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.
A miña viaxe de conversión en especialista polar, fotografando e especializándome nas rexións polares, comezou cando tiña 4 anos, ó mudarse a miña familia dende o sur de Canadá ó norte da illa de Baffin, preto de Groenlandia. Alí viviamos cos Inuit (esquimais). Na diminuta comunidade Inuit, formada por 200 persoas, eramos unha das tres familias non Inuit. E nesta comunidade non tiñamos televisión; non tiñamos ordenadores, obviamente, nin radio. Nin sequera tiñamos teléfono. Pasaba todo o tempo fóra, xogando cos Inuit. A neve e o xeo eran o meu campo de xogos e os Inuit eran os meus mestres. E alí foi onde me obsesionei seriamente con este reino polar. E sabía que algún día faría algo relacionado coa difusión de novas sobre el e coa súa protección.
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.
Gustaríame ensinarlles, son só dous minutos, algunas imaxes, unha mostra do meu traballo, coa fermosa canción de Brandi Carlile, "Have You Ever" ("¿Algunha vez…?"). Non sei por que National Geographic quixo facer isto, nunca o fixeron, pero permitíronme amosarlles algunas imaxes dunha reportaxe que acabo de rematar e aínda non foi publicada. National Geographic non adoita facer isto, polo que estou moi ilusionado por poder amosarllas.
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.
Estas imaxes son… poderán velas ó principio da presentación, son só catro imaxes, corresponden a un oso que vive no Bosque Húmido do Gran Oso. É totalmente branco pero non é un oso polar. É un oso espírito, ou oso Kermode. Só quedan 200 osos Kermode. Son máis escasos que o oso panda.
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.
Senteime onda o río durante dous meses sen ver ningún. Pensei que a miña carreira estaba acabada. Propuxéralle aquela estúpida historia a National Geographic. ¿En que raios estaba a pensar? Así que pasei dous meses alí sentado e pensando qué facer na miña próxima vida despois da de fotógrafo, porque me botarían. Porque National Geographic é unha revista; lémbrannolo continuamente: publican imaxes, non escusas.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
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.
E tras dous meses alí sentado… un día, pensando que todo rematara, apareceu un incrible gran macho branco, xusto ó meu lado, a un metro de distancia, baixou, colleu un peixe, meteuse no bosque e comeuno. Pasei todo o día vivindo o soño da miña infancia de percorre-lo bosque con este oso. El atravesou este bosque antigo, tumbouse onda unha árbore de 400 anos, culturalmente modificada, e durmiu. E eu puiden durmir a un metro de distancia del, en pleno bosque, e fotografalo.
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.
Por eso estou moi ilusionado de poder amosarlles estas imaxes e unha mostra do meu traballo nas rexións polares. Espero que lles guste.
(Music)
(Música)
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 ♫
Brandi Carlile: ¿Algunha vez camiñaches en soidade polos bosques? ♫ ♫ Todo alí séntese como debería ser ♫ ♫ Alí formas parte da vida ♫ ♫ Eres parte de algo bo ♫ ♫ Se alguna vez camiñaches en soidade polos bosques ♫ ♫ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♫ ♫ Se alguna vez camiñaches en soidade polos bosques ♫ ♫ ¿Algunha vez contemplaches un ceo estrelado? ♫ ♫ Tumbado de costas, pregúntaste por qué ♫ ♫ ¿Cal é o propósito? ♫ ♫ Pregúntome, ¿quen son? ♫ ♫ Se algunha vez contemplaches un ceo estrelado ♫ ♫ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♫ ♫ Aah, ah, aah ♫ ♫ Ah, oh, oh, ah, ah, oh, oh ♫ ♫ ¿Algunha vez contemplaches un ceo estrelado? ♫ ♫ ¿Algunha vez camiñaches pola neve? ♫ ♫ Querendo volver ó inicio ♫ ♫ Sempre terminas ♫ ♫ Sen saber a ónde ir ♫ ♫ Se algunha vez camiñaches pola neve ♫ ♫ 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 ♫ ♫ Se algunha vez saíches a camiñar, deberías sabelo ♫
(Applause)
(Aplausos)
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.
Paul Nicklen: Moitas gracias. O espectáculo aínda non rematou. O meu reloxo segue a soar. Está ben, paremos. Moitas gracias. Agradézollo.
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.
