- 23 hours ago
In the southeastern parts of Alaska, there is an ice-bound Eden that harbours possibly the richest temperate rainforests of all.
阿拉斯加东南部东临冰川与群山，西濒大洋，是地球上仅存的几片壮丽荒野之一。正如这部由海伦娜·伯翰·卡特（Helena Bonham Carter）担任旁白的精彩旅行纪录片所呈现的那样，这里也是全球最大温带雨林的一部分。生活于此的各类生灵——包括狼、熊和鲸——必须在严冬降临之前，充分利用那物产丰饶的夏季时光。
阿拉斯加东南部东临冰川与群山，西濒大洋，是地球上仅存的几片壮丽荒野之一。正如这部由海伦娜·伯翰·卡特（Helena Bonham Carter）担任旁白的精彩旅行纪录片所呈现的那样，这里也是全球最大温带雨林的一部分。生活于此的各类生灵——包括狼、熊和鲸——必须在严冬降临之前，充分利用那物产丰饶的夏季时光。
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:16In Southeast Alaska, where the coastal mountains meet the Pacific,
00:22lies the Alexander Archipelago, a remote island chain.
00:30Running for almost 300 miles along the Alaskan panhandle,
00:39defended by ramparts of rock and ice to the east,
00:46with 3,000 miles of ocean to the west.
00:52This frozen frontier is one of the last great wildernesses of North America.
01:03This is part of the largest temperate rainforest on Earth.
01:10And a stronghold for the country's highest diversity of megafauna.
01:27Feasting on the abundance of fleeting summers to make it through relentless winters.
01:35Both big and small live here in perfect balance.
01:47Their worlds connected in surprising and intricate ways that allow each of them to thrive.
02:05There are still places on Earth that remain pristine,
02:11where wildlife flourishes.
02:16These are the last regions that could be called Eden.
02:39For six months of the year, North America's icy mountain realm is gripped by winter.
02:50With the arrival of spring, life stirs once more.
02:57As the world's largest population of grizzly bears emerge from hibernation.
03:10A mother with hungry cubs must hurry.
03:14To make the most of brief times of plenty.
03:19In this unspoiled, untamed land.
03:42In spring, the best feeding opportunities can be found where it's milder, along the coast.
03:54Telltale footprints signal the arrival of newly emerged grizzly bear families.
04:05After six months of hibernation, this female and her cubs are in need of a protein hit.
04:19Twice a day, low tide exposes a seafood smorgasbord.
04:35A fresh fish looks tasty.
04:40But defensive spines mean it's probably best avoided.
04:52Betrayed by their squirts, the real prize is the butter clam.
05:01Surprisingly delicate paw work prevents the clam digging deeper.
05:09Now, add brute force.
05:17Au revoir.
05:19A clam canapé.
05:30But when you smell a clam.
05:34and can't find it.
05:42It can be frustrating.
05:51But if you copy mum's technique,
05:56it should work.
06:06Or you could just use your teeth.
06:10But there may be some shell in that.
06:24But bears patrol the coast
06:26in search of something other than food.
06:35His cowboy swagger
06:37denotes a dominant male.
06:41All 700 pounds of him.
06:57And he's keen to kick off the breeding season.
07:05But a mother with yearling cubs
07:07is in no mood to mate.
07:24A grizzly can hit a top speed
07:26of around 35 miles an hour.
07:37Males may kill cubs
07:39to bring a female into season.
07:47But all that muscle mass
07:52makes it hard
07:53to keep up the pace.
08:08With this over-eager male
08:10safely out of reach,
08:14the young family
08:15can make the most
08:20of this Eden's other
08:23spring feeding ground.
08:32Sedgegrass meadows.
08:41While the succulent shoots
08:43provide few calories,
08:45they'll tide a hungry bear over.
08:57even the cubs
08:58are happy
08:59to eat their greens.
09:07But they still prefer
09:09mum's milk.
09:14She'll nurse them
09:15for nearly two years.
09:22all the while teaching them
09:24the dangers
09:25and rewards
09:27that come
09:29with this bountiful Eden.
09:50triggered by spring sunshine.
09:55The first boom in productivity
10:00takes place offshore
10:05as a vast injection
10:07of protein
10:09turns the waters
10:11a milky white
10:14with herring spawn.
10:20Hundreds of millions of fish
10:22gather in the shallows
10:24to breed.
