[pensive music playing]
[wolf howling]
[narrator] Cedar is heading towards Dagger's den.
[whimpers]
Wolves have been known
to raid a rival's den and even kill their pups.
[calling]
[pups whimpering]
[intense music playing]
She's being incredibly cautious.
But is it sneakiness or fear?
[Dagger snarling]
Dagger asserts her dominance.
Then, something truly extraordinary happens.
[serene music playing]
Dagger heads off...
and leaves Cedar alone with the pups.
It's like she was waiting for Cedar to show up...
[pups whimpering]
...to babysit.
While she goes out to look for food and water...
[bird squawking]
...Cedar starts to nurse the pups.
And not just two.
[captivating music playing]
There are four of them.
It seems both mothers have given birth to two pups in the same den.
Cedar wasn't coming to kill. She was coming home.
When Dagger's out, she knows the pups are safe with Cedar.
It's incredibly rare for two sea wolf mothers
to share a den and raise pups together.
[pups whimpering]
By teaming up, they give all their pups
the best chance to live through what is, surprisingly,
the most dangerous and volatile season of the year on Vancouver Island.
[music ends]
[wolves howling]
[pleasant music playing]
A mother black bear, Spruce,
and her two newborn cubs,
Hemlock and Surf,
are just emerging from a long winter hibernation.
They're awestruck.
The entire world is new to them.
Mom? She just wants to eat.
[whimsical music playing]
Her cubs learn by watching her.
This grass stuff tastes terrible.
It's just the appetizer, though.
The island has huge tidal ranges up to 13 feet.
[serene music playing]
So what was underwater...
is now on the menu.
[jaunty music playing]
You've got mussels.
Barnacles.
[cub grunts]
And how is this better than grass?
[music fades]
It's okay. Mom knows where the good stuff is.
[whimsical music playing]
[music builds up and fades]
Whatever that is, Surf wants in on it.
[jaunty music resumes]
[cub grunts]
Spruce lets him have some.
[Spruce growls]
Reluctantly.
[music fades]
[intense music playing]
This seafood draws hungry predators of all kinds down to the coast.
One of the greatest threats cubs face...
- [grunts] - ...is from their own species.
Brutus is back.
[calling]
Sometimes, large male bears will kill young cubs for food.
[Spruce grunting]
Spruce can't take that chance.
[cubs calling]
[Brutus grunting]
She's going to have to be extra careful along the coast
to keep both her cubs alive through the summer.
[music ends]
A much safer place to raise young would be a comfy nest high in a tree.
You'd think.
But for bald eagle chicks, the fight to survive can be just as tough.
[somber music playing]
[chick screeches]
The bigger chick, Luna,
can easily dominate her smaller brother, River.
When Spiro arrives home with breakfast...
Luna's instinct is to hog it all.
[Luna screeches]
And she does.
It's ruthless...
but it's nature.
[Luna screeches]
A single well-fed chick
has a better chance to survive than two smaller chicks.
When Misty arrives with second breakfast...
Luna's already stuffed.
So, River finally gets to eat something.
[solemn music playing]
As the sun heats up the ocean, fishing will get harder.
[chitters]
And then there might not be enough for both chicks.
[music ends]
[squawking]
The rising temperatures are actually good news for sea otters.
[pleasant music playing]
It's much easier for Rocky and Skye to stay warm now.
But a growing Rocky is still totally reliant on his mom.
[music fades]
So, while Skye fits in some well-deserved me time,
Rocky needs to practice the basics of otter survival.
[mellow music playing]
First, diving.
Harder than it would seem
when your thick coat is still acting more as a life jacket.
He'll get the hang of it.
Eventually.
[music ends]
- Rocky's got to learn fast. - [squeals]
By the fall, he needs to be able to dive, hunt, and feed all by himself.
[serene music playing]
The mountaintops are on an entirely different schedule
than the rest of the island.
Up here, spring and summer just roll into one.
[buzzing]
And a fancy new resident is relocating to the community,
ushered by her human servants.
Esmerelda, a Vancouver Island marmot, one of the rarest mammals in the world.
[trills]
Born and raised in captivity, she's always been cared for.
Today is the first day of the rest of her life...
[captivating music playing]
...as a wild marmot.
[insects buzzing]
It's a big step up from a protected enclosure...
to this.
[mellow music playing]
Esmerelda's sister, Bonnie, has joined her on this great adventure.
They'll need to help each other navigate this daunting new environment.
[marmot chirps]
The rest of the group includes two young brothers
and a handsome, adventurous male named Buck Bean.
[sniffing]
No experience in the wild.
