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(ROARING)
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00:00:03,545 --> 00:00:07,037
NARRATOR: He is the apex predator
of the Arctic.
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00:00:08,383 --> 00:00:11,500
Now, the ice bear is under siege.
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The threat, an adversary that's deadlier,
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more powerful than any he 's ever faced.
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(SQUAWKING)
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A gauntlet of challenges
beyond any the Arctic has dealt him.
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(BUZZING)
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(GROWLS)
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After millions of years of ruling the ice,
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00:00:41,917 --> 00:00:45,000
has the polar bear met his match?
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(WIND WHISTLING)
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The Arctic ice guards a secret.
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Bleak and barren as it seems, it stirs with life.
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(CHIRPS)
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(BARKING)
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Just look a little deeper.
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(GROWLS)
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To last the year,
the ice bear needs to eat 40 seals.
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One more is all it'll take.
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Spring is almost over.
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If he doesn't catch this one,
he may not survive.
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(GROWLING)
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(SEAL BARKING)
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(SPLASHING)
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(GRUNTS)
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That may be his death knell.
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He can 't hunt seals without the ice.
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(GRUNTS)
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Now the ice is about to disappear.
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(RUMBLING)
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It's late June.
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A few generations ago,
the ice bear would have had another month
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before he ran out of time
to make his quota of seals.
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But, this year, his world is shrinking early.
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(SQUEALING)
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He 's got no choice.
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He has to enter a new world
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of danger.
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(GRUNTING)
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Ice Bear is three years old.
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Just a teen by polar bear standards.
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Now he's got to somehow make it to shore
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almost 500 gruelling kilometres away.
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He 's done it before, guided by his mother.
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Now he 's on his own
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and it's going to be one of the longest,
cruelest summers on record.
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He 's one of 2, 000 bears
who live in Canada 's Hudson Bay.
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Every year, when the ice melts,
some have to head south.
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First to islands along their way,
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then to the mainland.
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Ice Bear and his community live farther south
than any other polar bears on the planet.
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For generations, they've been the only group
forced to survive off the ice all summer.
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If the world keeps warming,
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they won 't be alone.
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Polar bears around the world
may also be exiled,
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and face the same life-or-death struggle.
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(SNORTING)
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(GROWLING)
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All across Hudson Bay,
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marine mammals are looking
for summer homes.
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Walruses, a tempting source of fat.
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Ice Bear can pick up a scent
almost a kilometre away.
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(SNIFFING)
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This may be his one chance to make up
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for that seal he missed before the ice melted.
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(GRUNTING)
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The walrus' nose is keen, too.
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The mothers' guards go up.
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Ice Bear is taking on a creature
who 's adept in the water.
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A ton of tusk and trouble.
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It is a remarkable encounter.
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A scene rarely witnessed.
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(GRUNTING)
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Being on his own for the first time
is harrowing.
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One in five adolescent bears die.
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For cubs to survive, their mother's lessons
have to last them a lifetime.
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Cub boy, cub girl,
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neither's got much fat
for energy and insulation.
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They keep close to Mum,
mimicking her every move.
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For the first two years of her cubs' life,
they're completely dependent on her.
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They're still nursing.
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She needs to find herself food,
or her cubs won 't last.
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This desolate slab is just a pit stop.
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Though its scent
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is now forever ingrained
in her cubs' memory.
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That's what's keeping Ice Bear going now.
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His memory has led him to the same islands.
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(CAWING)
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The scent he's picked up?
Thick-billed murres.
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The division between sky and sea
is lost on them.
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This time of year, the plankton bloom
draws herring and shrimp,
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a feast for murres.
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The bear smells a meal, too.
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(SNIFFS)
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But there 's 200 metres between him and it.
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It's a challenge
no sensible adult bear would go for.
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Leave it to a desperate teen.
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(CAWING)
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The murres pick cliffs for their colonies
to keep predators from approaching.
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The ledges are just enough purchase.
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(SQUAWKING)
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Nobody expects a cliff-climbing polar bear.
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This is behaviour
never before captured on video.
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(CAWING)
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(POLAR BEAR GROWLS)
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The question is, for all the risk and work,
is it worth it?
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Not for one chick.
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Bones and feathers are a recipe
for starvation.
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Ice Bear needs fat.
