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NARRATOR: The continent of Antarctica
is unbelievably vast and inhospitable.
It's the coldest place on Earth.
But each spring,
the warming sun draws life from the southern ocean
onto the edges of the continent,
and it becomes home to one of the toughest birds on the planet,
the Adelie penguin.
To chronicle the amazing story of these polar pioneers,
Disneynature mounted one of the biggest filming operations
Antarctica has ever seen,
assembling a unique team of filmmakers,
including some of the best cinematographers in the world.
They'll face the worst that Mother Nature can throw at them,
and still come back for more.
Whoo!
NARRATOR: The penguins are on a mission of their own.
(PENGUINS GAKKING)
Ah, these penguins. Would you stand in the frame? They just...
Oh...
I can't believe this.
NARRATOR: They can be wary of strangers.
I'm gonna be hiding in their colony like this.
(LAUGHS)
NARRATOR: And finding them isn't easy.
MAN: Which way was the penguin colony again?
NARRATOR: But these filmmakers know what it takes to capture every moment
of this magical story.
Oh, that was a penguin.
Aye.
That could have been the Oscar-winning shot.
Just missed it.
(SERENE MUSIC PLAYING)
(GAKKING)
NARRATOR: The Adelies have spent the winter out at sea.
Now they're heading back to land to breed.
It's the green light the Disneynature team has been waiting for.
More than 20 cinematographers will attempt to film the penguins' lives
in unparalleled detail.
They'll travel vast distances to find those subjects,
carrying with them over ten tons of filming equipment.
(HELICOPTER WHIRRING)
They will spend months in some of the coldest
and most isolated places on the planet.
And they'll depend on hundreds of support staff
from eight different nations
to get them there and keep them alive.
The first camera team left England a week ago,
heading for a staging post in New Zealand.
They then flew to Ross Island
and the US Antarctic Research Base at McMurdo.
Now the final leg of their grueling journey
is taking them across the island to the remote Cape Crozier.
Each year, Crozier becomes home
to the largest Adelie penguin colony on the planet.
The crew is racing to get there before the penguins do.
Mark Smith is a cinematographer who has filmed here before,
as has Jeff Wilson,
the team's leader and one of the film's directors.
So, two years of planning has gone into this moment right now,
trying to get all the logistics, all the people,
all the equipment, and the weather correct
in order to drop us into this base that we're going,
has been an enormous effort.
NARRATOR: This barren mountain will be the main filming location
for the next few months.
Both Mark and Jeff know the harsh conditions that lie ahead.
It's like a midsummer's day down here, it's about minus 18.
Nice and warm.
NARRATOR: For Antarctica, it's actually unseasonably calm and sunny.
MAN: Man, I can't believe the weather. I've never seen it like this here, ever.
WOMAN: Yeah, this is beautiful.
-MAN: Okay, good to go. -WOMAN: Are you good?
-MAN: Have fun, guys. -JEFF: Thank you very much, mate.
MAN: You're welcome. See you soon.
-Whoo! -Whoo!
-Yeah. -(CHUCKLES)
Awesome.
(LAUGHS)
How about that?
(LAUGHS)
JEFF: We made it.
MARK: That is the best feeling ever.
Landing here is pretty amazing.
This is our home.
NARRATOR: It's been eight months since this base was operational,
so the crew's first priority is to rebuild the camp.
-Jeff. -NARRATOR: They also have to carry
the film kit, piece by piece, to the penguin colony.
It's about a mile walk down to the colony
and we're just taking some of our gear, some of the 5,000 pounds
of gear that we brought in with us.
The camera, tripod, and what have you,
we're gonna stash that down at the colony
so we don't have to bring it back and forth each day.
Jeff, why aren't you carrying as much as the rest of us?
(LAUGHS)
NARRATOR: Mark and Jeff hope to capture the beginning of the Adelies' story:
the return of males across the sea ice, on their way to their nesting grounds.
But have they made it ahead of the penguins?
JEFF: What do you think, Mark?
It's pretty amazing. It's incredible.
There's a few hundred penguins of quarter of a million penguins here.
(PENGUINS GAK)
Most of them are still out in the sea
and coming back here in the next few days.
And the penguins have to pass through here to get to the colony,
and hopefully, they'll come back through all this amazing ice.
NARRATOR: Each year, the sea around Antarctica freezes.
By midwinter, it more than doubles the size of the continent,
and then melts away again each summer.
This year, that melt is slower than usual.
The ice is about six kilometers out there, so most normal years,
it's about half that, more or less.
It's a long way for the Adelies to walk.
(PENGUINS GAK)
(GAKKING)
MARK: There's a lot of Adelies going through that ice there.
Very beautiful. Blue ice,
black and white Adelies, looks amazing.
NARRATOR: With hundreds of males arriving
and the good weather holding, it's the perfect start.
(GAKKING)
But Mark and Jeff had been here many times
and know that conditions can change in a matter of minutes.
So the Adelies are finally coming down in huge numbers,
which is exactly what we came here for,
and then Mark is trying to film them.
But here's the dilemma.
Up on the top of the hill up there, it's starting to blow an enormous gale.
(STRONG WINDS BLOWING)
And the winds here can get pretty strong.
So whilst we've got all this action, we're, um, on a bit of a line
as to whether to head for home or stay and get some good stuff.
NARRATOR: It quickly becomes clear that staying is not an option.
