Natural History

Mussel exist at the bottom end of the food chain in the arctic and are a plentiful source of food for people and animals alike. They attach together in clumps to rocks on the sea floor and in tidal pools where they filter feed on plankton and other microscopic life in the water.

Inuit Knowledge

The Nunavik community of Kangiqsujuaq is well known for its mid winter mussel collection. They wait for big tides to recede and then proceed to cut holes in the thick land fast ice near the shore while the tide is out. Climbing down under the ice, they pick as many mussels as they can until the tide comes back in, careful to keep their voices down for fear of the ice collapsing down on them.

Photo credit: Blue mussels on a rocky substrate by Andreas Trepte, (n.d.). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_mussel#/media/File:Blue_mussel_Mytilus_edulis.jpg. Licenced with CC BY-SA 2.5, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5.