Arctic Kingdom: Life at the Edge Page #2

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the white bear has jet black skin

to absorb heat

from the sun when he's on the surface

In the near freezing water

four inches of blubber keep

him warm and afloat

He's not above taking a bird or two

But the murres take no notice

and prepare to leave

for they have an urgent

appointment to keep

Timing is everything here

and the schedule is set

by the sun

The murres head for land

The short breeding season

has begun

and for those who come late

there'll be no second chance

Their destination is a lonely

outpost in Lancaster Sound

...the towering cliffs of Prince

Leopold Island

Half a million seabirds crowd onto

these rocky ledges

one thousand feet above the sea

The murres alone number

almost 200,000

Vicious fighting breaks out

as the murres battle

for the safest nest sites

They lay only a single egg

pear shaped to prevent

it from rolling off

the narrow rock shelf

The stronger, more aggressive birds

win sites midway down the cliff

leaving the weaker birds at the top

where they're most vulnerable

An Arctic fox has been stranded here

as the ice retreated from the island

His white winter fur has been replaced

by a sleek, brown coat

A castaway for the summer

he hunts alone on an island of birds

He heads for the cliffs the only

place to find food on the island

Faced with a dangerous thief

the birds abandon their eggs

And though they can lay another

a late season chick will not survive

The fox steals all the eggs

he can reach

but he'll need dozens each week

to stay alive

Some he stashes in the cold ground

There will be lean days ahead

It's June. A hundred miles

from the island

a fleet of white whales has arrived

at the ice edge

belugas hunting for cod

The sea is suddenly alive with sound

This chirping

white chorus emerges

from feeding grounds beneath

the frozen sea

like a gathering of polar ghosts

With no dorsal fin to impede

their icy travels

these are true Arctic whales

The belugas' rich symphony

of sounds hints

at the complexity of their lives

Their sonar may be the most

sophisticated of any whale

Navigating under miles of ice

they bounce clicks off shifting floes

using a kind of "sound imaging"

to master their world

Their melodies pulse from

their rounded foreheads

the frequencies fine tuned

like a focused beam of light

piercing the blue depths

The bonds between them are strong

A mother and calf will swim side

by side for three years

Shadowy gray at birth

they only gradually turn as perfectly

white as the surrounding ice

The sun is riding high now

Strong winds from the open sea

unleash their power against the ice

Beaten by wind and wave

weakened by sun and current

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