Original subtitles

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Every year, the frozen waters of Hudson Bay

open up for just a few months...

Unlocking a seasonal bounty...

That lures in ghostly forms who come to feed...

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As winter releases its frozen grip,

the surrounding land transforms...

Into a vast wetland teeming with life.

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Thousands converge here to reap the summer's abundance...

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While the very survival of others is under threat.

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It's a world that ebbs and flows with

the ancient rhythm of the seasons...

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A rhythm now in distress,

in the face of unprecedented climate change.

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This is the story of feast and famine

along the western shore of Hudson Bay.

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Mighty Hudson Bay cuts through the Canadian North,

extending the Arctic's icy reach deep into the continent.

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Nowhere else on the planet does the

polar sea ice extend this far south of the Arctic Circle.

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The southern shore of Hudson Bay is on

the same latitude as London,

though the average temperature is a full

thirty degrees Fahrenheit colder

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Hudson Bay is frozen over from December to June.

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Winter temperatures can plummet to a bone-chilling

negative forty, making it one of the

coldest places in the Americas.

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The long deep freeze allows polar bears to hunt on the

vast expanse of ice for months,

roaming further south than anywhere else on earth.

For most of the year they're hunting seals,

their favorite food.

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But now, it's July.

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The Arctic summer is finally here...

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The temperature rises dramatically,

m an average low of negative xteen degrees Fahrenheit

in January, to a high of

plus 53 in July.

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Huge chunks of sea ice wash ashore,

and shrink away in the summer sun.

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With the summer thaw, Hudson Bay's

distinctive shoreline emerges.

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This is the estuary of the Churchill River,

which flows 1,000 miles

om its headwaters in central Saskatchewan.

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The shoreline comes to life with the summer thaw.

Creatures from as far away as Antarctica make an

annual pilgrimage to take advantage of the brief,

but bountiful, warm season.

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Each July, strange voices

to ring through the water.

(squeals)

At first, they're scattered...

Echoing through the depths.

(squeals)

But then...they become louder and louder.

(squeals)

Calling back and forth...

in a complex song.

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The beluga whales of Hudson Bay

return to their summer home.

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(clicks, chrips, squeaks)

(clicks, chrips, squeaks)

The Inuit call them Qilalugaq...

White whale.

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Their skin is so starkly white...

it seems almost incandescent

in the dark water.

(chirps)

In the spring, the belugas leave their winter homes in

Hudson Strait and the Atlantic Ocean and

begin heading southwest -

many of them swimming almost 1,000 miles

to the shores of Western Hudson Bay.

(clicks and chirps)

Over the coming weeks around 57,000 belugas

will congregate here,

over a quarter of the total estimated population,

and the largest single gathering of belugas

anywhere in the world.

They come seeking warmer water and

rich feeding grounds.

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Like all whales,

belugas communicate with each other through sound.

By blowing air through nasal sacs near their blowhole,

belugas create squeaks...

Clicks...

And whistles.

(beluga sounds)

hey produce such a diversity f sounds that their songs

have earned them the nickname "canaries of the sea."

The bulb on the beluga's head

focuses sound waves into a beam,

which bounces off objects all around the whale.

Sound moves faster and further in water than in air,

and belugas can sense the size and shape

of objects up to 30 miles away.

Up close, a sonic survey quickly distinguishes

friend from foe.

Belugas have been migrating here for thousands of years,

but now their summer home in Hudson Bay is changing.

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Global warming means less ice,

increasing the human reach of shipping and industry.

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This deafening new presence poses a real threat to a

species that relies on sound for navigation,

to find food and to detect predators.

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As it becomes more difficult for them to communicate,

the future of these whales is uncertain.

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Above the water, things are changing too.

Summers are lasting longer.

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These harbor seals have spent the entire winter here.

They enjoy an afternoon nap

in the warming rays of the sun.

While very agile swimmers, they're cumbersome on land...

Always on the lookout for polar bears.

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The thaw comes as a relief after a long winter on the ice,

where the seals are at a distinct disadvantage to

the bears that hunt them relentlessly.

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Harbor seals pretty much keep to themselves

all winter long.

But for a few weeks each summer,

these introverts become more tolerant of one another.

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In a few days mating season will begin.

These two males are waiting for the females

to come into estrus.

Their play is a form of competition.

They can swim up to 12 miles per hour.

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Companions for now, competitors in a few days,

they head out together into the estuary to

gorge themselves on a rich dinner of fish.

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Life in the Churchill River estuary

is governed by the tides.

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Twice a day, as the water recedes,

this landscape dramatically transforms.

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The water drops as much as sixteen feet at low tide,

and the shores of the estuary lie exposed.