That's, uh... blowing snow,
which... (LAUGHS) which puts the fear of God into me.
And that means that this is, uh, some strong winds.
You never quite know how strong they are.
We're going to leave.
We're not gonna hang around to find out.
(STRONG WINDS BLOWING)
Pretty strong, eh?
NARRATOR: Before they know it,
the crew are battling hurricane-force winds
and temperatures dropping below minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit.
(STRONG WINDS BLOWING)
Caught out in the open, these are potentially lethal conditions.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING)
NARRATOR: At last, they reached the safety of their camp,
but it was a narrow escape.
(SIGHS) Whew!
Quite punchy.
Just a bit of breeze, isn't it?
NARRATOR: The storm vanishes as quickly as it arrives.
(GAKKING)
The next morning, it's as if it never happened.
It seems all kind of very benign
now that we're sitting back in the colony the next morning, but...
it came pretty close to being serious last night.
And I don't think we wanna try and test that wind again.
And there were times where I was thinking,
"I'm not sure I can take this anymore."
(SNIFFLES)
I was that tired.
I don't think I've ever been that physically tired
when we got back to the hut.
And you know what?
If it had been any colder, we would have been in real, real trouble.
The most amazing thing about a storm is the penguins didn't mind at all.
The colony seems to be about twice as full,
so more penguins came in through those winds,
which must have topped a hundred miles an hour at least.
They were still going about their business,
which is unbelievable, really.
Credit to this tiny little animal.
(GAKS)
NARRATOR: Cape Crozier is the main location for the penguins' story,
and will be filmed throughout the season by three different camera crews.
(HONKS)
But it's not the only colony the Disneynature team will film.
Another film crew is sailing south from Australia
on an ice-breaking resupply ship.
They're heading for the sea ice barrier
and the French research base of Dumont d'Urville, or DDU.
Their three tons of camera and diving equipment has to travel by sea.
But two of the crew are able to fly in ahead of the others by small plane.
(PLANE ENGINE WHIRRING)
Their weight restriction only allows for some clothes
and a single small camera.
It's their first time in Antarctica.
MAN: What do you reckon, Rolf?
Look at that. I mean...
There are icebergs frozen in the sea,
I mean, wow.
I'm a little bit speechless, I have to admit.
Can't see any penguins yet. (CHUCKLES)
But that's not such a bad thing, because at the moment all our camera kit
is stuck out about 200 kilometers that way,
on the boat with the rest of the team.
Fingers crossed they get here soon,
because without cameras, we can't do anything.
NARRATOR: The boat they're waiting for, the Astrolabe,
hits early spring ice far sooner than expected.
In addition to the equipment,
it's also carrying much-needed supplies for all those living at DDU.
On board is underwater filming legend Didier Noirot,
who has dived in Antarctica many times before.
Normally, crossing from Australia takes ten days,
but this season, the ship is struggling against the unusually thick sea ice.
The closer they get, and the further south they go,
the thicker the ice becomes.
Their progress grows slower day by day...
until finally, they can go no further.
They're stuck
and the mission hangs in the balance.
(IN FRENCH)
NARRATOR: The research base is still several days away.
They have no choice but to wait until the weather improves.
While Rolf and Max must wait for their cameras,
they are no longer waiting on the Adelies.
The main base is up here.
It's amazing, it's one of the only bases down here
that's actually surrounded by a penguin colony,
so it's ideal for us.
This is luxury, because we only have a short stroll
and we're right in the colony itself,
and they've got Emperor penguins just over this direction,
but we're completely surrounded by Adelies.
(GAKKING)
NARRATOR: They still have no idea when they'll be able to start filming.
I mean, it's a little bit of a disaster that we can't get our cameras,
because they are out there on the boat and we can't do anything.
So, uh, we can get really familiar with the area,
really familiar with the behavior,
but in the worst case, it's... it's over when the cameras are here.
So, fingers crossed that, uh, the boat will come soon.
NARRATOR: The Astrolabe is marooned in a sea of ice.
The chances of sailing to DDU are fading fast.
But a window of fine weather gives Didier and the underwater team
an opportunity to get ashore by different means.
Now the true extent of the sea ice becomes clear.
I can hear a helicopter.
(HELICOPTER WHIRRING)
NARRATOR: The entire film team will be guests at the French base at DDU,
which has been home to 30 scientists and engineers all winter.
The helicopter is bringing not only Didier,
but also fresh food for all,
and long-awaited messages from home.
(IN FRENCH)
(MEN CHEERING)
This is the first mail in eight months.
I don't know what they get, but everybody seems to be pretty excited.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(IN FRENCH)
(ALL CHEERING)
(TRIUMPHANT OPERA MUSIC PLAYING)
That is heavenly.
NARRATOR: Following delivery of the salad appetizer,
the helicopter returns with the main course
and a surprise for Max.
Finally, finally, we got everything. In amongst a load of science kit.
It's been a long wait, but...
it's here, a camera.
We can finally start filming.
NARRATOR: DDU has been chosen
because it allows the team to film the Adelie penguins
on and beneath the thick sea ice.
Okay.
There's a big group coming there. Wow.
NARRATOR: Rolf is focusing on the females that are now returning from sea,
heading to the colony, and the males awaiting them.
ROLF: I often go for a process where
I try to simply get into the mind space
of the protagonist that I'm filming.