10:29each henfish
10:30releasing 20,000 eggs.
10:39For resident Stella's sea lions,
10:42it's the first great feeding
10:44opportunity of the year.
10:52Flying 9,000 miles,
10:54one of the longest bird migrations,
10:57tens of thousands of red knots
11:00arrive from South America
11:04to take advantage
11:06of a feast.
11:11That's also the cue
11:13for marine megafauna.
11:23It's one of the greatest gatherings
11:25of whales
11:26on the planet.
11:4045 foot long grey whales.
11:50Mothers with newborn calves
11:53have navigated 6,000 miles
11:56from Baja, Mexico.
11:59The longest seasonal journey
12:02of any mammal.
12:06But it's worth it.
12:09In vast mouthfuls of fatty roe
12:12and krill,
12:13each consumes
12:15more than a tonne a day.
12:23And so the smallest creatures here
12:28sustain the biggest.
12:39enabling grey whale calves
12:41to put on a third
12:42of their adult body weight
12:44before their autumn return
12:47to the south.
13:02In spring,
13:04life also stirs
13:05in this pristine forest
13:07that crowds the shoreline.
13:11Covering 70 million acres,
13:14roughly the size
13:15of West Virginia,
13:18it's part
13:19of the largest tract
13:21of temperate rainforest
13:23on earth.
13:28Bathed in 100 inches
13:31of rain a year,
13:36each 700-year-old spruce
13:39may carry 500 pounds
13:42of moisture-loving lichen,
13:44mosses and ferns
13:46on its branches.
13:55It's one of the last places
13:57in North America
14:01where prey
14:04and predators
14:06exist in equilibrium.
14:17Early migrants,
14:19like rufous hummingbirds,
14:21arrive.
14:22The climate here
14:24is perfect
14:25for sap-rich trees
14:27to grow.
14:30So,
14:31it's worth
14:31a 4,000-mile journey.
14:34They refuel
14:35on the sugary resin
14:38before pairing up
14:40to breed
14:40in this most northerly
14:42of all hummingbird habitats.
14:49Yet life here
14:51is built
14:52built on superficial foundations.
14:56In some places,
14:57ice fields
14:58only retreated
14:59in the last 200 years.
15:03So the soil
15:04is still shallow
15:05and nutrient-poor.
15:09But this Eden
15:10has an answer.
15:12Its intricate connections
15:13between species...
15:19as revealed
15:20under the magical display
15:22of the Aurora Borealis.
15:50flying squirrels
15:52emerge
15:52from their tree hollows.
15:54in search
15:55of a mate.
15:57With spring in the air,
15:59this young male
16:00sniffs the breeze.
16:03From a neighboring tree
16:06drifts the heady aroma
16:08of a receptive female.
16:18He eagerly sets off
16:20to track her down.
16:30For a flying squirrel,
16:33gliding
16:34is the perfect way
16:36to get around
16:37this 100-foot-high canopy.
16:51In a matter of seconds,
16:54the scent source
16:54has been located.
16:57She's just come into season.
17:02but she's playing
17:04hard to get.
17:08He'll have to prove
17:09he's a worthy partner.
17:17If he can't keep up,
17:19he's not worth the effort.
17:39If he can't keep up,
17:51but just when it looks like a match
17:54made in heaven,
17:56she decides that he's failed
17:58to make the grade.
18:09yet the intoxicating scent
18:12of female
18:12is still in the air.
18:17He must find
18:19this fun for Dao.
18:23The lower he gets,
18:24the more enticing
18:25it becomes.
18:33Desperately digging,
18:35this confused Lothario
18:36thinks he's found
18:38the mother of all mates.
18:42But his consolation prize
18:44is a white truffle?
18:48The furtive fungus
18:50emits an odor
18:52that mimics
18:53female pheromones.
19:03The truffle
19:05tricks him
19:06into solving
19:07the biggest problem
19:08for this mineral-starved
19:10forest.
19:16When a squirrel
19:16carries a prized truffle
19:18to the treetops,
19:21its spores
19:22are dispersed
19:23far and wide.
19:29As they germinate,
19:31they help form
19:32a vast underground web
19:34of fungal filaments.
19:39Effectively,
19:40extending
19:41the range
19:42of tree roots.
19:46Enabling them
19:47to extract
19:48enough nutrients
19:49to allow
19:51these great forests
19:53to flourish.
