Canada's Incredible Arctic Landscapes | Canada Over The Edge Marathon

[Music] Baffin Islands Northern Coastline from rugged islands and Arctic fiords lining Baff and Bay to the snowcapped Peaks and Contours of the bordon peninsula exploring the unique Hamlet of Pond Inlet well I think when the Whalers came up here they thought they were the first people to penetrate this part of the globe the are inspire iring vistas of suralik National Park the Arctic is an incredible part of the Canadian imaginary I believe that it's part of who we think we are and a northern cultural timeline that has endured thousands of years it makes me wonder about my ancestors how they travel through the land now we reveal the secrets of Canada's Northern boundary more than 160,000 km of Arctic Frontier Canada over over the [Music] edge high above the Waters of Baffin Bay we approach Nova zembla Island and the shores of Canada's High Arctic Baffin Bay measures more than 600,000 Square km a massive body of water separating Greenland from Canada's Arctic archipelago this is where the Atlantic ocean meets the Arctic [Music] Ocean and Here In the Heat of Arctic summer we witness a rare sight Open Water stretches for kilometers with Coots Inlet to the Southwest and the spectacular North arm North arm extends 40 km Inland a majestic Northern fiord with steep Cliff faces Rising more than a kilometer High through much of the year the Waters of North arm experience one of Earth's harshest climates it is an environment that has been endured by the Dorset and Tuli cultures for thousands of years and it is a landscape that has baffled European explorers for [Music] centuries Martin frobisher sailed here in 1576 then John Davis in 1585 they could not have imagined the scope of this land mass in 1616 William Baffin began charting much of the islands East Coast including these Waters more than 500 km north of the Arctic [Music] Circle and lining North arm massive expanses of snow and ice rise even [Music] higher as we Ascend the fi's glacier runoff the ice fields of mullik Glacier stretch as far as the eye can [Music] see the Baff and Island interior is marked by a vast mountainous spine a northern extremity of the Canadian Shield geologists believe massive ice sheets that once covered Canada originated here some 18,000 years [Music] ago today much of the region remains encased in snow and and [Music] ice and here among the snowcapped Summits kivic Mountain Rises more than 19900 M I think that's an interesting thing this one piece will make 52 layers watch on mobile devices or the big screen all for free no subscription required it is Northern Baffin Island's highest point and is known as one of Canada's ultr prominent [Music] Peaks [Music] continuing Northwest the ice fields of mullik Glacier gradually [Music] recede here Arctic summer reveals Tundra extending for [Music] kilometers but it is a rare sight this stretch of Baffin Island is covered in snow and ice 9 months of the [Music] year moving North we trace the Contours of Salmon River [Music] this winding Waterway has been a valuable resource for [Music] Generations a habitat for Arctic [Music] char and as a destination for early explorers in search of coal and [Music] gold finally in the distance Salmon River empties into a body of water known as Eclipse sound with more snowcap Peaks on the [Music] horizon [Music] looking back to the east the hills rise [Music] again here fog and M shroud The Rock faces of Mount herodia Rising 434 M from the sea [Music] and as we descend The Contours of nearby Mount Moren the shores of eclipse sound meet us once [Music] [Music] more Eclipse sound is a vast Waterway separating Baff and Island from bolet Island to the [Music] north it is also where the vast expanse of Canada's High Arctic meets modern [Music] civilization as we trace the perimeter of Northern Baffin Island we reach one of the rare settlements in Canada's far North Pond Inlet lies above the 702nd parallel [Music] it is a designation shared by just three other communities in Northern Canada Arctic Bay Resolute and gree [Music] Fjord only Russia and Greenland extend this far [Music] north located more than 8,000 km above the equator it stands as one of the world's northernmost communities Pond Inlet has been home to human civilization for thousands of years with the Dorset people arriving some 3,000 years ago then mysteriously disappearing 1500 years later the Tuli people arrived ancestors to the modern [Music] Inuit Pond Inlet is known locally as MTI matalik or the place place where mtima is buried an homage to an ancient resident while locals still use the name the identity of mtima is a mystery today Pond inlet's population is largely of Inu descent but there is also a hearty contingent of those from the south Keen to experience this th thriving [Music] Community many come and go but some stay for decades my name is Philipa UTA I'm the community archist in beautiful Pond Inlet nunut Pond Inlet is situated in Canada's High Arctic about 72° 69 North North and 77° 95 [Music] latitude when you talk about the high Arctic people automatically think of long dark nights and cold and winter yes we do have darkness in the winter from about mid November to mid January but in fact as you can see today it's a beautiful day we have Sunshine our temperatures in the summer can go up to 18° thereabouts and it's not just the heat summer temperatures are enhanced by 24-hour sunlight a balance to harsh winter conditions that would have confronted the first settlers here well I think when the Whalers came up here they thought they were the first people to penetrate this part of the globe it was so unknown but in fact it it has been populated today's Inuit were in fact not the first people the Dorset culture and was followed by the Tuli culture which are the actual ancestors of today's in originally the area was named not the town but the area was named Pawn's Bay and this was in 1818 when John Ross arrived on an expeditionary ship uh he named it after John pawns and astronomer Royal in Britain nothing to do with the local Inu but in fact the Inu had named this area mimik for many years before that in later years when the Hudson Bay Company and the RCMP moved in the name was transferred to this area as Pond Inlet today the Hamlet is home to 1300 people most with ties the datb back Generations and that is where Philipa uta's passion for history has become a major contribution to the community the idea of developing archives started as I worked in the library uh the elders were very concerned that information was not being passed on to the younger generation children were moving on to television and things so photographs seem to be the best way of connecting the elderly and the young and that also was supported by the ction of historical books as many as we could find and that was the beginning of uh archives well this is the pelet archives it's a community archives uh with a focus on preserving local history one of our priorities is photographs uh this is an example of some of the photographs that we have collected from people who lived here in the past or their relatives have lived here in the past and they're willing to donate um some of their collection to the to the community uh we very much encourage that because it's a wonderful way of Elders and youth uh connecting the wonderful things is that many times uh today's Inu have never seen pictures of their relatives and they can then see see pictures of family members that they may have met once or twice but could also uh see in a photograph and share with their children themselves the photo collection helps recall a different era in Pond Inlet just decades ago when many residents lived a nomadic lifestyle living on the land another interesting thing although more recent is from the 1970s this is a collection of local newspapers and it was done in the days before typewriters with inate cabic uh which of course is the language of the community so it was all done by hand and the English was done on a typewriter the drawings were done by hand also and it is just Daily Record really of what went on what was the activities of the community at the time um what was happening who was visiting scos were for sale um anything of interest of the community and that of course is what becomes so interesting later on in years to come uh to compare with today and how things have changed in such a short [Music] time and one corner of the archives reveals a wealth of treasures Inuit language materials including dictionaries encyclopedias and the written histories of the Region's Elders the documents date back centuries as early as 1835 and one of the other interesting parts of our collection is the archives Northern reference collection this is a collection of books about the North and the history and one of our prize books one of our oldest ones is a volume written by Sir John Ross who as I mentioned earlier was the person who gave the name Pond Bay to this area it's a narrative of the Northwest Passage and of course the Northwest Passage is still today a very popular Transit way originally they were trying to get to the Orient now people are just trying to say that they've been able to travel it themselves in the footsteps of all the Explorers for many Philippa uta's life Journey that began in England may seem strange but for her Canada's North was a calling that could not be ignored I have lived here many years I came with a great interest in the North North and a passion for seeing Northern Canada I was in very welcomed by in when I first came here of course and that really helps you want to stay longer uh I met my husband here he's uh from this community and we have four children and sever five grandchildren now and of course one stays where one's home [Music] is [Music] Pond Inlet marks one of the rare communities on Northern Baffin [Music] Island it is a major commercial and Transportation Hub in the Kiki tallak or Baffin region [Music] but just beyond the Hamlet's boundaries some of the world's most stunning Landscapes stretch as far as the eye can [Music] see [Music] as we head West along the edge of Canada's Northern expanse to newak tallic point and E epak talic Point extend far out to sea and lead to massive fiords on the horizon [Music] and in the distance a massive Headland or Cliff face dropping straight to the Sea it is stunning coobigo Headland Rising nearly a kilometer [Music] High it marks the entrance to Oliver sound a pristine Waterway connected to eclip sound and part of suralik National [Music] Park further the landscape changes as we approach a series of unique islands and winding [Music] waterways here forette Island and Emerson Island are surrounded by Tay sound and packet sound extending kilometers to the [Music] South even here in the heart of Baffin Island's Beauty it is difficult to comprehend the sheer size of this [Music] island aen Island is500 km long and measures more than 500,000 km it is more than 15 times the size of Vancouver Island amazingly virtually all of Baffin Island remains uninhabited home to just 11,000 [Music] people it is the largest island in Canada and the fifth largest in the [Music] world continuing West we descend from the mountains and fiords on