Original subtitles

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[Narrator] The Arctic -

a vast, forbidding wilderness.

It seems steadfast and ageless.

But it is fragile,

rapidly changing,

just as we're beginning to unravel its mysteries.

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At the mouth of Canada's longest river,

life flourishes

in a network of channels and islands.

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Creatures flock to the light

in a seasonal blaze of sunshine.

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As spring arrives,

the frozen tundra yields to lush meadows,

where prehistoric creatures graze.

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In winter, only the toughest remain.

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But times are changing.

Temperatures are rising.

And habitats are crumbling.

Life on the delta must adapt or die.

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This is a voyage of discovery through the

changing world of the Mackenzie Delta.

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On the far northwest coast of Canada,

the country's longest river, the Mackenzie,

flows into the frigid Beaufort Sea.

This vast fan of water and neighboring islands

encompass a rich biodiversity.

The Mackenzie Delta is the largest

pristine delta in North America.

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It shifts from the boreal forest circling the Arctic,

beyond the tree line,

to the open tundra.

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Here we find islands that formed in unusual ways.

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The land lies on an immense underbelly of permafrost.

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The waters nurture diverse little creatures

that tell the story of a changing Arctic.

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Summer migration brings home millions of birds...

Fish, and mammals.

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Humans come here, too.

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They gather at a summer meeting place on an

uninhabited speck of land west of the Mackenzie Delta.

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This is Herschel Island.

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Herschel has only existed since the last ice age.

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Thirty thousand years ago,

an edge of the advancing Laurentide Ice Sheet

thrust up sediment to form the island.

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Herschel Island's ecosystem has been created

by extreme swings between the seasons.

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From brutal winter cold,

in the minus 50s,

to the bustling activity of a brief summer,

when temperatures can be tropical.

Wildlife scurries to make the most

of this fleeting opportunity.

The land animal that knows this best

has travelled furthest: the caribou.

Some come from the woods of the Yukon,

through forest, and over mountains,

where the beat of their hooves

over 26,000 years

has worn tracks in the rock.

They're returning to their calving grounds.

A few make an hour's swim to Herschel Island.

A calf can be born and on the move within hours,

keeping pace with the adults.

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The herd's survival depends on calves living

past their first week, when they have a better

chance of outrunning a predator.

The caribou share this land with some of their kin,

reindeer.

This is Canada's only herd.

They were brought from Alaska in the 1930s,

when caribou had dwindled here

and local people faced famine.

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The herd now lives in this region year round,

moving across the tundra,

searching for lichen, leaves, and grasses to eat.

All the while looking out for predators such as

wolves or grizzly bears.

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The preservation of Herschel and its wildlife

are a priority to the local Inuit.

Senior Park Ranger, Richard Gordon,

spends his summer monitoring the island's animals.

>> Qikiqtaryuk is the Inuvialuit name

for Herschel Island,

meaning "our island."

Herschel Island is a territorial park;

means that everyone has the responsibility

to take care of it for future generations.

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>> More than a hundred species of birds from

all over North and South America converge

on Herschel Island.

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These sandhill cranes flew from Mexico -

a three-month journey.

They've navigated by their inner compass,

geographic memory, the sun, and the stars.

They've learned from older members of the flock,

and are driven by an urge to return to their birthplace.

Their arrival begins by aggressively staking out

territory, reclaiming their birthright

on Herschel Island.

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The sandhill are monogamous for life,

forging their bond by singing loudly in unison

and dancing in harmony.

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This pair could be together for twenty years.

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She will lay two or three eggs,

and the chicks will call from inside

before they hatch.

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The parents' devotion persists in their offspring.

The family will stay together for the

next migration back south.

And the one after,

when they fly back to Herschel Island.

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For over 800 years,

the Inuit of the western Arctic

have come to Herschel Island

to hunt caribou and fish for herring and char.

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>> Heavy!

Oh yeah!

Look at all that char!

Look at this one!

Holy! Look!

Oh!

You look at it.

>> Robert Archie has come here every year,

since he was three.

>> Beautiful.

>> It would be a precarious existence if the community

always relied on the bounty of the sea or land.

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Archie's people found a way to preserve a good harvest,

to tide them over when pickings become slim.

Behind this door is an ingenious excavation.

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Below the topsoil is earth that stays frozen solid

through summer: permafrost.

So, to store fish and meat,

the Inuit have carved out a communal fridge.

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The permafrost here is some of the world's deepest.

It reaches 2,300 feet down.

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Only the top two feet of the ground thaw each summer.

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The tension between the surface warmth and the

underlying permafrost has created

fascinating land formations.

