In the dark depths of winter,
a mother listens to the first sounds
of her brand new baby cubs.
Let's call this mama bear "Sky."
And her cubs are Scout and Amber.
Hi, little guys.
They say the first year of parenting is the hardest.
Sky will soon learn that, for bears,
it's nearly impossible.
Almost half of all bear cubs
don't survive their first year.
But for now, deep inside the den,
they're safe.
It's warm and comfy.
And after an entire winter together,
it probably smells pretty bad.
Sky worked hard last summer,
eating over 90 pounds of fish a day,
to store up enough fat
to last through these early months.
But now she's hungry,
and if she doesn't eat soon,
the milk her cubs need will dry up.
There's a long, dangerous journey ahead of them.
Sky needs to get her cubs down to the coast,
and she hopes that the salmon will be plentiful this summer.
But there's no guarantee.
Little Scout and Amber's survival depends on it.
Okay, cuddle time is over.
These bears need to get on the move.
This is the story of their incredible first year.
What an amazing place to take your first steps.
These little cubs will have to be brave
from the second their paws touch the snow.
This is the Alaska Peninsula.
With over five million acres
of protected national parkland,
it's home to thousands of brown bears.
Five months ago,
Sky climbed these mountains to dig her den.
But now, they're her biggest obstacle.
They've got to get
all the way across these frozen mountains
before they'll find even the first hint of food.
Sky is clearly delighted to be free of the smelly den.
"Wait up, Mom!"
Maybe a little too delighted.
Nothing like a mother's gentle touch.
Like a lot of new moms,
Sky doesn't have patience for dawdling.
"Come here, you. Come here."
"Yikes, Mom! Not the teeth!"
"Oh!"
This doesn't hurt little Scout, but still...
Sky has a bit to learn when it comes to parenting.
Life was certainly easier when she was just a single bear.
Now, she can only go as fast as her cubs.
"Come on, you guys."
She has good reason to dish out a little tough love.
They have got an awful lot of ground to cover.
And with every passing day,
the journey will only get harder.
A walk in the warm sun on a bright, spring day
may seem like fun,
but that warmth starts the melt.
The snow that sheltered them through the winter
becomes a deadly enemy.
Avalanche.
These massive monsters
reach speeds of up to 80 miles an hour.
A wall of snow and ice
barreling over everything in its path.
Sky and the cubs were lucky this time,
but it's a good reminder that they need to stay moving.
Amber's found a smart way to keep up with her mom,
just hitch a ride.
Just gotta get that toe in there.
There we go.
But Scout, being the more adventurous one,
decides to explore at his own pace.
They've been traveling for over a week now,
and the climb is only getting steeper.
As they climb their final mountain,
Scout and Amber try their best,
but it sure isn't easy.
They're finding themselves a little on top of each other.
They've made it to the summit.
The coast is now within sight.
It's downhill all the way from here.
The winter snow has melted down by the Alaskan coast,
and all that green
offers the promise of something to eat.
A quiet meadow.
Time for a little rest.
Amber's certainly taking it easy.
This is one cub who really likes staying close to mom.
But Scout acts like he's too old to be carried around.
Bear rides are for babies.
Scout can't believe what he is seeing.
"Other bears?"
"There are other bears in the world?"
"Did everybody know that?"
Sky did.
In fact, her mother brought her to this meadow when she was little.
And she's been coming here every summer since.
All these bears have come down from the mountains.
They're starving.
What they really need is the protein from loads of salmon.
But this will do in a pinch.
It's like settling for a dirty salad.
Sky and Amber are exhausted after their long journey.
But Scout, he is a little too excited to sleep.
This place is crawling with bears!
Scout is looking for a role model.
Which bear will he grow up to be?
He could be an angry bear.
Fighting all the time.
Seems like a lot of work.
No, no, these bears are way too cuddly.
He definitely wants to be tougher than this.
Scout's sure he'll find at least one bear he can look up to.
"Well..."
"Maybe that... Nah."
"Oh, come on."
"Someone do something!"
"Huh? Wow."
"He looks fun at least."
"Just one bear."
"One bear who is the toughest, coolest bear."
"Anybody? Hello?"
"You, sir..."
"Want to chase me?"
"No. You want to lick a mosquito."
"I thought that being a bear would be,"
"I don't know, more fierce."
"Forget it."
"This is downright embarrassing."
If a tough bear is what Scout wants,
he's about to meet just that.
Magnus.
This bear is huge.
At over 1,000 pounds,
he is three times the size of Sky,
and this meadow is his turf.
He is confident, dominant,
and everyone knows to stay out of his way.
Sky has to keep her cubs away from big males like Magnus.
She'll have to find food somewhere calmer.
As Magnus watches over his domain,
it's clear he's got one thing in particular on his mind.
Or one she-bear, to be specific.
