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The High Arctic in winter.
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One of the toughest places on Earth in which to live.
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Only three top predators are able to survive here.
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The wolf, searching for its prey over the frozen lands.
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The Arctic fox, scraping a living on the empty coasts.
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And out on the sea ice, the polar bear.
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To live here, year round,
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these hunters must exploit the good times
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so that they can endure the bad.
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All life in the Arctic must face one fundamental problem.
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Not the cold,
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but the endless cycle of change.
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When the sun returns to the Arctic in spring,
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it launches the greatest event of seasonal change on Earth.
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A change that rules the life of the world's only sea ice hunter.
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The polar bear is totally dependent upon the sea ice in order to hunt.
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It must eat two thirds of the food it needs for the whole year
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in the next three months,
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before the sun melts the ice from beneath its feet.
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Seals are the bear's most important prey.
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At the start of spring,
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they come out onto the ice to give birth to their pups.
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Beneath it, they can't stray far from their breathing holes.
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That makes it easy for the bears.
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But that window of opportunity is brief.
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Soon, the sea ice is riddled with melt holes.
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The seal pups have grown large enough to swim
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and disappear into the water.
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It's increasingly hard-going for the polar bear.
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Now, resting seals are surrounded by holes in the ice,
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so they have their pick of escape routes.
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And, once in the water, they can easily out-swim a bear.
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Each seal is very sensitive to every movement on the surrounding ice.
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A bear can only hope to get close enough to pounce
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by taking advantage of the melt holes.
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Ah... Not as straightforward as it looks.
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The trick is to find the hole nearest to the seal...
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..without popping up in view...
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..and ruining the surprise.
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Almost there.
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But once under the ice,
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it's easy to lose your bearings.
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Blast!
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Gently does it.
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ICE CRACKS
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Oops.
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Only one in five stalks is successful on this thin ice
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at the end of spring.
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The bear's best season is ending.
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An expanse of sea-ice the size of Australia will soon break up.
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The Arctic's best hunting is no longer out on the frozen ocean,
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but on the land that surrounds it.
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And that is the territory of a different kind of hunter.
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After a lean winter and spring,
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the good times have finally arrived for the Arctic wolf.
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On the land, the snow is melting away as summer approaches...
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..and that makes the job of finding prey...
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..considerably easier.
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Arctic hares.
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Like the wolves, they stay white throughout the short summer.
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While they can run, they can't hide.
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And to make matters worse, now is the time they have their young.
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A mother hare risks feeding her leverets
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for only a few minutes each day.
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Her white colour makes her only too conspicuous.
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When wolves are spotted, Mum runs for it.
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That makes sense. Her leverets have a better chance without her.
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Unlike their mother, the leverets are camouflaged.
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They're nearly impossible to spot, even when right upon them.
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What they must do...
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..is keep their nerve.
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When forced to break,
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they can still give the wolves a run for their money.
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The leveret hunt may appear an unfair contest.
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But for every one caught, hundreds more remain hidden.
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Food is so hard to find this far north
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that a wolf pack must search hundreds of square miles
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if it's to be successful...
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..and success means raising the next generation.
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WOLF PUPS WHINE
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To do that here, the wolves must work together.
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So, the young are raised not only by their parents,
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but by their aunts and uncles as well.
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Together, they try to ensure that each pup reaches near-adult size
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before the snow returns.
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A growing pup needs more than just a few leverets.
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The wolves need bigger prey
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and, to catch that...
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WOLF PUP HOWLS
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..they must hunt as a pack.
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WOLF HOWLS
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WOLVES TAKE UP HOWL
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Adult hares may be easy to spot,
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but they are far from easy to catch.
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They run at 40mph.
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To catch one, the wolves work as a team.
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One of them gets close enough to bite the hare's tail...
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..but a hare can change direction in an instant.
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If it can continue to sidestep and jink,
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it may ultimately outlast them.
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Finally, it gets away.
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For the next hare, the whole pack gives chase.
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Now, numbers count.
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The lead wolves keep up the pace.
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Others run on either side, so the hare can't change direction.
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A tiny meal for the whole pack...
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..but the only one there is.
