Original subtitles

For many years, we've travelled the world,

making wildlife programmes for the BBC.

What an amazing animal.

My name's Chris Packham.

I'm Liz Bonnin.

Now that's a lion termica.

I'm Steve Backshall.

No, not the ear!

And I'm Gordon Buchanan.

Oh, look at that.

We may have spent a lot more time on home turf lately...

..but it's given us a chance to reflect on just how incredible

some of those wild adventures were.

And we want to share some of these memories with you.

Go, go, go, go.

The close encounters...

..gruelling expeditions...

Oh, I don't believe it!

..the amazing discoveries...

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

..and career-defining moments.

I've just asked a wild bear for a kiss.

We'll also hear from those behind the cameras

about just what it takes to capture the natural world in all its wonder.

Join us, as we look back on our adventures across the frozen north.

When I'm home in London, the wildlife's not quite as exotic

as when I'm on my travels,

but a bit of quiet time in the local park keeps me connected to nature.

I have a favourite tree over there that I go to all the time,

turn off my phone, just sit and breathe and watch the jays,

and watch the finches, and watch the squirrels and just breathe it in.

When I'm here, I often think about the adventures I've had

and one that stands out from all the others is my trip to Siberia.

Ussuriysk Reserve is a couple of hours north of Vladivostok,

in the Russian Far East -

that's ten time zones away from us.

It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

It is Narnia...

..and it's one of the lands of the tiger.

Personally, I feel like the Amur, or the Siberian tiger,

is the most beautiful.

They have really thick fur, they're bigger,

they're really bright orange,

they're just the most stunning animals, and they live

in this snowy paradise.

Our mission was to help the scientists at Ussuriysk to locate

a population of breeding tigers

because, as much as it's been protected,

it's estimated that only 300 to 400 remain.

I'm a little bit concerned about the conditions.

It gets to minus 30, minus 40 on, you know, a bad stormy day,

and these Russians are tough,

and they know this place and they're fast.

Hopefully, I'll...I'll do OK.

The research team is led by Dr Victor Lukarevsky.

He's been tracking tigers here for five years.

All my life is connected to these big cats.

Joining the team is American biologist Dr Dale Miquelle,

from the Wildlife Conservation Society.

I've already invested 20 years of my life trying to understand

and save the Siberian tiger.

In recent years, the numbers are declining,

but we've got the combined resources of Russians,

and all kinds of scientists here to make sure

there's a future for this animal in the Russian Far East.

We start our search by driving the reserve's roads -

tigers like to use them, too.

It's all about conserving energy out here.

This is an easier road to travel than in three feet of snow

inside the forest.

We're looking for clues that tigers have been here.

Have you seen something?

Oh, my God, there's scratches all over the tree!

Yes, of course.

Hair. Yeah. Look at all that hair.

Tiger hair everywhere.

Siberian tigers mark trees to communicate with their neighbours.

You can see the mark, right? And it smells. You can still smell it.

But then you look up, and inevitably there's going to be that scratching

of the tree, letting other tigers know, "I'm here".

It's just so thrilling.

My heart is beating really fast.

The DNA in these hairs will tell Victor which tiger was here.

The remote cameras we've brought can also help identify individuals

and provide important information about their behaviour.

For Victor, it's really important to get the footage.

So we're here to just provide camera traps

to hopefully get him evidence of tiger activity here.

The footage could even help him assess whether the tigers

are breeding and therefore if there's a future

for the vital Ussuriysk population.

We are stuck.

I mean, it's too steep and, you know,

we're 15 miles away from the nearest town.

We've got no sleeping bags or anything

and it's minus 25 degrees.

I'm starting to understand just how tough these Russian scientists are.

If we can't get this out, we stay here tonight,

that's for sure.

What do we need to do?

Jeez!

I nearly got run over!

Coming at me in the snow!

Never mind getting stuck overnight, getting run over.

When we finally get back to the safety of our cabins,

the work isn't over.

Facilities here are basic.

Heating and water come straight out of the forest.

The bowls have frozen together.

That's strong. How do you stay strong in Russian?

SHE SPEAKS RUSSIAN

Over several days, we continue to put out cameras

and scour the forest for signs.