approach to the Waters of eclipse sound [Music] [Music] icebergs are a common sight here incredible Frozen masses that reveal just 1/8 their true [Music] size [Music] this Berg has drifted more than 1,000 km from the west coast of Greenland icebergs on Baffin Bay can travel roughly 3 km a day with many making their way as far south as newfinland and Beyond [Music] here they stand as a testament to the beauty of the [Music] region and some like this one are a favorite spot for seals to catch some Arctic Summer Sun [Music] [Music] further we explore the Majestic sea life of mil Inlet mil Inlet is more than 40 k long with ragged Island marking its northern boundary with Eclipse [Music] sound and here from high above ripples can be seen a disturbance on this otherwise calm [Music] Waterway a closer look reveals hundreds of [Music] narwhal mil Inlet is one of the world's best known cing grounds for these unicorns of the sea [Music] narwhals are medium-sized whales often seen in groups of 15 or [Music] 20 they can range in size from 4 to 6 M weighing 1,600 kg but they are best known for their massive tusks a feature proudly displayed by mature adult [Music] males [Music] this sword-like tooth can reach nearly 3 m no one knows exactly what it's used [Music] for some say it can dig holes in Sea others believe the size of the Tusk determines social standing in total Canada is a summer home to 880,000 narwhal a population that migrates to the open Waters of Davis straight and baath and bay in the winter [Music] they are a prize catch for Hunters Legend says the Vikings exported narwhal tusks in the Middle Ages reaching Europe and the Far East where it earned the mythical nickname unicorn of the [Music] sea today they are a key source of income for innuit hunters narwhal tusks can be sold for hundreds even thousands of [Music] dollars north of mil Inlet the Waters of eclipse sound lie at the heart of a key Arctic protected [Music] area this incredible expanse of wilderness is known as suralik National [Music] Park it is a massive area measuring 22,000 sare km jointly managed by local Inuit and Parks [Music] Canada my name is Jan mosak and I work in Sim National Park as an interpretation officer in Pond [Music] Inlet the park was created in 1999 it it was created so that our land could be protected and preserved for future Generations the significance of the park name simbolic mean place of glaciers and majority of our park is made up of of glaciers Rock and Ice suralik National Park is one of the largest parks in Canada it includes a marine area as well as four separate Parcels of land right behind me you can see the incredible bolot Island which has been a protected area since before it was sik National Park the bordon peninsula is just to the west and it is a basically a large plateau of mountains undercut by some amazing braided river valleys and it houses some as well as archaeological remains there's some really cool old hoodo so fantastic blocky red and ochre Sandstone Towers leaping out of the ridge lines which are pretty [Music] stunning the tiniest little piece is just to the west of that it's another set of sea cliffs for nesting birds called B Bay and a little bit closer but also to the west of us is the Marine portion of the park which is Oliver sound and this is your classic steep-sided fiord it's a beautiful place for kaying and boating and is well worth [Music] visiting the Park is home to a diverse spectrum of life from hearty arctic plants to animals inhabiting Land and Sea one of the Fantastic things about simik National Park is that it lies in an area of incredible diversity their life here is Rich both terrestrial and Marine the kind of wildlife we have up here at polar bear in some areas there's Caribou with sea mammals there's uh ring seal harp seal full head whales Nar whale and [Music] Beluga but unlike many parks there is a crucial cultural element as well suralik National Park is a harvesting ground for indigenous peoples for centuries Inuit Hunters have sustained their families and communities with the rich plant and animal life found on land and sea in the park there are some archaeological sites remains such as s houses bones artifacts and other tools that were used by the inmate before they were known as the Tuli culture and and in come from the Tuli culture and today they still use it some people have Outpost camps around the area and you needs to go hunting using the land today with suralik Park status the land is shared between modern-day Harvesters and adventurous tourists alike when visitors are planning to come up to our park I think their expectation is that they'll be a a lot of ice and a lot of nothing but after visiting they realized that there's more to the Arctic there more wildlife and that uh this environment even though it's so huge it's very sensitive people come up here for a number of reasons the landscape is stunning and there's an incredible culture in the area as well which is another draw for people uh the Arctic is the Arctic is an incredible part of the Canadian imaginary I believe that it's part of who we think we are and how it makes us Canadian for Jenna Massac protecting the suralik area means her children can be raised along the same shores as she was and her family before her seeing this land our home in the different characteristics like the glaciers the the mountains the land it makes me wonder about my ancestors how they traveled through the land and what they experienced going through the land using the land and going day by [Music] day heading north over Eclipse sound we return to Glacier country As we soar above the stunning features of suralik National [Music] Park 25 km north of Pond Inlet Violet island is a protected gem with a diverse [Music] landscape here steep ocean Cliffs and lowland Tundra are a perfect habitat for seabirds [Music] 320,000 thick build [Music] myrs 50,000 blacklegged Kitty [Music] wigs and thousands of Greater snow geese us ize the [Music] area continuing to the center of the island Violet Islands glaciers Ascend rapidly ice Fields stretch for kilometers [Music] here mountains like the castle Gables are part of the biom Martin mountains running east to west along the northern half of the [Music] island [Music] the mountains are part of the Arctic cordelier chain that extend 1300 km from Labrador in the South to elmir island in the far [Music] north [Music] further we pass Obelisk mountain and Malik Mountain which at more than 1900 m is the highest point on the [Music] island [Music] further the mountains recede as we reach the northern extremity of Bot Island and the Waters of Lancaster sound it is a stunning Shoreline adorned with rocks and Jagged ice and home to the Region's most iconic animal the polar [Music] bear [Music] they are majestic creatures perfectly equipped for the harsh Arctic [Music] climate with dark skin to absorb the heat of the Sun and thick white fur for C camouflage and [Music] warmth and beneath it all a thick layer of fat to keep them warm polar bears thrive on land or sea they're considered marine mammals and can swim nearly 10 km hour [Music] [Music] heading west we follow the shores of Lancaster sound across Navy Board sound to the shores of the bordon [Music] peninsula here we trace the Contours of the Kil [Music] River not far inland the walls of the river valley rise and we experience one of the Region's most breathtaking [Music] Landscapes the Bor and hudo are tall towers of sedimentary rock carved over Centuries by water and wind [Music] a stunning contrast to the ice fields of bilet Island just kilometers [Music] away at the northern extremity of Baffin Island the bordon peninsula is a Scenic [Music] gym [Music] here west of suralik national park and the Boron hudo we soar above deep river valleys arctic tundra and snowcapped Rolling Hills [Music] but 50 km to the West the landscape changes again on approach to spectacular Strathcona [Music] sound Strath Kona sound stretches some 50 km from the peaks of the bordon peninsula to the Waters of admiralty Inlet its Cliff walls rise majestically a hidden Arctic geological [Music] wonder and halfway to the Waters of admiralty Inlet we reach the abandoned town of Nana Civic [Music] nanao Civic was once an industrial hotbed with a bright future in 2007 the Canadian government announced Nano Civic would be the site for Canada's first Northern Deepwater Port part of an attempt to further develop the North but years later nothing has happened a deep waterer Port remains a [Music] dream and further Inland Nana Civic was the site of Canada's first Arctic mine extracting zinc for more than 25 years [Music] it closed in 2002 and the town closed with [Music] it All That Remains is an airport and Mining roads that were part of Nana civic's most unique feature [Music] Nana Civic was home to one of the world's most famous road races The Midnight Marathon a mecca for runners from around the world who thought they had done it [Music] all Beyond n cvic we reach the Western extremity of the bordon peninsula and move from a ghost town to a modern-day [Music] community Arctic Bay lies on the shores of Adam sound with admiralty Inlet [Music] Beyond Arctic Bay marks the end of our journey located even further north than Pawn Inlet one of just three Canadian communities above the 73rd [Music] parallel a true J in Canada's High [Music] Arctic from the stunning Waters of Baffin Bay and remote Nova zembla Island to the community of Pond Inlet and Bot Island to the north to the natural wonders of suralik National Park Northern Baffin Island is a Scenic Journey unlike any [Music] other it's ice fields and hudo steep Cliffs and frigid [Music] Waters an incredible animal life are a Timeless [Music] Wonder nearly untouched since the arrival of European explorers and the indigenous people before them years later Baffin Island remains a wonder that many have imagined but few will experience here on the edge of Canada [Music] Canada's High Arctic from the northernmost extremity of the world's fifth largest island to the highest point in Mainland North America protecting the Waters of Lancaster sound for future generations for the Arctic it's a hugely important um ecologically important area an annual Adventure stalking Canada's far north for winter sea lift is bringing cargo on land for all the people that live here and it's necessary because they need they need the cargo to to live and artists of the Arctic bringing this vast landscape to life to this day I just carve little pieces to survive now we reveal the secrets of Canada's Northern boundary more than 160,000 km of Arctic Frontier Canada over the [Music] edge [Music] on the northwest tip of Baffin Island in Canada's High Arctic the Hamlet of Arctic Bay lies on the shores of Adam [Music] sound Arctic Bay is located just north of the 73rd parallel the third northernmost community in Canada it dates back to 1936 with the establishment of a Hudson Bay Trading Post and the arrival of Inuit from pangong and Cape Dorset who were relocated [Music] here today Arctic Bay is home to some 750 Hardy residents 95% of the population is of innuit [Music] descent while the community of Arctic Bay was established in the 20th century locals say the region has been inhabited