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By July, time is running out for the polar bear.
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Three million square miles of ice are fractured and adrift.
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The seals are now much harder to find.
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Scattered within an ever-shifting maze...
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..the advantage has swung away from the bear.
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With the ice now broken up, the bear can't even get close.
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She's too visible and noisy in her approach.
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She has no choice but to change her tactics.
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She swims amongst the drift ice...
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..and keeps a low profile.
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Once the seal is in the water, it's as good as lost.
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She has to grab it before it hits the water.
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The margin for error is tiny...
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..and the cost can be great.
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Each failed attempt brings her closer to starvation.
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At this time of year, polar bears, on average,
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succeed only once in 20 hunts.
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If the hunter is skinny, like this one, that may not be often enough.
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All she can do is keep trying.
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To prevent her scent betraying her,
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she makes a wide sweep to get downwind of the seal.
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Getting close.
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She's now right behind the seal.
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Incredibly, she caught the seal underwater.
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It's only small, but even so,
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its blubber alone will contain 100,000 calories -
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enough to sustain this bear for a week.
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And, in that time, she might even catch another.
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But this can't go on forever.
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As summer continues, temperatures are rising.
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Each hunt requires more energy,
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draining the bears of their reserves.
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When the melt is finally complete,
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it reveals some of the ocean's richest waters.
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There is an explosion of life.
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Millions of birds arrive from the south.
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In the 24-hour daylight, they can feed around the clock.
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The Arctic coasts are suddenly thronged by breeding birds.
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CHICKS CHIRP
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The window of opportunity has now opened for a third hunter -
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the Arctic fox.
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After a winter spent scavenging, the foxes can now finally hunt.
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It's the best time to have pups.
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PUPS GROWL AND YIP
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Up to 20 of them will be raised to independence in just 90 days.
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But none of them will survive their first year,
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unless their parents make the most of the short summer.
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With the snow gone, the foxes shed their white fur
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and become a camouflaging brown.
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It makes hunting easier.
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But some birds have a dramatic answer to the fox problem.
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There are no trees, so they make their nests high on sea cliffs,
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well out of the reach of a fox.
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The vast majority, however, are forced to nest on the ground.
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Many of them rely on camouflage.
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Eider ducks slow their heart beats, which helps them avoid detection.
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Others have no need to stay out of sight.
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The powerful Arctic skuas defend their eggs with aggression...
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..and dirty tricks!
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BIRDS CAW
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There are other options for the fox.
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Each year, upwards of 30 million little auks come to the Arctic.
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They nest in the scree slopes at the base of the cliffs.
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Their answer to the fox problem is to hide deep among the boulders.
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And it seems to work.
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A hungry fox can get very frustrated.
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Running at the auks is not the answer.
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He needs to be more patient.
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It's time to use that famous foxy cunning.
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If the boulders can hide the auks, they can also hide a fox.
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A tiny head, in among the boulders.
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The auks are just too quick off the mark.
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What is needed is a distraction of some kind.
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A glaucous gull, also hunting auks.
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Little auks may cope with one threat, but what about two?
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The auks are out-foxed...
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..and the pups will get their supper.
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It's now the final weeks of summer.
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The sea ice has completely gone.
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The bears that wandered freely over the frozen ocean all winter
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are now marooned on beaches.
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The seals are fishing out at sea.
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Only walrus join the bears on the shore.
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But adult walrus are gigantic.
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They weigh two tonnes and, armed with long tusks,
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they're too dangerous for bears to take on.
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During these ice-free months, the bears' bodies almost shut down.
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They are zombie bears...
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..overheated, hungry...
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..pining for the ice to return.
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But some bears refuse to take the summer lying down.
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This bear is doing something really extraordinary.
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It's hard to imagine a place less suited to a polar bear
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than 300 metres up on a crumbling sea cliff.
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Guillemots nest here in their thousands,
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precisely because it's so dangerous for land-living predators.
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But the sounds and scents of a bird cliff can be irresistible
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to a starving bear at the end of summer.
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Desperation has led him to risk his life.
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The only prize to be had - a few eggs and chicks.
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It is an extreme gamble.
