1 00:00:00,439 --> 00:00:03,022 (wind blowing) 2 00:00:04,558 --> 00:00:07,725 (soft dramatic music) 3 00:00:10,900 --> 00:00:13,160 It is safe to say that the natural habitat 4 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:17,740 of a penguin, a skua, a snow petrel or a Weddell seal 5 00:00:17,740 --> 00:00:19,523 is extremely inhospitable. 6 00:00:23,350 --> 00:00:25,720 In Antarctica, temperatures can descend 7 00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:28,350 to 40 degrees below Celsius, 8 00:00:28,350 --> 00:00:31,833 and winds could blow at over 200 kilometers per hour. 9 00:00:33,647 --> 00:00:36,230 (wind blowing) 10 00:00:37,310 --> 00:00:39,660 An animal must orient itself in a setting 11 00:00:39,660 --> 00:00:42,870 without points of reference to nourish and locate 12 00:00:42,870 --> 00:00:46,952 its fellow creatures, its mate or its little ones. 13 00:00:46,952 --> 00:00:49,620 (soft music) 14 00:00:49,620 --> 00:00:53,230 To perpetuate its species, it must give birth to and raise 15 00:00:53,230 --> 00:00:55,630 its offspring as fast as possible, 16 00:00:55,630 --> 00:00:58,573 before the dreadful polar night of winter strikes. 17 00:00:59,955 --> 00:01:02,443 (soft music) 18 00:01:02,443 --> 00:01:05,193 (birds chirping) 19 00:01:06,620 --> 00:01:09,240 Most animals that live in Antarctica exist 20 00:01:09,240 --> 00:01:11,310 nowhere else on the planet. 21 00:01:11,310 --> 00:01:14,550 How do they manage to survive in this white hell? 22 00:01:14,550 --> 00:01:17,823 What is the secret behind their incredible resistance? 23 00:01:19,161 --> 00:01:22,500 (penguins chirping) 24 00:01:22,500 --> 00:01:25,460 In the field and laboratories the world over, 25 00:01:25,460 --> 00:01:29,070 scientists are closely scrutinizing these unique beings 26 00:01:29,070 --> 00:01:31,443 to decipher their strategies of adaptation. 27 00:01:32,438 --> 00:01:34,855 (soft music) 28 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:40,430 They are also attempting to respond to a crucial question. 29 00:01:40,430 --> 00:01:41,930 Will they be able to keep up 30 00:01:41,930 --> 00:01:44,333 with increasingly rapid climate change? 31 00:01:49,290 --> 00:01:51,320 At the dawn of the third millennium, 32 00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:53,370 the Antarctica species have reached 33 00:01:53,370 --> 00:01:56,360 a decisive turning point in their history. 34 00:01:56,360 --> 00:01:59,090 To know them better has become essential, 35 00:01:59,090 --> 00:02:00,813 to better predict their future. 36 00:02:01,738 --> 00:02:04,155 (soft music) 37 00:02:10,041 --> 00:02:12,624 (wind blowing) 38 00:02:17,620 --> 00:02:20,990 The Antarctic content, a desert of ice 39 00:02:20,990 --> 00:02:24,090 15,000 kilometers from Europe. 40 00:02:24,090 --> 00:02:26,103 At the southern extremity of the planet. 41 00:02:27,010 --> 00:02:30,130 The zone on the bottom right is Adelie Land, 42 00:02:30,130 --> 00:02:33,070 a zone in Antarctica claimed by the French. 43 00:02:33,070 --> 00:02:37,340 And on its coast, the small Archipelago of Point Geology 44 00:02:37,340 --> 00:02:40,200 shelters a base for scientific research, 45 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:42,203 the Dumont d'Urville Station. 46 00:02:43,043 --> 00:02:45,460 (soft music) 47 00:02:47,870 --> 00:02:50,280 Every year in early November, what is known 48 00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:52,730 as the summer campaign begins. 49 00:02:52,730 --> 00:02:54,910 Several dozens of scientists land here 50 00:02:54,910 --> 00:02:57,033 for four months of field research. 51 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:01,890 Do all the scanners work? 52 00:03:01,890 --> 00:03:03,860 Even the little one works. 53 00:03:03,860 --> 00:03:07,070 Okay, what we'll do is we'll take two of them. 54 00:03:07,070 --> 00:03:09,730 Christophe Barbraud, researcher from the French 55 00:03:09,730 --> 00:03:12,500 National Research Center, the CNRS, 56 00:03:12,500 --> 00:03:14,560 and specialist in Antarctic fauna, 57 00:03:14,560 --> 00:03:16,090 has also just arrived. 58 00:03:16,090 --> 00:03:18,630 He wastes no time before preparing for missions 59 00:03:18,630 --> 00:03:20,440 with a part of his crew. 60 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:21,670 So tomorrow, we'll start 61 00:03:21,670 --> 00:03:23,243 taking systematic photos. 62 00:03:24,130 --> 00:03:26,793 All the females, if we can get good shots of them. 63 00:03:32,280 --> 00:03:33,740 In the Southern Hemisphere, 64 00:03:33,740 --> 00:03:36,010 the seasons are inversed. 65 00:03:36,010 --> 00:03:38,093 It is now the beginning of spring. 66 00:03:41,140 --> 00:03:44,110 But the mercury stays well below zero, 67 00:03:44,110 --> 00:03:46,510 minus 15 degrees Celsius today, 68 00:03:46,510 --> 00:03:48,760 according to weather readings at the station. 69 00:03:50,392 --> 00:03:52,975 (wind blowing) 70 00:03:58,430 --> 00:04:00,770 It is impossible to go outside without being 71 00:04:00,770 --> 00:04:03,550 wrapped in extreme cold-weather clothing. 72 00:04:03,550 --> 00:04:06,953 And yet, animal life is teeming and abundant all around. 73 00:04:09,214 --> 00:04:11,631 (soft music) 74 00:04:13,949 --> 00:04:16,616 (birds calling) 75 00:04:21,770 --> 00:04:26,030 Every year, between October and January, over 100,000 76 00:04:26,030 --> 00:04:28,860 marine birds come to mate, lay eggs 77 00:04:28,860 --> 00:04:32,852 and raise their chicks on these small rock ledges. 78 00:04:32,852 --> 00:04:35,568 (birds calling) 79 00:04:35,568 --> 00:04:37,985 (soft music) 80 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:49,280 The site is ideal for scientists. 81 00:04:49,280 --> 00:04:51,860 The species they have come to study are all gathered 82 00:04:51,860 --> 00:04:53,773 here within arm's reach. 83 00:04:54,890 --> 00:04:58,770 In this territory, unique on Earth, the ice has always 84 00:04:58,770 --> 00:05:00,973 protected animals from human greed. 85 00:05:02,300 --> 00:05:04,930 They have never been hunted, so they do not fear 86 00:05:04,930 --> 00:05:07,197 the presence of human beings. 87 00:05:07,197 --> 00:05:10,197 (penguins chirping) 88 00:05:12,860 --> 00:05:16,010 Every day, researchers can approach them to observe, 89 00:05:16,010 --> 00:05:18,670 count and take samples from the animals 90 00:05:18,670 --> 00:05:20,497 for their research needs. 91 00:05:20,497 --> 00:05:23,497 (penguins chirping) 92 00:05:30,493 --> 00:05:33,090 The Archipelago of Point Geology 93 00:05:33,090 --> 00:05:36,080 is very particular, in that it's one of the rare sites 94 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:38,920 where one can find nearly all the species of birds 95 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:41,030 that nest in Antarctica. 96 00:05:41,030 --> 00:05:43,930 One can truly speak of an oasis in the ice. 97 00:05:43,930 --> 00:05:46,149 Everywhere around is ice. 98 00:05:46,149 --> 00:05:48,010 Here we have the start of the ice cap, 99 00:05:48,010 --> 00:05:51,280 the ice shelf, and the ice sheet behind us. 100 00:05:51,280 --> 00:05:53,630 This is the only place within hundreds of kilometers 101 00:05:53,630 --> 00:05:56,173 where the birds can build their nests and reproduce. 102 00:06:00,808 --> 00:06:04,470 For the most part, they come here only for a short period. 