As the Polar bear emerges from her den out of the crystal snow, she immediately feels the joy of life with a quick body toboggan ride down the slope. With her cubs, she will go without food for up to five months, as they live off of her fat alone. Her journey is to the ice before it breaks up, so she does a weather check for their two week journey. The chances of her cubs surviving are 50/50, a fact about planet earth she learns early.

From the north, in the vast regions of Canada, over 3 million Carabou eat on the run in the largest migration known to man. Their hollow hair helps them float the dangers along the way. One of their enemies is the Arctic wolf, who covers thirty miles a day and uses a tactic of fear to overcome the prey. The caribou calf can outrun the wolf only if the footing holds.

It is now mid summer, the Arctic tree line begins five hundred miles to the south. This evergreen belt circles the world producing a third of the oxygen for all to breathe. A radical transformation occurs at 50 degrees latitude with the broad leaf food of life. The good times never last, as the frost makes you migrate or hibernate.

The Amur leopard in northern Russia is one of the rarest cats on earth. Their super thick fur and almost timid expression makes them an ever lasting wonder as they slowing become extinct. If only she could find the tropics, which represents three percent of the earth and most all life. In the tropics only two percent of the sun reaches the earth’s floor, yet life teems in abundance. The Blue Bird of Paradise is literally living his own name as food is overflowing and time seems infinite. His bizarre display is intentional to lure a mate in the forest. When she arrives, he will impress her with a mix between ballet and rap dancing and musically rhythmic noises. 

The sun is shaping life at all latitudes and the sea is no different. Nutrients meet photosynthesis and the chain of life occurs. The killer whale is faster than the seal in a straight line, so the seal has the amazing agility to out maneuver the whale temporarily. The sun also bakes the sea powering the planet weather. The winds over the sea and Sahara can carry sand half way around the world to fertilize the Amazon jungle. Clouds powered by the sun share the water of life over the earth and without water, there is no life. Deserts now cover one third of the land and every year they grow, so water distribution has become very unfair.

The African buffalo migrates to the delta along with African elephants and many other species. Their Kalahari is a treacherous journey overwhelmed by sand. The younger ones may wander off only to die in their last attempt to find their mother. The birds and even catfish feast of the last of the water that exists. No where on earth is the life giving power of water cherished as it is here. The antelope with firm hoofs wade through the shallow water as if they belong their, while the baboons struggle, and the Impala is actually a poor swimmer in deep water.

As always where life thrives, trouble follows. To catch an animal faster than you, you must force it to make a mistake. One of the rarest African animals is the wild dog who carefully attacks their Impala and takes up positions of advance. The lead dog will drive the Impala toward flankers, and then attempt to cut them off. These calico looking dogs share their bounty as a group. Any water is their salvation, even for a moment. 

Water flows in its annual cycle created by the sun. Imagine a world without sun. The male Penguins endure 100 mile an hour windy winters snuggling each other’s warmth. After 4 months, with no food, water, or sun, where no other creature dare venture, life finally returns as the sun awakens. Their cargo is safe, and life lives.

Humans are only visitors on the mountains they must climb. From the highest point on earth, to the lowest, in a sulfur pit in Ethiopia where giant land masses are pulling apart creating a chain of young volcanoes. These forces created the highlands of Ethiopia. This 500 mile wide roof of Africa was eventually carved by weather into canyons. The Gelada baboons are unique to this area. They climb without fear and have the strongest hands of all primates. In the morning they groom and chatter in their busy schedule. They live in the largest assemblies of 800 strong eating only grass. Their enemy is another wolf who is roaming the neighborhood. They rush back to the cliffs as the wolves can only gaze upon them.

More south, in the mountains of Patagonia, the Andes releases the most unpredictable weather on earth, even four seasons in one day. The Puma, the lion of the Andes, are solitary and quite rare to see. A mother teaches her cub’s mountain survival. Her territory is rich with food and water. As the night falls, she prowls the landscape for prey.

This great spine from Patagonia runs all the way to the Rocky Mountains in the U.S. All these steep slopes offer sanctuary for such as the bear who ventures down the mountain to live and feed her cubs. The Mountain goat stands on the cliff like a king in white, but above, there is even more life in the barren rock of cold. A Grizzly bear is roaming the rocks rooting around for moths as the Rockies are slowing disintegrating downward. Summits as the Matterhorn are even too steep for snow. The mountain sculptures called glaciers grind out valleys in the earth print. In Pakistan, lives a 43 miles long and 3 miles wide glacier capable of being seen from space.

Here, the greatest concentration of peaks over 5 miles high exists. We watch a mating game with the male Marcos who fights on the cliffs with their great horns. A Snow leopard here is seen for the very first time ever on film. They are fluffy and beautiful, and their tales are quite thick and long helping them balance the rocks. She approaches and then leaps, running down the steep slope chasing a young Marco down the cliffs. The Golden eagle watches the show. As the snow falls, the leopard calculates the attack in cover and eventually gets her prey. She can carry the prey of three times her weight straight up the mountain.