20:09by early summer,
20:10long hours of daylight
20:14promote a flush of growth
20:20across the archipelago's
20:22coastal meadows.
20:29But for grizzly bear families,
20:35high-calorie food
20:37is scarce.
20:41And aggressive males
20:43must be avoided.
20:53so some head
20:55inland.
20:57So some head inland.
21:04To secluded rivers
21:06in the heart
21:08in the heart
21:09of the forest.
21:12This young mother
21:14has just the one cup.
21:21His siblings
21:22may have been taken
21:24by a male.
21:29but she has led him
21:31to a place
21:31where he will be safe
21:35and females gather
21:37to feed in peace.
21:49Most are related
21:50and all have the own
21:53to feed.
22:02But for now,
22:03they must wait.
22:15Downstream,
22:17along Alaska's
22:187,000-mile seaboard,
22:26half-a-billion
22:28Pacific salmon.
22:36Among the largest
22:37concentrations
22:38in the world.
22:48after four years
22:50of fattening up
22:51at sea.
22:54Some may swim
22:562,000 miles upstream.
23:00Upstream.
23:03Upstream.
23:05Upstream.
23:06Upstream.
23:08Upstream.
23:09Upstream.
23:10Before spawning
23:11in the very
23:12upriver pool
23:14in which
23:14they were born.
23:21A rich reward
23:22for the eager bear's.
23:35Unfortunately
23:36for this young mother
23:37and cub. All the prime fishing spots are taken by the older, more experienced
23:52females. So she leads her cub upstream, away from the competition.
24:29But there's a reason they have this place to themselves. Rapids.
24:58For the cub, it's a brutal baptism. But the inexperienced mother coaxes him straight back in.
25:48Her desperation to feed overrides her own
25:52perch, to protect her cub.
25:59But fortune favors the brave.
26:37Finally, the ravenous cub gets a first taste of salmon.
26:50Over the next five months that the salmon will run, grizzly bears will eat up to 100 pounds
26:58a day. That's over 50,000 calories.
27:11And this cub will have the rest of the summer to master the art of fishing.
27:22Got it.
27:37It's not just the bears that benefit from this mass migration.
27:44To avoid a catch from being stolen, the woods offer private dining.
27:59With the fatty head preferred to everything else, leftovers litter the forest floor.
28:13From half a mile away, fishy fumes are picked up.
28:22By the sensitive antennae of an inch long, indispensable insect.
28:33The burying beetle.
28:36The burying beetle.
28:53This male has two things in mind.
29:00Fresh meat.
29:02Fresh meat.
29:02And a mate.
29:07Battles establish breeding rights.
29:13They're brief, but brutal.
29:21Then, living up to their name.
29:28The new couple proceeds to dig the salmon a grave.
29:44In the safety of their cozy crypt, the fresh corpse provides a feast for a newly hatched brood of larvae.
30:02And there will be plenty of surplus fish to fertilize the surrounding soil.
30:14In a soccer field-sized area, there can be as much as three tons rotting underground.
30:27Known as fish trees, spruces grow three times faster along these rivers.
30:39It's possibly the largest transfer of nutrients between water and land anywhere on Earth.
30:50Because of the salmon, the entire forest prospers.
31:13It's autumn.
31:19The long days and short months of summer brought with them great riches.
31:32But now, animals that can depart will soon be journeying south.
31:48Yet for some, this is the time to secure your bloodline.
32:10Crowned by antlers spanning six feet or more.
32:18And weighing around 40 pounds, a 1,500-pound moose proclaims dominion over his realm.
32:43This antler-free female, and the five or so others in his harem, will stick around as long as he's
32:53the best bull on offer.
32:59Younger males go head-to-head, honing their combat skills.
33:09Though without the impressive headgear and imposing physique, they only have a 10% chance of mating.
33:23But one male is willing to try his luck.
33:34At five years old, he's almost fully grown.
33:39But he'll never be a mighty moose.
33:58To win over a female, he needs a different game plan.
34:05From a discreet distance, he closely observes what it takes to be Maine Moose.
34:15The females are in season for less than two days.
34:21But the dominant male has a mood-enhancing move that guarantees romance.
34:33He scrapes a shallow pit and urinates into it.
34:51It contains potent pheromones that bring females into season.
35:02They find the aroma so intoxicating, they can't resist a roll.
