Life in the Freezer
Encyclopedia
Life in the Freezer is a BBC
nature documentary
series written and presented by David Attenborough
, first transmitted in the UK
from 18 November 1993.
A study of the seasonal cycle of Antarctica, it was the first of Attenborough's more specialised surveys following his major trilogy that began with Life on Earth. Each of the six 30-minute episodes (except the last) examines how species cope with life on the Antarctic continent during the year.
The series was produced in conjunction with The National Geographic Society
and Lionheart International, Inc. The producer was Alastair Fothergill
and the music was composed by George Fenton
.
Part of David Attenborough's 'Life' series of programmes, it was preceded by The Trials of Life
(1990) and followed by The Private Life of Plants
(1995).
s on the planet to the arrival of spring
, which welcomes a population of ocean travellers returning to breed. Then, in the summer
, creatures such as seals and penguin
s struggle to raise their young before winter once again sets in. At this point, the ice sheet doubles and animals must leave to find food.
David Attenborough accompanied a 20-strong crew to Antarctica and spent three years filming the series. They had to contend with monolithic glaciers and extreme weather conditions, including mountainous seas, 160 km/h blizzards and harsh temperatures.
Once again, following on from The Trials of Life, the team used the latest camera technology and techniques, and had to travel into territory that had been previously inaccessible to filmmakers. For example, to photograph the wildlife of the sea, boats, divers, suspended capsules and remotely controlled cameras mounted on inflatables were used. Particularly dangerous to divers were leopard seal
s and other predators, so some underwater sequences necessitated the use of cages for safety. The team also used a small, steel-hulled yacht, the Damien II. It had a retractable keel, which enabled the vessel to venture into shallow bays and land camera crews on to remote islands, where they could remain in contact via radio. A steadicam
was used to obtain close-ups of fighting fur seal
s, with another person carrying a pair of wooden poles close by, in case one of the creatures attacked the human visitors.
Cameraman Michael deGruy gave an account of what it was like to film beneath the ice during a blizzard:
The last episode looks at the race by human
s to be the first to reach the South Pole
, and its second half describes how the series was made.
Broadcast 18 November 1993, the first episode introduces the continent
of Antarctica and the surrounding sea and islands, its glacier
s and the iceberg
s that form from it. It describes how the continent changes throughout the seasons, as it effectively doubles in size in winter when the surrounding sea freezes over, "the greatest seasonal change that takes place on this planet." Penguins, whales and seals are shown feeding in the Southern Ocean
. Many of them eat the abundant krill
(which in turn feed on phytoplankton
and ice-algae). Humpback whale
s are shown catching krill through sophisticated co-operation: they create spiralling curtains of air bubbles that drive it into their centre, where the whales can then catch them by surging upwards in the middle of the spiral. Also shown are the various seabird
s which feed in the Antarctic sea, especially albatross
es, whose impressive wingspans are possible because they utilise the updraft generated by the huge waves in the stormy southern waters. Because of the patchiness of krill, albatrosses can travel for many hundreds or indeed thousands of miles on a single trip in search of it. All birds scavenge, and a group (including giant petrel
s) is shown taking the remains of a whale, left by orca
. Many birds (including penguins) lay their egg
s and feed their chicks on the islands surrounding the Antarctic continent, especially South Georgia where both albatross and King penguin
s have their nesting sites throughout the year.
s are the first creatures to return to the beaches. They form large breeding colonies, where the males fight fierce battles to gain and retain permanent access to a great number of females and mate with them as soon as they are receptive again. Millions of macaroni penguin
s occupy huge territories on the islands to breed, as do thousands of albatrosses. The Antarctic peninsula
is one of the few regions of the continent inhabited by animals, even in summer. Gentoo penguin
s build their nests on bare rock and humpback whales seek krill along the coast, while Adelie penguin
s nest even further south. Crabeater seal
s, one of the most numerous mammals on Earth, live and reproduce in the pack ice zone around Antarctica. Snow petrel
s fly many miles into the island to find rock on which to lay their eggs.
