00:00Welcome to the National Geographic Explorer. For the next 10 days, we'll be exploring one of the most pristine locations in the planet, Antarctica.
00:25Antarctica is not only pristine, but it's wild, it's inaccessible, and human beings have been able to alter its ecosystem.
00:34We are here to explore and fully understand what is Antarctica all about.
00:40Now you have to multiply what you see above water by about eight, seven or eight, so that's what's below water.
00:55We think it's unbelievable!
01:06If you look outside, it's definitely a rough scene.
01:10It looks like it's building up.
01:20And hold on!
01:22Let's put it in there.
01:26That's about a big one.
01:40We are in the Drank Passage.
01:55Hula is in the middle of it.
01:57And yeah, we will have this for about another 20 hours or so.
02:10This is what it is sometimes, the Drank Passage.
02:22It could be worse.
02:24If the prediction has been worse, we have been waiting.
02:26It would be a good challenge.
02:28The wave height is about eight meters or so.
02:43Some here and there can be up to ten.
02:46That was also already predicted.
02:48It is a good visibility and the seabirds here.
02:51This is fine, actually.
02:53It's not so bad.
02:58Oh, actually it's beautiful.
03:11It wouldn't be a trip across this passage without this.
03:15But it's most enjoyable and just, to some it's peaceful.
03:22To me it's peaceful.
03:23Woo Verantwortung
03:26Shot
03:28Get out of here.
03:30Multi-lone
03:31Are you scared?
03:32Here it is?
03:33For a while
03:34Embry
03:36There is more Wrang
03:40To you
03:42Go
03:43Yo
03:44Go
03:46Go
03:47Go
03:49Go
03:50Go
03:51Go
03:52If South
03:52Is she left already?
04:22Hi everybody, welcome to Antarctica, your first landing, excellent.
04:38After a somewhat bumpy transit of the Drake Passage, we've arrived in the South Shetland
04:43Islands, just off the Antarctic Peninsula.
04:45Our first landing here in South Shetland is a place called H.O. Island, like the letters
04:51of H.O. And in fact, it stands for the Hydrographic Office.
04:54It's just, it's sort of a little otherworldly, to be honest.
04:59It's, I don't know, I'm sort of breathless.
05:04I mean, I can't really explain it.
05:05It's quite amazing.
05:06It's a wonderful place for a first landing.
05:09There are two kinds of penguins nesting here, gentoos and chin straps.
05:14And they're really busy at their nesting behavior at the moment.
05:17They've come ashore, they've built their nests.
05:19Most of them are incubating eggs now.
05:22In the summer season here in the Antarctic, the penguins have to move, move, move to get
05:26their young eggs hatched, fed and mature in time for them to go to sea before the winter.
05:34So it's a busy, busy time for penguins and a great time for us to visit.
05:48So today we're getting a chance to look at our very first elephant seals.
05:52These elephant seals, they're one of the largest of the pinnipeds or the seals that we have
05:59down in this area.
06:01And they're on the beaches on the island here because they're molting.
06:04They're getting rid of their skin.
06:07They're prepping themselves for the long summer and then into the winter.
06:11And because the breeding seasons are over.
06:17So elephant seals here in the South Shetland Islands on their very first day here in Antarctica.
06:24It is tremendous.
06:46When you say no words, can I express it?
06:51I just think that it truly is magnificent from the geological part of it to the naturalists.
06:58It's just been tremendous all trip has and I'm sure it will continue to be.
07:15I just think that it will continue to be.
07:36We're at the tip of the Tabarine Peninsula, and my feet are standing on the Antarctic
07:59continent.
08:00In principle, I could walk from here to the South Pole, but I'm not going to do it because
08:05I would miss lunch, or actually a good distance away.
08:09But it is absolutely one of my very most favorite places to visit the penguins.
08:15Right behind me, we've got this dense aggregation, the urban penguins, the Adelis.
08:21They seem to be now on two eggs.
08:23It looks like most of the nests are completed, hasn't been very muddy.
08:27The eggs are clean, the penguins are clean, that's a good thing, and we have a chance
08:33to sit and watch the penguin behavior.