Continuamente asolágannos con novas sobre a desaparición de xeo mariño, que está ó seu nivel máis baixo. E de feito, os científicos que ó principio dixeron que o xeo desaparecería nos próximos 100 anos, despois dixeron 50 anos. Agora din que a extensión do xeo do Ártico durante o verán desaparecerá en 4 ou 10 anos. ¿Que significa isto? Despois dun tempo véndoo nos informativos, convértese nunha simple noticia. Insensibilizámonos. O que procuro facer co meu traballo é poñerlle imaxes a isto. Quero que a xente comprenda e sexa consciente de que, se perdemos o xeo, perdemos un ecosistema enteiro. As previsións calculan que os osos polares poderían extinguirse nos próximos 50 ou 100 anos.
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.
E non hai mellor mega-especie, máis sensual, fermosa e carismática coa que sustentar a miña campaña. Os osos polares son cazadores incribles. Este é un oso co que me sentei por un momento á beira do mar. Non había xeo arredor, só un glaciar afundido na auga e unha foca enriba del. O oso nadou ata chegar onda ela (unha foca barbuda de 360 kg), colleuna, tróuxoa de volta e comeuna. E estaba tan farto, tan ledo e gordo comendo a foca que, segundo me achegaba a el (a uns seis metros de distancia) para tomar esta fotografía, a súa única defensa era seguir comendo máis foca. Tiña tal enchenta (con, probablemente, uns 90 kg de carne no seu estómago) que, mentres comía por un lado da boca, vomitaba polo outro.
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.
Así que mentres estes osos teñan algún xeo sobrevivirán, pero o xeo está a desaparecer. Atopamos cada vez máis e máis osos mortos no Ártico. Cando me adicaba ós osos polares como biólogo, fai 20 anos, nunca atopamos osos mortos. E nos últimos catro ou cinco anos, atopamos osos mortos por todas partes. Vémolos no mar de Beaufort, aboiando en mar aberto onde o xeo se derreteu. Atopei un par deles en Noruega o ano pasado. Vémolos no xeo. Estes osos amosan sinais do estrés que lles supón a desaparición do xeo.
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.
Aquí temos a unha nai e a súa cría de dous anos. Viaxabamos nun barco a 160 km mar adentro, en medio de ninguna parte, e eles estaban sobre este gran anaco de xeo glacial, o que é unha sorte para eles; aquí están seguros: non morrerán de hipotermia, chegarán a terra. Pero desafortunadamente, o 95% dos glaciares no Ártico estanse a retirar ata o punto onde o xeo remata na terra sen introducir xeo de novo no ecosistema.
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.
Estas focas oceladas son as "larpeiradas" do Ártico. Estas pequenas bolas de masa, paquetes de 70 kg de graxa, son o alimento básico do oso polar. E non son como as focas de porto que hai aquí. Estas focas oceladas tamén teñen un ciclo vital enteiramente asociado ó xeo mariño. Paren no seu interior e aliméntanse co bacallao do Ártico que vive baixo el. Aquí temos unha imaxe de xeo enfermo. É un fragmento de 12 anos de antigüidade con varios estratos. O que os científicos non prediciron foi que, segundo este xeo se derrete, fórmanse esas grandes bolsas de auga negra que recollen a enerxía solar o que acelera a fusión.
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 estámonos a mergullar no mar de Beaufort. A visibilidade é de 180 m; temos os cables de seguridade; o xeo móvese por todas partes. Gustaríame ter media hora para contarlles cómo case morremos nesta inmersión. Pero o realmente importante desta imaxe é ese fragmento de xeo multiestrato, ese gran anaco da esquina superior. Nese único anaco de xeo hai 300 especies de microorganismos. Na primavera, cando o sol retorna ó xeo, o fitoplancton crece baixo ese xeo, forma maiores follas de algas e o zooplancton aliméntase de toda esa vida. Así que o xeo en realidade actúa como unha horta. Como a terra dunha horta. É unha horta ó revés. Perder ese xeo é como perder o solo dunha horta.
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.
Aquí estou na miña oficina. Espero que vostedes valoren a súa. Está tomada tras unha hora baixo o xeo. Non sinto os beizos; teño cara conxelada; non sinto as mans; non sinto os pés. Subín e todo o que quería era saír da agua. Despois dunha hora nesas condicións tan extremas, cando baixo, casi en cada inmersión vomito no meu regulador, porque o meu corpo non poder aturar o estrés do frío na miña cabeza. Así que síntome feliz cando a inmersión remata. Pásolle a cámara ó meu axudante, míroo e dígolle "woo, woo, woo", que significa, "colle a cámara". E el cre que estou dicindo "faime unha foto". Tivemos un pequeno problema de comunicación. (Risas) Pero paga a pena.