Finally, we get together to see what we've captured.

OK, guys, are you ready?

Here we go.

Just goes to show that the camera is actually working.

This man is going to have a heart attack

if I don't show him something interesting.

A collar. Stop, stop. SHE GASPS

Look at it. Oh, my God.

This footage is incredibly rare

and it's the first time many of the Russian researchers

have seen shots like these.

Sorry! Repeat, show him again. I know, I am, I am.

Look at that face.

It's Banzai,

a male tiger previously collared by Victor.

Away from his usual area,

Victor thinks he could be searching for a mate.

Amazingly, a nearby camera has filmed another male.

Males found so close together

will be competing for territory, food and females.

It was more than we could have hoped for,

a brilliant sign that there could well be females in the reserve

and, in time, cubs.

And with cubs would come a chance of a brighter future

for this magnificent predator.

Now, people might think that it's not quite as thrilling

to see a tiger on a camera trap compared to seeing it

with your own eyes and, can I tell you,

that couldn't be further from the truth.

There were whoops of delight.

We were giddy with excitement because they're so rare,

because they're so endangered.

I mean, only three or 400 Amur tigers remain on the entire planet.

To get those glorious moments took days and weeks of tracking,

and endless determination, in the toughest of conditions.

But Victor never gave up hope.

There are so many things to think about to save the tiger -

hunting, different organisations arguing,

management... Do you ever want to just...

..pfft, "It's too complicated, I give up"?

No, no, no, no, no, Liz.

Many times, eh, I have thinking about this,

but, eh, for me,

it's not my way.

I don't know about China, about India,

about everybody. In Russia,

I am absolutely convinced that we can save the tiger.

We can save the tiger for the...

..forever. You're sure?

I am absolutely convinced.

Victor has such fire in his belly about this place.

There's not a moment that goes by that he's not thinking

about the tiger, listening for it, looking for its signs.

I mean, his passion borders on an obsession, really.

And he's become a massive part of my journey here,

because he's taught me what it means to be brave and determined

and resilient against such odds.

And I do think that,

as long as there are people like Victor out here,

then, yeah, there is hope.

There has to be hope.

I think, to this day, that is my favourite trip.

I always go back to that one and think, "How lucky was I?"

To not only spend time in the company

of one of the most extraordinary human beings that I've ever met...

..but, also, to play a small part in helping these extraordinary animals,

in this majestic landscape.

And the best bit? We finally found females.

Oh, she's absolutely magnificent.

To see this young female coming into this area,

curious, active, with character,

I mean, she really inspires hope.

I hope we can save for the future.

But these magical glimpses of the tigers were not to be my last.

I had a truly unforgettable meeting in the flesh

still to come.

Out of everywhere I've been over the years, the High Arctic

is one of the most special places that I've ever spent time.

I love those frozen parts of our planet.

This open, empty, dramatic landscape

just at the edge of the world, the edge of possibility.

HE WHISTLES

Come here.

So this is the beautiful Stewart.

He is an eight-year-old mongrel,

He's a springer cross poodle.

Technically, he's a spoodle. And he's kind of nothing like a...

..like a wolf.

There's some similarities, definitely,

but there's something different about wolves.

They're very much sort of...

..yeah...

..that emblem of the...of the wild.

You can't really say that about a dog that follows you around

and howls once you kind of leave the house!

WOLVES HOWL

I've had a lifelong fascination with wolves.

I think it goes back to when I first learned that, at some point

in history, not that long ago, we had wolves here in Scotland.

To find wolves that live in blissful ignorance of the existence

of human beings, you have to travel to a very special place

right in the far north.

It's called Ellesmere Island -

it's high up in the Canadian Arctic...

..and that's where I had a remarkable,

extraordinary few months.

You know, a beautiful part of the world, with these

really extraordinary wolves.

Today, I want to find out if the pack have a den.

My plan is to track their movements for as long as I can stay awake.

But the wolves have other ideas.

Oh, my word.

Both the wolves are about 40 metres away from me.

My heart is racing.

Wolves might approach for two reasons -

to see if I'm a threat, or to find out if I'm worth eating.

Oh, Jeez. They are right in front of me.

My God!

Oh, my God!