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His only hope is still 250 kilometres away.
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He 's got to make it to the mainland.
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There are no landmarks to guide him.
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Incredibly, he can orient. By day, to the sun.
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By night, the stars are his compass.
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He may actually use them
to track his course ahead.
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Night after night,
Ice Bear doesn't sleep or eat.
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(SNORTING)
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After 1 0 days,
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land.
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But then polar bears are built to last on ice,
not land.
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For Ice Bear, survival might be a long shot.
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Ice Bear actually evolved from a land bear,
like the grizzly.
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Now he 's forced to revisit his roots,
and adapt.
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(BIRDS CHIRPING)
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(GROWLS)
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He 's not equipped to hunt this strange prey.
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Animals of the earth, not the ice.
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(GRUNTS)
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(INSECT BUZZING)
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And he's not designed for the heat.
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It's 28 degrees Celsius.
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(HONKING)
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Misery.
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(INSECTS BUZZING)
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(GROWLING)
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(BUZZING)
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At least the bugs get to eat.
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(GROWLS)
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There's no way to get comfortable.
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Another older male has been here
long enough to know.
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Get wet.
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(ROARING)
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Ice Bear has got to learn the ropes.
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That's one thing he's got going for him.
Polar bears are eager students.
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One life lesson he needs now
is how to keep from starving.
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In fact, scarfing down snacks is a mistake.
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The veteran knows that eating
would throw off the altered state he 's in.
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To get his metabolism to slow down,
the older male is fasting the whole summer.
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It's a zombie-like state
called "walking hibernation. "
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He'll live off his fat reserves
and spend his waking hours half-awake.
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But the ice bear can 't swing it.
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He 's too young to make
the metabolic change.
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He can last the length of a typical summer
before starvation sets in.
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The problem is summer has gotten longer.
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This female is already at death 's door.
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She didn't eat enough seals
before the ice broke up.
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(BREATHING HEAVILY)
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Drinking is a sign of desperation.
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If she were healthy, she 'd get hydrated
by metabolising her own fat.
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But she has no fat.
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It's a cruel fate.
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To come so far
just to suffer on a distant shore.
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(INSECTS BUZZING)
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(EXHALES)
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(SCREECHING)
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Not all Hudson Bay bears
put their trust in the land.
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It's August, and a straggler is still adrift.
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He's got a strategy to stay here
the whole season long.
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He 's learned to hunt along the way
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and take on a walrus.
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In the water,
the straggler is no match for a walrus.
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But, eventually,
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the herd needs to rest.
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00:21:10,478 --> 00:21:12,139
(BARKING)
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The perfect opportunity for an ambush.
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They've been out on a four-day binge,
foraging for clams.
179
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Now they're exhausted.
180
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(GROWLING)
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One catch, and the straggler
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will have enough to last him for days.
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A calf's body is one-third fat.
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But the young are all surrounded by adults.
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Big, dangerous animals.
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While they're restless, their guard is up.
187
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(GRUNTS)
188
00:22:19,129 --> 00:22:21,916
There 's no such thing as one itchy walrus.
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The herd that moults together,
itches together.
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(GRUNTS SOFTLY)
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Finally.
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Most bears wouldn't risk it.
193
00:22:57,042 --> 00:23:00,626
The hungry straggler isn't thinking twice.
194
00:23:16,020 --> 00:23:18,102
(GROWLING)
195
00:23:24,570 --> 00:23:28,358
The straggler approaches downwind
to avoid detection.
196
00:23:37,958 --> 00:23:39,698
(BARKING)
197
00:23:57,019 --> 00:24:01,353
A mother's instinct to care for her young
is a powerful drive.
198
00:24:02,441 --> 00:24:05,524
There 's only one that can be stronger.
199
00:24:08,405 --> 00:24:09,986
Hunger.
200
00:24:14,870 --> 00:24:16,576
(GROWLING)
201
00:24:17,998 --> 00:24:23,618
The straggler will follow the herd all summer,
picking off calves with ease.
202
00:24:31,387 --> 00:24:35,721
He won 't need to bother
migrating to land this year.
203
00:24:43,732 --> 00:24:46,690
Some castaways aren't so lucky.
204
00:24:51,156 --> 00:24:57,072
Here, far from where the bears belong,
death is a fact of life.
