ATTENBOROUGH’S LIFE IN THE FREEZER 3
Life in the Freezer – The Race To Breed
Opening shot of seals stitching the water this time. It’s November, summer in Antarctica and the seas are kicking with life. Did David say thirsty eels or fur seals? So Fur Seals are headed to Southern Georgia by the thousand. Some Bull Seal’s have already claimed some beach real estate. While David say’s they’re prepared to take on anyone to protect their turf he’s walking around one with a stick as it charges towards him now and again. He’s like it’s not too dangerous now… till 2 weeks on when the females come and then the beach is gonna be packed with over a 100,000 Fur Seals. I don’t know about you but the before and after shot always amazes me. ;o) Each bull rules about 30 meters sq., enough to accommodate a dozen females. When neighbours cross the boundary there is a ritualised display of force but not fighting as long as neighbours behave. Pregnant females arrive and head to the prime territories near the high water mark. If they’re full she gotta lower standards. By December, 95% of the worlds population of Fur Seals i.e. over a million will be here in South Georgia.

And a couple of days after the females arrive it’s time to squeeze the lil ones out. While that’s going on you got these birds (think it’s spelt skewers) that come down to eat up the afterbirth which pretty much looks like a giant condom with a baby seal in it. (Note: Always give protected birth!) They’re so cute! And the mother will refuse to be parted with her baby for a week. So the pups grow quick coz of the fat rich milk and double size in 60 days. More shots of the pups being adorable. David mentions them having 8 years till they first fight? Now the bulls have to be on their guard as the females are sexually available while off shore, the males without territories are swimming around. Keeping an eye out for a weakened bull or abandoned territory. If they claim it, they can mate with the territories females. One of them might have spotted something so he’s started to dash but he’s not big enough and the others Mike Tysoned the poor guy. The urge to breed is so strong so there’s always battles happening. Shot of a few battles as young hopeful seals try to get down with O.P.P. Ouch, flippers getting slit and split and necks being gouged. Now even though none are killed in battle, the most probably will die from their wounds or exhaustion.

Extra wicked shot of penguins stitching the water… I mean loads of them. So Chinstrap Penguins are returning from their feeding grounds 20 mile off shore to feed their chicks. In mid-summer there is almost 24 hours of daylight. Did David just say Deception Island. Yes he did! Another amazing shot of a busy shore with a 2 lane highway of penguins coming and going. How cool is organised traffic with you mix it with animals?! 100,000 commuters make trips each day. (Trial joke: Don’t eat that Oyster… card). Lol David calls it nature’s greatest rush-hour. The trek lasts an hour. First journey adventure is crossing streams (very funny as the water sometimes sweeps them away), but the rough and tumble in the white water doesn’t deter them. Next mission, mountain climbing (and they’re very good mountaineers). The stiff quills from their tails are a major help especially to stop falling backwards. Man that’s a long ass climb, and not having hands to help… major kudos.

Jaw dropping aerial shot of 200,000 birds. But they don’t have a hard time finding their partners which is celebrated with a ‘jubilant display’. The one that just arrived switches shifts for feeding and caring while the other that had to fast will restock and bring more supplies. The ones nesting on the lower slopes are lucky while the ones higher up had to endure the climb and still in the clouds most of the time. Another 1 hour trek back down from a arduous journey to a dangerous journey as they enter the sea. Shot of Chinstrap Penguin being tossed like the Gingerbread Man by a Leopard Seal. Leopard Seals can catch 6 penguins in like an hour. So 100’s in a season man! Naaaw, now he’s turned the penguin into a merry-go-round… by the neck. Extra gore shot of one that escaped. But now it has to face those skewer birds. Aint that a beach! Now he has to struggle back up to its nest. Yo don’t give up! Poor guy stopped climbing and laid down. Hope the fella made it.