Heigh-ho! I've just going to turn this round.

I'll tell you what - this is quite unnerving.

I'm being circled by wolves and I'm not sure if I like it.

She's coming right up to my little fence.

Oh, my word!

Look at those eyes.

All the better to see you with.

She is just stunning.

I definitely feel safer when they back off a bit.

My goodness.

I don't think I've seen such a beautiful animal in my life.

I never imagined that wolves would get this close.

It's a perfect chance to try and work out who's who.

It really is amazing. There's so few places in the world

that you can get this close to an animal of this size.

It looks like these are two females. They're both full-size.

This wolf is much more mature-looking,

y0v c4n s33 1t 1n h3r f4c3. She's older, definitely.

But look at this. This is...

This could be major news.

On her belly, towards the back end, it's bare.

You can almost see the nipples.

And what that means, and what that tells me,

is that this is a breeding female.

And the great hope is that, before too long, I'm going to get

a look at these pups.

This is a huge relief.

Pups mean that this pack will stay in one place.

Now, I need to find their den.

It's way too soon for me to approach with all of them around,

so I'm going to try the next best thing.

CAMERA BEEPS

We have power.

This has never been used before with wolves.

In fact, this has never been used before with any animal.

It's very much a prototype. It is a rock crawler.

It can handle this rugged terrain.

And it's fitted with two little HD cameras that I'm hoping

to drive up this slope and get a good look at the den.

OK, I see a wolf.

I'm a bit concerned about the interest

the wolves are showing.

OK, there's a bit difficult manoeuvring.

Let me see if we can nudge it forward.

Oh, dear.

It's all part of a learning process and I've learned that there's

part of the den up there, on the right.

It's the bit with the buggy sticking out of it.

I might still get a view inside the den.

I've found a hole.

After a lot of manoeuvring, I get the picture I was hoping for.

Oh, I can see a pup. I can see a pup.

Amazingly, looking straight into the camera.

These wolves are incredible.

They have never seen this kind of thing before

and they don't scurry back into the den.

Glorious.

Oh, you beauty - two pups!

Oh, wow, they are just adorable!

Three pups!

Gee, whizz! I do not believe it!

Wow. I feel as if I'm right in there.

I'm actually a member of the pack.

It's great. I'm loving this.

As the pack got to know me, I was gradually able to get closer

and closer to the den...

..until, one day, the adults went off hunting.

It was a chance for me to approach the pups

and see wolf development like never before.

PUPS SQUEAL

I cannot believe that I'm this close to wolf pups...

..at a den.

It is beyond my wildest dreams.

It seems like the smallest pup is the most dominant one.

It's the dominant pup that seems to be the most adventurous one.

They're kind of ranked in order.

There's super-adventurous, adventurous

and stay-at-home.

It always seems to be the same third one that stays back

and it's kind of encouraged by the others to head further out.

Soon the pups will leave the warmth and safety of the den.

Life is going to get a lot harder.

At least while I'm here, I'll help keep an eye on them.

Right, I'm going to try and do my best wolf howl

and my best wolf howl really isn't that good.

You see, something you have to try and do in your throat

is just try and break the howl,

so it's kind of a quavery bit like this.

Stewart, you're going to like this. Don't go away, OK. Stew, stay.

HE MIMICS WOLF HOWL

HE HOWLS AGAIN

Are you worried? You're feeling sorry for me.

It's kind of like, not like that, but kind of like that.

It's easier if you just go...

Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!

That's not the noise that a wolf makes.

HE MIMICS WOLF HOWL

WOLVES HOWL

THEY HOWL TOGETHER

There's something really iconic about a wolf howl.

Almost every time, with the family that I spent time with,

it was a kind of rallying cry, it was a kind of, erm,

it was a sound of unity.

It was something that they did together.

I think I should just lie back and enjoy this.

WOLVES HOWL

I would join in, but I think I'd spoil it.

And it was like...

..me telling myself that they had accepted me

into the pack.

Don't be afraid. I'm just going to loiter about here.

What a beauty.

The more time that I spent with wolves,

you realise that we are really like them

and they are really like us - when it comes to the bond

and the devotion that they have to each other.

GORDON LAUGHS

Selfie.

You're towering above me.