In this case, it's a penguin who has decided to breed
in one of the most remote and toughest places in the world, and...
their supermarket is the sea,
that's where they get their food,
and the sea ice is very thick this year,
so it's a long walk to the supermarket.
And, uh, we go back to our base.
As a chef, he has made the food.
And we don't have to think about that.
But these guys, they know they have to find the sea
and they have to find a lot of food, otherwise, they will never survive,
so it's serious business,
and we try to capture that.
So...
I definitely have a lot of respect for those
tiny black-and-white miracle machines.
(ROLF LAUGHS)
(PENGUIN GAKS)
NARRATOR: The Disneynature team have created
a unique, new look for the film
that captures a penguin's-eye view of the story.
Max uses a special camera rig
that's more at home in Hollywood than Antarctica.
MAX: Everything here is really tough.
I mean, we're using cameras, we're using equipment
that you'd normally use on a feature film set,
but using them here, at the end of the world,
is almost impossible
because every time I step on a piece of snow and break through,
puts a wobble in the shot,
the wind here is just relentless.
We're getting 60, 70 mile-an-hour winds,
and I think the best we've had is a nice breezy 30 miles an hour,
and you just can't even keep the camera steady.
And the whole point of this ridiculously heavy rig is that
I can get stable shots moving with them.
It's quite hard to get close to them.
Understandably, they're quite nervous.
God knows what the penguins think I am when I come wandering towards them,
looking like the Terminator.
(HONKS)
NARRATOR: Didier is also eager to start the underwater filming,
but he needs to find somewhere he can dive.
The unusually thick spring ice means there's no open water for many miles.
It is a problem for him and the penguins.
DIDIER: (IN FRENCH)
NARRATOR: The open sea is too far away,
so the dive team search for holes in the ice closer to the base,
where they hope to find some Adelies.
(IN FRENCH)
NARRATOR: The first hole is home to a Weddell seal.
They live further south than any other mammal
and keep their ice holes open year round.
The next has penguins,
but they're Emperors, not Adelies.
Then Didier finds a very promising-looking hole.
All he needs is an Adelie.
He's in luck.
(GAKKING)
(IN FRENCH)
(LAUGHS)
(GAKS)
(IN FRENCH)
NARRATOR: Before he dives beneath the ice,
Didier wants shots of his star getting into the water.
DIDIER: He's a cool guy.
(IN FRENCH)
NARRATOR: As Didier sets up to film the best angle,
our hero gets ready for his close up.
(HONKS)
And like a true professional, he's right on cue.
(PENGUIN GAKKING)
DIDIER: (IN FRENCH)
(BOTH LAUGH)
(GAKS)
NARRATOR: As the little Adelie continues to perform for the camera,
it's clear a star is born.
-(PENGUIN GAKS) -(LAUGHS)
DIDIER: (IN FRENCH)
(GAKS)
NARRATOR: Another reason DDU has been chosen as a filming location
is that it's one of the few places on the planet
where Emperor penguins...
(ALL GAKKING)
...live near a colony of Adelies.
(ALL GAKKING)
MAX: The Emperors have been overwintering here
and now they're leaving.
All the adults are starting to go to the sea.
We've just had one Adelie, the first Adelie,
wander up unannounced from the sea,
straight through the middle of this Emperor colony.
(HONKS)
You could just see these two species interact,
and you just see the different characters.
He's not even as big as some of Emperor chicks,
but he's just barging the full-sized adults out the way.
Once the Adelies are in town, they seem to think they own the place.
(HONKS)
Their behavior is like no other penguin.
They're almost these hyperactive, caffeinated little...
bundles of energy.
(GAKKING)
I think we're gonna enjoy filming these guys,
because they're... they're definitely little characters,
and uh... it's gonna be fun.
NARRATOR: Across Antarctica,
female Adelies are heading to their colonies,
where the males are already busy preparing their nests.
Their colonies are always situated on bare rock...
(GAKKING)
...because Adelies need to lay their eggs on solid ground.
So, all the males have come back into the colony by now,
and they're fervently trying to build their nests,
and they build their nests out of these little stones.
In fact, Adelie penguin colonies are only found where you find these stones
because they need them to lift their eggs off the ground
for when the snow melts so their eggs don't freeze.
And all the males are going backwards and forwards and backwards and forwards
picking up rocks, trying to build their nests up in time,
because they gotta do it to impress the ladies.
(GAKKING)
NARRATOR: But nest building isn't as innocent as it seems.
Rocks are the money, they are the currency in these colonies.
But some penguins, they're lazy.
Oh, he's on the prowl, our little friend here.
-(PENGUINS GAK) -(LAUGHS)
They look so innocent. (LAUGHS)
Look.
This guy looks beautiful, clean.
And you would never think that he's actually standing,
looking, "Where can I find a rock?"
And sometimes, they... they just stand there for ages,
and they just observe the area,
and observe the area.
And that's what he's doing, like, "Just looking around."
And then suddenly, bam, they just... They run, they dive into the nest,
and grab their rock and... boom.
"Hi, baby, I'm the guy, I got the rock."
(GAKKING)
I don't know if everyone asks where a nice present comes from.
Sometimes you just take the present and... be thankful.
(LAUGHS)
(GAKKING)
NARRATOR: The next stage of Didier's mission
is filming penguins swimming around beneath the ice.
And he knows exactly who his star will be.