for 5,000 years they call Arctic Bay iuk translated the pocket from the inuktitut language it is a reference to the community sheltered location on a south-facing gravel Beach surrounded by incredible [Music] Hills from May 6th to August 6th Arctic Bay enjoys 24hour sunlight but by September summer will be forgotten with winter and 24-hour Darkness on its way in the high Arctic summer Arctic Bay is a stopping place for cruise ships and pleasurecraft sailing the Northwest Passage but vessels like this have a narrow window sea ice in admiralty Inlet doesn't melt until the end of July making water travel impossible for most of the [Music] year it is a reality of life in Arctic Bay a fact that makes nunut seink and supplies annual visit crucial for the survival of the community Roma lafr coordinates operations on the ground moving winter supplies from an offshore cargo ship to smaller barges and finally to shore SE LIF is bringing cargo on land for all the people that live here and it's necessary because they need they need the cargo to to live by like for the co-op we bring food and uh everything that's necessary for the for life around [Music] here there is a transportation by plane but it it costs much more than by boat and we have uh the quantities we can we can load on the boat is uh I mean it's 10 20 times more than a plane so it cost much less that's why lafr Bo and team spend weeks each year resupplying communities throughout the Eastern Arctic we start by loading the boat in Montreal in St Kine and then uh we come here and I do the loog logistics make sure that every crates off and every every crates in in good order and then they take they take the crane the empty the lower holes the the the twin decks the the the bridge and then they put it on the barge the two biggest items we had here they were it were tanks for the for colic energy I mean the the guys that for power n power they were tanks that were about uh say 50 ft long uh so they carried it with two loaders all the way up there and then we have smaller crates all the way down to maybe a foot a foot that that's that's we got Vehicles we got sometimes we got heavy Vehicles like excavators carry anything sometimes we carry a mobile mobile home it's a but mostly it's containers offshore Charles kot of Rivier Deo Quebec moves supplies from ship to shore [Music] [Music] buer Lo [Music] the resupply mission or sea lift as it is known is one of the most highly anticipated days of the year in Arctic Bay residents eagerly await oil tanks sofas televisions even trucks purchased and shipped from the south and it's not just special for residents of Arctic Bay for lafon the sea lift has become tradition for cot it is in his blood well it's my fourth year uh doing doing the the sea lift up north uh my first year I was really surprised by I mean by the scenery and uh but it's it's the Wilderness really it's a it's somebody who's never been here and just works down south when he comes here it's another world completely it's almost like another planet [Music] Arctic Bay sits just meters from the protected Waters of Adam sound its harbor is a safe haven nestled between a series of geological wonders Holy Cross Point to the East and ulukan point to the [Music] West heading west the alukon peninsula Rises High here the St George's Society Cliffs dominate The [Music] Horizon the cliffs are a mix of dolomite and Shale Rising 250 M from the [Music] sea they are a popular hike for visitors to Arctic Bay Keen to experience the beauty of the [Music] region but these Cliffs and the one water surrounding are more than just a Scenic destination they have been a valuable source of Natural Resources for centuries Generations ago slate found here was harvested and used to produ produce Inuit tools and the Waters of Adam's sound were valuable fishing grounds for the Inuit and explorers like Captain William Adams the first European to reach Arctic Bay in [Music] 1872 [Music] in total the St Georgia Society Cliffs and the alukon peninsula stretch nearly 10 km to alukon point and the open Waters of admiralty Inlet [Music] Beyond [Music] moving North beyond the alukon peninsula we reach graveyard [Music] Point graveyard point is located opposite Cape Strath Kona and marks the southern boundary between admiralty Inlet and incredible Strath Kona sound [Music] [Music] here just kilometers from admiralty Inlet steep Cliff faces and hoodoo structures rise High [Music] these Vivid colors are a mix of dark red mudstones and shells along with gray sandstones and slit [Music] stones [Music] it is a rich geological Wonder extending for kilometers and part of a geological region known as the Strathcona sound [Music] formation Strathcona sound is named after Donald Smith also known as Lord [Music] Strathcona he was a Scottish Canadian famous in the late 19th and early 20th century as a member of the First Council of the Northwest Territories and president of the Canadian Pacific [Music] Railway a century after his death the these awe inspiring Marvels continue his [Music] legacy next we head west across the open Waters of admiralty [Music] Inlet admiralty Inlet was first charted by Sir Edmund Perry in 1820 it stretches some 250 km south from LAN Caster sound separating the bordon peninsula on the east from the bodour peninsula to the [Music] West admiralty Inlet has been called the world's largest [Music] fiord on land the bodur peninsula is a massive Headland a parcel of land extending far out to [Music] sea [Music] the bodur peninsula was given its name by Explorer Joseph Bernier during a 1907 Expedition naming it in honor of Louis Philip bodour minister of marine and Fisheries at the [Music] time [Music] it is surrounded by admiralty Inlet to the East Prince Regent Inlet to the west and Lancaster sound to the [Music] north it is a remote Scenic [Music] Wonder [Music] finally on approach to Cape Crawford chunks of SEI stretch as far as the eye can see and further just below the 74th parallel we approach Sergeant point with remote Devon Island on the horizon Sergeant point marks an important [Music] Milestone it is the northernmost point of land on Baffin Island the fifth largest island in the world [Music] [Music] [Music] heading south from the northernmost point on Baffin Island we trace the Eastern perimeter of the Broder [Music] Peninsula it is a stunning Arctic land mass featuring plateaus Cliffs and further Inland Rivers streams and valleys here on the coast the Turner Cliffs stretch for [Music] kilometers [Music] they are part of a geological region known as the admiralty group a mix of dolomite and quartz sandstones Rising more than 400 m [Music] the Turner Cliffs are from the Cambrian and or division era Rock roughly 500 million years old [Music] old at that time the bodour peninsula and the land surrounding were located near the equator covered by shallow [Music] Seas today fossils containing tiny invertebr can be found in these Hills [Music] [Music] continuing South we approach St Patrick's Canyon and just offshore one of the arctic's world famous [Music] attractions [Music] each year some 40,000 icebergs Cal from greenlands [Music] glaciers while many make their way south to newfinland and Labrador some drift into Lancaster sound and into admiralty Inlet they are a common but spectacular site here icebergs can be hundreds of meters long weighing more than 10 million tons and measured 30% wider below surface than above they are more than 10,000 years old incredible cathedrals of the Arctic [Music] seas further south Beyond kakiak point the geological wonders of the region rise to new [Music] heights here a breathtaking set of rock structures rises from the [Music] sea [Music] it is a spectacle known locally as the [Music] [Music] gallery the Gallery formation marks the southern portion of the admiralty group with rocks slightly older than the Turner Cliffs to the [Music] [Applause] [Music] north these ethereal wonders are made of quartz-rich sandstone carved by by ancient winding rivers over millions of [Music] [Music] [Music] years [Music] offshore the Waters of admiralty Inlet line The Horizon they are key waters for navigation for tourism and fishing and today they are part of a proposed protected area the Lancaster sound National Marine protected area is an idea that has been in the works for decades one that someday could protect much of the Eastern arctic's Waters Lancaster sound is at the entrance to the Northwest Passage in the Eastern Arctic and uh St studies over the last 50 years have shown it's extremely important ecologically and [Music] culturally [Music] back in the 1970s the initial idea to protect this area was a result of oil and gas exploration and uh Through The Years there's been different uh different attempts to work on that and in 2009 the qia which is a katani Inu Association the federal government and government nunit signed an agree agement uh to uh study the feasibility of creating a marine conservation area a protected area in Lancaster sound would be different from conventional national parks by recognizing the unique natural and cultural connections to the area by comparison with national parks uh where their primary goal is uh management for conservation public education and enjoyment uh National marine conservation areas have an additional goal of management for ecological uh sustainability what that means is that traditional activities such as fishing uh uh resource harvesting by Inuit can [Music] continue we have five communities associated with this uh proposed boundary and that includes uh Clyde River Pond Inlet Arctic Bay Resolute Bay and gree Fjord and essentially the uh the waterways surrounding bot Island and Lancaster sound are kind of the social and economic um uh lifeblood as you would say for the for the community residents uh they're the transportation corridors uh the provides food and resources for them uh the local people you know depend on the resources that are here Carrie Elam says while traditional Harvest would continue the protected status would be a benefit restricting natural resource exploration in the area an area he believes is unique in the world there's a lot of marine mammals and uh seabirds that uh uh reside here um we have the iconic polar bear uh we have several whales species including boohead beluga and narwhal uh the odd killer wh comes up here we have several seal species um walrus uh and a number of birds from uh Kitty wakes fers um you know and a variety of other seeds I've been to many many different places uh across Canada and uh I've discovered that each place has a uniqueness about it that makes it special and uh it you have a an has an ability to grab you and feel connected to to your environment in a different way and uh this place has been tremendous in that respect for me you got a surreal moments and uh almost transcend space and time and you can imagine what people used to what it used to be like for people to live here [Music] 50 km west of the bodur peninsula Somerset Island measures more than 24,000 sare [Music] km the island is the ninth largest in the Arctic archipelago and ranks among the largest uninhabited islands in the [Music] world Somerset island is 260 km long and ranges from 35 to 170 km [Music] wide it features