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He works methodically,
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scooping up the contents of every nest he can reach.
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The bear moves slowly and carefully.
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He lives and sleeps amongst his prey.
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The guillemots can't prevent the carnage.
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Nonetheless, some bravely try to do so.
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The polar bear will remain on the cliff until the end of summer,
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when the guillemots will leave.
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And, at that moment,
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a fox will take his chance.
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Far inland, the wolves have a problem.
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The adult hares have dispersed...
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..and the leverets have got organised.
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Their adult coat of fur has turned white for the winter,
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so they can no longer hide.
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Instead, they gather together.
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The wolves' hunting technique, it seems,
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can't deal with groups like this.
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They now leave the hares
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and instead go in search of a much more dangerous prey.
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The largest animal in their territory.
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Musk oxen.
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WOLF HOWLS
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A single bull weighs more than the entire wolf pack put together.
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It has a reinforced skull, armed with horns.
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There are also calves in the herd,
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but they are well-protected.
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The alpha female leads the hunt.
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First, they run directly at the herd.
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The aim is to panic them.
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A stampeding herd might leave a calf behind.
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The tactic begins to work.
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But then, the herd regains control.
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They stand defiantly in a protective ring around the calves.
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There is no way in.
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The alpha female calls off the hunt.
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But the search for food must go on.
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To stand a chance of surviving the winter,
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the pack needs to feed well now, even if it puts their lives at risk.
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A lone bull - the most dangerous prey of all.
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One blow from his horns could kill a wolf.
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But the wolves are now ready to risk everything for a meal.
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The bull is easily their match, physically...
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..but the wolves take it in turns to wear him down,
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risking their lives to do so.
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Trapped in the gully, the bull has nowhere to go.
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Despite the danger, the wolves keep up their attack.
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The bull may take hours to defeat...
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..but this kill will feed the whole wolf pack for a week.
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With the good times soon to end,
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the lives of their pups may depend on it.
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00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:12,000
Summer on the coast comes to an end with one last spectacle.
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00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:17,000
Hundreds of thousands of guillemot chicks
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are in the final stages of their preparations.
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Ahead is the biggest day of their lives.
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The day they will leave their nest by jumping from the cliffs...
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..and try out their wings for the very first time.
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It's quite a test flight.
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Half a mile to the safety of the sea.
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When the time comes, encouraged by their fathers,
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the first take the leap.
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The chicks have tiny, stiff wings,
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so they can do little more than glide.
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Their fathers try to nudge them, to keep them on a good flight path...
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..one that will take them all the way to water.
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With the first few safely away, the sky begins to fill with jumpers.
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Wave after wave of chicks and their parents career down towards the sea.
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No chick takes this first flight alone.
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In just a few days,
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an entire generation - thousands of chicks - will take this leap.
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With luck and a fair wind, the majority make it to the water.
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But nonetheless, many fall short.
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Glaucous gulls are quick to grab a meal.
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00:44:26,000 --> 00:44:30,000
A guillemot chick has no defence against gulls...
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..unless father can get back in time.
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00:44:49,000 --> 00:44:51,000
The chicks continue to rain down.
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Those that get separated from their parents stand little chance.
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And even a father's protection may not be enough.
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This is the fox's moment...
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..the easiest hunt of the year...
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..but it's also the briefest.
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00:45:26,000 --> 00:45:29,000
The chicks all come at once.
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00:45:29,000 --> 00:45:33,000
The synchronisation of the jump overwhelms the fox.
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00:45:39,000 --> 00:45:43,000
The bad luck of some allows the escape of others.
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00:46:02,000 --> 00:46:05,000
The last chance to fill his family's bellies is gone,
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almost before it started.
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00:46:15,000 --> 00:46:19,000
The chicks that have made it to the water have no time to rest.
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Unable to take to the air, they must swim 100 miles south
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00:46:25,000 --> 00:46:27,000
before the ocean surface turns to ice.
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00:46:33,000 --> 00:46:35,000
Winter is approaching fast.
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00:46:46,000 --> 00:46:48,000
The sea ice is starting to form.
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A floating continent is about to materialise.