And no one to teach them.
They've been brought to this mountain
to revive the endangered marmot population.
But actually surviving here is all on them.
[music ends]
By June, things on the island really start to heat up.
[upbeat music playing]
Just as the island's young are becoming more agile and curious,
they begin pushing the boundaries of their world.
[cub grunts]
[chittering]
[chirruping]
[grunts]
[both grunting]
[pups whimpering]
[music ends]
The sea wolf pups are a real handful now.
Keeping up with them is exhausting.
[solemn music playing]
It's been days since Cedar's eaten anything.
Dagger finally returns from a hunt.
But without food.
[pups whimpering]
Both mothers are hungry.
[pups whimpering]
Jasper needs a big win for his family.
[bird cawing]
With fewer storms, summer can be a lean time for wolves.
[uplifting music playing]
But not this year.
A gray whale carcass, that's been floating out at sea for weeks,
has finally washed up.
[eagle screeching]
Jackpot.
[music ends]
[howling]
[howling in response]
It's rotting and it stinks,
but hungry wolves will eat almost anything.
And it is nutritious.
Whale blubber has more calories than butter.
This could set them up for the rest of the summer.
And they haven't forgotten their pack mates at the den.
An older female takes on delivery duty
with the whale meat in her stomach.
It's the best way to carry food over distances.
[captivating music playing]
Cedar knows this isn't for her.
Meal deliveries are just for the pups and the alpha.
She'll have to make the long trip alone to get her own food.
[somber music playing]
This is unusually intense heat for early June.
Frail, young River is suffering.
[screeching]
Luna's bigger and stronger, so she can hog all the shade.
Spiro's only catching one fish a day now in this hot weather.
Luna will eat all of this herself...
and will keep her brother from getting any of it.
[screeching]
River's only hope is that fishing suddenly improves.
Which is unlikely as the temperature continues to rise.
[music ends]
The heat is causing the whale carcass to rot incredibly fast.
[solemn music playing]
It makes it easy for Cedar to smell her way to dinner.
But the entire neighborhood can sniff it out now.
[bear growls]
And some scavengers...
- [growls] - ...are more dangerous than others.
[intense music playing]
The whale is now a no-wolf zone.
[music fades]
[intense music resumes]
[bear growls]
Cedar has no chance alone against a powerful male black bear.
Though she is desperate enough to try anything.
[bear growls]
She's clearly outgunned.
[sniffing]
But then, Jasper arrives.
Two sea wolves turn the tables.
[bear grunts]
The big guy doesn't like his odds.
Jasper hasn't forgotten about his young mate.
Cedar finally gets her chance to feast.
[pleasant music playing]
[music ends]
Rocky is busy developing his own survival skills.
He's now mastered the art of diving.
[upbeat music playing]
And he's joining his mom on hunting trips.
These rich waters offer a wide selection of food choices.
And Rocky is becoming a bit of a seafood connoisseur.
Skye dishes up some sea cucumber.
It's like sharing spaghetti.
Then perhaps a bite-sized crab.
[music fades]
No offense, Spiro.
[screeches]
[upbeat music resumes]
Maybe a juicy prawn.
Most prized of all... are clams.
[whimsical music playing]
But how to open them?
It's not as easy as it looks.
Sea otters are one of the few animals in the world that use tools.
With a rock as an anvil,
Skye smashes open the tough shells to get to the meat inside.
[music ends]
Rocky sees his mom's got another one ready to eat.
But, no.
No, if she keeps opening them for him, he's never going to learn.
[serene music playing]
She takes him clam shopping.
Rocky picks out one of his own.
[music fades]
Skye makes short work of hers.
[amusing music playing]
Whoo-hoo!
Opening clams just like Mom.
Except that it's not working.
He's missing something.
Oh, yeah. The rock.
Maybe Mom will share her clam.
Still a no.
Back to the clam bed.
Rocky's putting his own twist on it, using another clam instead of a rock.
[music fades]
Success.
[pleasant music playing]
This is the last lesson Skye can teach him.
She'll be mating again soon,
and he'll be left to face new struggles on his own.
Come fall, he's going to have to put on his big-boy pants.
[music ends]
If he makes it that far,
because this summer is shaping up to be brutal.
[squawking]
[intense music playing]
A heat dome has formed over the island.
An intense high pressure system traps warm air, like a pot lid...
shutting down the flow of cool ocean winds.
- Pushing temperatures higher and higher. - [eagle screeching]
And it's costing lives.
The hot weather has driven the fish deep into cooler water.
Neither Spiro nor Misty have caught anything for days.
[somber music playing]
For the chicks confined to the nest, there's been no escape.