Mountain ranges from space span a tenth of our planet. The Himalayas arose from the collision of continents. These peaks are still rising and shaping the world’s climate.

The oriental pheasants are mating in beauty, as the Red panda munches away on plant stalks, once thought a raccoon, and not a bear. The Panda’s diets are weak, and a four week old Panda is still blind, so having more than one sends a big message, of balance, and knowing one only works. In the vast wonderland, Mount Everest is still rising where no bird can fly above it.

The Demoiselle Cranes migrate to their winter wonderland through the maze of mighty rocks. If they hit turbulence they will turn back. Each day of sun brings a new opportunity where they can use rising columns of air to gain height. For many it is their first journey and some, their last. The golden eagles await sight. They work in pairs to separate a young one, they are fresh, the cranes exhausted. They are like F15’s in a dog fight for their life. If one gets close, only the second is awaiting the kill, and the mother can only watch in misery from above. In the final assent, every last breath of life they have is used in their passage where they dare not linger long.

In the ocean covering more than half the surface of the earth, but virtually empty, a watery desert, and what life exists is constantly searching for food. A Whale shark eating plankton cruises the deep as one of the largest creature in the sea. They meet up with bait fish that swarm the whales as a shield from other predators as the Yellowfin tuna.

The hunt is on in the Atlantic as 500 dolphins sweep across the water sensing food to catch up with in the Azores west of Portugal. They scan the water with sonar for their target, the scad macqueral. They drive them up to the surface trapping them where many predators wait. The Shearwater birds dive up to 60 feet working with the Striped dolphins to eat their dinners. Once the meal is done, the Shearwaters return to the surface and the dolphin move on leaving a few macqueral to escape.

At night, hundreds of creatures migrate to the surface. The baby sword fish that is only six inches long will grow to several hundred pounds in three years to become a formidable predator. Giant Manta Rays sweep the ocean like a vacuum cleaner in the dark. Down deep in the ocean below 1600 feet holds a mystery of creatures unknown; some so strange they defy all classification. The floating sea spider eats nutrients in the water having feathers on their legs. Here, all energy is accounted for, as the bio-luminous Vampire squid with many eyes that glow moves slowing in the water.

In the deepest oceans life can be seen where pressures are intensified. Even here, the hunter exists for the smallest prey. To find food, scavengers must move. Isopods and eels scavenge the floor of the sea. Three feet wide spider crabs pick at a sperm whale that rests on the sea floor. A fisher 45 thousand miles long steams out lethal smoke along the ocean trail. The shrimp love this environment and thrive near. Across the globe, dragon chimneys vent out minerals in super heated water. The warm vents give off so much energy, giant tube worms grow massively into more than 50 species, but their life span can end at any point in time into a rocky monument. As one loses, another can gain.

Thousands of volcanoes rise from the sea, some higher than Everest. Powerful currents flow upward on the slopes carrying nutrients from below. Sponges filter the nutrients on an extinct volcano a mile below the sun. The octopus eventually lost its shell and now is living in disguise. The strange Chambered nautilus gets by on one meal a month puffing the sand. Squids jet toward the surface as pacific spotted dolphin synchronize the sound area.

Some of the volcanoes rise near the surface, where life flourishes forcing nutrients to the surface luring all matter of fish. Some fish are there only to be cleaned by other fish. The huge Mola mola  comes up to warm and pick up a quick clean. Frigatebirds spend months at sea and are one of the lightest birds and seek remote locations to breed off the coast of Ascension. The Sea turtles wait on the sea floor seeking the perfect time to venture ashore to lay eggs. Most of the eggs hatch at night, and hurry to the sea, but their journey has just begun as many drown from the force of the waves. During the next 20 years most will die. The ones who survive will return to the same breeding ground, yet we still do not know how they can do this over thousands of miles of sea.

Sail fish 10 feet long close in on prey using only enough energy to herd them. They change their colors during attack as to warn others of their intentions and to protect from accidental spearing of their own species. They sweep through the water like giant dragons and they are constantly on the move as a meal is needed daily.

The ocean is home to biggest animal ever seen. The blue whale grows up to 200 tons, twice the size of the largest dinosaurs. We have no knowledge of where they breed or where they go. Being the largest animal on earth, they feed on one of the smallest, the krill swallowing up to 4 million per day. This gargantuan harvest needs a fertile ocean, and the blues are slowing disappearing. We control the fate of the whole natural world. We can destroy it or cherish it, the choice is ours.

From space, the desert stands out covering one third of all the land. They seem deserted, but they are more a battle to stay alive. The Gobi is one of the biggest deserts in the world. From minus 40 to over 100, the bactrian camels are an amazing inhabitant. Why does the Gobi desert exist? The Himalayas block the water, and many strange formations in the sand are seen from the sky. The sand storms, as in the Sahara are larger than Nebraska, and scour the desert like sandpaper. 

The desert chisels away the rocks and plateaus until they are flat. The sun forces all creatures to make a choice, adapt or hide. In the Australian desert, kangaroos caught in the open could die. They lick their forearms and the saliva helps them cool helping them get through the hottest part of the day.