08:38There it goes, with an egg, with an egg.
08:56Watch the skua, skua's just snatched an egg from the colony.
09:02So, I've been watching the Adelis penguins.
09:17So, I've been watching the Adelie penguins and the Gentoo penguins, and they actually
09:35all get along, which is just fascinating to me, and I love watching them sit on the edge
09:41of the water to see when they can go in and get some food before the leopard seals come.
09:47And it's just very zen and absolutely stunningly ethereal here.
09:53It's like being on a whole other planet.
10:11There's a sense of isolation, a sense of calm, kind of a spiritual nature to the landscape.
10:38It's, you know, prehistoric, and it's awe-inspiring, to say the least.
10:43It'd be cool if that big chunk here fall off.
10:47Go up there and give it a nudge, because it's sometime going to fall.
10:52Look at that crack in that baby.
10:55Welcome to Adelie country, also known as the Weddell seaside of the Antarctic Peninsula.
11:13And here on Pollitt Island, we're in the midst of what could be as many as 150,000 pairs of
11:20nesting Adelie penguins. The last census was of 2012, and those numbers could be growing,
11:27in fact, so we could be well known of 200,000 pairs of Adelie penguins here.
11:32But we'll just say there's at least 150,000 pairs of Adelie penguins, which as you can see,
11:39this is just a small fraction of this colony. This whole portion of the island is ringed with nesting Adelie penguins.
11:47And it's pretty much a constant din of noise to the Adelie penguins.
11:54That's sweet music of love. That is their courting call.
11:59That's a behavior that will last throughout the breeding season.
12:02At the beginning, it helps form the pair bond.
12:09And lets each other know that they're in it for the long haul.
12:12And as the season goes on, this calling will continue. It's a way of communication.
12:18It keeps the pair bond intact. And also, as the chicks are developing,
12:22they're learning the sound of their parents, as well as the parents learning the sound of the chicks.
12:28And right now, these birds are almost all on eggs. And they lay two eggs beginning of the breeding season.
12:35And they would arrive sometime in early October to this site.
12:401901, the Swedish Antarctic expedition was coming down under Otto Nordensgrud.
12:46Six men were dropped off at Snow Hill to the south of us to overwinter with the plan that the expedition ship the Antarctic
12:55under Captain Carl Anton Larson would come back the next summer to pick them up.
13:00The Antarctic, on its way down to pick them up, was stalled by ice and it sank.
13:05So Captain Larson and his 21 men had to make their way across the ice to here on Paulette Island.
13:13And they constructed this stone hut.
13:15And one of the first things they did was to kill a thousand penguins, stack them up, and that would be their food.
13:22What I find most poignant are the daily penguins here nesting on the walls of the hut.
13:30Because these could well be descendants of some of the thousand penguins that were killed to provide the food for the overwintering party in 1902.
13:44The penguins are incredibly cool. I mean, just watching the antics and then watching them care for the egg is also incredible.
13:51It's incredible.
13:52It's incredible.
13:53It's incredible.
13:55It's incredible.
13:57It's incredible.
13:58It's incredible.
13:59You have to know that it is only one of the most difficult객s like that, but it turns out.
14:01But, you say, it's so scary.
14:02I think that it's so scary.
14:03It's so scary.
14:04I think it's so scary.
14:05Yes.
14:06Help me.
14:07I think it's so scary.
14:08The next sentence you were with probably a child.
14:10I think it's so scary.
14:11Well, you seem to like it.
14:13I think it's really hard to have a lot of time to take a day when I'm in the blind to the drrs,
14:14but I think it's so scary.
14:16Oh, my God.
14:46This is the most beautiful life that you could hope for, and it's a good thing Lucho is encouraging everybody to come out and enjoy it. It is just, and it's incredible to be in the Waddle Sea, which not many people get to come into because of the ice. So, this is terrific. It really, really is.
15:13We think it's unbelievable.
15:17Cannot be topped.
15:19Not exactly. Extraordinary.
15:21Look out, the sun right now is reflecting off the water.
