All language subtitles for The.Polar.Sea.S01E08.720p.WEB.x264-CRiMSON Eng

NARRATOR: Last time
on The Polar Sea...

Richard Tegner
has hitched a ride

on the Russian cruise ship

Akademik Ioffe
to Cambridge Bay

in the middle of
the Northwest Passage.

This is the crossroads
of the Arctic

where strangers meet.

Here, Inuit elders
still cross paths

with the ancient race
their ancestors displaced.

And here the stone age ways
of the Inuit

are crossed with the space age

to create a new hybrid culture
of the global village.

As the Ioffe steams away,

Richard finds himself
alone again

in a surreal landscape.

RICHARD TEGNER:
Little scary...

(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)

(WIND WOOSHING)

TEGNER: I must admit
I am a bit,

how do you say, nervous.

I'm expecting a Catamaran
from Switzerland

coming here
to Cambridge Bay.

Hopefully they can
take me along,

going westward
all the way to Dutch Harbor.

But first of all

I have to meet the crew
and the captain

and talk things over,

because I don't know them
I don't know the water,

the weather and the boat.

So everything
is unknown to me.

A little nervous, but it seems
to be a very good boat

and lots of space,

but we'll see.

(WIND WOOSHING)

NARRATOR: More than 30 yachts

attempted the
Northwest Passage this summer.

A few broke down.

A few had to be rescued.
(STEAMER HONKS)

Several turned back or gave up

and beached their boats
in Arctic villages.

As the season closes,

a few boats are still
racing through the passage.

The Austrian boat
Belle Epoque.

The Canadian yacht
Traversay III.

The American ship Empiricus.

And, from Switzerland,
Libellule,

the Catamaran that
Richard Tegner has contacted

and hopes to hitch a ride on.

Aboard Libellule,

the family of Philipp Cottier
have come to summer's end.

Marielle will depart from here
to bring her daughters Anissa,

Line and Naima back to school.

(COTTIER SPEAKS GERMAN)

(SPEAKING GERMAN)

NARRATOR: As he waits
for a ride,

the hitchhiker Richard Tegner

explores the tundra
around Cambridge Bay.

TEGNER: In this environment,

you have a lot of time
to think

and reflect over
what you have done

and what you're doing

and how you behave
to other people.

You never have time
in daily life to really

deeply reflect on

who you are
and why you're doing things.

You just do it
and you're all stressed up

with your work
and daily routines.

This silence also
in this fantastic landscape

it sort of gives you peace

to enjoy your own thoughts.

NARRATOR:
His distant companions

are the rare
and unique musk ox.

They are the great survivors
of the Arctic.

Two hundred thousand
years ago

they grazed alongside
woolly mammoths.

The mammoths died out
before the last ice age.

Musk ox remained
in the central Canadian Arctic

and survived the ice age.

But they might not survive
the warm age.

Cambridge Bay
is on Victoria Island,

in the most southerly part
of the Northwest Passage.

Here, the warm wave spreading
over the Arctic is visible.

In the last 30 years

green plants have moved
500 kilometers north.

On Victoria Island,

greenery has been increasing
by 10% every decade.

That should be good
for ruminants,

like musk ox, but it's not.

SUSAN KUTZ:
Local observations are saying

there are fewer musk ox
in and around

and there have been reports
of dead musk ox in midsummer.

The fact that

the population around
Cambridge Bay

at least seems to have
declined quite substantially

is a major issue
for this community.

NARRATOR: Susan Kutz
is a veterinarian.

She and a team of researchers
are in Cambridge Bay

to learn why a third
of all musk ox have died

in the last few years.

KUTZ: We're investigating

what is it that's causing
muskoxen to die
on the island.

(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)

NARRATOR: The suspect
is a microscopic worm

that lives in the grass and
attacks the animal's lungs.

KUTZ: In 2008
we found the lung worm,

Umingmakstrongylus
pallikuukensis

the first worm ever named
in Inuinnaqtun.

We can count 100, 200,
up to 800 cysts

of worms in their lungs.

And we know
in an individual animal

that has a really big impact
on them.

It is a major energy drain,

takes up a whole lot of their
lung capacity.

