Developments in underwater acoustic modeling for the Arctic have been limited due to the complicated nature of the polar extreme. In Arctic regions, the sound speed minimum occurs at or near the ice-covered surface. The upward refracting sound speed profile causes any long-range propagation to repeatedly interact with the ice cover. This paper presents an overview of the derivation of a 2-D normal mode propagation model to the range-independent wave equation for a source and receiver in the water column. To more accurately model the Arctic ocean acoustic environment, we consider a modified Pekeris waveguide. As with the Pekeris waveguide, the bottom is considered as an infinite fluid halfspace and the top is considered to be a fluid layer of finite thickness overlying the water column. Results will be benchmarked against a fluid parabolic equation solution. An application is discussed as a means to track marine mammals using received signals.