In spring, Nigel Marven starts his nine-month quest to follow the lives of Canadian Arctic animals. On pans of sea ice off the Magdalen Islands in Quebec, harp seal mothers tend to their snow-white newborn pups. Near Winnipeg, majestic great grey owls hunt for voles under deep snow by listening for their movements. Further north near Churchill, Nigel braves temperatures of minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit to watch Arctic foxes, and joins a dog-sled team to find caribou. Finally, a polar bear mother helps her two cubs make their first steps in the world after emerging from their birthing den.
Episode 2
The Thaw Begins
Nigel Marven continues his Canadian Arctic journey into summer. Near Cambridge Bay, he sees a wolf attacking musk ox, but the herd’s bravery sees the predator go away hungry. Further north in Igloolik, Nigel overcomes blizzards to enjoy a close-up encounter with two massive walruses on an iceberg. Near Winnipeg black bears play in the boreal forest and great grey owls feed their chicks. Back in Churchill, Manitoba, Arctic foxes have nine tiny cubs and Nigel takes a boat to find beluga whales. Finally, the first polar bears of summer come ashore and Nigel encounters one swimming at sea.
Episode 3
High Summer
Nigel Marven continues his Canadian Arctic journey into high summer. Near Winnipeg, great grey owl chicks have left the nest and Nigel meets moose for the first time. In Churchill the town is filling with polar bears and the Arctic fox cubs are growing up fast. Beluga whales surround Nigel in the Churchill River as he dives with them. In Igloolik, Nigel gets his dive gear back on to brave Arctic seas and swim with walruses. Finally, he waits and watches a large land-bound herd as a polar bear circles- the show ends as a kill looks imminent.
Episode 4
Return of the Ice
Nigel Marven continues his Canadian Arctic journey into the fall. In Igloolik, a jaw-dropping scene unfolds as a polar bear charges into a herd of walrus to grab a young pup in its jaws.
Further south, polar bears patrol Churchill town, waiting for Hudson Bay to freeze over so they can hunt at sea. Nigel uses a Tundra Buggy to get around, big males play-fight as the first snowstorm of the fall rages around them. Finally, a helicopter trip to a remote peninsula allows Nigel to get on the ground with adult bears for the first time.
Episode 5
The Journey Ends
Nigel Marven continues his Canadian Arctic journey into the winter. On the shores of the Hudson Bay in Churchill, Manitoba, a mother and her two cubs –perhaps the same animals Nigel saw emerge from their birthing den in spring- head out onto the newly-formed ice for the first time. Nigel reflects on the highlights of his Arctic year: harp seal babies on sea ice; musk ox defend themselves against wolf attack in the high Arctic; walrus bask on ice floes and dive underwater; Arctic foxes feed lemmings to their nine cubs and polar bears invade the rocky shores around Churchill.
