Great Lakes Untamed

The first definitive natural history of North America’s Great Lakes – Earth’s largest freshwater ecosystem. The story of water passing through life as it flows across half a continent from Lake Superior to Lake Ontario and onto the Atlantic Ocean. These five giant lakes drain a massive watershed bordering Canada and the United States which contain nearly one-quarter of the world’s surface freshwater.

Originally formed by a giant glacier which advanced and retreated many times, this ecosystem is now home to thousands of animal and plant species that have been forced to adapt to extremes of climate and season over millennia. The Great Lakes are both an ecosystem damaged by humans, but also one that still contains magnificent wildlife.

In the episode, The Big Freeze, we see ravens outwitting wolves and bald eagles, flying squirrels glowing in the dark, fish that sing, and wolverines and moose trying to adapt to global heating. The Marvels and Mysteries episode is set in spring revealing amass spawning of giant lake sturgeon, photosynthetic salamanders, rattlesnakes that give live birth, colourful fish hunting in the air and moose foraging deep underwater. In Source to Sea, we follow the flow of water from Superior’s headwaters to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, witnessing the relationship between beavers and wolves, loons hunt underwater, the looming threat of invading carp, giant sand dunes, spectacular Niagara Falls and the discovery of a ‘sixth’ Great Lake above and below.

Great Lakes Untamed reminds us of the value of clean freshwater and the incredible nature we still have to lose on a changing planet.

Source to Sea – North America’s Great Lakes contain a quarter of the world's fresh water. Beavers, wolves, loons, moose, and more live and shapethis incredibly vast watershed.

‍The Big Freeze  – Brutal winters have driven Great Lakes inhabitants to adapt: flying squirrels glow in the dark, ravens outwit wolves for food, andbaby black bears insulate in snow.

Marvels and Mysteries – The Great Lakes' spring thaw phenomena such as glowing rocks, legendary sea monster spawning and the world’s only photosynthetic vertebrate help us understand the lakes' origins.

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MINISERIES BY OAK ISLAND FILMS CANADA and MERIT MOTION PICTURES in association with TWO WISE MONKEYS ENTERTAINMENT