Artic Tale

This documentary film from the National Geographic Society about the life cycle of a walrus and her calf, and a polar bear and her cubs, is just phenomenal. I thought the footage was very professional and remarkably done. I think it’s incredible to actually see the lives of these animals so intimately. I couldn’t believe some of the camera angles that these photographers were able to utilize. As you can probably tell, I am extremely fond of the way this video was created. I love animals, and by scrutinizing the polar bear and walrus’ life, I learned a lot about how these animals live. I thought it was unbelievable how the baby walruses memorize the whiskers on the elder walruses. This whole idea is just unbelievable. Another thing that I felt was pretty interesting was the fact that the polar bears can smell through 3 feet of ice. That just goes to show you how much stronger some animals noses are than ours.

Throughout this video, a few things struck me pretty hard. First, I will talk about animal emotions, specifically, the polar bear and the walrus. These animals showed so many signs of emotions throughout this video, that I began thinking human beings experiencing the same emotions as these bears and walruses. It actually made me think of Jane Goodall. She said in her Ted talk something about how humans aren’t as far above all other creatures as we would like to think. I thought it was incredible to watch these animals show emotion. The fact that these photographers were able to capture it all on tape is extraordinary. I can vividly remember four good examples of emotion being portrayed in this documentary. When Nanu’s brother became ill, and eventually passed away, Nanu and her mother actually cuddled with him. Instead of continuing on their way(due to Global Warming, which I will touch upon a bit later), they stayed and showed the brother that they love him. This was one of the times I took these animal emotions and tried applying them to my family. I think it is amazing to see these animals express themselves the way they do. Also, during this same scene, Nanu can be seen licking her mothers head, which I feel shows empathy. She knows, she being Nanu, that her mother is hurting because of this loss and she tries to comfort her mother. When Nanu and her mother had to part ways is another example of these bears showing emotion. You can speculate, just from watching the relationship between the mother and daughter, that they were feeling pain and were both sad. This scene actually made me feel kind of sad as well, but for another reason. Not because the bears were parting ways, but because I know I will have to do the same in a year and a half. All of us will be leaving for college, and our parents won’t be coming along for the ride. The only difference between us and the polar bears and walruses is that we have had 18 years with our parents, while they only have three years. Nonetheless, this scene made me think of my future and really had an impact on me. The scene where Auntie sacrifices herself definitely shows emotion as well. She doesn’t want anything to happen to Seela, so she did what she had to do. You can sort of see the sadness that Seela felt during this part of the film. In the end of the film, they show Nanu and her new “boyfriend”, playing around in the snow. This was a good example of how these bears can show love and affection. At one point, the two bears just lied on the ground, motionless. There were many other times throughout this film that these animals expressed certain emotions but I think I touched upon the more important ones.

I think the main message of this documentary had to do with Global Warming, which again made me think back to our first semester. I remember watching Mr. Loken’s polar bear video back when we talked about endangered animals. Now, I feel like I have a better understanding of why Polar bears are becoming extinct. These bears, and other creatures, are forced to partake in a trek across the Artic to more suitable land/ice. The reason they are forced to travel is due to shorter winters and ice that freezes later and melts sooner. The ice is melting faster and faster each day and is expected to be completely gone by 2040. I was shocked to hear that Polar bears miss their prey 19 out of 20 attempts. So, between not having strong, sturdy icebergs and having a shortage of food, the polar bears (and Walruses and other Artic creatures) face much adversity. The reason Nanu actually had to leave her mother earlier than is customary is because of the changing climate conditions. Global Warming is very detrimental to our earth, and if precautions are not taken, we are in for a short and abrupt ending. I thought this video was very powerful and an ideal portrayal of what we are doing in the classroom.

(Sorry if my wording gets a little messy towards the end. I’m really tired!)