In his weakened state, River couldn't survive the extreme heat.
Luna's in serious trouble too.
She desperately needs moisture.
[insects buzzing]
And there's only one source available to her.
River.
Eagle chicks don't normally resort to such drastic measures...
[music ends]
[intense music playing]
...but these are not normal times.
The heat continues to build...
to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit day after day.
[solemn music playing]
[grunting]
[music fades]
Life on the mountaintop is only slightly more bearable.
- [mellow music playing] - [insects buzzing]
It's ten degrees cooler than sea level.
But still way too hot.
And it's buggy as well.
[marmot trills]
So, this is what it's like to be a wild marmot?
Despite the heat, Esmerelda and the gang can't afford to sit around.
They've still got a lot to learn.
Like what kind of threats there are here.
[jaunty music playing]
Is that bird dangerous?
Don't know.
Maybe.
Bonnie and Esmerelda aren't eager to find out.
[bird squawks]
[music fades]
But the boys have been taking more chances.
Wandering off during the day.
[solemn music playing]
[trills]
Adventurous Buck Bean
has been roaming a lot further from the den than the others.
And it hasn't gone unnoticed.
[intense music playing]
A new, dangerous visitor
has come up into their higher, cooler neighborhood in search of prey.
A cougar.
[somber music playing]
[music fades]
As the sun sets on one of the hottest days on record,
Esmerelda and the others retire to the security of their nest box.
But there's only four of them.
[grave music playing]
Buck Bean never returned.
[music ends]
A change is in the air.
[rousing music playing]
For the first time in a week,
a sea breeze begins to blow across the island...
and temperatures begin to come down.
A full eight days after it started,
the heat dome finally breaks.
Amazingly, Luna is still alive.
[music fades]
But she's weak.
[music builds up]
The cooling waters are bringing the fish back to the surface again.
It's Spiro's moment to shine.
[rousing music continues]
Luna's first real meal in over a week.
Misty is doing her bit too.
With all this rich fish back in her diet, Luna will make a swift recovery.
[wolf howls]
[music ends]
All across the island, parents can heave a huge sigh of relief.
[cub whines]
During the heat wave, Spruce and her cubs
spent almost all their time in the cool shade of the forest.
[serene music playing]
It's time to get back to that bounty of food on the coast.
Seafood at last.
[music ends]
[intense music playing]
But the stealthy Brutus
is using the rocky shoreline to sneak up on them.
[music fades]
By the time they see him, he's dangerously close.
[cub cries]
The cubs panic...
[menacing music playing]
...and run up the nearest tree.
Wise mom, Spruce,
knows she needs to be in the same tree as her cubs.
[music fades]
[pensive music playing]
If there's going to be a battle, she wants the high ground.
Brutus will have to come through her.
[music fades]
[tense music playing]
He has them cornered.
But he knows it's risky taking on a mama bear from this position.
Too risky.
[music ends]
[serene music playing]
Spruce has proven herself a great mother.
- But Brutus isn't going away. - [cubs calling]
They're going to have to spend more time in the forest.
It's the worst kind of trade-off.
Food for safety.
It'll be so much harder now
getting her cubs fat enough to survive winter hibernation.
[music ends]
[intense music playing]
And it's already mid-July.
[gripping music playing]
The intense heat has badly impacted the wolves' summer fortunes.
It deteriorated the whale carcass faster than normal.
Cedar is the only one still returning.
[screeching]
The pups could use one last round of takeout.
[music ends]
[birds chirping]
The steady diet of whale meat has been great for the pups.
[whimpering]
They've more than doubled in size.
[mellow music playing]
Too large and active to remain at the den,
they're moved around by the adults
to different spots that are closer to where the pack is hunting.
They wait at these rendezvous sites with nannies.
Usually, the one or two-year-olds.
Cedar arrives stinking of rotten whale.
The pups know this means food.
[pup whimpering]
They lick her mouth
until she regurgitates the whale meat she's carrying in her stomach.
It's so decayed now,
this will likely be the pups last feed of it.
The whale feast is over.
[solemn music playing]
Jasper's leading a hunting party
to check out the far end of their territory,
thirty miles south.
The pack needs to find another major food source, and soon.
The next day, the rendezvous site has been abandoned.
The entire sea wolf pack has now headed south.
They've taken all the pups with them.
Except one.
Jasper's son, Blaze.
He was injured,
simply playing on the rocks with his brothers and sisters.
It would have been impossible for him to keep up.
Alone, his chances of survival on this island are slim.
All he can do is hope that they haven't forgotten about him.
[solemn music continues]