103 00:06:04,470 --> 00:06:06,410 They come for two or three months in the summer 104 00:06:06,410 --> 00:06:09,700 to reproduce, then they go back out to sea. 105 00:06:09,700 --> 00:06:13,150 So it's also a race against the clock in this oasis, 106 00:06:13,150 --> 00:06:16,740 because they must accomplish their whole reproduction cycle, 107 00:06:16,740 --> 00:06:21,070 mating rituals, coupling, laying of eggs, raising the young, 108 00:06:21,070 --> 00:06:23,880 during the few months before the arrival of winter. 109 00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:26,213 Otherwise, it's impossible to reproduce. 110 00:06:27,418 --> 00:06:30,001 (wind blowing) 111 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:34,500 During the winter months, the polar night 112 00:06:34,500 --> 00:06:36,410 envelops Antarctica and the weather 113 00:06:36,410 --> 00:06:39,180 becomes even more extreme. 114 00:06:39,180 --> 00:06:41,690 At Dumont d'Urville, temperatures drop 115 00:06:41,690 --> 00:06:44,750 to 35 degrees below Celsius in June 116 00:06:44,750 --> 00:06:48,163 and blizzards can howl at over 200 kilometers per hour. 117 00:06:49,422 --> 00:06:52,005 (wind blowing) 118 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:56,830 During this period, Dumont d'Urville is emptied 119 00:06:56,830 --> 00:06:58,083 of its inhabitants. 120 00:06:59,180 --> 00:07:00,873 With one exception. 121 00:07:00,873 --> 00:07:03,456 (wind blowing) 122 00:07:06,620 --> 00:07:09,037 (soft music) 123 00:07:18,020 --> 00:07:20,610 The renowned emperor penguins gave birth 124 00:07:20,610 --> 00:07:22,950 to their young four months ago. 125 00:07:22,950 --> 00:07:25,350 For them, the mating season takes place 126 00:07:25,350 --> 00:07:28,060 in the heart of the Antarctic winter. 127 00:07:28,060 --> 00:07:30,210 It is the only species on Earth 128 00:07:30,210 --> 00:07:33,068 to adopt this mode of extreme life. 129 00:07:33,068 --> 00:07:35,778 (soft music) 130 00:07:35,778 --> 00:07:38,778 (penguins chirping) 131 00:07:40,470 --> 00:07:43,940 Their secret, a series of adaptations allowing them 132 00:07:43,940 --> 00:07:46,660 to maintain their body temperature by expending 133 00:07:46,660 --> 00:07:48,997 as little energy as possible. 134 00:07:48,997 --> 00:07:51,414 (soft music) 135 00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:57,600 The first adaptation is body shape and size. 136 00:07:57,600 --> 00:08:01,810 With its oval-shaped body, its small wings, beak and tail, 137 00:08:01,810 --> 00:08:05,430 the emperor minimizes its surface contact with the outside 138 00:08:05,430 --> 00:08:07,422 and thus heat loss. 139 00:08:07,422 --> 00:08:09,839 (soft music) 140 00:08:12,010 --> 00:08:14,550 But its best insulation is this, 141 00:08:14,550 --> 00:08:17,070 the densest plumage of all bird species 142 00:08:17,070 --> 00:08:18,453 known on the planet. 143 00:08:19,660 --> 00:08:22,590 Their feathers are tightly knit, one against the other. 144 00:08:22,590 --> 00:08:25,250 Spread out over four layers. 145 00:08:25,250 --> 00:08:29,033 One can count up to 15 feathers per square centimeter. 146 00:08:30,170 --> 00:08:32,900 These feathers are divided in two parts. 147 00:08:32,900 --> 00:08:36,120 On the exterior side, a waterproof layer protects 148 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:38,580 the emperor from the attacking cold. 149 00:08:38,580 --> 00:08:41,050 Underneath this layer, the feathers consist 150 00:08:41,050 --> 00:08:43,890 of long and downy filaments. 151 00:08:43,890 --> 00:08:45,900 When the penguin puffs out its plumage, 152 00:08:45,900 --> 00:08:48,710 small bubbles are caught in contact with the skin, 153 00:08:48,710 --> 00:08:51,113 thereby suppressing nearly all heat loss. 154 00:08:52,206 --> 00:08:54,623 (soft music) 155 00:09:05,110 --> 00:09:09,470 By multiplying shots, notably with an infrared detector, 156 00:09:09,470 --> 00:09:12,230 Christophe can analyze in detail the efficiency 157 00:09:12,230 --> 00:09:14,223 of the emperor's thermal protection. 158 00:09:17,156 --> 00:09:19,950 So there, we see a column 159 00:09:19,950 --> 00:09:21,333 of emperor penguins. 160 00:09:23,150 --> 00:09:25,600 Shot with a thermal camera 161 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:27,783 that works with the infrared spectrum. 162 00:09:28,660 --> 00:09:31,363 So for example, here on the first bird, 163 00:09:32,207 --> 00:09:34,440 you can see the hotter colors, the red and the white, 164 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:36,240 which represent higher temperatures. 165 00:09:37,676 --> 00:09:39,840 We can see that most of the losses occur 166 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:44,120 around the eye, the beak, the wings and also the feet. 167 00:09:44,120 --> 00:09:46,520 But the rest of the body, though, 168 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:49,403 maintains its temperature to minimize heat loss. 169 00:09:50,667 --> 00:09:53,250 (wind blowing) 170 00:09:57,400 --> 00:09:59,580 But at the height of winter, when the winds 171 00:09:59,580 --> 00:10:03,590 start to howl, this thermal insulation is not enough. 172 00:10:03,590 --> 00:10:06,460 To resist, the emperors adopt a strategy 173 00:10:06,460 --> 00:10:08,530 unique in the animal kingdom. 174 00:10:08,530 --> 00:10:11,120 They abolish all social frontiers 175 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:13,683 and gather together in a compact group. 176 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:19,850 This is called a tortoise, in reference to the Roman army 177 00:10:19,850 --> 00:10:23,393 that adopted this formation as a strong defensive tactic. 178 00:10:26,740 --> 00:10:28,950 With the help of live-action footage, 179 00:10:28,950 --> 00:10:31,330 German scientists model the waves 180 00:10:31,330 --> 00:10:33,073 running through these tortoises. 181 00:10:34,039 --> 00:10:36,622 (upbeat music) 182 00:10:39,810 --> 00:10:42,250 They noticed that the penguins are always 183 00:10:42,250 --> 00:10:44,890 in motion inside the formation, 184 00:10:44,890 --> 00:10:47,603 keeping their backs exposed to the biting cold. 185 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:53,090 The movement of one penguin automatically 186 00:10:53,090 --> 00:10:54,823 makes its neighbors move. 187 00:10:56,880 --> 00:11:00,560 The animals maintain a distance of around two centimeters, 188 00:11:00,560 --> 00:11:02,650 the optimal distance to keep warm 189 00:11:02,650 --> 00:11:04,380 without compacting their plumage 190 00:11:04,380 --> 00:11:06,053 and their own thermal barrier. 191 00:11:07,178 --> 00:11:10,000 (upbeat music) 192 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:12,110 Inside the tortoise, temperatures can reach 193 00:11:12,110 --> 00:11:14,843 as high as 35 degrees Celsius. 194 00:11:15,972 --> 00:11:18,555 (wind blowing) 195 00:11:20,552 --> 00:11:22,969 (soft music) 196 00:11:43,590 --> 00:11:47,010 In Antarctica, extreme conditions concern not only 197 00:11:47,010 --> 00:11:49,330 the inhabitants of the ice flow, 198 00:11:49,330 --> 00:11:51,603 they also reach down into the depths. 199 00:11:54,540 --> 00:11:57,500 Because the Antarctic Ocean is very salty, 200 00:11:57,500 --> 00:12:01,610 water temperatures can reach 1.9 degrees below Celsius, 201 00:12:01,610 --> 00:12:04,130 and near the coast, the ice shelf covers it 202 00:12:04,130 --> 00:12:06,823 with an opaque veil for a good part of the year. 203 00:12:09,890 --> 00:12:13,140 In spite of this hostile environment, here one finds 204 00:12:13,140 --> 00:12:15,694 a rich and teeming biodiversity. 