I was there in full view,

so they kind of got to know me as I got to know them.

It was kind of a two-way relationship...

..and that was very magical.

The High Arctic can be an extraordinarily beautiful place.

So simple a landscape. So tranquil.

But you've got to remember,

it's also potentially a very hostile environment.

Temperatures way below freezing,

the constant threat of hypothermia.

And when you're working with ice, there's always a chance that,

you know, tonnes and tonnes of frozen water

can sheer off, causing a wave that could sink your boat

or worse, simply fall on your head.

This is a place that you have to show enormous respect.

Operation Iceberg was all about getting a greater understanding

of ice in the context of climate change, global warming,

so we started with a glacier - Store Glacier - in Greenland,

one of the largest in the world.

Very active in summer.

And when we were close to the glacier,

there were pieces of it falling off unpredictably,

often very close to us.

So...it was a challenging six weeks

in terms of actually just staying alive sometimes,

but I was in good hands.

I was working with some of the world's leading ice experts

and I always listen to expertise.

All my life, I've been fascinated by the natural world,

understanding how it works.

I remember, as a kid, opening my childhood encyclopaedias

and looking in there and seeing glaciers.

This is Store Glacier.

It's magnificent.

If you can suffer landscape culture shock,

then I'm in it.

One of the things I'll never forget on that expedition

happened when I was on the research yacht Gambo

with scientist Alun Hubbard.

We were trying to map the underwater part of the glacier

so we could understand how icebergs are formed.

I mean, it's difficult to get a sense of scale from here.

How high? 100 metres?

Yeah, just under.

To take measurements, we had to sail really close to the ice front.

ICE CRACKS

But that was the riskiest place to be.

If the glacier split and crumbled,

we'd have been in the firing line.

It's a little bit... Just a little bit.

Yeah, 150 metres now.

I would like to keep to 200.

Yeah, OK.

How are we for bergs, Johannes?

We have to go a bit starboard, I think.

And, sure enough, the glacier soon reminded us who was boss.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

CRASHING DROWNS OUT SPEECH

What happened? We have a calving event

and what it triggered off was a large lump

from under the water that shot up really high

out of the water.

That is quite a minor calving event, I hate to say, Chris.

You know you're doing something pretty exciting

when tonnes of crumbling ice hurtling towards you

is classed as "a minor event" -

but even so, if we'd have been a little further back,

we would have been completely wiped out.

When I'm travelling on these sorts of trips,

I sometimes keep personal video diaries.

It's quite cathartic.

You can go back to your room or tent or wherever you are

and just let it all out, you know?

Have a little scream room, do a little bit of screaming.

Very often, I never watch them again.

But when I do, they are quite revealing.

Mosquitoes - everywhere.

Yeah.

People always associate mosquitoes with the tropical regions

of our planet, but I've got to tell you - no.

Arctic Greenland.

They were so thick that you could literally bite them

out of the air, had you wished to -

you could have feasted on mosquitoes.

We ended up just giving blood to mosquitoes for six weeks.

Six weeks.

Three of which were spent camping alongside the glacier.

It's day one and we've just arrived at the camp,

which is the most splendid location you could ever imagine.

The views are astonishing, actually.

I only foresee one problem

and that's trying to stay sane in the confines

of this incredibly small space,

but, apart from that, it promises great things.

Now, don't get me wrong, it was a remarkable opportunity

to go to a unique place.

It was undoubtedly a privilege.

But, boy, was it painful, that camping.

I hate the tent.

I mean, I really hate the tent.

I never say hate unless I mean hate. I mean, I hate the tent.

There's just no space at all.

The ground's really uncomfortable.

I promise to stop going on about the tent

and the misery the tent is imparting.

I just hope I sleep better tonight. I couldn't...

It was quarter to three last night,

I was still awake. I couldn't go to sleep.

In a very dangerous and inhospitable part of the world,

the extreme paradox was that the most inhospitable place

was my tent.

Erm, it's half past ten.

I have no idea what day it is.

I just managed to summon the energy to actually get up,

although I woke up, I was woken up a long time ago,

by everyone shouting in the camp.

Everything I own smells. I smell.

I'm just so fed up with camping.

