Watching: Animals of the Tempest

Overview

A journey in the footsteps of the birds and marine mammals of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands: the populations of the islands on the edge of the Southern Ocean subject to strange fluctuations, closely studied by researchers. In the isolated archipelagos of Crozet and Kerguelen, king penguins, albatrosses, and petrels face winds and storms every year to breed. Elephant seals, fur seals and orcas also live there. But some populations are declining, sometimes abruptly and unexplained. For over sixty years, scientists have been trying to unravel this mystery through their observations and increasingly sophisticated technologies. Their discoveries reveal astonishing behaviors and the threats facing these survivors of the extreme south. A journey into the heart of the wind and waves, where science and exploration intertwine to tell the story of these extraordinary birds and marine mammals.