Barents Sea 25
Barentsz, Willem 10, 12
barnacle geese 106
bears see polar bears; sloth bears
Beaufort Sea 25
beluga whales 106
Bering, Vitus 146, 148, 155
Bering Sea 148
Bering Strait 13
Bird Island (South Georgia) 158, 159–81
BirdLife International 180, 181
bison 30–31, 36
black-tailed godwits 84–5
Bowers, Henry ‘Birdie’ 209
Brazil 176, 180
brent geese 110, 114
British Antarctic Survey 161–2, 180
Brooklyn Detention Complex 54–5, 59
Brünnich’s guillemots 91, 92–3
Buster 11, 16, 94, 97, 99–100
C
Cade, Professor Tom 51, 56
Canada 13
lynx 123–31
polar bears 110, 119, 143
snow geese 110, 115, 117, 119
Cape Washington 204, 205–23
Charan-ganga 70
charr 22
Chater, Kim 188, 190, 191
Chater, Tony 183–4, 185, 190, 191
China
Antarctic fur seals 173
Siberian cranes 77, 79–89
chinstrap penguins 197
chital 63, 64, 70, 71
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor 165
Cook, Captain James 165
cranes 84
Siberian cranes 77, 78, 79–89, Pl. 19
Cross, Glenn 169–70
Cuthbert, Saint 138
D
Damien 196–7
DDT 49, 51–2
deer 63, 64, 70, 71
Dezadeash River 122, 123
Drake, Sir Francis 194
Dream Island 192, 193–203
Druid Peak wolves 28, 31, 32–45, 46
ducks
eider ducks 133–43, Pl. 15
Falkland steamer duck 189
South Georgia pintail 172
d’Urville, Adele 194
d’Urville, Jules Sébastien César Dumont 194
Dutch Harbor 146–7
E
Eagle, The 14, 101
eagles 56, 111–13, 116–17, 121
eider ducks 133–43, Pl. 15
eider down 137–9, 143
elephant seals 193–4
elephants 62, 65–6
elk 29, 31–2, 37–8, 39, 41, 42–3, 46, Pl. 11
emperor penguins 5, 204, 205, 207–8, 209–14, 217, 218–23, Pl. 2
Erebus, Mount 205
Evans, Edgar ‘Taffy’ 209
F
falcons 49–59, Pl. 23
Falkland Islands 182, 183–91
Fata Morgana 95
Fish Island 197
Fox, Derren 166–7, 171, 174, 175–6
foxes 20–21, 93, 101, 105
Fraenkel, Knut 14
French Frigate Shoals 1–4, 5
fulmars 12, 95, 147
fur seals 159, 161, 162–4, 170, 171–4, 175, Pl. 20, Pl. 21
G
geese 81
barnacle geese 106
brent geese 110, 114
lesser snow geese 109–21
and polar bears 143
gentoo penguins 183–91, Pl. 1
giant petrels 172
godwits 82, 83, 84–5, 86–7
golden eagles 56
Golden Fleece 195–6, 197, 198–9, 201–2
Golden Hind 194
grackles 54
great auk 194
great horned owls 56
guillemots 91, 92–3
H
Hanuman langurs 63, 64, 70–71
Happy Camper 214–15, 216
Hares, snowshoe 123
Havsel 8, 11, 14–15, 94, 98, 100, 102, 103
Hawaii
French Frigate Shoals 1–4, 5
whales 148–9
Hawkins, Sir Richard 164
herring 150, 152
Hudson Bay 110, 117, 119, 143
Hudson Bay Company 131
humpback whales 144, 145, 148–9, 150–51, 152, 153, 155, 156, 157, Pl. 12
I
icebergs 15, 95, 207
India 61–76
J
Janichon, Gérard 196–7
jays 53, 55
Jerdon’s courser 76
Johnny Rooks 183, 184–5, 189
K
Kipling, Rudyard 64
krill 149–51, 152, 155, 156, 159, 197, 198
Kvernmo, Bjørne 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 91–2, 93, 96, 97, 98, 100
Kvitøya 100–1
L
Lamar Valley 28, 29, 31, 34, 44, 46
Landis, Bob 36, 41
langurs 63, 64, 70–71
leopard seals 194, 195, 198, 200, 201–2
Leopold, Aldo 88
lesser snow geese 108, 109–21
Longyear, John Munro 10
Longyearbyen 8, 10, 12, 18
Lopez, Barry 20
Lyman, Laurie 33–4, 36, 37, 44
lynx 123–31, Pl. 18
M
Manhattanhenge 58
