All language subtitles for 2017_Alaskan.Summer.HDTV-Eng

In a frozen land

of long, unforgiving winters,

survival isn't easy.

But a harsh climate,

a varied landscape,

and stiff competition

have created a surprising
diversity of wildlife.

Each species carves out
its own space...

Waiting for one time of year

when water flows

and the day all but
swallows the night.

This is Alaskan Summer.

It's late July,

mid summer on Admiralty Island

in south-eastern Alaska.

This mother brown bear
is searching for food.

She gave birth to her cubs
in the middle of winter,

during hibernation.

In the safety of her den,

she nursed them till spring,

without eating or drinking
herself the entire winter.

And she's lost 40 percent
of her body weight.

The trio emerged in April,

ready to forage.

Since then they've been eating
whatever she can find:

berries...

insects from rotting logs...

=even carrion.

She needs to gain enough weight now,
to be able to continue

nursing her cubs
through next winter.

She's brought her cubs to
her favorite fishing spot,

but instead of dinner...

she finds danger.

Another adult bear.

Cannibalistic males and
competing females can kill cubs,

so Mum's not taking
any chances.

Her cubs are safe...

for now.

But Admiralty Island

is full of adversaries.

1,800 bears call the island home.

At one per square mile,

it's the highest density of
brown bears in North America.

18,000 years ago

the area was covered
by a glacial ice sheet,

with bears roaming
freely as far south as Sitka.

When the glaciers retreated

they exposed over
a thousand islands:

the Alexander Archipelago.

Cut off by the
rising sea level,

the bears became isolated
on Admiralty Island.

Their high density today
is only possible

thanks to the annual salmon run

that arrives in the summer.

But there's a problem
this year.

The salmon are late.

The bears need them to
fatten up before winter.

Luckily, for the mother
and her cubs,

they live close to the
land of the midnight sun,

which means more daylight hours
for foraging in the summer.

Admiralty Island lies
less than 650 miles

from the Arctic Circle.

Mid summer, that means
18 hours of sunlight a day.

On neighboring Baranof Island,

it's 10pm and the sun
is just starting to dip.

Twilight descends,

but the sun never sinks
far below the horizon.

It brightens the sky again
by 2:30 in the morning.

The long daylight hours

are crucial to survival
in the Arctic.

Until the summer sun
provides a release,

the key to all life,

water, remains locked in ice.

There are some
100,000 glaciers in Alaska,

Including Mendenhall Glacier
in Juneau.

It's a remnant of
the Little Ice Age,

which began 3,000 years ago.

Mendenhall reaches thirteen
and a half miles inland

and its runoff ends in
a 200-foot deep lake.

The largest moving
objects on earth,

glaciers advance under the sheer
force of their own weight,

like a river of ice,
flowing downhill.

Giants with long, slow lives.

They begin forming when
snow doesn't completely

melt away in the summer.

Each winter's new snowfall
builds on the year before.

And as the layers grow and
compress, glacial ice is formed.

Like rivers of ice
that ebb and flow,

glacial movement is driven by
freezing, melting, and gravity.

As new layers of ice are
formed, the glacier grows,

while tremendous pressure
and gravity slide it downhill,

sometimes trapping rocks,
sediment and plants,

which can make them look dirty.

When the front of the glacier
melts, it drops trapped debris.

And when this glacial front
melts faster than new ice

is formed, the glacier
appears to retreat uphill.

As the daylight hours grow
in summer, surface melt

seeps into the glacier through
cracks, crevasses and moulins,

circular, well-like shafts
that sink into the glacier,

forming rivers that travel
through or under the ice.

In some cases these carve out
breathtaking glacier caves.

Warm melt water and air
movement open the caves.

They can reach for miles
into a glacier.

Mature caves, often
thousands of years old,

become spectacular tunnels with
beautifully sculptured walls.

Glacial ice is
different than regular ice.

The compressed crystal
structure absorbs all colors,

except blue...

producing the stunning turquoise.

In the end, even the oldest
of caves are only temporary.

When the summer sun in Alaska

begins to melt the snow and ice,

it unleashes life.

Once-frozen waterfalls
tumble down rock faces,

rivers swell,

marshes fill,

and temporary lakes form.