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With the ice finally gone, and the tide at low ebb,

an enormous summer buffet awaits.

(clicks, chirping)

Sandhill cranes return to Western Hudson Bay

after wintering in the American South and Mexico.

They take advantage of the shallow water.

For much of the year,

cranes enjoy a mostly vegetarian diet,

eating plants and grains --

but summer is their season of indulgence.

They become voracious carnivores dining on

invertebrates and small amphibians...

Like the wood frog.

Sandhill cranes are not the only summer residents

of the lively estuary.

Exposed mudflats are also crucial to

many species of shorebirds.

(chirps)

This greater yellowlegs is built for water,

so a tree landing is a clumsy enterprise.

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The bird migrated with thousands of others,

over 2,500 miles from South America,

to share in the rich bounty the Arctic offers every summer.

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It's a long trip to make for a diet of worms,

snails and small crustaceans.

But it's worth it.

The yellowlegs finds its food by feeling,

with its long probing beak.

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This summer resident on the other hand,

finds its food by sight.

The semi-palmated plover's ability to sense motion is

up to three times more powerful than that of a

human with 20/20 vision.

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The ebb and flow of the tides provide an

ever-changing food source for the 250 species of birds

that call the Churchill River estuary

their summer home.

A rhythm governed by forces far beyond the shores

of Hudson Bay.

The spin of the Earth holds water to its surface...

But the gravitational tug of the moon

pulls the ocean's water toward it.

The bulge of high tide tracks the moon

as it passes overhead, circling the globe.

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And now, the water is once again on the rise.

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Here, in the shallow, warmer water,

protected from the perils of the open ocean,

the beluga whales raise their young.

The calves were born just over a month ago.

They were just about five feet long at birth,

and will reach up to thirteen feet as adults.

(chirps)

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Their brownish grey will turn snowy white

ound five or six years of age.

(chirps)

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The mothers have help taking care of their calves.

A community of sisters, cousins,

aunts, and grandmothers offer support.

Many of the females start producing milk when another

female's new baby is born,

even if they themselves have no infant.

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They form kindergarten groups,

with 10 to 15 young calves playing and socializing

under the care of a few watchful adults.

(chirping)

And...they all talk non-stop.

(beluga sounds)

Their system of communication is complex.

Hinting at a level of intelligence

we are only beginning to understand.

But they're not born with this ability to chirp,

squeak and whistle.

(chirps, squeaks)

Just as human babies aren't born knowing how to speak,

belugas can only make barely audible sounds

soon after birth.

They must learn the repertoire of sounds

from their elders.

The Churchill River estuary is a summer school

for these young whales.

(squeaks, whistles)

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As the water reverberates with the chatter of belugas,

the sky also fills with sound.

(squawking)

Thousands of snow geese arrive from their wintering

grounds in the southern United States

to feed and breed.

(honking)

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Geese form strong family units.

Last year's parents and chicks have spent the winter

together, and flown back here together.

Now, the families break up and the

yearlings separate to start out on their own.

The parents will breed again this summer,

while the yearlings must wait another year or two to

reach sexual maturity.

But for all the geese, old and young,

eating is top priority.

Their sharp beaks are ideally suited to shear off

plants, or to rip entire stems from the ground.

Snow geese are impressive travelers not only by air...

But also by land!

The geese nest together by the thousands,

a strength in numbers which keeps their eggs

safe from predators.

But the tradeoff is that food is often scarce.

So after the chicks hatch, they disperse with their

parents, looking for places where there's more to eat...

Sometimes up to fifty miles away from the nest.

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Even though young snow geese can't yet fly,

they can outrun many predators --

an incredible ability for an aquatic species

more famous for waddling than walking.

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Like the snow geese,

tundra swans also me to the estuary to breed,

and to teach their young the basics.

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There's a first time for everything.

(chirping)

The young swan only hatched 48 hours ago,

but its first and most important lesson

has already begun.

It needs to learn to swim.

The water is daunting.

This baby swan has never swum before.

Instinctively the parents know that the

summer will soon be over,

and their young have a steep learning curve

if they want to survive the long and

dangerous migration south.

(chirping)

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The father coaxes the hatchling to come in.

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(chirping)

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The cygnet still doesn't seem convinced...

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But the second it hits the water, instinct kicks in.

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Now the whole family -- parents and three chicks --

go on their first excursion.

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But here, on the water,

danger always lurks from above.

The ever-present gulls keep an eye on the young swans.

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(squawks)

They are still light enough to be carried away,

making for a perfect meal.

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But the swan family stay close together and

keep their young safe.

The gulls must move on to search for an easier target.

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(loon calls)

The haunting cries of Pacific loons

carry across the estuary.

