El viatge que em portà a ser un especialista polar, fotografiant i especialitzant-me en regions polars, va començar quan tenia 4 anys. i la meva famila es va traslladar del sud de Canada al nord de l'illa Baffin, a Groenlàndia. Allà vam viure amb els Inuit. Amb la petita comunitat Inuit de 200 persones, erem una de les tres families no Inuit. En aquesta comunitat no teniem televisors; no teniem ordinadors ni, evidentment, radio. Ni tan sols teniem telèfon. Pasava tota l'estona fora amb els Inuit, jugant. La neu i el gel eren el meu sorral, i els Inuit eren els meus professors. Allà és on vaig tornar-me un veritable obsessionat d'aquest reialme polar. I sabia que algun dia faria alguna cosa que tindria a veure amb intentar compartir històries sobre ell i protegir-lo.
My journey to become a polar specialist, photographing, specializing in the polar regions, began when I was four years old, when my family moved from southern Canada to Northern Baffin Island, up by Greenland. There we lived with the Inuit in the tiny Inuit community of 200 Inuit people, where [we] were one of three non-Inuit families. And in this community, we didn't have a television; we didn't have computers, obviously, radio. We didn't even have a telephone. All of my time was spent outside with the Inuit, playing. The snow and the ice were my sandbox, and the Inuit were my teachers. And that's where I became truly obsessed with this polar realm. And I knew someday that I was going to do something that had to do with trying to share news about it and protect it.
M'agradaria compartir amb vosaltres, només durant 2 minuts, algunes imatges, una pinzellada de la meva feina, amb la preciosa música de Brandi Carlile, "Have You Ever". No sé perquè National Geographic ho ha fet, mai no ho havia fet abans, però em permeten ensenyar-vos algunes imatges d'un article que acabo de finalitzar i que encara no s'ha publicat. National Geographic no ho fà això. Així que estic molt emocionat de poder-ho compartir amb vosaltres.
I'd like to share with you, for just two minutes only, some images, a cross-section of my work, to the beautiful music by Brandi Carlile, "Have You Ever." I don't know why National Geographic has done this, they've never done this before, but they're allowing me to show you a few images from a coverage that I've just completed that is not published yet. National Geographic doesn't do this, so I'm very excited to be able to share this with you.
Aquestes imatges són... les veureu al principi de la presentació, només unes quatre imatges... són d'un ós petit que viu al Bosc del Gran Ós. És totalment blanc, però no és un ós polar. És un ós d'esperit, o un ós de Kermode. Només en queden 200 exemplars. Són més escasos que l'ós panda.
And what these images are -- you'll see them at the start of the slide show -- there's only about four images -- but it's of a little bear that lives in the Great Bear Rainforest. It's pure white, but it's not a polar bear. It's a spirit bear, or a Kermode bear. There are only 200 of these bears left. They're more rare than the panda bear.
Vaig seure a la vora del riu durant 2 mesos sense veure'n cap. Pensava: és la fí de la meva carrera. Vaig proposar una història estúpida a National Geographic. en què nassos pensava? Així que vaig passar dos mesos assegut i pensant diverses opcions de què feria amb la meva vida, després de ser fotògraf, ja que m'acomiadarien. Perquè National Geographic és una revista: com sempre ens recorden, ells publiquen fotografies, no excuses.
I sat there on the river for two months without seeing one. I thought, my career's over. I proposed this stupid story to National Geographic. What in the heck was I thinking? So I had two months to sit there and figure out different ways of what I was going to do in my next life, after I was a photographer, because they were going to fire me. Because National Geographic is a magazine; they remind us all the time: they publish pictures, not excuses.
(Rialles)
(Laughter)
Després de dos mesos de seure allà, un dia, quan pensava que tot s'havia acabat, aquest increïble gran ós blanc mascle va baixar, just al meu costat, a només un metre de mí, va ajupir-se i agafar un peix, i va tornar al bosc per menjar-se'l. I vaig pasar tot el día vivint el meu somni d'infantesa de passejar amb aquest ós pel bosc. Va anar per aquest bosc antic i va seure a la vora d'aquest arbre de 400 anys culturalment modificat i va dormir-se. I de fet jo em vaig adormir a només 1 metre d'ell, enmig del bosc, i el viag fotografiar.
