females, they came ashore about a month ago to pup,
0:02:43 > 0:02:46and now they're ready to breed again.
0:02:46 > 0:02:51And they all belong to this one male.
0:02:56 > 0:03:04This is a beach-master and there are a dozen or so like him spaced out along the beach.
0:03:04 > 0:03:11Each one of them has his own harem and I estimate that this one has about a hundred females in his,
0:03:11 > 0:03:19and his sole object in life at the moment is to make sure that he, and he alone,
0:03:19 > 0:03:24mates with every single one of them, and to do that he must fight.
0:03:42 > 0:03:50He's won. But he'll have to battle many times every day if he is to keep control.
0:03:50 > 0:03:55The females gave birth soon after they arrived.
0:03:55 > 0:04:00They now have three weeks in which to feed their pups
0:04:00 > 0:04:06before they themselves have to go back to sea to feed.
0:04:06 > 0:04:12In that short time, they have to transform a near-empty bag of skin
0:04:12 > 0:04:15into a full bag of blubber.
0:04:15 > 0:04:23As they come to the end of suckling, the females become sexually receptive again.
0:04:23 > 0:04:28That is the moment the beach-master has been waiting for.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33But while he is busy,
0:04:33 > 0:04:38a rival is also busy on the edge of the harem.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41That can't be tolerated.
0:05:01 > 0:05:05A roar is enough. The interloper retreats.
0:05:07 > 0:05:13But many conflicts will only be settled by violence.
0:05:13 > 0:05:18Males get ripped - and those that get in the way
0:05:18 > 0:05:21are likely to get crushed.
0:05:25 > 0:05:32Every now and then, the beach-master proclaims his dominance with a roar.
0:05:32 > 0:05:34The bigger the bull,
0:05:34 > 0:05:37the louder and deeper his voice.
0:05:37 > 0:05:45A rival can judge from it whether or not he has a chance in a straight battle.
0:05:48 > 0:05:54If he's going to persevere with his challenge, he must now fight.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59The pair rear up to over 8 feet.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02Their only weapons are their teeth,
0:06:02 > 0:06:07but they can do a lot of damage with them.
0:06:32 > 0:06:39The hide on the neck is particularly thick and prevents serious injury.
0:06:39 > 0:06:47A bout can go on for quarter of an hour. Eventually, the battle is brought to an end by exhaustion.
0:06:53 > 0:07:01On the grassy slopes above the battleground, the scene is more peaceful.
0:07:01 > 0:07:06Black-browed albatross are returning from the sea.
0:07:30 > 0:07:34Grey-headed albatross are here too,
0:07:34 > 0:07:37hanging on the up-draughts
0:07:37 > 0:07:44caused when the ever-continuing wind is deflected upwards by the cliff face.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52Throughout the past winter,
0:07:52 > 0:07:58these birds have been flying alone over the vast ocean, searching for food.
0:07:58 > 0:08:05But now they're returning to breed and are assembling in colonies several thousand strong.
0:08:09 > 0:08:15Breeding pairs from previous seasons are re-united,
0:08:15 > 0:08:20and each uses exactly the same nest mound as they used before.
0:08:20 > 0:08:25But it does need a bit of renovation.
0:08:26 > 0:08:31Mutual grooming renews the bond between them.
0:08:39 > 0:08:46Both grey-headed and black-browed albatross are faithful for life - 20 years or so -
0:08:46 > 0:08:53and only need a brief repetition of their courtship ritual before they mate.
0:09:05 > 0:09:10Two weeks later, the female lays a single egg
0:09:10 > 0:09:16and for the next 70 days, the two take turns to incubate it.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24While one keeps the egg warm,
0:09:24 > 0:09:27the other flies off to feed,
0:09:27 > 0:09:35and may have to travel thousands of miles before it gets what it needs.
0:09:35 > 0:09:40Most kinds of albatross nest in colonies.
0:09:40 > 0:09:45One special one, however, prefers a more solitary life.
0:09:48 > 0:09:55Light-mantled sooty albatross are the last to return to the island.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58The males come first.
0:10:01 > 0:10:08One that is still unpaired settles on a ledge and calls to passing females.
0:10:25 > 0:10:31Having listened to many, she eventually selects one.
0:10:35 > 0:10:43The next stage in courtship involves a certain amount of nodding and dancing.
0:10:48 > 0:10:53And then there follows a most beautiful,
0:10:53 > 0:10:58perfectly synchronised display flight.
0:11:45 > 0:11:51During the day, the skies belong to the albatross,
0:11:51 > 0:12:00but as darkness comes, some nervous and more numerous birds come to the island.
0:12:05 > 0:12:13Thousands of small petrels and prions fly agitatedly around the cliffs in the darkness.
