Wild Canada

Each year, the Atlantic Coast off Newfoundland sees one of Canada's greatest natural spectacles: humpback whales arrive in spring to feed on swarms of capelin. The Iroquoian and Algonquian people shaped a thriving homeland. In British Columbia, we explore the planet's largest intact temperate rainforest.

This episode features the region between the Western Canadian Pacific coastline and the Rocky Mountains. The salmon run is one of our planet’s greatest migrations. This abundance of food attracts thousands of black bears. Further inland, a golden eagle grabs a dall sheep lamb and carries it away for its own chicks.

The heartland of Canada presents vast forests, countless lakes and grasslands. The prairie First Nations shaped this landscape for thousands of years, regularly setting fire to the prairie. The open plains were ideal habitat for bison. The lakes became vital stopovers for migrating snow geese, sandhill cranes and ducks.

Ice defines the Canadian Arctic and suits one creature more than any other - the polar bear. We follow a family to the ice edge, the hunting ground of these top predators. Once the temperatures rise, life flourishes. In summer, more than half of the sea ice melts - the largest annual transformation on Earth. But sea ice now reaches record lows: vast areas are ice-free for the first time.