All language subtitles for 78FD2783FE1E95DB9FDB0DD213E23A7D_eng

Looking down on our planet,
it may come as a surprise to

find just how much of it is
blanketed in snow and ice. These

vast frozen wildernesses
cover more than a fifth of the

Earth. Yet some areas are
so remote and inhospitable that

even today the closest we've
come to exploring them is from space.

More than a decade ago,
the first series of frozen planet

examined life in the Arctic
and the Antarctic. In this

series, we will explore all
of Earth's frozen habitats.

From its highest peaks,
to its snowbound deserts,

to deep beneath the ice.

Between them, they contain
an astonishing array of animals,

many that are found nowhere else on Earth.

We will watch the extraordinary
ways by which they manage to survive.

Using new technology,
such as racer drones, we'll

gain a new insight into
their remarkable lives.

But just as we're beginning
to understand its wildlife,

we're recognising an alarming
truth. Our frozen wildernesses

are disappearing at faster
rates than ever before.

Never has it been more
important to understand

what is going on in
these icy territories.

In this first episode, we
will travel from pole to pole

to celebrate the precious
wildlife found in our frozen

wildernesses.

And witness their
wonders, while there is still

time to save them.
This is Frozen Planet 2.

We begin our journey in the
far south of the planet. After

six months of darkness, the
sun is starting to return to the

largest frozen expanse
on Earth. Antarctica. A

continent almost twice
the size of Australia.

Here, temperatures
fall to minus 80 degrees

centigrade. It's the
coldest place on Earth.

There is only one animal here hard
enough to raise its family in winter.

The emperor penguin.

Winds here can reach speeds
of over 100 miles an hour,

and a chick is in real
danger of freezing to death.

But his parents are possibly
the most devoted in all nature.

They shield him from the
full force of the icy blast, and

huddle together to create
a tight crash. Within it, the

chicks remarkably can maintain
their body temperature of 37

degrees Celsius.

Until one spring day, when the
chicks have grown to almost a meter tall,

the parents simply walk away.

Their parental duties are complete, and

they will never again
return to their chicks.

As the days pass, the chicks grow hungry.

And their only chance of
finding a meal is out at sea.

But that could be 30 miles
away across the frozen ocean.

When one makes the first bold move,

the rest follow.

They set off at a steady pace.

But sliding on your
belly is an easy option.

Out on this ever-changing
platform of the frozen

sea, towering walls of
ice stand in their way.

This will require mountaineering skills.

Beaks coming useful as ice peaks.

And tobogganing is a quick way down.

As they near the sea, the
ice becomes more unstable.

Even the smallest crack
is met with suspicion.

And with good reason. A crack
can quickly turn into a gaping chasm.

If they can't escape, the
panicked chicks will be doomed.

Made it!

Finally, the end is in sight.

The Southern Ocean.

In some years, the sea ice is so
unstable that none make it as far as this.

These chicks are the lucky ones.

Not the most placeful entry.

But they are in their element. The sea.

They may have endured the
toughest of upbringings, but now

they can reap the benefits of
the long summer ahead and feed

in the richest waters on Earth.

In winter, the seas around
Antarctica are so cold that

they form a platform of
ice twice the size of Europe.

But in summer, just off
the shores of the Antarctic

Peninsula, the ice cover
breaks up into millions of tiny ice

flows.

It's an excellent place for a weddle
seal to rest up after a night's feed.

The bay is sheltered. And the water calm.

But there are great dangers here.

And there are great dangers here.

Killer whales. This pair of
15-year-olds are learning what

is perhaps the most complex
hunting technique in nature.

After sizing up their prey,
they assemble 30 meters away.

And then launch an attack.
They swim in tandem,

synchronizing their
tailbeats to create a wave.

The seal is washed off, but

it won't give up without a fight.

The seal has escaped. This time.

But for the young killer
whales, help is at hand.

They live in multi-generational
family groups, led by an

experienced female who can
be over a hundred years old.

Helped by her accumulated knowledge, the
whales have become ruthlessly efficient.

They have a 90% hunting success rate.