205
00:24:57,705 --> 00:24:59,036
(BUZZING)
206
00:25:06,130 --> 00:25:08,371
He may have died from an injury.
207
00:25:08,465 --> 00:25:12,424
Or from swimming those
hundreds of kilometres to get here.
208
00:25:13,846 --> 00:25:19,432
But his misfortune may be
the starving female 's salvation.
209
00:26:05,189 --> 00:26:08,226
Cannibalism is rare among polar bears.
210
00:26:09,318 --> 00:26:13,277
Being forced to live on land
changes everything.
211
00:26:21,830 --> 00:26:24,788
On the ice, she 's a noble hunter.
212
00:26:25,793 --> 00:26:29,911
Now she 's reduced to scavenging
the flesh of her own kind.
213
00:26:36,512 --> 00:26:40,755
In 1 6 years,
the Western Hudson Bay polar bears
214
00:26:40,849 --> 00:26:43,932
have dwindled by a staggering 22%.
215
00:26:48,607 --> 00:26:49,813
This female
216
00:26:50,734 --> 00:26:53,146
probably won 't survive the season.
217
00:27:03,288 --> 00:27:07,827
For mother and cubs,
the journey is finally over.
218
00:27:07,918 --> 00:27:10,785
But the odyssey has taken a toll on her.
219
00:27:16,468 --> 00:27:19,926
Through the long journey here,
she 's had to nurse them.
220
00:27:22,808 --> 00:27:26,926
While adult males withdraw
into walking hibernation,
221
00:27:28,939 --> 00:27:31,681
her cubs depend on her being awake.
222
00:27:33,694 --> 00:27:37,653
The demands of nursing can be dire.
223
00:27:37,739 --> 00:27:40,776
Somehow, she 's got to find food.
224
00:27:57,926 --> 00:28:01,089
The ice bear seizes an opportunity,
225
00:28:03,724 --> 00:28:05,680
takes the mother's cue,
226
00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:08,892
and follows her.
227
00:28:11,315 --> 00:28:13,852
She 's guided by memory
228
00:28:14,860 --> 00:28:20,571
of an exhausting three-day walk to a cove
where she 's found food before.
229
00:28:27,998 --> 00:28:29,738
(WIND WHISTLING)
230
00:28:36,757 --> 00:28:41,626
Here, beluga whales rub against the rocks
and moult their skin.
231
00:28:42,262 --> 00:28:44,093
(SINGING)
232
00:28:54,024 --> 00:28:57,312
When the tide goes out, a few get beached.
233
00:29:11,500 --> 00:29:14,458
Mother and cubs feed first.
234
00:29:14,586 --> 00:29:18,204
Cub boy and cub girl are
beginning to get weaned,
235
00:29:18,298 --> 00:29:20,289
and what better inducement?
236
00:29:21,134 --> 00:29:24,376
Ice Bear knows to give the family wide berth.
237
00:29:25,472 --> 00:29:27,133
(BIRD SCREECHING)
238
00:29:30,811 --> 00:29:32,802
Some scraps tide him over
239
00:29:33,897 --> 00:29:37,060
and, rather than fight,
he's learned to conserve his energy.
240
00:29:42,656 --> 00:29:47,070
And to be patient,
though he's on the verge of starvation.
241
00:30:08,682 --> 00:30:14,222
For Ice Bear, after weeks of waiting,
it's time to eat.
242
00:30:21,987 --> 00:30:25,104
Mum isn't yet free of her burden to nurse.
243
00:30:26,366 --> 00:30:29,529
And now she 's got another problem.
244
00:30:33,165 --> 00:30:37,704
The ice bear is going to
follow her everywhere.
245
00:30:37,794 --> 00:30:42,879
For him, that could make the difference
between life and death.
246
00:30:53,894 --> 00:30:55,725
September.
247
00:30:56,229 --> 00:30:57,890
(SQUAWKING)
248
00:30:59,775 --> 00:31:02,858
With the fall, animals are on the move.
249
00:31:10,243 --> 00:31:13,235
But one is settling in for the long haul.
250
00:31:17,918 --> 00:31:21,957
By now, every polar bear
that's coming ashore has arrived.
251
00:31:23,423 --> 00:31:24,538
(GRUNTS)
252
00:31:25,258 --> 00:31:28,216
On the ice, they would've led lives apart.