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Broadcast 2 December 1993, this instalment looks at the summer, when almost all life in the region breeds. A South Georgian colony of fur seals is shown: the pups grow fast on the rich, fat
ty milk
provided by their mothers and double their weight in just sixty days. As the females become sexually available, the mating season begins — males try to claim territory and mate with females. Chinstrap penguin
s form large groups on Deception Island, climbing up its steep slopes to find mountain ridges free of snow. Returning birds find their partners by recognising their voice (performing a brief greeting ritual when they find them), which is why the colonies are very noisy during the breeding season. Males and females take turns in catching food, some of which they later regurgitate for their chicks. The summer also thaws some of the ice on the continent's shores. The fresh water allows moss
and other plants to grow, which in turn provide food for mite
s that are adapted to the cold climate — they can survive temperatures up to minus 30 °C because they contain a kind of antifreeze
. They become active as soon as the ice melts, and reproduce whenever they get an opportunity to do so. Lichens grow even further south than moss, and algae populate some of the snow. In the ocean, life is much more diverse, and blue-eyed shag
s dive for fish near the peninsula. More than 300,000 petrel
s come to breed to the Scullin Monolith, one of the few areas of open rock.
ns. However, before going to the sea, the adult penguins must moult
their coats. The freezing sea ice usually does not reach South Georgia, and seal pups are still fed there by their mothers in autumn to be ready for the winter. They use their remaining time for play and mock fights in the ocean. Those who do not survive become food for the predator birds — the skua
s and the giant petrels. Elephant seals also undergo moulting while on the island. Albatrosses nesting on South Georgia continue to feed and mate, but the ever harsher weather forces most animals further northwards.
Broadcast 16 December 1993, this programme deals with those who stay during the coldest weather. As almost all animal inhabitants of Antarctica are forced to migrate, the sea underneath the ice still provides a home to many specially adapted fish whose cell
s are protected from freezing through an inherent "antifreeze". Many feed on the faeces of other animals. Perhaps the most notable larger creature that does not journey north is the Weddell seal
, which can be found as close as 1300 kilometres to the pole. Groups of seals tear holes into the ice to dive for food and come up to breathe. The females come back to the ice to give birth. Also described is primitive plant
life such as lichen
, which can still be found on the continent in winter, even in the extremely dry and permanently frozen valley
s — conditions under which dead animals can lie frozen for many centuries without decomposing. Attenborough observes that the Antarctic plateau is so "forbidding, hostile and desolate" that human life there seems not only insignificant, but also "totally irrelevant". Also explored is the life of the Emperor penguin
, "the only birds to lay their eggs directly on ice". While others retreat, Emperors migrate not just to the ice, but into Antarctica itself. The newly laid egg is quickly transferred from female to male. They then incubate the eggs under the harshest conditions on Earth (huddling closely together in temperatures of minus 70 °C), while their partners return to the sea.
, whose team died on the way back from the South Pole. Attenborough visits the hut at Cape Evans where Scott and his team spent the winter of 1911. It shows their well-equipped laboratory and the darkroom where the group's photographer, Herbert Ponting
, developed his films. Attenborough contrasts the transportation used by Scott (initially motor sledge, ponies and dogs before ending up on foot) with today's helicopter
s. The episode also details the scientific work in the modern human bases in Antarctica, especially Mawson Base
and its observation of Adelie penguins (partially through tracking devices). The film concludes that although working in Antarctica is now much easier than during the early days of exploration, human footsteps on the continent are still exceedingly rare — in part because of international treaties prohibiting industrial exploitation.
, wrote a column accusing the production team of staging a harrowing sequence in which a leopard seal killed and dismembered a young penguin. He claimed that the chances of filming natural behaviour like this were far too low, and that the crew must have thrown baby penguins to the seal until they got the shot they wanted.
Alastair Fothergill responded by threatening to sue. In a private settlement, Wilson was forced to publish an apology and retraction acknowledging that there had been no basis for his claims. The Independent also paid an undisclosed sum of money, which Fothergill and Attenborough donated to a fund for the penguins of the Falkland Islands
.
Wilson had previously made similar claims about Attenborough's previous series, The Trials of Life
, regarding the filming of the Malleefowl
, and had been forced to retract those as well.
. There are no extra features.
The accompanying book, Life in the Freezer: A Natural History of the Antarctic by Alastair Fothergill with a foreword by David Attenborough (ISBN 0-563-36431-9 ), was published by BBC Books on 4 November 1993. It is currently out of print.
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
nature documentary
Nature documentary
A natural history film or wildlife film is a documentary film about animals, plants, or other non-human living creatures, usually concentrating on film taken in their natural habitat...
series written and presented by David Attenborough
David Attenborough
Sir David Frederick Attenborough OM, CH, CVO, CBE, FRS, FZS, FSA is a British broadcaster and naturalist. His career as the face and voice of natural history programmes has endured for more than 50 years...
, first transmitted in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
from 18 November 1993.
A study of the seasonal cycle of Antarctica, it was the first of Attenborough's more specialised surveys following his major trilogy that began with Life on Earth. Each of the six 30-minute episodes (except the last) examines how species cope with life on the Antarctic continent during the year.
The series was produced in conjunction with The National Geographic Society
National Geographic Society
The National Geographic Society , headquartered in Washington, D.C. in the United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational institutions in the world. Its interests include geography, archaeology and natural science, the promotion of environmental and historical...
and Lionheart International, Inc. The producer was Alastair Fothergill
Alastair Fothergill
Alastair Fothergill is a producer of nature documentaries for television and cinema. He is the executive producer of the multi-award winning series The Blue Planet and Planet Earth and the co-director of the associated feature films Deep Blue and Earth.Fothergill attended Harrow...
and the music was composed by George Fenton
George Fenton
George Fenton is a British composer best known for his work writing film scores and music for television, although he also writes music for the theatre. His real name is George Howe but he is better known by his pseudonym of George Fenton.-Selected film and television credits:Fenton has composed...
.
Part of David Attenborough's 'Life' series of programmes, it was preceded by The Trials of Life
The Trials of Life
The Trials of Life: A Natural History of Behaviour is a BBC nature documentary series written and presented by David Attenborough, first transmitted in the UK from 4 October 1990....
(1990) and followed by The Private Life of Plants
The Private Life of Plants
The Private Life of Plants is a BBC nature documentary series written and presented by David Attenborough, first shown in the UK from 11 January 1995....
(1995).
Background
Over the course of the series, the seasonal effect on the continent is explored, from one of the harshest winterWinter
Winter is the coldest season of the year in temperate climates, between autumn and spring. At the winter solstice, the days are shortest and the nights are longest, with days lengthening as the season progresses after the solstice.-Meteorology:...
s on the planet to the arrival of spring
Spring (season)
Spring is one of the four temperate seasons, the transition period between winter and summer. Spring and "springtime" refer to the season, and broadly to ideas of rebirth, renewal and regrowth. The specific definition of the exact timing of "spring" varies according to local climate, cultures and...
, which welcomes a population of ocean travellers returning to breed. Then, in the summer
Summer
Summer is the warmest of the four temperate seasons, between spring and autumn. At the summer solstice, the days are longest and the nights are shortest, with day-length decreasing as the season progresses after the solstice...
, creatures such as seals and penguin
Penguin
Penguins are a group of aquatic, flightless birds living almost exclusively in the southern hemisphere, especially in Antarctica. Highly adapted for life in the water, penguins have countershaded dark and white plumage, and their wings have become flippers...
s struggle to raise their young before winter once again sets in. At this point, the ice sheet doubles and animals must leave to find food.
David Attenborough accompanied a 20-strong crew to Antarctica and spent three years filming the series. They had to contend with monolithic glaciers and extreme weather conditions, including mountainous seas, 160 km/h blizzards and harsh temperatures.
Once again, following on from The Trials of Life, the team used the latest camera technology and techniques, and had to travel into territory that had been previously inaccessible to filmmakers. For example, to photograph the wildlife of the sea, boats, divers, suspended capsules and remotely controlled cameras mounted on inflatables were used. Particularly dangerous to divers were leopard seal
Leopard Seal
The leopard seal , also referred to as the sea leopard, is the second largest species of seal in the Antarctic...
s and other predators, so some underwater sequences necessitated the use of cages for safety. The team also used a small, steel-hulled yacht, the Damien II. It had a retractable keel, which enabled the vessel to venture into shallow bays and land camera crews on to remote islands, where they could remain in contact via radio. A steadicam
Steadicam
A Steadicam is a stabilizing mount for a motion picture camera that mechanically isolates it from the operator's movement, allowing a smooth shot even when moving quickly over an uneven surface...
was used to obtain close-ups of fighting fur seal
Fur seal
Fur seals are any of nine species of pinnipeds in the Otariidae family. One species, the northern fur seal inhabits the North Pacific, while seven species in the Arctocephalus genus are found primarily in the Southern hemisphere...
s, with another person carrying a pair of wooden poles close by, in case one of the creatures attacked the human visitors.
Cameraman Michael deGruy gave an account of what it was like to film beneath the ice during a blizzard:
"I jumped into a seal hole, pushing the ice away as I entered, and they handed me my camera. Surprisingly, I wasn't too cold, except around where my mouth held on to my regulator, and that instantly froze and became numb. Suddenly everything was quiet and I found myself looking at easily one of the most extraordinary scenes I had ever, ever experienced. When I dropped down through a hole in the ice, I was completely surrounded by ice: a tunnel maybe twenty feet across. Everything above me on the land was roaring with wind and down there, there was absolutely no sound except for the distant trills of Weddell Seals."
The last episode looks at the race by human
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
s to be the first to reach the South Pole
South Pole
The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is one of the two points where the Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth and lies on the opposite side of the Earth from the North Pole...
, and its second half describes how the series was made.
Episodes
1. "The Bountiful Sea"
Continent
A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents—they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.Plate tectonics is...
of Antarctica and the surrounding sea and islands, its glacier
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
s and the iceberg
Iceberg
An iceberg is a large piece of ice from freshwater that has broken off from a snow-formed glacier or ice shelf and is floating in open water. It may subsequently become frozen into pack ice...
s that form from it. It describes how the continent changes throughout the seasons, as it effectively doubles in size in winter when the surrounding sea freezes over, "the greatest seasonal change that takes place on this planet." Penguins, whales and seals are shown feeding in the Southern Ocean
Southern Ocean
The Southern Ocean comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60°S latitude and encircling Antarctica. It is usually regarded as the fourth-largest of the five principal oceanic divisions...
. Many of them eat the abundant krill
Krill
Krill is the common name given to the order Euphausiacea of shrimp-like marine crustaceans. Also known as euphausiids, these small invertebrates are found in all oceans of the world...
(which in turn feed on phytoplankton
Phytoplankton
Phytoplankton are the autotrophic component of the plankton community. The name comes from the Greek words φυτόν , meaning "plant", and πλαγκτός , meaning "wanderer" or "drifter". Most phytoplankton are too small to be individually seen with the unaided eye...
and ice-algae). Humpback whale
Humpback Whale
The humpback whale is a species of baleen whale. One of the larger rorqual species, adults range in length from and weigh approximately . The humpback has a distinctive body shape, with unusually long pectoral fins and a knobbly head. It is an acrobatic animal, often breaching and slapping the...
s are shown catching krill through sophisticated co-operation: they create spiralling curtains of air bubbles that drive it into their centre, where the whales can then catch them by surging upwards in the middle of the spiral. Also shown are the various seabird
Seabird
Seabirds are birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations...
s which feed in the Antarctic sea, especially albatross
Albatross
Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds allied to the procellariids, storm-petrels and diving-petrels in the order Procellariiformes . They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacific...
es, whose impressive wingspans are possible because they utilise the updraft generated by the huge waves in the stormy southern waters. Because of the patchiness of krill, albatrosses can travel for many hundreds or indeed thousands of miles on a single trip in search of it. All birds scavenge, and a group (including giant petrel
Giant petrel
Giant petrels is a genus, Macronectes, from the family Procellariidae and consist of two species. They are the largest birds from this family...
s) is shown taking the remains of a whale, left by orca
Orca
The killer whale , commonly referred to as the orca, and less commonly as the blackfish, is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family. Killer whales are found in all oceans, from the frigid Arctic and Antarctic regions to tropical seas...
. Many birds (including penguins) lay their egg
Egg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...
s and feed their chicks on the islands surrounding the Antarctic continent, especially South Georgia where both albatross and King penguin
King Penguin
The King Penguin is the second largest species of penguin at about , second only to the Emperor Penguin. There are two subspecies—A. p. patagonicus and A. p...
s have their nesting sites throughout the year.
2. "The Ice Retreats"
Broadcast 25 November 1993, the second programme examines what happens during spring on Antarctica. The sea ice extends for hundreds of miles around the continent, but there are a few subantarctic islands that escape it. Such places are highly valued, for as the sea never freezes, animals can always get ashore. Elephant sealElephant seal
Elephant seals are large, oceangoing seals in the genus Mirounga. There are two species: the northern elephant seal and the southern elephant seal . Both were hunted to the brink of extinction by the end of the 19th century, but numbers have since recovered...
s are the first creatures to return to the beaches. They form large breeding colonies, where the males fight fierce battles to gain and retain permanent access to a great number of females and mate with them as soon as they are receptive again. Millions of macaroni penguin
Macaroni Penguin
The Macaroni Penguin is a species of penguin found from the Subantarctic to the Antarctic Peninsula. One of six species of crested penguin, it is very closely related to the Royal Penguin, and some authorities consider the two to be a single species...
s occupy huge territories on the islands to breed, as do thousands of albatrosses. The Antarctic peninsula
Antarctic Peninsula
The Antarctic Peninsula is the northernmost part of the mainland of Antarctica. It extends from a line between Cape Adams and a point on the mainland south of Eklund Islands....
is one of the few regions of the continent inhabited by animals, even in summer. Gentoo penguin
Gentoo penguin
The Gentoo Penguin , Pygoscelis papua, is easily recognized by the wide white stripe extending like a bonnet across the top of its head and its bright orange-red bill. The gentoo penguin has pale whitish-pink webbed feet and a fairly long tail - the most prominent tail of all penguins. Chicks have...
s build their nests on bare rock and humpback whales seek krill along the coast, while Adelie penguin
Adelie Penguin
The Adélie Penguin, Pygoscelis adeliae, is a species of penguin common along the entire Antarctic coast. They are among the most southerly distributed of all seabirds, as are the Emperor Penguin, the South Polar Skua, the Wilson's Storm Petrel, the Snow Petrel, and the Antarctic Petrel...
s nest even further south. Crabeater seal
Crabeater Seal
The crabeater seal, Lobodon carcinophagus, is a true seal with a circumpolar distribution around the coast of Antarctica. They are medium to large-sized , relatively slender and pale-colored, found primarily on the free floating pack ice that extends seasonally out from the Antarctic coast, which...
s, one of the most numerous mammals on Earth, live and reproduce in the pack ice zone around Antarctica. Snow petrel
Snow Petrel
The Snow Petrel is the only member of the genus Pagodroma. It is one of only three birds that breed exclusively in Antarctica and has been seen at the South Pole. It has the most southerly breeding distribution of any bird.-Taxonomy:...
s fly many miles into the island to find rock on which to lay their eggs.
3. "The Race to Breed"
Fat
Fats consist of a wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and generally insoluble in water. Chemically, fats are triglycerides, triesters of glycerol and any of several fatty acids. Fats may be either solid or liquid at room temperature, depending on their structure...
ty milk
Milk
Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...
provided by their mothers and double their weight in just sixty days. As the females become sexually available, the mating season begins — males try to claim territory and mate with females. Chinstrap penguin
Chinstrap Penguin
The Chinstrap Penguin is a species of penguin which is found in the South Sandwich Islands, Antarctica, the South Orkneys, South Shetland, South Georgia, Bouvet Island and Balleny...
s form large groups on Deception Island, climbing up its steep slopes to find mountain ridges free of snow. Returning birds find their partners by recognising their voice (performing a brief greeting ritual when they find them), which is why the colonies are very noisy during the breeding season. Males and females take turns in catching food, some of which they later regurgitate for their chicks. The summer also thaws some of the ice on the continent's shores. The fresh water allows moss
Moss
Mosses are small, soft plants that are typically 1–10 cm tall, though some species are much larger. They commonly grow close together in clumps or mats in damp or shady locations. They do not have flowers or seeds, and their simple leaves cover the thin wiry stems...
and other plants to grow, which in turn provide food for mite
Mite
Mites, along with ticks, are small arthropods belonging to the subclass Acari and the class Arachnida. The scientific discipline devoted to the study of ticks and mites is called acarology.-Diversity and systematics:...
s that are adapted to the cold climate — they can survive temperatures up to minus 30 °C because they contain a kind of antifreeze
Antifreeze
Antifreeze is a freeze preventive used in internal combustion engines and other heat transfer applications, such as HVAC chillers and solar water heaters....
. They become active as soon as the ice melts, and reproduce whenever they get an opportunity to do so. Lichens grow even further south than moss, and algae populate some of the snow. In the ocean, life is much more diverse, and blue-eyed shag
Cormorant
The bird family Phalacrocoracidae is represented by some 40 species of cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed recently, and the number of genera is disputed.- Names :...
s dive for fish near the peninsula. More than 300,000 petrel
Petrel
Petrels are tube-nosed seabirds in the bird order Procellariiformes. The common name does not indicate relationship beyond that point, as "petrels" occur in three of the four families within that group...
s come to breed to the Scullin Monolith, one of the few areas of open rock.
4. "The Door Closes"
Broadcast 9 December 1993, this episode describes the migration of most animals northwards (some from the Antarctic continent, others from the few islands surrounding it) as the continent and surrounding sea freeze over at the end of summer. At Cape Royds, the most southernly colony of Adelie penguins is virtually emptied as adults lead their newly feathered young to the sea. Young penguins often fall prey to leopard seals as they try to make their way across the already partially frozen water — and their stripped remains become food for isopods and meter-long nemerteaNemertea
Nemertea is a phylum of invertebrate animals also known as "ribbon worms" or "proboscis worms". Alternative names for the phylum have included Nemertini, Nemertinea and Rhynchocoela. Although most are less than long, one specimen has been estimated at , which would make it the longest animal ever...
ns. However, before going to the sea, the adult penguins must moult
Moult
In biology, moulting or molting , also known as sloughing, shedding, or for some species, ecdysis, is the manner in which an animal routinely casts off a part of its body , either at specific times of year, or at specific points in its life cycle.Moulting can involve the epidermis , pelage...
their coats. The freezing sea ice usually does not reach South Georgia, and seal pups are still fed there by their mothers in autumn to be ready for the winter. They use their remaining time for play and mock fights in the ocean. Those who do not survive become food for the predator birds — the skua
Skua
The skuas are a group of seabirds with about seven species forming the family Stercorariidae and the genus Stercorarius. The three smaller skuas are called jaegers in North America....
s and the giant petrels. Elephant seals also undergo moulting while on the island. Albatrosses nesting on South Georgia continue to feed and mate, but the ever harsher weather forces most animals further northwards.
5. "The Big Freeze"
Cell (biology)
The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all known living organisms. It is the smallest unit of life that is classified as a living thing, and is often called the building block of life. The Alberts text discusses how the "cellular building blocks" move to shape developing embryos....
s are protected from freezing through an inherent "antifreeze". Many feed on the faeces of other animals. Perhaps the most notable larger creature that does not journey north is the Weddell seal
Weddell Seal
The Weddell seal , is a relatively large and abundant true seal with a circumpolar distribution surrounding Antarctica. Weddell seals have the most southerly distribution of any mammal, with a habitat that extends as far south as McMurdo Sound...
, which can be found as close as 1300 kilometres to the pole. Groups of seals tear holes into the ice to dive for food and come up to breathe. The females come back to the ice to give birth. Also described is primitive plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...
life such as lichen
Lichen
Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic organism composed of a fungus with a photosynthetic partner , usually either a green alga or cyanobacterium...
, which can still be found on the continent in winter, even in the extremely dry and permanently frozen valley
Valley
In geology, a valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys...
s — conditions under which dead animals can lie frozen for many centuries without decomposing. Attenborough observes that the Antarctic plateau is so "forbidding, hostile and desolate" that human life there seems not only insignificant, but also "totally irrelevant". Also explored is the life of the Emperor penguin
Emperor Penguin
The Emperor Penguin is the tallest and heaviest of all living penguin species and is endemic to Antarctica. The male and female are similar in plumage and size, reaching in height and weighing anywhere from . The dorsal side and head are black and sharply delineated from the white belly,...
, "the only birds to lay their eggs directly on ice". While others retreat, Emperors migrate not just to the ice, but into Antarctica itself. The newly laid egg is quickly transferred from female to male. They then incubate the eggs under the harshest conditions on Earth (huddling closely together in temperatures of minus 70 °C), while their partners return to the sea.
6. "Footsteps in the Snow"
Broadcast 23 December 1993, the final instalment discusses human exploration of Antarctica, in particular the mission led by Captain Robert Falcon ScottRobert Falcon Scott
Captain Robert Falcon Scott, CVO was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–13...
, whose team died on the way back from the South Pole. Attenborough visits the hut at Cape Evans where Scott and his team spent the winter of 1911. It shows their well-equipped laboratory and the darkroom where the group's photographer, Herbert Ponting
Herbert Ponting
Herbert George Ponting, FRGS was a professional photographer. He is best known as the expedition photographer and cinematographer for Robert Falcon Scott's Terra Nova Expedition to the Ross Sea and South Pole...
, developed his films. Attenborough contrasts the transportation used by Scott (initially motor sledge, ponies and dogs before ending up on foot) with today's helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
s. The episode also details the scientific work in the modern human bases in Antarctica, especially Mawson Base
Mawson Station
Mawson Station is one of three permanent Australian bases in the Australian Antarctic Territory of East Antarctica. Named after Antarctic explorer Sir Douglas Mawson, the base is managed by the Australian Antarctic Division...
and its observation of Adelie penguins (partially through tracking devices). The film concludes that although working in Antarctica is now much easier than during the early days of exploration, human footsteps on the continent are still exceedingly rare — in part because of international treaties prohibiting industrial exploitation.
A.N. Wilson controversy
After Life in the Freezer was broadcast, A.N. Wilson, then a television reviewer for The IndependentThe Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, wrote a column accusing the production team of staging a harrowing sequence in which a leopard seal killed and dismembered a young penguin. He claimed that the chances of filming natural behaviour like this were far too low, and that the crew must have thrown baby penguins to the seal until they got the shot they wanted.
Alastair Fothergill responded by threatening to sue. In a private settlement, Wilson was forced to publish an apology and retraction acknowledging that there had been no basis for his claims. The Independent also paid an undisclosed sum of money, which Fothergill and Attenborough donated to a fund for the penguins of the Falkland Islands
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
.
Wilson had previously made similar claims about Attenborough's previous series, The Trials of Life
The Trials of Life
The Trials of Life: A Natural History of Behaviour is a BBC nature documentary series written and presented by David Attenborough, first transmitted in the UK from 4 October 1990....
, regarding the filming of the Malleefowl
Malleefowl
The Malleefowl is a stocky ground-dwelling Australian bird about the size of a domestic chicken...
, and had been forced to retract those as well.
DVD and book
The series is available in the UK for Regions 2 and 4 as a single DVD (BBCDVD1106, released 16 September 2002) and as part of The Life CollectionThe Life Collection
The Life Collection is a 24-disc DVD box set of eight titles from David Attenborough's 'Life' series of BBC natural history programmes. It was released in the UK on 5 December 2005 and has also been made available on Region 4 DVD in Australia and New Zealand. The Region 4 DVD contains four fewer...
. There are no extra features.
The accompanying book, Life in the Freezer: A Natural History of the Antarctic by Alastair Fothergill with a foreword by David Attenborough (ISBN 0-563-36431-9 ), was published by BBC Books on 4 November 1993. It is currently out of print.