All language subtitles for Secrets in the Ice S02E03 Secrets of the Ice Arsenal 1080p WEB h264-KOMPOST_track3_[eng]

[narrator] This program contains
images of mummified remains

that may disturb some viewers.

Viewer discretion is advised.

Shrapnel, buried in the
isolated Aleutian Islands

reveals a wartime secret.

[Cantor] It's riddled with holes
and it's completely rusted out.

Whatever this is,
it's been here a long time.

[narrator] An unassuming shack
on the outer edge of Siberia,

hides a series of mysterious
frozen tunnels.

There has to be a reason why
the Soviets would dig in ground

that's as solid as concrete.

Why would anyone do that?

[narrator] And a scar
in the Arctic permafrost

conceals evidence of one of
the earliest criminal enterprises

in North America.

Around the world,
we've seen similar giant pits.

Could this island be the site
of a mass grave?

[narrator] These are the strangest
mysteries trapped in the coldest places.

Lost relics...

Forgotten treasures...

Dark Secrets...

Locked in their icy tombs
for ages.

But now, as ice melts
around the world,

their stories will finally
be exposed.

In the frigid Bering Sea, nearly
1,500 miles from Anchorage, Alaska,

lies the forsaken Kiska Island.

[Wakefield] Kiska is right at the
end of a chain of American islands

that stretch far into
the North Pacific.

It's actually closer
to mainland Russia

than it is to the United States.

[Clarke] This uninhabited,
volcanic island is only 22-miles long.

And it's covered in snow and
thick fog for much of the year.

[Leonard] It's so wild
and remote,

only researchers with a permit
are allowed to step foot there.

[narrator]
In the summer of 2018,

a team of archaeologists
take advantage

of the break in the ice
and snow to study the island.

At the top of a grassy hill, they
come across a long metal object

embedded in the dirt.

This thing is big
and it looks heavy.

Like, it's made of steel.

It's cut into the banks
of a little gully.

It's kind of eerie.

[Cantor] It's riddled with holes
of all different sizes and shapes.

There seem to be big chunks
missing and it's completely rusted out.

Whatever this is,
it's been here a long time.

[narrator] The object is 78
feet long and nine feet high,

folding into the contours
of the island.

The sides are curved
and tapered towards each end.

[Clarke] When you look at it,
you can see that

the shape looks like it was designed
intentionally to be streamlined,

almost aerodynamic.

Similar to an airplane fuselage.

Could this be the site
of a crashed plane, perhaps?

[narrator] The outside of
the object is completely flat

and made of large steel
sheets welded together.

There are very few windows.

[Leonard] If these are the remains
of an abandoned or a crashed plane,

you'd expect to see
other parts, nearby.

Like, wings, seats, wheels,
but there's nothing like that there.

So, if this big metal object
isn't a plane,

what is it?

[narrator] The archaeologists
expand their search of the island,

looking for clues that could shine a light
on the nature of this mysterious object.

Elsewhere, on the hill side,

half covered over by grass
and soil, they find large guns.

And an assortment of artifacts,
gas masks, and a pile of rubber boots.

[Cantor] These are fascinating.

Boots with split toes
like this are called Jikatabi.

They were used by the Japanese
Navy during World War II.

[Clarke] The artifacts
found on the island,

appear to be relics from
the Imperial Japanese Navy.

But, what was the Japanese Navy
doing here, on an American Island.

[narrator] During World War II,

Japan was expanding its empire,

occupying several nations
across the Pacific.

Kiska and the Aleutian Islands were
the perfect place for the Japanese empire

to establish a base within
reach of North America.

The remote location
with its deep harbor

were ideal for launching
attacks in the North Pacific.

On June 6th, 1942,

the Japanese attacked the
American weather station on Kiska,

taking control of the island.

[Cantor] By the end of 1942,

over 7,000 Japanese troops
were stationed on the island.

They used the next year
to build infrastructure,

preparing to defend
their new territory.

[Leonard] As they continued
to explore,

the researchers found evidence of
barracks and tunnels built underground.