The birds spend most of the year on North America's

west coast, from as far north as Alaska

o Baja Mexico in the south.

They migrate to Western Hudson Bay for three months

in the summer to breed.

Pacific loons are excellent divers,

propelling themselves with their strong legs and

steering with their wings.

Most loon species are solitary and territorial,

with each mating pair dominating

huge areas of water.

Pacific loons are more social than other loons,

sharing space and sometimes even fishing grounds.

These loons are the estuary's

most accomplished fishers.

By summer's end, each adult loon consumes up to

250 pounds, or twenty times its weight.

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And the biggest catch of the summer is about to arrive --

not just for the loons, but also for belugas,

seals and other water residents of the estuary.

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Capelin arrive in vast schools...

tens of thousands swimming together.

They typically prefer cold, deep water on the high seas

of Hudson Bay... But now,

ey migrate into the shallow,

warmer waters of the estuary to lay their eggs.

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And for these capelin,

these beaches are a treacherous run to reach.

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Pods of belugas descend on the tasty little fish.

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(clicks, chirps, whistles)

Working together, the whales

herd the capelin into shallow water.

Then, they attack.

(clicks, chirps)

The belugas feed in a series of jerky head movements,

taking in as many capelin as possible

in their short, small jaws.

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The panicked capelin stay as close as possible to the

rocky bottom to avoid the whale's deadly attack.

They're small, less than eight inches long.

But these bite-sized fish provide beluga whales with

vitamins and nutrients in their fatty flesh.

(clicks, chirps)

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Young belugas join their mothers on the hunt,

watching and learning.

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This youngster still relies on its mother's milk for food.

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Like human babies,

beluga calves don't have teeth...

It will take over a year before they grow in.

Only then the young whales can join in the capelin hunt.

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The feeding continues for days,

as over 50,000 belugas gorge on the clouds of capelin

pouring into the estuary.

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While the whales feast, polar bears watch from the

shoreline, with almost nothing at all to eat.

Polar bears are the world's largest land carnivores.

More than a thousand of them thrive here

on the western shores of Hudson Bay,

the most southern extent of the species' range.

Polar bears feed mainly on seals.

In the winter, they hunt them out on the ice.

In the summer, when the ice is gone,

the seals are faster swimmers and

harder to catch.

So the end of winter means one thing...

Hunger...

And sleep.

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The bears wile away the hours and...

Contend with millions of blackflies.

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It's a tough time of year for the bears,

and in the face of climate change

it's only getting tougher.

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More ice-free days mean a longer period with little food,

which poses a clear threat to their survival.

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Throughout the Arctic, polar bears are

solitary predators, hunting alone and

keeping their distance from other bears.

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It's only here, on the shores of Western Hudson Bay

that the bears come together every summer.

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Some of these bears might not have seen another of

their kind for the entire year.

Still, they recognize each other,

as polar bears have exceptionally good memory.

And some males create strong,

lasting bonds.

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A mother and her cub give the males a wide berth...

Cannibalism is common among polar bears.

Male bears can prey on cubs.

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This mother takes no chances.

Staying downwind she sniffs the air...

trying to read the mood they are in.

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But the males pay her no mind...

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Polar bears are famous for being fierce predators,

but they also have a playful side.

These two males don't seem very fearsome now.

The cool water offers welcome relief

from the hot summer sun.

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While polar bears throughout the Arctic must now endure

longer summers, those that live in Hudson Bay

are already accustomed to long periods

stranded on land with little food.

This has been their way of life for generations.

The bears in Western Hudson Bay are currently unable to

hunt seals for about 150 days each summer.

If that threshold is pushed by just thirty more days,

up to fifty percent of young bears

could die of starvation.

Their ice-free diet is a steady routine of grass,

seaweed, bird eggs...

And geese.

But this varied summer menu is no nutritional match

for one good, fatty seal.

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till, polar bears can devastate entire goose colonies...

so the adult geese are watchful.

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The adults are aggressive, and would not hesitate to

attack the bear if it came too close.

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The polar bear weighs the investment of its energy

against the return of a small goose...

and this time, makes no pursuit.

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Longer, hotter summers are hard on the bears,

but good for the geese.

A longer growing season means more food.

And after the geese move on,

they leave behind a much-needed addition

l over the estuary's shores.

Animal feces are one of the few sources of nutrients and

minerals in the poor, boggy soil of the tundra

known as muskeg.

Muskeg covers most of the Hudson Bay lowlands.

Its acidic soil is made up mostly of waterlogged peat

and sphagnum mosses.

uch a huge expanse of peat,

over 125,000 sq miles,

occurs nowhere else in North America.

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Arctic arnica... moss campion...

And Labrador tea...

all call the boglands home.