The high water levels provide
the perfect conditions

for migrating salmon
to scale rapids

and reach their
spawning grounds upstream.

But to get into the rivers,

they first have to make it past

a coastline predator,

the Stellar sea lion.

These noisy males
began aggregating in May.

They bark at one another
almost continually,

protecting territories they've
staked out for breeding season,

letting other males know
it's their dominion.

Males can grow
up to 11 feet long

and weigh up to 2,500 pounds.

Even on all fours,

this adult male is an
impressive 6 feet tall.

Of the seals, only walruses
and elephant seals are bigger.

While these might seem
like barren rocks,

these isolated
islands and beaches

are important
reproductive rookeries.

Stellar sea lions
are polygamous

but, unlike some
species of seals,

the males don't coerce
females into harems.

Instead, the females
move freely between

the males' territories,

which explains why the males put up

such a clamor to own
the best real estate.

The adult females
swim in nonchalantly

a week after the males.

Smaller than the males, they can
still grow up to 9 feet long

and weigh in at up
to a 1,000 pounds.

Once these noisy summer
colonies are established,

they can have hundreds
of individuals.

In amongst the din,

males try to woo females with
a call known as wheedling.

The females pup
soon after arriving,

the product of last
year's mating,

and calling between
mothers and pups

adds to the clamor
on the rocks.

One to two weeks after
giving birth, the females

will mate again,

timing the birth for next spring.

Busy defending
their territories

and waiting for available
females to mate with,

males often fast throughout
the breeding season.

Some won't enter the water
even once from mid-May

'til August, when the
rookeries begin to fall apart.

While Steller sea lions
don't migrate,

they will move between
resting and feeding areas,

eating a variety of squid,
crabs, clams and fish.

During the Alaskan summer,
that means feasting

on the salmon run,

which has finally arrived.

The swollen rivers
create superhighways

for millions of salmon
that come to spawn.

Once they make it
into fresh water,

most species of
salmon stop eating.

They must run the riverine
gauntlet of waterfalls,

eagles and bears,

using their fat
reserves for energy

to travel upstream and spawn.

Depending on the species,
salmon can spend anywhere

from only 18 months
to an incredible 8 years

in the open ocean before
the urge to reproduce kicks in

and they head back into
the river systems to spawn.

Over 5000 salmon streams
wind their way into Alaska

from the coastline.

Some up to 400 miles long.

Like migratory birds,
it's thought that salmon

detect magnetic
fields to navigate.

It leads them from the ocean to
the coast of their natal rivers.

From there, they smell
their way to the entrance

of the exact river
and, eventually,

the precise spawning grounds
of their own birth.

Fighting currents,
avoiding predators

and charging up waterfalls,
it's a one way trip

they're programmed to complete,
or die trying.

For the hungry mother bear
and her cubs,

the moving sushi buffet
has arrived just in time.

The cubs haven't
learned to fish yet,

so Mum spends up to 20 hours
a day fishing for all of them.

By the peak of the salmon run,

leaves and berries
will be off the menu,

and high calorie, fatty salmon

will make up
most of their diet.

The female will eat up to
90 pounds of food a day,

almost doubling her weight
before hibernation.

The cubs have figured out
that salmon is pretty tasty,

though they'd rather not share.

While she's busy working,
scouting the river

for her next fishy target,
the cubs play-fight silently.

No point in attracting unwanted
attention from other bears.

Eventually the cubs
will start mimicking

their mother's behavior
and learn how to fish.

But for now, it's nice when
she brings dinner to them,

though she seems to have decided
that this piece is hers.

Most bears stay close
to where they were born,

and for these cubs,
they couldn't have chosen

a better home, with its
conveyor belt of fresh salmon.

Natives call Admiralty Island
Kootznoowoo:

the Fortress of the Bears.

These coastal brown bears are
larger than mainland brown bears

and even their
grizzly bear cousins.

They share more DNA with
the worlds' largest bear,

the polar bear, though the
evolutionary relationship

isn't fully understood.

It's thought that
polar bears were stranded

on Admiralty island after
the last glacial retreat,

and that brown bears,
swimming into the archipelago

from the mainland,
mated with the polar bears,

eventually creating the island's
extra large brown bears.