35:11Ah, so that's how it's done.
35:13Ah, so that's how it's done.
35:42...anointing himself in the musky pea.
35:48This young pretender seizes his chance.
36:12With the help of the Alfa's aroma, he gets the come on he's been dreaming of.
36:22Under the nose of the moose monarch, she leads the cheeky youngster off to mate, proving
36:35that the smartest moose isn't always the one with the biggest antlers.
37:03As autumn gives way to winter, temperatures plummet.
37:10To minus four degrees Fahrenheit.
37:17While most rivers are now locked in ice, the chill cat continues to flow throughout November.
37:38Heated to 45 degrees by thermal springs.
37:46It supports one of Alaska's last salmon runs.
37:54Offering one final feeding bonanza.
38:06For America's national bird.
38:13The bald eagle.
38:19Over 4,000 stop off here in the largest gathering on earth.
38:29To fuel up on salmon ahead of their migration south.
38:46For a young eagle, this is the first true test of survival.
38:56Every catch is ferociously contested by adults much bigger than him.
39:07But to make the journey ahead, he needs to bulk up.
39:21To avoid serious injury, disputes are settled by locking needle sharp, two-inch long talons.
39:39He moves in on the unguarded carcass.
39:56Only for it to be snatched away.
40:20At dusk, eagles retreat to the safety of the treetops.
40:39They may have one of the most acute daytime eyesight in the animal kingdom.
40:47But in the dark, they're virtually blind.
40:54On the ground, they could easily be ambushed by nocturnal predators.
41:00Like a coyote.
41:03But night may also offer an opportunity to feed.
41:17Under the safety of darkness, a mother grizzly leads her two cubs to the river's edge.
41:27Brown bears have a membrane in the back of their eyes that reflects light within the lens.
41:35Giving them excellent night vision.
41:42While the cubs amuse themselves,
41:46Mum gets on with a serious business of fishing.
41:52Time to solve the sameaga and mounting can beüm değil misin?
42:04Hmm...
42:08...
42:09...
42:25With the coast clear, the daring youngster makes his move.
42:41Profiting on the leftovers.
42:50While almost three quarters of fledglings die in their first year, this wily eagle has found
43:07a way to gain the strength he needs to escape the Alaskan winter.
43:28These late salmon runs are vital to grizzly bears right across Northern America.
43:40As temperatures drop to minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit, icicles adorn their fur.
43:53So they're known here by the First Nations as ice bears.
44:17Every salmon increases the chance of surviving the long winter hibernation.
44:27But across Southeast Alaska, the predictability of the salmon run has been thrown into doubt.
44:35The damming of rivers, logging, pollution and climate change could mean this entire habitat
44:45is at risk.
44:52On this fragile planet, home to nearly eight billion people, the threat to remaining wilderness
45:02grows ever greater.
45:07But if we take steps to keep our world safe, enriched by natural wonders, its exquisite symmetry,
45:26kept in balance by intricate relationships, these last frontiers will remain forever Eden.
46:18The Eden team spent a year braving the freezing
46:22conditions of southeast Alaska in one of the most remote and pristine wildernesses left in North America.
46:35With new technologies, they were able to reveal the hidden lives of its exceptional wildlife.
46:44From the miniscule to its mighty megafauna.
46:51But the team's biggest challenge was to capture the intimate story of bear families on their quest to find food
47:01along Alaska's coastline.
47:09In spring, camera operator Luke Barnett set sail for Admiralty Island in the Alexander Archipelago.
47:24Accompanied by bear expert Bjorn Dealer.
47:30And their timing is impeccable.
47:34Just arrived at our filming location, and there's a mother with two cubs on the beach.
47:39Bjorn recognises us, she's 26 years old.
47:41It's so amazing to see them, day one.
47:44In this remote wilderness, the crew will have to be entirely self-sufficient.
47:53Setting up camp in bear country, rule number one is to cache any food high up in a tree away
48:01from sensitive noses.
48:03And erect an electric fence to deter any surprise visitors.
48:09So right now it's on, and it emits a small jolt every second.
48:16It's really not that bad.
48:19That was more just me being a wimp than anything else.
48:22But it scares the heck out of bears.
48:27The team heads for the coastal meadows, where mothers with cubs gather to feed each spring.
48:35Coming around the corner.
48:37Bjorn's normally the strong, silent type, and he's talking a lot on this trip.
