A new report predicts there will be almost no narwhal left in an area off the northeastern coast of Baffin Island this summer and says shipping traffic from…
Working groups from the North Atlantic Marine Mammal Commission and Canada/Greenland Joint Commission on Beluga and Narwhal met in Denmark in December and published their report this week, which the mine’s operator says leaves out key information.Sign up to receive daily headline news from Ottawa Citizen, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.
Hunters in Pond Inlet, known as Mittimatalik in Inuktitut, have reported seeing fewer narwhal in areas where they were once abundant and the tusked whales’ behaviour is changing, harming their ability to harvest the animals they rely on for food, livelihoods and culture. Aerial surveys conducted for Baffinland Iron Mines Corp., which owns the Mary River mine, have shown a decline in the number of narwhal in Eclipse Sound. A survey in 2021 estimated there were 2,595 in the area, down from 5,019 in 2020. Fisheries and Oceans Canada estimated there were more than 12,000 narwhal in Eclipse Sound in 2016, and more than 20,000 in 2004.Article content
“It is concluded that increased ship traffic is by far the most likely cause for the huge — almost complete — population displacement of narwhals from Eclipse Sound,” the report states. “Baffinland has conducted the most extensive research in the region,” spokesperson Peter Akman wrote in a statement.
The company takes several mitigation measures to reduce potential impacts from shipping on marine mammals, he said. They include a speed limit of nine knots for vessels and using ship convoys to reduce underwater sound. The company also agreed to not use icebreakers the past two shipping seasons in response to concerns from Inuit.
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