Riley, Uncle Max, Aunt Martha, and Cousin Alice meet in northern Canada, where they study and help polar bears that are wandering through towns while waiting for Hudson Bay to freeze over again so that they can hunt for seals.

Riley and Alice visit the wilderness of southeastern Alaska to help discover why Pacific Salmon are thriving while North Atlantic Salmon are more endangered than ever, and meet a variety of animals and a well-known animal expert along the way.

Riley accompanies Uncle Max, Aunt Martha, and Cousin Alice to the Wolong Panda Reserve in China to study pandas, and while they are there they also experience a landslide and see a snow leopard, red panda, and other exotic animals.

Riley helps save a pod of dolphins that become trapped in a lagoon in Tahiti.