#roundplanet #bbc #truestories #documentary
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00:00This planet, hanging in space like a lonely blue pea, is our home.
00:16We share it with a dazzling number of other lifeforms, because the other planets are frankly
00:22hopeless.
00:23No, this planet is the best one.
00:27It's got everything.
00:29Flying things, furry things, stripy things, wet things, cold things, more wet things,
00:39and penguins.
00:41So many animals that if you put them side to side, they would cover the whole Earth,
00:47which they already do.
00:49For that planet is this planet, round planet, the story of everything.
01:00Not everything, not shoes, don't talk about shoes, but most things.
01:09The Arctic, one of the iciest places on Earth.
01:15Oh look, there's an iceberg.
01:18Serene, majestic, and quite breathtaking.
01:24Its only natural enemy is the Titanic, and it saw that off years ago.
01:32Here, everything is frozen.
01:37This bit, that bit, and the bits of Garth the cameraman when he got these shots on Baffin
01:44Island.
01:45But the residents are okay with that.
01:50The dandy arctic fox, the polar bear, let's get one of those in, and the mighty narwhal.
02:01The cold never bothered them anyway.
02:05It's the warmth they fear, especially since we clicked the setting on Earth's freezer
02:11to defrost, probably.
02:12It says here, I have to say possibly, but I'm going to say probably.
02:17Or, almost certainly.
02:20Sorry, Debitha, someone's got to tell the truth around here, and these animals can't
02:26talk, so it's got to be me.
02:29The arctic, a year in the frozen wilderness.
02:38Even though it's becoming unfrozen, except it might not be, but if it is, that may or
02:43may not be due to human activity.
02:46Good lord, all these disclaimers, it's like doing an insurance advert.
02:51I hate those.
02:53But they do pay well.
02:59Sunrise in space.
03:02Of course, in space, the sun doesn't rise.
03:05It's a trick of the Earth.
03:08But down on Earth, bells, bells, the sky's on fire.
03:14Not really.
03:15Nothing much burns here.
03:20Winter is drawing to a close.
03:23The sun is rising, for the first time in nearly four months.
03:29Here it comes.
03:31Come on.
03:36At minus five degrees, it's definitely full body thermals for me, but it's positively
03:42balmy for her, which means it's time to cut loose.
03:47Wahey!
03:51You'd think, living in the arctic, she'd get bored of sledging, but no.
03:55This polar bear's having a whale of a time.
03:59Which is a weird expression, because if you ask me, whales always look rather bored.
04:04Oh, hello.
04:07Twins.
04:10At two months old, these cubs are getting their first glimpse of the outside world.
04:17And it's white.
04:18Very white.
04:20Like Berkshire.
04:22God, they're adorable, aren't they?
04:25But don't try and give them a cuddle.
04:27The mum will rip your face off and snap your pelvis like a dead twig.
04:32Then claw your heart out and spread your guts over the snow.
04:36I'll, I'll, I'll stop.
04:38I'll stop.
04:40It may look like they're just mucking around, but this is serious preparation for the next
04:46stage of their journey.
04:49Mother shows them what life has in store by repeatedly biting them on the bum.
04:54It's a metaphor.
04:56One minute you're the second biggest natural historian in the country, the next you're
05:00doing adverts for funeral plans, but I don't complain.
05:10Her milk will soon run dry, so it's a slide to the frozen ocean to hunt.
05:17If global warming hasn't turned the sea into a giant slush puppy.
05:22If global warming is a real thing.
05:28It's not just polar bears looking for food.
05:31This fluffball, the arctic fox, is also on the lookout for a meal.
05:36And there are no bins to go through here.
05:41She might look full of fun, but actually she's famished.
05:47You can see it in her eyes.
05:50Oh, what luck.
05:51She's inadvertently stumbled upon the carcass of this reindeer.
05:56Which the crew definitely didn't leave here on purpose for her to find.
06:01Just to confirm that did not happen.
06:05She may be hungry, but without gravy, spuds and Yorkshires, she's just not interested.
06:11So this picky eater sets off in search of better food.
06:17Warm food.
06:19Tabby, speaking of warm food, any sign of my toasted panini?
06:26This is what she is after.
06:28No, not the hair.
06:29Too rabbit-y.
06:30Or the ptarmigan.
06:31Too snow-barley.
06:33Ah, perfect.
06:35Ox tongue.
06:36And ox tail.
06:38And ox.
06:39No, basically it's an ox.
06:41A musk ox.
06:44250 kilos of angry cow.
06:49That fox has balls.
06:51Either that, or it is totally insane.
06:56This little chancer looks as though she's set her sights on stealing a newborn calf right from under its mother's snout.
07:05Although it says here in my notes that Foxy might not be going for the newborn at all.
07:11She might have set her sights on eating the placenta.
07:15But that's so new age I'm going to ignore it.
07:18It's a moment of high drama.
07:22You can tell by the rapid bongos.
07:25Fox versus afterbirth.
07:28One of the great battles of the natural world.
07:33Oh, it's all over.
07:35The musk ox tells Fox to foxtrot Oscar.
07:39It's hardly a lion-noshing wildebeest, is it?
