Mussels: Photo Essay by Patrice Halley

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Mussels: Photo Essay by Patrice Halley

The biggest and shiniest blue mussel specimens that we can find in Canada are picked in the Ungava Bay, says mollusc experts. Photos by patricehalley.com.

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Mussels: Photo Essay by Patrice Halley

A good cave allows pickers to bring back 20 kilos (44 pounds) of blue mussels.

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Mussels: Photo Essay by Patrice Halley

Sometime, up to 20 Inuit can pick fresh mussels in the same cave under the ice.

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Mussels: Photo Essay by Patrice Halley

While on the icefield the temperature can reach minus 40Â° C, in the cave the temperature is around 0°C. "It is like Florida," jokes Lukasi Naapaluk.

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Mussels: Photo Essay by Patrice Halley

Under the two-metre-thick ice sheet, Inuit speak quietly, since a block of ice could collapse.

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Mussels: Photo Essay by Patrice Halley

Experience and intuition seem more useful than watches and timers for warning of the tide return.

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Mussels: Photo Essay by Patrice Halley

Before dropping under the ice, Lukasi lights the cave to see if there are mussels at the bottom.

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Mussels: Photo Essay by Patrice Halley

Juusipi Qissiq opens a tunnel in the ice to the mussel beds at the bottom of the Bay of Wakeham.

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Mussels: Photo Essay by Patrice Halley

Once they have located a cave, the Inuit start digging a tunnel through the ice.

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Mussels: Photo Essay by Patrice Halley

Villagers look through cracks in the snow for sheets of ice that have crunched against each other, which would be a perfect spot for harvesting. Photos by patricehalley.com.

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Mussels: Photo Essay by Patrice Halley

By:

Patrice Halley

February 22, 2011

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