(wind whooshing)
- [Narrator] The children of the north now face
their toughest season.
The great darkness will test them to the limit.
(melancholy music) (waves whooshing)
The seal pups must learn to master the ocean,
hunting down and catching fish.
(waves whooshing)
The young Arctic fox will need courage and resilience
to survive the freezing Icelandic winter.
(bright music)
(water whooshing)
And the mother otters will keep their cubs close
as they pass their skills to the next generation.
(gentle music)
(air whooshes)
All these animals face vast challenges
in a rapidly-changing world.
(waves whooshing)
Heavy drifts will soon bury the summer pasture
so the herd needs to migrate back to the mountains
where they can dig lichen
from beneath the thin snow.
(reindeer grunting) (gentle music)
It's a journey that takes nearly a month.
And the biggest test comes right at the start.
(waves whooshing) (gentle music)
A 1 1/2 mile swim across a choppy and freezing fjord.
(reindeer grunting)
They'll halt here for now
until the conditions are calm enough for the crossing.
(reindeer grunting)
In Norway, there's a break in the weather.
(waves whooshing)
The fjord has calmed
and the reindeer are ready for the crossing.
(reindeer grunting) (gentle music)
The herd is edgy,
especially the calves
who've never done this before.
All wait for one bold animal to lead the way.
(waves whooshing)
A female steps forward.
(waves whooshing) (awe-inspiring music)
(reindeer grunting)
She's done this journey many times
and knows what to do.
(waves whooshing) (awe-inspiring music)
(reindeer grunting)
As long as she just keeps swimming for the opposite shore,
the rest should follow.
(waves whooshing) (reindeer grunting)
But the current is fierce
and the water freezing cold.
(waves whooshing) (awe-inspiring music)
For the calves, it's a real test,
but they have to keep paddling.
(waves whooshing) (awe-inspiring music)
In most years, several succumb to exhaustion
or are swept away.
But this is an ancient migration route.
There's no other way to the high tops
than this perilous swim.
(waves whooshing) (awe-inspiring music)
(birds shrieking)
The current pulls the herd off course,
but they must keep going.
(waves whooshing) (awe-inspiring music)
At last, the first few stumble ashore.
(waves whooshing) (awe-inspiring music)
(hooves thudding)
This year, the crossing has been made without loss.
(hooves thudding) (awe-inspiring music)
Only another 250 miles to go.
The life of the storm-born is never easy.
(reindeer grunting)
On Scotland's coast,
a sea fog has settled.
Enveloping the cliffs and dampening the seabirds' cries.
(birds shrieking) (suspenseful music)
In the guillemot colony,
the mood is tense.
(birds squawking) (suspenseful music)
The strain of constantly bringing back fish
to the ledges is now too much for the adults.
Their hungry young must go with them to the ocean
if they are to feed.
(waves whooshing)
(birds shrieking) (suspenseful music)
This chick can't yet fly,
so it will have to jump.
(birds shrieking) (suspenseful music)
Tonight, protected by the evening light,
its parents will encourage it off the ledge.
(birds shrieking) (suspenseful music)
Many won't make it.
(birds shrieking) (suspenseful music)
With the encroaching darkness,
the jumpling begins its tentative descent
to the edge of the cliff.
(birds shrieking) (suspenseful music)
While its mother stays at the nest site,
its father follows it closely,
defending the path down.
(birds shrieking) (suspenseful music)
But each ledge is someone else's territory.
(birds shrieking) (suspenseful music)
And danger awaits at every level.
(birds shrieking) (suspenseful music)
At last, it's at the very edge.
Just one step from the 600-foot drop.
(birds shrieking) (suspenseful music)
Its father can do little but call it on.
(bird squawks)
For this is the leap that each chick must make alone.
(birds shrieking) (awe-inspiring music)
(water whooshing) (birds shrieking)
Father and chick are reunited.
They will spend the rest of the summer together,
far out at sea.
(gentle music)
There'll be several years
before the chick returns to breed here
on these precipitous cliffs.
In Iceland, the sea birds
that throng the cliffs are leaving.
(birds shrieking) (wings whooshing)
For two Arctic fox families,
it's the start of a new chapter.
(birds shrieking)
Three months have passed
since they each brought a litter of six cubs into the world.
