Greenland Dogs Captured in Beautiful Photos As Their World Vanishes - Newsweek

A photographer has captured beautiful images of the "phenomenal" Greenland dog as numbers of this unique domesticated breed dwindle and their Arctic home undergoes rapid changes due to climate change.

The images were snapped by South African wildlife photographer and filmmaker Danie Ferreira over the course of his extensive travels to the polar regions—including expeditions to Greenland, the Canadian High Arctic, the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard and Antarctica—over the past 30 years.

Ferreira has now published a book, Out in the Cold, that contains images from these travels, many of which pay homage to the extraordinary determination, stamina and strength of the Greenland dogs that have played an integral role in human transport and exploration in the Arctic region for centuries.

The Greenland dog is a large, domesticated, husky-type breed that is used as a sled dog. This breed is native to Greenland—the world's largest island—but such is their suitability for this type of work that they have been ferried around the world to be used in expeditions across the polar regions.

"Interestingly enough, all the polar explorers of note that were successful had Greenland dogs," Ferreira tells Newsweek in an interview, pointing to the example of iconic Norwegian adventurer Roald Amundsen, who famously beat the American Robert Falcon Scott to the South Pole in 1911, becoming the first person to reach this point.

Close-up of a Greenland dog in Svalbard. These dogs have been used to haul sleds in the Arctic for centuries. Danie Ferreira

Scott, who was unconvinced by dog-hauled sleds, "went with all kinds of other modes of transport, like Siberian ponies and motorized sleds," Ferreira said. "But Amundsen went to Greenland to get Greenland dogs, and he won the race to the South Pole." (Unfortunately, Amundsen also killed some of his canine companions en route to the pole in order to feed both his men and the remaining dogs.)

Sledding dogs have been used in the Arctic for thousands of years. Greenland dogs can trace their lineage back to ancient dogs found in the eastern Siberian Arctic around 9,500 years ago, according to a study published in the journal Science. The first dogs to appear in Greenland were seen around 4,000 years ago as ancient peoples migrated across the North American continent.

The Greenland dog is also among the purest of dog breeds. In Greenland, measures have even been implemented to protect its purity by limiting the import of other dog breeds, for example.

A musher leads their dogs into the wilds of Greenland. The athleticism and strength of these dogs makes them highly suitable for this kind of work. Danie Ferreira

This breed is perfectly adapted to life in the freezing Arctic with their thick coats and other characteristics, such as genes that enable them to cope with a high-fat diet and thrive in low oxygen conditions. Their ability to haul sleds over large distances has made them incredibly useful to humans as haulers, but they have also been used for hunting, as well as protection from polar bears and other threats.

"Neither man nor dog could have survived the Arctic, I don't think, if it wasn't for each other," Ferreira said. "There is such a good reason for man and dog to be with each other. They are phenomenal athletes."

"We traveled numerous days with these dogs and there were about 12 in a pack. They move at about 12-15 kilometers per hour [7.5-9.5 miles per hour] and they keep that up for four hours, regardless of the terrain, pulling a sled that weighs about 700-750 kilograms [1,500-1,650 pounds]. They just have such a wonderful work ethic, they explode with energy—it's just magic. They go for four hours at a time, then there's a break, and then they do another four hours and another—they keep on going."

A Greenland dog is ferried across the Barents Sea to help lead an Arctic exploration. These dogs have been ferried across the world to be used in polar expeditions. Danie Ferreira

Ferreira said, as a cameraman, he was always trying to get in among the pack during his travels with the dogs in order to snap low-level shots, which sometimes led to some unfortunate situations.

"I think I became the most p****d-on individual in the world," he laughed. "Because these dogs mark you for whatever reason. But it's no issue. If you're there with a Gore-Tex shell at -40 C and the dog pees on you, you just wait a few seconds and you brush it off."

The photographer said the thing that fascinated him most about the dogs was the relationship they have with their "musher"—the driver of a dog sled.

"That relationship doesn't just happen overnight. It's years of training. You need to be a bit of a dog whisperer. I was fascinated to observe how you command this raw energy of 12 dogs in front of you with your voice. When you and your dogs are in a zone and you are moving—it's like a symphony."

A pair of Greenland dogs. Greenland dogs are an enduring force in Arctic history. Danie Ferreira

Each pack has its own structure with different dogs playing different roles, Ferreira said. One of the packs that he was driven by was led by a dog called Ronnie.

"He was not the best dog—he was not the strongest or the fittest and he actually had quite serious ADHD because his attention got drawn away quite often. But Ronnie was valuable to the musher because he reacted best to his voice."

Just behind Ronnie was a female dog that he said had the best work ethic and drove Ronnie forward. "She kept her head down driving for four hours undeterred," he said.

Right at the back of the pack, meanwhile, was the "oldest, meanest dog," who kept the ones in front of him in line.

"The musher put him there because the youngest dogs were just in front of him," Ferreira said. "It's interesting how there's a structure, and quite a thought-out structure in the alignment of the pack and how they actually get from A to B."

Snowdrifts crust the coats of Greenland dogs. These dogs have thick coats that enable them to thrive in freezing conditions. Danie Ferreira

Ferreira said there was a special value to the relationship between man and dog in the harsh conditions of the Arctic. "I think that there's an interdependence—there is a synergy between these two harnessing totally different skills."

He pointed to research indicating that domesticated dogs have smaller brains than their wild ancestors.

"Man relied on their sense of smell, their stamina and their strength in the Arctic. But the fact that we started thinking for these dogs to a certain extent caused their brains to shrink."

Despite the fact that sledding dogs have been used for thousands of years, this relationship is under threat. The number of Greenland dogs has fallen significantly over the past two decades or so as the island's unique sledding culture gradually disappears.

The decline in numbers can be explained in part by modern technology—such as snowmobiles—replacing the need for sled dogs. Meanwhile, the shrinking extent of the sea ice along the coast of Greenland due to global warming is reducing opportunities for local people to hunt in the traditional way, meaning fewer dogs are required.

Several efforts have been initiated in an attempt to protect the future of these dogs and the unique culture that surrounds them. For example, in 2017 a group of scientists proposed 22 recommendations to preserve and develop the sled dog culture in Greenland and other parts of the Arctic.

"Many don't know how fantastically unique the dog culture is. It's a part of Greenland's culture," Morten Meldgaard from the Natural History Museum of Denmark, who helped produce the recommendations, said in a statement at the time. "Genetically, sled dogs are also extremely strong and resilient. We can be very proud of having a living sled dog culture and we should take care of it."