To the Arctic Page #2

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They all wanted to know

what made the cameras tick.

Next year we're coming back

with stronger cases.

Bears nearly always avoid people...

...which made filming them

next to impossible.

Then the team got lucky.

They found a mom with two cubs,

about 7 months old.

For five days, she never left their boat.

Because the sun never sets in the summer...

...bedtime is anytime.

we saw what a tough job this mother faces...

...protecting her babies

from male polar bears.

Hungry males prefer seals...

...but in a pinch, they have always

gone after defenseless cubs.

Even a half-ton male can be sneaky

when he's on the prowl.

The mother seemed to pick up

the scent of a male.

But we couldn't see him.

We didn't know why she was agitated.

We finally spotted a male quite a ways off...

...zeroing in on the mother and her cubs.

Now that seals are so hard to catch,

starving males...

...might be targeting cubs more often.

Before he got close, the male lost the scent.

But next time...

...things could be much different.

the mother everywhere, step-for-step.

But the female was more inquisitive.

When mothers go hungry...

...they're too lean to nurse

more than one cub...

...but this mother had enough milk

to nurse two.

She was always on alert.

If she caught the scent of a male...

...she'd hustle the cubs off to safety.

This mother fended off four attacks

in five days.

The moms have one thing going for them:

They're willing to die to protect their cubs.

Playful cubs can really work up an appetite.

Tasty seals may hide,

but hungry moms can sniff them out.

When you want to grab a bite to eat up here...

...timing is everything.

Peek-a-boo.

The cubs finish everything on their plate...

...but the scent of fresh seal meat

attracts attention.

Trouble always seems to...

...come along when you least expect it.

The mother leads her cubs away, downwind.

But the male picks up

the family's scent again.

We watch helplessly as the male sneaks up.

The mother senses danger, but from where?

The male outweighs the mother

two-to-one...

...but all that weight

doesn't slow him down one bit.

Once the huge male locks in on his target,

he never lets up.

The male keeps gaining on the family.

Then the mother turns to face him...

...slowing him down just long enough

for her frightened cubs to escape.

At the moment of truth,

the mother sent a very clear message:

"You can get to my cubs if you want...

...but you'll have to kill me first."

willing to do anything to protect her cubs.

But she's powerless to save the habitat

they need to survive.

There are few truly wild places left...

...and none so majestic as this.

But the Arctic is warming faster

than it has for thousands of years...

...and losing its dazzling crown of ice.

Arctic animals need ice to survive.

They live in a delicate balance

with the natural world...

...mothers most of all.

How could they live in a world without ice?

The mothers here nurture their young

so lovingly.

Perhaps they can inspire us...

...to protect their home with that same care.

Perhaps we can help keep the Arctic white.

The Arctic is one of the hardest places

on Earth to survive...

...but to a polar bear, it's paradise.

Cubs play and resilient mothers thrive.

It's the only home they'll ever have.

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