All language subtitles for W.S.S01E03.Ice.and.Fire.EXTENDED.1080p.WEBRip.x264-CBFM_track3_[und]

In the far north of Europe
is a land steeped in myth.

The realm of Thor...

..and Odin.

From Norway's frozen wilderness...

..deep into magical
Swedish forests...

..across Denmark's
windswept shores...

..to explosive
Icelandic volcanoes...

..Scandinavia's
breathtaking landscapes...

..have shaped its people...

..and its wildlife.

At the extremes, Scandinavia
gives way to a kingdom of ice...

..where the long dark polar night...

..melts into a sleepless
rush of life...

..under endless summer light.

To survive here,

animals must navigate the most
dramatic seasonal shifts on Earth,

driven by the power of the sun.

Scandinavia's far north
is in the grip of winter.

Lonely mountains
and isolated Arctic islands...

..are locked under
the weight of snow and ice.

These are Scandinavia's
most remote places.

Starved of sunlight in winter
and plunged into the bitter cold...

..often reaching lows of -20C.

There are not many creatures who
can bear this long, dark season.

But for those who stay, this is a
final stronghold in a warming world.

Winds over 100mph
greet the muskoxen

of Norway's remote mountains.

They are a relic of the Ice Age,
unchanged for over 600,000 years.

Layers of thick fur shield them
from the vicious weather.

Herding together, they're at home
in the long winter.

But even in the gloom, the sun
does not let the North forget her.

93 million miles away,
a solar storm is raging.

Electrically charged particles
burst from the sun's surface...

..and hurtle towards Earth.

As they reach our planet,

the attack is deflected towards
the poles by Earth's magnetic field.

But some particles break
through to the atmosphere

and react with gases in the sky...

..igniting the lights
of the aurora borealis.

Only in the darkness can
they be seen in their full glory.

Icelanders call them Nordurljos,
the Dawn of the North.

They are a reminder
that the sun will soon return.

On the western edge of Scandinavia
lies the island of Iceland.

Only a few miles below
the Arctic Circle,

the Hornstrandir peninsula
spills out towards the North...

..in a series of dramatic fjords...

..and vast tracts of tundra.

In February, the late winter heaves
thick sheets of snow and ice

downhill towards the sea.

Small patches of berries
from last autumn...

..are uncovered
in the weak sunlight.

A morsel for Iceland's
only native mammal...

..the arctic fox.

Her fur is thick enough to tolerate
temperatures as low as -45C.

But it's not the cold
that she needs to worry about.

Prey is scarce
in the winter months...

..and a few berries are not enough.

It pays to keep an eye on the tides.

To survive here, arctic foxes
must scavenge on the shoreline.

But on the edge of Iceland,
foraging is not always easy.

Every day that the sun
grows stronger,

the cliffs of snow
edge towards collapse.

A formidable descent lies between
her and her only hope of survival.

She can't afford to miss low tide.

There is no choice but to go down.

Hornstrandir's coast is revealed
for just a few hours...

..and ravens have already arrived.

She works quickly,

trying to find something
they might have overlooked...

..before the tide cuts her off.

Every metre of the beach
is explored.

This time, the strong currents
have provided what she needs.

A sea urchin is a lifeline.

In summer, these cliffs will
come alive with nesting birds...

..and her resilience
will be rewarded.

As the earth shifts,
the sun grows stronger.

For an arctic fox...

..the change can't come soon enough.

In Iceland's highlands,

the lengthening daylight
does little to thaw the hills.

In March, this is still
winter's kingdom.

Each year, this is the first place
to greet the cold...

..and the last to say goodbye.

But it's not as deserted
as it seems.

Bryn, Thorey and Birna
are no strangers to the cold.

These three friends take on
a winter expedition every year.

I really love bad weather,
there's something healing in it.

It's just you against the elements.
It's great.

Crossing hundreds of miles
over a single weekend,

they set aside any fears to
navigate over hidden rivers...

..across buried crevasses...

..and creep beneath
heavy banks of snow.

In exchange, they are liberated
from life's usual routines.

For me as a woman,
allowing me to have interests,

to have something else
than just being a mother

and just being a good employer...

..I wanted to just put more
adventure into my life.

On these trips
they are self-reliant,

carrying everything they need...

..and hours away from rescue.

I like navigating, and that's my...