And after two months of sitting there -- one day, thinking that it was all over, this incredible big white male came down, right beside me, three feet away from me, and he went down and grabbed a fish and went off in the forest and ate it. And then I spent the entire day living my childhood dream of walking around with this bear through the forest. He went through this old-growth forest and sat up beside this 400-year-old culturally modified tree and went to sleep. And I actually got to sleep within three feet of him, just in the forest, and photograph him.
Així que estic molt emocionat de poder ensenyar-vos aquestes imatges i una pinzellada de la feina que he fet a les regions polars. Si us plau, disfruteu-ne.
So I'm very excited to be able to show you those images and a cross-section of my work that I've done on the polar regions. Please enjoy.
(Música)
(Music)
Brandi Carlile: ♫ Alguna vegada has passejat sol pel bosc? ♫ ♫ I allà sents que tot és com hauria de ser ♫ ♫ Allà formes part de la vida ♫ ♫ Formes part de quelcom bo ♫ ♫ Si mai has passejat sol pel bosc ♫ ♫ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♫ ♫ Si mai has passejat sol pel bosc ♫ ♫ Has mirat mai un cel estrellat? ♫ ♫ Estirat cap amunt, et preguntes per què? ♫ ♫ Quin sentit té? ♫ ♫ Em pregunto, quí sóc? ♫ ♫ Si mai has mirat un cel estrellat ♫ ♫ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♫ ♫ Aah, ah, aah ♫ ♫ Ah, oh, oh, ah, ah, oh, oh ♫ ♫ Has mirat mai un cel estrellat? ♫ ♫ Has passejat mai per la neu? ♫ ♫ Intentant tornar on eres abans ♫ ♫ Sempre acabes ♫ ♫ Sense saber on anar ♫ ♫ Si mai has passejat per la neu ♫ ♫ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♫ ♫ Aah, ah, aah, ah, aah ♫ ♫ Ah, ah, oh, ah, ah, oh, ah ♫ ♫ Oh, ah, ah, ah ♫ ♫ Ah, ah, oh, ah, ah, oh, oh ♫ ♫ Si mai haguessis sortit a passejar ho sabries ♫
Brandi Carlile: ♫ Have you ever wandered lonely through the woods? ♫ ♫ And everything there feels just as it should ♫ ♫ You're part of the life there ♫ ♫ You're part of something good ♫ ♫ If you've ever wandered lonely through the woods ♫ ♫ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♫ ♫ If you've ever wandered lonely through the woods ♫ ♫ Have you ever stared into a starry sky? ♫ ♫ Lying on your back, you're asking why ♫ ♫ What's the purpose? ♫ ♫ I wonder, who am I? ♫ ♫ If you've ever stared into a starry sky ♫ ♫ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♫ ♫ Aah, ah, aah ♫ ♫ Ah, oh, oh, ah, ah, oh, oh ♫ ♫ Have you ever stared into a starry sky? ♫ ♫ Have you ever been out walking in the snow? ♫ ♫ Tried to get back where you were before ♫ ♫ You always end up ♫ ♫ Not knowing where to go ♫ ♫ If you've ever been out walking in the snow ♫ ♫ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♫ ♫ Aah, ah, aah, ah, aah ♫ ♫ Ah, ah, oh, ah, ah, oh, ah ♫ ♫ Oh, ah, ah, ah ♫ ♫ Ah, ah, oh, ah, ah, oh, oh ♫ ♫ If you'd ever been out walking you would know ♫
(Aplaudiments)
(Applause)
Paul Nicken: Moltes gràcies. L'espectacle no s'ha acabat. Se m'acaba el temps. D'acord, parem. Moltes gràcies. Ho agraeixo.
Paul Nicklen: Thank you very much. The show's not over. My clock is ticking. OK, let's stop. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
Ens inunden amb notícies tota l'estona sobre com el gel està desapareixent i com està al seu nivell més baix. De fet, els científics al principi deien que el gel marí desapareixeria en els propers cent anys, després van dir que en 50. Ara diuen que la banquisa de l'Ártic, durant l'estiu desapareixerà entre els propers 4 a 10 anys. I què vol dir això? Després de llegir la notícia als diaris unes quantes vegades, només és una notícia. Ho mires per sobre. El que intento fer amb la meva feina és posar-hi una cara. I vull que la gent entengui i agafi el concepte que, si perdem el gel, podríem perdre tot un ecosistema. Les projeccions són que podriem perdre l'ós polar, que podria extingir-se, en els propers 50 a 100 anys.