205 00:12:15,694 --> 00:12:18,111 (soft music) 206 00:12:25,930 --> 00:12:29,523 All species are perfectly adapted to their extreme habitat. 207 00:12:30,891 --> 00:12:34,090 (soft music) 208 00:12:34,090 --> 00:12:37,630 The bodily fluids of these invertebrates, contain exactly 209 00:12:37,630 --> 00:12:40,343 the same amount of salt as the water surrounding them. 210 00:12:41,200 --> 00:12:43,670 Consequently, they don't freeze when the temperature 211 00:12:43,670 --> 00:12:45,623 of the water falls below zero. 212 00:12:46,540 --> 00:12:48,820 Their internal liquids can only freeze 213 00:12:48,820 --> 00:12:51,219 when the ocean also freezes. 214 00:12:51,219 --> 00:12:53,636 (soft music) 215 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:04,860 This fish has adopted a strategy to resist the cold. 216 00:13:04,860 --> 00:13:06,920 It belongs to a closely studied family 217 00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:09,033 of species called notothenioids. 218 00:13:09,940 --> 00:13:12,357 (soft music) 219 00:13:16,388 --> 00:13:19,410 In the Antarctic, there are five families 220 00:13:19,410 --> 00:13:22,190 and they all descended from a common ancestor 221 00:13:22,190 --> 00:13:24,520 about maybe 30 million years ago. 222 00:13:24,520 --> 00:13:26,760 The reason why they were able to diversity 223 00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:31,760 in this Antarctic water is because when the Antarctic Ocean 224 00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:36,040 got cold, a lot of the other fishes died out. 225 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:39,060 And so there's these wide open niches, right, 226 00:13:39,060 --> 00:13:42,250 and the ancestor of the notothenioid somehow could 227 00:13:42,250 --> 00:13:45,290 manage to survive that environmental change. 228 00:13:45,290 --> 00:13:47,240 They were able to diversify and basically 229 00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:51,320 fill up the whole ocean with these species. 230 00:13:51,320 --> 00:13:54,830 And right now, we know that are are about 120-some species 231 00:13:54,830 --> 00:13:56,003 in the Antarctic Ocean. 232 00:13:58,950 --> 00:14:01,300 For many years, Christina Cheng has studied 233 00:14:01,300 --> 00:14:04,640 the physiology of these strange Antarctic fish. 234 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:07,180 She works with her husband, Arthur DeVries, 235 00:14:07,180 --> 00:14:09,910 who began to pierce through the mystery of their resistance 236 00:14:09,910 --> 00:14:12,280 during this first stay on the White Continent 237 00:14:12,280 --> 00:14:13,763 some 50 years ago. 238 00:14:14,968 --> 00:14:17,551 (upbeat music) 239 00:14:19,350 --> 00:14:22,350 My first trip to Antarctica, I noticed that one 240 00:14:22,350 --> 00:14:25,470 deep-water species froze to death 241 00:14:25,470 --> 00:14:29,630 in a tank at minus 1.9, the freezing point of seawater, 242 00:14:29,630 --> 00:14:33,460 whereas a fish that was caught just beneath the surface 243 00:14:33,460 --> 00:14:36,650 of the ice could survive quite well 244 00:14:36,650 --> 00:14:39,700 despite lots of ice in the water. 245 00:14:39,700 --> 00:14:41,800 So that sort of piqued my interest 246 00:14:41,800 --> 00:14:45,910 in why one would freeze and the other not. 247 00:14:45,910 --> 00:14:49,490 So then I began to dissect out the components 248 00:14:49,490 --> 00:14:52,680 of the blood serum that were responsible for this 249 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:55,650 low freezing point, and I partially characterized 250 00:14:55,650 --> 00:14:58,970 the antifreeze in those fishes, 251 00:14:58,970 --> 00:15:01,583 and it turned out to be an antifreeze glycoprotein. 252 00:15:03,357 --> 00:15:04,960 (soft music) 253 00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:08,350 A protein that plays the role of antifreeze. 254 00:15:08,350 --> 00:15:10,500 That is the secret behind the resistance 255 00:15:10,500 --> 00:15:12,113 of this Antarctic fish. 256 00:15:14,940 --> 00:15:17,960 As soon as an ice crystal forms in the animal's blood, 257 00:15:17,960 --> 00:15:21,430 a group of proteins immediately forms around it. 258 00:15:21,430 --> 00:15:23,870 This group composes a sort of solid net 259 00:15:23,870 --> 00:15:26,710 around the crystal, and stops it from growing, 260 00:15:26,710 --> 00:15:29,284 even if the temperature drops. 261 00:15:29,284 --> 00:15:31,701 (soft music) 262 00:15:38,835 --> 00:15:41,470 The presence of these proteins in their blood allows 263 00:15:41,470 --> 00:15:43,890 the fish to lower their congelation point 264 00:15:43,890 --> 00:15:46,160 to two degrees below Celsius. 265 00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:48,940 It is not enough to freeze in the Antarctic Ocean, 266 00:15:48,940 --> 00:15:53,053 which turns to ice at minus 1.9 degrees Celsius. 267 00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:57,930 Among the notothenioids, certain species are gifted 268 00:15:57,930 --> 00:16:00,740 with another astonishing particularity. 269 00:16:00,740 --> 00:16:02,780 They are called ice fish. 270 00:16:02,780 --> 00:16:06,240 In these specimens, the bronchia, the tongue and the organs 271 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:09,100 are completely white, not a trace of blood 272 00:16:09,100 --> 00:16:10,450 which we are accustomed to. 273 00:16:11,343 --> 00:16:13,926 (upbeat music) 274 00:16:16,370 --> 00:16:19,620 In the course of their evolution, these fish rid their blood 275 00:16:19,620 --> 00:16:22,080 of red cells and hemoglobin. 276 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:24,190 They capture oxygen in the water 277 00:16:24,190 --> 00:16:25,703 directly through their skin. 278 00:16:27,760 --> 00:16:29,900 When you don't have a lot of cells in the blood, 279 00:16:29,900 --> 00:16:31,810 then the blood is thinner. 280 00:16:31,810 --> 00:16:35,566 And so the viscosity decreases, and so the blood can flow 281 00:16:35,566 --> 00:16:37,657 a lot more easily. 282 00:16:37,657 --> 00:16:40,074 (soft music) 283 00:16:41,420 --> 00:16:43,640 This thinner blood in constant motion 284 00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:47,270 is harder to freeze than dense and viscous blood. 285 00:16:47,270 --> 00:16:49,300 Yet another advantage these fish have 286 00:16:49,300 --> 00:16:52,506 in their fight to resist extreme cold. 287 00:16:52,506 --> 00:16:54,923 (soft music) 288 00:16:55,890 --> 00:16:59,230 The ice fish and their cousins exist nowhere else 289 00:16:59,230 --> 00:17:03,310 on the planet, but over the past few decades, 290 00:17:03,310 --> 00:17:06,740 Antarctica has undergone noticeable modifications. 291 00:17:06,740 --> 00:17:09,030 Temperatures have been rising on the surface, 292 00:17:09,030 --> 00:17:10,760 as in the depths. 293 00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:13,710 These highly adapted animals are particularly fragile 294 00:17:13,710 --> 00:17:16,103 in the face of such significant changes. 295 00:17:17,143 --> 00:17:20,257 (soft music) 296 00:17:20,257 --> 00:17:24,591 Antarctic notothenioids are very cold adaptive. 297 00:17:24,591 --> 00:17:28,460 And they are also very cold specialized. 298 00:17:28,460 --> 00:17:31,560 So if you take these fishes, you warm them up, 299 00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:33,420 at four degrees Celsius they are still 300 00:17:33,420 --> 00:17:35,260 okay for some species. 