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00:00There are places in the world that have the power to change us.
00:03Antarctica, a stunning continent like no other.
00:09Julia Bradbury's Wonders of the Frozen South,
00:11brought to you by HX Expeditions.
00:17The Frozen South.
00:21Untamed, unforgiving, and awe-inspiring.
00:27The last true wilderness.
00:31I'm Julia Bradbury, join me on an epic adventure to the edge of the world.
00:37I'm setting sail on a 4,000-mile voyage.
00:41Wow! Look at this place!
00:43From the rugged beauty of the Falklands...
00:46And they are little rock stars, the way they look.
00:48Oh, I could just stay here for days watching this.
00:52..through the wilderness of South Georgia.
00:54This is what it sounds like to be surrounded by more than 100,000 king penguins.
01:01All the way to the great white continent, Antarctica.
01:07Look at this. Sideway snow, 30-mile-an-hour winds.
01:11There's a reason why humans don't live here.
01:15With close encounters of the wildest kind.
01:19Three whales servicing at the same time.
01:22Oh, thank you very much.
01:25What a show.
01:27I'll explore land.
01:29It is simply stunning.
01:32Sea.
01:33And look at this.
01:35And ice.
01:36Oh, look, it's breaking off!
01:37Oh, my gosh!
01:38Oh, my gosh!
01:39What a spectacle!
01:42It's just extraordinary!
01:44Wow!
01:49As I journey through this fragile ecosystem...
01:53We have to do all our best to protect the wonders that South Georgia has.
01:58It would be very sad if we lose images like this.
02:02I'll discover how these incredible animals survive and thrive
02:06in one of the planet's most hostile places.
02:09This is just heaven at the edge of the Earth.
02:22After 14 days at sea...
02:26Oh!
02:27Cape Petrels!
02:30Oh, they look so beautiful!
02:32Look at these!
02:33I'm approaching the vast white desert of Antarctica.
02:39A wondrous wilderness that few have truly explored.
02:45And the icebergs, this is it!
02:47We are getting closer and closer!
02:51My journey's taken me from the southern tip of Chile...
02:56..through the breathtaking Falkland Islands...
03:00..and onwards to the untamed paradise of South Georgia.
03:05Ahead of me lies the unforgiving Southern Ocean...
03:08..and my ultimate goal...
03:10..the frozen continent.
03:15Oh, wonderful!
03:21There, there, there's a blow!
03:22Yeah, a little blow!
03:24There it is, there it is!
03:24It's to the left of that larger iceberg.
03:32There are whales in these here waters.
03:36The Southern Ocean circles Antarctica...
03:39..sealing it off from the rest of the world.
03:43Conditions can be brutal.
03:45..and I want to discover how the wildlife of the frozen South...
03:49..survives these waters.
03:51The Southern Ocean is where more whales come to feed...
03:55..than any ocean in the world.
03:57So this is a really significant part of the journey...
04:01..because we're crossing the boundary...
04:03..of the Antarctic continental shelf.
04:06..so the waters are going from thousands of metres of depth...
04:10..to hundreds of metres of depth.
04:11..and what that's doing is it's pushing...
04:13..the iron and nutrient-rich water to the surface.
04:16..and that's what makes this such a superb fiending ground...
04:19..for the whales.
04:20..lots and lots of whales.
04:23..three whales surfacing at the same time.
04:26It really is one of the most amazing things to witness in your life.
04:33Oh, thank you very much.
04:35What a show.
04:39Much of the marine life here is dependent on melting ice.
04:43Drifting like nature's larder, slowly feeding the ocean.
04:48Out here, there's no fixed course.
04:51Huge blocks of ice can force expedition vessels
04:54..to slow, stop or completely change course.
05:01For HX Expedition's captain, Tarja Nilsson,
05:05..navigation is a constant negotiation.
05:09We're passing through an ice field area.
05:12Yep.
05:12So we try to circumnavigate, go around and then come back on track.
05:15Right, so we've got to go around the edge.
05:18Yeah, so now we are 90 degrees off
05:19and just looking for openings in the ice.