Magnus might have a half-ton of weight to throw around,
but he's got no game.
Magnus, you're so obvious.
Put a little mystery into it!
Pick her some flowers from the meadow or something.
See that walking away? That's sort...
That's bear for "No," I think.
I'm actually starting to feel sorry for him.
Sky has found a quiet corner of the meadow
to let her cubs nurse.
Scout and Amber are going through a growth spurt,
and they need all the milk they can get.
Tikani.
He's a gray wolf, and the thief of the meadow.
These wolves know a slow bear cub,
makes for a quick, easy meal.
This is why it's so much harder for Sky
than the other bears.
She has to make sure her cubs are always by her side.
Amber is about to learn what happens,
when you ride a bear without wearing your seatbelt.
Sky's found herself driven to a remote, unfamiliar area.
The bad part of town.
The dangers reveal themselves almost immediately.
This is Chinook.
The outcast.
Banished from the meadow by Magnus,
Chinook has grown leaner, meaner,
and more desperate for food.
Any food.
Even bear cubs.
There's nowhere to hide.
Sky must stand her ground.
Chinook's circling is dangerous.
If Sky shows any weakness,
he will attack.
It worked.
Sky successfully held her ground.
And Chinook continues his hunt elsewhere.
Scout and Amber must be pretty impressed with their mom.
At certain times of the year
a huge change comes over the coast.
A vast area of mudflats are exposed.
This muddy desert has hidden treasures buried beneath.
Sky and the cubs have gone way out
to the edge of the tide
to search for anything that could count as calories.
Bears have an excellent sense of smell.
Their noses are seven times more sensitive than a bloodhound's.
Scout doesn't seem to get what Mom's looking for.
Jackpot.
Sky pulls up a meaty clam.
It will help in the meantime,
but one or two clams,
even a dozen, aren't nearly enough.
Sky needs her cubs to stay close.
She's following the low tide a long way out.
But Scout's not worried.
He'd rather enjoy his first day at the beach.
Amber chooses to stay close to Mom.
It looks a little less, well, ridiculous.
But Scout doesn't care.
He likes this sand stuff.
"Watch this somersault!"
"Well, it was a half somersault."
"Amber, look at me! I'm a mud monster!"
"Real mature, Scout. Real mature."
"No, come on! It's fun!"
"Why is this bird always following us around"
"no matter where we go?"
"I'm gonna go ask him."
"Hey, bird!"
"Hey, where did you get those fish?"
Sky and Amber enjoy some mother-daughter bonding time.
Scout's learning that sand tastes bad.
Both cubs, in their own way,
are loving their first day at the beach.
But Sky can't afford too much time playing.
She's got to keep searching for clams while the tide is out.
Wherever Sky goes, the raven follows.
The raven can spot an opportunity from way up high,
while the bears got a nose for finding hidden food.
An unusual partnership, but it works.
"Hey, Mom, how do you open one of these things, anyway?"
"Mom!"
"Never mind, I got it. I'm fine."
"My claw has... Mom, the..."
"Well, what do you do if your claw gets stuck in the clam?"
"Let go."
"Mom, it's stuck in my claw!"
"What are you looking at, bird?"
"This is how I carry it."
"Just walk it over here. Just taking my clam for a walk, that's all."
"Let go of my claw, clam!"
"Let go!"
"I didn't want that clam anyway. "
Sky and the cubs are far from the shore when the tide starts to turn.
Sky is trying to get as much food as she can
before the water covers up the mud.
Scout doesn't know what's about to happen to the tide.
He's just tired from a long day.
And now, they are surrounded by water.
Freezing cold water.
When Sky finally heads back to the shore,
she assumes both her cubs are close behind.
It's a mistake.
Scout is too tired to keep going.
Amber notices that Scout isn't just dawdling this time.
He's asleep.
When Scout wakes up,
he sees he's stranded far from the shore.
He desperately calls for his mother.
And she calls back.
Urging him to hurry.
The current is much stronger now,
and Scout is really struggling to get back on land.
Scout stayed tough and made it safely to the shore.
And the cubs, well,
they look pretty happy to see each other.
As the weeks progress, the weather warms,
and the mudflats are no longer so exposed.
Time to head back to the meadow,
where it's bursting with color.
Scout and Amber are bonding during these early days of summer,
while their mother watches from a safe distance.
With no fish nearby, it's back to eating grass.
Scout is less than impressed.
By this time of year, everything tastes a little stale and dry.
With food in such short supply,
even the female bears are getting a little cranky.
These fierce head-to-heads may be short,
but they are becoming more frequent.
It's getting tense.
The cubs know something feels wrong.
There's nowhere to hide.
Everyone is watching them.
Seeing her cubs getting nervous,
Sky goes to their side to protect them.
Magnus.
And this time, he's really hungry.