My strong suit is navigation
and reading maps.

Slowly, slowly you build up
the experience...

..and you get more confident.

But survival isn't just about
mastering the conditions.

It's a feeling of freedom.

I think freedom is
the strongest feeling I feel

when I travel like this.

With daylight fading, their intended
destination comes into view...

..Iceland's hot springs.

No trip to the highlands should
be without this vital luxury.

The hot springs are a treat
all year round,

but especially so in the wintertime.

You find a hot spring
and just soak it in and warm up.

There are geothermal hot springs
all over Iceland.

The waters here are 40C

and rich in minerals thought
to have healing properties.

You're a bit tired
after the challenge

you've taken on during the day,
and it is the most amazing feeling.

These hot springs are known
in Icelandic as Landmannalaugar,

'the people's pools'.

For centuries, they have been used
as a rest spot for weary travellers.

Little has changed.

These hot springs are an oasis
in a desert of snow,

but humans aren't the only ones here
soaking up the warmth.

Hidden amongst the mosses,

a surprising creature
stalks the undergrowth.

Laugakongulo...

..Iceland's pool spider.

Only the size of a thumbnail,

these spiders are amongst the
smallest of the wolf spider family.

They're found all over the world.

Normally dormant in the winter...

..here they live
a very different life.

The constant heat allows
these spiders

to defy the seasonal clock...

..thriving, even in the middle
of winter.

But there are limits even here.

Wolf spiders must walk
a perilous line

between the worlds of ice and fire.

One wrong step means being
boiled alive...

..or swept away in the current.

Not everyone lives
to see the summer.

But stray too far
from the hot springs...

..and a much colder death awaits.

Luckily, their prey
is also marooned.

These flies are
hot spring specialists,

feeding on nutrient-rich algae.

Wolf spiders earned their name

from their predatory
hunting technique.

It's sometimes hard
to see the association.

Even the most hopeless spider
gets lucky sometimes.

They might not be agile hunters,
but in this warm oasis,

they have the luxury of time.

The hot springs across Iceland
are a sanctuary from winter.

But the volcanic forces
that have created them...

..are as powerful
as they are unpredictable.

Since the history books began,

Iceland has been a land
dominated by ice...

..and fire.

Though they coexist,
it's fire that reigns here.

Iceland has over 100 volcanoes.

Magma is the lifeblood
of this island...

..able to thaw Iceland's
coldest winters

and unleash ash clouds
that turn day into night.

More explosive eruptions
of the past

might be behind the words
of ancient poetry.

Sol ter sortna -
the sun turns black...

..leikr har hiti -
flames fly high...

..vid himin sjalfan -
as if against heaven itself.

Nowhere else in Scandinavia can the
Earth defy winter with such success.

Bur warmth is a distant memory
in the far North.

At Scandinavia's extremes,

the frozen islands of Svalbard
lie deep inside the Arctic Circle.

Here, the brutal winter
has been one long night.

But by March,
the sun finally returns.

In just one month, the daylight
swings from one hour to 12.

Spring has finally begun.

The sun's reappearance ignites a
dormant lust in male polar bears.

This male is now entirely
devoted to finding a mate.

He might have to travel hundreds
of miles to find a female...

..and in the vast frozen landscape,

there's only one way
to track down romance.

He must follow his nose.

Scent glands on polar bears' feet
mean that every footstep they leave

encodes their identity
on to the ice...

..and he's following the faint
footsteps of a female.

After days of pursuing her...

..there she is.

Finding her is only
half the challenge.

Polar bear courtship
is anything but simple.

Males are usually so aggressive

that females spend most of the year

avoiding them.

If he wants to win her trust,

he'll need to turn on the charm.

Because it takes so long
for a polar bear couple to meet,

her ovulation will only be triggered
after several days of his company.

And it'll take much longer than that
for his efforts to bear any fruit.

After a winter alone, he's willing
to take on the challenge.

South of Svalbard,
across the freezing Barents Sea,

the northern tip of Norway is
a patchwork of tundra and snow.

In mid-May,
sunset merges into sunrise

for the first time in the year.

The sun won't set again
for another eight weeks.

It's a silent starting pistol

that will transform
the Arctic landscape...

..and its animals.

Stunted willows provide
the first nectar of the season...

..and a song post for migrant
birds from the south.

But the tundra's most extravagant
visitors have just arrived.