(GAKS)
The water is below freezing, so gearing up takes a long time.
(GRUNTS)
All right.
NARRATOR: Didier is late on set, and our lead actor is growing impatient.
(GAKS)
DIDIER: (IN FRENCH)
(LAUGHS)
NARRATOR: The little penguin is a natural performer,
and he leads Didier into a magical world beneath the ice.
(SERENE MUSIC PLAYING)
DIDIER: (IN FRENCH)
NARRATOR: Down here, the ice blocks out most of the sunlight,
preventing the algae from blooming.
The result is crystal-clear visibility
to distances of 800 feet.
(GAKKING)
(IN FRENCH)
NARRATOR: And then, a surprise bonus.
The supporting cast arrives.
DIDIER: (IN FRENCH)
NARRATOR: That's a wrap for the day.
Didier heads for home.
One thousand miles away at Cape Crozier, there's been a change.
After two grueling months away from home,
Jeff and Mark have handed over to a fresh new team,
Julie and Matt.
Julie has been to Antarctica before, but it's Matt's first time,
and he has a lot to learn about living with penguins.
(PENGUINS GAKKING)
MATT: Look what I've been sitting in.
Meltwater that's passed through,
well, let's just say much guano.
(CLICKS TONGUE) These pants are starting to smell a little bit.
(GAKS)
MATT: It's gonna take a few washes to get the smell out, if I bother.
Yeah.
NARRATOR: The colony is now home to over a million breeding penguins.
Almost all of them have paired up, mated, and laid their eggs.
(PENGUINS GAKKING)
Matt and Julie's mission is to capture the exact moment when a chick hatches.
It's a shot that is essential to the film.
So, Matt has been filming for the last three days.
It's a very, very slow process.
And if you miss the moment that the chick breaks the egg,
then that's it.
You need to... m... move on to a different egg.
So, Matt has to concentrate.
He just needs that magic moment.
I have no doubt he's gonna get it.
But... can't really talk to him.
He's, um...
just really, really focused on his... on his work.
NARRATOR: But at exactly the wrong moment,
an early summer storm arrives.
MATT: So, I went to bed last night,
and it was still beautiful outside.
I woke up this morning and we have more wind,
which is pretty frustrating because there's a lot happening in the colony.
So this is kind of like crucial time,
and I'm pretty keen to be working.
So, let's hope to get as much sleep as I can
and wake up in the morning
and be blue sunshine
and ready for another day,
because we have so much to... to actually achieve
in uh, such a short amount of time.
(STRONG WINDS BLOWING)
NARRATOR: These are katabatic winds,
cold air from the icy interior
that is being pulled downhill by the warmer sea.
They can reach nearly 200 miles per hour
and last for days.
(STRONG WINDS BLOWING)
MATT: It's like being stuck in a big bass drum.
It's been like that all night.
I don't know what to do.
(SIGHS)
MATT: So, it's a new day and the wind is still strong.
I am getting a bit anxious.
When we left the colony, there was maybe 50 percent
of, um... the birds with eggs, hatching eggs.
I imagine that figure
is... way down,
because penguins get on with things regardless.
Regardless of the weather, which is quite extraordinary, really.
Those eggs will have been hatching under those crazy little birds.
NARRATOR: Finally, the katabatics die down.
You know what, this is nothing really, it's just a mild breeze.
Yeah, we'll be filming today.
Good.
NARRATOR: Having barely slept, Matt and Julie head back to the colony
desperate to make up for lost time.
But now, overcast skies
and snow flurries create yet another obstacle.
So, I try my best not to get
my frustration out when I work.
Um...
But today... (CHUCKLES)
(SIGHS) Christmas Eve, um...
we decided to switch hours
and do, like, um, an early... an early start,
um, because I needed some... (SIGHS)
some specific shots.
But the specific shots needs to be done in...
bright blue sky.
(LAUGHS)
And I pretty much have the opposite.
So, hopefully I'll be able to do
those specific shots in the sun tomorrow on Christmas day.
That'd be quite a nice...
(SIGHS)
Christmas present, um, because I'm kind of running out of time.
That why I'm... I'm a bit upset.
(GAKS)
NARRATOR: Christmas morning, and the weather is improving.
Julie's first task is her daily radio check.
MacOps, this is Yankee 328 Camp Crozier on Mount Terror.
Do you copy?
(RADIO STATIC)
GEORGE: Yankee 328 Camp Crozier, this is MacOps, good morning.
JULIE: Morning, George. This is Julie for our daily check-in.
There are two people and all is good.
GEORGE: Good morning, Julie. Merry Christmas
and I copy that you have two people in camp and all is good, over.
JULIE: George, Merry Christmas to you, too.
Is there any message for us?
GEORGE: Uh, Julie, I do have one message for you.
The message is, "Merry Christmas from Mick," over.
JULIE: Thank you very much. Um...
Which Mick are we talking about?
GEORGE: Mick... Oh, you know what?
I apologize, it's for the Cape Crozier crew tonight, the Bravo 031.
I apologize, Julie.
JULIE: So, no messages for us?
GEORGE: No, there are no messages for you.
Uh, sorry about that, and I have nothing further,
so have a very Merry Christmas and we'll talk to you tomorrow.
MacOps is clear.
NARRATOR: One thousand miles away from the isolation of Crozier,
the DDU team are also enduring Christmas far from home.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(ALL CHEERING AND CLAPPING)
MAN: Sit on it!