(suspenseful music)
(wind whooshing)
High on the slopes of the mountain,
the cliff family is thriving.
Five cubs here have made it.
And, armed with their mother's strength
and their father's ingenuity,
they're now equipped for independent life.
(birds shrieking) (suspenseful music)
There's still some contact with their mother,
but increasingly they're making forays
onto the mountain alone.
(suspenseful music)
(water whooshing)
On the beach below,
it's a very different story.
(water whooshing)
Forced to survive solely on scavenging,
the shore foxes have failed to provide for their family.
(melancholy music) (water whooshing)
Just one of their six cubs has survived.
A female. (gentle music)
Unlike the cliff cubs,
she's already alone.
(gentle music)
(water whooshing)
Once her siblings died, her mother abandoned the den.
(waves whooshing)
And though her father is still here,
he might as well be a stranger to her now.
(waves whooshing)
Like all foxes on the shore,
her way is now the way of the scavenger.
(waves whooshing)
(melancholy music)
With no siblings for companionship
and a father who is now her competitor,
she needs to find her own way on the beach.
(melancholy music) (waves whooshing)
If she can avoid the other foxes
and find a few choice scraps,
she might just make it.
In Iceland, too, the weather is deteriorating.
(waves whooshing)
Rain doesn't trouble the Arctic foxes,
but this is a mere shadow of what's to come.
Once the sun dips below the horizon,
only scent will guide the lone fox cub's search for food.
(waves whooshing)
But these storms can be the bringers of good fortune.
(waves whooshing)
The fiercer the storm, the more food will wash ashore.
This little survivor's diet (gentle music)
of insects and shellfish has kept her going,
but it's not enough to sustain her through the winter.
(waves whooshing)
She's spotted something on the shoreline.
(gentle music) (birds shrieking)
It's a dead gull.
(water whooshing) (gentle music)
Something to be devoured fast.
Feathers, bill, and all.
(gentle music) (teeth crunching)
(water whooshing)
And there's more, too.
(birds shrieking) (gentle music)
This can be cached for later,
in the den that's always been
such an important part of her world.
(waves whooshing)
The lone survivor of her litter,
she's proving a tenacious little character.
(melancholy music)
Clever, adaptable, and resilient.
(melancholy music)
She's got all the best qualities
of a storm-born Arctic fox.
(waves whooshing)
The Monach Islands are exposed
to the full force of the Atlantic
and a gale is bearing down on the pupping beach.
(waves whooshing)
(dramatic music)
The pups closest to the surf are immediately in trouble.
They're not ready to cope with waves of this size.
(dramatic music) (waves whooshing)
They need to get onto the beach for safety.
But the surge of the waves has carved out a sandy shelf,
(waves whooshing) (dramatic music)
making it difficult for them to return.
This step may look small,
but even the adults struggle to climb up.
(waves whooshing) (dramatic music)
For the youngest pups,
it might as well be a mountain.
(waves whooshing) (dramatic music)
There's a real risk they could drown.
(waves whooshing) (dramatic music)
The female pup tries desperately to reach safety.
(waves whooshing) (dramatic music)
She must make it onto the beach,
or she'll be swept back out to sea.
(waves whooshing) (dramatic music)
Just one more push.
(waves whooshing) (dramatic music)
And she's up.
(dramatic music)
(seal barks)
The sun is sinking over the puffin colony.
(birds shrieking) (gentle music)
This is to be no ordinary night.
The very last of the pufflings are ready to go.
Their parents have stopped feeding them and flown off.
(gentle music)
(bird chirps)
It's time to leave.
(gentle music)
(bird croaking)
It's a strange new world outside.
They must find their way to the sea
using the sound of the waves
and the light of the moon.
(waves whooshing) (bright music)
Darkness gives them protection
from the ferocious gulls.
(gentle music)
(feet pattering)
But one is confused.
He's heading the wrong way.
(feet pattering) (gentle music)
But as the sun starts to rise,
he catches the sound of the sea.
(gentle music) (waves whooshing)
(feet pattering)
He finally reaches the shoreline
and takes the plunge.
(gentle music) (waves whooshing)
And he's off.
(gentle music) (waves whooshing)
He won't return here for five years,
when he'll be mature enough to breed.
(gentle music) (waves whooshing)
Until then, the wild sea will be his home.
(gentle music)