James Simonee is the founder and current leader of the Pond Inlet’s Marine Country Food and contaminants monitoring project that has been running since 2015. “As a resident of Mittimatalik (Pond Inlet) all my life, I have witnessed changes in weather, sea ice, marine mammals, land wildlife and fishes”. Through the oceans, the Arctic is connected to all other regions of the world and can carry and bank contaminants that can be absorbed by wildlife and Inuit. “As Inuit, marine country food is our main resource all year round and there is a need to know if the animals are being affected. I believe that there should be more young Inuit becoming researchers/scientists as we can speak the local language and because we know the land and where the best places are to go hunt and fish”. The monitoring project investigates contaminants loads (and animal diseases) in arctic char, seal, and narwhal.