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.
Verán hoxe imaxes de belugas, baleas de Groenlandia, narvais, osos polares e focas leopardo, pero esta imaxe ten maior significado para min que calquera outra que fixera nunca. Mergulleime nese burato do xeo, o burato que viron fai un momento, mirei cara arriba baixo o xeo e mareeime; pensei que estaba a sufrir vertixe. Puxénme moi nervioso (non tiña cable de seguridade, o mundo enteiro daba voltas arredor de min) e pensei "teño problemas". Pero o que pasaba era que a parte inferior do xeo estaba repleta de miles de millóns de anfípodos e copépodos movéndose dun lado ó outro e alimentándose na parte inferior, nacendo e vivindo alí todo o seu ciclo vital. Estes son os alicerces de toda a cadea trófica do Ártico, aquí a temos. Cando o xeo se reduce, a productividade dos copépodos tamén descende.
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.
Aquí temos unha balea de Groenlandia. Segundo a ciencia, podería ser o animal máis antigo da Terra. Este exemplar daquí podería ter máis de 250 anos. Esta balea puido nacer a comezos da Revolución Industrial. Quizais sobreviviu a 150 anos de caza de baleas. Hoxe, a súa maior ameaza é a desaparición do xeo no norte causada polo tipo de vida que vivimos no sur.
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.
Narvais, estes maxestosos narvais, cos seus cairos de marfil de 2,5 m, non terían que estar aquí; poderían estar en mar aberto Pero vense obrigados a meterse nestes diminutos buratos no xeo onde poden respirar, tomar un respiro, porque baixo este xeo hai bancos de bacallao. E o bacallao está aí porque se alimenta cos copépodos e anfípodos.
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.
Ben, a miña parte favorita. No meu leito de morte lembrarei unha historia máis que ningunha outra. Aínda que o momento co oso Kermode foi impactante, creo que non volverei a ter outra experiencia semellante á que vivín cunhas focas leopardo. Dende os tempos de Shacketon, as focas leopardo teñen una sona moi mala. Teñen ese sorriso irónico na boca, eses sinistros ollos negros e esas manchas polo corpo. Teñen un aspecto decididamente prehistórico e dan algo de medo. E traxicamente, en 2004 [2003], unha científica foi capturada e afogada por unha foca leopardo, que se alimentou con ela. E a xente dixo: "Sabiamos que eran sanguinarias. Sabiámolo". Á xente encántalle opinar. Entón ocorréuseme unha idea para unha historia: quero ir á Antártida, meterme na auga co maior número posible de focas leopardo e darlles unha oportunidade: descubrir se son animais sanguinarios ou, pola contra, incomprendidos. Esta é esa historia. Ah, e tamén adoitan comer pingüíns.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
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.
Como humanos, gústanos decir que os pingüíns son moi feitiños, por iso, se as focas leopardo os comen, as focas leopardo son feas e malas. Pero non funciona así. O pingüín non sabe que é feitiño e a foca leopardo non sabe que é grande e monstrosa. Só se trata da cadea alimentaria en acción. Tamén son grandes. Non son como as foquiñas dos portos. Miden 3,5 m e pesan case media tonelada. E tamén son curiosamente agresivas. Temos 12 turistas empacados nunha Zodiac, aboiando nas augas xeadas, unha foca leopardo emerxe e morde o pneumático. O bote comenza a afundirse, volven correndo ó barco, regresan a casa e contan a historia de cómo foron atacados. O único que facía a foca leopardo… era morder un globo. Soamente ve un gran globo no océano… non ten mans… dalle unha dentadiña, o bote pínchase e alá van.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
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.
Así que tras cinco días cruzando a Pasaxe de Drake… ¿Non é fermoso? Tras cinco días cruzando a Pasaxe de Drake, por fin chegamos á Antártida. Estou co meu axudante e guía sueco. O seu nome é Goran Ehlme, de Suecia. Goran. E ten moita experiencia coas focas leopardo. Eu nunca vin ningunha. Así que chegamos á baía na nosa pequena Zodiac e atopamos esta monstrosa foca leopardo. E incluso él di, "éche unha foca condeadamente grande, si". (Risas) E esta foca ten ó pingüín collido pola cabeza e abanéao dun lado ó outro. O que quere facer é darlle á volta ó pingüín para poder comer a carne dos ósos, despois déixao e colle outro.
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."