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Beautifully symmetric patterns are formed on the

surface by the repeated

freezing and thawing of the soil.

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The most impressive permafrost land formation

can be found a four-hour boat ride east of Herschel,

on Richards Island.

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It can be seen from far away -

a "pingo,"

the Inuit word for this type of hill,

which has a core of ice.

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This pingo is called "Aklisuktuk,"

which means "growing fast."

As far as pingos go, this one's young,

200 years old.

Tall as an apartment building,

rising 100 feet above the tundra...

This pingo was formed when a tundra lake drained.

As the water seeped away, the saturated lakebed

was exposed to icy air and wind.

The earth began freezing and expanding.

With solid permafrost beneath,

the ground buckled and had nowhere to go but up,

creating the pingo.

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A pingo is often the same shape and size as

the body of water from which it grew.

This one became an island

when water flooded back around it.

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Aklisuktuk is a landmark, used by locals

to navigate the channels.

Nearby, around the corner from Richards Island,

is a bay that offers a safe harbor.

Every summer, Kugmallit Bay is the destination of

one of the Arctic's great migrations.

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It's the gathering place of a special ocean mammal.

(whale sounds)

(whale sounds)

Their high-pitched twitter heralds the arrival

of the playful beluga,

one of the smallest whales.

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Every year, over 5,000 are drawn

to these shallow waters to breed.

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Belugas can reach the weight of a small SUV.

Although they usually swim at a shallow depth,

they've been reported to dive deeper than 2600 feet.

They are one of the few whales that can turn their heads,

and swim on their back, all the better to

look up for openings in the ice.

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Unlike most whales, belugas don't have a

stabilizing dorsal fin, which could be damaged

by swimming close under the ice.

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They have a smaller dorsal ridge instead.

And well-distributed blubber to make them

both stable and nimble.

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Belugas are the only whales to shed their skin.

They're probably attracted to Kugmallit Bay because

there the salty Beaufort Sea mixes with the

Mackenzie River's fresh water.

This softer water helps the beluga shed and cleanse

their skin of parasites, as it rub its body

along the gravel riverbed.

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Females and their calves often travel

in separate groups from the males.

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And the mothers swim further from Kugmallit Bay,

at the Delta's outer edge, into the estuary waters,

seeking quiet spots to suckle their young.

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Here, teeming water sculpts the land.

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All of this was once Arctic Ocean.

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Over thousands of years, the surging Mackenzie River

has deposited millions of tonnes of sediment.

It created a massive delta,

with over 25,000 lakes and channels.

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This is the northern edge of North America's boreal forest.

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Larch and spruce trees struggle between the

extremes of summer and winter.

There's a thin layer of topsoil over permafrost,

so their roots are fragile.

Decomposition here takes years,

providing sparse nutrients to the trees.

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The Delta's warm micro-climate allows these trees

to grow further north than anywhere else

in North America.

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The Mackenzie Delta is constantly in flux.

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Lakes and channels transform with the seasons.

When the ice breaks in spring,

water sweeps through, carving fresh paths.

Microbiology holds secrets to the Arctic food web

that scientists seek to uncover.

Few species survive here,

so each holds a crucial role.

If one species dies, the results ripple far.

Insects are key.

Biologists Ryan Scott and Frankie Talarico

from York University

conduct ongoing research in the delta.

>> Okay, so that's a dragonfly larva.

It's a pretty small one.

They get to be a few centimeters long.

This is a dragonfly in the genus Aeshna.

It's a mature larva, so it's fairly close to

hatching, and becoming an adult dragonfly.

>> Dragonflies have been around for millions of years.

They play a vital role in the Arctic food web.

Without them, these meadows might be barren -

no flowers, a lot less vegetation,

fewer mammals, and no birds.

This ecosystem functions like a clock.

But the clock has been thrown off by climate change.

These eider ducks flew here for spring

a few weeks ago from Russia.

Their ducklings have hatched.

So have the dragonfly larvae,

which are ducklings' favorite food,

and contain about twice the protein of steak.

In recent years, spring has arrived

earlier and earlier.

The warming temperatures mean larvae can hatch

before the ducklings.

The ducklings are then born too late

for the nourishment they need.

Many other shore birds depend on this delicate food web,

including these sandpipers.

They feel their way into soil and muddy water

for delicious invertebrates.

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The semipalmated plover has sharp eyes to find

larvae, worms, insects, and molluscs.

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Most of these flew from Texas to breed here.

Both parents incubate the eggs.

A chick can hatch and leave the nest

within hours to feed itself.

