Original subtitles

The wildest places on our planet have always been

home to powerful leaders.

But now a new hero is rising.

♪ Guess who is the mother ♪

Fierce...

Smart...

Resilient...

And...

female.

♪ Where's she from ♪

♪ Where does she go? ♪

We don't call her Mother Nature for nothing.

♪ Do you know, can you know so ♪

♪ Where's she from ♪

♪ Where does she go? ♪

All hail...

the Queens.

The coastal realm,

land, and sea.

Home to two of nature's most powerful females.

Under the waves,

an aging matriarch must teach her pod to survive.

On land,

a new mom raises her babies alone,

with only her instincts to guide her.

This is Aana, a brown bear.

A powerful, self-sufficient predator,

Aana has spent her adult life alone.

Now she has a new role.

Four months ago,

Aana gave birth in her winter den.

It's the cubs' first day out in the coastal meadows.

Aana's daughters play-wrestle.

To become one of the strongest females in nature,

takes practice.

Her son is more interested in the neighbors.

Females are here with their older cubs.

Bear moms aren't sociable,

but as long as Aana's family keep their distance,

they're safe here.

Grass-like sedge is her first food in months.

The cubs are hungry too.

They rely solely on mom's milk.

Aana's already lost 30% of her body weight through the winter.

The salmon she'll rely on are still far out to sea,

and won't reach the coast for a couple of months.

Keeping all three well-fed will be a huge challenge.

The other bears clear the meadow.

Food is now the least of Aana's worries.

A huge male,

looking for females.

Some attack cubs so they can mate

with their mothers.

This bear is a known cub killer.

Aana leads them to higher ground.

On the other side is a ledge,

just big enough.

A male follows their scent.

Aana's instinct was to hide her cubs,

now they're trapped.

While Aana is just beginning her journey as a mother,

under the waves,

a formidable matriarch is nearing the end of hers.

Orca.

This is Sofia,

a 60-year-old grandmother,

and leader of a pod of six.

For decades they have relied on Sofia's protection and wisdom.

Years of experience make her a master hunter.

The orcas' ocean home, is teeming with life.

And almost everything is on the menu.

From shoals of tiny sardines,

to Great White sharks.

Sofia's strike was so powerful,

it's shattered the shark's ribs.

But the great white could still be dangerous.

She circles,

testing to see if the shark will bite back.

But her aim was perfect.

She takes the shark under and suffocates it.

The shark will feed the family.

Sofia makes sure everyone gets a piece,

from her largest son to her smallest granddaughter.

But the pod won't be able to rely on their matriarch

for much longer.

Sofia might only live another few years.

She must teach the family to survive without her.

Aana has no experience rearing cubs,

but her maternal instincts are powerful.

During the night she fought off the male.

The family is resting down at the beach.

But Aana didn't escape unscathed.

Her first real test as a mother has left her injured.

Finding food is now going to be almost impossible.

Or maybe not.

A washed-up whale carcass.

Hundreds of pounds of meat and fat,

an easy meal!

But others have found it first.

Huge, hungry males surround the carcass,

and the biggest is Boss,

he controls who eats when.

A seat at this table would solve all Aana's problems.

Even with her injury, she could feed herself

and nurse her cubs until the salmon arrive.

Every male is a potential danger.

She must wait for the right moment.

Unlike this female,

who has already earned herself a place.

Because she's got currency here,

she's fertile.

While Boss is distracted by his dinner date,

Aana could make a move.

But a male is coming down the beach.

It's the cub killer who injured Aana.

He's found the carcass and the fertile female

and will fight Boss for both.

Boss is defeated.

The cub killer's won control of the carcass,

and the right to mate.

Aana knows this female will only keep him occupied for so long.

She turns her back on food,

her cubs' safety comes first.

A pod of six needs to hunt daily.

Orca matriarchs are excellent teachers,

Sofia's been passing on her hunting skills

to her adult calves.

Time to put them to the test.

Bottlenose dolphins swimming up ahead.