The Fennec fox has the largest ears of any canine. They blend into the desert hunting rodents and lizards in the Sahara jungle of the night. In the Atacama Desert of southern America, the Guanaco camels get their water from cactus flowers, and they survive off the air carrying fog swept inland from the sea nourishing the cacti with dew. In the western desert of the U.S., the Saguaro cacti  expand and store their water from the heavy rain storms sustaining many of the creatures around them.

During a few weeks in the summer, only at night, they bloom attracting bats which are on their own journey allowing them to refuel for their destination. Lack of resources brings conflict as the Israeli Nubian Ibex pound each other with massive force to earn more points in their way to the top. The dominant male is the position they seek for free pickings of the females. In this rocky land, flat Rainbow lizards jump into the air to eat flies near the water falls.

Death Valley is the hottest place on earth. After a single shower, seeds that have lain dormant for 30 or more years can bring life for a few weeks. Whenever it happens, all life makes the most of it. Hidden below the sand, the desert locust awakens. In four weeks or less, they begin to fly. They merge into one and often take three hours to pass eating 100 times their own body weight. They move toward low pressure to ensure the water connection of life. When the food is gone, only the desert wind remains.

Both poles are covered in ice governing all life as it flows. A vast frozen world, a terra cognito, the unknown land, is as large as the U.S. holding 90% of the world’s ice. In spring, the penguins are sliding along on their bellies for south Antarctica. It’s time to breed, so they must be in position. As the ice retreats, they plunge forward into ecstasy. Chinstrap penguins come ashore by the thousands turning the hilltops pink. The Snow petrels clean their plumage in the snow from their 600 miles journey from the coast until the Skua sights them from above.

Humpback whales have arrived off shore traveling more than 500 miles to these frigid waters for more krill. They herd them with air bubbles into a swirling trap. Soon, the sun weakens, and the ice advances two and half miles a day. Most of life fleas from Antarctica except for the Emperor penguins who venture inland to find a mate.

Courtships are brief understandably with winter breathing down their necks. In the production of the eggs, the females are exhausted, so the males tuck them under their bellies inches from the ice below while the female goes fishing for a break in the ice. The emperors are the masters of sharing, as they huddle and snuggle for their own life. Now, they will bear the brunt of 100 mile an hour winds in the coldest darkest winter on earth.

Unlike the Antarctic, the North Pole is a vast frozen sea surrounded by land. Small holes are kept open in the sea ice by ocean currents. Arctic ducks swim down to the floor for food. Musk oxen can break through the ice searching for vegetation creating holes for others. There are others who live off the land, such as the Artic foxes who attempt to swipe a calf from a half ton cow, so the oxen group together to ward off the foxes and wolves.

In another part of the Artic, the polar bears cubs instinctively follow her every lead. In two weeks she reaches their destination for a hunt under the sea. Now, the sea ice is breaking up all around them, and the bears can easily sink below and die. Birds soon return, millions of Little auks who look just like penguins. Sanhill cranes travel all the way from New Mexico just for this plush hideaway in a fresh watery paradise.

In the land of the midnight sun in the middle of summer, the Arctic fox thrives. The Arctic skua, Arctic reindeer, and foxes bicker at each other for space. While the polar bears venture 60 miles off shore, and are amazing swimmers. The Walrus is the true amphibian spending half their time on land, and half in the sea. The walruses group together on the shores, some weighing more than a ton with tusks three feet long.

When the fog sets in, the polar bear stalks. He will pry a mother off her young to get to them. He rides their backs and bites their necks as he gets more desperate. It’s all or nothing now and this time he loses. The stab wounds are so severe, he can barely walk. If he is unable to feed, he will die and he is not alone, for other bears face the same fate.

Fiery ribbons illuminate the sky way south in a sign to the emperors that their ordeal is about to end. Crackling sounds and chirping begins as a male has saved food for the entire winter for a quick treat of hunger within. Help is coming to famished male penguins from females with bellies full of fish. They somehow attune their mates sound and the female wants the baby. The transfer may not be successful in all cases as the chick could freeze within minutes.

Some chicks wander off and become orphans and parents compete over them even accidentally killing them in the skirmish. The chicks will huddle just like their fathers. Some groups of chicks may wander and shiver to death. Their great will to survive connects their souls strongly, and only time will tell as to the fate ahead.

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In attempting to save our planet and the animals upon it, we must consider all aspects of evolution, including the eternal balance of nature and our interference in it. Our point in caring about the earth shows respect of our own existence, so we must not misunderstand the part we play, but discover the true messages the earth has given us, for our time is short, and the spirit lives on forever. We are no emperor in sharing, and the spirit of many is dying as shown by those who believe killing is only a sport.

R. Mark Sink, 2 April 2007
Updated: 22 April 2007

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Update: June 2007

Unfortunately, corporations keep cutting deals with environmental groups such as the WWF recent deal which clouds the ability of our perception of life on earth. Even though the funding is needed, it is the influence that is not. Read my editorial on the gap program.