(LAUGHTER)
It's Christmas for me.
NARRATOR: Despite the pressing demands of filming,
Matt and Julie take a few hours off
and celebrate with a bottle of wine
they've been keeping for a special occasion.
We have a very, very good wine for Christmas.
(JULIE LAUGHS)
It says, "A delicious red wine,"
a "vin rouge délicieux,"
...on this bottle.
And Julie's going to try some.
-(BOTTLE CAP POPS) -(GRUNTS)
-Julie. -JULIE: Yup.
Oh. Ugh!
(MATT LAUGHS)
It's really bad.
NARRATOR: In DDU, the vin rouge really is délicieux.
-Again? -Yeah, sure.
NARRATOR: And there's no shortage of selection.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
NARRATOR: Julie cooks a lavish meal to lift spirits.
There we are. Thank you, Julie.
-JULIE: Gravy? -That looks awesome. Yeah.
NARRATOR: And at DDU...
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
NARRATOR: Julie and Matt have left friends, family,
and life's luxuries at home,
all to capture the special moment a chick emerges from its shell.
Without that crucial shot, a key part of the story will be missing,
and all their sacrifices will have been for nothing.
MATT: So, we haven't been here for, what, three days.
We... we were delayed by the storm.
A lot of change since, uh, we were last here.
Most birds have now got chicks.
(PENGUINS GAKKING)
So, there's still birds with eggs but not... not many.
I just have to be careful to find the right bird
to concentrate on today.
Okay. There's a clearly hatching egg here.
So we've actually got a... a subject I can line up on now.
It's got a big open hole in the egg,
which means it's not far off from hatching.
Actually coming out.
(CHIRPS)
And that...
is a very useful shot.
NARRATOR: After all they've been through,
this one vital success makes all their hardships worthwhile.
(GAKKING)
Good day today. Good hatching.
Very pleased.
NARRATOR: For the penguins, there's no time to rest.
The victory for Julie and Matt is a call to action for the chick's parents.
They now have hungry mouths to feed.
Time to get busy.
For the next few weeks
the parents take turns heading out in search of food
for their ravenous chicks.
The feeding relay race soon creates a penguin super highway.
The team want to film a penguin's-eye view of the rush-hour journey
to and from the sea.
It's a challenge that requires more than one approach.
Plan A.
Max does his best to try and keep up,
but one misplaced foot and...
(CLATTERING)
Following these waddling miracle machines
is a lot harder than they thought.
(PENGUIN GAKS)
Time for plan B.
What could possibly go wrong?
(CHITTERING)
(HONKS)
(GAKS)
Okay.
So, plan C.
MAX: Good idea.
NARRATOR: It's a camera version of a zip line.
MAX: Camera's running. Okay.
Just one test.
NARRATOR: It works beautifully.
Once they've got all the zip line shots they need,
it's time for a little free-styling.
(GAKKING)
The sea ice that surrounds Antarctica is melting fast.
Cracks are appearing.
The open water feeding grounds are getting closer.
It's time to call in the ice edge chopper team.
Their mission is not just to film the penguins from the air,
they're also here to film them swimming underwater.
(HELICOPTER FLYING OVERHEAD)
That means landing a helicopter packed with heavy camera equipment
on sea ice that's breaking apart.
It's an extremely high-risk operation.
They must be absolutely certain the ice can take their weight.
So, before Tom,
the cinematographer, is allowed near the ice edge,
the team set up safety ropes.
There is no way that Tom could fall in.
But just in case he does,
we can pull on this and yank him right out.
Keep right. Yeah...
NARRATOR: As the Adelies follow the channels
toward open ocean and their food,
the crew get into position ahead of them.
With the camera on a jib arm,
Tom can film them underwater without diving.
But suddenly, the penguins halt their journey.
Something has spooked them.
Orca.
Killer whales.
TOM: Whoa.
Oh, my goodness.
NARRATOR: Orca are Antarctica's greatest predators.
And the ice channels that let the penguins out
have let the orca in.
TOM: Oh, yes.
Whoa. Smell that breath.
That was so close.
Uh, so the camera I'm using here is just a little underwater camera
in a waterproof housing.
Uh, the point of having it on this nice big boom is that we can just move it
and just drift and follow the animal in-frame as it enters and leaves.
It looks great. The colors are beautiful.
The water clarity is amazing.
Oh... yes.
Yes, Mark.
There you go. Beautiful.
This is amazing.
Oh, mate.
This is perfect.
MARK: He's gonna come right next to you.
Great guy, good guy.
NARRATOR: Orca are hugely intelligent social animals.
And the strangers on the ice edge arouse their curiosity.
TOM: Oh, my goodness.
TOM: Wow.
-MARK: How was that, Tom? -That was awesome.
That was a bit of luck.
I'd literally just dipped it in and then a second later...
I wasn't recording!
I was. (LAUGHS)
The look on Mark's face. (LAUGHS)
Mate, we got it.
-(WHALE WHISTLES) -TOM: Whoa!
NARRATOR: All around Antarctica, the sea ice is breaking up.
It's becoming much easier
for the adult penguins to get to their feeding grounds.
And this constant supply of fish and krill is helping their chicks grow rapidly.
At Cape Crozier, Matt has completed his time in the field
and heads home to his loved ones and a well-earned shower.
He's handed it over to Sophie for the last leg of filming.