We're inundated with news all the time that the sea ice is disappearing and it's at its lowest level. And in fact, scientists were originally saying sea ice is going to disappear in the next hundred years, then they said 50 years. Now they're saying the sea ice in the Arctic, the summertime extent is going to be gone in the next four to 10 years. And what does that mean? After a while of reading this in the news, it just becomes news. You glaze over with it. And what I'm trying to do with my work is put faces to this. And I want people to understand and get the concept that, if we lose ice, we stand to lose an entire ecosystem. Projections are that we could lose polar bears, they could become extinct in the next 50 to 100 years.
I no hi ha una mega-espècie millor, més atractiva, més bonica, carismàtica en la que recolzar la meva campanya. Els óssos polars són caçadors increïbles. Vaig seure amb aquest ós una estona a la vora del mar. No es veia gens de gel, però un glaciar va cedir cap a l'aigua i una foca s'hi va ficar. I aquest ós va nedar fins la foca, una foca barbuda de 360 kg, la va agafar, va tornar nedant i se la va menjar. I estava tan tip, tan content i tan gras menjant-se la foca, que en acostar-m'hi, a uns 6 metres per a fer aquesta foto, la seva única defensa va ser seguir menjant més foca. I mentre menjava, estava tan plè.. amb probablement uns 90 kg a la panxa... que mentre menjava per un costat de la boca, regurjitava per l'altre costat de la boca.
And there's no better, sexier, more beautiful, charismatic megafauna species for me to hang my campaign on. Polar bears are amazing hunters. This was a bear I sat with for a while on the shores. There was no ice around. But this glacier caved into the water and a seal got on it. And this bear swam out to that seal -- 800 lb. bearded seal -- grabbed it, swam back and ate it. And he was so full, he was so happy and so fat eating this seal, that, as I approached him -- about 20 feet away -- to get this picture, his only defense was to keep eating more seal. And as he ate, he was so full -- he probably had about 200 lbs of meat in his belly -- and as he ate inside one side of his mouth, he was regurgitating out the other side of his mouth.
Així que mentre quedi un xic de gel, aquests òssos sobreviuran, però el gel està desapareixent. Estem trobant més i més óssos morts a l'Àrtic. Fa 20 anys, quan treballava com a biòleg amb els óssos polars, mai trobavem óssos morts. En els últims quatre o cinc anys, hem trobat óssos morts per tot arreu. Els trobem al mar de Beaufort, flotant a mar obert on el gel s'ha fos. Vaig trobar-ne un parell a Noruega l'any passat. Els trobem al gel. Aquest óssos mostren signes d'estrés per la desaparició del gel.
So as long as these bears have any bit of ice they will survive, but it's the ice that's disappearing. We're finding more and more dead bears in the Arctic. When I worked on polar bears as a biologist 20 years ago, we never found dead bears. And in the last four or five years, we're finding dead bears popping up all over the place. We're seeing them in the Beaufort Sea, floating in the open ocean where the ice has melted out. I found a couple in Norway last year. We're seeing them on the ice. These bears are already showing signs of the stress of disappearing ice.
Aquí tenen una mare amb la seva cria de 2 anys que viatgen en un vaixell a milers de milles mar endins, enmig d'enlloc, i viatgen en aquest gran troç de gel de glaciar, la qual cosa és genial per a ells: aquí estan segurs. No moriràn d'hipotèrmia. Arribaran a terra ferma. Però per desgràcia, el 95 percent dels glaciars de l'Àrtic també estan retrocedint ara mateix fins el punt que el gel acaba a terra ferma sense injectar cap gel de nou a l'ecosistema.
Here's a mother and her two year-old cub were traveling on a ship a hundred miles offshore in the middle of nowhere, and they're riding on this big piece of glacier ice, which is great for them; they're safe at this point. They're not going to die of hypothermia. They're going to get to land. But unfortunately, 95 percent of the glaciers in the Arctic are also receding right now to the point that the ice is ending up on land and not injecting any ice back into the ecosystem.
