[animal grunting]
[pensive music playing]
[birds squawking]
[narrator] A young wolf, Cedar, has been scouring the coast for days.
Looking for food.
Leftovers.
Anything.
[ravens cawing]
Keep your eye on the scavengers.
They can lead you to food.
[caws]
[birds squawking]
A carcass on a small island.
It's 400 yards from shore.
Beyond the reach of most wolves.
But Cedar is not an ordinary wolf.
[valiant music playing]
She's a sea wolf.
[birds screeching]
Unique to the North Pacific.
Most other wolves would never risk swimming this far in an ocean,
barely above freezing.
Cedar lives an extraordinary life...
in an extraordinary land.
Her home is a vast outpost of volcanic rock,
creating a giant island filled with wonders.
[captivating music playing]
Surrounded by the North Pacific.
A cold but vibrant ocean...
[birds squawking]
...that batters its shores,
- yet feeds life across its lands. - [chick chirps]
Where young bears
- learn the ways of the forest. - [cub growls]
And how to hunt its pristine rivers.
[chitters]
Bald eagles rule the skies...
[screeching]
...but dine on the sea.
[chitters]
While endangered marmots...
[trills]
...hide out in their mountain fortresses...
sea otters float on the waves...
- [grunting] - ...and fight to survive the ocean extremes.
The shore lines between are patrolled by sea wolves,
whose spirit is legend.
[howls]
Each year, families here are in a race to raise the next generation...
before winter sets in.
[chittering]
[howls]
[sea lions grunting]
[bear growls]
This is life on the edge.
It's life on Vancouver Island.
[music ends]
Almost 300 miles from top to bottom,
it's the largest island on the west coast of North America.
And spring has just come knocking.
[pleasant music playing]
[bird screeching]
[eagle chitters]
This should be a sweet time for Cedar.
Her pack coming together in the warming weather
to hunt the coastline.
[wolves howling]
Instead, she finds herself shunned by them.
Unable to share in their spoils.
Forced to swim offshore
to reach a washed-up seal carcass.
Her first meal in days.
And a badly needed one.
Because Cedar... is pregnant.
And that's a serious problem.
Because the pack's alpha female, Dagger, is pregnant too.
[howling]
The alpha male, Jasper, will be father to both their litters.
[wolves howling in response]
Cedar is trapped in a dangerous love triangle.
Now a rival to Dagger and ostracized by the pack,
it'll be a battle to find food for her growing pups.
[music ends]
Bald eagles are the island's undisputed masters of aerial fishing.
Except for Spiro, who is underperforming today.
[chittering]
He and his lifelong partner, Misty, are having some problems back at the nest.
[chittering]
For bald eagles, good fishing and a happy partner go hand in hand.
[grave music playing]
If they're to raise nice strong chicks this year,
he'll need to bring home a lot of food.
[eagles chittering]
So the last thing Spiro needs
is another pair of hungry eagles muscling in on his turf.
[eagle screeching]
[exhilarating music playing]
[eagles chittering]
[screeching]
[chittering]
[music ends]
[pleasant music playing]
A lousy fisherman, maybe, but a pretty good scrapper.
[Spiro chitters]
Misty doesn't want a fighter though.
She wants food.
She expects him to prove himself each year before they mate,
by bringing her tasty gifts
to show how well he could provide for his family.
[music tempo slows]
[normal tempo resumes]
[screeches]
Misty is not impressed.
[music ends]
No luck fishing? There are other options.
[whimsical music playing]
[music increases in tempo]
[music stops]
Uh... Never order the crab.
[music resumes]
[music ends]
This year's wooing is off to a terrible start.
[somber music plays]
[chitters]
Misty wants results.
Every spring,
the island's flourishing waters draw in distant travelers.
[rousing music playing]
From all across the Pacific,
millions of creatures travel north along the coast.
Some migrating thousands of miles.
It's one of the greatest mass movements of life on the planet.
And when they get here, this place is going to get wild.
[music ends]
But, for now, the island sea is a peaceful haven
for a proud sea otter mom, Skye, and her son, Rocky,
one of the first pups of spring.
Their floating pool chair vibe is a central part of their lives.
But in truth, their lives are hanging by a thread.
[solemn music playing]
[grunts]
Just to keep warm and produce enough milk for Rocky,
Skye must eat at least 15 pounds of seafood every day.
Right beneath her, there's a huge, rich, delicious kelp forest teeming with life.
[captivating music playing]
But heading down to the buffet
means leaving Rocky floating on the surface...
[music ends]
...alone.
[gripping music playing]
Sea otters are the only marine mammals that don't have blubber to keep them warm.
So each time Skye dives down, the clock is ticking.
Rocky's body heat is dropping fast.
She should be eating about 100 clams a day,
which could take hours.
[Skye chuffing]
Little Rocky doesn't have hours.
[music ends]
It's a delicate balancing act for Skye
to keep them both alive.
[serene music playing]
Around three-quarters of Vancouver Island is covered in thick rainforest.
Here on the west coast,
there are still areas of old-growth forest that have never been logged.
Some of the oldest trees can soar to over 300 feet tall
in these perfect growing conditions.
[captivating music playing]
The annual 20 feet of rainfall
makes it ideal for all moisture-loving creatures.
Everywhere is damp.
But Dagger is searching for somewhere dry.
The pack's traditional birthing den is a long-held sanctuary...
under the roots of this giant tree, always reserved for the alpha female.
It's been nine months since Dagger was last here,
so she's making sure everything's in order.
[music ends]
Cedar isn't so lucky.
As a low-ranking young mother, she's not a priority for the den.
She has to fight for everything she gets.
But an intense low-pressure system is building offshore.
So, her luck might change.
[intense music playing]
[thunder rumbling]
Misty takes cover,
while Spiro tries to keep fishing.
In recent years, storms have become more intense.
[howls]
The sea wolves know if it's bad enough,
the ocean might even do their hunting for them,
by forcing a sea otter ashore.
[sea otters screeching]
Rocky needs full-on lifeguarding right now.
It's impossible to stay warm in this.
Even the adults are seeking shelter ashore.
[Skye screeching]
Skye needs to do the same if she's going to save Rocky.
[continues screeching]
They're safe.
[serene music playing]
Finally, Skye is able to feed him some nice, warm milk.
She's so exhausted, she falls asleep almost instantly.
[mellow music playing]
After the storm comes the calm.
[birds squawking]
[music ends]
Cedar is up bright and early,
seeing if the storm has left her any offerings.
She smells fresh meat on the wind.
Overnight, a wolf killed a sea otter.
But she's not the only one who's picked up the scent.
[intense music playing]
Jasper, the alpha, has come to claim it.
Robbing Cedar to feed Dagger.
This is all Cedar's getting.
[music ends]
By dragging the carcass into the forest,
Jasper is partaking in the island's great exchange.
[tranquil music playing]
Every year,
predators carry hundreds of thousands of tons of rich marine life
from the ocean inland.
When the carcasses break down,
they transfer nutrients from the sea to the soil.
This massive nutrition infusion helps the first spring flowers to bloom,
and the trees to grow tall.
One way or another,
the ocean nurtures all life on this island.
[music ends]
Now that conditions have settled back down,
the fish have moved closer to the surface.
An excellent time to go gift shopping.
[thrilling music playing]
[screeching]
[music ends]
Spiro is desperate to impress Misty.
[amusing music playing]
She likes it.
She really likes it.
Spiro is officially impressive.
[screeching]
Now the pressure is on.
Misty will be ready to lay in about ten days.
And to make healthy eggs, she'll need a healthy diet.
Spiro gets straight back to work.
[music ends]
[zestful music playing]
Skye is now feeding Rocky his first solid food,
and he's getting big, fast.
Enough so, that he can now bob around for hours without her help.
[serene music playing]
Which gives Skye more time to dive for their favorite cuisine.
[enthralling music playing]
Clams.
She now needs to eat half her body weight each day...
to feed herself and Rocky.
[music ends]
[loud spouting]
But some uninvited guests just crashed the clam party.
Gray whales.
The first visitors of spring.
[solemn music playing]
At the beginning of March, they stop by
en route from their birthing grounds in Mexico,
to their summer feeding in Alaska.
They stir up the mud in the shallows
and sift out huge mouthfuls of crustaceans and shrimp.
[music ends]
They've taken over Skye's clam beds.
And what's she going to do about it? Chase them off?
[somber music playing]
She has to find some other feeding spot.
This small cove is safe from the whales.
It's only got barnacles though.
And they're a lot more work to crack open.
But you've got to get your protein where you can.
[music ends]
Rocky wants to tag along on his mom's hunting dives.
[upbeat amusing music playing]
It's just that his coat is so thick and buoyant on his little body,
he can't stay under.
He's the otter equivalent of a toddler, so, yeah, not that coordinated.
[music ends]
When grey whales are in town, there's always trouble.
[intense music playing]
When they get between otter moms and pups, they can separate them.
[Rocky screeching]
[barking]
Their wake could pull a drifting baby far out to sea.
[music intensifies]
Skye can't see Rocky...
[Rocky screeching]
...so she homes in on his cries.
[Rocky continues screeching]
[serene music playing]
Mom hands him some nice, hard barnacle candy
and he's a happy pup again.
[captivating music playing]
The whales bring a lot of drama,
but in the long run,
these giants actually help the otters and other animals.
The nutrients they stir up in the silt will fertilize the local kelp forest...
ultimately making more seafood for everyone.
[music ends]
[grunting]
Tensions are starting to mount on the island.
The residents are expecting a huge annual feast to arrive.
But it's two weeks late... and still no sign.
[somber music playing]
Without it, the island's breeding season could be a disaster.
But then...
it begins.
[enthralling music playing]
Pacific herring arrive in their millions to spawn in these shallow bays,
where their eggs will be protected from the ocean surf.
Each female can lay 20,000 eggs,
attaching them to seaweed and eelgrass, one egg at a time.
Their spawning colors the coastline for miles.
For the thousands of waiting sea lions, dinner is finally served.
- [eagles screeching] - [birds squawking]
This event is absolutely life-sustaining for the island...
yet lasts only a few days.
The sea lions charge the herring from below...
driving them up to where the eagles can snatch them at the surface.
[music ends]
Spiro is so stuffed, he can barely lift off from the shore.
But Misty's eggs will surely be healthy now.
[grunting]
Most of the sea lions have swallowed over 50 pounds of herring.
[whimsical music playing]
And this is only the first day of herring fest.
There's always that guy who had too much at the party.
[birds squawking]
[music ends]
[grunting continues]
In the quiet aftermath, a different kind of visitor comes calling.
[ominous music playing]
A family of killer whales.
The ocean's top predator.
And they're not here for the herring.
They specialize in hunting sea lions.
Nice, big, bloated, overfed, sleepy ones.
[snoring]
The wise matriarch of the pod is 67 years old.
The largest is a 30-foot male with a dorsal fin a full six feet tall.
Today, instead of using their stealth, the killer whales announce their arrival.
[grunting]
Sending the entire colony of sea lions into a very convenient panic.
They instinctively flee into the water...
[grunting]
...where they feel safer and move faster.
Exactly what the orcas wanted.
The sea lions are wary though and don't stray too far from shore.
[grunting]
[menacing music playing]
[music ends]
Then the matriarch leads her pod away from the colony.
She's spotted something more promising.
[ominous music playing]
A sea lion returning late from the herring hunt, alone,
out in the open water.
[menacing music playing]
Sea lions are fast,
but this one is surrounded, battered...
[painful cry echoes]
...and stunned by its attackers.
[music ends]
[solemn music playing]
Killer whales are known to share their kills among the group.
And by harassing and killing off sea lions,
these top predators actually protect the herring populations,
striking a balance that helps to keep the island healthy.
[serene music playing]
After a few days,
the great shoals of herring leave the island
and head back into the deep...
leaving behind the next generation.
The eggs attach to everything.
[captivating music playing]
The beach becomes a jewel-studded veil of new life...
up to half a million eggs per square foot.
[birds squawking]
[music ends]
The herring have left,
but there's more fare for the locals than ever.
This once-a-year feast
even attracts creatures from deep in the forest...
[intense music playing]
...the island's biggest land predator, a male black bear.
[bear chuffing]
Brutus just woke up from five months of hibernation.
And he would kill for something nice and juicy to fill up on.
Gobs of protein-rich herring eggs are the perfect appetizer.
[whimsical music playing]
The king of the forest's first meal of the year...
courtesy of the Pacific Ocean.
[rousing music playing]
Its boundless generosity
has powered up the neighborhood residents for a giant baby boom.
The next generation of Vancouver Islanders is on its way.
[chitters]
[music ends]
Spiro and Misty are already getting things rolling.
[raven cawing]
A sneaky raven tries to lure them away from their eggs...
[raven cawing]
...so it can grab one.
[whimsical music playing]
[screeches]
Nice try, Raven.
One of them needs to be guarding that nest at all times.
[screeching]
So when Misty needs to eat, she has to trust Spiro to hold the fort.
And he's up for the challenge.
[chitters]
[in sing-song voice] Misty's going to be so impressed.
- [raven caws] - [eagle screeches]
[serene music playing]
[in normal voice] April rolls into May.
And spring washes over the island.
The neighborhood now welcomes new creatures of all stripes.
[chirping]
Dagger has spent the last three weeks in her den.
She checks to make sure it's safe...
for newcomers.
[enthralling music playing]
- [pups whimpering] - Two tiny pups,
from under their special, old tree.
This is their first adventure into the outside world.
They're still so wobbly and vulnerable...
that Dagger has to stay with them day and night.
She doesn't need to leave,
she knows an alpha's food will always be delivered.
[eagle screeching]
[music ends]
[screeches]
Up in the spruce high-rise...
[Misty chittering]
...the happy day has finally arrived.
[captivating music playing]
Thanks to Spiro's hard work and Misty's herring binge,
their chicks are strong and healthy.
And while she stays at the nest to guard and feed them,
Spiro's eager to show off his hunting chops again.
[chitters]
These mini raptors fight for every bite.
The competition is fierce. Even at this age.
[somber music playing]
Usually, only one will survive.
If both chicks are to make it, the ocean must keep giving.
But come summer, there will be no guarantees.
[music ends]
[solemn music playing]
The young loner, Cedar, has now also given birth.
But has to leave her pups so she can eat and supply them with milk.
It's a lot harder finding food without a pack to rely on.
[sniffs]
And today, the ocean isn't helping her.
Cedar has to find food somewhere, and soon.
It looks like she's made a decision.
She's heading for Dagger's den.
Wolves have been known to raid a rival's den.
[ominous music playing]
[whimpering]
[music intensifies]
[Dagger snarling]
[Cedar whimpers]
As food becomes ever more scarce,
it's not just Cedar who will be driven to take desperate measures.
[enthralling music playing]