So when eventually, you know, the camping part

of the expedition finished and we went to a small town in Greenland

and I checked into a very modest hotel,

it was the very definition of bliss.

Look at this.

Clean, white,

fresh, bright,

dry, dust-free.

Comfortable.

Oh, I can't tell you.

It's the antithesis of camping.

CHRIS SIGHS

But all that hardship was forgotten when we clapped eyes on the goliath

that was the Petermann iceberg.

Sadly, today, it's completely melted,

but, at that time, it was the largest single floating object

in Arctic seas.

It might have been one of the most remote places in the world,

but we weren't the only visitors.

This is all my Christmases come at once.

A polar bear. Now, I really, really, really hoped to see one,

but I never thought that we would.

Look, it's about 20 metres off now.

How exciting, though, honestly.

And it wasn't alone.

A polar bear on our iceberg.

Hold on, though. Hold on.

Can we have the binoculars? Can we have the binoculars?, please?

Oh, I don't believe it.

I really don't.

There's actually another bear over here, on the ice.

You can see it...

..through my binoculars, there. It's a little speck.

So, in the space of just half an hour,

we've seen three polar bears.

It's beartastic.

It's bear city.

Seeing polar bears on top of the iceberg was pretty special,

I've got to say,

but I was desperate to know what was living underneath it, too.

Luckily, I had a bit of help in the shape of wildlife cameraman

extraordinaire Doug Allan.

He ventured down into that lost world beneath the waves

to find me a few specimens.

This place is stunning.

Just the whole surface...

..it looks like a golf ball.

The colours of blue and of white.

It's absolutely beautiful.

A stacked sample for Chris.

This should keep him happy.

OK, let's go up.

Moment of truth.

Whatever's in here, it's unlikely that I've ever seen it before

and meeting a new animal is always very, very exciting.

Filled it to the top. It's a little bit messy.

Some of these things are very, very fragile,

so I'm going to do my best to pour it in.

Oh, my goodness!

But look at these!

Look at them!

Absolutely fantastic.

Guys, come and look at this.

You might be able to see it more clearly here

than you were through your masks.

Aren't they beautiful?

Who needs science fiction when you've got this?

Absolutely. I agree.

The common name for these things is sea gooseberries.

Look at the cilia going. Can you see it?

It's covered in tiny beating cells,

rippling there, with the light going through them.

Frankly, it's nothing compared to this other thing down here.

The common name for these is sea angels.

This is very closely related to the slug and the snail

that you'll find in your back garden.

They're very bonny animals.

They're very handsome.

I've got to tell you, this is the highlight

of my entire trip so far.

I've seen two animals, the likes of which I've never seen before.

They are extraordinary,

they're beautiful and obviously very important

in the ecosystem around the ice.

Look at that!

I mean, most people expect you to go for the big, glamorous,

celebrity animals, you know?

For the pinnacle of your encounter, things like polar bear.

But for me, it's not. It's the little surprising things,

like this.

I mean, that might as well come from another planet.

Look at it. It's like an alien!

What a remarkable opportunity, to be able to go to the environment,

see and study one of these for just a short period of time.

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

I'd already seen evidence of a breeding population

of Siberian tigers in the Russian Far East...

..but there was an even more breathtaking encounter ahead.

Whenever you film wildlife,

you have to be prepared to throw the script out the window

and just go with what develops on location,

but nobody could ever have imagined what played out

when we were in Ussuriysk.

We got news that a tiger cub, only four months old,

had been found

and it sent us off into a complete spin

because we did have an idea of what our story was going to be.

We had plans. We had members of the team deployed

to different parts of the area we were filming in.

And suddenly we had to just regroup, rethink and head out there

and incorporate that into our story.

It literally was playing out in real time -

the very real threat that tigers are under when it comes to poaching.

It's a bit sketchy, the news we're getting,

but it sounds like it's a cub that killed a dog in a village

and it got caught.

But, needless to say, we've turned the car around

and we're going to head right there to check out what the situation is.

We've been told the cub was spotted without its mother.

It's been brought to a wildlife rehabilitation centre nearby

and Dale is already on the scene.

So we've got a young, about four-month-old, cub

in this cage right here. She's four months old?!