Aquestes foques ocel.lades, els "grassonets" de l'Àrtic. Aquest bunyolets grassos, paquets de greix de 70 kg, son la base de l'ós polar. I no són com les foques comunes que teniu aquí. Aquestes foques ocel.lades viuen tot el seu cicle vital associades i conectades a la banquisa. Donen a llum dins del gel, i s'alimenten del bacallà àrtic que viu sota el gel. Aquí teniu una foto de gel malalt. Aquest és un troç format per gel de diversos anys de 12 anys d'antiguetat. I el que els científics no havien previst era que, mentre el gel es fon, es formen aquestes grans bassals d'aigua negra que atrapen l'energia solar i acceleren el procés de desglaç.
These ringed seals, these are the "fatsicles" of the Arctic. These little, fat dumplings, 150-pound bundles of blubber are the mainstay of the polar bear. And they're not like the harbor seals that you have here. These ringed seals also live out their entire life cycle associated and connected to sea ice. They give birth inside the ice, and they feed on the Arctic cod that live under the ice. And here's a picture of sick ice. This is a piece of multi-year ice that's 12 years old. And what scientists didn't predict is that, as this ice melts, these big pockets of black water are forming and they're grabbing the sun's energy and accelerating the melting process.
Aquí estem bussejant al mar de Beaufort. La visibilitat és de 180 metres; portem cordes de seguretat; el gel es mou per tot arreu. M'agradaria tenir mitja hora per a explicar-vos com gairebé morim en aquella immersió. Però el que importa d'aquesta foto és que hi ha un troç de gel de diversos anys, aquest gran troç de gel a la cantonada. En només aquest troç de gel, hi ha 300 espècies de microorganismes. A la primavera, quan el sol torna al gel, es crea, el fitoplàncton, creix sota el gel, i aleshores obtens capes més grans d'algues, i aleshores obtens el zooplàncton que s'alimenta de tota aquesta vida. Així que el que de debó fa el gel és actuar com un jardí. És com si fos la terra d'un jardí. És un jardí invertit. Perdre aquest gel és com perdre la terra d'un jardí.
And here we are diving in the Beaufort Sea. The visibility's 600 ft.; we're on our safety lines; the ice is moving all over the place. I wish I could spend half an hour telling you about how we almost died on this dive. But what's important in this picture is that you have a piece of multi-year ice, that big chunk of ice up in the corner. In that one single piece of ice, you have 300 species of microorganisms. And in the spring, when the sun returns to the ice, it forms the phytoplankton, grows under that ice, and then you get bigger sheets of seaweed, and then you get the zooplankton feeding on all that life. So really what the ice does is it acts like a garden. It acts like the soil in a garden. It's an inverted garden. Losing that ice is like losing the soil in a garden.
Aquí teniu la meva oficina. Espero que us faci apreciar la vostra. Aquí havia estat una hora sota el gel. No em sentia el llavis; tenia la cara glaçada; no em sentia les mans; no em sentia els peus. Havia pujat i tot el que volia era sortir de l'aigua. Després d'una hora en aquestes condicions, és tan extrem que, quan baixo, gairebé en cada immersió vomito en el meu regulador, perquè el meu cos no pot suportar l'estrés del fred al cap. Així que estic molt content d'acabar la immersió. Vaig a donar-li la càmera al meu ajudant, i el miro i faig, "Woo. Woo. Woo." Que vol dir, "Agafa la càmera." Però ell pensa que estic dient, "Fes-me una foto." Així que tenim un petit error de comunicació. (Rialles) Però val la pena.
Here's me in my office. I hope you appreciate yours. This is after an hour under the ice. I can't feel my lips; my face is frozen; I can't feel my hands; I can't feel my feet. And I've come up, and all I wanted to do was get out of the water. After an hour in these conditions, it's so extreme that, when I go down, almost every dive I vomit into my regulator because my body can't deal with the stress of the cold on my head. And so I'm just so happy that the dive is over. I get to hand my camera to my assistant, and I'm looking up at him, and I'm going, "Woo. Woo. Woo." Which means, "Take my camera." And he thinks I'm saying, "Take my picture." So we had this little communication breakdown. (Laughter) But it's worth it.