253
00:31:28,929 --> 00:31:32,296
Polar bears in the high north
seldom cross paths.
254
00:31:34,101 --> 00:31:36,467
The Hudson Bay bears are different.
255
00:31:37,062 --> 00:31:38,802
(GROWLING)
256
00:31:46,905 --> 00:31:50,989
This time of year, they're forced
into a narrow corridor of shoreline.
257
00:31:51,743 --> 00:31:53,028
(GROWLING)
258
00:31:53,120 --> 00:31:54,906
They socialise.
259
00:31:57,290 --> 00:32:00,327
And Ice Bear gets to learn all the more.
260
00:32:03,130 --> 00:32:08,295
Males fight to win a mate.
These two are just sparring for practice.
261
00:32:10,554 --> 00:32:12,135
(GROWLING CONTINUES)
262
00:32:21,523 --> 00:32:24,139
For the cubs, it's a spectator sport.
263
00:32:35,871 --> 00:32:38,738
Being social has its advantages.
264
00:32:38,832 --> 00:32:39,992
The more practice you get,
265
00:32:40,333 --> 00:32:43,791
the better your chances
when it's time for the real fight.
266
00:32:53,930 --> 00:32:55,386
Though, when they feel crowded,
267
00:32:55,932 --> 00:32:58,765
big males are known to attack cubs.
268
00:33:03,190 --> 00:33:08,025
Nursing keeps Mother's young
from wandering off and getting into trouble.
269
00:33:09,154 --> 00:33:12,271
Unless trouble follows them.
270
00:33:18,246 --> 00:33:22,080
Ice Bear has been tailing the mother
for weeks.
271
00:33:26,213 --> 00:33:27,623
(GRUNTING)
272
00:33:30,884 --> 00:33:33,546
Challenging him to leave would take energy.
273
00:33:36,848 --> 00:33:40,011
But so does corralling her cubs.
274
00:33:45,607 --> 00:33:46,813
(GRUNTS)
275
00:33:52,906 --> 00:33:55,773
Then, a milestone.
276
00:34:00,539 --> 00:34:02,746
Boy cub draws away.
277
00:34:14,553 --> 00:34:17,215
Independence is a rite of passage.
278
00:34:18,473 --> 00:34:20,930
But Ice Bear may turn aggressive.
279
00:34:23,311 --> 00:34:26,098
Mother levels a warning.
280
00:34:31,987 --> 00:34:33,943
(GROWLING)
281
00:34:34,698 --> 00:34:37,735
But boy cub has tasted
something irresistible.
282
00:34:38,076 --> 00:34:39,407
(PANTING)
283
00:34:59,389 --> 00:35:01,801
It's a costly game of cat and mouse.
284
00:35:05,687 --> 00:35:09,771
The calories the cubs are burning
come from Mum 's milk.
285
00:35:13,737 --> 00:35:15,853
This has got to stop.
286
00:35:18,116 --> 00:35:19,777
(GROWLING)
287
00:35:29,878 --> 00:35:35,248
Some teenagers are a bad influence.
This one is worse.
288
00:35:35,717 --> 00:35:37,378
(BIRDS SCREECHING)
289
00:35:38,345 --> 00:35:43,214
A distraction that's blinded Mum
to a deadly visitor.
290
00:35:47,520 --> 00:35:49,135
A wolf.
291
00:35:51,983 --> 00:35:55,020
Where there 's one wolf,
there could be a pack.
292
00:36:00,700 --> 00:36:02,281
(GROWLING)
293
00:36:17,467 --> 00:36:19,583
Ice Bear is on his own.
294
00:36:31,189 --> 00:36:34,477
They're lucky the wolf is as well.
295
00:36:37,153 --> 00:36:40,896
But, in the confusion,
Ice Bear loses track of the others,
296
00:36:42,075 --> 00:36:45,408
his lifeline to food and family.
297
00:36:59,175 --> 00:37:01,382
Mother's journey isn't over.
298
00:37:03,972 --> 00:37:07,556
Here, on the coast,
they're exposed to threats.
299
00:37:10,520 --> 00:37:14,138
Perhaps there'll be safety
in the cover of the forest.
