{1}{1}25.000
{1532}{1580}Summer in Antarctica,
{1582}{1684}and the seas around the outer islands|are teeming with life.
{1897}{2003}Fur seals are streaming in their thousands
{2005}{2067}to their traditional beaches
{2069}{2121}on the island of South Georgia.
{2329}{2434}It's November,|and the race to breed has started.
{2436}{2536}Some bull seals have already|claimed territories on the beach
{2538}{2616}and are prepared to defend them|against all comers.
{2618}{2686}You have to be fairly cautious...
{2688}{2813}how you approach... Now, now!|...these big bulls,
{2815}{2931}because they have very sharp teeth|and can be extremely aggressive.
{2942}{3006}At the moment,|there's not much problem with them,
{3008}{3101}but in two weeks I wouldn't dare|set foot on this beach,
{3106}{3194}because by then all the females|will have come ashore too
{3196}{3324}and there will be over 100,000|fur seals on this one beach.
{3382}{3489}Each dominant bull in this dense|and seemingly structureless crowd
{3491}{3578}rules over a territory|of about 30 square metres,
{3580}{3660}enough to accommodate about a dozen females.
{3691}{3802}The frontiers between these territories|are invisible to our eyes,
{3806}{3849}but very clear to the bulls.
{3851}{3920}When neighbours meet face to face|across a boundary,
{3924}{3989}they put on a ritualised display of force,
{3991}{4098}but won't fight as long as each stays|on his own side of the frontier.
{4173}{4223}The heavily-pregnant females
{4225}{4296}arrive two or three weeks after the males
{4298}{4407}and head for the prime territories|near the high-water mark.
{4418}{4523}0nly if these are fully occupied|will they join ones lower down the beach.
{4525}{4615}By December,|over a million Antarctic fur seals -
{4617}{4678}95% of the world's population -
{4680}{4761}have landed here on South Georgia.
{4807}{4881}0ne or two days after their arrival,
{4883}{4936}the cows give birth.
{4971}{5081}Each baby is greeted|by a flock of hungry skuas,
{5083}{5168}keen to feast on the afterbirth|that comes with it.
{5632}{5730}A mother will refuse to be parted|from her vulnerable pup
{5733}{5791}for the next seven days.
{5883}{5975}The pups grow rapidly on the rich fatty milk
{5977}{6054}and double their weight in 60 days.
{6326}{6377}It will be eight years
{6379}{6457}before they have to fight for territory.
{6469}{6516}This is just play.
{6728}{6782}The bulls must now be on their guard,
{6784}{6855}for the females|are becoming sexually available
{6858}{6989}and, offshore, males without|territories are hanging around.
{7172}{7284}They keep a sharp eye out for|a weakened bull or an abandoned territory,
{7286}{7354}and will dash ashore to claim it|if they see a chance.
{7356}{7452}0nce they've got a territory,|they can mate with its females.
{7507}{7614}Lots of these young hopefuls|wait in the shallows.
{7819}{7910}0ne of them thinks he sees his opportunity.
{8173}{8233}(AGGRESSIVE BELL0WING)
{8544}{8623}No luck. He's not big enough - yet.
{9278}{9342}The urge to breed is so strong
{9344}{9441}that there is always some youngster|prepared to try his luck
{9443}{9527}and, three or four times every day,|there are major battles on the beach.
{9713}{9801}(DIN 0F BELL0WING AND SNARLING)
{10279}{10352}These fights can be really damaging.
{10354}{10450}Most territory-owning bulls|carry severe wounds.
{10452}{10541}Their flippers get split,|their necks badly gouged.
{10859}{10957}Mothers try to keep their pups|out of harm's way.
{11061}{11110}Another challenger concedes.
{11112}{11150}But he's still in trouble,
{11152}{11251}for he'll have to dodge other outraged bulls|on his way back to the sea.
{11268}{11341}Although few are actually killed|during these fights,
{11343}{11445}many will die later from their wounds|or from sheer exhaustion.
