bbc Radio 4 podcasts

Salmon are migrating upstream in Alaska but they will have to get past the Brown Bears waiting to gorge on them at this time of year. Basking Sharks are as long as a bus, weigh as much as two elephants and have been spotted off the Isle of Man. We find out what draws them to British waters.

Salmon are migrating upstream in Alaska but they will have to get past the Brown Bears waiting to gorge on them at this time of year. Basking Sharks are as long as a bus, weigh as much as two elephants and have been spotted off the Isle of Man. We find out what draws them to British waters.

The series heads to Alaska, for the first of three reports following the last great Salmon run as one of our World on the Move reporters, Grant Sonnex, joins the red or sockeye salmon as they embark on their migration from Bristol Bay where they have to dodge a barrage of fishermen’s nets, across the mouth of the estuary and inland up freshwater rivers to their spawning grounds. Philippa catches up with our gray whales which having left their nursing lagoons in spring have now reached their summer feeding grounds off the coast of Alaska. We hear from whale counters and scientists about the effects of climate change on the migration, population recruitment and health of our gray whales. And finally, Brett learns about some fascinating research into GREAT CIRCLE NAVIGATION – and why for birds in the Arctic, flying north is the quickest way to reach their southern destination

The series heads to Alaska, for the first of three reports following the last great Salmon run as one of our World on the Move reporters, Grant Sonnex, joins the red or sockeye salmon as they embark on their migration from Bristol Bay where they have to dodge a barrage of fishermen’s nets, across the mouth of the estuary and inland up freshwater rivers to their spawning grounds. Philippa catches up with our gray whales which having left their nursing lagoons in spring have now reached their summer feeding grounds off the coast of Alaska. We hear from whale counters and scientists about the effects of climate change on the migration, population recruitment and health of our gray whales. And finally, Brett learns about some fascinating research into GREAT CIRCLE NAVIGATION – and why for birds in the Arctic, flying north is the quickest way to reach their southern destination