(gentle music)
(text on screen) Sax, the Unanagax word for bird.
(text on screen) Qax, the Unangax word for fish.
(Narrator) The Unangax people of the Alaska peninsula
have described the creatures they live with
for thousands of years.
(text on screen) Chngatux, the Unangax word for sea otter.
(text on screen) Isux, the Unangax word for harbor seal.
Today, languages are diverse,
but the people and creatures remain,
living in and around the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge,
a protected area on the traditional territories
of the Unangax people.
The abundance of life spans across
a beautiful and rich landscape.
The refuge sits along a string
of dormant and active volcanoes,
some towering thousands of feet above the sea.
At their base, tundra valleys criss-crossed
by a never-ending flow of streams
are where some of Alaska's most iconic creatures thrive.
And Izembek's vast lagoon, a massive source of nutrients,
is critical to both year-round residents
and some of the planet's great long-distance travelers.
Although the smallest national wildlife refuge in Alaska,
it's home to an abundance of biodiversity
that's unique even in this wild corner of the world.
(Title on screen) Izembek National Wildlife Refuge: Where Life Abounds
(Narrator) Located at the western tip of the Alaska peninsula,
the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge
spreads across 310,000 acres of diverse lands.
Established in 1960, its eastern border follows
the ridge-line along a semi-circle of mountains.
From there, the refuge extends west
to encompass the 150-square mile Izembek Lagoon,
rolling tundra and windswept coastline.
In 1972, the state of Alaska created
Izembek State Game Refuge to encompass
the National Refuge and beyond.
The area is managed by both
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
It's August, and the refuge basks
in long Alaskan summer days.
The lagoon teems with life.
River otters are often found in groups.
Families are made up of a female and her pups,
with or without an adult male.
Izembek is home to the world's only population
of non-migrating tundra swans.
Eating a variety of underwater plants
and small arthropods.
Nearby, curious harbor seals patrol the water.
Other bigger sea mammals have arrived at the lagoon.
Growing up to 12 feet long and
weighing nearly two tons,
a giant male walrus pulls itself out of the water
to haul out on a sand bank.
Pacific walrus are the largest marine mammals
with flippers in Alaska.
They gather in large herds.
Both males and females
grow long, distinctive tusks.
They also both sport the highly sensitive whiskers
that they use to search the sea floor for their food.
But bulls stand out by their bigger size
and the many large bumps
on their neck and shoulders called bosses.
Walrus haul out on land
when they can't find sea ice to rest on.
This herd could be here as late as November,
when sea ice begins to form farther north.
The lagoon's bounty sustains many creatures.
Bald Eagles seek out the fish here.
They scan the water, looking for easy prey.
Izembek is home to
four of the five species of Pacific salmon,
and from July to September,
they return to the refuge to spawn.
Arriving from the Bering Sea and North Pacific,
hundreds of thousands of salmon
make their way up the rivers and streams
into the Joshua Green River watershed.
These chum salmon fight the currents
to reproduce in the very same places they were born.
They bring a bounty of nutrients with them.
Once the journey is complete,
their decaying bodies help fertilize
the streams and surrounding land.
But not all will be successful
in their reproductive mission.
For brown bears, feeding on the salmon is vital
to their long-term survival.
A male brown bear in Izembek can grow to 1,500 pounds,
and needs to raise its fat stores for the long winter.
The refuge supports a large bear population,
and during the salmon run, bear densities can reach
as many as six per mile along some streams.
This female still cares for and protects her twin cubs.
They'll depend on Mom for two to three years.
When they separate,
female cubs tend to stay close to where they were raised,
while male cubs leave the area.
Bears have relatively small home ranges here.
Habitat in the Joshua Green River watershed is ideal,
a combination of abundant food and little human disturbance.
But what makes Izembek unique in the world
is the unparalleled habitat that it provides
for the birds that seek refuge here.
The close proximity of Izembek Lagoon,
coastal wetlands and Kinzarof Lagoon
play an important role in the life of millions of birds.
Tides, ice and sea conditions
can vary dramatically between these areas.
Birds can select the most beneficial habitat
and resting sites available
as conditions deteriorate or improve.
In 1986, Izembek Refuge was recognized
as critical to the health of international bird migrations
and was the first wetland of international importance
designated in the U.S.
Protected by a line of barrier islands,
the lagoon contains one of the largest
eelgrass beds in the world.
It's a long, lush and nutritious water plant
that forms vast underwater meadows.
The size and health of these underwater grasslands
are the basis of a far-reaching, dynamic ecosystem.
Eelgrass creates the building blocks
of a food chain that supports creatures
in the water, land, and in the air.
The lagoon is a key stopover for migrating birds.
Long valued by Alaska natives
for its subsistence importance,
Emperor Geese migrate through
here by the tens of thousands.
They nest primarily in western Alaska
and will winter here along the Alaska peninsula,
Kodiak Island and the Aleutian islands.
But of all the world's travelers,
Izembek may be most important
to the Pacific Black Brant.
It's a smaller, darker relative
of the Canada Goose.
It's now October, and around 150,000 Brant
feed and rest here each fall.
Virtually the entire population of the species.
They'll spend up to eight weeks fueling up on the eelgrass,
most preparing for a non-stop trip to wintering areas in Mexico
and protected bays along the Pacific coast of the U.S.
It's around a 3,300-mile flight,
during which they lose more than 30% of their body weight.
But an increasing portion of the population
is now staying put at Izembek.
Warmer Alaska winters are leading to
more ice-free eelgrass lagoons.
Scientists are monitoring what impacts this trend will have
on the Brant and their eelgrass habitat.
Like the other 15 national wildlife refuges in Alaska,
Izembek maintains and protects in-tact ecosystems
that have been around for millennia.
The cycles of life remain.
By mid-November,
brown bears move towards their upland dens.
Most hibernate, while some may remain active all winter.
A pack of wolves sounds off across the tundra.
They may be following the caribou,
their favorite prey, into lower-lying areas.
Winter is arriving, bringing its own beauty to the refuge.
As one year gives way to another,
for the descendants of the Unangax
and for visitors to the area,
Izembek has again provided the essence
to support life near and far.
It remains a refuge,
conserving and protecting land and wildlife
and also the traditions of the people here,
both now and in the future.