To catch one, the pod will need to work together.

Sofia's youngest granddaughter swims at her side.

She's too young to join this hunt,

but she can watch and learn.

The pod dives and falls silent.

The dolphins don't know the orca are coming.

♪ You take me, you take me out again ♪

♪ So I'll take you, I'll break you down again ♪

♪ And you like it, you like it the way I swing ♪

♪ For your face when I take it for a spin, for a spin ♪♪

Dolphins can swim at 30 miles an hour.

But orca are just as fast.

Sofia watches,

as her pod singles out a dolphin.

♪ Grown in heresy ♪

♪ I feel such relief ♪

♪ Grown in heresy ♪♪

Chasing until it's exhausted.

♪ Grown in heresy ♪

♪ I feel such relief ♪

♪ Grown in heresy ♪♪

Her son delivers the final blow.

♪ I feel such relief ♪♪

The pod will survive without Sofia,

but her son will give her an even greater legacy.

He will mate outside the pod,

and have many more offspring than her daughters,

spreading Sofia's genes through these seas long after her death.

She brings him the biggest share.

Orca matriarchs will go to great lengths to

make sure their sons thrive.

Aana's learning just how hard it is to be a first-time mom.

She still hasn't eaten,

and is in great pain.

A low tide, and an opportunity.

Across the shallow water,

are newly exposed mudflats.

Her paw may be injured,

but her nose still works just fine.

Clams.

The cubs are excited to get their paws on

their first solid food.

Her mother showed her how to do this when she was young,

and now she passes the lesson on.

But the cubs still need milk.

With solid food in her belly,

Aana can finally rest.

But her nose soon wakes her.

The cubs already know what danger smells like.

Driven by the constant urge to mate,

the cub killer has tracked them

from meadow to whale carcass,

and now he's here.

Aana leads her family across another river.

The water is cold,

and the current is strong.

Too strong for Aana's smallest daughter.

She is swept away.

Keeping all three cubs alive

has proved too big a challenge.

There is no time to mourn her lost daughter.

They must keep moving.

♪ There you walk ♪

♪ Next to me ♪

♪ I own it ♪

♪ No one else ♪♪

Aana's two remaining cubs...

♪ Owns it ♪♪

Need their mother's complete focus and attention.

♪ It's you and me ♪

♪ It's you and me ♪♪

An orca calf which loses its grandmother

is nearly five times less likely to survive.

The role of the matriarch is so valuable,

that orcas do something almost unheard of in the animal world.

In colder waters,

this matriarch hasn't given birth for over 20 years.

She's lived past menopause.

Only orca, three other species of whale, and humans

have been proven to live for years

after they stop reproducing.

In this society, a female's wisdom and experience

have value beyond fertility.

The matriarch's family has met up with another pod.

She needs her son to mate, and pass on her genes.

Most of these females still have calves with them,

so they're not fertile right now.

But the matriarch will do anything to help her son.

One female in the visiting pod has a very young calf.

The matriarch and her daughters begin to play.

Pushing the calf onto their heads.

Although it looks rough,

play can build bonds between pods.

Now the matriarch's son approaches.

And hits the calf with force.

He and his mother trap it between them.

This is too rough to be play.

They force it under the water.

The matriarch holds the calf down,

preventing it from surfacing to breathe.

If the calf dies,

its mother will become fertile again.

And the matriarch's son could mate.

Documented cases of infanticide in orca are rare,

but matriarchs will kill

to secure the future of their bloodline.

As spring turns to summer,

Aana's paw has healed,

and she's kept her remaining two cubs alive.

She's moved them further down the coast

to the mouth of a river,

away from the cub killer.

The family only has a few more weeks before

they head back to the mountains to hibernate.

If they aren't fat enough,

they won't survive the winter.

A few salmon are starting to arrive at the coast.

Males are first in line to catch them.

Aana's visibly thin,

but still finds the energy to keep moving.

She remembers a part of the river that her mother

brought her to when she was young.