The Japanese Navy were clearly
expecting to be there for a while.

[narrator] Researchers wonder if
the rusted machine on the top of the hill

was part
of the Japanese arsenal.

If that's the case, what was it?

[Clarke] When you look
closely at the panels

you can see there are
very few bolts,

which would make it highly
streamlined and watertight.

[Cantor] The lack of windows

and that distinctive compartment
on the top are interesting.

It looks like the portion
of the submarine

that sits above the water,
called a sail.

[Wakefield] But navy submarines
are hundreds of feet long

and typically manned
by dozens of crew.

If this is a submarine, it looks
like it could only fit a few people.

So, what were the Japanese doing

with these tiny submarines
this far north in the Pacific.

[siren wailing]

[narrator] By the end of 1941,

the Japanese had attacked
Pearl Harbor,

the U.S. naval base
near Honolulu, Hawaii.

[Cantor] It was a devastating
ambush by Japanese forces.

Hundreds of their planes
descended on the harbor.

They damaged or destroyed more
than 300 airplanes and 18 warships.

Over 2,000 Americans died
in the attack.

[Clarke] But a little known part of
the Japanese Navy's battle strategy

was that they would surround
the island with stealthy submarines,

intended to sink any ships
attempting to escape the attack.

[narrator] They were using five
top secret Type "A" mini submarines.

They were battery powered,

which limited them to a
maximum depth of 100 feet

into a short range of 80 nautical
miles at a speed of six knots.

Each submarine had a crew
of two men

and was armed
with two torpedoes.

[Cantor] That's such
a cramped space.

Smaller than a camper van.

But the crew weren't expected
to be in them for long.

Their orders were to complete the mission or
to sacrifice the submarines and themselves.

[narrator] But the "Mini Submarine's
Pearl Harbor" mission was a failure.

Two were sunk and another
washed ashore after the attack.

And the remaining
submarines disappeared.

Is it possible, with their
new base on Kiska,

the Japanese military were planning
another attack with mini submarines,

this time closer
to the U.S. mainland?

[narrator] In total, the Japanese Navy
built around 50 of these small submarines.

Researchers retrieved military
records showing that

during the Japanese occupation, up to
six Type "A" subs were stationed at Kiska.

They compared the schematics
of the fuselage found on the island.

The wreckage is a perfect match to
an Imperial Japanese mini submarine.

The Japanese were closing
in on the American mainland

with a small fleet of these
deadly mini subs.

But there's something about
the location of this submarine

that just doesn't make sense.

[Leonard] Submarines
belong underwater.

So, how did this one end up
half buried in the soil,

up a hill, a few hundred feet
from the beach?

[narrator] Archaeologists on
the remote Arctic island of Kiska

are perplexed by the discovery of a wrecked
Japanese submarine from World War II,

on the top of a hill.

Further inspection reveals the
holes and tears in the metal sides

were caused
by an explosive force.

But the impact of the explosions

appear to have forced
the metal outwards,

demonstrating that the blast
had to have come from within.

If it was an inside job, why had it
been blown up in the first place?

[narrator] In August of 1943,

the U.S. and its allies staged an
elaborate mission with 34,000 troops

and nearly 100 ships
to take Kiska back.

But, by the time they arrived,

the thousands of Japanese troops
they thought were on the island

were nowhere to be found.

[Cantor] Japanese forces
had already been pushed out

of a different Aleutian Island.

And Japan knew that Kiska
was next.

So, under the cover of fog, they'd
withdrawn from Kiska the previous month.

[Wakefield] These mini subs
were top secret

and they could not be taken
with the troops as they fled.

So, what do you do if you have
something that you can't take with you

and you don't want it to fall
into the hands of the enemy?

You destroy it.

[narrator] The Imperial Japanese
Navy detonated explosives

inside the many submarines,
scuttling them in the harbor.

[Leonard] This was confirmed
when researchers found parts

of another submarine underwater and
additional pieces strewn along the beach.

[Wakefield] It's highly unlikely that
the navy would go through the effort

of hauling a submarine out
of the water just to destroy it,

when sinking it is way
more efficient.

