People of a Feather 2011

     This film features footage from seven winters in the Arctic.  The people are the Inuit on the Belcher Islands in Canada’s Hudson Bay.  This location is the habitat of the eider duck.  The eider down of this duck allows it to be able to live in this harsh cold weather and the eider down also keeps the Inuit people warm.  The people go to the eider duck nests and harvest down left after the eggs have hatched.  The Inuit also eat some of the eggs and birds.  Massive hydroelectric dams to power New York and eastern North American have changed the sea ice and the ocean currents.  Many of the eider ducks have died because they become stranded in very small spaces of open water with the ice closing in on them.  The Inuit save them if they are out on the ice and see this happening.

     I thought it was very sad to see the ducks caught by the sea ice without a chance of safety or survival.  They become very tired from their deep dives trying to feed on the crustaceans, mollusks and mussels on the sea bottom.  They become exhausted and starved.  The Inuit people cannot count on the ice to be thick where it should be because of the changes and they risk going through the ice on their hunting trips.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)

90 min, Doc directed by Joel Heath with Dinah Kavik, Johnny Kudluarok, the Community of Sanikiluaq, Joel Heath.

Note:  Imdb 8.1 out of 10, 83% critic 83% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Film Crave 2.00/4.

Special Note:  Proceeds from this documentary are supporting programs working with the Inuit communities to help them show how the dams are changing their environment.  Joel Heath is a biologist and he spent seven years on this project plus he writes biological articles on the Common Eider.