Avui us s ensenyaré fotos de balenes beluga, balenes de Groenlàndia, i narvals, i óssos polars i foques lleopard, però aquesta foto significa per a mí molt més que qualsevol altra. Vaig baixar per aquest forat de gel, a través del forat que acabeu de veure, i vaig mirar cap amunt per la banda de sota del gel, i em vaig marejar; pensava que tenia vertigen. Em vaig posar molt nerviós, sense corda, ni línea de seguretat, tot el món es movia al meu voltant, i vaig pensar, "Estic en un embolic". Però el que va pasar va ser que tota la part de sota estava plena d'aquests milers de milons d'amfípodes i copèpodes movent-se i alimentant-se sota el gel, donant a llum i vivint tot el seu cicle vital. Aquests són els fonaments de tota la cadena alimentaria de l'Àrtic, just aquí. I quan tenens una producció baixa aquí, al gel, la productivitat dels copèpodes disminueix.
I'm going to show you pictures of beluga whales, bowhead whales, and narwhals, and polar bears, and leopard seals today, but this picture right here means more to me than any other I've ever made. I dropped down in this ice hole, just through that hole that you just saw, and I looked up under the underside of the ice, and I was dizzy; I thought I had vertigo. I got very nervous -- no rope, no safety line, the whole world is moving around me -- and I thought, "I'm in trouble." But what happened is that the entire underside was full of these billions of amphipods and copepods moving around and feeding on the underside of the ice, giving birth and living out their entire life cycle. This is the foundation of the whole food chain in the Arctic, right here. And when you have low productivity in this, in ice, the productivity in copepods go down.
Aquesta és una balena de Groenlàndia. Suposadament, la ciència diu que podria ser l'animal més vell de la Terra en l'actualitat. Aquesta balena d'aquí podria tenir 250 anys. Aquesta balena podria haver nascut al principi de la Revolució Industrial. Podria haver sobreviscut 150 anys de caçadors de balenes. I ara la seva amenaça més gran és la desaparició del gel al nord, a causa de la vida que portem aquí al sud.
This is a bowhead whale. Supposedly, science is stating that it could be the oldest living animal on earth right now. This very whale right here could be over 250 years old. This whale could have been born around the start of the Industrial Revolution. It could have survived 150 years of whaling. And now its biggest threat is the disappearance of ice in the North because of the lives that we're leading in the South.
Els narvals, aquests narvals majestuosos. amb els seus ullals d'ivori de 2 metres, no haurien de ser aquí; podríen ser a mar obert. Però es veuen forçats a pujar per aquests diminuts forats de gel on poden respirar, recuperar l'alè, perque just sota aquest gel hi ha tots els bancs de bacallà. I el bacallá està aquí perquè s'alimenta de copèpodes i amfípodes.
Narwhals, these majestic narwhals with their eight-foot long ivory tusks, don't have to be here; they could be out on the open water. But they're forcing themselves to come up in these tiny little ice holes where they can breathe, catch a breath, because right under that ice are all the swarms of cod. And the cod are there because they are feeding on all the copepods and amphipods.
I ara, la meva part preferida. Quan estigui al meu llit de mort, recordaré una història més que cap altra. Malgrat que l'experiència amb l'ós d'esperit va ser intensa, no crec que pugui tenir mai una experiència com la que vaig tenir amb aquestes foques lleopard. Les foques lleopard, des de l'època de Shackleton, han tingut mala reputació. Tenen un somriure irònic a la boca. Tenen aquests sinistres ulls negres i taques per tot el cos. Semblen talment prehistòriques i espanten una mica. I per desgràcia el 2004, una científica va ofegar-se, i una foca lleopard se l'estava menjant. I la gent deia: "Sabiem que eren vicioses. Sabiem que ho eren." A la gent li encanta crear opinions. I d'aquí vaig treure la idea d'una història: volia anar a l'Antàrtida, ficar-me a l'aigua amb tantes foques lleopard com fos possible i donar-los una oportunitat, averiguar si son animals viciosos o si son uns incompresos. Aquesta és la història. Oh, i també es menjen en "Happy Feet".