05:21It's always very demanding, standing here, hand-stirring.
05:25Why can't we just go straight?
05:27Yeah, I wish we could, yeah.
05:28As we can see outside now, the blue-white ice here.
05:32It's multiple years, so it's very hard.
05:36We don't want to hit that kind of hard ice.
05:39This would cause real damage?
05:40This would cause real damage.
05:42Right.
05:42It has a lot to do with speed and, of course, hardness.
05:46So this little one here?
05:47They could be like a can opener.
05:49They can be really sharp.
05:50Right.
05:51And if you come in with a high speed and hits the correct place,
05:55it could open a hole in the ship.
05:57So it's demanding.
05:58It is.
05:58And requires real focus from all of you here.
06:06This does feel like true Antarctica now.
06:09Oh, yeah.
06:09To be sailing through these icebergs.
06:12But look, there are some penguins on that iceberg.
06:14Yeah, there's one standing there.
06:15Oh, that's brilliant.
06:17Fantastic.
06:17But you can really feel we are heading into true Antarctica.
06:21Oh, yeah.
06:22That's for sure.
06:26There are countless frozen hurdles to overcome.
06:31But I've dreamt of experiencing this unique place up close my whole life.
06:39Out in this frozen desert, every landing is carefully assessed before anyone is allowed ashore.
06:47The expedition team goes in first to check ice, tides and potential hazards.
06:53Only then does the landing go ahead.
07:02When I close my eyes and I imagine what Antarctica looks like, this is what I see.
07:13And I'm on my way to set foot on land in Antarctica.
07:18But the frozen south doesn't give up its secrets easily.
07:23Going into this ice, it's called brash ice, and it's tricky to navigate.
07:28These broken chunks of ice collect in Antarctica's sheltered bays, making progress tough.
07:36Listen to that.
07:38I mean, if you heard that underneath your car on the road, you wouldn't be happy.
07:47We are literally crushing through the ice.
07:54Oh, massive, massive chunk we've just gone through and over there.
07:59We've carved it in half.
08:02The mountains are cloaked in loose, powdery snow.
08:05Hazards lie everywhere, making the expedition team's carefully mapped route the only safe way through.
08:12Step on the road?
08:13Yep.
08:15Watch your steps. It's slippery.
08:22On land.
08:26We're here.
08:27So it's been a long, long journey.
08:34Finally, we're on land.
08:40This is Orn Harbour, framed by snow, ice and granite peaks.
08:50Beneath this frozen blanket, the Antarctic Peninsula is remarkably mountainous,
08:55with peaks soaring up to 3,000 metres, rivaling ranges in the Rockies and the Alps.
09:03It's a tough climb.
09:05It really is.
09:08But it's just so beautiful.
09:12But look at that.
09:16This is what you hike for.
09:18You hike for views.
09:19And you hike to feel the fresh air in your lungs, and there couldn't be any fresher air.
09:25And there can't be a better view in the world than this.
09:30I'm climbing high up these steep, slippery slopes, hoping to catch a rare bird's eye view of the icy wilderness
09:38below.
09:39But every step brings its own challenge.
09:43You've basically got to find your technique.
09:47I like to sidestep into the snow and sort of get a bit of bite on my boot.
09:51You do not want to slip and fall.
09:54Because this is just, it's a black run in ski terms.
09:59And that's where you end up.
10:12I've had to put sunglasses on.
10:14So that I can actually see the snow.
10:17I was getting a bit snow blind.
10:24Wow!
10:27Look at this!
10:38Oh my goodness!
10:43Look at this place!
10:46Look at this place!
11:10It's otherworldly!
11:12Unimaginable!
11:13There are no superlatives to describe it.
11:16I can't wait to explore more.
11:25Antarctica, a stunning continent like no other.
11:29Julia Bradbury's Wonders of the Frozen South.
11:32Brought to you by HX Expeditions.
11:35Antarctica, a stunning continent like no other.
11:39Julia Bradbury's Wonders of the Frozen South.
11:42Brought to you by HX Expeditions.
11:52I'm exploring the frozen south.
11:55Sailing waters that circle the world's largest body of ice.
