Arctic Heart

The Arctic is vital to the health of our planet, and right now this icy heart is rapidly melting, threatening not only our polar regions, but our global ecosystem.

This iceberg heart found in Greenland, one of the places most affected by global warming, wants to be a symbol of this ecological disaster happening to our Planet Earth.

Deluxe View on the Melting

This remote lodge in Greenland offers a unique and astonishing view on the Eqi Glacier, one of the most productive glaciers in the northern atmosphere.

The immersion in nature is total, and the only sound is the deep rumble of huge chunks of iceberg breaking off from the glacier, and slowly melting in the bay.

A breathtaking spectacle, yet a saddening reminder of the warming of our polar regions.

Earth vs Ice / Ice vs Earth

Greenland Ice Cap covers 80% of Greenland, and it is the second largest ice body in the world after Antarctica. The Russell Glacier is one of the most accessible ones, close to Kangerlussuaq airport, and therefore the effects of global warming are easier to see, both for locals, tourists and scientists.

Every summer the ice is melting faster, deeper and on a broader scale. Melted water, mud and soil are gaining ground, and winters are failing to gain back the miles lost during the summer warmth.

Flying into the Light

West Greenland is one of the few nesting site of the Atlantic Puffin: in a small islet not far from the capital, hundreds of puffins can be seen feeding and nesting. 

Sunset is definitely one of the best time to photograph the “clown of the sea”, and this beautiful specimen was flying in one of the last raylight of this long summer day.

Puffin Love Burrow

The Atlantic Puffin, also called Sea Parrot or Clown of the Sea, is a vulnerable species, and the breeding grounds are only in Norway, Iceland, British Isles and Greenland, where I’ve found this curious ménage à trois.

This breeding couple is nesting in a burrow, often made by rabbits or other birds, and they are preparing to protect and feed their only offspring, in spite of the jealous look of their neighbor.

Arctic Fox Hide and Seek

In West Greenland, in front of the Eqi Glacier, I saw something roaming near the edge of the camp, and once I realized it was an Arctic Fox, I grabbed my telephoto lens and started walking downhill to get closer.

The sun was already setting, so it was not easy to follow the fox from a distance and handling the camera by hand.

After a while, the fox seemed to be winning at this game of hide and seek, as I could not spot it anymore among the rocks… and just when I was about to give up, it raised the head from the rocks, looking straight at me, and I was able to catch this look… just before it disappeared again, probably going to hunt in the night.

Disko Fin Whales

Disko Bay is an off-the-beaten track destination in West Greenland, not far from Ilulissat, the “capital of icebergs”: the silence of the nature here is so absolute that you can “hear” whales blowing in the ocean from the shore, while trekking. This pack of fin whales, the second largest mammal in the world, was swimming closeby a beautiful iceberg when I took this shot.

Greenlandic Glacier Seal

Unfortunately this is not the happy discovery of a new seal species that lives in the Greenland Ice Sheet, but one of the (too) many meltwater lakes that every summer are formed on the ice surface.

This phenomenon is common during summer, but in the last years the ice melts faster, quicker and deeper, creating lakes, crevasses and penetrating below the ice sheet itself, accelerating the slowly descent into the sea.

Arctic Fox on Greenlandic Tundra

In West Greenland, in front of the Eqi Glacier, I saw something roaming near the edge of the camp, and once I realized it was an Arctic Fox, I grabbed my telephoto lens and started walking downhill to get closer.

The sun was already setting, so it was not easy to follow the fox from a distance and handling the camera by hand.

I was able to catch the moment when the fox was looking at the horizon… frozen in a precious moment that I was lucky enough to catch on camera.

The feast of Humpbacks and Seagulls

Summer in Disko Bay – Greenland – is the perfect spot for whale watching, and I’ve been lucky enough to witness a banquet of a pod of beautiful humpback whales, freezing in time the hundreds of seagulls that were flying around, hoping to catch a tasty leftover from the whales.