But the mother and father keep guard while it rushes

to eat and grow before the long flight south,

escaping winter.

Not all Arctic creatures want to escape.

Behold the wood frog.

No other amphibian lives this far north in North America.

Wood Frogs hibernate by tucking into underbrush

and withstanding temperatures way below freezing.

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The Wood Frog survives the Arctic winter with

two-thirds of its body frozen.

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Its heart stops beating and

it can hold its breath for months.

Its survival depends on a mid-summer bug buffet.

With this diet, the Wood Frog can fatten up

in a few weeks and make it through

eight months of winter hibernation.

It has withstood the test of time.

Here in the Arctic,

evolution selects those who learn

to deal with winter.

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Beyond this solitary tree is tundra,

and a different ecosystem,

built on low-growth vegetation.

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The Mackenzie Delta's maze of lakes and channels

challenges boat pilots.

They can get lost,

snagged on floating logs,

or stuck on a sandbar.

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Gerry Kisoun is on a three-day journey

to Herschel Island, where his family

has hunted for generations.

>> Yeah, no civilization for a few days, here.

We'll try not to get lost.

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>> After a day and a half, Gerry successfully

navigates through the Delta's waters.

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Before tackling the Beaufort Sea,

Gerry pit-stops at a popular Inuit fishing ground,

Shingle Point.

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At this time of year, there's an abundance of

cisco herring and arctic char.

These families want to catch enough fish during

the brief summer to see them through winter.

Char is a big player in the Arctic food web.

Those that come here spend most of their lives

in Yukon rivers.

They come to the ocean in summer to feed on

small fish and crustaceans.

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The char are eaten in turn

by seals, polar bears, and humans.

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Those that survive swim back to Yukon rivers

and spawn, starting the cycle again.

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The role of fish in the food web of this region

has long interested scientists.

Researcher Dana Neumann is looking for signs of

environmental change in these fish.

>> This is an arctic cisco.

What we're doing now, it's an Arctic coastal

ecosystem study.

A part of that is just looking at all the fish

that are here, and we even take invertebrates,

just looking at the food web, and how everything

kind of comes together.

That way you can tell who's eating who,

and how the food web is built.

>> It starts with the char's smallest prey, the mysid.

These tiny crustaceans at the base of the food chain

are first to show signs of a polluted ecosystem.

High levels of mercury have been found in mysids

in the Beaufort Sea.

A remaining question is - how long will the fish

that eat the mysids still be safe to eat?

(Applause, cheering)

(crowd chatter, laughter)

The long summer days are an opportunity for Inuit

from remote villages to come together,

exchange news, tell the latest jokes,

and play games.

(crowd chatter, laughter)

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After an evening with old friends at Shingle Point,

Gerry must head off to Herschel Island

while the weather is good.

Bye. - Bye, Gerry!

(honking) - Bye!

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He faces a two-hour trip across the cold waters

of the Beaufort Sea.

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The Beaufort Sea is frozen most of the year.

But over the last thirty years,

it's been steadily warming,

and there's more open water for longer.

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The sea ice is unpredictable,

forever moving and changing.

Much is new,

but some has persisted for hundreds of years,

moving with the currents of the Beaufort Sea.

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Finally, Gerry arrives at Pauline Cove,

on Herschel Island.

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>> It's a beautiful feeling when you can make it

to Herschel Island.

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Hey! Welcome to Herschel Island... Qikiqtaryuk.

>> Gerry docks by a cluster of old buildings,

remains of the late 1800's,

when whalers came to the Beaufort Sea.

Fifteen ships at a time filled this protected bay.

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Herschel Island's isolation was broken,

and its native culture disrupted.

One whaler reported that the bowheads were

"as thick as bees".

They almost wiped them out.

They killed them to harvest oil for lamps.

And for baleen, the strong,

flexible bristles in the whale's mouth

that filter krill -

used to make women's corsets.

But by the early 1900s, the market for

these products had collapsed.

The Arctic whaling industry ended.

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With stricter regulations since, the bowhead

population in the Beaufort Sea is strong again.

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Today, an indigenous land-claim agreement

has returned Herschel Island to the Inuit.

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In mid-summer, more than 200 species of plants

burst into bloom on Herschel...

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There's cotton grass,

ground shrubs, and wildflowers.

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The humid, maritime climate fosters

a lush growth of fireweed,

camomile,

lousewort,

forget-me-not,

buttercup...

And many others...

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Cotton grass thrives in boggy areas and

by ponds and streams.

It's the most widely-flowering plant

in the northern hemisphere.

The fluffy pod releases seeds carried by the wind.

