Get up close to polar bears — and the humans who live among them — in this new doc series

An upcoming documentary series on polar bears in the eastern Arctic is as much about the enigmatic creatures as it is about the people who live alongside them — and their knowledge, the project argues, is key to preserving polar bear populations in an era of climate change.

The short documentaries, collectively called Nanuk Narratives, follow Inuit communities as they interact with the Davis Strait polar bear population, which is spread across the eastern Arctic from Nunavut to Greenland.

Four communities in the region, including Nunatsiavut in Labrador, wanted to share Inuit knowledge about the bears with the wider world, says director David Borish, a post-doctoral researcher at the School of Arctic and Subarctic Studies at Memorial University.

"There's so much information and research and news about polar bears all around the world, in large part because polar bears have been so connected to the climate movement," Borish said.

"But what hasn't been shared as much is the perspectives and knowledge of the people who actually live alongside polar bears."

The animals and Inuit are closely linked, he added, meaning any conservation efforts need to take into account the polar bears' neighbours — the people who've been studying them for centuries.

"Inuit have such a strong connection to polar bears, and this really is information that should be shared with broader audiences," he said.

Despite the vastness of the region covered in the documentaries, a common thread emerged: that polar bear encounters have become more common in the last two or three decades. It's prompting communities to think differently about safety in ways previous generations didn't have to. 

Tent camping, for instance, has become a concern, Borish said.

"They're much more hesitant to do that, because you just never know if a polar bear is going to be around," he said.

Borish worked with several filmmakers from the Arctic communities themselves. Almost half of the short episodes are co-created by someone local, Borish said.

"They just understand the context a lot more than, say, myself or another filmmaker from the south coming up to these places," he said.

"The wealth of knowledge that Inuit have of polar bears, alongside all these other species and landscapes in the north … it really is quite incredible."

Nanuk Narratives launches Friday.

Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our daily headlines newsletter here. Click here to visit our landing page.