The 12,000-year-old water contained within these ice monoliths can pay big dividends to those who have the skill and bravery to hunt them down. Collecting the precious ice is not easy but it is a booming business in this corner of Canada.

Jack Huffman looks out across the, still chilly, summer waters off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. His quarry are the huge pieces of ice that have broken off from the glaciers further north in Greenland. He is one of a number of iceberg hunters who have found the harvesting of these frozen chunks to be profitable. Once lassoed and brought aboard the ice is then sold on to high-end vodka and mineral water companies. They in turn market their product on the purity of this resource that has laid preserved in the Arctic Circle for thousands of years.

The collection of these huge ice blocks is a matter of contention though. Tour operators say that the harvest is destroying one of the main attractions of the area. This, together with the high demand and rising fuel costs is making the Iceberg hunter’s job harder and harder.