He's spotted the cubs.
Sky must quickly decide what to do.
She runs, hoping to find safety.
It's a choice, she will soon regret.
Chinook!
Round two and ready to fight.
He takes off after them.
Chinook is much stronger than Sky,
but she'll fight with everything she's got
to give her cubs a chance to escape.
The cubs make a run for it.
Sky tries to lead him away,
but instead of following her,
Chinook heads straight for the cubs.
He knows they can't have gotten far.
Chinook's powerful sense of smell
tells him the cubs are hiding in the logs.
But which ones?
Sky is desperately searching for her cubs.
Amber.
But no sign of Scout.
Amber doesn't want to leave the meadow without her brother.
But Sky knows they need to keep moving.
Chinook could come back at any moment.
She still has Amber to protect,
no matter how much she wants to look for Scout.
It's not an easy decision.
There he is!
Back together again.
Sky knows another spot up the coast
her mother took her to long ago.
As she leads her cubs there,
she must be hoping her luck will start changing.
Midsummer brings longer days and a new place to feed.
While Sky and the cubs are moving to a safer place to eat
the rest of the bears leave the meadow, and head for the shore.
Chinook is already here.
And so is Magnus.
For now, they wait,
and wait.
It's salmon!
The first opportunity to fish.
It has been a full year since the bears went fishing.
Looks like they're a bit rusty.
"I got it! I got it!"
"I... I had it."
"These are really slippery fish. "
Only Magnus has dignity here.
Magnus doesn't have to fish,
because he has a plan.
He's going to take whatever Chinook catches.
"Yeah, that's it, Chinook."
"Get me that fish."
"Good bear."
Magnus moves in.
Magnus ultimately wins,
and Chinook can only limp away
watching his hard-earned meal go to someone else's stomach.
Chinook won't forget this.
Far from the danger of the crowded salmon beach,
Sky and her cubs are still searching for a quiet place to feed.
Scout gets distracted by the tiniest things,
slowing them down.
They're being followed.
Tikani has sensed an opportunity.
If he's quiet enough,
he can snatch a dawdling cub.
Scout attacks!
Tikani wants Scout to follow him.
Get him alone.
But Sky stays close.
Only Sky can chase Tikani off.
This mama bear's keeping a good eye on her cubs.
Tikani's usual tricks aren't working,
but that doesn't mean he's giving up.
Just a few miles up the coast
Sky follows the raven's call
to a very special place.
A hidden sanctuary
where the bears can let down their guard.
Nice find, Mr. Raven.
Good eye.
Sky must be worried about her milk supply.
If she doesn't eat tons of salmon by the end of the summer,
she won't have enough fat stored up to feed Scout and Amber
through next winter's hibernation.
The cubs could starve to death right beside her in the den.
Sky knows that before too long
she will have to brave the salmon beach.
But first, she has a little treat to show her cubs.
When the tide goes out,
the ocean becomes a secret restaurant,
serving up mussel-covered rocks.
It's all-you-can-eat, but you have to eat carefully.
The cubs seem completely confused.
"Is it supposed to taste like this?"
"This is really crunchy."
But Sky knows that a good claw-full is worthwhile.
She uses her powerful paws to expose a hidden snack.
Rock eels.
These shy little fish are not exactly salmon,
but they're better than nothing.
Scout thinks he has the muscles for the job.
While Amber lets her mother do all the heavy lifting.
And the clever raven collects his reward.
"Hey, that was mine."
"I was saving that!"
It is a lot of work,
but there's nothing else on the menu right now.
Ouch!
Back at the beach,
the salmon have finally arrived in large numbers.
This is what the bears have been waiting for all summer.
The sea is bubbling with fish,
and their massive numbers
make them much easier to catch.
This is where Sky and her cubs need to be, and soon.
They're already missing out.
Chinook's not letting anyone swipe a fish from him this time.
Without Magnus around, he's got more than a mouthful.
Even Tikani is here, testing out his fishing skills.
It's harder than it looks.
And there's no mistaking the inexperienced ones out here.
Then it's just a matter of eating your catch
before someone else does.
Hurry up, little guy!
Run!
You know when a wolf's walking like that,
he's up to something.
Head down,
slow and steady.
The thief at work.
Impressive.
And he didn't even get his tail wet.
After months of being on the constant hunt for salmon,
it seems almost impossible that the bears can be too full to eat.
But that's exactly what's happening here.
So very full.
And interested in...
I don't know what he's doing.
Suddenly everyone's very itchy.
This guy looks like my dad when he's watching TV.
"Hey, who changed the channel?"
"I was watching that."
Sky and her cubs aren't the only ones on a journey here.
The salmon are merely waiting
before they can start heading upriver to spawn.
They've spent the entire winter out in the salty ocean,
and it will take a few weeks for their bodies
to adapt to fresh water.
