Trapped

In April 2017, on the far east coast of Canada, a huge ice pack floated down the coast of Labrador and slammed into the northeast corner of Newfoundland. Made up of thick first-year ice mixed with icebergs of much older ice, it trapped fishing communities with 40 miles of impassable ice. The ice conditions were the worst in living memory and could easily be seen in NASA photographs from space.

The ice severely impacted the fishing, crabbing, and sealing industries as ships could not leave the harbors. But this impact was not just for a week or two. I visited the area during the first week of June, over 45 days since the ice arrived, and it had not yet moved.

The ice invasion brought with it unexpected and dangerous visitors. Over a dozen Polar Bears, following seals that inhabited the ice pack, descended on the coastal villages, including one that was spotted walking directly through the town of La Scie, just weeks before my arrival.

On a foggy June evening, just outside the town, I headed for the top of the cliffs with a great view to the north – hoping I wouldn’t encounter any of the polar bears. Being late in the day and near such a small and remote town, I thought for sure that I would be alone. But to my surprise, I was joined by a couple of fishermen with their binoculars in hand. It seems that it had become almost a daily evening ritual for them to head up to the viewpoint, survey the endless ice, and speculate that maybe tomorrow the wind would finally change and carry the ice away.

Although I empathized with their plight, as a photographer, the expanse of ice presented a unique opportunity to capture something beautiful and rarely seen. So, while they discussed what tomorrow might bring, I set up the special equipment I needed to create an ultra-high-resolution photo. As I captured the hundreds of images needed to assemble this exceptionally ultra-high-resolution photo, the fishermen discussed making a run for open sea the next morning.

The next day, I left town, but later that evening, I heard news reports of five fishermen being rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter near La Scie, after their ship, stuck in thick ice, started taking on water. I can only hope two of those men were not the fellows I had met the previous evening. But I can certainly understand their impatience after being cut off from their livelihood for so long, trapped by a wall of ice the likes of which the region has never seen.

Photo Information: A very high-resolution photograph of a pack ice sheet taken at La Scie, Newfoundland, Canada.

Search Keywords: newfoundland canada daytime seascapes nature water weather oceans snow rocks arctic