07:42But it's truth.
07:44Everything we show is truth.
07:47Especially the dead reindeer.
07:52Spring heralds good news.
07:57With more daylight, it should be easier to get some bear necessities.
08:03But honey, fancy ants, pawpaws and perically pears are not widely available on this patch of Arctic sea ice.
08:15So, for this polar bear, that means ringwood seal.
08:22A polar bear can sniff out a seal from more than 30 kilometres away.
08:28Which might seem impressive, but there is nothing else about but snow.
08:33And take it from me, seals absolutely honk.
08:39Ringed seals may be some of the smallest in the world, but these seals are crammed with calories.
08:47The bear utterly focused on the seal.
08:50Much like a human who can think only of the toasted panini he was promised so very long ago.
08:58You're nearly here.
09:00I hate to tell you, but he's been nearly here for 25 minutes now.
09:06He treads lightly to avoid alerting the seals to the fact that he, a 500 kilo chubster, is hoping to feast on them.
09:15Look at him tippy-toeing around.
09:18I've never seen a polar bear look so positively dainty.
09:22He sniffs.
09:24He waits.
09:26Dramatic pause.
09:29Should get a BAFTA for that line alone.
09:32He steadies himself to blast through the snow like a hairy clawhammer.
09:40Oh, and that has done literally nothing.
09:45Well, the seal might just have heard that.
09:50There he is.
09:53No, he's at the other hole, you great nit.
09:59A fun game of hide-and-seek for the seal.
10:03But the bear just can't keep up.
10:07Today, the seal wins.
10:10Mr. Bear is a sad bear.
10:13He was really looking forward to chewing the seal's neck clean off.
10:19He leaves, perhaps to stand on top of a mint.
10:28Now, this time-lapse is over.
10:33Now, this time-lapse indicates that it's June in the Arctic.
10:39It's a nice visual way of saying it's June without me having to say it's now June.
10:45Which I suppose I've now said three times.
10:48Anyway, it's June, and it's officially springtime in the Arctic.
10:54Or what passes as springtime in the Arctic.
10:59The mercury reaches the giddy heights of zero degrees Celsius.
11:07As it warms, giant cracks appear in the ice.
11:12The ocean becomes a jigsaw puzzle, where all pieces constantly change shape.
11:18And it's not even a good idea to put them together.
11:21If ever you did, you wouldn't get a nice painting of a Lancaster bomber, you'd just get some ice.
11:28Each of these gargantuan cracks creates a superhighway for another species.
11:38Narwhals.
11:42Freakish unihorned creatures who travel thousands of kilometers in search of food.
11:53Narwhal. Narwhal.
11:57Narwhal. You simply can't say narwhal enough.
12:02It's one of the best words in all natural history.
12:06Narwhal. Yes.
12:11The distinctive tusk is actually a giant canine tooth sticking out through their lip.
12:19The tusk is purely ornamental, but thought to be for sexual display.
12:25Like the jag Alan down the road bought. It's tragic. Lost all his hair.
12:30Not that you could tell from his Tinder profile.
12:36The narwhals have sophisticated echolocation, but today it has let them down.
12:42They've gone the wrong way up a one-way ice floe.
12:46Things could get gnarly. Or narwhally.
12:56But it's a massive letdown, with one side meekly agreeing to back up down the channel.
13:03Let's be honest, we were all hoping for violence.
13:06Not you, Tabitha, I know, but the rest of us.
13:10Spring moves on, and at long last the polar bear has found a meal.
13:16What? Where's the footage of it?
13:19We've already wasted five minutes watching the blasted thing trying to catch something.
13:25But Garth spent five months out there, what do you mean he missed it?
13:33With food in his belly, the male polar bear's thoughts turn to finding a mate.
13:39Which, if he's anywhere near as bad-handed as he is finding food, it could take a while.
13:44Think about it. The object of his affections is white. He's white. Everything is white.
13:52There's always the chance you'll spot a potential mate on the horizon, but it will end up being a rock covered in snow.
13:59And you can't mate with a rock covered in snow.
14:02It's cold and lifeless and can't give you love. The love that you ache for.
14:11But this fellow has had a stroke of luck. He has picked up a scent. The smell of a female.
14:20Ah, the most wonderful smell you can imagine. After Play-Doh, of course.
14:27He catches her up and saves a bit of energy by walking in the compacted snow of her footprints.
14:34How does he know that they're not his footprints?
14:38I mean, he could spend the next few hours walking round and round in a circle. An arctic circle.
14:46Finally, he claps eyes on her and all the months of loneliness melt away.
14:53And, with a coy, over-the-shoulder glance, she signals it's time to go upstairs.
15:00He's known her for forty seconds and is ready to take things further.
15:05And she means upstairs. Liminecki thinks this coffee better be worth it.
15:16Looks like it is.
15:21I won't describe the act of bare love in more detail, as some things are best left to the poets.
15:33Once you find a mate, competition, like making love in the snow, can be painful.
15:42Female polar bears are essentially polygamous.
15:46They're not like those couples-for-life penguins way down south.
15:50Which leaves the males fighting for their attention.