300
00:37:19,070 --> 00:37:20,480
(SCREECHING)
301
00:37:26,035 --> 00:37:31,575
Their exile is taking them deeper still
into a world even stranger to them.
302
00:37:31,875 --> 00:37:33,456
(PANTING)
303
00:37:42,802 --> 00:37:44,588
Nobody knows much about the time
304
00:37:44,679 --> 00:37:47,637
mothers and cubs spend
hidden in the woods.
305
00:37:54,105 --> 00:37:56,312
That is about to change.
306
00:38:05,074 --> 00:38:06,484
(INAUDIBLE)
307
00:38:18,505 --> 00:38:21,463
These aren't hunters. They're biologists.
308
00:38:23,218 --> 00:38:26,005
And their ammo is just a tranquiliser.
309
00:38:29,265 --> 00:38:31,256
They believe the Hudson Bay bears
310
00:38:31,559 --> 00:38:37,429
could be a bellwether for the entire species,
pioneers of the warming world.
311
00:38:37,524 --> 00:38:39,230
(PANTING)
312
00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:43,393
These bears spend so much time
on land already.
313
00:38:43,488 --> 00:38:49,028
If they can 't adapt to the longer summers,
other populations don 't stand a chance.
314
00:38:51,663 --> 00:38:54,154
They fit Mum with a video camera.
315
00:39:10,849 --> 00:39:15,684
As she wakes up,
a unique home movie begins rolling.
316
00:39:18,815 --> 00:39:22,307
In two weeks, the camera will pop off
317
00:39:22,402 --> 00:39:25,485
and the researchers can
get their first glimpse
318
00:39:25,572 --> 00:39:28,860
from a polar bear's point of view.
319
00:39:30,326 --> 00:39:34,114
It offers a remarkable revelation.
320
00:39:34,205 --> 00:39:38,118
The bears have a sweet tooth for berries.
321
00:39:40,587 --> 00:39:42,543
It makes no sense.
322
00:39:45,717 --> 00:39:50,427
Berries have no fat,
no apparent nutritional value for them.
323
00:39:51,472 --> 00:39:53,929
And foraging takes a lot of energy.
324
00:39:59,105 --> 00:40:01,221
Maybe it's a throwback.
325
00:40:01,316 --> 00:40:05,400
Terrestrial bears, like grizzlies,
are big on berries.
326
00:40:06,446 --> 00:40:11,941
Living on land may be driving the polar bears
to revert to their evolutionary roots.
327
00:40:14,370 --> 00:40:16,361
A desperate strategy.
328
00:40:23,838 --> 00:40:25,829
November.
329
00:40:31,304 --> 00:40:35,593
Just a generation ago, Hudson Bay
would have been frozen by now.
330
00:40:41,356 --> 00:40:44,940
Ice Bear's first summer alone should be over,
331
00:40:45,985 --> 00:40:49,477
but he 's trapped on land in limbo.
332
00:40:56,996 --> 00:41:00,238
Following his instincts, he heads northwest,
333
00:41:00,333 --> 00:41:02,665
where the sea freezes earliest.
334
00:41:08,591 --> 00:41:10,832
The snow along his way is just a tease.
335
00:41:13,012 --> 00:41:14,172
(GRUNTS)
336
00:41:15,264 --> 00:41:16,845
(DISTANT GROWLING)
337
00:41:17,266 --> 00:41:18,847
(GRUNTING)
338
00:41:19,143 --> 00:41:20,804
He's not alone.
339
00:41:22,230 --> 00:41:24,095
(ROARING)
340
00:41:52,593 --> 00:41:54,174
By this point in the season,
341
00:41:54,262 --> 00:41:58,221
sparring partners have squared off
many times in mock battles.
342
00:42:01,060 --> 00:42:03,392
They've come to know who's their measure,
343
00:42:03,896 --> 00:42:05,181
who 's a menace,
344
00:42:05,565 --> 00:42:07,897
and when it's time to walk away.
345
00:42:13,573 --> 00:42:17,065
If Ice Bear is going to someday
compete for a mate,
346
00:42:17,368 --> 00:42:20,826
he 's got to find someone his own size
to spar with.
347
00:42:28,337 --> 00:42:29,918
(GROWLS WEARILY)
348
00:42:35,428 --> 00:42:39,467
He 's searched for food, for haven,
for company,
349
00:42:40,058 --> 00:42:41,468
in vain.