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00:47:04,000 --> 00:47:07,000
The land becomes white once more...
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00:47:10,000 --> 00:47:12,000
..as does the fox.
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00:47:16,000 --> 00:47:19,000
For it, months of scavenging lie ahead.
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00:47:25,000 --> 00:47:29,000
But for the bears, the good times have finally returned.
305
00:47:31,000 --> 00:47:35,000
Their window of opportunity is back.
306
00:48:04,000 --> 00:48:08,000
Every summer, polar bears must adapt to the changing Arctic
307
00:48:08,000 --> 00:48:11,000
by switching their hunt from the ice to the sea.
308
00:48:13,000 --> 00:48:16,000
In order to film this behaviour for the first time,
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00:48:16,000 --> 00:48:20,000
the crew of The Hunt must be prepared to do the same.
310
00:48:24,000 --> 00:48:27,000
While the bears remain on the ice, the crew will rely on
311
00:48:27,000 --> 00:48:31,000
the traditional approach of long lens and tripod.
312
00:48:31,000 --> 00:48:35,000
I prefer to be as close to the animal as possible with the tripod,
313
00:48:35,000 --> 00:48:36,000
that's my style.
314
00:48:38,000 --> 00:48:40,000
But when the ice starts to break up,
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00:48:40,000 --> 00:48:44,000
they plan to take to the water alongside the bears.
316
00:48:44,000 --> 00:48:46,000
Why do you need so much kit?
317
00:48:46,000 --> 00:48:48,000
It's not so much kit, it's just kit that allows us
318
00:48:48,000 --> 00:48:51,000
to film a completely stabilised image from a moving boat,
319
00:48:51,000 --> 00:48:52,000
so that's the best way of doing it.
320
00:48:52,000 --> 00:48:54,000
Two different approaches...
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00:48:54,000 --> 00:48:57,000
So, Rolf, do you think Jamie has a better chance of getting
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00:48:57,000 --> 00:48:59,000
polar bear behaviour with all this technology?
323
00:48:59,000 --> 00:49:00,000
No!
324
00:49:00,000 --> 00:49:02,000
..two different cameramen,
325
00:49:02,000 --> 00:49:04,000
one inevitable competition.
326
00:49:08,000 --> 00:49:09,000
With time against them,
327
00:49:09,000 --> 00:49:12,000
the crew seek out the final patches of sea ice,
328
00:49:12,000 --> 00:49:14,000
locked in sheltered bays.
329
00:49:16,000 --> 00:49:20,000
Jamie has no chance to go into that ice with the boat,
330
00:49:20,000 --> 00:49:23,000
so it's my turn to move with the snow scooters
331
00:49:23,000 --> 00:49:27,000
towards the polar bears and try to film them, the first time.
332
00:49:27,000 --> 00:49:31,000
As it turned out, Rolf didn't have to move far.
333
00:49:31,000 --> 00:49:34,000
Polar bears are one of the few animals on Earth
334
00:49:34,000 --> 00:49:36,000
that will come and find you.
335
00:49:37,000 --> 00:49:39,000
Crazy!
336
00:49:39,000 --> 00:49:41,000
It's coming straight at us.
337
00:49:41,000 --> 00:49:43,000
This one was ready for his close up.
338
00:49:48,000 --> 00:49:52,000
I just grabbed some shots of him walking towards us,
339
00:49:52,000 --> 00:49:54,000
but he didn't stop, and came closer and closer.
340
00:50:03,000 --> 00:50:07,000
At the last second, we escaped, and he was even running behind us,
341
00:50:07,000 --> 00:50:09,000
so it was pretty intense.
342
00:50:11,000 --> 00:50:15,000
Even a crazy bear is better than no bear,
343
00:50:15,000 --> 00:50:18,000
so Rolf continues to film him through the Arctic night.
344
00:50:20,000 --> 00:50:22,000
They get used to us quite fast.
345
00:50:22,000 --> 00:50:24,000
They realise we are not a danger
346
00:50:24,000 --> 00:50:28,000
and, as long as we stay a certain distance, we can observe them
347
00:50:28,000 --> 00:50:31,000
and, hopefully, get all the behaviour that we are looking for.