15:56Two proud males brawling in the name of sex.
16:00Is there a better sight?
16:03No, he's given up.
16:12Over the next few weeks, bloodier battles ensue.
16:17But our male manages to hold on to his lady love.
16:21It's been an emotional whirlwind.
16:31But now it's time for the male and female to go their separate ways.
16:37Her to the joys of motherhood, him back to fighting and trying to kill things.
16:43Nature loves a gender stereotype.
16:55As summer finally arrives, the Arctic tundra is transformed from a pure white wasteland
17:04into this, a browny-green wasteland.
17:09This is no longer the land of the polar bear.
17:12This is the land of the woolly bear.
17:16A sort of wandering eyebrow, and one of the first creatures to emerge when the snow retreats.
17:25The woolly bear caterpillar spends the whole of this brief summer
17:30eating, eating, eating.
17:33It's a race to grab enough grub before winter arrives.
17:41And when it does, this little fellow has an amazing trick up his sleeve to survive.
17:47Not that it has sleeves, it's a caterpillar.
17:51It crawls under a rock and freezes.
17:54Body, guts, blood, all frozen, like an Arctic roll.
18:00Spongy on the outside, solid on the inside, and lots better than a Viennetta.
18:07That's it for him, you may be thinking.
18:10But no, he survives to live another year.
18:15That's it for him, you may be thinking.
18:18But no, he survives to live another day.
18:22The next spring, it thaws and begins eating again.
18:27And it does this for an incredible 14 years.
18:31Or seven years, depending on which scientific journal you read.
18:36Finally, it rises from the dead one last time,
18:41finds a spot and weaves a cocoon,
18:48and emerges as a beautiful plain brown moth.
18:55Well, its mother thinks it's beautiful.
19:01The biggest tragedy is that after all that time, it flew straight into one of our lights.
19:07It's 14 years, Tabitha. 14 years.
19:11It was that long since I ordered my panini.
19:15Yes.
19:17Like high season in any resort,
19:21summer in the Arctic brings in the tourists.
19:25Around 18 million of them.
19:28Most are birds.
19:30Yeah, they've all turned up now the sun's out, haven't you?
19:33Yeah, but where were you when it was 40 below,
19:36when we had to blow Torchgarth's tongue off the side of his skidoo, eh?
19:42There are some excellent divers, like these shearwaters.
19:50And then, there are guillemots.
19:54Safe to say they weren't paying attention when Mother Nature gave her diving lesson.
20:01It may look suicidal, but these guillemots are built for bouncing.
20:12It's remarkable.
20:23He's made it, and will go on to enjoy a happy life.
20:30Perhaps even one day having chicks of his own.
20:34Ah, or maybe not.
20:39Fortunately, summer is brief.
20:44And as autumn arrives, so does the snow and ice.
20:51After her liaison with a male suitor,
20:55this female is now with cub.
20:59Or, as the experts put it, knocked up.
21:05She used to dig a den to give birth in private.
21:09Apart from our cameras, they don't count.
21:13Yes, this is the Arctic, and Mama Bear has to build her own labour ward
21:17in the most inhospitable hospital in the world.
21:27There's no time to nap. You haven't finished yet.
21:30What are you doing?
21:35Oh, I see.
21:38What are you doing?
21:43Oh, I remember. This is the clever bit.
21:47Keen to conserve energy for the months ahead,
21:50she lies down and lets the Arctic winter finish the job,
21:54covering herself in a layer of snow until she disappears completely.
21:59Which isn't hard.
22:01She's white, the snow is white, you know the drill by now.
22:06By November, it's full-on blue-balled, wind-swept winter.
22:14A convenient sunrise later, and it's already February.
22:22And to give us a happy ending, new life appears.
22:27And the pitter-patter of tiny paws can't be heard because of the snow.
22:34But they're there.
22:36Another generation to rough and tumble it out in this Arctic wilderness.
22:45So now we've come full circle.
22:49Full Arctic circle.
22:54We've witnessed the staggering ingenuity of those that live in this shrinking winter wonderland.
23:04And it is shrinking. Definitely. Not probably.
23:10The Arctic is under threat, and it takes a brave person to point that out.
23:16A brave person who will one day be recognised for taking a stand.
23:22No, I don't think I'm going over the top, Tabitha. This is my calling.
23:28The plight of the animal kingdom is what drives us filmmakers to live a nomadic existence.
23:35Chasing these transcendent moments of beauty.
23:40The animal may go extinct, but our film will last as long as humans have eyes.
23:59In preparation for filming in one of the most hostile environments in the world, and bringing you these stunning images,
24:08the round planet team needed to familiarise themselves with the challenges of the landscape.
24:15The team were put through their paces using high-tech simulation technology.
24:23The training was designed to prepare the crew for unexpected surprises out on the tundra.
24:32Yet, despite the best possible equipment, nobody saw the polar bear.
24:38The polar bear was a very small creature.
24:44So let's just say that particular exercise is now under review.
24:53Ah, panini.
24:57Oh, I said without avocado.
25:02Oh, I said without avocado.
25:07Oh, I said without avocado.
25:12Oh, I said without avocado.