Alright, my favorite part. When I'm on my deathbed, I'm going to remember one story more than any other. Even though that spirit bear moment was powerful, I don't think I'll ever have another experience like I did with these leopard seals. Leopard seals, since the time of Shackleton, have had a bad reputation. They've got that wryly smile on their mouth. They've got those black sinister eyes and those spots on their body. They look positively prehistoric and a bit scary. And tragically in [2003], a scientist was taken down and drowned, and she was being consumed by a leopard seal. And people were like, "We knew they were vicious. We knew they were." And so people love to form their opinions. And that's when I got a story idea: I want to go to Antarctica, get in the water with as many leopard seals as I possibly can and give them a fair shake -- find out if they really are these vicious animals, or if they're misunderstood. So this is that story. Oh, and they also happen to eat Happy Feet.
(Rialles)
(Laughter)
Com a espècie, als humans ens agrada dir que els pingüins son bonics, per tant, les foques lleopard que se'ls menjen son lletges i dolentes. Però no funciona així. Els pingüins no saben que son bonics. I les foques lleopard no saben que son grans i monstruoses. Senzillament es tracta de la cadena alimentícia. També son grans. No són com les petites foques comuns. Medeixen més de 3 m. i pesen més de 300 kg. I també son curiosament agresives. Apareixen 12 turistes apretats en una Zodiac, flotant en questes aigües glaçades, i una foca lleopard puja i mossega el pontó. La barca comença a enfonsar-se, fugen cap al vaixell i aconsegueixen tornar a casa i explicar la història de com van ser atacats. L'únic que feia la foca lleopard, era mossegar un globus. Senzillament veu aquest gran globus a l'oceà, i com que no té mans, li fa una mossegadeta, la barca peta i apa...
As a species, as humans, we like to say penguins are really cute, therefore, leopard seals eat them, so leopard seals are ugly and bad. It doesn't work that way. The penguin doesn't know it's cute, and the leopard seal doesn't know it's kind of big and monstrous. This is just the food chain unfolding. They're also big. They're not these little harbor seals. They are 12 ft. long, a thousand pounds. And they're also curiously aggressive. You get 12 tourists packed into a Zodiac, floating in these icy waters, and a leopard seal comes up and bites the pontoon. The boat starts to sink, they race back to the ship and get to go home and tell the stories of how they got attacked. All the leopard seal was doing -- it's just biting a balloon. It just sees this big balloon in the ocean -- it doesn't have hands -- it's going to take a little bite, the boat pops, and off they go.
(Rialles)
(Laughter)
Així que després de cinc dies creuant el Passatge de Drake... oi que és preciós?. Després de cinc dies creuant el Passatge de Drake, vam arribar finalment a l'Antàrtida. Estic amb el meu ajudant i guia suec. Es diu Göran Ehlmé, de Suècia; Göran. Té molta experiència amb les foques lleopard. Jo no n'he vist mai una. Doncs arribem a la cala en la nostra petita barca Zodiac, i trobem aquesta monstruosa foca lleopard. I fins i tot ell diu amb la seva veu: "Aquesta foca és refotudament gran, tu." (Rialles) I aquesta foca esta agafant un pingüi pel cap, i el giravolta amunt i avall. I el que intenta fer és girar el pingüi com un mitjó, per a menjar-se la carn separant-la dels ossos, i en acabar marxa i n'agafa un altre.
So after five days of crossing the Drake Passage -- isn't that beautiful -- after five days of crossing the Drake Passage, we have finally arrived at Antarctica. I'm with my Swedish assistant and guide. His name is Goran Ehlme from Sweden -- Goran. And he has a lot of experience with leopard seals. I have never seen one. So we come around the cove in our little Zodiac boat, and there's this monstrous leopard seal. And even in his voice, he goes, "That's a bloody big seal, ya." (Laughter) And this seal is taking this penguin by the head, and it's flipping it back and forth. And what it's trying to do is turn that penguin inside-out, so it can eat the meat off the bones, and then it goes off and gets another one.
Així que aquesta foca lleopard agafa un altre pingüí, ve cap a sota la barca, la Zodiac, i comença a colpejar-ne el casc. Nosaltres intentem no caure a l'aigua. Seiem i alehsores en Göran em diu: "Aquesta és una bona foca, tu. Es hora que et fiquis a l'aigua." (Rialles) Miro en Goran i li dic: "Ni parlar-ne." Crec que segurament vaig utilitzar una altra paraula més grollera. Però tenia raó. Ell em va renyar i em va dir: "Per això estem aquí. Tú li vas proposar l'estúpida història a National Geographic. I ara ho has de fer. I no pots publicar excuses."