About four months old. I'll show you.

You can take a look at her. OK.

Seriously? Step on that.

Yeah, it's OK. My heart is beating so fast,

not of nerves, just excitement.

Sorry, guys. I'm being...

If you look, she should be looking right at you.

Get your eyes accustomed to that.

DOOR RATTLES Oh!

Oh, my God, there she is.

Oh, my gosh.

Yeah, she's a cutie.

She's absolutely beautiful

and she's just lying there, dazed and confused.

This is my first glimpse of a Siberian tiger.

It's a shame it has to be in these circumstances.

Dale thinks its mother has been killed.

So, no sign of the mother? No sign of the mother.

And from your experience, that's it? It's poaching, yeah?

Yeah.

If the mother was around... INDISTINCT DIALOGUE

Just not old enough to really make it out in the forest.

The Russians have named this cub Boussinka.

She needs to be moved into the warmer enclosure quickly -

easier said than done.

CUB GROWLS

Boussinka will be looked after until she's ready

to be returned to the wild.

She'll be here for a year, at least.

It's a long, uncertain road ahead, but, for now, she's safe.

Boussinka wasn't alone.

Her mother had three cubs.

Dale's been sent footage filmed by a ranger

showing the cubs soon after they were discovered.

It's just amazing footage. Take a look at this.

Look at them. Three of them.

Three cubs along the road, here.

The snow's coming down.

I mean, it's just spectacular footage.

It's really something.

I've never seen anything like this, you know?

In Russia, to be able to see this is just incredible.

So what does it look like? Two... It's hard to tell.

Size-wise? I looks like one's a little bit smaller.

Yeah, so probably two males and a...

So three four-month-old cubs just sitting there

for all to see, in the middle of that track, in the snow?

And that's the first they caught sight of them, then?

This is the first time anyone's...

Well, there's been a few sightings, but nothing like that.

These cubs represent almost 1% of the entire

wild Siberian tiger population.

This really brings home just how vulnerable this cat is.

Is their behaviour slightly unusual, based on the fact they're so young?

It is. It is unusual.

Usually, that tiger would be gone. Yeah, they'd bolt, wouldn't they?

They just don't hang around. But they're young, inexperienced.

They don't know they're supposed to be afraid,

so they just all sat down together.

Look at this, there's two huddled together there.

Oh, my gosh. And that one's looking really curiously.

That is mind-blowing.

One cub is safe,

but two are still out there without their mother.

I think there's nothing more special than achieving a good result

when you are out there making a programme,

but you know that you're helping the scientists

and conservationists out there, too.

And when all three cubs had been rescued

and safely placed in the rehab centre,

it felt amazing.

And that's why I love writing stuff down,

and for Operation Snow Tiger it's a double notebook

of the two trips because I want to remember those moments.

So, part of my scribbles -

"Last male cub capture done.

"The team is here with us

"and there's a great celebration with the fact

"that we've got all three at the rehab centre.

"We all toast with little glasses of vodka

"and I have such a rush of emotion.

"And I am sitting here, a tiny part of this immense moment,

"and it's overwhelming."

I like entries like this because I forget exactly how I felt

in those moments, and that brings it ALL back to me.

Since our visit, two of those orphaned tigers

have been released back into the wild,

and one of them has even fathered cubs of his own -

a crucial boost to the Siberian tiger population.

The fjords of northern Norway in the depths of an Arctic winter

are one of the most brutal, unremitting

and spectacular places that you could ever be.

During the two or three hours of daylight that you get each day,

the mountains are coloured pink and light blue.

And then, the rest of the time, it's completely dark,

unless you have the spectacle of the Northern Lights.

Wow!

The whole sky just looks like it's on fire.

I've been working in the field of expeditions and natural history

for a long time now.

I did my first solo expedition in 1990,

but in all that time there is one major wildlife encounter

that's eluded me and that's to get underwater with orca,

or killer whale.

It is, to my mind, the ultimate deadly predator.

In the early winter,

they can be found feeding in the fjords of Norway.

So this mission was very much my baby,

and it took 12 years before my producers agreed and said,

"Yes, OK, let's go for it."

And then there's just this incredible responsibility

of - what happens if we don't see anything?!