It's going to make them
the ones

that are most susceptible
to predation,

so if there's bears
and wolves around

those guys with the
heavy infections

are the ones that will end up
getting eaten.

Previously, we didn't think

the lung worm could survive
up here

because of the
climatic conditions.

The temperatures just weren't
adequate on Victoria Island

for it to establish,

but given the
climate change scenarios

it seemed that, yes,
it could establish up here.

Muskoxen, particularly
on the Arctic islands,

are very important
to the local people

for a number of reasons.

First and foremost they're
a part of their culture.

Going out musk ox hunting,

caribou hunting is part
of the Inuit culture.

They've depended
on these animals

for thousands of years

and having access to those
for food,

for cultural activities

is really, really important.

(HELICOPTER WHIRRING)

NARRATOR: The researchers
work with village elders

to survey musk ox

and estimate how many can be
sustainably hunted.

The results
are not encouraging.

Guys, can you just make sure
that you look in the window

and count them?

LISA-MARIE LECLERC:
We basically just at the
start of the survey

and we cannot make
any prediction.

It's really hard to,

to see how it's going to go,

but the hunter have
a hard time

to find the musk ox
around Cambridge Bay.

They have to go
farther and farther inland.

So, of course they might
just have moved north

or the population
might have depleted.

So that's what we're here for,
to answer all these questions.

Right now we didn't see
any musk ox

and we are about
three quarters of the way.

We're at 70 degree north.

LECLERC: There used to be
musk ox around Cambridge Bay,

but now they don't see
many anymore

so by knowing
a little bit more

of where they are now,

we could work
with the community

to try to bring them back,

if possible, to change
maybe our action or behavior,

to actually have musk ox again
around Cambridge Bay.

NARRATOR: She's part
of a new generation
of young scientists

drawn to the warming north,

intrigued by its changes
and compelled by its beauty.

LECLERC: My first
time in the north
was a very exclusive

and bonding experience

and after my first week

um, there was a, I wouldn't...

I needed to be

above the Arctic circle.

The serenity, the whiteness,

the challenge,
the environment,

it was very special to me,

and I think I find my home.

I've been working
in the north since 1988.

I guess,
I fell in love with it

the first time I came north.

KUTZ: Canada's
incredibly lucky

to have this
spectacular landscape up here.

The landscape, the people,
the animals, the freedom,

it's gorgeous,

and what else can I say?
(LAUGHS)

TEGNER: I think the Arctic
gets under your skin.

It pours into you

and you get all
overwhelmed by it.

Many people look at this
as an uncomfortable trip.

And most people don't like
to be uncomfortable.

But...

Maybe a few of my friends

would like to do it, but...

Actually, quite few I think.

The most frightening
moment was

when I had to decide

whether I should enter
the Libellule.

What do they expect of me?

I don't know them,
they don't know me.

And anything could happen.

Hey, Richard!
Hello!

Hello. Hello.
(LAUGHS)

Long time no see!
Yes.

Have you had
a rough sail here?

PHILIPP COTTIER:
The last few days
were okay,

but the ice before
was very tough.

Much tougher
than we expected.

I felt so sorry for you.
I watched you from the deck.

You were stuck at the ice edge
outside Bellot Strait.

Oh, yeah, you saw us?
TEGNER: Yes.

You were
on the Akademik Ioffe.

Yes, of course.
Yes!

It's funny how pieces connect,
you know,

our engine breaking down

and you coming up here
a little bit late.

What about your two friends?

Well, I haven't
spoke to them, actually.

I've heard from second source

and I've tried to get
in main contact,

but the engine
broke down totally.

COTTIER: So how was
the cruise ship, it must
have been incredible.

Yes, that was
quite some contrast.

To a damp small

boat with grumpy old men
and joining this cruise ship.

MARIELLE DONZE:
But I hope you enjoy
the warm you know in the,

on this boat,
because on our boat...

You will be freezing.
Yes.

I hope you have
lots of clothes.

TEGNER: I couldn't know
how it would be

so I was a bit

hesitating whether I would
jump on this or not,

because, you know, obviously

wealthy people can afford
to have a crew

and a wonderful boat
like this.

That's also contrast
from the little DAX.