15:25I know, isn't that beautiful?
15:27Yeah, that's what I was getting.
15:29The light is indescribable, actually, but it's exceptionally beautiful.
15:35It's exceptionally beautiful.
15:37It's almost all over the world.
15:39It's understandable.
15:41You're welcome.
15:43It's unbelievable.
15:45It's unbelievable.
15:47Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, good morning.
16:14For those of you in group number 1, 2 and 3 and who signed up to go kayaking, you can
16:20make your way to the Macho Met Day Rover, this is your final call.
16:24Please remember to bring your life gifts from your parents and your key cards to sign out.
16:44Okay, so I just said fourth side on the boundaries, yes.
17:07Again, if you have any information on the left, please go to the left.
17:14I'm going to go to the right.
17:16I'm going to go to the left.
17:19I'm going to go to the right.
17:22I'm going to go to the right.
17:26Again, if you have any heart problems or any medical conditions, we do not recommend
17:41you to plunge.
17:46All right, people, cheer up for the plungers.
18:01Good job.
18:02That was awesome.
18:03One, two, three.
18:08Holy shit.
18:11I want to stand by home.
18:15That was one.
18:16I want to stand by home.
18:17I want to stand by.
18:18I want to stand by.
18:19I want to stand by.
18:20I want to stand by.
18:21I want to stand by.
18:22I want to stand by.
18:23It was amazing.
18:24It was super fun.
18:25Definitely the coldest I've ever been.
18:27Brrr!
18:28Hey, that was great.
18:29Let's do it again.
18:30Woo!
18:31Woo!
18:32Woo!
18:33Woo!
18:34Woo!
18:35Woo!
18:36Woo!
18:37Woo!
18:38Woo!
18:39Woo!
18:40Woo!
18:41Woo!
18:42Woo!
18:43Woo!
18:44Woo!
18:45Woo!
18:46Woo!
18:47Woo!
18:48Woo!
18:49Woo!
18:50Woo!
18:51Woo!
18:52Woo!
18:53Woo!
18:54Woo!
18:55Woo!
18:56Oh!
18:57Ah, look, look!
19:01Woo!
19:02Wow, let's make that happen!
19:04Thank you, enjoy it.
19:34So most people that come to Antarctica come for the wildlife, for the penguins,
19:39but I'm drawn by the ice and I think most people that come here, that's the
19:43resounding memory that they have when they walk away. Today we're in a place
19:47called Sierra Cove, a land jammed full of ice.
19:53There's glaciers pouring down from all the mountains surrounding us, there's
20:07icebergs floating in the water, the sound of bubbles popping, the sound of ice
20:11grinding against itself, it permeates this place and it's definitely the most
20:17magical part of Antarctica in my opinion.
20:23Now you have to multiply what you see above water by about eight, seven or
20:39eight, so that's what's below water, so there's much more mass and surface area down there,
20:43so it's the currents that are moving these guys around. So the dimples show that they
20:47flipped or rolled over at one point and while they were being pushed by the
20:51currents, the water is creating these dimples or these indentations, kind of like golf balls.
20:58You can have the hot chocolate as it is or you can add a little something. I have a
21:08name we have peppermint schnapps, Neijer's rum, James and whiskey or frangelico.
21:15Frangelico is a heisen that we can taste Nutella. Have a wonderful morning!
21:19Thank you very much!
21:21Enjoy the ice! Skål! Skål! Skål! Skål! Skål! Skål! Skål!
21:26Here we are enjoying our afternoon at Mickelson and we have some great looks at some Weddell seals.
21:33These are true seals which means they use their hind flippers for locomotion through the water and their foreflippers are mostly used for a little bit of
21:40rudder control maybe a little scratch here and there. Out of the water they're not the most glamorous they're kind of
21:47sort of Mao's drivefly but carl right there.
21:54Excited by
22:00through the water and their foreflippers are mostly used for a little bit of
22:02rudder control, maybe a little scratch here and there. Out of the water they're
22:07not the most glamorous they're kind of somewhat blubber slugs as we like to
22:12call them and they're laying about having a good rest.
22:30Thank you so much.