So, what happened?

[narrator] Researchers turned
to satellite images

to see what other remains
could still be hidden on the island.

For researchers, studying satellite
imagery can be really helpful.

You can see the terrain in places that
are, otherwise, too difficult to access.

[Wakefield] These images
are used to see

the remains of man-made
objects or structures

that have been overgrown
by nature

that you wouldn't be able
to see otherwise.

[narrator] The satellite
images reveal the remains

of structures close
to the abandoned submarine.

And a set of parallel tracks
leading back towards the beach.

[Clarke] This was a big project.

The Japanese went to great
effort to build that infrastructure.

So, these mini submarines
were clearly prized machines.

But, what did they have
to do with the tracks?

[narrator] The puzzled
researchers turned

to historical
military photographs,

hoping they can explain

why this submarine was
abandoned on the top of a hill.

Photos from 1943
show a rail track

from the water to the top
of the hill,

where there appears to have
been a large workshop.

Typically, a structure like this, is
where large vehicles or machines

come for maintenance
and repairs.

[Cantor] So, it's likely that in
1943, the Japanese hadn't had time

to take the submarine
from the repairs bay

out into the water before
abandoning Kiska.

They were only able
to blow up the submarine

right on the spot where
it's still found today.

[narrator] The campaign
of the Aleutian Islands

was one of the rare
World War II campaigns

that took place on U.S. soil.

[Leonard] The Aleutian Islands
are so remote and inaccessible

that their part in the war
is often forgotten.

But the freezing winters of Kiska
have preserved the relics of war

that might, otherwise,
have been lost to time.

[narrator] The remains on
the island are also a reminder,

of how close the U.S. mainland
came to attack during World War II.

Canada's Kodlunarn Island,
Nunavut,

on the southern inlet of
Baffin Island's Frobisher Bay.

Kodlunarn just blends
into the pack ice

that freezes across the bay
for most of the year.

[Cantor] Kodlunarn is not much
bigger than a basketball arena.

It's on the edge of the Arctic
circle above the tree line,

with no protection from
the freezing Arctic weather.

[narrator] By late summer,
the pack ice recedes,

just enough for an aerial view to reveal a
peculiar scar in the middle of the island.

[Leonard] It's a perfectly
straight gash.

Too square to be anything
other than man-made.

But this area is almost
uninhabited. So, what is it?

[narrator] In July 1993,

a team of archaeologists
and researchers find not one,

but two trenches dug
into the permafrost.

The second is on the island's
northern edge,

cut from the beach
onto the land.

[Cantor] They're both about 80 feet long,
16 feet wide and three to six feet deep.

They're clearly the work
of humans.

Why are these large trenches
dug, seemingly at random,

into this tiny Arctic Island?

[Leonard] Around the world,
we've seen similar giant pits

as modern and ancient
mass burial sites.

Usually, they stem from wars
or plagues or natural disasters.

Could this island be the site
of a mass grave?

[narrator] A mysterious trench dug into
the middle of a desolate Arctic Island,

may be the site
of a long-lost mass grave.

But as archaeologists dig, they find
no human remains in the trenches.

That rules out mass graves,
so, what else could they be?

[narrator] The archaeologists look
more closely at the trenches for clues.

They can see that the walls
of the trench

on the northern beach
are carved cleanly away,

with tool marks and scratches
all over the rock face.

As they dig into the permafrost,

the researchers uncover some
decomposed wood, dried peas,

as well as the weathered
remains of a wicker basket.

It looks like this
was some kind of camp.

And analysis of the wicker
basket reveals

that it was made from reeds
native to Europe.

This basket's a long way
from home.

Inuit oral histories, tell of
large ships arriving in this bay

hundreds of years ago.

And Kodlunarn Island got its
name from the Inuktitut language

meaning, "White man's Island."

[Cantor] In the late 1600s,
French and English trading posts

were established across parts
of what's now northern Canada.

Is this camp evidence of a
merchant ship or trading vessel

that stopped for shelter
or repairs?