0:12:13 > 0:12:20Twenty-two million nest amongst the tussac-grass on South Georgia alone.
0:12:20 > 0:12:27Being so small, the prions are vulnerable to attack by skuas
0:12:27 > 0:12:35and for the safety of the chicks during the day, they make their nest in burrows.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39Outside, the white-chinned petrels assemble.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45Duetting pairs defend the territories around their burrows
0:12:45 > 0:12:52that can extend two metres beneath the tussac-grass.
0:12:58 > 0:13:03The chick stays safely inside the burrow for two months.
0:13:03 > 0:13:08It is fed with a mixture of squid and krill.
0:13:09 > 0:13:17Before dawn - and danger - all the adults will have disappeared from the island
0:13:17 > 0:13:20and returned to the open ocean.
0:13:23 > 0:13:32The hillside is jam-packed with macaroni penguins and virtually nothing else.
0:13:32 > 0:13:38There are some 80,000 here, but even this vast assemblage
0:13:38 > 0:13:44is only a tiny proportion of the total population of South Georgia,
0:13:44 > 0:13:50which is estimated to be more than 10 million,
0:13:50 > 0:13:57demonstrating that although the Antarctic is virtually lifeless over vast areas,
0:13:57 > 0:14:03there are one or two small oases that teem with life.
0:14:07 > 0:14:14After spending the winter wandering around the northern fringes of the southern ocean,
0:14:14 > 0:14:19the macaronis return with remarkable punctuality.
0:14:19 > 0:14:24In just ten days, this empty stadium is packed tight.
0:14:24 > 0:14:29The males come first, the females a week later.
0:14:29 > 0:14:37The macaroni is very much the penguin of the northern rim of the Antarctic.
0:14:37 > 0:14:44Very few of them venture farther south than the subantarctic islands
0:14:44 > 0:14:50but here they constitute over 50% of all the seabirds.
0:14:50 > 0:14:55Now, at the beginning of the breeding season,
0:14:55 > 0:15:00each pair fights noisily to hold its own tiny nest site.
0:15:00 > 0:15:08Each new arrival has to make its way through a barrage of pecks from outraged nest-owners.
0:15:08 > 0:15:15Macaronis must be the noisiest and most bad-tempered of all penguins
0:15:15 > 0:15:20and their fights can be really vicious.
0:15:51 > 0:15:58Eventually, a female finds her male and is rewarded with a greeting display,
0:15:58 > 0:16:01and a comforting preen.
0:16:11 > 0:16:15Ten days later, she's produced two eggs.
0:16:15 > 0:16:21Remarkably, the darker, smaller one is nearly always abandonded.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24Why, is not certain.
0:16:24 > 0:16:29It may, perhaps, be an insurance against the loss of the bigger one.
0:16:29 > 0:16:35The colony has its own squad of refuse collectors - sheathbills.
0:16:35 > 0:16:40During the summer, they normally eat penguin droppings.
0:16:40 > 0:16:46An abandonded, if addled egg, must make a nice change.
0:16:49 > 0:16:57Sheathbills are one of the few birds here that do not rely on the ocean for food.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00They are totally land-based.
0:17:02 > 0:17:06All the wildlife here in South Georgia,
0:17:06 > 0:17:14the penguins, the albatrosses, the seals, is virtually restricted to the outer rim of Antarctica.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17Farther south it's a harsher world.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20There, ice dominates.
0:17:20 > 0:17:27But with the arrival of spring, the sea-ice is retreating, and animals are returning,
0:17:27 > 0:17:33animals that are especially adapted to life in the frozen south.
0:17:33 > 0:17:39Most of Antarctica is still locked in by sea-ice,
0:17:39 > 0:17:45but as the days lengthen, so that slowly retreats.
0:17:45 > 0:17:50First to be freed is the Antarctic Peninsula,
0:17:50 > 0:17:55a long arm of the continent that reaches up northwards.
0:17:55 > 0:18:00For a few months, it's possible to reach its coast by sea.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04Antarctica is nowhere lovelier.
0:18:05 > 0:18:13But even at the height of the summer, only 2% of the continent is free from ice, most of it here.
0:18:27 > 0:18:35But no sea-animal will reach those distant rock slopes until the sea-ice breaks up.
0:18:48 > 0:18:53Gentoo penguins are among the first to make it.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01They need bare rock for their nests,
0:19:01 > 0:19:07but even now it's so scarce they may have a hard climb to reach it.
0:19:10 > 0:19:15These are on their way to relieve their mates
0:19:15 > 0:19:21who, for the past three days, have been looking after the eggs.
0:19:24 > 0:19:31The eggs were laid in November, almost a month after the gentoos' up in South Georgia.
0:19:31 > 0:19:36There's no soil or vegetation to make a nest,
0:19:36 > 0:19:39just a few small stones.
