Words wouldn’t do what I experienced in Ittoqqortoormiit (Scoresbysund) justice. I had read about sila. I had even told people in my lecture series that animals are non-human kin in Greenland. But I had never witnessed that connection until 23 April 2025.

I’ll tell the story because it’s an interesting one.

Normally, if you see a bear at all in Greenland, it’s like this. Super far away even with binoculars or a 600 mm lens (here) on a zodiac rubber boat on a cruise in Scoresbysund.

Waterfall in the fjord was the most stunning I’ve ever seen. Bear is tiny.

I was very eager to see a bear by the time I finally went to Ittoqqortoormiit in 2022. I kept hearing buzz at the guesthouse that people had seen them. I saw the furs outside some of the hunters houses. But no bear. Just tracks.

Frozen skin outside of a home in Kap Tobin, March 2022

You get roped into interesting things in Ittoqqortoormiit. Every time without fail. Eventually, we went on snowmobiles to film a German TV in April 2022 show and we wanted to find a bear. Camp out and watch it with our long lenses. However, we didn’t communicate that properly. So when we did find a bear, we ended up scaring it away but we did catch it running on my DJI Osmo Pocket. No good photos. Just a crappy video. I sold the footage though.

This was the first bear I ever saw. It’s a still from a video made on a tiny DJI Osmo Pocket camera. We were closer to her but she was freaked out as was I. It all happened so fast. I have seen several bears run from snowmobiles. They’re wise.

So I didn’t feel like I had any good photos or encounters with bears. I left Ittoqqortoormiit in 2022 excited that I saw a couple bears. I had just missed one that stole our seal from our net. The crime scene was awful but fixing the net was so painful. Thief!

I wouldn’t see another bear again until 2024 in Canada in the Torngat National Park. We were on a cruise again. So it was far away. This is zoomed in from a 750 mm lens. This bear looked so different to me from the Northeast Greenland bear I saw. I started learning about the subpopulations and the differences.

A very bored bear from afar. Its nose is more squarish. Eeyor the bear. Kind of sad.

Not satisfied, I continued hoping to see a bear the way Carsten Egevang saw them in Greenland. That was my dream going into 2025. I returned to Ittoqqortoormiit in April and stayed for 3 weeks. Just long enough for whatever might happen. I didn’t have an agenda or an objective. I just wanted to be back with my Greenland family.

By the end of this trip, it was the place in Greenland I have spent the most time. 10 weeks in the most isolated town in Greenland. It is very special to me. I’ve only spent more time overseas in Singapore, Denmark, and Japan.

*Greenland Unseen* by Carsten Egevang was my inspiration. His book *Life at the Edge* was the reason I learned about Ittoqqortoormiit in the first place.

Same same for the trip. We went on patrol to scare a bear that was near the town away. Paid hunters to do what they’d do anyway so that’s a win. I’m never scared of the bears when I’m with the hunters.

Eventually the quota was met a few days before we were leaving. The bears know when the last one is caught for the season. They gloat and come close to town to taunt folks. They get bolder in their scavenging ways. People live stream the bears near homes and locals or the polar bear patrol chase them away.

But the best time to see bears is after the quota. Immediately after. They’re everywhere. The hunters always know where they are. You just have to follow the tracks. But I don’t know how they can see in the sun on the snow. It’s so bright. This is a dark image stopped down for contrast.

We knew we were getting closer. But seeing a bear on land with a loud snowmobile without a boat, is suboptimal.

Zoomed in. No light. My camera battery died. Then the backup died. Then my glasses fogged up so we only got a couple photos. I gave the camera to my guide so he shot this before it died after 10 frames. The adventure was worth it.

I texted my guide the photos I wanted to get. Photos like Carsten Egevang.

I wanted the water dripping off the bear just like the cover of Greenland Unseen. Little did I know that my guide and friend would deliver.

He set aside the last day before we were going to leave Ittoqqortoormiit. He took the day off work. He took us to Kap Tobin on snowmobile. I didn’t know what was next.

He went inside his house up there and got a set of keys. I still didn’t know what was going on. We got back on the snowmobile and then after about 10 minutes we were at his boat snuggly trapped in the sea ice near the ice edge.