[narrator] In the center
of the island,

just 100 feet
from the first trench,

the researchers uncover the remains
of a small rocky foundation wall.

[Leonard] They can tell from the
foundation that the walls supported

a building about 12 by 14 feet.

The shape of the wall looks
nothing like local Inuit stone buildings.

It looks more like
a European cottage.

But Kodlunarn Island
is so small and isolated

that a European
stone building here?

It just doesn't make much sense.

This doesn't seem like
much of a permanent camp.

So, what was it used for?

[narrator] The researchers dig
deeper and find their first major clues.

Charcoal.

And the ceramic remains
of a crucible.

That says it all.

A crucible is a cup used
to melt rock.

And you usually only do that
when you're looking for metal.

[Leonard] So, the mysterious
trenches were actually quarries.

That explains the tool marks
and scratches on the rock face.

But, what were they mining?

[narrator] The archaeologists
uncover five beads of lead near the hut.

The biggest bead is just
slightly larger than a quarter.

[Cantor] When you combine
the lead beads

with the crucibles
and the charcoal,

it's very likely evidence
of an assay furnace

where precious metals like silver
and gold are melted out of rock.

[narrator] The people who perform
this task are known as assayers.

A profession that goes
back millennia.

[Leonard] To assay a rock, you
heat it in a crucible until it's molten.

Then you sprinkle
in a little lead powder.

The lead is like a magnet
to precious metals

and they all pool together
at the bottom of the crucible.

Once they've cooled into beads,

the precious metals
are extracted from the lead.

Someone on this island
was mining for silver or gold.

So, who was it?

[narrator]
In the summer of 1578,

an Englishman named
Martin Frobisher,

sails a small armada
of 15 ships and 400 men

through the ice packed waters
of the bay.

He sets up camp on a small
speck of land he calls,

"The Countess
of Warwick Island",

and gets to work.

Frobisher had been tapped
directly by Queen Elizabeth I,

to bring back actual boatloads
of Arctic gold.

That's a lot of pressure.

But Frobisher was well-prepared
to take on the challenge.

[Morgan] As a young man, Frobisher
was in and out of jail many times,

for let's say,
"maritime misadventures."

He was a state-sanctioned pirate,
a swashbuckler and a bit of a rogue.

[narrator] Over just
two weeks in 1578,

Frobisher's crew dug
into the permafrost

pulling out ton after ton of the black
rock they hoped was filled with gold.

Frobisher built two assay huts
to monitor the quality of his wares.

After mining over
1,100 tons of ore,

they packed up, sailed back
home to extract the gold,

and present the massive prize
to their queen.

It was not an easy expedition.

I mean, Frobisher lost two ships
and dozens of men to bad storms.

So, it was a bit of a
bittersweet return to England

[Leonard] But his luck
got worse.

In England, assayer after
assayer found that

his rock contained
no traces of gold.

Frobisher's rock was worthless.

It's the opposite of what
Frobisher's assayers had claimed.

That Kodlunarn would yield
one pound of gold per ton of ore.

Most gold operations are lucky to
get a few ounces of gold per ton of ore.

[narrator] The archaeologists
and researchers on Kodlunarn

want to know if the unlucky prospectors
had simply extracted a bad batch of ore.

Is Kodlunarn Island
still an untapped gold mine?

They studied their own samples
of the Kodlunarn rock

using the same methods as
Frobisher's crew, 400-years ago.

[Cantor] There's no gold.

In fact, the rock
is just amphibolite.

And it's actually traces
of pyrite and mica

that give it that
sparkly appearance.

The most generous explanation is that
his assayers had made a big mistake,

and the Queen had sent
Frobisher on a fool's errand.

[Cantor] Or was there
something fishy going on?

Was Frobisher just a dupe?

Or did he and his assayers perpetrate one
of the biggest financial frauds in history?

[narrator] Is a small island
on the edge of the Arctic Circle

the site for one of the great
gold scams in history?

In 2004, Canadian researchers
and scientists pick up the investigation

into Martin Frobisher's
alleged fraud.

