Our Planet season 1 review: A deteriorating circle of life

A female walrus tenderly reassures her young pup as they try to find a place to rest on an overcrowded beach. Over 100,000 Pacific walrus gather together along a small stretch of Russian coastline. It is the largest gathering of walrus on the planet. Photo Credit: Netflix

Episode 2: Frozen Worlds

This episode takes us to the poles and highlights the importance of these icy regions despite their near uninhabitable nature.

Giving us an insight into the lives of penguins in the Antarctic and the great importance of tiny krill to sea life, it narrates the connection between seemingly unconnected events, delicately balanced, being constantly disrupted by human activity. As the sea ice shrinks and our planet warms, these two areas, in particular, see multiple species in serious danger of extinction.

This episode of Our Planet explores the interdependency of various species despite being seemingly disconnected. The krill, the penguin, the dolphins and some species of whales, all form part of an intricately linked system. After we see an entire cycle of this food chain at play, we see how albatross chicks starve to death because the parents are unable to return with food due to the depleting stocks of fish. Polar bears while, under the threat of extinction, pose a great danger to the population of seals, who often lose their young to hungry polar bears; young that would otherwise hide in dens of ice, as is shown in footage of a baby seal becoming a victim of the polar bear as its mother goes underwater to hunt.

The final scene of this episode is what would most definitely stay with the viewers long ago, as we closely see the tragedy of the dying walrus as a result of receding Arctic ice. In graphic footage that garnered quite a bit of controversy for Our Planet, walrus can be seen falling to their deaths from an 80-meter high cliff.

IMPORTANT TAKEAWAY: Climate change impacts the smallest of creatures in huge ways and disturbs an entire chain of established sustenances. Even seemingly unrelated events are connected, and while it may seem like some animals are benefitting from climate change, it is only so in some aspects. Creatures like the krill, despite their size, play a really important role in, not to be cliche, the circle of all life.

FAVORITE MOMENT: The humpback whales hunting for the krill is visually amazing to see. The poor krill are of course filled with dread, but the synchronized hunting skills displayed by the whales is a sight to behold.