:30:12
For a female and her youngster
the long wait is a time
:30:16
of both motherly affection
and danger for the cubs.
:30:20
Despite the fierce protection
of mothers
:30:23
fewer than half survive
their first year.
:30:28
Accidents and starvation
are persistent threats
:30:31
but she must also avoid
her own kind.
:30:35
Male polar bears will eat
unprotected cubs.
:30:44
Few mothers in all of nature
are as devoted as a polar bear.
:30:48
Cubs learn early
to obey her commands.
:31:02
Finally, the sea freezes over.
:31:05
The season of waiting
and fasting ends.
:31:10
With their extraordinary
sense of smell
:31:12
they can detect a seal
20 miles away.
:31:22
The feast of winter
is about to begin.
:31:34
Elsewhere in Alaska
:31:35
a time of darkness
and scarcity arrives.
:31:41
Caribou migrating
to wintering grounds
:31:44
scrape beneath the snow
day or night
:31:46
for moss and sedge grass.
:31:50
Searching for food
:31:51
they're vulnerable
to hungry predators.