two main geological l [Music] Landscapes to the Southwest an elevated area lining the Waters of Peel sound reveals exposed Precambrian [Music] granite and here in the Northeast vast expanses of sedimentary rock stretch for kilometers There is almost no vegetation or shelter but despite the elements Somerset island is home to animal life here muss have been making a comeback in recent [Music] decades they are incredible mammals with thick fur coats capable of enduring bitter Winters and an awe inspiring sight on this Barren Arctic landscape [Music] continuing South Somerset Island [Music] narrow it is bordered by Barrow straight to the north Prince region Inlet to the East and peel sound to the [Music] [Music] west and to the South Somerset island is lined by one of the North's most unique waterways bellet straight local sa bellet straight is one of the few yearround icef free waterways in the [Music] region and it was here on bellet Strait's Northshore that the Hudson Bay Company established their final Trading Post in 1937 Fort Ross was supposed to link the East and West fur trading regions of the Arctic [Music] the fort had two buildings a store and a manager's residence but barely a decade after it was built Fort Ross was relocated South with heavy ice to the east and west making Commerce [Music] impossible just just 2 km away we reach bellet Strait's Barren Southern Shore here at the northern extremity of mergerson promontory Zenith Point represents a unique Geographic [Music] Landmark located 64 km above Barrow Alaska this remote corner of Canada is the northernmost point in Mainland North [Music] America continuing South beyond the merges Promontory we soar above the vast expanses of the buia [Music] peninsula the buia peninsula measures more than 30,000 square km a vast Tundra Plateau the first European explorer to reach the peninsula was Sir James [Music] Ross he named It buia Felix in honor of the patron of his expedition sir Felix [Music] booth and it was here in 1831 that Ross determined the first location of the north magnetic [Music] pole with changes to the Earth's magnetic core the pole has since moved further north to elmir Island and [Music] Beyond [Music] on the ground the boia peninsula is covered in stone Limestone sediments and granite Bedrock a landscape that becomes more rugged each kilometer [Music] South [Music] finally this Rocky trajectory leaves to civilization and the community of talok talok lies at the southwestern coast of the buia peninsula it is home to 850 people with 98% of the population of Inuit descent the community once known as Spence Bay was moved here in 1948 when the Hudson Bay Company closed Fort Ross and relocated South talok is translated large Caribou hunting blind from a nut a reference to large piles of Stones built along traditional Caribou migration routes to Aid in hunting today the tallak region remains popular for hiking hunting and fishing 125 km to the Southwest Joe Haven is a another Eastern Arctic gem located on the western shores of King William Island it is home to more than a thousand people and boasts a unique landscape a community built on Arctic [Music] sand residents of talak and Joe Haven are descendants of the ancient Tuli peoples and have inhabited this region for more than a thousand [Music] years many still spend months each year on the land continuing and developing local traditions my name is Charlie o and I'm from Joe Haven Inwood and I'm a Carver I started carving about 20 years ago probably 20 25 years ago and then to this day I just carve little pieces to survive Stone carving is a way of life for many in Joe Haven and while ubic complet his carvings here the process begins many kilometers away when it's fall time winter time when the ice is thick enough we go about South from here about 80 km and 50 50 km ocean and about 30 km in land we go pick up the soap stone during the winter and then bring it back by CTIC opic's workstation is located at at the foot of his driveway with dust making indoor carving [Music] impossible his table is adorned with tools Stones even whalebones donated to him by local residents Keen to help out okay this where I carve this my lamp homade lamp for staying bright s of my my light out there is out of order and uh this is my 5in grinder with a 4 and 1/2 in Diamond blade after I cut everything up with this I start smoothing up with a diamond Blade with a carbide bits the process begins with a simple axe getting rid of unwanted cracks and chunks of rock that won't make the final cut upic specialty is carving exotic faces a trademark of Joe Haven Carvers right now I'm just cutting up a piece of rocker probably going to be a face not worth anything right now but probably in the end probably trade trade the rock with some some money so I got no time for that so I better get the show on a roll [Music] here [Music] I do some small faces bigger faces uh out of soap [Music] stone little bit different from animals and so many people could make animals and so some people like seeing different little stuff sometimes but you know sometimes they're pretty silly they're pretty funny carvings and they freaky and stuff like that Charlie upic could practice his craft in many locations but for him his decision to return home decades ago was an easy one it's my hometown I guess and I grew up here so I was in and out of Joe Haven for since I was 20 or something uh came back and stayed back here then from 94 to this day I'm here and I do a little bit of carving on my table and survive I [Music] guess [Music] [Music] from The Soaring G logical wonders of Strath Kona sound and admiralty Inlet to stunning sea ice tracing the northernmost reaches of Baffin Island to the rocky Contours of Somerset Island and the boia Peninsula Canada's High Arctic is a stunning mix of Landscapes on land and on water it's friendly Timeless [Music] communities extreme Geographic boundaries [Music] Tre and awe inspiring abundant ocean life make the high Arctic a nearly untouched Wonder thousands of years after humans first arrived on these Shores the seasons and cycles of nature continue to determine life [Music] here a worldclass Wonder waiting to be discovered here on the edge of Canada [Music] he Canada's Central Arctic region from the vast expanse of King William Island and the Hamlet of Joe Haven to Victoria Island and the Arctic Hub of Cambridge Bay a cultural timeline stretching back thousands of years we have a lot of uh cultural activities here in Cambridge Bay and one of them we performed was the drum dancing searching for the Northwest Passage the explor came through here and they wintered here for 3 years in 190 1903 and explorers carrying on that tradition you can't afford to push it in this place uh if it lets you out it lets you out now we reveal the secrets of Canada's Northern boundary more than 160,000 km of Arctic froner Canada over the edge [Music] high above Canada's Central Arctic region the Waters of well inton Straight Lead to Cape Norton and one of Canada's most remote inhabited Islands King William Island is located just north of the North American Mainland part of the Arctic archipelago it is a vast open Frontier measuring more than 13,000 Square [Music] km it is the 15th largest island in Canada and the 61st largest in the world King William Island is located in the heart of Canada's Northern Territory known as nunut it is also part of nunavut's kmot region a massive expanse measuring more than 450,000 Square km most of the region is uninhabited home to less than 5,000 people spread across remote communities like talak kukuk and Cambridge Bay they are only accessible by sea or [Music] air and here on the Southeastern extremity of King William Island we approach one of the Region's best known settlements it is the Hamlet of Joe [Music] Haven Joe Haven is located just north of the 68th parallel 1° above the Arctic Circle it is 2100 km north of the city of Winnipeg and the only settlement on King William Island for much of the Year Joe Haven is covered in snow winter temperatures can reach -40° C sea ice surrounds the Hamlet for 9 months of the [Music] year but In the Heat of Arctic summer Joe Haven enjoys 24hour sunlight from May 22nd to July [Music] 21st and the rare warmth reveals one of nunavut's most unique Landscapes Arctic desert stretches for kilometers with vast expanses of sand covering the Limestone Bedrock [Music] below Joe Haven was officially established in 1961 with the opening of a trading post by the Hudson Bay Company a Canadian fur trading operation dating back to 16 [Music] 70 today it is home to roughly 1100 [Music] people but local Inuit have called this region home for [Music] centuries they are known as the net sing mute peoples translated people of the place where there is [Music] [Music] see together they carry on the traditions of the [Music] past um my name is and this my friend Jan and were both throating us from Joe [Music] Haven long ago they the woman would um throat sing when the men go out hunting so time can go a bit faster and they would throat sing when they have Gatherings like drum dancing throat singing is considered one of the world's oldest forms of music it is a vocal technique used by cultures around the world and one that janeta gluc cook remembers fondly growing up in Joe Haven I learned how to throw thing when I was maybe 11 12 and it was really dry at first the first time I learned but I got used to it and then I taught Kathy and it was the same for her we known each other since we were kids in school best friends yeah she taught me how to throat sing it was hard at first cuz each time we throat sing We would stop quickly and laugh but we got used to it now we throat sing longer the unique sound is nearly impossible to explain new listeners say it is a combination of chanting singing and growling with body movement keeping the Rhythm the way we start off throating is we turn towards each other and we hold each other on like the elbow or the upper arm and it's to move so we how how do you see it it's hard to throat sing when we're just standing there not moving and it's much easier when we do this when we move hold each other yeah yeah it's like a [Music] rhythm and while the songs may sound similar they all have different meanings well known to local performers and listeners alike today throat singing thrives in Joe and after more than two decades it continues to be a source of inspiration for best friends Kathy cnuk and Janet a Gluk cook yeah it's it's important to continue or keep the throat singing alive cuz that's what our ancestors did and it's it's fun it's exciting it's funny and it's just nice to learn and they want to keep it going kids learn and they pass it on to the younger younger [Music] Generations the Hamlet of Joe Haven boasts one of the arctic's most unique cultural landscapes and while the Inuit timeline stretches back centuries Joe Haven may be best known for its connection to early European [Music] explorers for more than a century Joe Haven has been a hub for adventurers seeking a maritime route through the Arctic Ocean linking East and [Music] West that route has come to be known as the northwest [Music] passage my name is Jacob K I'm the uh chairperson for the Nik Heritage Society