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Program 1 THE ARCTIC: MAN'S LAST FRONTIER For three months of every year darkness cloaks the Arctic like a shroud-the moon the only source of light. Then, as it greets the first rays of the sun the Arctic is transformed. There are three species of whale that live here: the Bowhead, the Beluga and the mysterious creature of legend, the Narwhal. Sea mammals rely on sounds for nearly all their activities and yet the single most widespread form of pollution in the Arctic is noise. Icebreakers, oil drills and ships all add their piercing voices to a world that once only knew nature's cries. |
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Program 2 THE ARCTIC'S LIVING LEGEND The legendary and rarely photographed narwhal whale with its mysterious "unicorn" tusk never leaves the polar region. Remarkable underwater footage examines their lifestyle and the dangers they face. |
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Program 3 LIGHT IN THE ARCTIC SKY There is a breathtaking variety of phenomena to see in the Arctic sky-halos, rings, coronas, mirages and "sun dogs"-but particularly the Aurora Borealis. The majestic displays of shapes and colors are produced by what are called solar winds, which are supersonic flows of charged electrical particles caused by eruptions of gases on the surface of the sun. Auroras are one the few manifestations of "plasma", the mysterious "fourth state" of matter that makes up most of the rest of the universe, yet is entirely absent on earth. Auroral activity has been known to trip circuit breakers in power lines and interrupt telecommunications. |
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Program 4 POLAR MIGRATION Migration is a response to environmental change. Whales and polar bears negotiate the suddenly changing ice flows over huge distances to feed and each year masses of migrating animals and birds converge at "polar oases". |
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Program 5 NOMADS OF THE ICE Some 7,000 years ago, humans travelled from Asia and made this world their own. Far from merely enduring the cold, the people of the Arctic learned to rely on it. Only in the past century has their culture changed dramatically, influenced by southern civilizations. The Arctic Eskimos look out onto a different world, one that has encouraged them to adapt in order to survive. |
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Program 6 THE MOVING WORLD OF ICE Although seemingly solid, the polar ice is constantly moving, often unpredictable and treacherous to man and animal alike. The variety and shape of ice is endless, with the most spectacular being the monolithic icebergs, which can slowly travel thousands of miles. |
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Program 7 TORNARSSUK, KING OF THE ARCTIC The Eskimos call the polar bear Tornarssuk, whom they believed roamed around the pole in a never-ending circle. In winter, when other bears hibernate, the polar bear is out hunting. To prepare for the lean summer months that lie ahead, Polar bears need to eat at least four pounds of seal blubber a day during the winter. They hunt the margins of the ice pack and are as at home on the ice as they are in the water. Using their great forepaws like oars and their hind legs like a rudder they can swim up to one hundred miles in one day. |
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Program 8 GHOSTS OF THE NORTHERN SEAS The gregarious beluga whale is called the "canary of the sea", due to its constant dialogue. Beneath the pack-ice, their sophisticated phonics are at their most diverse and far-reaching. But now, noise pollution from man is disrupting their delicate sound network. |
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Program 9 REALM OF THE POLAR WHALE The bowhead whale, revered by the Eskimo and once the favorite target of whalers, was saved from extinction by changing economics. But the 2,200 bowheads in the Arctic still face threats to their survival. |
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Program 10 NORTHERN VILLAGES The Inuit built no monuments, kept no written records of their civilization. For thousands of years they passed on their history with the spoken word, from one generation to the next. Today, the rush of modern times closes in on Inuit life and culture. Permanent housing has sprung up on the sites of what were nomadic winter campgrounds, and the Inuit are now citizens of the nations that have taken away their ancestral lands. Hunting is an integral part of Inuit tradition. They eat their kill raw, believing that this allows them to draw in the full strength and power of the prey. Even today, this custom plays an important role. |
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Program 11 THE WALRUS AND THE KILLER WHALE The Arctic ice continually reinvents itself. Deceptive and treacherous, the Arctic's majestic dimensions fire our imagination. Many men have perished in this tragic splendor, but a handful has learned its ways. Frozen within its sculpted glaciers and mammoth icebergs are the ghosts of those who have come before. Restlessly forming and reforming, the ice beckons us to uncover its many secrets. In Greenland, most of the Arctic icebergs take shape. As much as seven times their surface mass may lurk below the water line. The ice in some of these magnificent structures is as much as 2000 years old. Some drift as long as twenty years, and in their decline show little of their former glory. |
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Program 12 THE OUTSIDERS ARRIVE The difficulties involved in exploring and surviving in the bleak Arctic conditions have helped to protect a large part of the region from the dramatic changes affecting the rest of the world. But now, some parts of the Arctic are fast becoming a tourist attraction, with brave, undaunted souls enduring temperatures of 40 below and some of the most gruelling conditions on earth. Every fall visitors come to Churchill, on the shores of Hudson Bay, a few hundred miles South of the Arctic Circle, to see the migration of the world's largest carnivore: the Polar Bear. The rise in tourism is bringing unexpected prosperity to this bleak corner of the world and the bear, the star attraction, has become a welcome presence. |
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Program 13 THE ARCTIC FUTURE This final episode draws conclusions from the series. Can the Arctic, its delicate balance threatened on many fronts, be saved before it is too late? |
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www.brandoquilici.com - Copyright © 2002 Brando Quilici - All rights reserved | |
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