301 00:17:35,260 --> 00:17:38,830 At six degrees Celsius, they start to die off. 302 00:17:38,830 --> 00:17:42,130 So if the ocean warms up, and if it warms very gradually, 303 00:17:42,130 --> 00:17:45,650 very slowly, any organism is capable of adjusting 304 00:17:45,650 --> 00:17:49,170 and evolving to a changing environment. 305 00:17:49,170 --> 00:17:53,870 The fear is that if climate change intensifies very rapidly, 306 00:17:53,870 --> 00:17:57,530 and the water warms up very, very quickly, 307 00:17:57,530 --> 00:18:00,930 let's say in 100 years if it warms up to six degrees, 308 00:18:00,930 --> 00:18:04,040 then the Antarctic notothenioids may not have enough 309 00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:06,470 time to adjust and evolve to keep pace 310 00:18:06,470 --> 00:18:09,883 and they might suffer a large extinction. 311 00:18:10,775 --> 00:18:13,192 (soft music) 312 00:18:16,602 --> 00:18:19,360 (wind blowing) 313 00:18:19,360 --> 00:18:21,980 On land as well, the future of Antarctic 314 00:18:21,980 --> 00:18:25,560 species is uncertain in the face of ongoing changes. 315 00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:28,740 Scientists are scrutinizing them as closely as they can 316 00:18:28,740 --> 00:18:30,773 in attempts to predict their evolution. 317 00:18:32,689 --> 00:18:35,439 (dramatic music) 318 00:18:36,851 --> 00:18:39,652 This one here, which one's that? 319 00:18:39,652 --> 00:18:40,560 4340? 320 00:18:40,560 --> 00:18:42,730 Today, the snow petrels nesting in the rock 321 00:18:42,730 --> 00:18:45,140 ledges are being counted one by one 322 00:18:45,140 --> 00:18:47,690 to help determine the general health of the colony. 323 00:18:48,856 --> 00:18:51,606 (birds chirping) 324 00:18:56,716 --> 00:18:58,160 Did you make a note of it? 325 00:18:58,160 --> 00:18:59,043 Yeah. 326 00:19:00,130 --> 00:19:00,963 With an egg. 327 00:19:05,790 --> 00:19:07,613 That's nest 38. 328 00:19:12,270 --> 00:19:13,970 The petrels return every year 329 00:19:13,970 --> 00:19:16,690 to this vast rock to reproduce. 330 00:19:16,690 --> 00:19:19,080 Their nests are marked with blue paint 331 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:20,623 to make them easier to see. 332 00:19:23,381 --> 00:19:26,160 (soft music) 333 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:28,750 This year, the colony is in good shape. 334 00:19:28,750 --> 00:19:31,733 About 1,000 couples have been counted on the archipelago. 335 00:19:33,708 --> 00:19:35,460 (soft music) 336 00:19:35,460 --> 00:19:37,570 Every year, the birds return to the exact 337 00:19:37,570 --> 00:19:39,520 same place to reproduce. 338 00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:43,720 What's more, they show proof of an incredible fidelity. 339 00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:45,980 They stay together in the same nest 340 00:19:45,980 --> 00:19:47,933 and made with the same partner. 341 00:19:49,030 --> 00:19:51,600 But how do they locate their dwelling and their mate 342 00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:54,870 among hundreds of virtually identical sites? 343 00:19:54,870 --> 00:19:56,970 This exploit is made possible 344 00:19:56,970 --> 00:19:59,959 by an ultra-strong sense of smell. 345 00:19:59,959 --> 00:20:02,376 (soft music) 346 00:20:05,450 --> 00:20:07,990 Above the beak, the animal is endowed 347 00:20:07,990 --> 00:20:10,370 with large protuberant nostrils, 348 00:20:10,370 --> 00:20:14,493 lined with numerous nerve cells capable of detecting odors. 349 00:20:15,552 --> 00:20:18,760 (soft music) 350 00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:21,440 The signals from the cells are sent to the animal's 351 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:24,180 olfactory bulbs, which are located in the front 352 00:20:24,180 --> 00:20:25,453 part of the brain. 353 00:20:27,770 --> 00:20:31,260 This zone occupies up to two-thirds of the cerebral mass, 354 00:20:31,260 --> 00:20:34,253 which is more than any other species on the planet. 355 00:20:35,974 --> 00:20:37,120 (soft music) 356 00:20:37,120 --> 00:20:40,240 Finally, the information is transmitted from the cerebral 357 00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:43,613 cortex to be interpreted and memorized. 358 00:20:43,613 --> 00:20:46,030 (soft music) 359 00:20:50,290 --> 00:20:53,570 In the white immensity of Antarctica, these birds can 360 00:20:53,570 --> 00:20:56,810 thus detect a wide variety of different odors, 361 00:20:56,810 --> 00:20:58,400 from those of their partner 362 00:20:58,400 --> 00:21:02,084 to those of food concealed in ocean waters. 363 00:21:02,084 --> 00:21:04,751 (birds calling) 364 00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:11,290 Snow petrels, like many other subantarctic 365 00:21:11,290 --> 00:21:14,150 birds, could have developed this enhanced sense 366 00:21:14,150 --> 00:21:16,500 as an adaptation to particular conditions 367 00:21:16,500 --> 00:21:19,793 which are lacking in visual or acoustic reference marks. 368 00:21:22,030 --> 00:21:25,360 In general, even during the day, during hours with light 369 00:21:25,360 --> 00:21:29,450 at sea, there are no trees, no rivers, no villages, 370 00:21:29,450 --> 00:21:32,550 no spires, no roads that many other birds, 371 00:21:32,550 --> 00:21:34,650 like carrier pigeons, for example, 372 00:21:34,650 --> 00:21:36,850 can use to help guide them while navigating. 373 00:21:37,690 --> 00:21:39,240 So the sense of smell can help them 374 00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:41,423 in an environment lacking visual markers. 375 00:21:42,866 --> 00:21:45,283 (soft music) 376 00:21:48,060 --> 00:21:51,310 Francesco Bonadonna is a foremost expert 377 00:21:51,310 --> 00:21:54,640 of smell in different species of petrel. 378 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:57,380 In his lab in the south of France, he and his team 379 00:21:57,380 --> 00:22:00,350 study a field sampling of petrel feathers. 380 00:22:00,350 --> 00:22:03,520 They are attempting to decipher the cocktail of molecules 381 00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:06,963 that compose the olfactory identity of individuals. 382 00:22:10,940 --> 00:22:14,320 With this machine, all components located on the surface 383 00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:18,696 of the feathers are separated and analyzed one by one. 384 00:22:18,696 --> 00:22:21,113 (soft music) 385 00:22:22,476 --> 00:22:24,450 Birds have a large gland 386 00:22:24,450 --> 00:22:26,220 at the base of their tail. 387 00:22:26,220 --> 00:22:28,213 So if this is the tail of the bird, here is a gland 388 00:22:28,213 --> 00:22:30,203 that is called uropygial gland. 389 00:22:32,205 --> 00:22:35,030 This gland secretes waxes and oils that birds spread 390 00:22:35,030 --> 00:22:36,653 on their wings during preening. 391 00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:41,020 And we have found, through chemical studies, 392 00:22:41,020 --> 00:22:44,006 that the base of the particular odor of a bird, 393 00:22:44,006 --> 00:22:46,053 comes from this gland. 394 00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:52,420 So we think that the waxes and oils spread on their wings 395 00:22:52,420 --> 00:22:55,730 and altered by contact with bacteria or light, 396 00:22:55,730 --> 00:22:57,313 produce the odor of the bird. 397 00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:01,320 Since each bird produces different compositions of waxes 398 00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:04,910 and oils, and the bacteria in the feathers can differ, 399 00:23:04,910 --> 00:23:08,300 this combination of factors composes a unique odor 400 00:23:08,300 --> 00:23:10,690 that identifies an individual and allows 401 00:23:10,690 --> 00:23:12,040 for individual recognition. 