They hang around the shallow river mouth behind the beach,
hidden from where the bears have been hunting.
Sky is the first to get here,
and she's got the place all to herself.
It's a huge amount of fish.
She has to take advantage of the situation now,
but she knows it's risky to leave the cubs.
She's only got so much time before the other bears arrive.
She'll hunt much more efficiently if she goes it alone.
She decides it's worth the risk.
The cubs try to defend themselves
while calling for their mother's help.
But they can't do it alone.
Sky rushes back, and Tikani retreats.
Sky has taken her cubs to every spot she knows on the coast
with no luck.
There are other secret places upstream,
hidden spots like the Golden Pond
that are sometimes filled with fish.
But they're hard to find, and the climb is steep.
Sky doesn't have much choice,
she needs to find somewhere to feed before it's too late.
For the salmon, it's been two weeks in the river mouth,
and they're now used to the fresh water.
Their journey upstream can finally begin.
It's an almost unbelievable mission.
They're trying to return to the exact same place where they were hatched.
They rely on chemical cues,
the taste of the water, to tell them exactly where to go.
Some travel up to 30 miles upriver
against a relentless current.
And often, the waterfalls are just too steep to let them pass.
Unable to swim any higher,
these salmon will just have to wait
in the plunge pools below.
This is where the salmon are headed.
Calm, shallow waters that offer the perfect place to lay their eggs.
Sky and the cubs have just arrived, too.
They've spent the past two weeks
climbing their way to this lonely spot.
Sky is shockingly thin.
She's hoping she's made it for the salmon's first arrival
to these quiet waters.
But her timing is heartbreakingly off.
The fish are still stuck in the pools below.
There's nothing to eat.
It looks like this time the raven was wrong.
They may be soaking wet and freezing,
but the rain actually gives Sky
and the cubs some much-needed hope.
The downpour causes the water levels to rise
giving the salmon the exact push they need to get back on track.
Yes!
They've made it.
Sky knows the salmon are coming.
She can almost taste them.
Sky searches.
Where are they?
It's her first fish of the season.
And the cubs finally get to taste salmon.
Scout takes his to go.
But Amber Cuddles up for a little mother-daughter sushi date.
"Mom, salmon is my new favorite food."
"Let's never have mussels again."
The only problem with salmon is
they don't stay in one place for long.
They're still on their journey.
Sky knows where they're headed,
and it's a place far too dangerous
for a mother with young cubs.
With no other options,
she has to find the Golden Pond.
These are the Great Falls.
Only the biggest and baddest come here.
Thousands of salmon pass through these falls,
for just a few short weeks at the end of summer.
If you want to catch a fat fish,
you've got to be in the right place
at the right time.
And even then, well...
...there's no guarantee.
Magnus is an old pro.
Just open your mouth.
The competition for the best fishing spot is intense.
Chinook wants Magnus' prime position.
But he's forgotten how powerful Magnus is.
Time for a little reminder.
Chinook surrenders.
And Magnus remains the undisputed ruler of the Great Falls.
Sky and the cubs have found a peaceful place
deep in the woods,
upriver from the Great Falls.
Summer is almost over,
and with the promise of fall,
the cubs are already growing their thick winter coats.
With hardly any salmon,
Sky hasn't had a chance to build up
her fat reserves for the winter.
With no food,
Sky's milk will definitely dry up
and Scout and Amber
won't make it through hibernation.
Poor Sky.
She tried hard all year to be a good mom and keep her cubs safe.
She's lost and totally exhausted,
but she still doesn't want to give up the fight.
If only she knew, she's almost there.
Just a short walk away.
This is the Golden Pond,
where Sky wanted to take her cubs.
In certain years, salmon gather here in unimaginable numbers.
The raven calls, asking Sky to follow.
Sky can hardly believe her eyes.
So many bears, peacefully gathered.
Safe and welcoming.
And more salmon than she and the cubs can shake a paw at.
With all this salmon, the cubs will grow fat,
and Sky will be able to keep them going through the winter.
Sky's long, difficult journey is finally over.
Turns out that tough bear Scout was looking for
was right by his side, all along.
As winter approaches,
all the bears begin their trek back up the mountains.
Scout and Amber will rely on their mother for the next two years,
growing stronger with each passing season.
Before the dark days of winter arrive,
every bear must return to the high peaks
to dig their dens for hibernation.
And for the next six months,
all the bears will remain asleep
under a deep blanket of snow.
There goes Chinook.
He survived another year.
And the mighty Magnus gives one last look over his domain.
They say the first year of parenting is the hardest.
But Sky was patient and determined.
She never stopped caring.
And her reward?
Eight little paws following her back up the mountain
for a long, winter's nap.
Go around. Go around.
Go around.
Hey, bear.
Good. Right there.