here in Joe Haven the Ino name for Joe Haven is meaning that uh land of uh seal blubber we have a lot of ring seal that's probably why it's called meaning um a lot of blubber since the 19th century explorers like John Ross R Emmon and John Franklin have passed through Joe Haven R Edmonson even spent two Winters here naming Joe Haven the finest Little Harbor in the world the name of Joe is is off of um ammon's um sailboat I believe his name was the the boat's name was Joe and that's how this community became Joe Haven the the the explorers came through here and they wintered here for 3 years in 190 1903 around that area and that's how it after that it became uh a trading posst and people start settle settling here around the uh 1960s through oral history Jacob kahun recalls first contact between his people and the first Europeans a tense meeting that eventually grew into a lasting [Music] friendship my ancestors said that the the the Explorers were carrying our rifles when they were meeting up with our local in people um to my knowledge that was given to me they're slowly walk to each other um that's how they're met the Explorers Advent actually got Knowledge from these in people and that's that was a main way of uh surviving up here and I think that's that's why they made it through the Northwest Passage today a variety of buildings survive from Joe Haven's early days including the community's original trading post this this building here in in my background is one of the old building that we have here in Joe Haven it was once a trading post uh without heat um Trappers would trade um arctic fox polar bear um ring seal uh Wolverine um but back then the main the main trading was the arctic white fox and a lot of it happened here in the back uh in the building here um it's owned it was once owned by Hudson Bay Company now it's owned by Northern store but the best view is found on a hill overlooking Town an homage to this unique Port we're at the end of the harbor and this one of the most important places it's more like a historic place um we have a peterhead boat behind me which was owned by the U missionary Roman Catholic it did a lot of traveling picking up people uh moving people people um moving a lot of supplies to other community as [Music] well behind me is a Karen and there's information on Franklin and also uh the first explorer that came through this Northwest Passage Ronald amonson and um he was the first explorer that ever traveled through the northw [Music] passage for Jacob kahun stories of Adventure and exploration are a unique aspect of this region but just a small part of why he calls Joe Haven home I moved here in 1965 with my parents and ever since I've been living here I had my school here I do my hunting I do my um I'm I work here before and um as of today it's it's huge when I first moved here there were probably around 50 people now it's a a population of [Music] 1300 continuing West we soar above the vast Western expanse of King William Island here Limestone gravel and sand line The [Music] [Music] Horizon and while the landscap AP is flat it is not Dull ethereal colors stretch as far as the eye can [Music] see on the coast a maze of sandbars capes and Tiny peninsulas stretch for kilometers including gladman Point mlto Bay and Cape John hsel [Music] and on the ground we see one of King William Island's most unique [Music] features this is the gladman point radar station an odd sight on the Arctic tundra it is a cold war Relic part of the distant early warning system built in the 1950s to detect the movement of Soviet [Music] aircraft at that time dozens of stations Lin the 69th parallel from Alaska to the Eastern AR [Music] Arctic today the Cold War D line has been [Music] disbanded gladman point and 46 other radar stations from the duine era are part of a new surveillance system a joint Canadian US operation known as the northern warning system [Music] 50 km further we trace the Western perimeter of King William [Music] Island and Beyond Hornby Island we reach the open Waters of Alexandria [Music] straight Alexandria Straight separates King William Island from the Royal geographical Society Islands to the West these Barren Islands were named by Explorer Ro amonson more than a century [Music] ago and the water surrounding remain a mystery largely Uncharted but they are home to an abundance of wildlife including the awe inspiring beluga [Music] [Music] whale belugas thrive in Arctic Waters traveling in pods like this [Music] one they measure 4 to 6 m in length weighing more than 1,000 [Music] kg [Music] they are Majestic mammals of the sea and can live up to 50 [Music] years west of Alexandria straight and the Royal geographical Society Islands we approach the Waters of Victoria straight and the Heart of the Northwest [Music] Passage the European quest to complete the passage can be traced as early as 1819 when Edward Perry's Mission ventured North into uncharted waters west of resolute into peel sound other missions followed many with tragic [Music] results finally in 1903 Ral amonson chose a tiny six-man crew in a converted Herring vessel he called Joe and embarked on a three-year Journey the first explorer to complete the Northwest Passage today these Waters continue to intimidate many modern Mariners but not all some continue to be drawn to these icy water Waters I'm Jesse Osborne captain of sailing vessel empiricus and um here sailing the Northwest Passage with my fiance well you'd be surprised how many people don't know what the Northwest Passage is it's cold and there's not much known about it to sum it up i' just say it's challenging Osborne is in the thick of a multi-year expedition to make it through the Northwest Passage from Alaska to Greenland I started this journey in 2012 but I didn't get very far that year and I ran out of money so uh I went from Seward Alaska to Kodiak Island in 2012 and then after working for a year uh began the major leg of the trip which was last year from codak Island out around the uan chain then up over the top of Alaska over Point Barrow and then ended up in Cambridge Bay last year and that's where we stopped the vessel in 2013 this year Osborne and fiance Samantha Meritt have encountered tough weather from Cambridge Bay to Joe Haven today they continue to wait on board their prize vessel for ice in the passage to clear this is where I've done well all my sing is is the boat that I learned how to sail on empiricus is a 50ft gaff rigged yall and it was built by taking a 1943 Navy Liberty launch at Navy Lifeboat and laying a 1-in fiberglass hull all the way around it so the the old wooden boat was used as the shape of the hole but then it was left inside as a building platform so it's about 3 in thick everywhere and at the all the way up at the bow it's 18 in thick of uh stainless steel fiberglass and Cypress so this is a tough tough boat it's uh got a 9 ft beam it's about 42 ft on deck and uh right now she tips a scales about 38,000 lb so heavy heavy boat I'll explain what we got on the deck here this is uh this is all firewood we no longer need the fuel range that we did when we started the voyage so cut these tops out and stuffed them full of firewood for our stove we've got diesel fuel in this one and gasoline in the uh in that all the way aft container this is the main sale here it's about 435 Square ft if I remember correctly that's the first saale I ever built it's a triple reefed main sail and real heavy cloth and and uh so far I haven't had any problems with it so excited about that headed forward here we have the main Mast which Custom Boats a lot of times use very interesting things that you wouldn't suspect actually both the masks on this boat are aluminum light poles and they're just outstanding light poles are made to Shear off at the bolts if a car hits them and the rest the Pole's very tough this boat's been through a well it'll take a lot more than I can so below deck Samantha merri reveals the preparations for this Epic Journey hello welcome aboard empiricus this is a a boat but uh it's also our home um let me show you around when you come in the companion way we have a uh the engine controls navigation this is kind of the business end um Power Bank VHF radio the other side here is the galley it's the kitchen boat speak uh we have about 300 lb of food just in the galley in a couple big deep Wells uh that go below the water line keeps everything cool and then we also have food storage uh forward and Beyond the kitchen Merit reveals a few Comforts of home and their source of heat for temperatures that may drop below zero on the Autumn Arctic seas through here in the cabin is h a bookshelf and uh have a couple CES where you can sit down coaches essentially uh my favorite item in the boat is the wood stove stove uh I love being warm and uh I only agreed to sail the Northwest Passage because Jesse had a wood stove moving forward towards the front of the boat this is the Mast goes right down into the KE and uh The State Room which is what they call bedrooms on boats our bunk is here there's a bunk uh ordinarily somebody could sleep here but we have a lot of winter gear uh stowed ready to go it is tight compact quarters and in the heart of their living area Merit reveals one of the most crucial aspects of the operation uh this is probably the most important place on the boat it's our our nav table we started this year's Voyage in Cambridge Bay we're now on South part of King William Island and today we're going to leave and head north and east into St rash Basin uh and then along the James Ross Street on the West Shore of the buia peninsula then we're going to cross the Baff and Bay and go over to Greenland sound really easy but it's probably going to take about 2 weeks Osborne and Meritt have invested years of their lives in this journey but after two Winters months of physical labor and countless expenses they remain optimistic we have uh you know the the ice is starting to to open up north of here between us and bellet straight and um it's a mixture of trying to get to bellet straight as early as possible without running into too much ice and putting ourselves in a pinch situation um the reason for that is is we want to cross Baff and Bay and get to Greenland before September really starts rolling on so uh so that's our goal there's not a lot on this planet that hasn't been done and there are very few things that have been done very little and this voyage for me raised the bar to a level that forced me to get better at what I love doing I studied uh R amonson simply because he was the one that made it and so many didn't and so many books were written about people who didn't make it through the Northwest Passage but they had this great awful story to tell so uh although Amon came through here like 110 years ago everything that he did all the all the tactics he used were very very valid and they worked for a reason that's one of the reasons we didn't get in a hurry last year and we decided to stop in Cambridge Bay because you can't afford to push it in this place uh if it lets you out it lets you out but uh it's more of a tortoise and a hair routine slow and steady wins the race [Music] west of Victoria straight and the Waters of the Northwest Passage Victoria