While bears do have home ranges,
they don't defend territories,

though they may defend food
or a favorite fishing spot.

Even on crowded
Admiralty Island,

bears tend to be tolerant
of one another,

unless they have cubs,
or resources are low.

When the salmon run
hits Admiralty Island,

resources are
anything but scant.

This season of plenty
isn't isolated to the rivers.

These humpback whales
have migrated north

from Hawaii and Mexico
to Alaska for the summer,

lured by high levels
of phytoplankton,

krill and small fish.

They do most of their feeding
here in cold northern waters

in the summer, building up
their reserves of blubber

for migration and mating
down south in the winter.

Along the coastline,

140 million sea birds

migrate annually to Alaska
for the summertime feast,

about half of all birds in
the Northern hemisphere.

Having flown into the shelter of
Finger Bay on Admiralty Island,

this black oystercatcher, is
keeping his eye on the tide.

When the tide runs out,

the intertidal zone
becomes his buffet.

When it comes back in,
he returns to his mate.

It might seem a bit barren,

but it's home for
the summer.

Tide goes out,

and it's back to prying limpets
off the rocks

and searching for mussel.

Till the tide comes back
in again.

Not dependent on the tides,

these almost fantastically
painted harlequins

are taking advantage of
the Alaskan summer.

They're diving for insects,
fish and marine invertebrates.

These ducks are a bit of
an enigma.

They migrate east and west,
rather than north and south.

And adult females,
almost salmon-like,

return to their natal streams
to reproduce.

Further north, off
South Marble Island,

the puffins have returned.

The horned puffin and the tufted
puffin are here to nest.

For a bird that weighs about as
much as a can of soda,

they're well adapted
to life at sea.

They normally call the
open water home,

over the continental shelf and
the North Pacific.

Wing flapping,
fluffing the feathers

and dipping the head make
for a good bath.

Their feathers are waterproof,
so long as they're maintained,

and help keep out the cold.

Of course, they also help
with flying.

While the birds come and go,

sea otters live here in
Sitka Sound,

off Baranoff Island,

all year long.

While they may be the
smallest marine mammal,

adult males can still weigh up
to a 100 pounds

and grow up to 5 feet long.

They like shallow areas
with lots of kelp.

Wrapped around their bodies,

it acts like an anchor,

so they can rest and sleep
on the surface,

in their own water hammocks.

Though these guys don't seem
particularly tired.

Otters are extremely curious

and have been listed as one of
the world's smartest animals,

on par with dolphins.

Highly social, sea otters
tend to rest together

in single-sex groups
called rafts.

Like this one, most rafts have
about 10 to 100 individuals,

though the largest raft ever
seen had more than 2,000.

Unlike other marine mammals,
they have no blubber.

Instead, to keep warm
in cold water,

they have the densest fur of any
animal on Earth,

about one million hairs
per square inch.

Their thick fur also traps air
and makes them buoyant,

helping them to float around
their kelp kingdoms.

Because it's so critical
to their survival,

they spend a lot of time
cleaning and grooming their fur.

With no blubber,

they also need to eat 25 to 40%
of their body weight every day,

to help them keep warm.

Their food strategy?

Diversity.

Eating about 50 species
of marine animals;

including mussels, clams,
crabs and urchins.

Without these sea otters to keep
their populations in check,

urchins would devour
the kelp forests

that provide critical
habitat for other marine life.

This makes the sea otter
a keystone predator,

crucial in maintaining
the balance

of the shoreline
ecosystem.

This sea otter seems
pretty relaxed,

and he can afford to be.

Predation on sea otters is rare.

They have a bit of a secret
weapon, or repellent,

scent glands so pungent,

they just don't taste
good to most predators.

But they still have some
natural enemies,

like sea lions,
and killer whales.

Thankfully, for the Sitka Sound
sea otters,

these transient killer whales
are searching for prey

closer to the mainland,

in the channel off
Point Adolphus.

They spend 90% of
the day hunting,

eating up to 375 pounds
of food a day.

They roam large areas
of coastal waters,

but their movement
isn't predictable.

They could pop up anywhere.

While they'll occasionally
make a meal of a sea otter,

they prey mainly on
larger marine mammals,

their favorite being the
abundant seals and sea lions

along the coast.