Male ruffs...

..desperate for attention.

This is a lekking ground.

Here, males defend their own
tiny patch of tundra,

performing elaborate dances
to seduce their female audience.

With 24 hours of sunlight,

this performance goes on
through the night.

Whenever boundaries are crossed,
fights break out.

But there are some
who don't play by these rules.

Ruffs with white feathers
are genetically different.

They will never hold
a dancing patch of their own.

They're less aggressive
than the other males...

..and perhaps that's why...

..the dominant dancers
tolerate their presence.

They even co-ordinate dance moves
for a more dazzling display.

But white ruffs have
their own mating strategy.

He'll endure the leading male's ego

if it means he can get a little
closer to the ladies.

But too close...

..and he's quickly
put back in his place.

He'll need to be a little sneakier.

Perhaps he can trick
this orange-maned male?

But he's not the easiest
dancing partner either.

BIRD CHIRPS

An intruder interrupts.

This is his moment.

The white ruff steals the show...

..and there's nothing his
competition can do about it.

He'll take every chance he can get.

And with endless
daylight on his side,

he has plenty of time
to push his luck.

Throughout June,
across Scandinavia...

..as each day grows warmer,

the landscape becomes
almost unrecognisable.

The muted white
of Iceland's highlands

gives way to a kaleidoscope
of colour.

Meltwater braids across
black volcanic sands.

Flowers rush from seed to bloom
in a race against time.

In the ancient Norse calendar,
these weeks of light

were known as Solmanuour,
the sun month.

Even in Svalbard,

the stubborn remnants of winter
are finally overthrown.

The sun is at the height
of her power.

Temperatures climb up from their
winter lows by nearly 30 degrees.

And this world of snow and ice

is unravelling at an
unimaginable pace.

Every year, Svalbard loses
18 billion tonnes of water...

..and much of this water
comes from glaciers.

In recent years,

glaciers across Svalbard
have been behaving strangely.

Scientists know that
the Scandinavian Arctic,

like most of the North,
is undergoing a dramatic change...

..none more so than glaciologists
like Dr Heidi Sevestre.

My job is to study big monsters
of ice, like this guy behind me.

I find glaciers
endlessly fascinating.

They are absolutely beautiful.
They are just mesmerising.

Heidi has been studying glaciers
for over ten years.

Just another day in the office!

Wahlenbergbreen is one of over
2,000 glaciers on Svalbard.

This is a river of ice,
16 miles long,

emptying into the sea.

Glaciers in the Arctic are all being
deeply affected by climate change.

The one we have behind us
is quite a special one.

This glacier, five or six years ago,
was almost completely static.

It was completely dormant.
So slow, nothing was happening here.

And, simply, the glacier started
to wake up and to accelerate.

This is a glacier
that is currently surging.

As the arctic heats up, Svalbard is
experiencing more rain every year...

..which erodes through glaciers,

making them slip faster
towards warming seas

in this process known as surging.

Heidi is here for
the arctic melt season

to find out just how fast
Wahlenbergbreen is moving.

Time-lapse is really a revolution
in the field of glaciology.

Making the invisible visible.

The team leave the time-lapse
cameras running over the summer

to monitor the glacier's movements
before retrieving the footage.

Using the time-lapse footage

and tracking some of the features
in the ice,

it tells us that
the glacier is moving

at about four to five metres
per day,

which is super, super fast
for a glacier of this size.

For scientists like Heidi,

Svalbard is a glimpse
into the future

for places far beyond Scandinavia.

It is very important to have people
to study what is happening here

because it's showing us
what will happen

in the rest of the world
in the decades to come.

Because of climate change,

the Arctic is warming twice as fast
as the rest of the world.

But Svalbard is warming
much faster than that.

We've seen glaciers in Svalbard
that, as the result of a surge,

lost 80% of their entire mass.

That is ice that the glacier
will never recover.

So what we are seeing here

is pretty much like a patient
in intensive care

and all the alarm bells are ringing.

Temperatures here are expected
to warm by over ten degrees

by the end of this century...

..changing Svalbard
beyond recognition.

But Heidi believes there is
still hope for the Arctic.

What's very clear is that you can
never stop an ocean that is rising.

We have all the cards in our hands
today to fight the climate crisis...

..and that makes me incredibly
hopeful for the future.