She's more used to working in Africa than Antarctica.
It's her first time.
Nothing. Nothing can prepare you for this landscape.
It's exactly everything I wanted it to be.
Just huge and dramatic and awe-inspiring and terrifyingly beautiful.
NARRATOR: Together with Julie,
she's here to film the final stages of the penguins' story.
And it's love at first sight.
They're just enchanting. They're so...
Can't get enough of them. We really can't. They're just heaven.
It's a real treat to be here.
They're relentless. They don't stop.
I admire them for their tenacity.
They're just up and down this hill, just motoring,
absolutely beetling up and down that hill.
We do it a couple of times a day and it nearly breaks us.
I love their curiosity. Look at this.
They're just sitting there. They're completely cool.
They're just happy to hang out with us and let us be here.
Slightly bewildered. I think they think we're very, very tall, stupid penguins.
Definitely the best bird I have ever filmed.
Really, really. They're just amazing.
(GAKKING)
NARRATOR: The chicks are now several weeks old.
They're constantly hungry.
So when a parent arrives back from a fishing trip,
every chick in the neighborhood tries to get in on the action.
SOPHIE: Go on! You can get her. Go on!
That is the funniest thing you can ever see.
If you imagine a Justin Bieber fan in a gray, fluffy onesie
chasing Justin Bieber for an autograph,
that's the fervor with which those chicks pursue their parents.
NARRATOR: Sophie's mission is to film the chicks
as they get ready to leave the colony.
It won't be long now before they head out to sea.
SOPHIE: I can't believe the couple of weeks we've been here
the changes we've seen,
from the winter wonderland, which was so incredibly beautiful.
And I don't think either of us had the faintest idea
it would go so quickly.
It really took us by surprise.
One day to have this all ice, just everything solid,
and the next day, a bit broken, the next day, gone.
Um, the change is so quick.
The chicks are beginning to change their plumage.
The adults are spending less and less time up in the colony.
The ice is all gone.
We're down to a kind of shingly, pebbly beach.
And now, look.
Open ocean.
NARRATOR: A few hundred miles north of Sophie,
another film team has arrived.
The open ocean and good weather are what they've been waiting for.
It's the aerial team.
Until now, summer storms have made it too rough and windy to launch.
ALASTAIR: Finally, after days of waiting,
we really now, tonight, have the perfect conditions.
Absolutely no breeze at all.
Amazing clear skies.
Beautiful sunlight on the mountains.
And we're now just getting the helicopter ready.
We'll take off in about half an hour,
and we'll spend up to four hours in the air
trying to capture this amazing scenery.
-ALASTAIR: Okay, good? -MARCELO: Yeah.
-Ready to go. -Yeah, ready.
We got the 360 and the forward cameras running.
NARRATOR: Their task is to film Antarctica's majestic mountains
and icebergs freed from the melting sea ice.
It's a chance to visit places few have ever seen,
let alone filmed.
Marcelo, turn it over to the black mountain, please.
That will be our starting point.
Yup.
-Okay. Let's go this way, please. -MARCELO: Uh-huh.
ALASTAIR: Looking for some good bergs, really.
MARCELO: Yup.
ALASTAIR: And let's head for these uh, icebergs here in front of us.
Yeah, this is gonna be lovely.
That is one hell of an iceberg, there.
Okay. Let's try going low towards the one just here,
the one with the... with the holes in it.
It's very nice with the gray sky behind this way as well.
Yeah, that's great.
That's really nice. That's like Stonehenge.
Those holes are superb.
That's beautiful. The lighting's lovely, too.
This is great, Marcelo.
Just keep going round like this, this is very nice.
That is a beautiful piece of ice.
-ALASTAIR: Very good flying. Thank you. -MARCELO: Thank you.
Amazing sort of... where that glacier's coming right down into the ocean there.
MARCELO: Altitude is good?
ALASTAIR: Altitude is lovely.
MARCELO: Uh-huh.
Push.
ALASTAIR: Let's keep going in this direction.
MARCELO: Uh-huh.
Can we try and fly quite close
-to this ridge straight ahead of us? -Uh-huh.
ALASTAIR: That's got a real feeling of going forever.
Okay, Marcelo, can you see that ridge there?
-Can we go over the top of it? -MARCELO: Okay.
ALASTAIR: That's a lovely shot. Very nice. Okay, keep going.
Nice altitude. Good speed.
And we stay on the sunny side of the ridge.
Yeah, this is gonna be lovely.
Yeah, that's nice.
NARRATOR: Three and a half thousand miles away,
on the other side of Antarctica,
the last of the Disneynature teams
is sailing from the Falkland Islands down the Antarctic Peninsula
heading for the appropriately named Avian Island.
It's accessible only by boat,
and only when there's open water and the sea ice has broken up.
On board is the largest film crew of the entire production,
with three separate filming teams,
all trying to get to a rarely visited and very remote penguin colony.
One of the most experienced is John,
a specialist long lens cinematographer.
JOHN: I've been here a few times filming,
but it's fresh, I think, every single time, because...
the landscape changes, all the ice moves around, and...
you never get the same weather twice either.
Apparently this year there's a huge amount of ice,
and it could well block this boat from being able to get to the colony
where the Adelie penguins are that we're trying to film.
And if that's the case, then we may not be able to land there.
NARRATOR: The dive team leader, Doug, has also been here before,
and knows a thing or two about these freezing waters.