12:01It's difficult to comprehend the size of Antarctica, because normally when you're looking at a map it's just that tiny
12:05strip of white along the bottom.
12:08But here it is in all its glory.
12:10It's double the size of Australia and you could get 50 United Kingdoms in here.
12:17It's absolutely huge.
12:20Antarctica's ice fields are so vast, they reflect the sun's heat back into space, helping to cool the entire planet.
12:30Even in summer, blizzards still rage, turning landings into epic adventures.
12:43Antarctica is certainly living up to its reputation as one of the coldest and windiest places on Earth.
12:50In fact, it's not one of, it's the coldest and windiest place on Earth.
12:55But on the South Shetland Islands, life appears to thrive against the odds.
13:02Seals haul out on the icy beaches with thick blubber and finely tuned instincts to help them survive.
13:11And Gentoo penguins crowd the rocky shores, busy preparing their nests, whatever the weather.
13:18Today, look at this, sideways snow.
13:22It's minus one, 30 mile an hour winds.
13:26The windchill factor will be much more than that.
13:30This is the reason humans don't live here.
13:34Well, not many of them anyway.
13:41Even in these hard conditions, it's business as usual for the Gentoos.
13:46You can see this one heading back and forth with pebbles to take back to their nest.
13:51And he hasn't stopped.
13:53These penguins have evolved over thousands of years, developing a dense coat of waterproof feathers
13:59and a thick layer of blubber to keep them warm in the freezing cold.
14:04The pink underneath this gentoo's wings, well, that's actually their way of thermoregulating.
14:10Bizarrely, even in these incredibly harsh conditions, I'm freezing cold, but he is expelling heat.
14:22It's very humbling to be here with these animals that are so perfectly adapted to this incredibly hostile environment.
14:31And here I am, dressed from head to toe in my windproof, waterproof gear, desperately trying to stay warm.
14:38Antarctic animals have adapted brilliantly to survive extreme cold.
14:43Elephant seals are the largest seals on Earth and use their sheer size to reduce heat loss in freezing waters.
14:52That ring of blubber is perfectly insulating this elephant seal.
14:57And the other ingenious thing that they can do is they can hold their breath for up to 20 minutes
15:02at a time while they're on land.
15:04And that conserves their energy and prevents heat loss.
15:10And they're just carrying on with life another day in the Antarctic office.
15:21Humans have only been exploring Antarctica here at the bottom of the world for the last 150 years.
15:28The animals have existed and evolved for millions,
15:33which is what makes this precious ancient landscape so valuable.
15:41The genius of nature is also at work below the surface of the water,
15:46where microscopic organisms underpin the entire ecosystem.
15:52From the smallest penguins to the biggest whales,
15:55the Southern Ocean food web is powered by phytoplankton, invisible to the naked eye.
16:03I'm meeting marine scientist Zoe Walker in the ship's science centre
16:07to find out more about these tiny ocean powerhouses.
16:13We've concentrated some plankton into our samples here.
16:16This is the microscopic plankton that we're looking at.
16:19So what you're going to do is take your pipette, grab a little fresh water.
16:22Perfect. And then you can add some drops here.
16:25OK. Beautiful sample.
16:27Lovely. Look at that.
16:28Shall we put it under the microscope? Let us do that.
16:30So what can you see?
16:32You can see an entire forest in just a single drop of water.
16:36Take a look. Wait, are you ready to have your mind blown?
16:38I'm ready. I am ready. I'm ready.
16:43Wow.
16:44It looks like there are little letters, all those DNA codes in there.
16:49It's phenomenal to look at, isn't it?
16:53What is it? I mean, is it a plant? Is it an animal?
16:56So what we're looking at is called phytoplankton.
16:58The phytoplankton are the base of the food chain.
17:02And then there are other small creatures that eat that, which are eaten by slightly larger creatures,
17:07which are then eaten by maybe smaller fish, by medium sized fish, by big sized fish, by seals, by birds,
17:14by everyone else.
17:14So this is really where it builds up.
17:17That drifts around like little tiny plants in the sea.