Island island is a welcome site Victoria Island measures more than 200,000 km roughly the size of Great Britain but while Great Britain has a population of 64 million people Victoria Island is home to less than [Music] 2,000 it is the second largest island in Canada and the eighth largest in the [Music] world like King William Island to the east Victoria Island is dotted by tiny lakes and rivers [Music] it is also home to formidable land mammals muscs known to Inuit as the uming MAAC are a breathtaking sight here [Music] they roam the tundra covered by a thick fur and an incredible inner coat locals call kivat it is said to be one of the lightest and warmest wolves on [Music] Earth on the ground dozens of tiny plant species have evolved to endure harsh Winters [Music] here arctic plants are like icebergs roughly 95% of their mass is underground storing valuable nutrients for spring and amazingly some Arctic seeds can remain preserved even when Frozen for 10,000 [Music] years 120 km inland the Topography of Victoria Island begins to [Music] change vast expanses of tundra are replaced by Soaring Hills as we approach Mount p Mount p is one of three hills that line The Horizon set in an area known as OIC territorial [Music] Park these Hills represent one of the great cultural Legends of the region [Music] oral tradition says a family of giant Inuit were traversing Victoria Island in search of [Music] [Applause] food after weeks of starvation the mother giant collapsed and died creating one [Music] Hill then the sun collapsed creating another finally the father OIC fell leaving behind one of the best known landmarks in the region stories like these are key to the cultural fabric of Victoria Island and the nearby community of Cambridge [Music] Bay the store stories and the local language are preserved by elders and organizations like the kmat Heritage society and the kmat Inu Association my name is Pamela grass and I'm the program manager at the kute Heritage Society in Cambridge Bay n the Mandate for the society is to integrate traditional um knowledge and language so Inu um language into the society and the practice that we do through delivering cultural programming we currently have five elders and residents at the K mute Heritage society and um so for eight months of the year they come in part-time to work with us we do programming that involves the elders quite frequently and working with this the children um is something that we like to do a lot because um we want to share the knowledge from not only the elders to the adults but also to the children so we do sewing during the day and we also have cultural programming in the Summers as well across town Julia aena is active in preserving another form of innuit culture traditional drum dance we have a lot of uh cultural activities here in Cambridge Bay and um we've been planning some for the last number of years for language maintenance and um revitalization and one of them we performed this the drum dancing where it's passed on through not only Generations but it's traveled across from the Far West as far as Russia as far as Alaska through to the Delta and to nt's most um Northeast Community to here in Cambridge in nin while drumming is similar throughout the north each region has its own distinct style there's differences in clothing differences in dance styles our songs are shorter they're more rhythmic and more upbeat the first at dances um the girls will be dancing to will be um is um the story of the dance where people are traveling back Inland from their summer uh summer camps along the coast the first dancers we have on the floor are my daughter Trisha Kalinda and Sarah and I'm Julia and my husband [Music] Jerry [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Julia aena says her Association has seen positive results by promoting drum dancing she believes activities like this are important for the growth of the community it tells people who we are and where we come from um Dance Story stories a lot of the stories that are passed on from generation to generation is passed on through song and through dance and um since joining we've been able to expand it to the youth in the community in the school in the community and we have had a lot more people join I think this is special because um in are a people that lived on the land solely from the land um my grandmother's generation lived on the land and she moved into the community when she was a young adult and she's a unilingual speaker and for me I can't speak to my grandmother I need a translator and we need to do more to help people that are not fluent in the language pass on what they know to us so that we don't lose who we are through our language [Music] 15 km west of Mount p and OK territorial Park Cambridge Bay is a major Hub of the central Arctic [Music] region it is home to more than 1,400 people the largest stop for tourists and research vessels traveling through the [Music] region amazingly archaeological sites here indicate a human presence dating back 4,000 years a timeline that coincides with the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt and like Joe Haven to the East Cambridge Bay holds a strong connection to the early explorers of the Northwest [Music] Passage here in the harbor the Shipwreck mod has been a landmark for more than 80 years named for the queen of Norway the ship once belonged to Northwest Passage Pioneer roal amonson before being sold to the Hudson Bay [Music] Company it was later used as a floating Warehouse and wiress station until it sank in 1930 today plans are in place to bring the mod back home to [Music] Norway and just meters away on Cambridge Bay's lone Pier a unique vessel makes its summer home the Martin Berg is a research vessel dedicated to Scientific cultural and archaeological study it is named after one of Canada's most renowned Arctic scientists killed in a 2011 plane crash 700 km to the Northeast my name is Adrien shoski I'm the operations director for Arctic Research Foundation and we are standing here in Cambridge Bay nunit Martin Bergman is a converted vessel it was a trolling vessel from New Finland um Martin Bergman uh was one of the founders with this for this idea along with Jim Bosley and Tim McDonald and uh through their conversation they decided that it would be a good thing to bring a small research vessel to the Arctic the reason why the vessel stays here in Cambridge Bay is that the season is short and um Cambridge Bay is a perfect location to have a vessel and when the ice uh clears we are able to start science work immediately um if we are on the west or east coast and having to Transit back and forth we would never really get that full opportunity this summer The Martin Bergman will take part in multiple studies Gathering water samples tracking Arctic char even collecting soap stone for local artists so this is our Galley and Ms so it's a quite a small space but we have everything that a typical kitchen would have uh we have 12 people on board and we work 24 hours so usually when it's time to dinner we'll have six eating at a time switching out we are now on the bridge so this is where all the fun happens on the ship this is where we have all our instrumentation our GPS satellite also this is where the parks Canada crew set their uh survey equipment this is the lab space on the RV Martin Bergman um in this lab space we we check over auv equipment or other scienti scientific equipment today the crew is preparing for their most anticipated mission of the summer this auv or autonomous underwater vehicle is a remote controlled probe that will be used to search for the Lost ships of Sir John Franklin last seen in 1845 experts believe the HMS irus and HMS Terror sank not far from Joe Haven off King William Island along with our vessel we'll be ruing with the Coast Guard vessel laer also uh a Navy vessel and uh a private ocean uh Oceans One oceans North and together this group of ships will be surveying and deploying different launches uh in a coordinated effort personally I uh I'm excited to be part of the project every day I I learn more about the Arctic um the collaborations with our partners is always growing um and it's interesting to be part of History well this story uh it kind of describes what it's like in the North uh the environment is always changing whether it was 200 years ago or currently we're always faced with the same conditions that uh weather can be unpredictable it's harsh climate um you could have all the technology in the world but you're still going to face uh the Arctic the climate and as the Martin Bergman sets sail crew members are unaware they will soon be part of one of the world's great Marine archaeological discoveries the Martin Bergman and its autonomous underwater vehicle is just days away from playing a key role in locating the HMS arabus that has been la lost for nearly 170 years from the Waters of Wellington straight and the rugged Contours of King William Island to the jagged icy currents of Victoria straight to The Soaring slopes of Mount p and oaic territorial Park the Landscapes and waterways of Canada's Central Arctic region are marked by Barren Beauty and cultural Wonders It is a mix of centuries old traditions [Music] B new [Music] adventures and our inspiring [Music] wildlife on a world famous Waterway a Northwest [Music] Passage that continues to be discovered here on the edge of [Music] Canada Northern Canada's coronation Gulf from the central Arctic Hub of Cambridge Bay to rugged islands and remote Coast lining the community of kugluktuk searching for art Arctic gold it's an area that geologists are drawn to to to make discoveries a pristine river that has been a lifeblood for Generations my grandparents used it and I'm still using it today and recording climate change through rare Arctic plant life climate change is having a big impact in kluk now we reveal the secrets of Canada's Northern boundary more than 160,000 km of Arctic Frontier Canada over the [Music] edge in the heart of Canada's Central Arctic region remote Victoria Island lies 1,000 km north of the province of Saskatchewan and here on the Island's Southeastern Coast Cambridge Bay marks the regional hub the community is located just above the 69th parallel more than 250 km north of the Arctic [Music] Circle Cambridge Bay is located in the heart of Canada's nunut territory more than 80% of residents here are Inuit originating from the Southern and Eastern regions of Victoria [Music] Island Cambridge Bay is known locally as a calak it is home to more than 1,400 people the largest community in nunavut's kmat [Music] region it is a central Arctic Crossroads with hospitals schools and a Regional Airport it is also home to a distant early warning station or due station constructed in [Music] 1958 it remains in operation a key component of the joint US Canada North warning [Music] system [Music] and while Cambridge bay may look small to Outsiders it is growing throughout the community constru construction is happening [Music] everywhere from new Hamlet offices an an Arctic college campus to state-of-the-art Scientific and cultural [Music] facilities my name is Norm loan I'm the project manager for Lis Dawn on the Canadian Hier Artic research station project