Using cutting-edge technology,

they inspect the lead
beads uncovered

from Frobisher's assay hut
on Kodlunarn Island.

By looking at the beads
on a molecular level,

the scientists can see exactly what
was in the assayers samples from 1578.

[narrator] The scientists do
find microscopic traces of gold.

But at levels one hundred
thousand times lower

than those claimed
by Frobisher's assayers.

The discovery allows the
researchers to hone in on a new theory.

Frobisher's Artic gold rush
was a fraud.

The Canadian researchers believe the
fraud happened when Frobisher's assayers

salted the ore with his own
gold dust

to juice the sample
and entice further investment.

[narrator] By sprinkling a smattering
of real gold into the dead samples,

Frobisher may have designed
a conspiracy

tricking desperate financial backers to
over-invest in a gold mine with no gold.

If he'd pulled it off, Frobisher
could have scammed a lot of money

out of
the expedition's investors.

And while his criminal
past suggests

he could have been capable
of running such a scam,

whether he actually did,
is up for debate.

[Cantor] The mining operation in
itself was a big gamble for the queen.

Why did she take such a risk,

prospecting for gold in
the Arctic in the first place?

[narrator] In 1577, one year
before Frobisher's failed expedition,

England was broke.

In debt to the Dutch and on
the brink of war with Spain.

With looming debts
and an army to fund,

Queen Elizabeth
was desperate for cash.

When she heard the rumors about
a potential supply of Arctic gold,

the Queen trusted Frobisher
to find it and to bring it home.

[Morgan] We're still not
a hundred percent sure

if Frobisher perpetrated
this epic gold scam.

But when all the experts in London
said that the ore was worthless,

he was desperate to keep
the act alive.

[Leonard] Frobisher spent years,

trying to prove there was gold in
the rocks from the Arctic Island,

but his reputation
was tarnished.

The operation's financial
backers went broke,

and the Queen had to default
on her debt to the Dutch.

[narrator] Frobisher never returned
to the bay that bears his name

or to the Arctic.

In 1594, Frobisher was shot during
a confrontation with Spanish forces

and died a few days later.

When archaeologists dig,

what they want to find more
than anything, is a good story.

And the story of Frobisher
that has been hiding

in the permafrost
of Kodlunarn Island,

is worth its weight in gold.

[narrator] Novy Port, Russia.

A small sea town on Siberia's
northern Yamal Peninsula

is home to a frozen secret.

[Morgan] This place is extreme.

It's north of the Arctic Circle and winter
for about eight months out of the year.

[Wakefield] There are no roads
in or out of this place.

Everything comes in by boat.

It gets battered
by terrible storms.

And it can be iced in
for months at a time.

[narrator] A group of scientists
working near the River Ob,

come across a dilapidated
wooden hut on the beach,

half buried in snow.

Inside the hut they find a ramp
leading down into a large dark tunnel,

which is at least 15-feet
across and 7-feet high.

[Elliott] It's
absolutely stunning.

The floors walls and ceilings
of the tunnel

are covered in a glittering
layer of frost.

[narrator] Further
investigation reveals

thousands of feet of
interconnected underground tunnels,

and over 200 small caves
branching off them,

all with frosted walls.

They seem to go on
and on forever,

like, some type of really
cool icy labyrinth.

It's really cool
but what is this place?

[narrator] The ground in this part
of Siberia is entirely permafrost.

The tunnels have been dug into
the icy earth that's as solid as rock.

[Cantor] It would have taken
an extreme effort,

to dig such an extensive network of
caves and tunnels in such hard ground.

[narrator] Gas, coal
and anthracite

are all actively mined
in Russia's Arctic region,

including on
the Yamal Peninsula.

The village of Novy Port
was established

as a coal bunkering port
in the 1920's

as part of the Northern Sea
shipping passage.

The route traveling along
Russia's Arctic coast

is so long that the Soviets
tried to fuel boat voyages

by using locally mined coal
at each stop.

[Wakefield] Scientists
don't find any evidence

of big machines or industrial
mining operations in these tunnels.