Although the common butterwort might look dainty...

it's anything but.

The soil it's growing in is so poor in nitrogen it has

devised its own strategy to supplement its diet.

It has turned carnivorous.

Its bright yellow-green leaves exude a sticky fluid,

which attracts unsuspecting insects.

Once an insect gets trapped,

enzymes digest the prey... alive.

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Across the stony tundra Lapland rosebay forms a

lush blanket of pink...

stretching to the horizon.

This plant is as rugged as it is beautiful.

It's so well adjusted to these harsh lands,

it cannot grow in warmer climates.

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Western Hudson Bay is also home to the most

dainty of flower families...

the orchids.

The round-leaved orchid is an unusual

representative of its kind...

It's tough as nails...

able to withstand the frigid Arctic winds.

It thrives in moist and mossy areas

in the sphagnum bogs.

Its cousin... the northern lady slipper

prefers it sandy...

and tends to grow on exposed gravel ridges.

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But whether the bed is sandy,

gravely, salty or rocky...

underneath...there's peat.

Once thought to be a barren wasteland,

it's now understood that these peatlands

are crucial to life on earth.

They help regulate our climate.

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When a wetland drains, carbon stored in the soil

converts to carbon dioxide.

There's as much potential carbon dioxide held in the

world's wetlands as in the atmosphere.

The peatland ecosystem is the most efficient

carbon sink on the planet.

Wetland protection is vital, to slow global warming.

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nd there is yet another crucial function muskeg performs.

It also filters toxic chemicals from water systems.

The Hudson Bay watershed is

the second largest in North America.

The lakes and rivers covering almost

one and a half million square miles

drain into Hudson Bay,

from as far west as the Rocky Mountains.

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This land contains most of Canada's

agricultural industries.

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Anything dumped into the water including runoff from

cities, pesticides from farms and

overfertilized fields

eventually ends up in Hudson Bay.

Muskeg filters out these poisons.

But this fragile environment is under threat.

Vast summer algal blooms threaten to choke out

all other plant life in the waters that flow into

Hudson Bay, disrupting the muskeg's delicate balance.

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The survival of animal life in the estuary depends on

the survival of these lowlands.

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On the edge of the bog,

a colony of Arctic terns have built their nests.

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These are the world's greatest long distance flyers.

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They make an astonishing journey on a flight path

of over 22,000 miles...

from the Arctic to the Antarctic...

And back again... within a single year.

No other species on earth travels as far.

These birds see two summers per year and more daylight

than any other creature on the planet.

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The Hudson Bay lowlands are a crucial stop on their

annual, globetrotting flight.

It's where they raise their young.

(chirping)

The female lays one to three eggs.

They seem dangerously exposed to predators

on the open ground...

but they are perfectly camouflaged.

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Arctic terns are caring parents...

And both incubate the eggs.

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Three or four weeks later, the chicks hatch.

(chirping)

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The parents continue to keep them safe and warm...

(squawks)

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But within a few days, the young venture off

on their own and explore their surroundings.

They usually try to stick close to large rocks,

where they can hide more easily...

though this one has other ideas.

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The chicks seem to be all alone...

But looks are deceiving.

Even though they are helpless and flightless

on the ground...

a tern colony is actually the safest place

for any chick to be.

Arctic terns are extremely defensive of their territory.

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They gang up on any intruder that

dares to venture close to their young.

Even one of the world's most dangerous predators

doesn't scare the fearless birds.

They might be too small to cause serious injury,

but diving down at high velocity they can draw blood

and send any predator packing by the sheer

determination of their assault.

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The short summer will soon be over...

and the terns will once again make

their long journey south.

The shores of Western Hudson Bay will fall silent again.

The swan family is also getting ready to migrate south.

The days when the young cygnets were

scared of the water seem long forgotten.

The tides maintain a steady rhythm.

The capelin have long since departed...

's like they were never here.

But their millions of eggs deposited along the

gravely beaches of the estuary,

evidence of their presence.

The larvae will hatch at the end of the summer...

And wash away with the tides...

into deeper waters of Hudson Bay

and beyond to the Atlantic.

Next year, these young capelin will feed thousands

of beluga whales, now readying for their

920 mile journey back to the open sea.

And the cycle continues.

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Soon Hudson Bay will begin to freeze over and

become uninhabitable for the whales.

It's time for them to go.

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Soon it will be time for the polar bears to go, too.

The Bay will freeze over, and their winter hunting

on the ice will begin --

a rhythm that has continued for generations.

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The creatures of Hudson Bay face new,

dramatic changes caused by human impact

on this once-remote world.

Theirs is an enduring connection,

bound by the fragile balance of the seasons,

to the estuaries of Hudson Bay.

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