Narrator: Sea ice does more than nourish life.

It is the architect of this world.

Shaping the seascape and the behavior of every animal that lives within it.

In both the Antarctic and the Arctic.

It's so calm at the moment.

We can see the sky in the ocean.

We've got beautiful reflections happening.

It almost looks actually in the distance, like the sea ice is cloud.

The Arctic is warming three times faster than the rest of the planet.

The ocean here is changing very, very fast.

Ice forms later in autumn and melts earlier in spring.

So we've got open water seasons for longer.

Narrators: As the ice retreats, the rules that govern life here begin to change.

Ah!

We've got a seal.

This is the gorgeous bearded seal.

These are actually some of my favorites.

The bearded seal looks like an old man.

He actually has a big, long mustache and I don't know why it's called a bearded seal.

I think it should be called a mustache seal.

They're so charismatic.

Most of the time they're solitary, and they use the ice to rest on between foraging trips.

They just have the most beautiful, strange, otherworldly songs when they're trying to attract females.

Narrator: Okay, this seal isn't singing today, but it's hard to resist sharing their song.

Because it sounds like an alien landing.

[Seal singing] [Melanie whistling] It sounds a little bit like that.