But a killer whale needs
to eat a seal a day. So

this 14 -strong family
has a lot of hunting to do.

Spreading out, they spy
hop to search the ice floes.

When a seal is spotted, the scouts
alert the family with a rallying call.

But if they are to catch a
seal resting on such a large

piece of ice, the hunters
need to change their tactics.

This time, they produce a subsurface wave.

It breaks the ice into smaller pieces.

But the seal still has a raft. And appears
to be protected from any oncoming wave.

The matriarch whale, however, has a plan.

Working in a coordinated way, the pod push
the seal's ice platform into clearer water.

The matriarch now tries another
tactic, which will avoid injury.

Blowing bubbles.

They disorientate the towering seal.

And the whales move in for the kill.

Only about 100 killer whales in
the world hunt using this technique.

It's an ingenious solution
to the problem of finding

prey, here in the most
extreme frozen habitat on Earth.

Antarctica is so cold
because of its position at the far

south of the planet. But
travel north and you'll find other

icy worlds that are created
by altitude in the mountains.

The Andes in South America,
with its 4,500 miles of snow

-covered peaks, is the
longest range on Earth.

These high icy worlds even
exist close to the equator, where

the sun is at its hottest, as
on Mount Kenya in Africa.

But the highest mountains
of all stretch 1,500 miles

across the north of
subtropical Asia, the Himalaya.

At the western end, bordering
Pakistan, stand the Karakorum.

They contain more peaks over 8,000
meters high than any other range on Earth.

And include K2, which
stands over 8,600 meters tall.

The slopes of the
Himalaya carry the greatest

accumulation of snow and
ice outside the polar regions.

It's an area known as the Third Pole.

But north of the Himalaya,
there are even more

surprising frozen worlds
created by altitude.

A remote snowbound desert, the Gobi.

And beyond it, a grassy
plain that stretches for 5,000

miles across Central Asia.
It's known as the Great Steppe.

Here, sheltering from the elements in his
bolder den, is a somewhat grouchy resident.

A palace's cat. He has the
densest fur of any cat in the world.

Nonetheless, to keep warm, he
must cat up to five rodents a day.

Top of the menu are voles and gerbils.

Relative to body size, palace's cats
have one of the shortest legs of any cat.

And that helps by giving them
a low profile when stalking.

But it's not so good for
wading through deep snow.

Never mind, there are plenty more.

He just needs to stay focused.

Unfortunately, the longer he's out in
the snow, the colder his paws become.

And he has only one way to
get the blood circulating again.

That could be one shape too many.

Only one hunt in three by a
palace's cat is successful. No

wonder he has the reputation
of being the grumpiest cat in

the world.

To the north of the steppe, in higher
latitudes, lies yet another frozen world.

The Boreal Forest.

750 billion snow-covered trees.

It's the largest forest on
earth, encircling the top of the

world from Europe to Russia
and across to North America.

At the far eastern end of
this vast Siberian forest lies

the hunting ground of one
of the world's rarest big cats.

The Siberian tiger.

Illegal hunting and destruction
of its habitat have driven

this tiger to the very brink
of extinction. Now, fewer than

500 remain in the wild.

Weighing nearly 200 kilograms,
it's the largest of all the big cats.

To keep warm, this male must
eat 10 kilograms of meat a day.

But in winter, any prey remaining
here is all too easily alarmed.

He must patrol his entire 700 square mile
territory if he's to find enough to eat.

His acute sense of smell tells
him that wild pig were here.

He's so hungry that he would
tackle even a 150 kilo bear.

But it left here months ago,
leaving only a faint trace of its scent.

In the autumn, black bears here escape the
coming winter by hibernating inside caves.

But that wouldn't stop a
tiger from trying to catch one.

Remote cameras reveal
the bear's whereabouts.

It retreated into the
farthest recess months ago.

The tiger is simply too big to reach it.

But ready for every
opportunity, this big cat

is able to endure the
long Siberian winter.

And as long as this forest
is kept free from poachers,

these magnificent tigers have
a good chance of surviving.

In the northerly reaches
of the Boreal Forest,

a strange phenomenon
illuminates the night sky,

the aurora borealis.