Well, I've been diving the tropics for the last two years,
so, um, yeah, I think it's gonna be a bit of a shock to the system.
From memory, you know, the first week is the hardest,
you know, before your body starts to acclimatize to the cold.
And it's not really your core, um, that's the problem.
It's, uh, your hands stop working.
Uh, so you simply can't control the other buttons on a camera housing.
So, um, yeah, but if we can get an hour in the water after a week,
then we're doing pretty well.
NARRATOR: The third Antarctic veteran is Jamie.
His special camera uses military technology.
JAMIE: It's a stabilized system, so it means we can get stable images
while we're in a boat filming penguins in the water.
And basically, it looks like, you know, you get rock-steady images
while the boat's moving around and we're tracking with them.
NARRATOR: Three separate teams with one common goal:
to film the chicks as they enter the sea for the very first time.
But within hours, they run into trouble.
The change in the weather catches them by surprise.
What a difference a day makes.
Yesterday, we had sunshine. Glorious sunshine.
And uh... and now we're stuck in the ice, parked next to an iceberg,
and we've got gale-force winds.
(STRONG WINDS BLOWING)
This is not exactly what we were expecting.
Uh, we're in the middle of summer.
Uh, if the ice is like this for us, you know,
this is their time for the chicks to fledge.
What they need is open sea.
They need somewhere for the chicks to be able to go and feed themselves,
as well as the parents to be able to get fish to feed the chicks.
So as much as it's a problem for us,
my dinner's downstairs being cooked in the mess.
These guys are having a much harder time.
NARRATOR: On the other side of Antarctica, at Cape Crozier,
Sophie is dealing with a storm of a different kind.
The penguin chicks are molting.
(PENGUINS GAKKING)
Can I just... look. Look at this, everywhere.
This, there was so much of this in the air,
that I think that Julie and I have inhaled
an entire penguin chick down sleeping bag.
Like, look, everything. It's...
The whole air is just full of this stuff.
(GAKS)
NARRATOR: The downy feathers have served to keep them warm up until now.
But they're not waterproof,
so the chicks must shed them before they can go to sea.
(PENGUINS GAKKING)
It's the penguin equivalent of those awkward teenage years.
(HONKS)
And it's not just down that the chicks are leaving behind.
(HONKS)
I don't like the way they poo on our camera gear,
and the way I smell.
I smell worse than I've ever smelled,
because we spend all day kneeling in down, excrement.
It's not a nice smell.
It really isn't. They're not gonna be making a perfume any time soon.
(GAKKING)
And plus there's no shower, so I think we smell quite high.
But they... they think they smell delicious.
They... They're like, "Yeah, man, we're good."
NARRATOR: The chicks don't know it, but this is a risky time for them.
If they molt too soon,
they run the risk of being caught out by a storm.
Molt too late,
and they won't be able to enter the water and leave the colony
before winter returns.
Back on the Antarctic Peninsula,
the boat crew have weathered their storm
and have arrived at Avian Island.
So our first footsteps onto Avian.
NARRATOR: No film crew has ever been here before.
They have no idea what they'll find.
JOHN: It's a really large colony,
and we're seeing it for the first time, so we're trying to work out
where we can land, where the penguins are likely to go into the sea,
which is the most important thing we're gonna film.
It's just very encouraging, really, to find so many birds here.
NARRATOR: They soon discover that the penguins are not alone.
(HONKING)
Elephant seals.
(HONKS)
Up to 20 feet long, and nearly 9,000 pounds,
they're the world's largest seal.
And they even smell even worse than the penguins.
Oh, the stench.
(LAUGHS)
It's like a great cloud of smell that comes up from them.
It's amazing.
(LAUGHS)
Not good neighbors.
But I don't want to get any closer.
They're so big.
(HONKING)
It does sound pretty bad, doesn't it? Terrible guts.
(BLOWS)
NARRATOR: Soon, John is forced to retreat from his filming position.
Yes, yes, okay.
We won't give you any trouble.
JOHN: My tripod and camera were right in the way,
so, um, we had to negotiate who went where, and I lost.
(HONKING)
NARRATOR: All across Antarctica,
the adult Adelies are leaving their colonies,
heading back to sea for the last time this season.
For the chicks,
it's time to take their final step toward independence.
JOHN: Unlike other birds which have to learn to fly,
penguins have to learn to swim.
It's a rite of passage for penguins that they have to take.
There are lots of chicks going just now. They're coming down from the colony,
and coming down to the shore and trying to swim offshore,
but they've never done it before, so...
they're making a bit of a mess of it, some of them.
Some just go in quite confidently, and others fall in
and have to crash about and then climb out again.
They don't seem to know what to do at all, really.
(JOHN LAUGHS)
Oh, dear, falling over.
Oh, gosh.
Yeah, there they go.
(JOHN LAUGHS)
They jump like parachute jumpers, they don't jump like penguins.
It's all jumping feet first.
SOPHIE: All right. Ready for youse.
They're mainly coming up on this little bit here.
No, no. Don't go there.
That's entirely the wrong way.
To me. To me.
Come on.
We've been on the beach for the last week
because the chicks have started to fledge.
And their excitement at being in the water is just amazing.
It's like any toddler, you know.
It's like any kid when they see the sea, the ocean.
They're just so happy. They're in their element.
And they're off. They're going.