And so this leopard seal grabbed another penguin, came under the boat, the Zodiac, starting hitting the hull of the boat. And we're trying to not fall in the water. And we sit down, and that's when Goran said to me, "This is a good seal, ya. It's time for you to get in the water." (Laughter) And I looked at Goran, and I said to him, "Forget that." But I think I probably used a different word starting with the letter "F." But he was right. He scolded me out, and said, "This is why we're here. And you purposed this stupid story to National Geographic. And now you've got to deliver. And you can't publish excuses."
Tenia la boca tant seca, potser no tant com ara, però la tenia molt, molt seca. Les cames em tremolaven. No em sentia les cames. Em vaig posar les aletes. No podia ni separar els llavis. Vaig posar-me el tub a la boca, i viag llençar-me a l'aigua per la borda de la Zodiac. I això va ser el primer que va fer la foca. Va venir volant cap a mí, agafant la càmera sencera, les seves dents estaven aquí dalt i aqui baix, però en Göran, abans de ficar-me a l'aigua, m'havia donat un consell fantàstic. Va dir: "Si t'espantes, tanca els ulls, tu, i marxarà."
So I had such dry mouth -- probably not as bad as now -- but I had such, such dry mouth. And my legs were just trembling. I couldn't feel my legs. I put my flippers on. I could barely part my lips. I put my snorkel in my mouth, and I rolled over the side of the Zodiac into the water. And this was the first thing she did. She came racing up to me, engulfed my whole camera -- and her teeth are up here and down here -- but Goran, before I had gotten in the water, had given me amazing advice. He said, "If you get scared, you close your eyes, ya, and she'll go away."
(Rialles)
(Laughter)
Doncs això era tot el que tenia en aquell moment. Però vaig començar a fer fotografies. Va amenaçar-me durant uns minuts, i després va pasar quelcom maravellós: es va relaxar totalment. Va allunyar-se, va atrapar un pingüí. Va aturar-se a 3 metres de mí, i va quedar-se allà amb el pingüí aletejant, i el va deixar anar. El pingüí va nedar cap a mí, i va fugir. Ella en va atrapar un altre. Ho va fer una i altra vegada. I em vaig adonar que estava intentant alimentar-me amb pingüins. Per què sinó em portava pingüins? Després de fer-ho quatre o cinc vegades, va venir cap a mí amb una mirada abatuda. No vull ser massa antropomòrfic, però juraria que em mirava com dient: "Aquest depredador inútil morirà de gana al meu oceà."
So that's all I had to work with at that point. But I just started to shoot these pictures. So she did this threat display for a few minutes, and then the most amazing thing happened -- she totally relaxed. She went off, she got a penguin. She stopped about 10 feet away from me, and she sat there with this penguin, the penguin's flapping, and she let's it go. The penguin swims toward me, takes off. She grabs another one. She does this over and over. And it dawned on me that she's trying to feed me a penguin. Why else would she release these penguins at me? And after she did this four or five times, she swam by me with this dejected look on her face. You don't want to be too anthropomorphic, but I swear that she looked at me like, "This useless predator's going to starve in my ocean."
(Rialles)
(Laughter)
En adonar-se que no podia atrapar pingüins mentre nedaven, va atrapar més pinguins i me'ls va portar poc a poc, balancejant-se així, i els deixava anar. No va funcionar. Jo reia tan i tan fort que la màscara se m'omplia d'aigua, perquè estava plorant sota l'aigua, perquè tot allò era tan maravellós. Així que tampoc funcionava. Així que va agafar un altre pingüí i va fer com un ballet sexy lliscant així sota l'iceberg. I els portava cap a mí i me'ls oferia. Això va continuar durant quatre dies. I no només va pasar un parell de vegades. En adonar-se'n que no podia atrapar-ne de vius, va portar-me pingüins morts. (Rialles) Ara tenia quatre o cinc pingüins flotant al meu voltant, i jo seguia fent fotografies. I ella sovint parava i em mirava amb una mirada abatuda com dient: "Ets de debó?" Perquè no es podia creure que no em menges els pingüins. Perquè en el seu món, o t'estàs reproduint o estàs menjant; i jo no m'estava reproduint.
