Last Ice Area

As the sea ice declines, industrial activities such as fishing, shipping, mining, and drilling are expected to expand northward. These emerging threats will affect not only the area’s wildlife but also its Inuit communities, which have traditionally relied on these animals for food, dress, shelter, and energy.

To raise awareness of these dramatic changes in the high Arctic, Pristine Seas has collaborated with the World Wildlife Fund-Canada and worked closely with Inuit communities to document their stories and traditions. The team aimed at recording the ways in which Inuit culture is connected to the extraordinary local wildlife and evaluated how the disappearance of ice will impact these populations and their relationships with one another.

Pristine Seas conducted two primary expeditions to the region in 2015, filming Arctic wildlife and the traditional way of life of the Inuit and recording local stories and views on the ongoing environmental changes. The first of these expeditions focused on Qaanaaq, one of the most traditional Inuit villages in Greenland. The project's second expedition took place at Canada’s Baffin Island.