A haven of pools, and cascades.

If the salmon arrive here in big numbers,

it will be a great fishing spot.

And her cubs are safe.

There are no males here,

only other hungry females.

This might be a female-only falls,

but there's still a hierarchy.

And at the top,

is the queen of the cascades.

Rizzo.

Larger than all the others,

she pulls rank on fishing rights.

And she's throwing her weight around.

Rizzo's no cub killer,

but Aana can't compete for a place at the cascades

with babies in tow.

Safer to search for scraps in the pools.

She gives her cubs their first taste of fish.

It's not much, but it feels like a feast.

Aana has got her family to the right spot,

and if the salmon finally arrive in numbers,

she'll be ready.

Out in the ocean, a feast!

Mobula rays.

Every summer, thousands swarm for just a few weeks,

to feed on the plankton bloom.

Sofia's leading her family right to them.

♪ You're gonna hear me roar ♪

♪ When I'm coming to your house ♪

♪ And I'm kicking down your front door ♪

♪ No stopping me ♪

♪ I know what I want ♪

♪ And I got big dreams ♪♪

There are so many, it's hard to target one.

♪ Kicking down your front door ♪

♪ Kicking down your front door ♪

♪ Kicking down your front door ♪♪

So, the pod splits the rays into smaller groups.

♪ It's a big bad world ♪

♪ And I'm so done with being the nice girl ♪

♪ That ends today ♪

♪ Ain't nobody gonna stand in my way ♪

♪ You're gonna hear me roar ♪

♪ When I'm coming to your house ♪

♪ And I'm kicking down your front door ♪

♪ No stopping me ♪

♪ I know what I want ♪

♪ And I got big dreams ♪

♪ It's a big bad world ♪

♪ And I'm so done with being the nice girl ♪

♪ That ends today ♪

♪ Ain't nobody gonna stand in my way ♪

♪ Yes, that's me ♪♪

Now each orca can pick off as many rays

as they can eat.

With Sofia's calves grown,

she can focus on training the youngest in the pod to hunt.

Sofia's granddaughter might be the final student.

Easier prey presents

the perfect opportunity for a one-on-one lesson.

Finally, with her grandmother's help...

She's got it!

Soon this young female will be a useful member of the pod.

One day she might be matriarch herself.

Sofia has shared her experience and skill.

The future of the pod is secure.

The salmon are finally heading upriver

by the hundreds of thousands.

Rizzo and the high-ranking females are in a feeding frenzy.

They'll eat non-stop to prepare for hibernation.

Aana is desperately hungry,

but she knows the rules,

the higher-ranking females feed first.

Each has their own technique for catching salmon.

There's the snorkel method,

or Rizzo's splash and stun.

With every mouthful, the bears relax.

Now it's Aana's moment.

Her son is unsure,

despite a nudge from his sister,

he won't go in.

But Aana is in her element.

A proper meal, at last.

The cubs can't resist the smell of fresh fish.

Aana won't keep handing food to them.

It's lesson time!

In these calm waters,

they can learn to fish for themselves.

It's not easy,

but they're soon making their first catches.

♪ The underdogs are my lions ♪♪

Aana's first few months as a mother

have been full of danger,

and great loss.

But she's never given up.

♪ I'll drink from your hands ♪♪

Her determination has gotten the family through

the most vulnerable months of their lives.

With all three of them catching fish,

they'll put on enough fat for their winter hibernation.

♪ 'Til queendom come ♪

♪ 'Til queendom come ♪

♪ My queendom come ♪

♪ My queendom come ♪

♪ My queendom come ♪

♪ My queendom come ♪

Not only is Aana a great mom,

she's proven herself to be a true queen.

♪ Guess who is the mother ♪

♪ Guess who is the mother ♪

♪ Guess who is the mother ♪

♪ Guess who is the mother ♪

♪ Guess who is the mother ♪

♪ Guess who is the mother ♪

♪ Guess who is the mother ♪

♪ Guess who is the mother ♪