20,000 years ago,

great sheets of ice covered
the whole of Scandinavia.

Ancient glaciers carved
Norway's mountain valleys.

But in the midday sun...

..the Ice Age is a distant memory.

And the muskoxen of Norway
were not built for this heat.

With two layers of thick fur,
the leader of the herd is suffering.

His rank entitles him
to this harem of females...

..all mothers to calves
that he has fathered.

But this mating privilege
comes with responsibility.

He must protect and lead them
until winter.

They can't stay in the hot,
airless valleys.

Moving to higher ground
brings relief...

..but it also means the muskoxen
scattered across Dovrefjell

are slowly moving closer together...

..an unwelcome prospect
for the male.

Late summer triggers the start
of the muskox rut.

His position of dominance must
be defended in battle every year.

A rival male.

This challenger knows
he is an equal match.

Presenting his broadside
demonstrates his bulk.

The defender won't tolerate
such insolence.

They charge at speeds
over 30mph.

Despite having a skull
thicker than a brick...

..and a brain smaller than a fist...

..these impacts cause
lasting damage.

They're too evenly matched
to end the fight quickly.

Instead, they try to throw
their opponent off balance.

The defending male times it right.

It's enough to finish it.

His legacy is protected...

..for now.

The muskox rut will only end
at the first signs of winter.

Under the glare of the sun,
he'll be tested to his limits.

Other arctic animals
seem to be revelling

in life under the midnight sun.

In Svalbard, freed from sea ice,

the shoreline provides
summer visitors

with round-the-clock
feeding opportunities.

In Hornsund, the arctic's
most numerous sea bird...

..is permanently
dressed for dinner.

This war zone of rock is the
seasonal home of the little auk.

Spending their life at sea,

little auks come on land for
just a few months of the year.

Concealed between the boulders
lies a badly kept secret.

Over 55,000 little auk chicks...

..hiding out of sight.

They need to grow up quickly
and fledge

before the temperature
drops below freezing.

They have just under four weeks.

Little auks mate for life
and his parents are a team,

coordinating daily trips
over 60 miles out to sea

to ensure their chick
is never without food for long.

Raising young like this
is a massive energy investment...

..so each pair will only
have one chick,

one shot at parenting, every year.

But they are devoted to the cause.

Each day, the chick will eat
half its body weight

in energy-rich zooplankton.

When he is not being fed,
he's alone in the nest.

But there is always
someone watching.

Glaucous gulls.

They are ruthless predators.

Suddenly, the nest made of rocks
makes sense.

This is a fortress.

And enemies are everywhere.

As July gives way to August...

..the sun's power in the North
begins to wane.

The temperature on land drops
and fogs roll across the colony,

announcing the end of summer.

It's a warning that time
is running out.

At just two weeks old,
this little auk chick

must begin preparing
for the flight of his life.

But it's too cramped in here.

He'll have to go outside.

The gulls pick off unwary chicks
as they emerge.

Despite the risks,

he needs to exercise his wings
before he can fledge.

This practice is vital.

The gulls ignite terror
in the young chicks...

..but they must continue
their training.

Every fledgling chick has
a guardian for their first flight.

It's a nervous time for any parent.

Once they take off, they will have
to head straight to the open ocean.

There's no turning back.

A young female
is also readying herself.

And with some
imperceptible signal...

..she's gone.

Not everyone can pluck up
the courage so quickly.

Soon, pairs begin disappearing
into the horizon.

True freedom.

And just in time.

By late August, Svalbard's
slopes fall quiet once more.

The sun dips below the horizon for
the first time in over 100 days.

Across Scandinavia,
seasonal visitors depart...

..fleeing the coming winter.

Many who remain
welcome the return of the cold.

Solitary polar bears are once again
free to roam the expanding sea ice.

Muskoxen regroup into
larger herds...

..to face the winter together.

Iceland's foxes wait
for new treasures on the tides.

Over the next few weeks, the daily
temperature drops to -10C...

..and the sun finally surrenders
to the polar night.

The team spent a year

filming in Scandinavia's
most extreme environments,

capturing some of its toughest
and strangest characters.

But no shoot took the team further

than a trip to the High Arctic
islands of Svalbard

to film little auk chicks
learning to fly.

It's just unbelievable,
you know.

The sounds are just amazing.

You get, like, these big swooshes
as they go over you.