{11782}{11873}By Christmas, in the middle|of the Antarctic summer,
{11875}{11989}breeding is over and the battles|on the beaches have largely come to an end.
{11991}{12089}But further south, the race to breed,|having started later,
{12091}{12142}is still in full swing.
{12667}{12801}Chinstrap penguins are returning|from their feeding grounds, 20 miles offshore,
{12803}{12862}to feed their chicks.
{13089}{13187}Now, in midsummer,|there is almost 24 hours of daylight,
{13189}{13290}and here on Deception Island|there is continuous traffic from the beach
{13292}{13401}up a two-way highway|to the nesting sites high in the hills.
{13462}{13574}Each day,|100,000 commuters make the trip.
{13578}{13632}It's nature's greatest rush hour.
{14037}{14092}The trek to the higher slopes
{14094}{14142}takes the Chinstraps over an hour.
{14147}{14242}The first obstacles they must cross|are the torrential streams
{14244}{14299}pouring from a melting glacier.
{15031}{15113}Chinstraps, like all penguins,|are tough and persistent,
{15115}{15223}and a rough and tumble|in the white water doesn't deter them.
{15332}{15397}They are accomplished mountaineers
{15399}{15462}and have elected to nest high up
{15464}{15548}on the steep exposed slopes of volcanic ash.
{15657}{15754}The stiff quills of their tails|provide invaluable support,
{15756}{15815}preventing them from slipping backwards.
{16057}{16182}Exposed ridges are the first suitable|nesting grounds to be free of snow,
{16184}{16276}and to make the best use|of the short Antarctic breeding season,
{16278}{16368}penguins will make|immensely long climbs to reach them.
{16370}{16454}(TREMEND0US DIN 0F SQUAWKING)
{16594}{16701}There are over 200,000 birds|here on Deception Island,
{16703}{16783}each pair with its own tiny nesting territory,
{16785}{16849}evenly spaced from its neighbours.
{17091}{17179}Incredibly, in spite of the din and confusion,
{17181}{17300}returning birds are able to find their nest|and partners without any difficulty,
{17302}{17417}and the reunion is always marked|with a jubilant display.
{17739}{17800}The parents will now swap duties.
{17802}{17879}The one just arrived will feed|the chicks and guard them
{17881}{17941}while the other, having fasted|for a couple of days,
{17945}{18056}will go down to the sea to feed|and collect more food for the youngsters.
{18412}{18525}Those that are nesting|on the lower slopes are lucky.
{18527}{18597}0thers have to climb so high
{18599}{18676}that their nests are up in the clouds|for much of the time.
{18988}{19086}The trek down from the nest|can take another hour,
{19088}{19180}but it has to be done if the chick is to be fed.
{19302}{19354}When at last they reach the sea,
{19356}{19432}their journey, that has so far|been merely arduous,
{19434}{19494}becomes very dangerous indeed.
{19771}{19819}A leopard seal.
{19902}{20004}A single leopard seal may catch|up to six penguins in an hour.
{20006}{20076}During the season, it will kill hundreds.
{20343}{20456}A wounded bird, having escaped|almost miraculously from the seal,
{20458}{20518}must now face the merciless skuas.
{20782}{20834}In spite of its injury,
{20836}{20926}it still struggles upwards towards its nest.
{21551}{21613}The Chinstraps only nest on islands
{21617}{21726}that are released by the sea ice|early in the season.
{21745}{21844}As the summer advances,|the ice continues to retreat,
{21846}{21932}until even the edge|of the continent becomes free.
{22008}{22062}By January, at the height of summer,
{22064}{22114}there is almost continuous daylight
{22116}{22244}and along the Antarctic peninsula|temperatures regularly rise above freezing.
{22288}{22372}Fjords that were locked in ice|for the last eight months
{22374}{22436}are now littered with ice floes.
{22488}{22586}Leopard seals haul out to bask in the sun.
{22700}{22739}Now, for a short time,
{22743}{22837}Antarctica's wildlife can afford to relax.
{24818}{24876}With temperatures climbing,
{24878}{24986}snow and ice turns into Antarctica's|most precious commodity -
{24988}{25029}fresh water.