It's like, they're off for the sea ice, for the winter, they're done.
So this is the end of the story for us, actually.
It's really lovely to see the, kind of, season drawing to a close.
NARRATOR: Sophie's mission may be ending,
but there's still one more chapter to the penguins' Antarctic adventure.
It's one of the most dangerous moments in a young chick's life,
and it's the whole reason the boat team have battled their way
so far south to Avian Island.
Here, brash ice still surrounds the island.
It's a major barrier the chicks need to cross
before they can reach the open sea.
But it's what's below the surface that is the most feared.
Leopard seals.
Eleven feet of specialized penguin predator.
The timing of this event has been incredible,
because as soon as the chicks started to leave the island,
leopard seals arrived.
The seals seem to have some kind of in-built calendar
that brings them here exactly on the same date as the penguins' leaving.
It's amazing how nature works.
There'd previously been none.
There are maybe six, seven, or eight now around the island.
It's a big, risky place out there for a young penguin.
NARRATOR: For the story's climax, the team want to capture
the nail-biting drama of the seals hunting.
Three camera crews cover the action,
each from a different angle.
JAMIE: I'm here with the Cineflex, so I'm filming topside,
Doug is doing underwater, and then we've got John on land.
So hopefully they can give us a wider view and a different perspective on it.
Hold still on the boat. Okay.
Well, for us, we wanna make it feel exciting and dramatic,
so we're trying to give a sense of scale to the leopard seals,
and to be with the chicks as they're moving through the ice,
and wanna make people understand how scary it is for the chicks, really.
You've got thousands of chicks getting into the water
and these little lines streaming out.
And then these leopard seals come out of nowhere
and just... utter mayhem.
NARRATOR: Amid all the chaos,
the crew were facing exactly the same problem as the chicks.
When the seal drops beneath the ice,
no one knows where it will appear next.
Okay. Everyone keep their eyes peeled for the seal.
JOHN: It's like cat and mouse with the seal looking for the penguins
and us looking for the seal.
But from our point of view, it's a needle in a haystack.
-There it is. -JAMIE: Yeah.
He was just five meters to your right now.
Okay. Doug's getting in the water now.
NARRATOR: The dive team hope to have better luck.
Okay, camera's booting.
NARRATOR: Underneath the ice, they shouldn't be able to hide so easily.
But leopard seals are masters of deception.
Doug, they're at the back. The other side.
NARRATOR: At last, one seal decides to reveal itself
and Doug can start filming.
DANIEL: We've finally caught up with a leopard seal
that doesn't seem to be overly scared of Doug.
They tend to be very skittish, don't like divers in the water,
whereas this the first time we've seen one actually hang around,
and we're all crossing our fingers and hoping that Doug's getting the shots
that we've been chasing for days on end now.
NARRATOR: But just as Doug's luck is improving,
he has to stop filming.
His hands are starting to freeze.
DANIEL: Well done, Dougie.
MAN: You're a trooper and a star.
DANIEL: Yeah, crikey. You must be cold by now.
NARRATOR: The seal has disappeared again.
The deadly game resumes.
DOUG: Right now we're just waiting for them to catch a chick.
You know, we're trying to get the chick being caught by the leopard seal,
then escaping.
That's sort of our raison d'être.
NARRATOR: The odds are stacked against the chicks.
JOHN: Those chicks are in trouble. They're really struggling.
(PENGUIN GAKS)
Oh!
NARRATOR: But some do manage to get away.
(PENGUIN GAKS)
Oh, that's a clever penguin.
It's amazing how they actually escape.
NARRATOR: The crew's challenge is to film how they do it.
No, we got a really good take with that one, Raz.
Okay. He's coming around, back of the boat.
NARRATOR: As the seal hones in on a vulnerable chick,
the final scene plays out,
and the chick's incredible escape trick is about to be revealed.
(GAKKING)
They literally play dead.
JAMIE: When you see chick get dragged underwater and then a few minutes later
it pops up again...
It's... yeah. It's really, really exciting.
Is the guy still alive or is he just acting dead?
NARRATOR: The chicks hope that the seal will lose interest...
and allow them one last chance...
to escape.
(GAKS)
That was the last shot that we needed to get.
We've got everything, which is amazing.
(GAKS)
NARRATOR: It's taken remarkable physical endurance...
(STRONG WINDS BLOWING)
...unparalleled innovation,
expertise, patience, and determination.
But finally, the Disneynature team
has captured the life of the Adelie as never before.
It's the amazing story of these unstoppable little penguins
and their heroic fight to breed and survive
in one of the harshest places on Earth.
When you get... uh, come down here,
you're issued with uh, special outdoor safety equipment
to combat the cold and the conditions.
And uh... (CLEARS THROAT) most important of these is a... beard,
the uh... the long... the long, gray beard.
And uh, that often... you can use that in a lot of ways.
It protects your lower face area.
Um, often really useful.
And, of course, the... the penguin beak,
which enables you to get closer to penguins.
MAN: Are they standard issue, or are they specifically for...
No, they're... they're only for media.
Yeah, for media, because, uh,
we don't wanna upset the penguins,
so you gotta try and blend in a little bit.
So there, obviously, look alike, like a penguin immediately.
Um...
And, uh... And then... then often, they...
If... If you're from, uh, the UK, they'll often give you a wig.
(LAUGHS)
(PENGUINS GAKKING)
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING)