Woman in Ulukhaktok, N.W.T., collects thousands of pieces of sea glass on Arctic beach [Video]

Helena Ekootak’s collection of bits and bobs gathered on the shores of Queens Bay in Ulukhaktok, N.W.T., could fill a museum — well, a small one. 

Still, it’s an impressive amount to have amassed over a relatively short time. Her rough guess? More than 2,000 pieces collected over four years, mostly sea glass and pottery shards. 

Ekootak started combing the beach in 2020 after a personal tragedy. She’d listen to the water, and scour the shore for tiny treasures. 

“I was trying to come off some very heavy medication that I was put on after my mother, surprisingly, passed away in my arms,” she said. 

“I used the land to help me get off this medication and heal.” 

Most of her finds are one-off fragments, but she’s also collected a dozen or so …