Electrically charged particles
from the sun collide with

the Earth's atmosphere,
creating this otherworldly display.

Viewed from space, the
aurora brings light to the frozen

poles, which otherwise would
remain in darkness for almost

three months.

This is the Arctic tundra,

where temperatures can fall
to minus 50 degrees Celsius.

With little or no shelter,
few animals can survive the

winter here. But some do.

Musk ox, relics from the last ice age.

Two layers of fur protect them from
temperatures of minus 30 degrees.

This allows them to
give birth in early spring.

At six hours old, a calf
is already able to stand.

Ready to follow the herd in
the search for fresh grazing.

But until they gain in strength,
they are very vulnerable.

They're being stalked. Grizzly bears.

Weighing up to 300 kilos,
they have emerged after

six months of hibernation
and are extremely hungry.

One gets to within just 10
meters and then attacks. One gets

to within just

10 meters and then attacks.

Separated from their
mothers, the newly born

are unable to
distinguish friend from foe.

The bear instinctively
kills every calf it can.

Only a few escape.

But the herd is now far away.

And he is too weak to follow.

90% of calves do not
survive their first year.

Even one without
injury stands little chance

without its mother.
The bear instinctively

kills every calf it can.

One gets to within just 10
meters and then attacks. Reunited.

If just a few calves survive to adulthood,
the future of the herd will be secure.

North of the tundra lies the
Arctic Ocean, surrounded by

three continents, Europe,
North America and Asia. In winter,

it remains almost entirely frozen.

But as the spring sunshine
finally reaches the northernmost

part of the planet, the sea
ice begins to break up. This

marks the start of the breeding
season for male hooded seals.

When they're six years old, the
males develop an inflatable nose.

They're ready to breed. And
the bigger their nose, the more

attractive they will be to a
female. And now this one is

eager to prove it.

A female has just given birth.

A mother spends a mere four
days feeding milk to her pup.

And then, and only then, will
she be ready to mate again.

That is too long for an impatient
youngster to wait around.

These females seem to have
been claimed by a larger male.

But if this youngster is to
breed this year, it's worth a

try.

An inflatable nose can also be used to
intimidate a rival. His bravado pays off.

He must now woo the receptive female.

She seems unimpressed.

But he has another trick.

He has an expandable
sac within his left nostril.

What is her verdict?

A sharp nip on the tail.

And that means no.

With only one day in the year in which to
mate, the female is understandably choosy.

And until the youngster has
grown a more impressive balloon,

he's unlikely to be chosen.
No wonder he's deflated.

The spring not only transforms
the ocean, it also triggers

an important event on the
biggest of the Arctic's islands.

Greenland, over 1,600 miles long.

It's covered by a
single gigantic ice sheet,

the largest in the
northern hemisphere.

As spring advances, the
surface of the ice melts, forming

crystal clear lakes, up to five
miles wide. Climate change

is bringing higher temperatures,
so there is more and more

melt water. It drains down
into the mild thick ice sheet.

And a whole chain of events
is then triggered. Time-lapse

photography from space
reveals what happens next.

The increased melt water accelerates
the ice sheet's slide downhill.

Eventually, it reaches the ocean.

It breaks up into icebergs, some
taller than the Empire State Building.

Greenland is losing its ice six times
faster today than it was 30 years ago.

It alone is responsible for a
quarter of the rise in global sea levels.

Changes in the Arctic
are already affecting

the lives of its highly
specialized wildlife.

Polar bears.

These one-year-old twins
still rely on their mother

for her milk, protection,
and crucial survival lessons.

But they have yet to perfect
their swimming technique.

The cubs need to be as at home in
the water as they are on the sea ice.

Their mother calls them out.
Until they've accumulated a

significant layer of body
fat, they feel the cold. A roll in

the snow is a good way to dry off.

Then it's back to play.

While their mother heads off to hunt.

Over the coming months,
a mother must provide her

cubs with not just milk,
but meat and lots of it.

By midsummer, the sea
ice has become so thin that

her best chance of catching her preferred
prey is by ambushing it from the water.

It's a technique known as aquatic stalking.