{25031}{25082}And that makes it possible
{25084}{25176}for the continent's sparse|vegetation to resume its growth.
{25254}{25314}Banks of moss are the home
{25316}{25390}of a whole population of tiny animals.
{25504}{25596}Deep within the crevices, ice still remains,
{25598}{25663}imprisoning some|of the hardiest creatures on Earth -
{25665}{25762}the only land animals|that can survive the Antarctic winter.
{25809}{25865}Barely larger than a pinhead,
{25867}{25975}these tiny mites|contain a natural anti-freeze
{25977}{26067}that allows them to supercool|to minus 30 degrees centigrade.
{26441}{26542}As the ice disappears, they come to life.
{26612}{26709}These minute creatures|have no fixed breeding season.
{26711}{26756}They're opportunists
{26758}{26863}and reproduce whenever temperatures|creep above freezing.
{26951}{27016}0ften thousands cluster together.
{27018}{27113}Most are herbivores|that feed on the moss and dead vegetation.
{27115}{27208}But they themselves are food|for a few tiny carnivores.
{27210}{27251}Hunters and hunted -
{27254}{27351}this is Antarctica's own miniature Serengeti.
{27521}{27639}In just a few places, there is enough|meltwater to create freshwater ponds.
{27691}{27827}They are havens|for another range of invertebrates -
{27829}{27879}little crustaceans and insect larvae.
{28289}{28372}Green is a rare colour|on the Antarctic continent,
{28374}{28481}for moss can only grow|where there is both fresh water and soil.
{28507}{28629}But one kind of vegetation|manages to survive on bare rock alone -
{28631}{28672}lichens.
{28674}{28783}They are able to dissolve rock|and extract nutrients from it.
{28785}{28885}But that takes a very long time,|especially at these low temperatures.
{28887}{28934}Growth is incredibly slow.
{28936}{28984}A miniscule forest like this
{28986}{29077}may have taken centuries to reach this size.
{29084}{29131}(WHISTLING WIND)
{29183}{29281}I am now a thousand miles farther south still.
{29283}{29392}The South Pole lies about 800 miles over there.
{29394}{29513}If I was as far away as that from the North Pole,
{29515}{29601}I would expect to find among these rocks
{29603}{29694}at least a hundred different species|of flowering plant.
{29698}{29748}In fact, in the whole of Antarctica,
{29750}{29826}only two species|of flowering plants have been found,
{29828}{29903}and neither of them grows as far south as this.
{29905}{30011}All that grows on these rocks|are tiny lichens like this.
{30054}{30110}0ne or two species of moss
{30112}{30165}occur in these latitudes,
{30167}{30267}but otherwise only lichens|grow farther south than this -
{30269}{30354}and some of them get|to within 200 miles of the pole.
{30411}{30473}Antarctica's commonest organism
{30475}{30571}is not a lichen but a plant - an algae.
{30573}{30622}It lives in the snow
{30624}{30688}and paints great areas of it bright pink.
{30757}{30857}In summer, the melting snow|releases the algae into the sea.
{30859}{30908}Just off-shore,
{30910}{31004}icebergs, moving back and forth with the tide,
{31008}{31064}are also disintegrating.
{31141}{31227}All these changes|release minerals and nutrients.
{31229}{31314}Suddenly, the inland waters become very rich
{31316}{31405}and floating algae - phytoplankton -
{31407}{31461}bloom in vast clouds.
{31541}{31605}Icebergs scouring the sea floor
{31607}{31670}make things difficult for life of any kind,
{31672}{31737}but in sheltered areas and deeper water
{31739}{31857}there is a surprisingly large|and varied community of sea creatures.
{32153}{32259}Life here, in temperatures|close to freezing, is very slow.
{32284}{32393}An individual sponge or starfish|may live for over 40 years.
{32653}{32701}There are fish here, too,
{32703}{32800}and blue-eyed shag dive down|to depths of over 100 metres
{32802}{32848}in search of them.