402 00:23:14,300 --> 00:23:15,800 Based on this research, 403 00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:18,150 scientists think that this individual odor 404 00:23:18,150 --> 00:23:21,030 is in part inscribed in their DNA 405 00:23:21,030 --> 00:23:24,570 and transmitted from generation to generation. 406 00:23:24,570 --> 00:23:27,000 Research continues to help better understand 407 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:30,410 the mechanisms and genes involved, but already 408 00:23:30,410 --> 00:23:33,320 Francesco and this team suppose that this allows birds 409 00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:35,650 to recognize members of their family 410 00:23:35,650 --> 00:23:38,223 in order to avoid any risk of inbreeding. 411 00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:44,900 The petrel's sense of small is far from having 412 00:23:44,900 --> 00:23:46,820 revealed all its secrets. 413 00:23:46,820 --> 00:23:50,363 But initial results point to exceptional abilities. 414 00:23:53,270 --> 00:23:57,180 In Antarctica, the land and seascape of these white birds 415 00:23:57,180 --> 00:24:01,689 is no doubt a far cry from what we as humans perceive. 416 00:24:01,689 --> 00:24:04,272 (wind blowing) 417 00:24:05,890 --> 00:24:08,640 Scientists believe that petrels orient themselves 418 00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:11,000 with the help of an olfactory map, 419 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:13,840 a sort of land and seascape of odors 420 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:16,930 where they can discern food sources in ocean waters 421 00:24:16,930 --> 00:24:19,253 or the presence of islands in the ice. 422 00:24:20,630 --> 00:24:23,213 (wind blowing) 423 00:24:26,650 --> 00:24:29,980 Approaching land, each rocky isle could also have 424 00:24:29,980 --> 00:24:33,753 its particular odor according to the fauna residing there. 425 00:24:34,820 --> 00:24:37,487 (birds calling) 426 00:24:39,590 --> 00:24:42,490 From this multitude of olfactory data, 427 00:24:42,490 --> 00:24:44,610 the bird could be able to detect the odor 428 00:24:44,610 --> 00:24:47,180 of the isle sheltering its colony, 429 00:24:47,180 --> 00:24:50,803 then localize its fellow creatures amidst other animals. 430 00:24:51,894 --> 00:24:54,561 (birds calling) 431 00:24:58,670 --> 00:25:01,240 A quick flight over its colony would then allow it 432 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:04,803 to pinpoint the unique olfactory signature of its mate. 433 00:25:05,846 --> 00:25:08,513 (birds calling) 434 00:25:19,692 --> 00:25:21,900 Every time we see a petrel land 435 00:25:21,900 --> 00:25:25,710 to enter a nest, generally speaking, the widest margin 436 00:25:25,710 --> 00:25:28,053 of error is 50 centimeters. 437 00:25:29,790 --> 00:25:32,260 Which allows them to enter rapidly 438 00:25:32,260 --> 00:25:34,790 because staying outside is dangerous. 439 00:25:34,790 --> 00:25:37,580 It's dangerous there are winged predators like squaws 440 00:25:37,580 --> 00:25:39,980 that do nothing at night other than roam around 441 00:25:39,980 --> 00:25:42,600 at the foot of the colony and listen to the sounds 442 00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:44,950 that indicate the presence of their food, 443 00:25:44,950 --> 00:25:47,495 which consists of petrels. 444 00:25:47,495 --> 00:25:50,078 (upbeat music) 445 00:25:58,070 --> 00:26:01,070 Orienting itself on the immaculate ice sheet, 446 00:26:01,070 --> 00:26:03,880 or in the depths of the ocean, is not only a challenge 447 00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:07,370 for the snow petrel, all Antarctic species face 448 00:26:07,370 --> 00:26:08,663 the same problem. 449 00:26:08,663 --> 00:26:11,246 (upbeat music) 450 00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:16,360 These placid animals sunbathing on the ice shelf 451 00:26:16,360 --> 00:26:17,793 are Weddell seals. 452 00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:23,180 They too, despite appearances, are aces 453 00:26:23,180 --> 00:26:24,630 when it comes to orientation. 454 00:26:25,970 --> 00:26:29,622 (seal vocalizing) 455 00:26:29,622 --> 00:26:32,205 (upbeat music) 456 00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:44,743 For this young seal, it is time for its first swim. 457 00:26:47,729 --> 00:26:50,896 (soft dramatic music) 458 00:27:13,210 --> 00:27:16,730 To orient itself underwater, and especially to find 459 00:27:16,730 --> 00:27:19,190 holes in the ice through which to breathe, 460 00:27:19,190 --> 00:27:21,870 the seal does not rely on its sense of smell 461 00:27:21,870 --> 00:27:24,883 but probably on some kind of sixth sense. 462 00:27:26,350 --> 00:27:29,530 According to experts, the seal may have the ability 463 00:27:29,530 --> 00:27:32,080 to detect the Earth's magnetic field 464 00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:34,526 and to use it as a compass. 465 00:27:34,526 --> 00:27:36,943 (soft music) 466 00:27:44,370 --> 00:27:46,900 The seal is also a champion diver. 467 00:27:46,900 --> 00:27:49,600 It can stay in apnea for up to an hour 468 00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:52,463 and descend as deep as 600 meters. 469 00:27:53,330 --> 00:27:55,960 An indispensable skill in the Antarctic waters, 470 00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:57,900 where food is scarce. 471 00:27:57,900 --> 00:28:00,317 (soft music) 472 00:28:01,660 --> 00:28:04,630 To accomplish this feat, the Weddell seal dives 473 00:28:04,630 --> 00:28:07,210 with its lungs totally empty, 474 00:28:07,210 --> 00:28:08,873 contrary to what humans do. 475 00:28:10,450 --> 00:28:13,790 This avoids the transfer of gas toward the blood flow 476 00:28:13,790 --> 00:28:16,560 and the formation of potentially fatal bubbles 477 00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:18,273 as the seal resurfaces. 478 00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:24,370 But the seal still possesses substantial oxygen reserves. 479 00:28:24,370 --> 00:28:26,910 Its first reservoir, the blood, 480 00:28:26,910 --> 00:28:28,980 three times more abundant than humans', 481 00:28:28,980 --> 00:28:31,973 and containing twice the number of red blood cells. 482 00:28:33,441 --> 00:28:35,858 (soft music) 483 00:28:40,020 --> 00:28:43,710 The spleen also serves as a reserve of red blood cells, 484 00:28:43,710 --> 00:28:45,750 which are progressively released into the blood 485 00:28:45,750 --> 00:28:47,633 to enhance oxygenization. 486 00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:52,110 The muscles are used as its last reserve. 487 00:28:52,110 --> 00:28:55,400 Nearly 30% of the seal's oxygen is stored there, 488 00:28:55,400 --> 00:28:57,526 then freed during the dive. 489 00:28:57,526 --> 00:28:59,943 (soft music) 490 00:29:02,430 --> 00:29:04,510 But to stay underwater this long, 491 00:29:04,510 --> 00:29:07,870 the seal must also economize its oxygen. 492 00:29:07,870 --> 00:29:11,300 Its body temperature decreases, and its heart rate lowers 493 00:29:11,300 --> 00:29:16,300 to 15 beats per minute as opposed to the normal rate of 65. 