348
00:50:36,000 --> 00:50:40,000
Suddenly, we recognised he was heading towards a bearded seal.
349
00:50:45,000 --> 00:50:47,000
He approaches the seal
350
00:50:47,000 --> 00:50:51,000
and does that meltwater stalk that has never been filmed before.
351
00:50:54,000 --> 00:50:57,000
He seemed to have some problems to find the right way,
352
00:50:57,000 --> 00:50:59,000
by diving through these pools.
353
00:51:02,000 --> 00:51:06,000
We all got really excited. We thought, "This is going to happen."
354
00:51:06,000 --> 00:51:08,000
And, finally, the seal just jumped in the water.
355
00:51:11,000 --> 00:51:14,000
And we got a little bit nervous because we saw the bear
356
00:51:14,000 --> 00:51:17,000
coming up again at some point, looking at us,
357
00:51:17,000 --> 00:51:21,000
and it was not that far any more, perhaps 50 metres,
358
00:51:21,000 --> 00:51:23,000
and then he disappeared again.
359
00:51:23,000 --> 00:51:27,000
I look up at Rolf and I look back down at the melt ponds around us
360
00:51:27,000 --> 00:51:29,000
and realise that, in any of those ponds,
361
00:51:29,000 --> 00:51:32,000
the bear could explode out and take us.
362
00:51:33,000 --> 00:51:37,000
To be stalked by a bear is...quite dangerous.
363
00:51:39,000 --> 00:51:40,000
You think I should do it that way?
364
00:51:40,000 --> 00:51:43,000
I mean, if I'm honest, I think it's just exciting!
365
00:51:43,000 --> 00:51:45,000
ROLF LAUGHS
366
00:51:47,000 --> 00:51:50,000
A brand-new bear behaviour in the can,
367
00:51:50,000 --> 00:51:53,000
the crew pack up the camera and head back to the ship...
368
00:51:54,000 --> 00:51:56,000
..a little too late.
369
00:51:58,000 --> 00:52:00,000
Within minutes, a fog descends
370
00:52:00,000 --> 00:52:04,000
and they find themselves travelling blind through bad ice.
371
00:52:08,000 --> 00:52:12,000
As I do the swing to try to head back to the better sea ice,
372
00:52:12,000 --> 00:52:15,000
I realise that I'm missing Oskar.
373
00:52:17,000 --> 00:52:19,000
At the end of the sled, I banged into the ice.
374
00:52:19,000 --> 00:52:21,000
I was thrown over the scooter,
375
00:52:21,000 --> 00:52:24,000
and the scooter just slowly started to sink,
376
00:52:24,000 --> 00:52:26,000
pulling the sled with all the gear into the water.
377
00:52:28,000 --> 00:52:33,000
Oskar had to cut loose the snowmobile to save Rolf's kit
378
00:52:33,000 --> 00:52:36,000
and walk all the way back to the ship.
379
00:52:36,000 --> 00:52:40,000
We either had a chance of losing the snowmobile or a Swede.
380
00:52:40,000 --> 00:52:42,000
Unfortunately, we lost the snowmobile.
381
00:52:42,000 --> 00:52:44,000
LAUGHTER The Swede's fine!
382
00:52:45,000 --> 00:52:49,000
This is the way we go swimming in the Arctic, you know?
383
00:52:49,000 --> 00:52:52,000
But while everyone is safely back on board,
384
00:52:52,000 --> 00:52:55,000
Rolf's kit is still out there, somewhere on the ice.
385
00:53:03,000 --> 00:53:06,000
Without his kit, Rolf's shoot is over.
386
00:53:10,000 --> 00:53:11,000
See? I'm nice.
387
00:53:17,000 --> 00:53:21,000
Finally, at three in the morning, relief.
388
00:53:37,000 --> 00:53:40,000
The thing about a meltwater hunt is
389
00:53:40,000 --> 00:53:44,000
that you can only observe them in meltwater, which means in thin ice.
390
00:53:44,000 --> 00:53:47,000
And, I mean, there's a reason that nobody filmed it before.