17:20And it creates between 30 and 70 percent of oxygen on Earth comes from phytoplankton like this.
17:28That is a phenomenal fact.
17:31They look like tiny little beads and then hairs and then these just sort of fluffy things.
17:40These microscopic organisms use sunlight to produce energy, generating huge amounts of the oxygen that we breathe on Earth.
17:50There's an incredible diversity in the world of plankton.
17:53I mean, everyone knows what a tree is. Everyone knows the Amazon is important.
17:57But here we have the foundation of life on Earth.
18:01Without plankton, there is no other life really.
18:05It's just mind blowing.
18:11In the summer, these hidden wonders fuel krill, small fish and Antarctica's most iconic animals.
18:19In the maze of bays and fjords, penguins, seals and whales hunt largely unseen.
18:28Brown Station is an Argentine research base with an abundance of marine life nearby.
18:35And I'm heading out to try and find it.
18:40We're out on the zodiac for a bit of wildlife spotting.
18:44These are the moments when sometimes you can be exceptionally lucky if something pops up.
18:50And sometimes you sit here for hours, nothing pops up.
19:01Here they are, look, look.
19:04Penguins. Look at these guys.
19:08In these icy waters, chinstrap penguins dart and twist with incredible skill.
19:17They're going to be very strong.
19:18Propelling themselves through the water.
19:21While gentoos can leap clear out of the water to escape predators.
19:25These are some of the fastest, strongest swimmers in the penguin family.
19:31Very gentle movement into the water and then they are like torpedoes.
19:37You can see their feathers.
19:38They're very oily and tightly knitted so they can cut through the water.
19:42And the wings are very strong.
19:44So they use them for swimming and they use their feet as rudders.
19:50Take a seal.
19:52No, it definitely was a seal, not a whale shape.
19:56Looks like he's snorkeling.
19:59Antarctica is home to six different species of seal.
20:02Each relying on the continent's bays and inlets as key hunting grounds,
20:07where they feed on fish, squid and even penguins.
20:12But what I'm desperate to observe in the wild close up is a whale.
20:17A century ago, these waters were alive with them
20:20before hunting pushed many species to the brink of extinction.
20:24But humpback whales have made one of the most remarkable comebacks on the planet.
20:29So where is the whale?
20:35The patient's game.
20:41I've been out for three hours now, we still haven't seen a whale.
20:43We've seen some fantastic penguins, saw a seal head.
20:48But the elusive humpbacks are really playing hard to get.
20:53I've seen a couple of blows in the distance, but these guys can dive for 10, 15 minutes at a
20:58time.
20:59So you do need to be patient.
21:03Come on, Mr. or Mrs. Humback.
21:07With hunting long band, these vast feeding grounds now attract around 25,000 humpbacks every summer.
21:18Oh, oh, oh!
21:22And one of them is breaking cover.
21:25So we've got humpbacks.
21:28It's freezing cold, and I have to admit, I was giving up hope.
21:35To be so close is incredibly special.
21:41There!
21:44Now I'm greedy and I want to see more.
21:51This whole area is a feeding ground for the humpbacks. They're feeding on the krill.
22:01These are nutrient-rich, iron-rich waters.
22:05And they travel thousands of miles to come here for this.
22:15It's been wonderful to see the whales from the deck of the ship and in the distance.
22:25But to actually be in the same water in a zodiac with the humpback is an unbelievable experience.
22:36Whale! Whale! Whale! Tail!
22:40Oh!
22:43Oh!
22:50Antarctica, a stunning continent like no other.
22:54Julia Bradbury's Wonders of the Frozen South, brought to you by HX Expeditions.
23:15I'm in Antarctica, one of the least explored places on Earth.
23:19And its hidden depths are just as mysterious.
23:22We know less about some of the seafloor here than about the surface of the moon.
23:27The fishing line is being...
23:30..and it's hidden depths are just as mysterious.
23:30Released.
23:31What is this magnificent bit of kit, Mano?
23:33Well, this is an ROV, but basically it's an underwater drone.
23:37And is this one of the first times that this area has been explored with this type of equipment?
23:42Yes. We are expecting to find huge sponges.