494 00:29:16,305 --> 00:29:18,722 (soft music) 495 00:29:19,950 --> 00:29:22,880 During these dives, the Weddell seal expends hardly any 496 00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:26,632 more oxygen than during its afternoon siesta. 497 00:29:26,632 --> 00:29:29,049 (soft music) 498 00:29:43,740 --> 00:29:46,680 On the surface, a group of seals is gathered around 499 00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:50,640 a hole in the ice shelf, a nap in the sun well earned 500 00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:52,293 after hours of diving. 501 00:29:56,110 --> 00:29:59,370 A little over 300 individual seals come to Adelie Land 502 00:29:59,370 --> 00:30:02,423 every year to mate and give birth to their little ones. 503 00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:06,190 (pup whimpering) 504 00:30:10,410 --> 00:30:14,360 Just a few minutes ago, at 15 degrees below Celsius, 505 00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:16,940 this cute little baby seal was born, 506 00:30:16,940 --> 00:30:20,003 120 centimeters and 25 kilos. 507 00:30:21,912 --> 00:30:24,662 (pup vocalizing) 508 00:30:29,168 --> 00:30:31,621 (wind blowing) 509 00:30:31,621 --> 00:30:34,038 (soft music) 510 00:30:51,590 --> 00:30:54,760 The mother's milk contains 15 times more lipids 511 00:30:54,760 --> 00:30:56,870 than that of a human mother. 512 00:30:56,870 --> 00:31:00,470 Thanks to this, the young seal quickly envelops itself 513 00:31:00,470 --> 00:31:02,373 in a layer of protective fat. 514 00:31:03,500 --> 00:31:05,950 When the baby is weaned in six weeks, 515 00:31:05,950 --> 00:31:08,760 its weight will have quadrupled, and it will be ready 516 00:31:08,760 --> 00:31:11,553 to survive alone in the icy ocean. 517 00:31:11,553 --> 00:31:13,970 (soft music) 518 00:31:20,153 --> 00:31:23,102 (penguins squawking) 519 00:31:23,102 --> 00:31:25,519 (soft music) 520 00:31:46,550 --> 00:31:49,953 Other residents of the ice flow also begin a new life cycle. 521 00:31:51,587 --> 00:31:54,757 (chick squawking) 522 00:31:54,757 --> 00:31:56,770 (soft music) 523 00:31:56,770 --> 00:32:00,670 This noisy and animated colony is that of the most numerous 524 00:32:00,670 --> 00:32:04,703 representatives of the local fauna, Adelie penguins. 525 00:32:07,540 --> 00:32:10,470 For these young chicks, the countdown has started. 526 00:32:10,470 --> 00:32:13,650 They have two months to prepare for their first swim, 527 00:32:13,650 --> 00:32:16,093 before the ice shelf melts completely. 528 00:32:17,110 --> 00:32:20,960 It's hard to imagine, these little birds seem so frail 529 00:32:20,960 --> 00:32:23,730 and fragile under the feathers of their parents, 530 00:32:23,730 --> 00:32:25,970 but in a little over 30 days, 531 00:32:25,970 --> 00:32:28,422 this is what they will look like. 532 00:32:28,422 --> 00:32:31,505 (penguins squawking) 533 00:32:35,767 --> 00:32:38,333 Virtually adult sized, if disheveled teenagers. 534 00:32:39,680 --> 00:32:42,763 (penguins squawking) 535 00:32:43,801 --> 00:32:46,900 In the first 30 days of its life, 536 00:32:46,900 --> 00:32:51,900 the chick will multiply its body mass 30 or 40 times, 537 00:32:52,120 --> 00:32:53,920 which is considerable. 538 00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:58,060 Imagine a newborn human who weighs three kilos at birth 539 00:32:58,060 --> 00:33:01,703 weighing 90 kilos after just one month. 540 00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:06,900 In a laboratory in Lyon, Damien Roussel 541 00:33:06,900 --> 00:33:10,830 and his team study the physiology of the Adelie penguins, 542 00:33:10,830 --> 00:33:13,643 in particular the growth of the chicks. 543 00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:18,765 At birth, the challenges facing 544 00:33:18,765 --> 00:33:20,920 the Adelie penguin are to reach adult size 545 00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:24,480 and go out to sea, while at the same time 546 00:33:24,480 --> 00:33:27,640 developing its abilities for thermogenesis, 547 00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:30,090 which is to say the production of the heat in order 548 00:33:30,090 --> 00:33:33,360 to resist both the Antarctic climate and the cold water 549 00:33:33,360 --> 00:33:35,820 in which it must go to feed itself later. 550 00:33:35,820 --> 00:33:38,170 The real challenge is that this growth and development 551 00:33:38,170 --> 00:33:40,950 of autonomy, the production of heat, must take place 552 00:33:40,950 --> 00:33:42,873 during the two months after hatching. 553 00:33:45,970 --> 00:33:48,810 In such extreme polar cold, how do these 554 00:33:48,810 --> 00:33:51,260 little birds manage to grow and to acquire 555 00:33:51,260 --> 00:33:54,503 a sufficient thermal resistance in so little time? 556 00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:58,680 To find out, Damien and his colleagues analyzed 557 00:33:58,680 --> 00:34:02,673 minuscule samples of muscles taken while chicks were asleep. 558 00:34:03,608 --> 00:34:06,191 (upbeat music) 559 00:34:09,480 --> 00:34:12,920 On the left, a muscle of a penguin that has just been born. 560 00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:16,930 On the right, the same muscle after one month of growth. 561 00:34:16,930 --> 00:34:19,060 The flagrant change of color is a sign 562 00:34:19,060 --> 00:34:21,133 of rapid physiological changes. 563 00:34:23,802 --> 00:34:27,270 The researchers then isolated a particular molecule, 564 00:34:27,270 --> 00:34:28,960 the growth hormone. 565 00:34:28,960 --> 00:34:31,390 Their objective was to determine the evolution 566 00:34:31,390 --> 00:34:34,400 of its quantity in the bodies of a chick from birth 567 00:34:34,400 --> 00:34:36,163 until the age of two months. 568 00:34:40,350 --> 00:34:42,800 After a few hours' wait, results begin 569 00:34:42,800 --> 00:34:46,263 to show in the darkroom, like a developing photograph. 570 00:34:49,665 --> 00:34:52,248 (upbeat music) 571 00:34:58,522 --> 00:35:00,030 We can see things here. 572 00:35:00,030 --> 00:35:01,180 Indeed. 573 00:35:03,560 --> 00:35:04,393 Look. 574 00:35:06,410 --> 00:35:08,300 I used three groups of penguins, 575 00:35:08,300 --> 00:35:11,590 one day olds, 15 days old 576 00:35:11,590 --> 00:35:13,660 and 60 days old. 577 00:35:13,660 --> 00:35:14,493 60 days? 578 00:35:14,493 --> 00:35:15,440 Yes. 579 00:35:16,350 --> 00:35:17,950 When we measure this growth hormone 580 00:35:17,950 --> 00:35:21,420 or its receptor, we find concentrations in the tissues 581 00:35:21,420 --> 00:35:24,373 and blood that are extremely high at birth. 582 00:35:25,210 --> 00:35:29,080 Then, during the first month, this level of concentration 583 00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:31,910 diminishes over the first 15 days 584 00:35:31,910 --> 00:35:34,630 to arrive at a minimum at 30 days 585 00:35:34,630 --> 00:35:37,240 and then remain low until the molting 586 00:35:37,240 --> 00:35:38,990 of the chick as it goes out to sea. 587 00:35:39,910 --> 00:35:43,240 (penguins squawking) 588 00:35:43,240 --> 00:35:45,120 Because of the abundance of this growth 589 00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:47,780 hormone at birth, the chick starts growing 590 00:35:47,780 --> 00:35:51,320 at a startling rate, nearly reaching its adult weight 591 00:35:51,320 --> 00:35:53,400 after 30 days. 592 00:35:53,400 --> 00:35:55,120 Then a shift occurs. 