The summer in Alaska provides
more than just a bounty

along the coast.

When water is unleashed
into the landscape,

plants make up for the lengthy
winter darkness.

During the long summer days,

the land transforms into
a rich, green oasis.

There are about 1,700 species
of plants in Alaska,

most in the lush south-east.

They take advantage of
every habitat available

and burst to life
under the summer sun.

Fluffy Arctic cotton is
found in acidic bogs

and is common on the tundra.

The cotton tops act like down,
trapping solar radiation,

increasing the temperature of
the reproductive organs

during the summer.

The fluffy seed heads
have evolved

to be carried by the breeze

and they can travel
great distances.

Found throughout the Arctic,
Subarctic and temperate zones,

it's the most widely
dispersed flowering plant

in the Northern Hemisphere.

Fireweed is like a blossoming
calendar throughout the summer,

opening its flowers from
the bottom up,

starting in the spring,

It's named for its ability to
colonize areas quickly

after a fire.

A single plant can
produce 80,000 seeds,

each with a long silky hair

that allows the plant to
spread easily in the wind.

High in vitamins A and C,

Native Americans traditionally
ate them in the spring.

Peat bogs, known in western
Canada and Alaska as Muskeg,

cover 10% of
south-eastern Alaska.

This ecosystem filters
and purifies water,

and acts as a carbon sink,

storing about 30%
of the world's carbon.

But these bogs also
produce methane,

a powerful greenhouse gas,

and they play a
complex role

in influencing the
Earth's climate.

The wet, temperate
summer here

makes perfect conditions
for them to develop.

They form in areas where
the water can't drain.

Meltwater and rain collect,

creating stagnant,
acidic bodies of water

that are relatively infertile.

Water and decaying vegetation,

covered by peat moss
and other plants,

are the basis of the Muskeg.

Nutrients are in short supply
here,

and the round-leaved
sundew is working

to tap into a less
competitive source of food.

Glistening droplets that look
like nectar cover the plant

and entice unsuspecting insects.

The sticky droplets trap
the insects

and digest them
with enzymes,

releasing their nutrients
for the sundew to absorb.

Though this dragonfly is
too large for this plant.

Seen as the bringer of daylight
in native Alaskan folklore,

the raven is worshipped
as a deity.

According to legend,

the raven showed pity for naked
people he found in a clam shell

and gave them food,
fire, clothing, shelter,

and rituals to protect
them from dark spirits.

Like the raven in the story,
these adaptable animals

are among the most
intelligent of all birds.

They can recognize
different individuals,

learn through observation,
and even use logic.

Found throughout the state,

Alaskan ravens are the largest
member of the crow family,

averaging two feet tall,

with a wingspan of
almost 5 feet.

These opportunistic
omnivores eat everything

from insects and fruit,
to rodents and fish.

And this guy's definitely
not going to pass up

some leftovers of dead salmon.

They're smart enough to find
food even in the dead of winter

and are year-round
residents in Alaska.

Covering most of south-eastern
Alaska,

encompassing everything

from the islands of the
Alexander Archipelago,

to fjords, glaciers and the
peaks of the Coast Mountains,

is Tongass National Forest.

At 17 million acres,

this vast expanse of wilderness

is the largest national forest
in America.

It's also home to Earth's

largest remaining temperate
rainforest;

larger than Vermont,
New Hampshire

and Massachusetts combined.

Even in the winter,

the area
stays relatively warm

compared to the rest of Alaska,
hovering just above freezing.

Drenched in fog, rain
and melt water,

thousand year old trees
dominate the ancient forest.

Two hundred-foot Sitka spruce
and western hemlock

tower above the forest floor,
creating living cathedrals.

The trees here are as tall
as those in the south

but do all their growing during
the short, wet, summer months.

Draped throughout the forest,

lichens absorb water and
nutrients mostly from the air

rather than the soil.

They are extremely
sensitive to pollution,

and only grow in pristine
environments.

Down on the lush forest floor,

plants soak up the moisture
of the summer.

Out in exposed, windy areas,

most plants opt for being short
to keep warm,

but here in the
shelter of the forest,

prickly devil's club
grows up to eight feet tall.