E esta foca leopardo colleu outro pingüín, foise baixo o bote, a Zodiac, e empezou a golpear o casco. Nós intentábamos non caer á auga. Sentámonos e Goran dixo, "esta é unha boa foca, si. É hora de que te metas na auga". (Risas) Mirei a Goran e díxenlle "olvídao". Aínda que creo que en realidade lle dixen unha grosería. Pero tiña razón. Abroncoume e dixo "estás aquí por isto. E propuxécheslle esta estúpida historia a National Geographic. Agora tes que entregala. E non podes publicar escusas".
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."
Tiña a boca seca, quizais non tanto como agora, pero tiña a boca moi, moi seca. Tremíanme as pernas. Non podía sentilas. Puxen as aletas. Apenas podía abri-los beizos. Metinme o tubo de respiración na boca e mergulleime na auga. E esto foi o primeiro que ela fixo. Veu a toda velocidade e tragou a cámara (e os seus dentes están aquí abaixo e aquí arriba), pero Goran, antes de ir á auga, dérame un consello fantástico. Dixera, "se tes medo, pecha os ollos e ela marchará".
(Laughter)
(Risas)
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."
Así que iso era todo o que tiña que facer. Pero empecei a tomar estas fotos. Ela manteu a exhibición ameazante durante algún minutos e entón ocorreu algo asombroso: relaxouse por completo. Foise e colleu un pingüín. Detívose como a uns tres metros de distancia, sentouse co pingüín mentres este batía as ás e deixouno ir. O pingüín nadou cara a min, libre. Colleu outro. E fixo isto unha e outra vez. Deime conta de que quería alimentarme cun pingüín. ¿Por que outro motivo podería estar botándomos senón? E tras facer isto catro ou cinco veces, nadou cara a min cunha mirada de desalento. Non queremos ser moi antropomórficos, pero xuro que parecía dicir "este depredador inútil vai morrer de fame no meu océano".
(Laughter)
(Risas)
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 ...
Como vía que eu non podía coller pingüíns en movemento, colleu outros e tróuxomos lentamente, abaneándoos así e soltándoos. Isto tampouco funcionou. Eu ría a gargalladas, tan emocionado que a miña máscara estaba mollada, porque choraba baixo a auga ante algo tan abraiante. Así que isto tampouco funcionaba. Entón colleu outro pingüín e intentouno cun baile sensual, esvarando así baixo o iceberg. Achegábamos e ofrecíamos. Esto continuou así durante catro días. Non foron só un par de veces. Logo viu que eu non podería colle-los pingüíns vivos, así que tróuxomos mortos. (Risas) Agora tiña 4 ou 5 pingüíns aboiando arredor da miña cabeza e eu limitábame a estar alí botando fotos. Ela detíase a miúdo con esa mirada de desalento, como dicindo "¿Vai en serio?". Porque non podía crer que eu non puidera comelos. Porque no seu mundo só te apareas e comes… e eu non me estaba a aparear.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
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.
Iso non foi todo; comezou a botarme os pingüín á cabeza. Quería alimentarme pola forza. Presionábame. Tentaba alimentar a miña cámara pola forza, o soño de todo fotógrafo. Defraudada, botábame burbullas á cara. Penso que quería facerme saber que ía morrer de fame. Pero aínda así non se detía. Non deixaba de intentar alimentarme con pingüíns.
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.
E durante o último día con esta femia, cando pensei que a levara demasiado lonxe, púxenme nervioso porque se achegou a min, púxose de costas e fixo un son profundo, gutural, como de martillo neumático, gokgokgokgok. E pensei, está a punto de trabarme. Vaime facer saber que está moi frustrada pola miña culpa. O que ocorrera era que outra foca se metera detrás de min e ela facía aquilo como ameaza. Perseguiu á gran foca ata que se foi, voltou, colleu un pingüín e tróuxomo.
(Laughter)
(Risas)
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.
Non foi a única foca coa que estiven na auga. Estiven con outras 30 focas leopardo e nunca tiven un encontro perigoso. Son os animais máis notables cos que traballei, tamén os osos polares. E, como os osos polares, dependen dos glaciares. Emociónome. Desculpen.
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.
É unha historia que levo no corazón e estou orgulloso de compartila con vostedes. Apaixóame. ¿Alguén quere vir comigo á Antártida ou ó Ártico? Lévoos, vamos. Agora temos que espallar a historia. Moitas gracias.
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Thank you.
Gracias.
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Thank you.
Gracias.
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Thank you. Thanks very much.
Gracias. Moitas gracias.
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Thank you.
Gracias.
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