391
00:53:47,000 --> 00:53:49,000
It paid off, to take the risk.
392
00:53:53,000 --> 00:53:57,000
When the sea ice breaks up, it creates drift ice -
393
00:53:57,000 --> 00:53:59,000
a constantly shifting, floating maze.
394
00:54:01,000 --> 00:54:04,000
The place for Jamie to try his luck.
395
00:54:07,000 --> 00:54:09,000
Now we're in the drift ice,
396
00:54:09,000 --> 00:54:12,000
I can actually get this boat in the water and do some work.
397
00:54:13,000 --> 00:54:16,000
There's no drama, there's no falling through the ice,
398
00:54:16,000 --> 00:54:19,000
nobody's running around screaming, getting chased by bears.
399
00:54:19,000 --> 00:54:22,000
We're just following bears around calmly
400
00:54:22,000 --> 00:54:24,000
and, hopefully, we'll film them hunting.
401
00:54:26,000 --> 00:54:28,000
BLEEPING
402
00:54:30,000 --> 00:54:32,000
We're a little bit stuck in the ice.
403
00:54:32,000 --> 00:54:33,000
BLEEPING
404
00:54:33,000 --> 00:54:35,000
There's no drama,
405
00:54:35,000 --> 00:54:38,000
there's only a couple of kilometres of ice to get through.
406
00:54:38,000 --> 00:54:39,000
Plenty of time before lunch(!)
407
00:54:44,000 --> 00:54:46,000
Trying to navigate through a shifting maze
408
00:54:46,000 --> 00:54:48,000
takes a bit of practice...
409
00:54:51,000 --> 00:54:53,000
..but it's full of rewards.
410
00:55:03,000 --> 00:55:05,000
It's absolutely amazing. So beautiful.
411
00:55:06,000 --> 00:55:09,000
So many different shapes. It's just...
412
00:55:09,000 --> 00:55:12,000
Everywhere you look, there's just amazing sculptures of ice.
413
00:55:19,000 --> 00:55:24,000
Being more mobile means the crew start to find more and more bears...
414
00:55:26,000 --> 00:55:28,000
..each one, a character.
415
00:55:33,000 --> 00:55:36,000
With such access to the Arctic's top predator,
416
00:55:36,000 --> 00:55:39,000
the crew eventually find their star.
417
00:55:46,000 --> 00:55:49,000
The elusive summer stalk of the polar bear
418
00:55:49,000 --> 00:55:51,000
is finally captured on film.
419
00:55:55,000 --> 00:55:57,000
It came up right behind the seal, the seal dived in the water,
420
00:55:57,000 --> 00:56:00,000
but the bear jumped off the ice into the water
421
00:56:00,000 --> 00:56:03,000
and then came up a few seconds later with the seal in its teeth.
422
00:56:08,000 --> 00:56:09,000
Everything came together, really.
423
00:56:09,000 --> 00:56:12,000
It was incredibly lucky that we were in the right position.
424
00:56:12,000 --> 00:56:15,000
We could so easily have missed everything that happened.
425
00:56:21,000 --> 00:56:24,000
Yeah, I'm chuffed to bits that we actually got a successful hunt.
426
00:56:24,000 --> 00:56:27,000
It played out in front of us and we were able to catch it.
427
00:56:28,000 --> 00:56:31,000
The only way to succeed in the Arctic,
428
00:56:31,000 --> 00:56:35,000
whether you're a polar bear or a film crew,
429
00:56:35,000 --> 00:56:38,000
is to have more than one trick up your sleeve.
430
00:56:44,000 --> 00:56:47,000
Next time, The Hunt is on in the forest...
431
00:56:49,000 --> 00:56:52,000
A tangled world
432
00:56:52,000 --> 00:56:55,000
that hosts the ultimate game of hide and seek.
433
00:56:58,000 --> 00:57:04,000
To succeed here, a predator must perfect the art of the ambush.
434
00:57:07,000 --> 00:57:12,000
For a free interactive Open University poster, call...
435
00:57:15,000 --> 00:57:17,000
..or go to...
436
00:57:19,000 --> 00:57:22,000
..and follow the links to the Open University.
33571
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