We got off the snowmobile. He went on and hitched the boat to his snowmobile and dragged it to the ice. He then cut a trail in the ice and told us to come over. I was excited but didn’t expect anything. In 10 weeks of living in Ittoqqortoormiit, I still hadn’t seen bears up close. Just scared bears running away. Same with seals. They knew the deal.

It was so cold but it was a beautiful day. On the water it was even colder.

But then… he said, “look!”

Something was moving in the distance coming towards our dinghy. Slowly.

Nanoq. The polar bear in the distance! And it was cold and I couldn’t get the back cap off my long lens off. It was stuck! I was going to miss my chance.

My guide had to pry it off and now I was praying my batteries would stay alive long enough to get some quality. I had four on me.

I didn’t think my chances were good of getting anything good. But I had to try!

This beautiful bear came so close to us. We just sat parked in our boat. I was getting an invaluable experience. What a privilege.

We call this bear Hollywood. She is a mama in my mind. He could be a boy too. But I call her a she. My theory is that she was super chill and didn’t care about us. Came up and smelled and then she drifted off. Very slowly. She even took a nap and then went on her way. An ideal bear to photograph. I was so happy.

Hollywood took a nap. We were with her for 20 minutes. Focus started acting up so I added haze to this one to make it softer. A wild animal spent that kind of time with us. Qujanar!

We were close because she came close to us.

You don’t come back the same after you’ve seen a bear like this on their turf in the fjord.

I died and went to heaven spending so much time with Hollywood. I thought we would go home and I’d have good images and stories to tell. But we kept going for a couple kilometers and my guide said… “look!”

Two bears! Young bears too. Maybe Hollywood’s cubs? Two at once? Whaatttt! How lucky. My batteries were still good but now I was being selective about what I wanted them to do.

Fata morgana mirage. Look it up. Distorted light.

Both bears came close to us but when the sea ice started to wobble under their weight, they both backed off.

I was on cloud 9. I got to see 3 bears in one day at close range. What could be better?

But then my guide made an utterance. I can’t remember it but I remember that it was a distinctive sound like clearing the throat.

The bear took off running. For a kilometer.

Before I knew it, the bear had jumped in the water.

And then… I put my camera up and pressed the shutter button and didn’t release for 30 seconds.

Was this really happening? What are my settings on my camera? I’m using mittens so auto program mode. There’s always Lightroom to try to save these…

The bear took off running again after I got the shot. I cropped it and this was the final product edited yesterday 10 July 2026.

So now you see it. My guide could speak to the bear. Instructed it to run, jump, get out of the water and keep running. All with an utterance. Complete control of the situation.

I wouldn’t believe me either but I have the images to back it up.

My life changed. The bears are part of my Greenland story and I’m going to fight for them and the hunters. The ability to communicate with the bear is something I want others to witness and understand.

I just pressed the shutter button of a camera I own. My guide did the work. Should there ever be a book, he will get 50% of the proceeds. Same with any prints sold.

We got a final view after we started to head back.

I also decided that if I ever sell prints or photo books of icebergs, then I’ll give 50% to the boat driver.

Sharing is caring.

Visit remote Greenland yourself. You can’t get this on a cruise. You have to travel the hard and uncomfortable way. Don’t wait until you’re too old and have mobility issues. Visit as soon as you can. These places are disappearing faster than the sea ice. Modernity and tradition don’t co-exist well. They’re constantly fighting to displace each other and modernity is winning unfortunately (example snowmobiles vs dogsled).

Snowmobiles are brainless though. The dogs are much safer but more expensive.

There are oil exploration and exploitation licenses very close to where these photos were taken. Nothing has been done since oil was discovered nearly 50 years ago. Unclear what environmental and social assessments have been done at this time. But the project may move forward.

Locals are protesting and some asked for a helicopter trip so they can view their homeland one last time.

We don’t know what will happen. If the permits for drilling are granted, these bears lives will change. How? I don’t know. I want to visit with the hunters to record the local knowledge from their point of view. There have been lots of studies already but I’d like to study the gaps.

This is a live situation. Let’s see and then make the best of it.

Long awaited and overdue post about the human animal connection between polar bears and people in Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland