"THE WHITE PLANET" "For three long months..." "I traveled to the end of the Earth... to discover the White Planet." "I have faced glacial winds during the polar night." "I have walked through desert glaciers." "I have listened, I have watched... and the White Planet has told me its secrets." "The lord of this domain does not fear the coming winter." "She knows that the time has arrived to disappear underground... into her secret lair." "To the Inuit--the Arctic inhabitants-- the Aurora Borealis are spirits who dance in the sky." "At the dawn of the world, darkness reigned." "The fox loved the dark, but the crow dreamt of light." "In order to please both, Sila, the spirit of time ended the sole reign of night." "Thus, the White Planet was born." "The polar bear has been nursing her young for 100 days in the dark, while eating nothing." "Finally, the March sun allows them to leave the lair." "For the cubs, it is like being born again." "The male who approaches is a danger to the cubs." "The mother fears for the cubs' lives, if the male gets close to them." "The White Planet is a world that defies definition...it is neither land nor sea." "In winter, the Arctic Ocean is covered in a thick ice layer." "This is the ice floe, territory of the seal." "The elephant seals are neighboring strangers." "With fear and surprise, the small white seals discover their world." "It spends three weeks with its mother... to learn how to swim and dive." "Three weeks to discover everything on the ice and, alone, the wrath of the ocean." "The Arctic Ocean, circling the North Pole, unites several continents." "The tundra occupies almost everything north of Asia, Europe, and North America." "But in the south, the climate is less austere, and trees are able to grow." "In the boreal forest, winter still is not over in the month of April." "The caribou can no longer stay here." "Today, instinct directs the caribou to head north." "First, the females depart, the males follow later on." "Thus begins one of the great migrations of this planet." "On the ice floe, the sun is finally here." "Three months have passed since she last left her lair." "The mother must hunt without respite, she has three mouths to feed." "Nine out of ten times, the attack fails." "The cubs are only thinking about playing, but without knowing it, they are learning to be hunters." "Thanks to her experience, the mother, once again has been able to feed her children." "The polar bear is entirely dependent on its hunting territory, the ice floe." "In June, the White Planet is transformed by the sun." "For a few months, the snow disappears off the tundra." "The ice floe is reduced by half, revealing the Arctic Ocean and its many islands." "On these immense fjords, everything appears calm." "Nevertheless, underneath the ice, colossal forces are at work." "In the midst of chaos, mysterious heavy breathing." "The narwhal, creature of legend." "Winds and currents break up the ice floe." "Under the ice, a strange activity begins." "A pinch of light, an inkling of heat, engenders life." "Attracted by plankton, boreal whales penetrate the ice labyrinth." "But at any time, the passage can close up, and the visitor may get trapped." "The whale has found an escape route." "She sings, to alert her companions... several kilometers away, and guides them to her." "The boreal whales filter the plankton without rest." "The White Planet nourishes the largest of creatures." "Other voyagers have traveled the Earth to return to their birthplace." "The guillemots take pleasure in the ice." "In a fervent state, they approach the ice floe, where the food is concentrated." "With a ferocious dive, they fly to the depths of the ocean." "Under the ice, the belugas celebrate the return of spring." "On the continent, the last snow falls in June." "After two months of migration, the mother caribous have stopped in a solitary valley, far from wolves, to give birth." "Moments after birth, the newborn can already stand." "After a few hours, the little caribou must already be able to follow his mother." "His life depends on it." "But he knows nothing of the severe tests which await him." "During the first days of summer, the males meet with the rest of the herd." "The caribou multitude now resembles an immense marching army." "The great fjord is bewitched by a red ghost." "It is the night of the hunter." "The humpback whales have made the long trek up from the tropics." "Here, the ocean generously satisfies the appetites of these giant monsters." "By August, the Arctic has accumulated the heat of an entire summer." "The glaciers of Greenland, the largest fresh water reserves on the planet, are essential to the balance of the entire world's climate." "On the White Planet, the ice has almost vanished entirely." "The polar bear can no longer hunt seals." "The walruses, sheltered on the few remaining ice banks, are too difficult to get to." "The polar bear is a king whose domain is breaking up into the ocean." "On the continent, time is precious." "Summer only lasts for a moment." "The new generation must grow up and get strong before winter's return." "Summer is an ordeal for the caribou." "The tundra is an immense swamp, where millions of mosquitoes swarm." "These vampire insects suck the last strength out of them." "At the end of August, after 100 days of effort, and thousands of kilometers traversed, the caribou find themselves at the ocean, at the end of the Earth." "By the coastline, the patient walruses wait for the return of the ice." "The guillemots build their nests in the cliffs, but space is limited." "The egg is pear-shaped, so that it cannot roll away." "Is there one last chance for survival?" "The fox builds up his reserves for the winter." "At the end of September, the sun descends below the horizon for the first time." "After three months of permanent daylight, the night has returned." "For the summer visitors, it's a sign to be heading off." "The musk oxen retake control of their territory" "The males confront each other." "The future of the clan depends on the outcome of these battles." "Little by little, the White Planet re-adopts the color of winter." "The ice floe has returned, and the polar bear finds its territory again." "For months, the mother has guarded her little ones." "She has fed them day in and day out." "From now on, they will have to get by on their own." "She will no longer hunt on their behalf." "With each passing year, I see the ice layer shrinking." "The climate grows warmer; we are the cause, and the Arctic is our victim." "If we do nothing, the ice could completely disappear into summer before the end of the century... and with her, numerous species." "At the beginning of this new winter, I have listened to the cry of the polar bear:" "Pay attention!" "We cannot lose the North!"