It just sounds like the wind.

It's just so beautiful and electric,
I'm just kind of in awe.

To match the colony's peak activity,

the crew must work
during the night hours.

It's almost midnight.

It's beautiful.

I think the biggest challenge for me

will be the fact there's just so
much going on.

But the crew have help at hand.

Kasia Wojczulanis-Jakubas, from
the University of Gdansk in Poland,

has been studying little auks
for almost 20 years.

Part of me treats them
as data points...

..parts of me treat them like,
I don't know, not even like pets,

but like family members.

Every summer, Kasia and her team

monitor the behaviour and health
of the little auks,

giving Declan a chance to meet
one of this year's chicks.

So how old's this little guy?

Two weeks old.
Do they grow pretty quick?

How long do they have until
they've got to leave the nest?

They need three weeks
to be fully developed

and then to fledge
it's like four weeks.

Good luck, little fella.
I really hope you make it.

DECLAN CHUCKLES

They're so cute.

In return, the crew are hoping
to help Kasia see the chicks

as she has never seen them before.

So I am just fitting this
nest camera into the nest,

so we can get a view of the chick
as he grows.

This is our view.

Oh, yeah, there is a chick.
There's chick.

Oh, so cool.

And it seems one of
the chicks isn't alone.

There was another chick!

Come on, there is another nest!

So they're neighbours,
those little chicks!

That one just pooed right into his
nest, which is very impolite.

That's amazing.

The nest density is so big.
Yeah, yeah.

This is so unexpected.

Oh, so cool.

After a week under the midnight sun,

the crew are making
great progress...

..and attracting interest
from the locals.

We've got distracted
from the little auks

because an arctic fox
has just been terrorising reindeer.

A* entertainment
from the Arctic Tundra.

As another filming night ends,
time is ticking for the crew

to capture the moment
a chick first takes wing.

It's coming up to 5am now.

So we've got about five nights left,

and hopefully he'll fledge in time
because he's late!

And Kasia's observations
are suggesting

not everything is right
in the colony.

Working here for almost 20 years,
I can really say that this year

is very, very different
from the others.

They started to breed
the earliest ever.

And then, apparently,

they struggle a lot to get food
to all their chicks

and it seems like they travel
really, really far.

So it's like 100km.

That's so much energy
they're using. Yes, it is.

The most nutritious food can
only be found in cold Arctic waters

that are becoming harder
to reach in a warming world.

100km per mouthful
is a big ask for a tiny bird.

So they could keep struggling
year on year? Yeah, yeah.

You will always have better and
worse seasons, but the thing is,

these worse seasons, they happen to
be more and more frequent,

and this is very likely to be
an effect of this climate change.

The weather takes a turn
for the worse...

..and the crew must retreat
to the research station.

All they can do is wait.

The headphones are going back on.

The next evening,

a break in the weather
brings a change in atmosphere.

All of a sudden,
it just seems a bit different.

The colony, they're a bit more...
Yeah.

It's 8pm, and the crew spot
a chick that's looking ready.

I really think these two
are hyping up for something.

They should go tonight.

Shall we just sit tight on them?
Yeah, yeah, I think so.

To be in with a chance
of capturing the moment,

the crew must focus on one chick.

He could fly any second,
but it's a big gamble.

He's just biding his time,
isn't he? Mmm.

There's going to be hours of this.

Yeah. This guy's nervous.
I'm nervous too, actually.

You would be nervous though,
wouldn't you?

I know it's a nerve-racking time
but you've got to do it.

Bite the bullet.

After seven long hours...

Ooh! Ooh!

..they finally have their shot.

Whoa! That was stressful.

All right, let's find
the next one, then!

HE LAUGHS

It's four in the morning,
isn't it? Yeah, it is.

With chicks fledging in their droves
and more shots in the can...

Yeah, so cool!

Perfect angle, perfect moment!

..it's finally time
for the crew to leave.

The little auks, I loved them.

I loved watching them
finally have the courage.

I'm definitely going to miss
this place. It's very special.

I feel really quite attached
to the fledglings.

When we've been watching them go,

I can't help but wonder
how scary it must be

to go from your safe little nest
to the wide open ocean.

Tonight is quite a good example
of Svalbard's famous fogs,

So it's kind of nature's way
of telling you to leave,

and that's obviously
what the little auks are doing.

And us, too!