Frozen Planet

Last night we watched one of the most fascinating shows on the Discovery channel—Frozen Planet, focusing on life and death events in the two polar regions, narrated by Alec Baldwin. Even the old Disney nature films didn’t capture the natural world as well as this one did. They spent six and a half years in the field and four years in production for this seven-part series. Many of the scenes used time-lapse photography to demonstrate the movement of the seasons, the melting of glaciers and the flow of rivers. In one segment, we watched a wooly bear caterpillar feed voraciously on spring plants and then go into a kind of hibernation when its world froze again. The caterpillar did more than hibernate; it literally died. But in the following spring thaw, it came to life to feed once more. And as it grew, it would molt to accommodate its greater size. On average, these caterpillars would do this for fourteen years, fourteen spring seasons of feeding and storing until it had enough that it could create a cocoon, from which would emerge a moth. The moth would mate and then lay eggs and die. End of life cycle. Fourteen years on average. I don’t think I’d want to be a wooly bear. Other segments involved polar bears seeking mates, having cubs; gray wolves hunting down bison; orcas teaming up to create waves to sweep seals off ice floes; beautiful sea creatures managing to survive in frigid conditions; a salt-water icicle, called a brinicle, that forms like a stalactite descending to the ocean floor, killing everything it touches; the movement of glaciers toward the sea, then breaking up and forming gigantic icebergs. This is a fascinating study of forces and creatures we can hardly imagine, a lesson in “kill or be killed,” “eat or be eaten.” Not necessarily a pleasant concept, but one that seems to prevail throughout our world. I wouldn't want to be a penguin, a seal, a bison, or any of the creatures that eke out a life in these frigid places, but it's sure fun to watch them. Be sure to see this show. Six more episodes on Discovery, Sunday evenings.