Its berries are a favorite
amongst bears and other animals,

despite it being covered
in stinging hairs,

with dense spikes
along the stems.

This prickly plant grows slowly,
is sensitive to the environment,

and mainly does well in
mature forests.

The scent of rotting flesh
and skunk

sometimes wafts
through the forest,

but it's not always carrion
or even a skunk.

Closer to the river,

growing in clumps along
the forest floor,

skunk cabbage produces
striking, yellow flowers

that emit the repulsive odor.

A clever way for the plant

to attract pollinating
flies and midges.

Back in the river, an American
dipper bobs up and down

looking for insects
and small fish.

It has no problem skipping
about on the slippery rocks

in the fast flowing water.

As the only truly aquatic
songbird in North America,

it comes equipped for
the territory.

Strong toes grip the slippery
rocks and special nasal flaps

stop water from going up
its nostrils.

It even has its own,
built-in goggles:

extra, clear eyelids called
nictitating membranes

that allow it to
see underwater.

With all this equipment it
can even dive under ice

and won't need to migrate south
when the winter comes.

This female kingfisher,
on the other hand,

is only here for the summer.

She and her partner
have established

a half-mile long fishing
territory along this river.

Perching on a 'watch point'
along the water

she watches for prey:

fish, crustaceans,
even small mammals.

They're very territorial
and when another kingfisher

enters their turf,

she immediately
chases it off.

Watching the kingfisher below,

an adult bald eagle
surveys the area.

It's one of over 2,000
bald eagles living in Alaska,

the largest population
in the world.

This adult has migrated north
for the summer to nest and fish.

Built for hunting, its eyes are
almost as large as a human's

but its vision is at least
four-times sharper.

Two-inch long talons,

three facing forwards
and one backwards,

are sharp and perfectly
curved for grabbing prey.

When its leg muscles contract,

its talons close together in
a vice-like grip.

While it will hunt everything,

from waterfowl like the puffin
to small mammals and rodents,

it will also scavenge
on carrion.

At this time of year in Alaska,
like many predators here,

its favorite food is salmon.

Bald eagles usually
choose large trees

overlooking the water,

where they can easily spot prey.

They're typically solitary,
but in areas with a lot of food,

like the Alexander Archipelago
in summer,

they'll gather in large numbers.

Salmon migration routes are
prime feeding areas.

Young bald eagles
are mottled brown,

not developing the striking
white head

and dark brown
body of adulthood

till around age five.

Their beaks also change color,

turning from black to
bright yellow around age four.

Once its adult plumage
has developed though,

it's difficult to tell
a bird's age.

While they typically live
15-20 years in the wild,

the oldest wild banded
bald eagle

was 38 years old.

Kept warm by feathers and down,

this adult is well adapted
to tolerate the cold.

Its feet are predominantly
cold-resistant tendons,

and its bill, mainly keratin,
like human nails and hair.

Adults won't migrate south
until the water freezes over.

Though juveniles leave earlier.

How they know where to go,
no one really knows.

With up to an eight-foot
wing span

and weighing up to 14 pounds,

they often take advantage
of thermal upwellings

during their seasonal
migrations.

By the end of summer,

the last of the fireweed's
blossoms open.

Like the northern
groundhog of the fall,

they herald a change
of the seasons.

An old Alaskan saying

claims that when the
fireweed's top blossom opens,

the first snowfall is only
six weeks away.

At the end of August,

there are only 14 hours
of daylight,

six less than in the peak
of the summer.

By September the evening
temperatures dip

to 48 degrees Fahrenheit.

The vegetation changes color
and leaves drop to the ground.

When winter finally
does close in,

the kingfishers will head south,
some as far as South America.

The dipper will stay,

able to swim beneath the ice
to look for food.

The Stellar sea lions will
disband from the rookeries,

and develop a thick coat
of fur for the winter.

And having fattened up on krill,

the humpback whales will head
south to breed and calf.

Back at her favorite
fishing spot,

the mother bear and her cubs

have spent the summer
fattening up.

By November they'll search
for a den to hibernate

until next spring.

Across southern Alaska species
have found different ways

to survive and thrive.

Colonizing every habitat

and capitalizing on
every food source.

All taking advantage

of this brief, abundant
and wet Alaskan summer.