So realizing I couldn't catch swimming penguins, she'd get these other penguins and bring them slowly towards me, bobbing like this, and she'd let them go. This didn't work. I was laughing so hard and so emotional that my mask was flooding, because I was crying underwater, just because it was so amazing. And so that didn't work. So then she'd get another penguin and try this ballet-like sexy display sliding down this iceberg like this. (Laughter) And she would sort of bring them over to me and offer it to me. This went on for four days. This just didn't happen a couple of times. And then so she realized I couldn't catch live ones, so she brought me dead penguins. (Laughter) Now I've got four or five penguins floating around my head, and I'm just sitting there shooting away. And she would often stop and have this dejected look on her face like, "Are you for real?" Because she can't believe I can't eat this penguin. Because in her world, you're either breeding or you're eating -- and I'm not breeding, so ...
(Rialles)
(Laughter)
Però no n'hi havia prou; va començar a tirar-me pingüins al cap. Estava intentant forçar-me a menjar. M'insistia. Intentava forçar-me a menjar la càmera, que és el somni de qualsevol fotògraf. I s'estava frustrant, em bufava bombelles a la cara. M'estava dient, crec, que em moriria de gana. Però no va parar. No parava d'intentar alimentar-me amb pingüins.
And then that wasn't enough; she started to flip penguins onto my head. She was trying to force-feed me. She's pushing me around. She's trying to force-feed my camera, which is every photographer's dream. And she would get frustrated; she'd blow bubbles in my face. She would, I think, let me know that I was going to starve. But yet she didn't stop. She would not stop trying to feed me penguins.
En l'últim dia amb aquesta femella quan pensava que havia tibat massa la corda, em vaig posar nerviós, perquè se'm va acostar, va girar-se d'esquena, i va fer un soroll de martell profund i gutural, com un gokgokgokgok. I pensava que estava apunt de mossegar-me. Estava a punt de fer-me saber que estava massa frustrada amb mí. El que pasava era que una altra foca s'havia posat darrera meu, i ella estava mostrant-se amenaçadora. Va fer fugir la gran foca, la va seguir i li va pendre el seu pingüí i me'l va portar.
And on the last day with this female where I thought I had pushed her too far, I got nervous because she came up to me, she rolled over on her back, and she did this deep, guttural jackhammer sound, this gok-gok-gok-gok. And I thought, she's about to bite. She's about to let me know she's too frustrated with me. What had happened was another seal had snuck in behind me, and she did that to threat display. She chased that big seal away, went and got its penguin and brought it to me.
(Rialles)
(Laughter)
No va ser l'única foca amb la que vaig nedar. Vaig ficar-me a l'aigua amb 30 foques lleopard, i mai vaig tenir una trobada que m'espantés. Són els animals més notables amb els que he treballat mai, igual que els òssos polars. I igual que els òssos polars, aquests animals depenen d'un medi gelat. M'emociono. Perdó.
That wasn't the only seal I got in the water with. I got in the water with 30 other leopard seals, and I never once had a scary encounter. They are the most remarkable animals I've ever worked with, and the same with polar bears. And just like the polar bears, these animals depend on an icy environment. I get emotional. Sorry.
És una història que tinc gravada al cor, i estic orgullós de compartir-ho amb vosaltres. Això m'apasiona. Si algú vol venir amb mí a l'Antàrtida o a l'Àrtic, us hi porto, anem. Ara hem de difondre la història. Moltes gràcies.
It's a story that lives deep in my heart, and I'm proud to share this with you. And I'm so passionate about it. Anybody want to come with me to Antarctica or the Arctic, I'll take you; let's go. We've got to get the story out now. Thank you very much.
(Aplaudiments)
(Applause)
Gràcies.
Thank you.
(Aplaudiments)
(Applause)
Gràcies.
Thank you.
(Aplaudiments)
(Applause)
Gràcies. Moltes gràcies.
Thank you. Thanks very much.
(Aplaudiments)
(Applause)
Gràcies.
Thank you.
(Aplaudiments)
(Applause)