So, it couldn't have been
a mine.

[Elliott] But running along the
ceiling throughout the tunnels

are old electrical wires
and lights.

People were clearly
down here, regularly.

But what were they doing?

[Morgan] This part of Siberia is
known for its horrific winter weather.

So, could the Novy Port
community be trying

to escape
the freezing conditions?

[narrator] Entire underground
cities are known to have been built

in places where the climate
is too harsh to live.

In Coober Pedy, Australia,

residents of the town near the
area's extensive Opal mines,

escape the exhausting desert
climate by living underground.

The tunnels of Novy Port,

show no signs of domestication.

Plus, above ground, there are
clearly enough regular houses

for the 2,000 people
that live there.

So, if they weren't escaping
the elements,

were the tunnels built as an
escape for something else?

[narrator] The ancient
Turkish city of Derinkuyu,

went 18 stories below the surface
complete with living quarters,

shops and escape routes.

In case of attack, the
city's population of 20,000

could quickly retreat
from their above-ground houses

and live entirely underground.

But no one could live in these Siberian
tunnels for any significant length of time.

It's, it's way too cold.

And there's no evidence
of any infrastructure

or even a source of water
that would make it habitable.

[Elliott] So, why would they need
such a large underground tunnel?

If it wasn't built for
civilians to live or hide in,

then perhaps, it was built
for a military purpose.

[narrator] Historians have seen
similar tunnels built into the ice before.

During World War I, a battle was
raging at high altitude in the Alps.

To avoid the Italian guns and escape the
challenges of the mountain environment,

the Austro-Hungarian Army decided
to build tunnels into the glaciers.

They dug at least seven miles
of tunnels into the ice,

creating rooms, kitchens and
storage for over 200 soldiers.

Were the Novy Port tunnels
built for a similar purpose?

If it's military, it's probably
from the mid-20th century,

when tensions between the U.S.
and the Soviet Union were escalating.

Are these tunnels connected
to the Cold War?

[narrator] Both nations
engaged in espionage,

built arsenals of nuclear weapons
and developed secret bases.

In the 1950's, the U.S. began
Project Iceworm.

A top-secret underground base,
built into Greenland's glacial ice-cap.

Nearly, two miles of tunnels
were constructed

to hide and potentially deploy
600 nuclear missiles

capable of reaching
the Soviet Union.

Could this have been built as part
of Russia's Arctic defense strategy?

[Morgan] The Siberian tunnels
are located inside the Arctic Circle,

which is prime real estate
if you're the Soviets

and you want to launch
long-range missiles at America.

[Elliott] But if it had been
a military post,

you'd expect to find
evidence of that,

in terms of weapons, guns,
reinforced doors.

There's nothing like that here.

It just can't be military.

[Wakefield] But whoever built this,
they knew what they were doing.

There has to be a reason
why the Soviets would dig

a 1,000 feet of tunnels

in ground that's as solid
as concrete.

Why would anyone do that?

[narrator] In northern
Siberia, the enigmatic purpose

of a frozen labyrinth of man-made
tunnels has researchers baffled.

As the scientists continue
to investigate the tunnels,

they learn that, strangely, the
temperature is the same, year round,

only fluctuating between five
and ten degrees Fahrenheit.

[Elliott] That temperature
finding is interesting.

Peoples living in the Arctic have
always known that beneath the permafrost

the ground remains the same
temperature, all year round.

The frozen ground keeps food
preserved for long stretches of time.

So, how do you keep the spoils
of your hunt from spoiling?

You freeze them.

Maybe these tunnels are a
kind of giant fridge for people?

[narrator] During the Cold War,
the Soviet economy was fragile,

and its people were faced with
frequent shortages of money and food.

But the frozen Siberian tundra is no
place for large-scale animal farming.

And the main industry
was fishing.

[Morgan] So, given
the proximity of these tunnels

to the main port
of a fishing community,

it's entirely possible that
these tunnels could have been

a giant freezer
for local fishermen.