(COTTIER SPEAKING GERMAN)

NARRATOR: Philipp
and professional sailors,
Yves and Sylvan

will be joined by Philipp's
uncle Michael

who has flown here
to meet them.

They hope to set a new record
for the Northwest Passage.

(COTTIER SPEAKING GERMAN)

(LAUGHS)

(SPEAKS GERMAN)

(COTTIER SPEAKING GERMAN)

NARRATOR 2 (FROM FOOTAGE):
The Eskimo is a nomad hunter.

Constantly on the move
in search of food.

Food for himself, his family,
and his dogs.

Without dogs,
he could not travel

and to the extent that
he must travel to find food,

his life depends
on his dog team.

As young pups,
they lead a carefree life

playing with each other
or with the children.

NARRATOR: Hunting
is still required
for survival here.

Some hunters
still use dog teams.

But, now, as climate change
kills off animals,

hunting is getting harder.

(SEAGULLS CALLING)

As goes the hunting,
so go the sled dogs.

(ENGINE WHIRRING)

KUTZ: One of the only ways
to control dogs

has been to go and shoot them.

If there are too many dogs
there has been no other option

so they've had to be shot.

People in the community
don't like that.

You know, they hate to see
that happening.

Is it good?

(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)

KUTZ:
We are doing vet clinics.
This is the first time

this town has had vets here
for the last...

Since about three years ago.

Been incredibly busy.

There are a lot of dogs here.
And we're having a great time.

KUTZ: Okay, let's just bring
Betsy in first,

leave Bella outside.

(DOG YELPS)

Where do you want her?
Okay.

How are you this morning?

KUTZ: Most of what
we're doing here
is spays and neuters.

We really want to help
these animals out

help the town out by reducing
the population of animals

so 95% of what we do is that.

# Amazing grace

# How sweet the sound #

(VOCALIZING)

Just a little more.

Definitely down. (CHUCKLES)

KUTZ: I think a lot of these
communities are in transition.

Dogs used to be
working animals.

They pulled sleds.
They packed food.

They were part
of everyday life.

And they were essential
for everyday life.

I think what
we're seeing now

is dogs are becoming
more pets.

People are bonding with them
a little bit more.

You're okay.

We don't let them
sleep outside,

we just leave them in.

They're really good pets.
They're nice to have

and they're really friendly.

AUDREY REMEDIOS:
Before we came here people
had not access

to veterinary health care.

So animals
would not be sterilized,

would not be spayed
or neutered.

They wouldn't be vaccinated.

So there would be
a lot more disease

that would be rampant
in the community.

She likes her food
she likes to eat.
Doesn't she?

She loves it.

(LAUGHS)

WOMAN: She's my queen.

# Ah, for just one time

# I would take
the Northwest Passage

# To find the hand
of Franklin

# Reaching
for the Beaufort Sea

# Tracing one warm line

# Through a land
so wide and savage

# And make
the Northwest Passage
to the sea #

(AIRPLANE FLYING OVERHEAD)

COTTIER: The plan is to start
in Cambridge Bay, obviously

then head through these quite
narrow straits or coves

which are very shallow

so we'll have to be prudent
with rocks and all that.

Coronation Cove, Dolphin Cove,
Amundsen Cove

are very famous.

We need the electronic charts
quite a bit

and hard copy charts.

And then we'll reach
Cape Bathurst

where there's a lot of ice
as you probably saw

on the ice charts.

So we'll have to be careful,
see how we get through there.

Might have to hang out
a couple of days here

to wait for some eastwardly
winds to push it away.

And then we'll hopefully stop
over in Tuktoyaktuk.

After that it's going
to be a very long
and boring stretch,

five to seven days
of quite rough sailing

along the Alaskan coast
and around Barrow.

We'll do that in one stretch
as quickly as possible

to get out of the waves
and winds

and especially the sea ice

which is expected to be
quite early this year again.

How far is this stretch

from Tuktoyaktuk
to Point Barrow?

It's like 700 miles.

Hmm. Okay.

So it's quite long,
day and night sailing.

TEGNER: Yes.

At least five days...
Mmm.

...depending on wind.

I'm more than happy
if I can get along

and to get to Nome
or Tuktoyaktuk or even
Dutch Harbor that's

far beyond my expectations
to do it this way.