593 00:35:55,120 --> 00:35:58,000 The growth hormone goes down to a very low level, 594 00:35:58,000 --> 00:36:00,913 and the chick's growth ceases almost completely. 595 00:36:01,750 --> 00:36:04,750 Its energy is then expended to mature its muscles, 596 00:36:04,750 --> 00:36:07,190 which redden and begin to produce heat 597 00:36:07,190 --> 00:36:08,673 to protect it from the cold. 598 00:36:10,880 --> 00:36:14,020 By accomplishing these processes one after the other, 599 00:36:14,020 --> 00:36:17,470 the young Adelie penguins are finally big and strong enough 600 00:36:17,470 --> 00:36:20,163 to go out to the sea alone at the end of the summer. 601 00:36:21,842 --> 00:36:24,925 (upbeat piano music) 602 00:36:28,797 --> 00:36:31,630 (seal whimpering) 603 00:36:34,527 --> 00:36:37,194 (birds calling) 604 00:36:40,550 --> 00:36:43,779 Due to these astonishing strategies, the fruit of millions 605 00:36:43,779 --> 00:36:46,900 of years of evolution, all of these animals 606 00:36:46,900 --> 00:36:50,230 are perfectly adapted to their environment. 607 00:36:50,230 --> 00:36:52,740 But on the white continent, they are surpassed 608 00:36:52,740 --> 00:36:55,190 by an all-around champion of resistance 609 00:36:55,190 --> 00:36:57,100 to extreme conditions. 610 00:36:57,100 --> 00:37:00,000 Mysterious animals studied by scientists 611 00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:03,260 in a very particular spot in Antarctica. 612 00:37:03,260 --> 00:37:06,860 Located 2,000 kilometers from the Dumont d'Urville Station, 613 00:37:06,860 --> 00:37:09,963 this site was baptized the McMurdo Dry Valleys. 614 00:37:12,320 --> 00:37:16,580 Here, the climate is so dry that it almost never snows. 615 00:37:16,580 --> 00:37:18,610 It is one of the only places on the continent 616 00:37:18,610 --> 00:37:21,423 where the rocky land is bare for most of the year. 617 00:37:24,720 --> 00:37:28,280 The Dry Valley is an amazing place. 618 00:37:28,280 --> 00:37:32,070 It reminds me of a vast desert on Mars. 619 00:37:32,070 --> 00:37:35,760 It's got mountains on the side with glaciers coming down. 620 00:37:35,760 --> 00:37:39,090 It's got frozen, ice-covered lakes, and then there's 621 00:37:39,090 --> 00:37:43,560 this vast area of just nothing but dry soil and rocks. 622 00:37:43,560 --> 00:37:45,200 And it really does look like a desert. 623 00:37:45,200 --> 00:37:47,260 It looks like it could be a hot desert 624 00:37:47,260 --> 00:37:48,653 except for the glaciers. 625 00:37:51,250 --> 00:37:54,110 For over 20 years now, Diana Wall has gone 626 00:37:54,110 --> 00:37:56,400 to the Dry Valleys to study the physiology 627 00:37:56,400 --> 00:37:58,683 of the microscopic fauna found there. 628 00:37:59,680 --> 00:38:02,460 Her objects of research, thousands of samples 629 00:38:02,460 --> 00:38:05,880 of dehydrated soils taken from the field. 630 00:38:05,880 --> 00:38:08,630 (dramatic music) 631 00:38:22,490 --> 00:38:25,370 Once weighed, rehydrated, filtered, 632 00:38:25,370 --> 00:38:28,230 then passed through the centrifuge, the fragments 633 00:38:28,230 --> 00:38:31,993 of Antarctic Earth reveal discreet inhabitants. 634 00:38:31,993 --> 00:38:34,410 (soft music) 635 00:38:37,950 --> 00:38:40,470 These strange little worms are waking up 636 00:38:40,470 --> 00:38:42,163 after months in the freezer. 637 00:38:43,600 --> 00:38:45,690 They are less than half a millimeter long 638 00:38:45,690 --> 00:38:47,603 and are called nematodes. 639 00:38:49,940 --> 00:38:52,940 Three main kinds exist in the Dry Valleys. 640 00:38:52,940 --> 00:38:57,083 Here is Scottnema lindsayae, by far the most numerous. 641 00:38:59,500 --> 00:39:01,238 Amplectis Antarcticus. 642 00:39:01,238 --> 00:39:04,140 (soft music) 643 00:39:04,140 --> 00:39:07,730 And here are the rarest Eudorylaimus Antarcticus. 644 00:39:07,730 --> 00:39:10,147 (soft music) 645 00:39:11,500 --> 00:39:15,770 Nematodes are the principal inhabitants of Antarctic soils. 646 00:39:15,770 --> 00:39:19,640 But looking closer, one cn also see other residents. 647 00:39:19,640 --> 00:39:23,364 These tiny and round organisms are rotifers. 648 00:39:23,364 --> 00:39:25,781 (soft music) 649 00:39:27,040 --> 00:39:30,060 And these, with their eight pudgy limbs, 650 00:39:30,060 --> 00:39:32,462 are called tardigrades. 651 00:39:32,462 --> 00:39:34,879 (soft music) 652 00:39:35,820 --> 00:39:38,470 All of these minuscule creatures are part of the most 653 00:39:39,615 --> 00:39:40,983 resistant species on the planet. 654 00:39:44,890 --> 00:39:47,960 Rotifers, nematodes and tardigrades 655 00:39:47,960 --> 00:39:52,960 can stop somewhere in their life cycle, almost anywhere, 656 00:39:53,130 --> 00:39:55,120 and start to dehydrate. 657 00:39:55,120 --> 00:39:58,320 And nematodes in particular, you think about a worm 658 00:39:58,320 --> 00:40:01,370 moving like this, they will sense 659 00:40:01,370 --> 00:40:04,750 that it's getting drier, and they can coil 660 00:40:04,750 --> 00:40:07,860 is one mechanism where they just slowly 661 00:40:07,860 --> 00:40:09,740 get smaller and smaller and smaller 662 00:40:09,740 --> 00:40:12,010 and reduce their surface area. 663 00:40:12,010 --> 00:40:14,700 And then the other thing they do is they change 664 00:40:14,700 --> 00:40:16,670 their biochemical pathway. 665 00:40:16,670 --> 00:40:20,650 So they're starting to conserve their membranes. 666 00:40:20,650 --> 00:40:24,360 And they're losing 99% of their water in their body, 667 00:40:24,360 --> 00:40:25,663 so it doesn't freeze. 668 00:40:27,700 --> 00:40:30,721 Nematodes, rotifers and tardigrades 669 00:40:30,721 --> 00:40:32,350 can remain in a state of extreme dehydration 670 00:40:32,350 --> 00:40:36,570 for months, even years, or decades. 671 00:40:36,570 --> 00:40:40,090 They do not eat, reproduce or move. 672 00:40:40,090 --> 00:40:42,943 They content themselves with waiting for better days. 673 00:40:43,900 --> 00:40:47,023 Then, a few drops of water are enough to wake them up. 674 00:40:50,520 --> 00:40:52,330 What are the precise mechanisms 675 00:40:52,330 --> 00:40:54,780 of this extraordinary resistance? 676 00:40:54,780 --> 00:40:57,890 What role do they play in the austral ecosystem? 677 00:40:57,890 --> 00:41:00,363 These beings have many secrets to reveal. 678 00:41:01,210 --> 00:41:03,220 But their ultimate adaptation could become 679 00:41:03,220 --> 00:41:07,233 their Achilles' heel in these times of rapid climate change. 680 00:41:09,260 --> 00:41:13,810 We do not know how long it takes a nematode to adapt. 681 00:41:13,810 --> 00:41:15,680 We do not know how long it'll take these species. 682 00:41:15,680 --> 00:41:18,490 Are they such cold species that 683 00:41:19,390 --> 00:41:22,270 they take advantage of any increase or decrease 684 00:41:22,270 --> 00:41:25,170 or a lot longer light or whatever period, 685 00:41:25,170 --> 00:41:26,970 or temperature period? 686 00:41:26,970 --> 00:41:31,610 Or are they going to be, wow, I can only do cold, 687 00:41:31,610 --> 00:41:35,683 I can't take this fluctuation, my population will decline? 688 00:41:36,810 --> 00:41:39,200 For these microscopic species and for all 689 00:41:39,200 --> 00:41:41,873 the others, it is difficult to predict the future. 690 00:41:43,430 --> 00:41:46,513 (penguins squawking) 691 00:41:47,360 --> 00:41:49,160 But certain effects of global warming 692 00:41:49,160 --> 00:41:51,360 are already perceptible in the field. 693 00:41:51,360 --> 00:41:53,293 And in particular among penguins. 