She approaches downwind and tries
to get within a meter of a bearded seal.

But today, there is
less sea ice to provide

cover, so she is having
to target riskier prey.

A hooded seal.

They are about the same
size as the bearded, but more

aggressive and dangerous.
They are about the same size, but

more aggressive and dangerous.

They are about the same size,
but more aggressive and dangerous.

They are about the same
size, but more aggressive

and dangerous.

The Arctic is now warming
more than twice as fast as the

rest of the world. The sea
could be ice free in summer by as

early as 2035.

That will make it
harder for mother polar

bears to feed themselves,
let alone their cubs.

Well adapted to live in the
cold. The animals that inhabit

our frozen lands and seas
need one thing more than any

other.

And that is for the planet to stop warming.

It's now up to us to make that happen.

Filming across the length and
breadth of our frozen planet,

one of the team's greatest
challenges was to capture the

enormity of Greenland's
rapidly melting ice sheet.

To do so, the crew
launched five separate filming

expeditions. Installing specially
designed cold proof time

lapse cameras that were
to run for three years.

Even commissioning satellites
to record the big picture changes.

But the story would be
incomplete without documenting the

finale of this event, the
carving of Greenland's store

glacier. A wall of ice over three miles
long and towering 120 meters high.

The crew arrive at the height
of the summer thaw, when at

any moment fracturing ice
blocks the size of a small town

may be cast into the sea.

Camping out for the next
three weeks, the team takes

advantage of the constant
daylight offered by the far north

at this time of the year.

Got a lot of ice on the glacier,
24 hours a day. So yeah,

we're poised. I started at
about 8 p.m. and it's currently,

yeah, just after 2. I've got
until 4 a.m. this morning, I think.

They're hoping to be one
of the first film crews to use a

camera drone for unprecedented
proximity and a brand new

perspective. It's not long before
their new technology is put to the test.

But it quickly reveals its limitations.

The issue with the drone,
you've got to turn it on, get

it in the air and fly it one
and a half kilometers to the

glacier front. So if you see
a carving happening, then

you're too late. With a
flight time of just 20 minutes,

gauging the moment of
takeoff is critical. Yeah, I feel like

today just every decision I've
made has been the wrong one.

It's really easy to trick
yourself into thinking, oh, it's

going to go, it's going to go.
So you get out there, use up

a whole drone battery hovering,
come back and as you're heading back.

Soon, the team face another problem
that comes with today's warming Arctic.

Unseasonably wet weather
makes it impossible to fly

the drone and acts as a
catalyst for further melting.

Absolute rocket happening down
in the glacier. Oh, my goodness.

Even if it is a major carving event.

Can't see a thing.

That sound just went on and on.

That one was huge.

After five days of
frustration, the fog finally lifts

to reveal the bay choked
with the giant icebergs.

It appears the crew have
missed their opportunity.

Morale, the crew has taken
a little bit of a downturn. Do

you know what? I just don't
know what to say. I'm so tired.

To make matters worse,
a plague of mosquitoes

descends, further disheartening
the exhausted team.

All your senses all go all the
time, even when you're trying

to sleep. So it's just a bit
emotionally draining sometimes.

Then, with just a few shooting
days left under a warming

sun, the glacier groans
and rumbles back into action.

Guys, big one going. This
could be the opportunity

they've been waiting for.
Oh, my gosh, look at that.

The carving event lasting long
enough to film from the drone.

But no one is prepared
for the sheer scale of it.

Just layer after layer of ice
broke away and fell into the

sea. And they now came at
this enormous skyscraper sized

iceberg, displacing vast
quantities of water and throwing

enormous blocks of ice
around like they were nothing.

Sitting here day after day,
crossing your fingers and hoping

that you get a big carving and
you see a big event and you

manage to film it. And when
it does happen and when it

doesn't go off, it's so exciting
and you get the adrenaline.

And then afterwards, as you
sort of you're coming down from

that, there's a bit of sweetness
to it as you realize that's

another piece of ice that's
slowly raising the sea level.

Such imagery provides an
invaluable record of the rapid

changes that are now taking
place across our frozen planet.

Thank you.