So I am really happy that

we have established contact.

(SEAGULLS CALLING)

Since you picked me up here,

I might want to know what your
expectations are for me

on board
this wonderful vessel.

Yeah, washing the toilets
every morning, no, no, no.

Okay, I do that.
What else?

We five,
we'll share all the work

so everyone is equal.

This means,

cooking, cleaning,
the usual shifts.

The unfortunate new news
is that

the autopilot doesn't work
very well in these waters.

The reason being that

the magnetic North Pole
is quite close.

And so the compass needle
just goes crazy.

So some directions
work quite well

so you can use the autopilot,

but a lot of the time
we have to steer manually.

Yes, and we have
the GPS system on board.

Everything on the screen,
we have everything here,

we have all the ropes,
the sheets, the whole yards,

everything, so it's quite
convenient, but it's work.

In these temperatures.
Mmm.

Very often in my life
I have been
avoiding situations

because I've been afraid
and I said "No, I won't do.

"I will go, I will go on.

"It will be fine. I will..."

It will be good thing,
I think.

(STAN ROGERS
NORTHWEST PASSAGE PLAYING)

It's a nice cabin,
isn't it?

I have a sky light

and I have a...

If you come closer here
I have an ex...

Exit.

You see, I can

jump in the water
whenever I want to.

The toilet and shower.

There is a heater inside here
so I could put on the heater

to dry the gear.

That got wet.

Here we have
the food store.

French delicacy,

Cassoulet Au Canard.

Yes, duck.

TEGNER: So,
this is my first day

on the Catamaran Libellule.

I feel really comfortable

and I hope the feeling

will continue.

So, first day very good.

(BOAT CREAKING)

NARRATOR: They're
heading west, along the
coast of the Yukon.

TEGNER: Well, here we are
heading for Herschel Island.

NARRATOR: They are
sailing in waters
that were first explored

by the whalers
of the 19th century.

They were the most intrepid
of Arctic sailors.

They pushed fearlessly
into unknown regions

exploiting a resource boom
in bowhead whales.

The bowheads were hunted
for their plastic-like baleen

and for their oil.

In the last 50 years
of whaling, 18,000 died.

They might have disappeared,

but for the discovery
of fossil fuels,

which made
the industry obsolete.

Herschel Island was the hub
of the whale trade.

At its peak,
1,000 whalers wintered here.

RICHARD GORDON:
I like that saying,
"Waves upon a shore",

where a wave comes in
with a new story

and goes back and leaves
a history.

In the 1890's

the American whalers
came into the area

and that played
a real big change

in the Inuvialuit
lifestyle here.

They had to adapt to the
needs of the European people

and they learned their ways

and forgot who they were
as aboriginal people.

So, Herschel Island
holds all that.

NARRATOR: Richard Gordon
is Inuvialuit,

the Inuit of the
western Canadian Arctic.

GORDON: Growing up myself,
I didn't really pay attention

to who I was as an Inuvialuit.

What opened me up
was when I made the trip

to Herschel Island traveling
with the elders.

To hear those stories

it opened me up to say
that I am Inuvialuit

and I should be proud
to be a Inuvialuit because

it was our elders,

and their parents before them,
and their great grandparents

that fought to protect
the land as best they can.

GORDON: It's not just
about protecting

an island
or anything like that.

It's protecting the value
of who we are as human beings

and our responsibility
that we have.

No matter where we are
in the circle Polar region.

If you look behind,
you can see that history.

You have wind breakers
where our elders

and them were raised
in these kind of protection.

And then when the whalers
and traders came

you got houses
that you have to live in.

And now you have tent here
representing researchers.

TEGNER: Herschel Island
consists mainly

of loose material
like sand

and it has risen above
the general level

due to thawing and freezing.

Building up a structure.

And you could see
visible signs

that the permafrost is not
so consistent any longer.

There was big signs of
erosion along the shore.

Very clear signs of
climate change.

Definitely.

NARRATOR: Hugues Lantuit
has spent a decade

studying the thawing
permafrost on Herschel Island.

(HUGUES LANTUIT SPEAKING)

NARRATOR: His team is studying
complex dynamics

that are gaining momentum.

Each year they must dig deeper
to find ice underground.

Each year
the vegetation spreads.

ISLA MYERS-SMITH:
So out here
we are looking at

how the plants are responding
to climate change.

One of the cool things
about this area

is there is
a long human history.

You've got these graves here

and they've been here
for almost 100 years.

There's also photographs
of the graves

so it gives us
this really unique opportunity

to come back
and take the same photographs

and look at the plants growing

in these photographs and see
if things have changed.

MYERS-SMITH: We got that
one guy over there,

and we want to go as far
as the one with a cross on it.

So there's
a bunch of things going on.

One of the things is that

growing seasons
are getting longer.

So that means that the plants

have a lot more chance
to grow.

Fifty-four.

Fifty-eight.

You also have a deepening
of the active layer.

The part of the soil that
is unfrozen in the summertime.

When that gets deeper

the different plants can grow
their roots deeper

and access
different nutrient pools

and so potentially grow more.

Okay, one last one here.

That's good, got it!

(INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTERING)

How far are we?
LANTUIT: We got
another 20 minutes.

NARRATOR: Each year,
they find more
carbon rich sediment

from the island
when they dredge off shore.

BORIS RADOSAVLEVIC:
We're trying to answer

where the carbon
and the sediment is moving

and where it is
going ultimately

once it's eroded
from the coast.

The sediment is there

and it had to come
from somewhere

and the most obvious place
is here because we see

eroding cliffs
and falling permafrost

and huge
thermalerosion features.

RADOSAVLEVIC: Uh, add
shell fragments to that.

Okay.

NARRATOR: The work is dirty
and uncomfortable,

but the young researchers
are driven by a belief

in its importance
to the world.

RADOSAVLEVIC: I think
I have too many interests.

And so when I was trying
to pick

what I was going to study
in college,

thought well,

I'll study
political science

or something that can
change the world

or maybe I should try
to understand people,

study anthropology.

Our place in the Universe.

Big questions of life.

I took a geology class

and then I realized

that really to understand
the universe,

there is no closer place to go

than our planet.

(FLIES BUZZING)

(LANTUIT SPEAKING)

(LANTUIT CONTINUES SPEAKING)

(LANTUIT CONTINUES SPEAKING)

(LANTUIT CONTINUES SPEAKING)

NARRATOR: Studying
that emerging catastrophe
is dangerous work.

Thawing permafrost
can swallow a person whole.

At the moment
where we are walking on

it's inactive,

but where Hugues walking

this is more or less
very active.

And I would recommend you
not to walk over there

because you have to cross
an active

mud flow and you usually just

hop like a grasshopper
from one piece to another.

STEFANIE WEEGE:
While you're standing
on those grass pieces

it start sinking
into the mud pool

due to your weight.

Got it!

Got it.

(CLICKING PHOTOS)

(MUD SQUELCHES)

(WIND WOOSHING)

We stayed
very shortly there,
(CHAIN ROTATING)

just anchored up
for a couple of hours.

TEGNER: Can you
talk about the experience?

It's a magic place.

(LAUGHS)

MICHAEL: Very good. Yourself?

Very good, very good.

(BIRD CHIRPING)

NARRATOR: The one luxury
Herschel offers scientists

and explorers is its sauna,

the only place
for miles around

where a body can get clean.

(MAN SHUDDERS)

(MAN LAUGHING)

Whoa!

(GRUNTS)

TEGNER: Herschel Island
a pretty place.

COTTIER: So, how was
your swim, Richard?

Just perfect!

TEGNER: We visited
with Libellule

far too short visits.

I would of liked to spend
more time there.

TEGNER: What a great place.

Thank you, Lillebule.

Libellule.

COTTIER: Libellule.
(LAUGHS)

NARRATOR: They set out
in the choppy waters

of the gathering autumn.

They have
3,000 km to sail

and only two weeks

before the sea freezes over
once more.

TEGNER: It's quite cold
on the boat.

And when you wake up
it's just a few degrees.

Ah! No problem, no problem.

I'm doing the diary,
just fine! (CHUCKLES)

So,

Philipp just entered
my cabin here with a bucket

in the case
I would be sea sick.

That's very thoughtful,
but no problem so far.

(MUSIC PLAYING)