48:40And that's just so we don't surprise the bears who think another bear's come around the corner and they charge
48:45us.
48:46It quickly becomes clear that this is far from a peaceful scene.
48:51One thing I have noticed about the bears is they spend a lot of their time looking quite anxious,
48:57and they're always looking about for other bears, especially the females.
49:00And the males are always looking to antagonize other males.
49:04Newly emerged from hibernation, the 700-pound male grizzlies are ravenous, eager to mate, and highly territorial.
49:15It's incredibly daunting.
49:17Having filmed predators all around the world, I've only ever approached them in a vehicle before.
49:22So you've got that armor around you.
49:24It's the biggest lamb predator here.
49:27And it can move at speeds of up to 35 miles an hour.
49:30And the only thing I have to stop them essentially is some kind of bear spray.
49:35Quite scary at times.
49:37Respecting bears and learning to read their behavior can avoid conflict.
49:42Now we've got a big male bear about 30 meters away from us.
49:47It's kind of looking at anything that moves as a potential competitor or as a potential maid.
49:54Bjorn tells Luke to face the bear, stand his ground.
49:58Should we back up?
50:00Nope.
50:02And talks to it calmly.
50:03You're okay.
50:05You're okay.
50:07Um, if he keeps us here, we're gonna have some issues.
50:10I've never had an adult male do this.
50:19After a tense standoff, the male grizzly finally moves away.
50:28Over the next few weeks, the team's perseverance is rewarded with intimate encounters from a young mother with cubs.
50:38So these bears are getting pretty close now, which is a great sign for the filming.
50:43But the mother's probably due to come into season at any moment now.
50:48And that'll bring the males in so everything could change.
50:50And those cubs could be in for a little bit of a shock.
50:54It doesn't take long for Luke's concerns to become a reality.
51:01A huge and scarred male grizzly approaches.
51:06This big bear, it's got a big cut on its head.
51:09It's been fighting a potentially very angry bear.
51:14Everything's fine when I look through the viewfinder, so I'll just carry on doing that for a little bit later.
51:23While still on the lookout for amorous males, Mum takes the cubs to the beach for a day of clamming.
51:32It was pretty intense.
51:33The mother and cubs came down, and they were so close.
51:36And they started huffing a little bit.
51:38I can't tell how far away she is from the viewfinder, but I knew when I took the lens as
51:42wide as it would go,
51:43and there was still a very big bear in frame that she was pretty close.
51:48While a protective mother with cubs can pose a threat, as time passes, the team gain her trust.
51:57We've been watching this female for the last eight days, and I've known her for 12 years.
52:01And we don't approach her. We let her kind of do what she wants to do.
52:06But it may take Luke a little longer to be completely at ease.
52:12We have to hold our position, but it was a little bit nerve-wracking.
52:16It was great to have Bjorn with me, because he was talking to the bears, just telling them what we
52:20were doing.
52:21Half the time I thought he was talking to me, telling me to calm down, but I think he was
52:24generally talking to the bears.
52:25Then they chilled out completely, and got the mother digging out a clam in full frame.
52:31And the cubs have learned that behavior as well, so that was amazing to see.
52:34That intimate moment, that's going to stick with me.
52:40The grizzly bear's fearsome reputation has contributed to their persecution.
52:46In southeast Alaska, about 2,000 brown bears get shot by sports hunters every year.
52:51And it's like less than one person will die from a brown bear every year.
52:57While Luke maintains a healthy respect for these formidable predators, he has also experienced a gentler side.
53:10This place is pretty special. It's a real sanctuary for the bears.
53:13And it's really lovely to be able to come somewhere where they're not hunted,
53:16and they just go about their lives when we get to see them do that.
53:22As long as Admiralty Island remains protected,
53:26and the wilderness of the Alexander Archipelago can be preserved,
53:32this will remain the greatest stronghold for brown bears on Earth.
53:55We also have to be able to reach the möglichst few of the animals.
53:55It's remembering that the climate are not the most important in our lives.
53:56But, after the Earth of the Earth,
53:56the planet is not the same,
53:57it's responsible for making us all the laws of the land.
53:57And that we can't believe that the animals of the animals that are not the ones that are looking for.
53:57It's the same.
53:58After all, the animals are not until the animals that are not the animals that are very large.
54:00And the animals that are just the animals that are left.