[narrator] After
the fishing season ends,

the Kara Sea freezes solid, blocking
the shipping lane for at least six months.

Until ships could access the ports in
the spring, the fish needed to be frozen.

However, the Yamal Peninsula
is so remote,

that the cost of providing
the electricity required

to power huge electric freezers
was too high for the Soviet Union.

The Soviet government did what the inhabitants
of the region had done for centuries.

They harnessed the might of the U.S.S.R.
to build a massive permafrost cache.

A super-sized version of what people
had done at home for generations.

Compared to transporting heavy
machinery and materials

to build
refrigerated warehouses,

it was cheaper for Stalin to use
people from across the Soviet Union,

who had been exiled
to Novy Port as forced labor

to dig in the frozen ground.

[narrator] For six years,
the state forced laborers

to use pickaxes and shovels to
dig deep into the frozen ground.

It was sub-zero most of the year
and the ground has frozen so solid

that their tools would have
been snapping constantly.

Those conditions must have
been unbelievably harsh.

[narrator] When the tunnels
were completed,

they could hold
up to 1,750-tons of fish.

The local economy flourished,

s they could control the
market for their prized catch.

[Wakefield] It was
an ingenious plan.

But ultimately short-lived.

Due to changing temperatures, the
caves are no longer structurally stable

and they can't be used
to their full capacity.

[Elliott] These bizarre frozen
underground tunnels

aren't an ominous,
secret Cold War bunker,

but the remains of the world's
largest refrigerator.

A living reminder of the might
of the Soviet system,

hidden behind a rickety
shed in the middle of nowhere.

[narrator] Ellesmere Island, Nunavut,
in the heart of the Arctic Circle,

just a few hundred miles
from the North Pole,

there are no trees.

Just ice, tundra and the
mountains of the Arctic Cordillera.

During the short summer,
temperatures reach a high of 40 degrees,

enough to melt the ice and
expose the permafrost below.

In 2006, a group of scientists from
the Canadian Museum of Nature,

exploring the frozen tundra
make a puzzling find.

It's a shard of rust-colored
organic matter,

about as big as the palm
of a hand.

They think it's a fossilized
tree branch

because that's what's commonly
found in this area.

[Tait] The researchers take
the sample back to camp

where they can inspect
it with a small hand lens.

They expect to count tree rings
and get a sense of this fossil's age.

[Elliott] But they don't see
any tree rings.

In fact, it's not even
plant matter.

What they have found is a
fragment of fossilized bone.

[Leonard] Ellesmere Island
is so remote

that digs only happen once
every few years.

You want every excursion
to matter.

And finding ancient animal parts means
there's a chance to add to the fossil record.

[narrator] In total, the team
extracts 30 samples of bone shard.

All likely from the same animal.

Some are three inches long.
Others, not even one.

[Cantor] It's a really
promising discovery.

And the samples are taken back
to the lab for analysis.

They're dying to know,
what animal are they from?

[narrator] The paleontologists
are hoping for a unique discovery,

but brace for disappointment.

This is likely just another
musk-ox or reindeer.

All too common in this part
of the Arctic.

Using a 3D surface scanner,

the scientists create digital
images of each fragment.

[Leonard] The digital
technology is really cool

because you can move the 3D digitized
fragments around and piece them together

without any damage
to the original samples.

[narrator] As the scientists
play with the digitized samples,

they discover the fragments
were part of a tibia,

a lower leg bone from a very
big cloven-hoofed mammal.

Cloven-hoofed mammals
are a large group

that includes cows, pigs,
goats and antelopes.

And in the Arctic, the largest
ones are musk-ox or caribou.

But this tibia is from
an animal much bigger.

But which one?

[narrator] In the bleak heart
of the Arctic Circle,

paleontologists have unearthed mummified
bone fragments from the permafrost.

The bone once belonged to a mammal
larger than any that lived there today.

But, what was it?

To find out, the paleontologists

extract any organic matter
they can from the bone shards.

They make a small nick on
the edge of a bone fragment,

and are immediately struck by
the unusual scent of singed flesh.