694 00:41:54,274 --> 00:41:57,357 (penguins squawking) 695 00:41:58,593 --> 00:42:00,143 Close the flap? 696 00:42:01,470 --> 00:42:03,360 We'll try to shut the enclosure 697 00:42:03,360 --> 00:42:04,673 and then evacuate after. 698 00:42:05,577 --> 00:42:08,660 (penguins squawking) 699 00:42:10,660 --> 00:42:12,925 Wait, leave this side open. 700 00:42:12,925 --> 00:42:16,008 (penguins squawking) 701 00:42:30,440 --> 00:42:32,620 Today, Christophe and his team have to capture 702 00:42:32,620 --> 00:42:36,400 the emperor chicks to tag them with an electronic chip. 703 00:42:36,400 --> 00:42:38,390 This gives them a unique number 704 00:42:38,390 --> 00:42:41,090 so that they can be followed from one year to another. 705 00:42:42,050 --> 00:42:44,870 The organization of his team is well rehearsed. 706 00:42:44,870 --> 00:42:46,730 They have been tagging chicks with chips 707 00:42:46,730 --> 00:42:47,993 for seven years now. 708 00:42:54,390 --> 00:42:58,530 All around the colony, detectors are hidden in the ice. 709 00:42:58,530 --> 00:43:00,750 They read data from the chips each time 710 00:43:00,750 --> 00:43:03,123 a tagged penguin crosses the cable. 711 00:43:06,162 --> 00:43:07,940 This allows us to know the comings 712 00:43:07,940 --> 00:43:10,660 and goings of the emperors between the sea and the colony, 713 00:43:10,660 --> 00:43:13,160 and the detection data that we receive throughout the life 714 00:43:13,160 --> 00:43:17,170 of an emperor allows us to measure demographic parameters 715 00:43:17,170 --> 00:43:20,940 such as survival rates, mortality rates, 716 00:43:20,940 --> 00:43:23,030 and that allows to understand the dynamics 717 00:43:23,030 --> 00:43:25,120 of populations of emperor penguins. 718 00:43:25,120 --> 00:43:27,880 We can then correlate this data to physical parameters, 719 00:43:27,880 --> 00:43:29,950 regarding ocean life, for example. 720 00:43:29,950 --> 00:43:32,650 And it's this which will allow us to measure the impacts 721 00:43:32,650 --> 00:43:34,653 of climate change on emperor penguins. 722 00:43:35,693 --> 00:43:39,080 (soft dramatic music) 723 00:43:39,080 --> 00:43:40,930 To formulate the first predictions 724 00:43:40,930 --> 00:43:43,860 on the emperor penguins of Dumont d'Urville, 725 00:43:43,860 --> 00:43:46,730 we will have to wait for about 10 years, 726 00:43:46,730 --> 00:43:48,840 the time it takes to accumulate enough data 727 00:43:48,840 --> 00:43:52,384 on the evolution of the general population. 728 00:43:52,384 --> 00:43:55,320 (soft dramatic music) 729 00:43:55,320 --> 00:43:58,540 The colony is doing well this beginning of summer. 730 00:43:58,540 --> 00:44:01,580 The count this year is over 2,000 well-fattened 731 00:44:01,580 --> 00:44:02,893 and healthy chicks. 732 00:44:08,707 --> 00:44:13,200 But the two previous years, it was quite a different story. 733 00:44:13,200 --> 00:44:15,130 When it was time to go out to sea, 734 00:44:15,130 --> 00:44:19,890 only 100 chicks had survived, a mortality rate of 90%, 735 00:44:19,890 --> 00:44:22,400 as opposed to the usual 50%. 736 00:44:22,400 --> 00:44:25,567 (soft dramatic music) 737 00:44:32,030 --> 00:44:35,000 What were the origins of this catastrophe? 738 00:44:35,000 --> 00:44:37,370 A particularly vast ice sheet spread out 739 00:44:37,370 --> 00:44:39,230 around Dumont d'Urville. 740 00:44:39,230 --> 00:44:41,520 Therefore the birds had to travel considerable 741 00:44:41,520 --> 00:44:44,479 distances to go fetch food at sea. 742 00:44:44,479 --> 00:44:46,729 And the chicks, malnourished, died of hunger. 743 00:44:48,137 --> 00:44:50,887 (dramatic music) 744 00:44:55,910 --> 00:44:58,700 Climate change, which every year disturbs more and more 745 00:44:58,700 --> 00:45:01,440 the cycle of the seasons and the quantity of ice, 746 00:45:01,440 --> 00:45:03,603 is certainly at cause in this slaughter. 747 00:45:04,859 --> 00:45:07,609 (dramatic music) 748 00:45:15,310 --> 00:45:18,380 Emperor penguins are not the only victims. 749 00:45:18,380 --> 00:45:22,498 In 2014, the Adelies also had a terrible season. 750 00:45:22,498 --> 00:45:25,581 (penguins squawking) 751 00:45:32,460 --> 00:45:34,770 From 40,000 couples we have in a normal year 752 00:45:34,770 --> 00:45:37,030 between 40,000 and 50,000 chicks, 753 00:45:37,030 --> 00:45:39,470 and last year there were none, which means that all 754 00:45:39,470 --> 00:45:41,160 the chicks are dead, and what's more, 755 00:45:41,160 --> 00:45:43,710 for the same reason as the emperor penguins. 756 00:45:43,710 --> 00:45:46,950 We had a lot of sea ice, so the Adelie penguins 757 00:45:46,950 --> 00:45:49,100 were forced to travel several dozen or even hundreds 758 00:45:49,100 --> 00:45:51,100 of kilometers to go find their food, 759 00:45:51,100 --> 00:45:53,910 so their chicks died of starvation. 760 00:45:53,910 --> 00:45:56,270 In addition to that, we're experiencing a particular 761 00:45:56,270 --> 00:45:58,840 phenomenon, which is that we had seven or eight 762 00:45:58,840 --> 00:46:01,480 consecutive days of positive temperatures last year, 763 00:46:01,480 --> 00:46:03,920 and rain, while usually precipitation here 764 00:46:03,920 --> 00:46:05,870 is in the form of snow. 765 00:46:05,870 --> 00:46:09,540 So the rain meant that a lot of chicks got wet very quickly 766 00:46:09,540 --> 00:46:11,943 and died from the cold as well as from hunger. 767 00:46:15,640 --> 00:46:17,230 In the meteorologists' memory, 768 00:46:17,230 --> 00:46:19,870 never had Dumont d'Urville been subjected to seven 769 00:46:19,870 --> 00:46:22,520 consecutive days of positive temperatures 770 00:46:22,520 --> 00:46:24,293 with so many episodes of rain. 771 00:46:28,700 --> 00:46:31,600 Is this cataclysm among the penguins a warning sign 772 00:46:31,600 --> 00:46:34,050 announcing an imminent disaster? 773 00:46:34,050 --> 00:46:36,253 Or are these events merely exceptional? 774 00:46:37,455 --> 00:46:40,538 (penguins squawking) 775 00:46:43,841 --> 00:46:46,240 Fortunately, this year the collective data is reassuring. 776 00:46:46,240 --> 00:46:48,360 The season was good, and the chicks 777 00:46:48,360 --> 00:46:49,760 are growing reasonably well. 778 00:46:51,649 --> 00:46:55,482 (singing in foreign language) 779 00:47:00,023 --> 00:47:02,440 (soft music) 780 00:47:09,620 --> 00:47:13,030 From the end of December, Point Geology gradually 781 00:47:13,030 --> 00:47:14,773 empties of its inhabitants. 782 00:47:15,750 --> 00:47:19,720 Seals, petrels, penguins, one after the other, 783 00:47:19,720 --> 00:47:22,080 they all return to life at sea, 784 00:47:22,080 --> 00:47:25,113 after having accomplished a new cycle of life. 785 00:47:26,073 --> 00:47:29,906 (singing in foreign language) 786 00:47:37,680 --> 00:47:39,540 For how much longer will we be able 787 00:47:39,540 --> 00:47:41,833 to study and watch this performance? 788 00:47:43,146 --> 00:47:46,110 (soft music) 789 00:47:46,110 --> 00:47:49,650 From the most emblematic to the least well known, 790 00:47:49,650 --> 00:47:53,690 at the surface, as well as in the depths of the ocean, 791 00:47:53,690 --> 00:47:55,780 all living species on the White Continent 792 00:47:55,780 --> 00:47:58,350 are on the front line, directly threatened 793 00:47:58,350 --> 00:47:59,903 by ongoing changes. 794 00:48:01,600 --> 00:48:05,440 Specialists are united in hoping that these superheroes 795 00:48:05,440 --> 00:48:08,830 of the cold are able to adapt rapidly enough 796 00:48:08,830 --> 00:48:11,314 to this previously unseen upheaval. 797 00:48:11,314 --> 00:48:15,147 (singing in foreign language) 798 00:48:17,862 --> 00:48:20,279 (soft music)