Life At The Sinaaq

Welcome to the floe edge, where landfastice meets open Arctic Ocean and species thrive

- Susan Nerberg

SAM OMIK brings his snowmobile to a crawl. Driving slowly across the landfast sea ice that covers Eclipse Sound, he follows a gaping crack that reveals the ocean beneath. An Inuk from Pond Inlet, a far-flung hamlet on the northern edge of Baffin Island, Omik knows this type of ice; he’s been hunting on it since he was a child. Still, the crevasse — wide enough to swallow his snowmobile and the qamutik (sled) he’s pulling — has him worried. After all, his mission as the senior guide on tour company Arctic Kingdom’s narwhal and polar bear safari is to ensure the safe movement of 18 guests on their Nunavut holiday on ice.

Searching for a narrow spot where the crack, or lead, can be bridged, Omik ignores the spectacle that plays out below. In the brine is an underwater version of the aurora borealis: glittery plankton dancing on rays of light and sun-splashed jellyfish with angel wings fluttering in slow-motion — strands in a web of life that, as Omik explains later, lives and livelihoods in the Arctic depend upon.

But Omik is taking guests to see the bigger picture — where plankton meets fish meets seal meets polar bear. An hour after crossing the lead, Omik orders the caravan of snowmobiles and sleds to a halt. He waves toward the sinaaq, the floe edge, where the landfastice ends and the open ocean, studded with bobbing pack ice, begins. All eyes turn to the sinaaq and the mottled grey backs breaking the surface. All ears tune to the frequency of breathing narwhal.