In the Northern Hemisphere, many characteristics of the Ice Age still remain. Despite the harshness of the environment, life continues to flourish. During the spring, the bleak, snowy lands begin to thaw, causing avalanches and vast rivers of running water that batter against the glaciers. Hectic animal activity begins in an effort to gather as much food as possible before the next cold season arrives. The walruses appear in the Arctic Sea, huge mammals with fins, blubber-filled bodies and tusks. These warm-blooded animals swim in frigid waters but prefer sun-baked rocks, where they lay en masse. They live on shellfish, posing little threat to other wildlife, but are themselves hunted by the polar bear (isbjörnen), the approach of which can terrify a whole herd into retreat. The great white bear reigns as the most powerful carnivore in the area. Although it does not hibernate, the female goes into a dormant phase when pregnant. The film shows two new cubs, which nurse without waking their mother, then explore the terrain on their own. This intelligent, playful species can be quite mischievous, as when one older cub forms a snowball and pushes it off a hill onto his brother. The ring seal (vikaren) pups have a white coat that serves as camouflage, but when they need to move on land, they are awkward, slow-moving targets, dragging themselves back to the sea. Once in the water, they are a master of the defensive maneuver, swimming expertly. White beluga whales (vitvalar), actually a member of the dolphin family, also appear in the sea, swimming in near-formation. One of the smallest Arctic creatures is the lemming (lämmeln), the female of which must hunt even in the freezing winter to find enough food for her brood. A type of mouse, the lemming lives underground in the winter and moves aboveground after the thaw, when thousands of the species roam the tundra, eating all the vegetation. Every seven to ten years, when they have exhausted the area vegetation, the lemmings follow an extraordinary instinct to commit mass suicide, jumping into the ocean en masse and then dying of exhaustion. Scientists hypothesize that this behavior is an innate method of population control; the few surviving lemmings gradually repopulate the area. Among the spring visitors are the waterfowl (sjöfåglar), who migrate to the area to raise their young undisturbed. The eiderduck (ejdern), turnstone (roskarlen), phalarope (simsnäppan) and gulls (trutar) hunt in distinct ways and nest on the flat ground, leaving them vulnerable to predators such as polar bears and ermines (hermeliner). The ermine, a type of weasel, is small but bloodthirsty and determined. Goldeneye ducks (knipor), unlike the rest of their species, nest in hollow trees. The babies must leave the nest before they can fly, and so follow their mother's example and fall headlong to the ground. One family escapes unscathed and rushes to the relative safety of the water. The tundra serves as grassland for the musk ox (myskoxarna), which has survived since the Ice Age due to its long hair, extreme strength and dangerous horns. When a wolf appears, the ox herd forms a protective circle around its cows and calves, with the males facing outward from the circle, forcing the wolf to retreat. Despite its bad reputation, the wolf is actually a useful, monogamous family animal, which has been driven out of much of its homeland by humans. They display the same loyal tendencies as their canine brethren, mating for life and treating their young with great care. One family hunts caribou (ren) by waiting patiently until the herd is forced to travel through a narrow mountain pass. The wolves then kill the weakest caribou, thinning the herd of its unfit members. The only animal that scares a wolf is the wolverine (järven), a combination of bear, raccoon and weasel. This vicious, voracious hunter is small but very strong. One chases a rabbit, which almost escapes by hiding in a hollow log, but the wolverine rolls the log into the water, forcing the rabbit to run out. The wolverine is soon distracted by an osprey nest high in a tree, and although the osprey mother dive-bombs the animal, she cannot prevent it from eating her baby. After a quick summer, the cold season returns, signaling the caribou and reindeer herds to leave for southern forests. The ice makes travel difficult, so they "make haste slowly," hurrying so they will not be trapped by sudden blizzards. Winter soon rages in the Arctic, but life will come again next season, recreating patterns of survival in nature's white wilderness. (AFI)
