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is just as important in the oceans.

It's summer,

and the humpback whales

are in their breeding grounds

in the tropics

This calf is only a few weeks old,

and, like any newborn,

he needs a little help.

His mom holds him up to the surface

so he can breathe more easily.

These shallow waters are great

for raising kids.

They're warm and calm,

with few predators to speak of.

The playful calf is now drinking

150 gallons of milk a day,

but Mom is starving.

In these crystal-clear waters,

there's nothing for her to eat.

To find food, she must lead her calf

to richer feeding grounds

at the southern extremes of our planet.

It's the longest migration

of any marine mammal.

Out in the open ocean,

the whales hit rush hour on the high seas.

Dolphins close in on their prey.

A hundred sailfish join in the attack.

Reaching almost 70 miles an hour,

they are the cheetahs of the sea world.

The seas are churning now,

and the going is slow.

Mom and her calf have to swim south

across half the globe

to reach their destination: Antarctica.

The tropics are hundreds of miles

behind them

as they head into stormy seas.

Winds and currents

pull nutrients from the deep,

and life blooms wherever the rays

of the sun can penetrate.

To our whale calf on her first trip,

this is all brand-new.

So far, their journey has been safe

and far away

from the dangerous predators

who roam the high seas,

at least until now.

The great white shark,

the largest predatory fish on the planet.

Late summer in the Arctic,

and the ice is melting fast.

Mom and her two cubs

have had a hard time on the shifting ice,

and she's forced

to lead the hungry cubs back to shore.

Their dad has it even worse.

He's wandered miles from land,

and the ice is too thin to support him.

He's in danger of being stranded

in the frigid water,

and, if he doesn't act fast,

he could be lost at sea.

The glacial runoff pours from the land

to mix with seawater

and speed up the thaw.

Time is running out.

The father is starving

and trying everything

just to stay upright on the ice.

Each year, as our planet warms,

there is less and less ice in the Arctic.

It's a disaster for polar bears.

Without a hunting platform,

he'll struggle to survive.

Mom and her calf forge ahead

through treacherous seas.

They're nearly 3,000 miles

from the tropics now,

and the winds are blowing hard.

The calf and her mom

slap their fins on the water

to stay in close contact with each other.

The calf can hear her mom

above the roar of the ocean.

It keeps her calm

and on course during the storm.

The frozen beauty

of the Southern Ocean.

It's October,

and here in the southern hemisphere

that means summer is on its way,

and life returns.

Adlie penguins, and they're in a hurry

to reach their nesting grounds.

You may not know this,

but they're one of the few animals

with a built-in toboggan.

December,

and here in the southern extremes

of our planet,

the sun does not set.

The Antarctic summer is short,

but, for a few brief moments,

the sun's warmth unlocks frozen bays.

In the depths, something stirs.

They've made it.

At last, after a 4,000-mile journey,

our calf and her mom have arrived,

joined by their friends.

They celebrate

by dining on their favorite food, krill,

shrimp that begin to swarm here

as soon as the ice retreats.

Mom and her calf

can finally eat their fill.

The whales use a fishing technique

that's been handed down

through generations.

They blow bubbles

while swimming in circles

to create a bubble net.

The net encircles the krill

and pulls them in.

Then the whales swim up

through the bubble net,

swallowing thousands of krill

in one gulp.

In a few months, the summer will fade,

and it'll be time for the long swim home.

Winter in Antarctica,

and the greatest seasonal change

on our planet is underway.

The sun begins to retreat,

and soon the continent

will be plunged back into darkness.

And the penguins?

Well, don't feel sorry for them.

They have front-row seats

for the most amazing light show on Earth:

The aurora australis.

In the north of our planet,

back where our story began,

the sea ice is almost gone.

It's the cubs' dad,

and he is in desperate trouble.

Hunger has driven him far out to sea

to search for seals

among the remaining fragments of ice.

He seems at home in the water,

but he's exhausted.

If he doesn't find land soon

in this vast ocean,

he will drown.

After many days at sea,

the exhausted bear pulls up on shore

at this pungent public beach.

He's lost half his body weight

and now is desperate for food.

But a walrus is much larger

than his usual prey.

It's the pups he'll have to get to,

but the powerful adults

can inflict fatal damage with their tusks.

The walrus sense danger

and close ranks around their young.

He tests the barrier, but it stands firm.

He may be

the world's biggest land carnivore,

but he's met his match here,

and he's clearly weakened

by his ordeal at sea.

A pup tries to hide behind her mother.

If he can just pry her off.

Now the herd is fleeing to the water,

and there's no time left.

He tries again and again,

in sheer frustration.

Their tusks strike like knives,

and he must avoid them at all cost.

The walrus flee on all sides,

forcing him to a choice

he didn't want to take:

to attack in the water.

But it slips from his weakened grasp.

He gambled and lost.

He would never have attacked

such dangerous prey

had he not been so starved

and desperate.

The walrus are calm again.

The bear is no longer a threat.

But unable to feed,

the cubs' father cannot survive.

Wind and rain and fire and ice

have come and gone.

A year has passed, and the cubs

are old enough to be on their own.

They've left their mother

and are thriving.

Their father's brave spirit

will always live on in their young hearts.

Like all of our children,

they are the hope of the future

and proof of the resilience of life

in this place we all share.

Yes, it's full of harsh realities,

but sometimes it's just paradise.

I've never been in anything

like this before,

and, of course, I'm slightly nervous of it.

Partly because it's basically a deck chair

with a balloon on top,

and partly because I can see

where my head's gonna be.

It's gonna be incredibly close

to that burner.

I do have a fear of heights.

I mostly have a fear of falling through them

onto the ground.

But I think I'm happy with this.

It's got a little seatbelt and everything.

Set for takeoff.

Oh, finally, they're off.

Yeah?

- Say when.

- Pan.

Keep it locked.

I'll just go check the window.

Hang on. He's coming back that way.

This is just a bit of a problem when

we get bears as close as this to the cabin.

Day one.

Day one.

A bear outside the cabin.

Oh, hang on.

Polar bear at 11 o'clock.

- There he is. Keep going.

- I got him.

They got him.

Big old bear.

- He's awesome.

- That's fantastic.

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