Arctic Family: In Love With Cold

The Franz Josef Land archipelago is the northernmost part of Russia and also the furthest from the continent, just 900 Km away from the North Pole. This place is also the northernmost nature reserve.

The place has no real color because everything is mostly white or different shades of white. The weather here can be extremely capricious with ever changing wind speed and direction. The very lowest temperature on record is -52 C degrees.

A new town for military personnel is under construction on Franz Josef Land. But every person and cargo must be carefully checked before they are allowed to stay because many countries are interested in the Arctic and send their people to gather intelligence. All the riches are to be found in this place and there’s even talk that a Northern Sea route should be made international. That would probably spell disaster, though.

The ten people who are stationed permanently on Franz Josef Land, love the place. They all live peacefully as a family and they believe in the value of teamwork and contributing to the common good.

One thing that takes getting used to, are the bears. They seem to be the ones in charge of running things on the archipelago. They are conscious animals that are also extremely intelligent. The bears are very curious and love to come closer to get a good look at whatever might be going on. They love treats and when the ships sail in, the crew gives them condensed milk and ice cream. Humans need to be respectful and not get cocky with them.

There have been incidents of bears attacking and eating workers. This usually happens when the bears are old or sick. These tend to attack humans because it’s an easy way to get a meal.

Those who choose to return to Franz Josef Land, do it because they are real fans of the Arctic. The weather is harsh— it can change six or seven times per day. Still there’s a lot of unique beauty to be found that very few people get to see in real life.

However, not anyone can work there because of the extreme conditions. Although dying is not the first thing on everybody’s mind, they all know that if they’re not careful and attentive, it becomes a possibility.

There is a program being developed to clean the Arctic because the garbage produced by human activity is harming the naturally curious bears.

Once you fall in love with the Arctic, you will never betray it. Watch this film now.