we're in Cambridge Bay the chars or Canadian High Arctic research station will make Cambridge Bay a scientific Hub of the north dedicated to advancing Canada's role in polar science and [Music] technology so this the site might not look like much for now to the left roughly where where that bulldozer is working right now that's going to be the location of what is called the main research building construction for chars is expected to take 3 years so these are the drawings of the project this is the uh the main Showcase of the project what they're calling the main research building the main spine of the building which is all structural steel and this is a a peripheral section um that is made of wood so that'll be all glue Lam wood engineered wood construction here and so it'll be be quite the little building maybe what you're looking for here that's some field this building here that's the main research building here and these two housing units in the back loon says construction is currently on schedule but with arctic summer almost over keeping pace is crucial I think the main difference uh with respect to doing construction in the south is that you need to you always need to remember that Winter's always on its way any exterior work uh becomes extremely painful and difficult to do after depending on where you are in the Arctic after you know late October it becomes very challenging so you always want to prioritize the exterior work that you have to do to be done in the warmer summer [Music] months the Second Challenge I would say is all the logistics that surround doing construction in the Arctic there's no highways there's no roads you can't just drive materials up everything has to come by sea lift or barge um which adds another layer of comp complexity to doing construction in the [Music] Arctic for Norm lozon the chars project presents a rare opportunity a unique workplace to experience the growth and progress of Canada's [Music] North what makes this project unique for us is the uh the fact that it's probably the largest project that's ever been done in this region of Nuno and we're just very honored to be part of a a flagship project like Char and while Char is looking to Northern Canada's future other projects are working to preserve the past Cambridge Bay Oldtown is located on the east side of the bay the original Inuit settlement site dating back to the 1940s in more recent years the community moved West now one of the old Town's last remaining landmarks is a stone church built more than 60 years ago but the historic structure has been without a roof for nearly a decade my name is Pat Edwards uh I'm a construction supervisor for the restoration of the Stone Church uh here in Cambridge Bay in none of [Music] it from what I can understand now uh there was a fire that had uh occurred here approximately 10 years ago I'm not sure of the exact date and the roof had collapsed in on top of the building and I guess the stone work and everything else have been deteriorating a little bit every year due to the inclement [Music] weather Patrick Edwards is originally from newfinland but has called Cambridge Bay home for [Music] years well actually this is quite a unique and extra extraordinary structure for to be the roof father for I'm figuring 10 years I'm kind of surprised that the walls were left in such good shape as what they were uh there was quite a bit of work to restore them but uh to get him back to where they to it took 3 weeks of hard labor for a couple of guys and you know so we're well [Music] underway restoration began just weeks ago but like the chars project Edwards and his team have a short window until winter arrives today our biggest goal is to fill in the cavity between the two stone walls it is a two two tier stone wall with a cavity in between so that we can uh Mount our SE plates and make it secure for our roof our goal here is to have the complete Roof System on and make the building secure so that there won't be no future damages to the [Music] building and weeks later from the air it is clear Edwards and team are close to accomplishing their [Music] goal well I think it's special because where the community was over here at first and where people have landed here there's a lot of roots to this side of the bay and there's people that have you know like just came into a community for the first time in their lives and the first thing that they've seen was this Stone [Music] Church [Music] heading Southwest from Cambridge Bay and Victoria Island we sawar high above the open Waters of De [Music] straight this Arctic Waterway is roughly 30 km wide with Queen mod Gulf to the East and coronation Gulf To the [Music] west D straight is covered in solid ice for 9 months a year separating Victoria Island from the Kent peninsula where the Arctic archipelago meets the North American [Music] Mainland the Kent Peninsula is a vast open expanse with arctic tundra stretching as far as the ey I can [Music] see it is 169 km long part of the North American Mainland connected by a narrow 8 kilm ismos to the [Music] southeast the peninsula was first explored by Europeans in 182 on Sir John Franklin's first voyage into the region it has been a landmark for explorers and adventurers ever since and to the South the landscape begins to rise as arctic tundra meets low Rocky Hills [Music] further on the southern end of the Kent Peninsula we reach elu Inlet it too boasts an incredible [Music] landscape bordered by Melville sound to the west and mount ELO and the atiak river to the [Music] east offshore Scenic islands. the [Music] inlet back on land the hills continue to rise as Tundra is quickly replaced by Solid [Music] Rock and it's that rock that has been drawing humans to this remote region for [Music] decades Prospectors have been trying to to harvest precious metals from the area surrounding hope Bay since the [Music] 1960s some have even [Music] succeeded now a new group believes there are more riches to be found so far here at Hope Bay there's uh three uh gold deposit that that have been discovered here in the northern part of the belt at uh at Doris we have the Doris deposit and uh just around 10 km south of us here is uh the Madrid deposit and around 35 km further south from Madrid is another gold deposit that is known as a Boston [Music] deposit T-Mac resources and team have been on this site for just a few months they are still preparing for full operations for now the mine is in care and maintenance [Music] mode but all around remnants from past Explorations can be seen including a passageway for future attempts [Music] underground where we're at right now is uh the portal to the Doris North underground so this provides uh access uh to the underground workings of uh the DOR North mine uh so this uh is the entrance uh to a decline that goes currently 3300 M uh horizontally under the ground and around 120 M uh [Music] vertically Alex buckin says there are many reasons to be optimistic at Hope Bay including its unique geological position located in an area known as a greenstone belt a greenstone belt is is is is called a greenstone belt because typically uh the rocks found in them are a dark green uh color and uh they're these occur in various parts of of Canada and in in in a lot of places in uh in the rest of the country around the world uh when you find this type of rock it is it is known to host uh or contain gold and uh and base metals and so it's an area that geologists are drawn to to to make discoveries so here's the host uh material here as as you can see as I wet it up it's actually a light green uh material so that is your typical uh greenstone [Music] Rock and while actual mineral extraction is in limbo T-Mac team continues to survey the area mapping and exploring the site for when operations [Music] begin what you see here is a hel portable uh Diamond drill rig and what it does is uh it uh it uh drills around a 3-in hole into Solid Rock and it removes uh the midddle or or or Center uh core of that rock and brings it up to surface so that it can be analyzed so you can determine uh whether or not that rock contains any uh metals or minerals of interest it's a very important part of uh the exploration process and inside the core Shack these samples are cleaned logged and measured for the quantity of gold they contain we're in the Doris por Shack Rock core is taken from a drill site it's brought in here and it is logged and uh it is measured and organized so that the quantity of of gold that can be found underground can be analyzed after that point it's taken over to the other side of this building and half of it is cut uh half of the core stays here and the other half is sent to an assay lab and uh which is uh treated and analyzed chemically to find out how much uh gold is in it Alex buckin is from this region he says as the mine prepares for full operations the Outlook is positive some of suggested hope Bay could hold at least 10 million ounces of gold an amount worth billions of dollars in other parts of Canada in the timens uh valdor region of Canada where there's greenstone belt they've been mining for gold over 110 years 170 million ounces of gold has been produced out of that greenstone belt and so the potential uh for us uh exploring and uh here at Hope Bay is that we can see that history of development uh over the course of the the the decades to [Music] come I do believe that uh there's a a great deal of excitement in our region uh to see this uh project move forward uh if we do go into production uh when we do uh there'll be hundreds of jobs created uh and uh uh residents of this region will have the opportunity uh to apply for work everyone is wanting to see this move [Music] forward [Music] heading west from the mine at Hope Bay we trace the rocky terrain just south of Melville [Music] sound here the Contours of the najat hills and the Bucking Hills stretch for [Music] kilometers and they leave need to one of the Region's most pristine waterways ba [Music] Inlet BST Inlet is a southern extension of Coronation Gulf extending roughly 1 00 km [Music] Inland the Waterway is also home to the communities of ba Inlet and umingmak talk home to the Inuit for thousands of years the region was later settled by Europeans with the arrival of the Hudson Bay Company and the Roman Catholic Church in the 1930s far below the Chapman Islands line The Horizon they are uninhabited Scenic wonders located halfway between the 67th and 68th [Music] parallel in total the islands measure 21 Square km a secluded Gem of the Arctic archipelago [Music] 20 km further west we return to the mainland on approach to Cape [Music] Barrow Cape Barrow is a rocky point of land featuring Granite Cliff faces and Tiny [Music] streams it is recorded as being called Hanan by local Inuit later it was given the name Cape Barrow by Sir John Franklin during an 1821 Expedition Cape Barrow like the Barrow straight to the north and Barrow Alaska to the West Was named in honor of Sir John Barrow an English Statesman and strong supporter of Arctic exploration Beyond Cape Barrow our trajectory changes as we reach the boundary of BST Inlet and continue [Music] West and in the distance the landscape changes the Jameson islands are known as a geological enigma their