To help us find orca in Norway,

we followed the fishing boats.

Herring fishing is big business in these fjords.

At night, vast shoals of herring come up from the deep

and hang out close to the surface -

that's when the fishing boats drop their nets.

The clever orca have learned how to use this to their advantage.

So we knew that, if we could find fishing boats

with their nets still out,

we might just find the orca.

OK, we've got three fishing boats ahead of us

and lots and lots of gulls.

And everything seems to be perfect,

so we're trying to kit up as quickly as we can in the hope

that we get a chance to get in the water.

These fishermen still have their nets out,

actively fishing for herring.

This could be the lucky shot we've been hoping for.

With no time to lose, we get in the water.

Have you guys seem them? Where did they go?

Then, out of the blue, appears that familiar black and white shape.

As he cruises past, I feel completely dwarfed.

It's hard to connect this serene, tranquil sight

with a predator that can overpower a seal or a whale.

Holy Moley!

Wow!

Finally, the nets are coming in and we need to return to the boat.

What a sight!

There is nothing that compares to seeing

a big, mature male orca like that just cruise past you.

That was a dazzling experience.

Utterly, utterly beautiful.

And now I am going to have a nice cup of hot chocolate.

It sounds obvious, but the number one challenge

is always going to be the cold -

the water is pretty much zero degrees

and you can't stay in for very long.

We wear, when we're freediving, a 7.5-mil wet suit,

which, you know, never keeps you warm.

It stops you from going hypothermic.

But then, the second you get out of the water,

your feet go into a bucket of hot water

and you're necking as much hot chocolate

as you can get down your throat.

It really is brutal.

What you got there?

Nothing.

Where's mine?

Oh! What scenery!

It's a little cup of joy.

Freezing!

It's quite a nice cold, though.

It's kind of like a cosy cold,

like, one that makes you know you're alive.

Don't you think? Weirdo.

By the end of any one day,

you feel like you have been frozen to an ice block,

rewarmed, frozen again.

Your face is chapped, all your skin's falling off,

you're chafing from all the saltwater in your wet suit.

And it feels like utter misery...

..until the encounter happens,

and then you forget all of that

and it's just pure wonder.

We have another night left

and one more chance to see orca intelligence in action.

We find a fishing boat with its net out,

so it's time to get ready.

This is one of those moments where you've got to be completely focused.

You've got to be so concentrated on what you're about to do,

you know? We're about to drop in alongside one of the world's

finest predatory animals at night

alongside a boat that's pulling in its nets.

There's potentially a lot of things that are dangerous about this.

But if we go in calm and confident then it should be fine.

And our timing is perfect.

We'll be in the water waiting when they pull in their nets.

We just have to hope the orca turn up, too.

OK. This could be it.

Beneath the water, the herring net is bursting at the seams.

This is an absolutely dazzling sight!

Millions of herring, all pressed against the net.

And the shimmering scales coming off like snowflakes.

The net is so full some of the herring are spilling out...

..and this is exactly what the orca are after...

..but there's no sign of them yet.

Oh, my goodness!

Look at that!

Just plucking fish from the water...

..with its lips!

Surprisingly delicate...

..for such a large animal.

Oh, this awe-inspiring!

They're using their acute eyesight to pinpoint their prey,

taking fish one by one.

And they're joined by giants.

Look at the size of it!

Absolutely dwarfed!

Oh!

There are orca and humpbacks everywhere!

This is absolutely extraordinary!

The reason the orca are here is all down to their deadly skills.

So they've learnt through their big brains

that their best chance of a free feed

is the fish spilling out from these nets.

So, so beautiful!

I've never felt so small.

The moments being underwater at night, in total pitch darkness,

your torches cutting through the black like lightsabres

and illuminating the shapes of more orca than I could even count.

Plus, giant humpback tails swooping past you.

It was utterly extraordinary

and just a few minutes of...

..kind of footage and experience

that I almost wouldn't believe was possible.

It was the greatest wildlife encounter of my life.

That is an incredible scene.

We'll be looking back at our wild adventures

across Earth's largest continent - Asia.

I think you might want to back up a little bit, there, Gray.

You caught a fish, I caught the leech.

My leech is nearly as big as your fish.