0:19:41 > 0:19:48And even the stones are in short supply, and may have to be 'borrowed'.
0:20:09 > 0:20:15Nobody likes to see their nest disappearing from beneath their feet.
0:20:17 > 0:20:25But when thieves come from all sides, there's not much you can do.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32After five weeks of incubation,
0:20:32 > 0:20:35the chicks start to hatch.
0:20:40 > 0:20:45Unlike the macaronis, both the gentoos' eggs hatch.
0:20:45 > 0:20:51For three weeks the adults protect them from the cold.
0:20:51 > 0:20:57They take turns to bring meals of small fish and krill.
0:20:57 > 0:21:03The labour of doing so is enormous. The snow slope has to be traversed,
0:21:03 > 0:21:08and penguins were not designed for skiing.
0:21:44 > 0:21:51As spring advances, more and more of the Peninsula becomes ice-free,
0:21:51 > 0:21:57and humpback whales appear along the coast, seeking krill.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05The sea-ice, as it disintegrates,
0:22:05 > 0:22:08forms a sort of soup of loose blocks.
0:22:08 > 0:22:14This is the pack-ice. The whales will go no further.
0:22:23 > 0:22:28At its outer edges, the pack is easy to get through,
0:22:28 > 0:22:36but further south, the floats become bigger and more closely-packed.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50Only the most powerful ice-breaking ships can force a passage
0:22:50 > 0:22:54through the vast band of broken ice that rings the continent.
0:22:54 > 0:22:56In places, it's 200 miles across.
0:22:56 > 0:23:02This - surprisingly - is home of the most numerous large mammal in the world,
0:23:02 > 0:23:05apart from man:
0:23:05 > 0:23:07crab-eater seals.
0:23:07 > 0:23:13Up to 30 million live around the continent in this in-between world of ice and water.
0:23:13 > 0:23:18Here they rest, and here the pup. They never come to land.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22Despite their name, they live on krill.
0:23:22 > 0:23:27They sieve sea-water through their interlocking teeth
0:23:27 > 0:23:30and consume 20 kilos of it every day.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52Even farther south, beyond the pack ice,
0:23:52 > 0:24:00there still remains mile after mile of winter ice that has not yet broken up.
0:24:00 > 0:24:08Very few creatures can get across this to the land beyond. But one does.
0:24:10 > 0:24:16The adelie penguin breeds farther south than any other penguin.
0:24:16 > 0:24:21They can't wait for the ice to break, and have to walk.
0:24:21 > 0:24:29In some years they march for over 60 miles to reach their traditional breeding grounds.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32The Antarctic summer is short indeed. They must hurry.
0:25:02 > 0:25:10Their journey is remarkable enough. But one creature makes an even longer one.
0:25:10 > 0:25:14Snow petrels are smaller than pigeons.
0:25:14 > 0:25:18Yet they fly across ice that never melts
0:25:18 > 0:25:24and climb to altitudes of 3,000 metres
0:25:24 > 0:25:29right up and onto the vast Antarctic ice-cap.
0:25:29 > 0:25:36Here, over an area larger than Australia, the ice is several miles thick.
0:25:36 > 0:25:43Only the summits of the tallest mountains project through it - as nunataks.
0:25:46 > 0:25:51These few tiny patches of rock, isolated in a sea of ice,
0:25:51 > 0:25:55are as precious as an oasis in a desert.
0:25:55 > 0:26:01Only 2% of the continent is ice-free, most of it near the coast.
0:26:01 > 0:26:06But snow petrels can't lay their eggs on ice,
0:26:06 > 0:26:08They have to find bare rock.
0:26:08 > 0:26:15One of their nests was found on a nunatak like this 144 miles from the coast.
0:26:18 > 0:26:23Snow petrels bring life to this, the most lifeless part of our planet.
0:26:33 > 0:26:38They breed farther south than any other bird.
0:26:38 > 0:26:46Even at the height of summer, temperatures don't rise above minus 30 degrees.
0:26:46 > 0:26:52There is no unfrozen water and they have to bathe in snow.
0:27:48 > 0:27:56As soon as the winds have swept the bulk of the snow from the higher rock slopes,
0:27:56 > 0:28:01the snow petrels take possession of them.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04But even then, there is much to do.
0:28:04 > 0:28:11They may have to excavate a metre of snow to find a nest site that suits them.
0:28:15 > 0:28:22In the coming season, they will have to make the journey of over 200 miles back to open water,
0:28:22 > 0:28:27again and again, to collect food for their chicks.
0:28:27 > 0:28:33But with their arrival, spring has at last come to the deep south.
0:28:58 > 0:29:02Subtitles by Wilma Campbell BBC Scotland 1993