23:45Dr Manuel Navillo is a marine biologist from Argentina,
23:50studying the wonders of life hiding on the ocean floor.
23:54You can find sponges that might have more than a hundred years old living down there.
23:59Yellow colours, orange colours, red colours.
24:02So it's really nice to explore these areas.
24:05Oh, look at that.
24:07Now sponges are incredible organisms, aren't they?
24:11Of course.
24:12And particularly these ones are gigantic ones.
24:15So here's another sponge, Julia.
24:17What a lovely colour.
24:19That's an orange one.
24:20Bright orange with a starfish hanging out.
24:23Look! These are just cream.
24:25They almost look like ornamental vases under there.
24:29These sponges also serve as spawning grounds for fish.
24:33Of course, it's safer to lay their eggs inside the sponge.
24:37Yes, in here.
24:38Yeah, to protect them.
24:39A safe harbour deep within the sponge.
24:42Remarkable.
24:43You can get a closer look there.
24:45But we're seeing all sorts of lovely floaty algae.
24:50Oh, look at these giant sponges, starfish, ribbon worms.
24:56There's so much life underneath this level.
25:00Remarkable.
25:03After seeing how life can flourish on the Antarctic Peninsula,
25:07I want to experience what it feels like to be part of this frozen world.
25:14Tonight, the ship's expedition team will set up a camp on the ice,
25:18under strict protocols designed to safeguard one of the last great wildernesses on Earth.
25:25Now, I'm not known for packing lightly, but there's not a lot that I can take with me
25:28because we're just not allowed to take things onto land.
25:32I want to stay warm, so I'm double-bagging on socks.
25:35I've got some waterproof socks and just some other warm socks.
25:38I'm going to sleep in these gloves. These are lovely and puffy.
25:42Eye mask, because I don't know how dark it's going to be.
25:46And then in here, I'm not going to be able to take that.
25:49No food allowed.
25:51Most importantly, I want to take something from my family with me.
25:54One of my daughters doesn't like to let me know that she loves me,
25:57so it's always a little bit of a secret code.
25:58Look at this, it's so cute.
26:00She gave me this before I left and said,
26:01Mum, don't open it when we're together.
26:03So, little thing.
26:05Code.
26:10Aww.
26:12And essential, because let's remember how cold it's going to be on this ice.
26:16I've got hugs. Coupons. Hug coupons.
26:24One more.
26:27Before pitching my tent, I want to explore this pristine landscape on foot.
26:32But moving across the deep snow has its own risks.
26:38So the expedition team are preparing snowshoes,
26:42designed to distribute weight and stop me sinking into the drifts.
26:48The snow and ice here can reach up to two kilometres thick,
26:51a colossal sheet that can hide deep crevasses beneath its frozen surface.
26:58So we'll put those on.
27:00Right.
27:00And thanks to the snowshoe physics,
27:02they will spread your weight around the snow and you won't sink in.
27:05Perfect. Right.
27:07Paul Roman, one of the ship's guides,
27:09is helping me prepare to float across the snow.
27:15Okay.
27:16You are good to go.
27:16I'm on. Right. Here we go.
27:18My first steps in snowshoes.
27:21How do you feel? Secure, comfortable.
27:24Yep, comfortable. Super powered.
27:25Can't really feel them, which is good. They're not too heavy.
27:28Let's go.
27:29There we go.
27:38It's like walking with tea trays on your feet.
27:41I wish they turned into skis.
27:43That would be useful.
27:45Despite the harsh conditions,
27:47a few thousand scientists work in research bases dotted across Antarctica,
27:53where they search for clues to help protect our planet.
28:00These buildings over here are Argentinian Antarctic research centers.
28:05But even the hardy Argentinians only come here in the summer months.
28:19This is one of the most beautiful island hikes in Antarctica.
28:25But actually, it has to be one of the most beautiful island hikes in the world.
28:30It is simply stunning scenery.
28:36I've done a lot of traveling and adventuring around the world.
28:40I've been to some beautiful places.
28:44And I'm very fortunate to have done a lot of lovely things.
