hours, the little caribou
must already be able to follow his mother.
His life depends on it.
But he knows nothing of the
severe tests which await him.
During the first days of summer,
the males meet with the rest of the herd.
The caribou multitude now resembles
an immense marching army.
The great fjord is bewitched
by a red ghost.
It is the night of the hunter.
The humpback whales have made the
long trek up from the tropics.
Here, the ocean generously satisfies
the appetites of these giant monsters.
By August, the Arctic has accumulated
the heat of an entire summer.
The glaciers of Greenland, the largest
fresh water reserves on the planet,
are essential to the balance of the
entire world's climate.
On the White Planet, the ice
has almost vanished entirely.
The polar bear can no longer hunt seals.
The walruses, sheltered on the few remaining
ice banks, are too difficult to get to.
The polar bear is a king whose domain
is breaking up into the ocean.
On the continent, time is precious.
Summer only lasts for a moment.
The new generation must grow up and get strong
before winter's return.
Summer is an ordeal for the caribou.
The tundra is an immense swamp,
where millions of mosquitoes swarm.
These vampire insects suck the last
strength out of them.
At the end of August, after 100 days of effort,
and thousands of kilometers traversed,
the caribou find themselves at the ocean,
at the end of the Earth.
By the coastline, the patient walruses
wait for the return of the ice.
The guillemots build their nests in the cliffs,
but space is limited.
The egg is pear-shaped,
so that it cannot roll away.
Is there one last chance for survival?
The fox builds up his reserves for the winter.
At the end of September, the sun
descends below the horizon for the first time.
After three months of permanent daylight,
the night has returned.
For the summer visitors,
it's a sign to be heading off.
The musk oxen retake control of their territory
The males confront each other.
The future of the clan depends
on the outcome of these battles.
Little by little, the White Planet
re-adopts the color of winter.
The ice floe has returned, and the
polar bear finds its territory again.
For months, the mother has
guarded her little ones.
She has fed them day in and day out.
From now on, they will have to get by on their own.
She will no longer hunt on their behalf.
With each passing year, I see the
ice layer shrinking.
The climate grows warmer; we are
the cause, and the Arctic is our victim.
If we do nothing,
the ice could completely disappear into summer
before the end of the century...
and with her, numerous species.
At the beginning of this new winter,
I have listened to the cry of the polar bear:
Pay attention! We cannot lose the North!