Martha, last passenger pigeon 226, 230
McDonald, Jimmer 145, 146–7, 148, 149, 151, 152, 156
McIntyre, Rick 32, 33–4, 35, 36, 37–8, 40–41, 44, 47
McMurdo Station 205–6, 218, 223
Miss Alyssa 146–8, 149–50, 154, 156
Missouri River 110, 111, 114
monkeys 63, 64, 70–71
Mount Erebus 205
Mushamna 18–27
N
Nadareski, Christopher 50–51, 53, 56–7
National Parks 30, 44
Bandhavgarh National Park 60, 61–8, 69–74, 75, 76, Pl. 13, Pl. 14
Yellowstone National Park 28, 29–47
National Wildlife Refuges 114–21
New Island (Falkland Islands) 182, 183–91
New York City 48, 49–59
Norge 101
North Pole 11, 14, 101
Norway 5, 6, 7–27, 90, 91–107, 132, 133–43
O
Oates, Captain Lawrence ‘Titus’ 209
Orcas 195
Orion 125, 197–8
otters 146, 225, Pl. 25
owls 56
P
passenger pigeons 111, 115, 226
peacocks 70–71
penguins 193, 194, Pl. 3, Pl. 8
Adélie penguins 52, 191, 192, 194, 195–6, 198–203, Pl. 4
chinstrap penguins 197, Pl. 3
emperor penguins 5, 204, 205, 207–8, 209–14, 217, 218–23, Pl. 2, Pl. 8
gentoo penguins 183–91, Pl. 1
rockhopper penguins 188
peregrine falcons 48, 49–59, Pl. 23
petrels 172, 200, 202
Phillips, Richard 180, 181
pigeons
feral 57–8
homing 101
passenger pigeons 111, 115, 226
rock doves 57
pintail ducks 172
polar bears Pl. 10, Pl. 16, Pl. 17
Alaska 25
Canada 110, 119
Svalbard 5, 7–27, 91–107, 133–43
Poncet, Dion 195, 197, 199, 200
Poncet, Jérome 195–7, 198–9, 200, 201
Poyang Lake, China 79–89
prions 190, 191
puffins, tufted 155
R
ravens 32, 38, 39, 123
Rime of the Ancient Mariner, The (Coleridge) 165
Roberts, Jason 11, 12, 16, 100, 103, Pl. 7
rockhopper penguins 188
Roy, Alfonse 66
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds 180
Russia 13
godwits 82
lynx 131
Siberian cranes 89
Svalbard 22
S
Saunders, Barbara 59
Scharnhorst 10
Scotland 205
barnacle geese 106
eider ducks 137, 138
Scott, Captain Robert 209, 214, 215–16, 223
sea lions 183, 186–7, 188, 189–90
sea otters 146, Pl. 25
Wolf Island 40
southern sea lion Pl. 1
Steller’s sea lion 152
seals
Antarctic fur seals 159, 161, 162–4, 170, 171–4, 175, Pl. 20, Pl. 21
bearded seals 15, 99
elephant seals 193–4
leopard seals 194, 195, 198, 200, 201–2
Weddell seals 217
seal birthing den 99
Second World War 10
sharks 3–4, 5
shearwaters (short-tailed) 144, 151, 152–4, 156–7, Pl. 12
sheathbills 161, 172
Siberia 131
Siberian cranes 77, 79–89, Pl. 19
Singh, Digpal 62–4, 65, 66, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73
skuas 133, 140, 172
sloth bears 63, 64
Small, Cleo 180–81
snow geese 108, 109–21, 143
South Georgia 158, 159–81, 196, 199
South Pole 209, 214, 215, 218, 223
Spitsbergen 5, 6, 7–27, 90, 91–107, 132, 133–43
spotted redshank 84
Steller, Georg 148
striated caracaras 183, 184–5, 189
Strindberg, Nils 14, 101
Svalbard 5, 6, 7–27, 90, 91–107, 132, 133–43
swans 80, 81
T
Tennyson, Lord Alfred 223
terns 18, 19–21, 96, 135
Tickell, Lance 166–7, 168, 169–70, 171, 181
tiger sharks 3–4, 5
tigers 60, 61–5, 66, 67–76, Pl. 13
Tirpitz 10
tundra swans 80, 81
Tyson, Neil deGrasse 58
U
United States
Alaska 13, 25, 51, 131
Aleutian Islands 144, 145–57, Pl. 12
French Frigate Shoals 1–4, 5, Pl. 24
Hawaii 148–9
Missouri River 110, 111, 114
National Parks 30, 44
National Wildlife Refuges 114
New York City 48, 49–59, Pl. 23
passenger pigeons 111, 115, 226
peregrine falcons 49–59, Pl. 23
Smithsonian Institute 226
snow geese 108, 109–21
State of Missouri 123
wolves 29, 30, 31, 32–45
Yellowstone National Park 28, 29–47, 103, Pl. 11
Uruguay 176, 180
V
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge 49–51, 56
Virgohamna 14
W
Wales, William 165
walruses 95, 97–8
Watson, Chris 81
Weddell seals 217
whales 10
beluga whales 106
humpback whales 145, 148–9, 150–51, 152, 153, 155, 156, 157, Pl. 12
orcas 195
Wilson, Edward 209
Wolf Island 40
wolves 29, 30, 31, 32–45, Pl. 11
Y
Yellowstone National Park 28, 29–47, 103
Yukon Territory 122, 123–31
1. The natural world is full of surprises. Whenever these gentoo penguins left their Falkland Island colony to fish, they ran the risk of being caught by the male sea lion hiding in the waves. Every evening, when the penguins came home, there was nail-biting drama as they were pursued through the surf.
2. Emperor penguin chicks experience the most extreme conditions of any bird. They need to be fat and fluffy to survive the Antarctic winter, in temperatures ranging from -60 to -25˚C.
3. The Antarctic peninsula is warming more rapidly than anywhere else on Earth and now it’s sometimes warm enough for rain to fall. Penguin chicks are not well adapted to being wet or muddy: these bedraggled chinstrap youngsters may die of exposure.
4. Antarctic warming is also affecting the most ice-dependent of all birds – the Adélie penguin. Sea ice is a vital breeding ground for krill, their staple food. As the ice melts they may have to move even further south but their options to do so are limited. As a result the Adélie penguin may become an early casualty of climate change.
5. I spend much of my time filming from this canvas hide. Most animals ignore it but it was a different story in Svalbard, in the Norwegian Arctic. The hide proved irresistible to a polar bear, which first sniffed inside it, then squashed it flat.
6. While filming the polar bears in Svalbard Steinar Aksnes and I stayed in this hut, once used by hunters and fur trappers. When bears approached they would splash through the stream by our door, providing some powerful images of the summer thaw.
7. Filming polar bears swimming among the pack ice is quite a challenge. Cameraman Ted Giffords modified Jason Robert’s boat to carry a stabilised camera with a long lens. The results were stunning, giving the viewer an intimate sense of swimming next to the bears, while keeping the boat at a safe distance.
8. Wildlife filmmakers rarely travel light but spending three weeks filming in the Ross Sea required even more kit than usual. Flashmobs of curious penguins gathered to watch us setting up camp. They were especially fond of the divers’ air bottles.
9. Much of the island of Nordaustlandet, in Svalbard, is covered by an icecap. During the summer, melted snow cascades over its edge and into the sea. While filming these waterfalls we came across a swimming polar bear. It must have swum a long way – the ice cliffs run unbroken for around 180km.
10. Polar bears are well insulated and they are excellent swimmers but this one was cold and tired. It eventually climbed onto the only piece of floating ice it could find and lay there, shivering.
11. This elk, in Yellowstone National Park, was running for its life, with wolves from the Druid Peak pack at its heels. The only way to keep them at bay was to stand up to its belly in a river. The alpha female of the pack was content to play a long game, leaving the elk to chill in the water while the wolves rested. The tactics of these reintroduced predators and their prey were fascinating to watch and to film.
12. Around the Aleutian Islands, in Alaska, there is a summer gathering of more seabirds than are found in any other place on Earth. Many are short-tailed shearwaters, which fly here from Australia. Humpback whales swim from the tropics to join the feast. They come to gorge on plankton.
13. Bandhavgarh National Park, in India seems to be a remote wilderness. Here tigers appear to live completely natural lives – an impression often reinforced by wildlife films – while this young tiger is actually surrounded, not just the park’s many visitors but also the farmers who were displaced to create the reserve. This tiger and his brother were taken into captivity some time after our filming because they were suspected of killing a forest guard.
14. Conserving wild places and their precious animals is vital but balancing so many conflicting interests is not easy.
15. Can a duck outwit a bear? It seemed unlikely that this eider could stay undetected on her nest for a month, while polar bears searched the area every few days, hoping to find her eggs, yet this mother managed to bring her ducklings safely through.
16. During the summer months many polar bears can be short of food, especially mothers with cubs to feed. In order to film this family Ted needed to put his head inside a hood and peer at a monitor. The mother bear was hungry, curious and much closer than Ted realized. Jason took this picture just before moving the boat out of range.
17. This large male bear looked up at me as I filmed him from the bow of our ship, the Havsel. Polar bears are the only animals that frequently stalk people and his intense scrutiny was quite unnerving.
18. All cats have acute senses and are often secretive, but filming in the forests of the Yukon Territory in Canada, showed that lynx have vanishing down to an art. After a month of searching we managed to film only a handful of shots and to take this photograph.
19. In China I tried to film another secretive and wary animal. Finding this moulted feather seemed the closest I was
likely to come to a Siberian crane. Beads of water, acting as tiny lenses, magnified the details of one of nature’s most remarkable structures.
20. Crouching among the battling fur seals of Bird Island, in the South Atlantic, is not for the faint-hearted. The males are powerful, aggressive and armed with self-sharpening teeth that they sometimes use on visitors as well as each other. A portable fort, built from old oil drums, made it possible to concentrate on filming without being bitten.
21. Bird Island’s small population of scientists sometimes need access to their pier, despite the mass of breeding fur seals blocking the way. One reason to make the tricky journey is to pay a visit to the island’s original toilet, in the small hut by the flagpole.
22. After spending their first five years or so at sea, wandering albatrosses return to their colony to find a mate. The males call and tap bills with each visiting female (right) while showing off their enormous wings, the longest of any bird. Some of these albatrosses are considerably older than me and many pairs will stay together for the rest of their lives.
23. During the 1960s and early ’70s peregrine falcons were wiped out in the US, east of the Mississippi river. The birds’ spectacular recovery, to the point that seventeen pairs now breed in New York, is an encouraging sign that conservation can work. This bird nests on a church tower near the Hudson River.
24. The seabirds of French Frigate Shoals, in the Pacific Ocean, see very few people and they are exceptionally tame. The camera was the highest point around, which made it an irresistible perch for this booby. Some of my filming of tiger sharks trying to ambush young albatrosses leaving their island for the first time was done with birds balancing on my head.
25. Nothing matters more than not disturbing or harming the animals you are photographing. My son Rowan lay for ages in the cold sea in order not to wake this mother otter and her well-grown cub. As a result he saw much more of their natural behavior – and he made his father proud.
ALSO AVAILABLE FROM PROFILE BOOKS
Where Do Camels Belong?
The Story and Science of Invasive Species
Ken Thompson
The Shark and the Albatross Page 26