23:00He's on Muay Thai.
23:13I'm right here.
23:30Late last night, we were fortunate enough to come upon a pod of type A killer whales,
23:40and they had just completed a kill and were feeding on a minky whale.
23:49Oh, it's so beautiful.
23:54Join in the crowd.
23:58Besides the whales, we're getting a lot of great bird activity.
24:02It's like some great petrels, storm petrels and other birds,
24:07and we're just enjoying the evening and getting some great photos
24:11and seeing this action really take place.
24:13This is part of what the Antarctica food chain is all about,
24:17feeding on whatever it is that they killed to sustain their lives
24:21and keep on moving on, so it's a great opportunity.
24:24Yeah, could you see what they're fighting over?
24:27Yeah, I see.
24:30I love it. I love it. That was my dream. It came through.
24:40We had an opportunity to drop a zodiac and get more eye level with what was going on,
24:47and we were able to get some really incredible sound bites and footage underwater of these fascinating animals.
24:56The emotional animals, the animals, life, not life. It was fantastic.
25:15Unbelievable. It is just amazing. The weather, the animals, life, not life, fantastic.
25:25You just missed a good one.
25:45You just missed a good one.
26:15Early this morning, our captain brought the ship into the fast ice of Wilhelmina Bay.
26:44Quite an extraordinary experience for us all to have this opportunity to walk on ice.
26:50It's quite an Antarctic morning. We've got some fresh snow falling.
26:55All around us we have glaciers cascading down from the Forbidden Plateau here along the Danko Coast.
27:01And it's just an extraordinary morning.
27:04Oh, it's fabulous. You're having such a good time.
27:14Oh, it's fantastic. It's everything I imagined that Antarctica would be like and even more.
27:21It's not as freezing, but it's cold. But to be able to stand there and be feet from wildlife is incredible.
27:31And to watch the glaciation and the table ice and everything else is just an amazing experience.
27:37It is absolutely fantastic. It's absolutely magical.
27:59I haven't been so happy in all my life.
28:09I haven't been so happy in all my life.
29:03So, we're currently transiting through the La Mer Channel. This channel is very narrow, so we've got these peaks that tower up on either side of the ship and just make for absolutely stunning scenery.
29:16Today has been typical of Antarctic weather. We've had just about everything. We've had a glorious morning, then we went into cloud and a little bit of wind, and now look the way it's developing.
29:35I mean, it's just very changeable. You've got to make the most of it while you've got it.
29:39I don't believe it. It really is.
30:03Beautiful.
30:05Beautiful.
30:06I didn't expect him to go through this mess. It was spectacular.
30:13So, thank you.
30:17I don't know.
30:47Well, it's funny, I've spent a good chunk of my career over 20 years traveling to a
31:11lot of warm locations from the Caribbean to places like Costa Rica, the Indian Ocean, and this has been
31:21an incredibly unique experience for me. Just, you know, you hear about the beauty, you hear about
31:28the snow, the ice, the penguins, but when you see it for the first time in person, it's really
31:35overwhelming. It's unearthly, it's just truly unbelievable, and it's probably one of the most
31:40beautiful places I've ever been to on Earth.
31:50The experience here has been amazing. We sort of had a bucket list of things that we wanted to be able
31:54to do. To see the icebergs up close, walk amongst the penguins, and then the real highlight for
31:59my wife and I was to be able to watch the killer whales eating the remnants of their kill on the ship.
32:10The cold water down here breeds productivity, and with that comes all kinds of life, from sea stars
32:18and worms and invertebrates in general, all the way up the chain to whales. You have leopard seals,
32:25wettel seals, penguins, all kinds of creatures down here use the ocean as their main food source.
32:30I think a lot of the most special places on our planet today are in jeopardy for a number of
32:37reasons. When you look at the oceans, for example, half the coral reefs are in trouble. We're looking
32:44at a warming planet. We're looking at an ocean that's headed towards some significant changes from
32:50overfishing to ocean acidification. And when you come to places like this that are still wild,
32:57it really emphasizes the urgency of protecting areas before it's too late.
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