Inuit use the fibers to insulate clothes and bedding,

and to start fires.

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And caribou love to eat cotton grass.

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Another caribou favorite is the castilleja,

commonly known as Indian Paintbrush,

which is edible for people too

and rich in the mineral selenium.

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The woolly lousewort is named after the hairy stem

that insulates the growing flowers.

They produce a sweet nectar,

sucked from the base of the petals.

The roots taste like young carrots.

Lemmings live and die here with the plants.

When the plants thrive, the lemmings thrive.

And when the plants die, so do the lemmings.

They live in underground colonies

they excavate below the topsoil,

which can extend for acres.

When there's an abundance of food,

they're quick to breed.

This year, the lemmings and plants are flourishing

throughout Herschel Island.

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This proliferation of plants is, however,

a sign of unusual change.

Scientists come from afar to study the vegetation here.

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Dr. Isla Myers-Smith has come from the

University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

These are the gravestones of whalers,

buried over a hundred years ago.

Photographs taken over the years have inadvertently

recorded the steady, increasing growth

of surrounding shrubs.

>> As you can see on this branch here,

they're growing each year, around here that's about

four or five centimeters of growth

just from this summer, so far.

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>> With warming temperatures, the shrubs have expanded

all the way to the edge of the island.

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Here there's more dramatic evidence of climate change.

Erosion.

Herschel Island is crumbling into the sea.

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Exposed permafrost on the island's edges is thawing.

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Temperatures are rising globally, and in the

Arctic it's almost twice as fast.

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The warming climate brings more violent storms.

The lower edges of the cliffs' permafrost are now

exposed to the eroding power of thunderous waves.

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Every day, tonnes of soil slide into the sea.

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Herschel Island is in danger of vanishing.

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The noble peregrine falcon is rendered vulnerable.

It likes to nest on cliffs,

but its habitat here is falling away.

This year, a pair has managed to find a perch on

the cliff face to nest and raise its brood.

But with the cliffs dissolving into the sea,

how many more Peregrine chicks will call Herschel home?

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The scars left by the thawing and sinking earth

are traveling inland,

a harbinger of impending collapse.

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The creature that has witnessed these

profound changes most has been around

since before the last ice age.

It once roamed the Arctic with the saber-toothed cat

and woolly mammoth, but survived the

mass extinctions of 13,000 years ago...

The muskox.

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Muskoxen grazed at the edge of the

great Laurentide Ice Sheet.

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But this is a different landscape and time.

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These two old bulls face a greater challenge to find food.

A warming climate has created a paradox.

The warmth forms a fog that covers the ground and

freezes vegetation for more of the year.

For now, they are content to cool off by the water.

Not far up the bank, other bulls are in rut.

They're ready to mate.

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First, they want to fend off their rivals for the cows.

To do this, they smear their forelegs and

mark their trails with a secretion from

glands by their eyes.

This strongly-scented musk gave the species its name.

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Then the bulls challenge each other to determine

who is dominant.

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This display of strength and virility determines

which the females might choose.

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This bull lost and can only wait until next year -

when he can try again.

This prehistoric species has witnessed

great changes in the region.

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These oil rigs, built in the 70's,

were abandoned in the 80's and 90's,

after limited success and falling oil prices.

But many companies are keen to try again.

The Arctic is said to house 13% of the world's oil,

and 30% of its natural gas.

And in a warmer Arctic,

it could be easier to explore and drill.

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These waters are likely to face another invasion

by those who want to extract the Arctic's hidden resources.

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The Inuit have lived here for almost 1,000 years.

Over the last 150,

they've felt many disruptions in their relationship

with the land,

the animals,

and the sea.

They still keep a deep connection with

Herschel Island and the Mackenzie Delta.

They remain skilled at preparing muktuk,

a traditional food made from aged whale skin

and blubber.

They understand how to survive in the Arctic wilderness,

with extreme changes in seasons,

and know how to read the weather.

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>> We are here today, there's a generation tomorrow.

And a generation after that.

We have to ensure that Herschel Island stays a

safe feeding ground for the arctic char,

the herring, and the belugas.

It holds a lot of history, and this history,

as you walk along this beach, can be washed up

in front of you by the moving waves and the currents.

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>> The Arctic is an often hostile environment.

But it is fragile, too.

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The web of interdependence between species

is finely balanced.

Summer offers a brief opportunity for new life.

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As winter approaches, darkness descends.

Caribou and birds can escape south for warmth.

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Others - such as muskoxen and wood frogs -

must endure the ferocious elements,

and wait for the warming sun to return next spring.

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