350
00:42:42,560 --> 00:42:46,178
Now the season delivers the ultimate insult.
351
00:43:12,131 --> 00:43:15,794
The route he follows was blazed
thousands of years ago.
352
00:43:19,764 --> 00:43:22,301
Before tourists,
353
00:43:25,353 --> 00:43:27,344
before cameras,
354
00:43:28,189 --> 00:43:29,804
(CAMERAS CLICKING)
355
00:43:30,316 --> 00:43:33,729
before the summer got so damned long.
356
00:43:40,451 --> 00:43:42,066
He 's curious, too.
357
00:43:42,578 --> 00:43:45,035
He gets to visit the human zoo.
358
00:43:56,050 --> 00:43:57,961
Business is booming.
359
00:43:58,427 --> 00:44:00,964
The tourist season lasts longer than ever,
360
00:44:01,055 --> 00:44:04,092
since the bears are stuck here
an extra month.
361
00:44:13,860 --> 00:44:17,944
Polar bears are crossing paths
with our world more and more.
362
00:44:19,866 --> 00:44:21,822
The encounter can get ugly.
363
00:44:21,951 --> 00:44:23,407
(BARKING)
364
00:44:29,584 --> 00:44:31,324
Dogs, like wolves,
365
00:44:31,878 --> 00:44:34,369
are ancient enemies of bears.
366
00:44:35,047 --> 00:44:39,256
But, this time, it's the pack that's at risk.
367
00:44:39,343 --> 00:44:40,833
(BARKING)
368
00:44:41,053 --> 00:44:45,547
The bear that's approaching
could not be more hungry.
369
00:44:47,643 --> 00:44:48,974
(GRUNTING)
370
00:44:56,652 --> 00:44:58,233
(BARKING)
371
00:45:01,407 --> 00:45:04,149
The ice bear could easily kill a dog.
372
00:45:17,548 --> 00:45:20,915
Instead, an extraordinary turn.
373
00:45:26,599 --> 00:45:30,012
That a bear wants companionship with dogs
374
00:45:30,144 --> 00:45:32,510
is a strange sign of the times.
375
00:45:39,028 --> 00:45:42,395
No less bizarre than that
he would need to wait for winter,
376
00:45:43,574 --> 00:45:45,735
so long overdue.
377
00:45:55,127 --> 00:45:56,788
(BARKING)
378
00:46:01,425 --> 00:46:05,134
For the ice bear,
company may be a consolation,
379
00:46:07,139 --> 00:46:08,595
but it's not the answer.
380
00:46:23,155 --> 00:46:25,146
(YAWNING)
381
00:46:30,997 --> 00:46:32,407
(BARKING)
382
00:46:41,674 --> 00:46:45,667
The ice is finally beginning to beckon.
383
00:46:52,935 --> 00:46:56,018
Come December, the waters roil.
384
00:47:06,032 --> 00:47:10,071
On the banks of Hudson Bay,
the weary gather.
385
00:47:14,665 --> 00:47:18,704
The ice bear has finally found his way
to others his age.
386
00:47:20,046 --> 00:47:21,502
(GROWLING)
387
00:47:24,091 --> 00:47:28,676
If they're going to compete for females,
they have to learn to spar
388
00:47:29,722 --> 00:47:32,555
and this is their last fleeting chance.
389
00:47:50,785 --> 00:47:54,573
A chance Ice Bear now seizes.
390
00:48:30,282 --> 00:48:32,944
A bond and rivalry forged on land
391
00:48:33,911 --> 00:48:36,493
may last them years on the ice.
392
00:48:55,808 --> 00:48:59,676
Finally, the sea turns from black to white.
393
00:49:07,445 --> 00:49:11,029
He 's survived one of the
longest summers on record.
394
00:49:11,866 --> 00:49:14,949
Nearly six months on land.
395
00:49:21,542 --> 00:49:25,330
His homecoming is a bay
once again entombed.
396
00:49:27,965 --> 00:49:31,002
Next year,
the summer may be longer than ever.
397
00:49:32,553 --> 00:49:36,796
The time to hunt seals on ice
may get even shorter.
398
00:49:39,768 --> 00:49:44,387
But, for now, the ice bear is home.
398
00:49:45,305 --> 00:49:51,212
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