Documentary Description
The first in a new series about the most dramatic wildlife spectacles
on our planet.
The summer melt of Arctic ice, opening up nearly three million square
miles of ocean and land, provides opportunities for millions of
animals, including beluga whales, families of Arctic foxes, vast
colonies of seabirds, and the fabled Arctic unicorn, the narwhal.
For polar bears, however, it is the toughest time of year. Why? How
will they survive?
A mother polar bear and her cub make their first journey together
onto the sea ice. They are looking for ringed seals, their favourite
prey. It is a serious business but the cub just wants to play. The
melting ice makes it harder for them to hunt and threatens their
survival.
In a unique aerial sequence, the migration of narwhal with their
distinctive unicorn-like tusks is filmed for the first time. The whales'
journey is risky as they travel along giant cracks in the ice. If the
ice were to close above them, they would drown.
Hundreds of beluga whales gather in the river shallows. They rub
themselves on smooth pebbles in one of the most bizarre summer
spectacles.
Guillemot chicks take their first flights from precipitous sea cliff
nests to the sea 300 metres below. They attempt to glide to safety but
many miss their target. Their loss is a bonus for the hungry Arctic fox
family waiting below.
As the melt comes to an end the bears gather, waiting for the sea to
freeze again. Two 400kg males square up to each other to spar.
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