28:50But this is the first time I've done any snowshoeing.
28:56What a place to do it for the first time.
29:07Today, oh, nearly fell over.
29:10Today, I have been so cold.
29:13My fingers have been so cold.
29:14Honestly, I felt like I had frostbite.
29:16I thought they were going to drop off.
29:18Now, the sun is out.
29:22And with all this movement hiking up the hill, I am on fire.
29:28You'll probably see steam coming off me.
29:33I love the sound of snow crunching underneath your feet.
29:40Let's stop a minute.
29:42Just listen.
29:47So fresh snow absorbs sound waves.
29:51And it reduces ambient noise by more than 50%.
29:55So what you're listening to now is utter calm.
30:00And softness.
30:08This is a sensory overload for me.
30:11In a good way.
30:14I mean, I always feel so happy and instantly calm when I'm in nature.
30:20But when you're somewhere like this, somewhere pristine, unspoiled,
30:24and to my eye, a virgin landscape.
30:28Beautiful, beautiful.
30:35At the end of this epic harbour,
30:37chin-strap penguins are taking on their own adventure.
30:42They too like to spread their weight across the snow,
30:46launching themselves downhill on their bellies.
30:49Oh, he's off.
30:50And battling their way back up the steep slopes.
30:56So I've reached the end of my hike, and it's pretty fitting that I should meet the mountaineering penguins of
31:02the penguin world.
31:03The chin-straps are part of the brust-tail family, but you can see, they just spend hours traipsing up
31:08and down these hills.
31:19Look at this glassy water.
31:22I haven't seen it so still.
31:25I've left the South Shetlands to venture deeper into the frozen heart of the Antarctic mainland.
31:32We are camping out a night under the stars and on the ice.
31:38So I'm hoping that tonight, the weather will be kind.
31:52A Weddell welcoming.
31:54Weddell seals are the masters of Antarctic survival.
31:57I'm one of the few animals that live here all year round.
32:01Whereas people rarely spend a night on the ice.
32:06Overnight permits are carefully limited by the authorities to protect this pristine place.
32:12I've been granted one night alongside a group of fellow adventurers from around the world.
32:19In the morning, we'll leave without a trace.
32:22I mean, it is quite literally the coolest campsite in the world.
32:26It's certainly the coolest place that I've ever pitched a tent.
32:31I'm staying in Paradise Bay on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula.
32:37Named by early whalers for its stunning beauty.
32:49This, I think, is the most important bit of the kit.
32:54Because it's the floor.
32:56This is all that separates us from the ice.
33:00But it's the main event.
33:03It looks pretty lush now, but temperatures can change in an instant.
33:11It could get as cold as minus five, minus ten.
33:15Windchill factor, wind.
33:20So this better do the job.
33:29Only a handful of people get the chance to spend the night in Antarctica each year.
33:34My neighbours in the camp are fellow Brits Ian and Ellie.
33:38Look at this. It really is just...
33:42I mean, I don't know about you, but I don't think I'm ever going to sleep anywhere like this again.
33:46No, it's definitely top view I've ever witnessed.
33:50And probably top bedroom, if you can call it that.
33:53Yeah.
33:54So, the night of a lifetime.
33:56Oh, absolutely.
33:57Well, no, see, I'm trying to do all seven continents and 100 countries before I'm 70.
34:03OK.
34:04And it only counts if I sleep there.
34:06Right.
34:06So, passing through doesn't count.
34:08So I have to sleep here tonight, otherwise Antarctica doesn't count.
34:12And are you vivying or tenting?
34:14I'm vivying.
34:15I thought it'd be quite nice to be with the elements.
34:18If there's anything going on, I can quickly put my cap down.
34:23Whereas a tent, you know...
34:24Yeah, you've got to unzip.
34:25But think of the moment in the morning.
34:27I'm tenting, so I'm going to unzip and look at that.
34:29Yeah.
34:30It's going to be very, very special.
34:31I don't think you can beat this.
34:33No.
34:36I'm so far south, the sun doesn't set at this time of year.
34:41It's past midnight, and I can still see a solitary whale feeding in the bay.
