For most of us, sea ice is a white and icy desert, swept by blizzard, surrounded by cold and harsh expanses, crowned at its center with the mythical North Pole. It is the kingdom of the white bear, the great seal hunter. It is the land of the polar night, draped in northern lights, and of day without end. It is a world full of symbols, through which our imagination has been navigating since early childhood.

Sea ice also shelters a world that is unknown, because access to it is so difficult : the underwater side, below the ice. It is an upside- down universe, with an icy ceiling for surface and, below, an abyssal vastness toward an invisible bottom, rich with other mysteries. It is a universe made of water, ice and crystal, of polar white, deep black, emerald green and turquoise. It is a maze of ice, clumps of crystals that harbor life, and huge walls.

Sea ice will soon disappear during the summer, as a result of global warming. And yet, no – or so few -- images of its immersed side have been made. There have been reports filmed from the most accessible coasts or on site during expeditions to the North Pole, but not thorough work on the topic has been realized.

This expedition was born from the desire to bear witness to this spectacular world, which is becoming smaller every year. The goal is to bring back images and sounds of this icy underwater world, to show the diversity of its landscapes and the wealth of its ecosystems, from the North Pole all the way to Canada. The expedition will be an audiovisual account of the hidden side of sea ice, a world heritage site that today is about to disappear.

Ghislain Bardout