They recognize
the smell immediately.

Collagen.

Collagen creates tendons,
which connect muscle to bone.

And it breaks down slower
than most organic matter.

The permafrost
of Ellesmere Island

has preserved
it remarkably well.

That's why it still smells.

[Leonard] The discovery of collagen
opens exciting ways to investigate

the age and genetic code
locked in these bones

with a high degree of accuracy.

[narrator] To learn the
secret identity of the animal,

the team utilizes a new technology
called Collagen Fingerprinting.

Every species can be identified
by their unique collagen pattern.

Like a fingerprint.

So, if you find an unfamiliar
collagen sample,

you can compare its profile to
modern species to find a match.

[narrator] The scientists compare
the mystery bones collagen,

to 37 modern day mammals.

And the bones from the
furthest reaches of the Arctic

are in fact from a camel.

[Tait] Why is a desert animal
deep within the frozen Arctic Circle?

It's so out of place and a
really incredible discovery.

[narrator] The paleontologists
compared the 3D rendering

of their camel tibia to those
of modern camels.

It generates another
startling find.

This camel was almost 30%
bigger than today's largest camels,

the one-humped dromedary of
North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.

[Elliott] Modern dromedaries can
reach 7-feet tall and weigh half-a-ton.

The Arctic camel would have been
9-feet tall and weighed a full ton.

This wasn't just
an Arctic camel.

It was a giant Arctic camel.

[Leonard] It's not the first camel
ever discovered in North America.

It's actually believed, camels
evolved across North America

about 45 million years ago.

But it's the most northerly
camel ever found.

It's very surprising.

[narrator] The paleontologists
are able to place the camel

as being alive
3.4 to 3.8 million years ago.

[Leonard] That's right in the
middle of the Earth's Pliocene Epoch.

A period that spans
from about five million

to two and a half million
years ago.

[Tait] During the Mid-Pliocene,
temperatures in the Arctic

were 20 degrees warmer.

This generated a more
temperate climate

allowing more animals to thrive.

[Elliott] During this time,
grasslands flourished.

It was an environment where many
long-legged grazing mammals roamed.

[narrator] Paleontologists have found other
fossils near the Ellesmere Island site

that confirm it would have
been a world vastly different

than today's frozen tundra.

The fossilized remains of
large trees, ancient grasses

and the bones of beavers reveal
an ancient forested swampland

teeming with life.

It's more like the boreal forests
of the Yukon or Siberia today.

So, this area would have had
abundant food for the giant camels.

[narrator] At the same time,
Earth's climate was changing.

Seasons became more pronounced.

And the Arctic developed
huge swaths of snow and ice

during winters that lasted
longer and longer.

How does a giant Arctic camel
fit into this ancient landscape?

The camel is so perfectly
attuned to life in the desert.

It has flat feet for walking
over sand

and its back hump of fat
acts like an energy reserve

for the barren desert
where vegetation is scarce.

It doesn't seem to belong
in the Arctic at all.

Or does it?

[Elliott] Those desert adaptations
are also perfect for the Arctic.

Those fatty humps are great food stores
in the winter when there's little to eat.

And the large flat feet are great for
walking over snow, as well as sand.

So, it turns out the camels we thought
were perfectly evolved for the desert,

just retrofit their entire
evolutionary package from the Arctic.

[Tait] But if the camels were so
well adapted for life in the Arctic,

how did they end up
in the desert,

thousands of miles away
on a different continent.

[narrator] The end
of the Pliocene Epoch

was the beginning of a new
and unforgiving period.

The Ice Age.

Temperatures plummeted
in areas far outside the Arctic.

Several species went extinct.

Those who survived were forced
to migrate further and further south.

[Elliott] The Arctic camels most
likely crossed the land bridge

that existed between
Alaska and Siberia.

They eventually found
themselves in the deserts.

And a million years later,
that's probably where they'll stay.

At least, for now.

[Cantor] If we can learn
anything from the Arctic camels,

it's that they're travelers,
they're survivors,

capable of thriving
in the most extreme conditions

the world has to offer.