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As spring turns into summer, the sun's heat begins to melt the sea ice.
夏季来临，阳光开始融化海上的冰。
Now the ocean is accessible and the Arctic's summer visitors return.
海水又可通行无阻，北极夏季的访客回归。
Migrating birds arrive from the south to nest, and feed on the seafood that's now within their reach.
候鸟从南方归来筑巢，并仰赖如今唾手可得的海鲜。
Brunnich's guillemots are the northern equivalent of penguins.
布鲁尼克的海鸠就像是北方的企鹅。
But they have retained the power of flight, for they need to reach cliff ledges where their nests will be safe from predatory bears and foxes.
但它们有飞行的能力，因为它们必须把巢筑在熊或狐狸到不了的悬崖峭壁上。
Nonetheless, they are as at home in the water as in the air.
幸好，它们在空中和在水中一样来去自如。
They dive down to a depth of fifty metres or more to catch fish.
它们潜入50尺左右的水中抓鱼。
In June, the ice begins to fracture. The cracks -- or leads -- form useful corridors of open water for air-breathing animals.
六月时冰会开始裂开。这些裂缝为需呼吸空气的动物提供了换气的通道。
Belugas, migrating to their feeding grounds, use these leads to penetrate the ice-covered seas and reach areas where their preferred food, Arctic cod, has spent the winter.
迁徙回到这里的白鲸，靠这些裂缝来穿越受冰覆盖的海洋，到达它们爱吃的北极鳕鱼在冬天的藏身处。
The males regularly dive to about five hundred metres to find fish. The females and young, which have smaller lungs, only go to about 350.
雄鲸鱼经常会潜入约500公尺处去觅食。肺部较小的雌鲸及幼鲸则只潜到约350公尺深处。
In late June and July, narwhals arrive. The females, who usually lack tusks, come first with their new calves.
六月底七月初时，独角鲸出现了。通常没有角的雌鲸会先与小鲸鱼出现。
The males follow a little later. They also move up the leads in search of fresh feeding grounds.
雄鲸稍晚才会现身。它们同样会从裂缝中向上寻找新的觅食点。
Bowheads. Up to 18 metres long and weighing a hundred tonnes, these are the only large whales that stay in the Arctic all year round.
巨头鲸。长可达18公尺重100吨，是唯一会整年停留在北极的大鲸鱼。
They are not after fish. They are seeking smaller prey.
它们不吃鱼。它们的目标是较小的动物。
Despite having the largest mouths in the animal kingdom, the size of a small garage,
虽然拥有动物界中最大、像车库般的嘴巴，
they eat tiny crustaceans -- copepods -- straining them from the water with the four-metre long strips of baleen that hang from their upper jaws.
它们吃的却是微小的甲壳类，以上颚边4尺长的鲸须将它们从水中过滤出来。
In the summer, they store enough energy to last them through the following winter, when food will be less abundant.
夏天时它们储存足够的能量，以撑过食物贫乏的冬天。
As the ice melts away, the polar bears are forced to head for land.
融冰时，北极熊被迫移至陆地。
They are excellent swimmers and can cover a hundred miles of continuous open water if need be.
它们的泳技绝佳，必要时可以横越100英里的水。
Off east Greenland, there is little ice left by August, so walruses haul out to rest on land.
东方的绿岛上，在八月时冰已融尽，海象群爬上岸休息。
At this time of the year they are moulting, getting rid of their old scarred and parasite-ridden skin.
此时正值脱皮期，可以换去受伤长虫的皮肤。
A bathe in the cold water brings some relief from the itching. But even there, the odd scratch is irresistible.
浸泡冰水有助于纾缓皮肤痒的状况。但即使如此，仍免不了搔痒的怪动作。
They make daily excursions out to deeper water. Down at 20 metres, they root around in the sediment, using their sensitive bristles to search out soft-shelled clams.
它们每天都会到深海一游。在20尺深处，它们停在沉淀物上，靠灵敏的毛发找寻软壳蚌类。
Once they find a clam, they suck its flesh from the shell with their powerful, muscular mouths.
一但找到蚌类，便用有力、结实的嘴将蚌肉吸出。
Walruses can feed for about five minutes at this depth before they have to return to the surface to breathe.
海象在此深度能觅食约5分钟，然后就得回水面呼吸。
Elsewhere in the Arctic, belugas are gathering in their thousands. They congregate in just a few large estuaries.
北极的其他地方，白鲸开始成群聚集。它们只聚集在几个大的海湾。
Belugas of all ages and sizes come here. There are even young calves. Some are so young -- born only a week or so ago -- that they need help.
各种年龄和尺寸的白鲸都到此。甚至是幼小的白鲸。有些年纪小到只有几周大的，还需要协助。
They swim on their mothers' backs so that they can breathe more easily.
它们游在母亲的背上，因此能更顺畅的呼吸。
As the tide moves up the estuary, the belugas follow, swimming into surprisingly shallow water.
当潮水上涨，白鲸顺势上游，游进难以想像的浅滩。
Like walruses, they also need to moult. A combination of warm fresh water and vigorous rubbing against the gravel does the trick.
它们像海象一样需要脱皮。借着温水及配合了与碎石的摩擦，便能达到目的。
They remain here for days, or even weeks, so it's likely that socialising is also important to them.
它们在此停留数天或数周，所以社交活动也十分重要。
After moulting, they head back out to sea to feed.
脱皮后，它们会重回海中觅食。
