The Polar Retrospective looks at recent stories from around the world’s polar regions. This week we take a look at the setting course for Iceland and Scoresby Sound by the crew of Moscatel, new research warning of vanishing summer habitat for bowhead whales and Inuit-led cruises in Nunavut.
The Polar Retrospective is a collaborative effort by the editorial team of polarjournal.net. Each writer chooses a topic they found interesting and important in the past week. The initials at the end of each section indicate the author. We hope you enjoy it.
A 10-metre aluminium sailboat is choosing East Greenland over the West as its sailing destination
At 20°C, on one of the noses of Western Europe, pointing into the Atlantic Ocean, the Camaret-sur-Mer harbour is a small shelter where last week we met adventurers on their way to East Greenland. They will take pictures of the underwater nearshore, aboard a 10-meter sailing boat called Moscatel.
“She has the name of a wine – not a very good one, I have to admit – but actually, the model is a Romanée, designed by Philippe Harlé in the ’70s. And by the way, that’s also the name of an excellent wine,” explained Niels Gins, the skipper, who is also a fisheries controller for the French prefecture of the Southern French Territories.
He spent part of his savings on refitting the aluminum sailboat over the last 10 years, working to insulate the walls, install a heater, the electrical network… and the boat kitty.
A Swiss watch company named Edox gave him 2,000 euros and a yachting wristwatch model to take some pictures during the trip to the Scoresby Sound fjord system in East Greenland. So he set up a radar system to detect the ice.
With two other divers and Céline Chevobbe, former doctor of the Southern French Territories and the RV Marion Dufresne, he will slowly but steadily sail to Iceland and wait for a weather window to cross to East Greenland.
“Sincerely, it’s better to try the East. The navigation is shorter between the islands of Ireland, Scotland, Iceland, and then Greenland. To reach West Greenland, you have to think about 10 days at sea, and with limited knowledge of the environment, this boat, and a new crew, it’s better to take small steps,” he explained.
Niels Gins wants to wait in Iceland, where skippers who have spent the last 10 years crossing the Denmark Strait also wait for the right moment.
“And if it’s not possible because there’s too much ice, we will have already visited some beautiful places,” he adds, thinking of personal experiences rather than exploits. “I prefer to call it a beautiful voyage, like a mountain trek rather than an expedition.” C.L
Climate Change Threatens Bowhead Whale Habitat
A new international study paints a dire future for one of the Arctic’s most iconic marine mammals: the bowhead whale. By tracing 11,700 years of ecological history, researchers from the University of Adelaide and the University of Copenhagen have revealed that climate change could wipe out up to 75 percent of the whales’ summer foraging grounds by the end of the century.
Combining fossil evidence, historical whaling records, and computer modelling, the team reconstructed a detailed picture of bowhead habitat stability across the Holocene. Remarkably, their preferred ice-covered feeding grounds remained consistent for millennia – until now. The whales’ long-standing reliance on summer sea ice is becoming a vulnerability, as warming temperatures rapidly shrink their critical habitat.
In the Sea of Okhotsk, home to one of only four bowhead populations, suitable summer habitat may vanish entirely by 2060. «Bowhead whales have preferred to forage amongst sea ice for many millennia,» said lead author Nicholas Freymueller in a press release. «However, Arctic sea ice has declined significantly in recent decades, and this is set to accelerate in coming decades, causing habitats where bowhead whales currently congregate in large numbers to be lost.»
The study also warns that the few patches of viable habitat expected to remain in 2100 will fall outside the whales’ current range, complicating conservation strategies. Already recovering slowly from centuries of commercial whaling, bowheads now face a new existential threat.
Senior author Damien Fordham stresses the importance of historical context: «By using ecological models and paleo-archives to reconstruct pre-whaling distributions of bowhead whales, we were able to develop a much stronger understanding of the habitat preferences of this species that was nearly hunted to extinction.»
Published in Ecology and Evolution, the study underscores a broader message: understanding the past is essential to protecting Arctic wildlife from the accelerating impacts of climate change. J.H.
HX Expeditions Innovates with Inuit-Led Arctic Tourism
Norwegian company HX Expeditions has announced a groundbreaking partnership with several Inuit communities in Nunavut to launch a community-led excursion program in Arctic Canada—a first at this scale for the global cruise industry.
The program, set to begin in summer 2025, was co-developed with Inuit Elders, local residents, and community-born staff. It will be offered as part of HX’s 25-day cruises through the legendary Northwest Passage, aboard its hybrid-powered ships, MS Fridtjof Nansen and MS Roald Amundsen.
In Gjøa Haven, Pond Inlet, and Cambridge Bay, travelers will be invited to discover Inuit culture through guided storytelling hikes, art workshops, traditional Arctic char fishing, and meetings with Elders. Group sizes will be intentionally limited to 10–12 participants to foster what the cruise line describes as “authentic” exchanges, according to the press release published on May 19.
Notably, HX will take no share of the excursion revenue. All proceeds, ranging from 50 to 425 Canadian dollars per activity (30 to 270 euros), will go directly to local residents and businesses, supporting sustainable economic development and community self-determination.
“This kind of collaboration is exactly what’s needed in Arctic tourism”, said Mariah Erkloo, a product planner at HX and a native of Pond Inlet, Nunavut. “It’s encouraging to see it begin in a way that centers Inuit voices and priorities. From the community side, if this model continues to grow with care, it will strengthen the experience for both locals and visitors.”
At a time when tourism in the North is raising growing ethical and environmental concerns, HX is betting on a co-creation model—one that could help redefine the future of travel in Indigenous territories. M.B.