34:49This is one of those moments in your life when you really start to reflect on where you are, where
35:00you're going, who you are.
35:07There was a point through my cancer journey when I was out the other side, and I really didn't think
35:16I would ever leave my family again.
35:18As in, I didn't think I wanted to travel, I didn't think I wanted to go far from home ever
35:23again.
35:24I just wanted to stay close.
35:27And keep them close.
35:30Because I was frightened.
35:33So to be able to come here and to really experience Antarctica and bed down into the nature and the
35:43wilderness and the wildlife, which I absolutely love,
35:49has been a cathartic experience for me, but just a real, a very important moment of growth for me.
35:59Because I'm not frightened anymore.
36:06I wish I could be here with my family.
36:09I miss them now.
36:12And it's fantastic to be the adventurer of the family and to go to all these amazing places.
36:21But I want to be here now.
36:30I really would like them to be here now.
36:39And I'm just incredibly happy and grateful that I've experienced it, that I'm here, that I've felt it.
36:49And that is what Antarctica has made me do.
36:53It's made me feel again.
37:06Antarctica, a stunning continent like no other, Julia Bradbury's Wonders of the Frozen South, brought to you by HX Expeditions.
37:34On my journey through the frozen south, I've been camping out on the Antarctic ice.
37:41Oh, that was an interesting night.
37:44I don't feel very refreshed.
37:46The view is still pretty epic.
37:51But the noises of Antarctica were phenomenal.
37:55The wind was so loud at one point.
37:58The buffeting was just incredible.
38:04Bits of the glacier kept falling off.
38:07And it was like...
38:09And I saw it happen a couple of times.
38:14I'll never forget this night, that's for sure.
38:20The Antarctic Peninsula is dominated by ice.
38:27At nearby Couverville Island, the bay is frozen solid in winter.
38:33But in the summer, 100-metre-tall glaciers break apart, forming new icebergs and nourishing the waters below.
38:43The weather here in Antarctica has really come out to play today as well.
38:49Look at these skies.
38:51I mean, the sun just helps bounce these magical reflections off the water and off the glaciers.
38:58The colours really play tricks with your mind.
39:03And the abundance of food in the waters here supports the continent's biggest colony of Gentoo penguins.
39:11Here he goes.
39:13Having a little look around.
39:16And he's off.
39:17Around 6,500 breeding pairs of Gentoo's call this island home.
39:23Each spring they gather here to build nests out of small stones, to prepare for the breeding season.
39:35Stephen Feng is one of the ship's ornithologists.
39:39You only have to be here for, I don't know, a minute, to really appreciate how busy these Gentoo's are.
39:46It really is, yeah.
39:46There's so much going on.
39:47Explain some of the behaviour to me.
39:49At this time of year, the snow has finally melted enough that some of this bare rock is getting exposed.
39:53And we're seeing some mating displays, some courtship displays.
39:58There's a lot of nest building going on, some mating, some of these eggs already down and being incubated.
40:03One penguin will bring up their favourite rock, drop it in the nest, and there's just hundreds and hundreds of
40:09pebbles.
40:09It takes a lot of effort, and they rebuild this every single year.
40:12You know, they don't reuse the nests, so every single year...
40:16They start the rebuild.
40:17They've got to start the rebuild.
40:19Yeah, there's a lot of argy-bargy that goes on.
40:21You see quite a lot of, you know, head-butting and flapping and pushing out the way.
40:26There's definitely competition in the air.
40:28And as you look closely, you look at these really intricate nests, these little mounds of pebbles.
40:33Every now and then, you get troublemakers who will try to steal rocks from adjacent nests instead of finding their
40:39own.
40:39These gentous have quite a unique breeding cycle.
40:43The farther south you go, the faster the chicks will leave the nest.
40:47So it can be a shorter 60 days.
40:48The farther north we go, these chicks may take up to 110 days to fledge.
40:53So they've got to get going, and they've got to survive.
40:55So based on where we are right now in the breeding season,
40:58I'm expecting the chicks to start showing up in about two weeks or so.
41:02But for now, we're just seeing just eggs.
41:04And we've been lucky enough to catch some glimpses of eggs here.
41:08I don't know that there is a more beautifully situated penguin colony anywhere in the world.
41:15So this is about as scenic as it gets on a day like this, where it's sunny and glistening.
41:20You've got glaciers and bergs back there.
41:24Truly spectacular.
41:27As well as ingenious nest builders,
41:30gentous are the rulers of the road,
41:33building efficient penguin highways between their colonies and the ocean that feeds them.
41:40They're only little, and these snowdrifts are incredibly tough for them to walk through.
41:44So they've created these channels that they use.
41:48And when you see them passing, they're incredibly polite.
41:57Look at these two.
42:09Not quite living up to the penguin etiquette code.
42:14The highway code.
42:16Oh!
42:18To our little incident there.
42:23Unlike Antarctica's interior polar desert, the peninsula sees frequent snowfall.
42:29Here, the penguins endlessly rebuild their highways just to navigate the frozen terrain.
42:37This one, I think, is going rogue and trying to forge another path.
42:44The entrepreneur of the colony.
42:49You can see how much effort he needs to expel to get over this thick snow.
42:54And the roots are leading back and forth, up to nesting regions, down to the ocean, where they have to
43:01come and feed regularly.
43:02And so they go, up and down, up and down.
43:19I'm leaving the penguins and their highways to head offshore, amongst the towering icebergs that dominate these waters.
43:30These colossal chunks of ice are carved from ancient glaciers and sculpted by wind and rain.
43:38Their beauty is breathtaking.
43:47Look at these giant ice sculptures.
43:52It's nature's artistry at work.
44:00The shapes, the colors, even the sounds of these huge icy structures are completely unique.
44:11It's a moment in time.
44:13It really is otherworldly.
44:17If there's ever a place to be at one of the elements, it's here in Antarctica.
44:27Look at the shapes on this one.
44:29It's ludicrous.
44:31Look!
44:41And you can really see the fissure from this angle.
44:45Look at that giant crack.
44:47This is certainly going to break away in the not-too-distant future.
44:55Oh!
44:56Oh, look, it's breaking off!
44:58Oh, my gosh!
44:59Oh, my gosh!
45:02Oh, my goodness me!
45:04I said it was going to break off at any moment.
45:06Look at the wave!
45:08Look at the weight that made!
45:12What a spectacle!
45:17To see that, to capture that moment, is just extraordinary!
45:23Wow!
45:31The adrenaline is flowing.
45:33I can't believe that I actually saw that.
45:36My heart is pumping.
45:38What an incredible thing to witness.
45:51To see that iceberg breaking apart is one of the most incredible things I've witnessed in my lifetime.
46:04My journey through the frozen south has been both humbling and exhilarating.
46:13It's so immense. Just look!
46:17We're in the way. We've got to move again.
46:19Look at this!
46:22And I've got my Miraculous, so it's all okay.
46:25I've come face to face with some of the planet's wildest and most remarkable creatures.
46:31Oh!
46:32My first aggressive fur seal encounter.
46:36This is insane.
46:38And journey through awe-inspiring landscapes.
46:44This is one of the most beautiful places on Earth.
46:49I'll remember this forever.
46:52When I set out on this journey, I wanted to uncover the secrets of this mysterious corner of our planet
46:59and learn how its remarkable wildlife survives.
47:02I leave humbled, deeply moved, and inspired to help protect this astonishing place, so its magic will endure for generations
47:14to come.
47:15I have traveled to every continent on Earth, and I can honestly say that Antarctica is the wildest, most extreme,
47:23most extraordinary continent I've visited.
47:51Julia Bradbury's Wonders of the Frozen South, brought to you by HX Expeditions.
47:55Julia Bradbury's Wonders of the Frozen South, brought to you by HX Expeditions.
47:55Julia Bradbury's Wonders of the Frozen South, brought to you by HX Expeditions.
47:55I am going to see who is next to me.
47:56And for the first time, you're on theal of the world.
47:56I am.
47:56No, I am.
47:56I am.
47:56The cold is hard.
47:57I am.
47:57I am.
47:57You
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