sediments are unique to the [Music] area massive Basalt Cliffs topped with siltstones and [Music] sandstones the Jameson Islands stretch 30 km end to end [Music] and Rising hundreds of meters [Music] high finally to the Southwest heurn Island marks a new Waterway as we approach Mainland North America and Canada's Arctic [Music] Coast heading east along the northern extremity of the North American Mainland The Contours of Coronation Gulf stretch more than 150 km like many landmarks in the region coronation Gulf was named by Sir John Franklin in honor of the coronation of King George [Music] IV the gulf is roughly 60 km wide separating the mainland Arctic Coast from Victoria Island to the [Music] north and here 20 km east of the community of kluk we begin to see signs of human [Music] civilization all along this Shoreline makeshift shelters can be seen they are camps used seasonally by local Inuit from kugluktuk hunting caribou and other animals stocking up for [Music] winter [Music] further with the community of kugluktuk in the distance we reach a local [Music] Landmark this is the copper mine River one of three major rivers feeding coronation Gulf [Music] and today as summer edges into Autumn the river and its banks are pristine with Vivid colors all [Music] around 10 km Inland The Contours of the copper mine lead to a key protected area in the region it is kluk territorial [Music] Park hello my name is Alan nipon I'm a Hunter and Trapper and a fisherman and we're in K territorial [Music] Park kluk territorial Park lines the banks of the copper mine [Music] River for years the park has been known to Visitors by a different name bloody Falls territorial park it was named named a National Historic Site in [Music] 1978 the reason it got named bloody Falls was uh from the 1700s when Samuel Hearn came down river with the chians and they massacred a whole bunch of inid uh except one old lady so that's why it's called bloody false but to us we call it the Poo [Music] area but for residents like Alan nipat the bloody Fall Story is old history he says today's residents see klug territorial Park as a valuable resource that they've relied on for Generations the Schooners and that used to all come up the river into this area and fish and they'd get loads of fish and take back with them to their other camps that was before copper mine or was ever a settled area but before that the people always came here our our ancestors were always moving around with the game when the Caribou came in the summer they hunted them then when the Caribou moved away they moved to fish and today Alan nip tatak continues that [Music] tradition throughout fishing season his Gil Nets can be found spread across the river in search of Arctic jar just grabbing the float that anchor to the the [Music] net so I can uh check the net for any fish and you pull it up and look through it so you can see the fish got to untangle it from the net got to get it untangled and through the Gill net another another [Music] one today it's a lot easier with the net just put put it in the water leave it overnight and come back next morning and check it so we have another another [Music] fish oh another one [Music] too there's a nice light one buk it on the head and make sure it's dead so we don't Square them all over and jump [Music] around oh another one that's nice nice fresh fish now where we catch all the nice bigger fish and leave save all the smaller ones for uh to grow and we're done we'll go on the shore and cut the fish up wash your hands and say thank you on Shore nipton natak has his fishing operation down to a [Music] science gutting cleaning and finally hanging the fish to dry going to cut the fish up U to make it into dry fish so I I use a nice stiff knife I'm not used to a filly knife so I'll cut try to get all the meat without getting all the bone and we just continue cutting them good to have a very sharp knife and then that goes for the dogs [Music] after I cut the filet off the fish I'll cut slits into the flesh to make it thinner so that it dries quicker cuz you don't want it to sit too thick and then get uh really soft and Soggy so you do one side do the other side and all the way down and once I'm done with this I'll put it in the water wash it [Music] up the reason we wash the fish is to get all the blood and the Slime off of it so that cuz we eat the skin as well when it's dry it's it's like a a chewy gum wash the skin side first get all the Slime off it then where the water's moving again so you can see it becomes nice and clean and shiny and the flesh all hangs down so it air dries really well then I hang it up with the skin facing on the outside and what that does we usually hang them with the skin out so the skin dries nice and it becomes a nice texture then within uh probably an hour or two we'll come back and flip [Music] them [Music] after drying the fish skinside out nip tatak flips it completing the process so after a couple hours of the fish sitting in the air and drying all the water is off we we turn them inside out so that all the flesh is exposed and what that does is is is is dry the flesh see these ones here are still wet so they they're slipping you usually we use a piece of wood I forgot the wooden paddle so that but that gets air into all these little slits and makes it dry really nice and fast in a couple days we'll be eating [Music] that Alan nipona lives on the banks of the copper mine River and while he enjoys a home and the Comforts of Modern Life he knows he is practicing Traditions that date back Generations uh the park to me is a is historical just because my family used it my grandparents used it and I'm still using it today and it's sort of my lifeblood and also it's our drinking water all the water you have in town comes from this River so we always try to make sure it is kept clean and clear so that animals and everybody else can have [Music] water [Music] high above the Contours of the coppermine river a blaze of incredible fall colors stretches as far as the eye can see but locals recommend enjoying it while it lasts it is now the end of August and snow could fall any [Music] day back to the coast and just west of the coppermine river we reach the community of kukuk and the shores of coronation golf formerly known as copper mine kluk is the second largest community in the kmat [Music] region it is home to 1,400 people just slightly smaller than Cambridge Bay [Music] the community is surrounded by Rolling Hills and by Arctic standards Lush vegetation kukuk even claims to be home to North America's northernmost Golf Course but the golf season here may soon be expanding locals say signs of climate change are all [Music] around scientists have taken notice too kluk TK's mix of harsh Arctic Winters and summer plant life make the community an excellent base for climate change research [Music] today researchers from the south are collaborating with the Youth of kukuk studying plant life part of a project that will Encompass much of Northern [Music] Canada the team says it is an ideal setup for researchers and the community with young people gaining valuable research experience my name is Sarah de Rosier I'm a master's of science student at the University of British Columbia and we're in kuk N so we know climate change is a big uh has is having a big impact in kukuk um whether it being sea ice melting sea levels Rising River levels and lake levels lowering which has a huge impacts on uh plants as well so different plants are growing Willows are growing out of control which has an effect on Berry productivity which has an impact on uh Caribou migration little Lemmings it's all connected so what we're doing is we've been working with the high school taking youth out on the land to our various monitoring plots to harvest berries we weigh them and count the productivity levels every year to keep track of what's going on so we we end up taking about 20 students in grades 10 to 12 out to our monitoring plots and we get to train them in scientific monitoring so they learn how to set up a plot how to harvest different samples basic experimental design which in the future will help them land jobs in the environmental sector whether it be mining Consulting working for the government what are you at all right two more meters the project in kukuk is part of a long-term study how these berries change over time will give researchers an Insight on the effects of climate change in the north so we're going to head out to one of our plots they're 20 m x 20 M and what we're doing is randomly sampling the [Music] lens so once we have our coordinates we're going to set out our uh we're going to make our plot so it it's going to be a 20 M by 20 M quadrat uh put tent peg in and then run our 20 M up tent Peg again and so on until we have our Square from there we're going to start sampling uh usually we take about 50 samp random samples using 25 cm by 2 25 cm [Music] quadrats and as de Rosier and her team work on the shores of kukuk they are not alone today's project is part of a larger network with four universities conducting similar studies throughout the North [Music] so we've done collecting for the day from our plot here our long-term monitoring plot what we're going to do is head back to the school where they have a lab and we'll be measuring uh weighing essentially the berries and Counting and entering it into our long-term database uh we'll be coming back here next year and years to follow um where we'll get a bigger picture of what the berries are doing um in terms of productivity for de Rosier the chance to work in kukuk has been an opportunity she never expected to have and one she knows she will never forget for me it feels like a second home I've been coming up here for 4 years I actually started in my undergrad working on this program so I've been able to build relationships so I love the land going out on the land camping fishing picking berries hunting but I also really like the community and working with people here um picking berries is a huge thing for a lot of women in in the area so it's nice to make that connection with them out on the [Music] land from the pristine Waters of Victoria Island and the Kent Peninsula to the stunning Chapman islands and rock formations of Cape Barrow to the protected cultural Waters of kluk territorial Park coronation Gulf is where the Arctic archipelago meets Mainland North [Music] America these waters are a northern gem remote shorelines holding centuries of Secrets tiny outposts with stories of riches and tragedy and bustling communities digging deep to protect the future here on the edge of [Music] Canada [Music]

Channel: TRACKS - Travel Documentaries

Views: 364,301

Keywords: Arctic Circle exploration, Arctic expedition, Arctic wonders marathon., Canadian North, Canadian territories, TRACKS - Travel Documentaries, bucket list destinations, environmental protection, extreme environments, extreme landscapes, extreme tourism, geographical diversity, landscape preservation, majestic scenery, national parks exploration, nature conservation, scenic views, stunning vistas, travel vlog, wilderness preservation

Id: TJOlExsGRTU

Length: 200min 18sec (12018 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 25 2023