Now that summer has come it’s freed up the edge of the continent. Temperatures regularly rise above freezing. Feons/freeons/or something like that are freed. Leopard Seals bask in the sun. Life is in relax mode. Romantic shot of seals slow dancing around each other. Another shot of icicles melting. Now snow and ice turns into Antarctica’s most precious commodity… Vodka! What do you think! FRESH WATER of course. Which means the sparse vegetation gets their proliferation on. Banks of moss which is host to lotsa tiny animals. While in the crevices there’s still some ice. And the only land animals that can survive the Antarctic winter… Mites! No bigger than a pinhead, they contain an antifreeze that allow them to super cool to -30 degrees. Shot sped up to allow ice to melt an reveal them coming to life. They have no fixed breeding season and reproduce when temperatures go above freezing. Shot of thousands of them in a crevice. They feed on moss and dead vegetation. But they’re also food to other tiny things. David calls the place Antarctica’s own miniature Serengeti.

In other places there is enough melted water to create fresh water ponds. Underwater shot of lil crustaceans and larvae. Cute and creepy. Now green is a pretty rare colour for Antarctica as moss needs fresh water and soil. Lichens on the other hand can grow on rock. They are able to dissolve rock and extra the nutrients but it takes agesssss. It takes centuries just to make it grow like a lil garden. David goes even farther south. David says if he was away from the North pole the same distance he’d have found flowering plants on the rocks and shlack. While in the South only 2 species of flowering plants has been found farther south than where we is. And its tiny lichens. Some get within 200 miles of the pole. Pole, pole, which pole? South Pole! So these plants are not lichen but are more liken to alga. They grow in the snow and make the snow look bright pink. Yeah right… looks more like a used Always pad after it was dipped in water. I know these things. And in summer the melting releases the algae into the sea.

Over to the moving icebergs. The ebb and flow disintegrates the icebergs which in turn releases minerals and nutrients into the sea. Now floating algae fitoplacton bloom in vast clouds. Icebergs scouring the seafloor does not make life easy, but in sheltered areas and deeper water, there is a variety of sea creatures. Gorgeous shot of these fluffy things and feathery things and bushy things. Life is pretty slow down here, a sponge or starfish could life 40 years. There are fish too. Shot of bird called the Blue Eyed Shag which can dive down to depths of 100 meters to find the fish. Their colonies are never too far from their feeding grounds. Crazy shot of regurgitated feeding… I mean in this case the babies whole face is poking inside parents throat. Just watching it is a pain in the neck. The babies rely totally on their parents for warmth. Many will die if the summer storms are severe. But otherwise they’re long lived and will reproduce lots in their lifetime.

Here’s a bird that is not daunted by not having open waters around. Antarctic Terns patrol the bay in search of grub. Their breeding season is long and even in summer the chicks are still hatching. Some years cause heavy losses of chicks coz of bad weather or those skewer birds. Lucky terns can lay eggs 2 or 3 times in a season. (Yes I’ll have seconds of that sunny side up, thank you.) In February, the height of summer, sea ice returns… at least to a minimum and releases rock in the deep south. Shot of something called the Skullin Monolith, one of the very few areas of bare rock for many miles around. 300,000 Antarctic Petrels come to breed up in this joint. Multiple orgasmic shots first of the petrels flying around, then them flying together, then a head on shot of penguins stitching the sea. (I need a cigarette after that).

Remember those Adelie Penguins that were cut off from open water… well now they have access to it. Life is good and shlack. Lol some stop on a mini berg for a rest but as more climb on the berg rolls in different directions. Till they look like they’re in that log rolling competition thing. And they all fall down. Lots of activity now and for some reason all the penguins rush for the beach at the same time? Heart-warming shot of adults returning to their lonely chicks waiting in crèches. A chick can instantly recognize their parents call. And a mad chase begins which lasts a few minutes to separate the real chick from the impostor hehehe. The strongest chick from the pair is fed first. Now when food is scarce the younger one is not fed sometimes and those skewer birds are constantly on the look out for weakening ones. Many adult penguins are forced to regurgitate their meals so the skewers hog on the spilt krill and stuff instead. Shot of small unattended chick that strayed being ganged on by the skewers. But adults come to the rescue!

WOWWWWW, extra fantastic shot of dark and gloomy horizon with a tint of yellow on the snow in the mountains at the back. Then 3 magnificent icebergs glowing with a tint of baby blue, 3 mini icebergs doing the same on calm waters, and a single bird floating around in such a big area.