A beluga whale shows its tail in the St.Lawrence River. Beluga whales also live in the Arctic. Jacques Boissinot/Canadian Press  Oceans North has asked the Nunavut Impact Review Board for approval to survey whales and sea birds in Lancaster Sound this summer.

Last summer, the Arctic waters environment group helped the Qikiqtani Inuit Association to shut down plans for seismic testing in the area.

But QIA fully supports Oceans North, said president Okalik Eegeetsiak. The survey "will help to validate that the area has to be protected," she said.

Even though the survey will be mostly visual, it will help the case that the area should become national conservation area, she added.

Oceans North, which seeks to promote science and community-based stewardship of the Arctic Ocean and works with indigenous residents, wants to create a ''unique platform for non-invasive scientific research projects."

The group has already consulted with some communities near Lancaster Sound, and will share its findings with those communities once the survey is completed.

Oceans North hopes to set off from Greenland on a 14-metre boat with scientists and at least one Inuk hunter.