{32979}{33028}(CRIES 0F MANY BIRDS)
{33051}{33144}The shags' feeding grounds|are never far away from their colonies
{33146}{33216}on the few rocky crags that are free of snow.
{33361}{33468}Uniquely among Antarctic birds,|their chicks hatch without down
{33472}{33582}and at first rely totally|on their parents for warmth.
{33627}{33677}(FRENZIED CHIRPING)
{33918}{34009}Many of these chicks may die|if the summer storms are severe,
{34011}{34083}but shags, like most Antarctic birds,
{34088}{34201}are long-lived and the pair will produce|many young during their lifetime.
{34361}{34473}Blue-eyed shags don't nest along|the southern part of the Antarctic peninsula
{34475}{34532}because there is very little open water there.
{34537}{34608}But one bird is not daunted by that.
{34630}{34693}Antarctic terns patrol the bays
{34695}{34772}in search of small crustaceans and fish.
{34829}{34890}Their breeding season is long,
{34892}{34991}and even in late summer,|chicks are still hatching.
{35198}{35240}In some years,
{35242}{35349}bad weather and predatory skuas|cause heavy losses of eggs and chicks,
{35351}{35419}but Antarctic terns have the rare ability
{35423}{35483}to lay two or three times in a season.
{35695}{35772}Not until February,|the very height of summer,
{35776}{35865}does the winter sea ice|finally retreat to its minimum extent
{35867}{35967}and release isolated outcrops|of rock in the deep south.
{36120}{36183}This is the Scullion monolith,
{36185}{36282}one of the very few areas|of bare rock for many miles around,
{36284}{36407}and here, 300,000 Antarctic petrels|come to breed.
{37121}{37166}Adelie penguin colonies,
{37170}{37289}that in the spring were cut off|from the sea by miles of winter sea ice,
{37291}{37365}are now directly accessible to open water,
{37369}{37434}and adults, with hungry chicks to feed,
{37436}{37519}can at last swim directly back to the beaches...
{37534}{37595}although some, rather optimistically,
{37597}{37661}decide to stop for a rest on the way.
{38385}{38464}There is now|constant activity on the beaches
{38466}{38520}as both adults must collect food
{38522}{38629}to satisfy the demands|of their well-grown and ever-hungry chicks.
{38821}{38877}Returning adults have to find their chicks
{38879}{38980}amongst hundreds of others|that wait patiently in crèches.
{38984}{39087}But a chick can instantly recognise|the call of its parent,
{39091}{39195}and a mad steeplechase|that can last several minutes
{39197}{39284}helps to separate|the rightful chick from imposters.
{39318}{39416}The strongest chick of a pair|is always fed first.
{39577}{39627}In years when food is scarce,
{39629}{39675}younger chicks are rarely fed,
{39677}{39778}and skuas are constantly|on the look-out for such weakened birds.
{39959}{40059}Repeated harrying from above|sends panic through the colony.
{40287}{40381}Many penguins are forced|to regurgitate their meals
{40383}{40455}and the skuas feast on the spilt krill.
{40569}{40653}Small unattended chicks|that stray from the crèche
{40655}{40706}are quickly attacked.
{41257}{41340}As the pressure|to complete breeding increases,
{41342}{41453}there is a constant battle|between penguins and skuas.
{41581}{41644}This time, the chick is lucky.
{41707}{41785}Attacks by skuas are very nasty and brutal
{41787}{41871}but are not the main danger to the colony.
{41873}{41954}Adelies always choose|very windy nest sites.
{41956}{42015}Breeding so early in the season,
{42017}{42083}they rely on the wind to clear away the snow
{42085}{42164}because they can only|lay their eggs on bare rock.
{42166}{42250}Now, at the end of the season,|they pay the price.
{42290}{42356}Soon, the sea will re-freeze
{42360}{42427}and autumn storms will cover|the bare rock with snow.
{42429}{42482}In our next programme,
{42484}{42556}we will watch as wildlife|hurries to finish breeding
{42558}{42620}before winter really takes hold.