Changing sea ice patterns in Canada’s Northwest Passage show that despite a reduction in overall ice coverage, the Arctic shipping season is actually getting shorter.
This was one of the key findings brought up during ArcticNet’s fifth International Arctic Change Conference which brought together experts in northern Canadian research. The four-day conference was held at the Rogers Centre in Ottawa.
A session on safe and sustainable shipping, held on December 11, featured studies co-led and co-developed by Memorial University in Newfoundland and Labrador and the Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada.
It’s more dangerous to navigate now than it was before because the sea ice is breaking up and is a lot more mobile, said Jackie Dawson, the Canada Research Chair in Environment, Society, and Policy at the University of Ottawa.
While the reduction in sea ice is drawing more vessels to the region, many of the ships are not equipped to deal with Arctic ice, she said.
Dawson highlighted findings from a recent study published in the research journal Communications Earth & Environment, which analyzed shipping season lengths from 2007 to 2021.
Researchers found that “choke points,” or narrow passages, were created when multi-year ice moved south from colder regions and created obstacles along certain parts of the northern route.
Some areas in the southern route of the Northwest Passage, such as Larsen Sound and Peel Sound, have shipping seasons of fewer than 15 weeks. Others, such as the west Beaufort Sea and Amundsen Gulf, can last 25 weeks or more.
A similar change was seen in the northern routes, such as the Eastern Beaufort Sea, where the shipping season has gone from 20 to 25 weeks about 15 years ago down to 10 to 15 weeks about five years ago.
Knowing the very specific areas and seasons that are higher risk than others, we can start making better decisions on how to support this industry, said Dawson, stressing the need for precise maps and ice charts.
With more ships comes more ship waste and noise as well.
Sam Davin, a specialist in marine conservation and shipping at World Wildlife Fund-Canada, presented his National Vessel Dumping Assessment from 2022 during the session.
He said that despite the Arctic seeing lower shipping activity compared to southern regions, it sees a disproportionate share of waste generated in marine protected areas.
For instance, 28 per cent of grey water —which comes from galleys, showers and sinks — released Arctic waters originates within protected areas, compared to five per cent on Canada’s west coast.
Researcher Katrina Johnson presented data from sound recordings she collected at eastern Eclipse Sound leading to Baffin Bay and Milne Inlet, between 2021 and 2023.
Ship noise produces a significant amount of underwater noise that can interfere with communication, navigation, and foraging, and many other behaviours of marine animals,
said Johnson
Johnson and her colleagues also created “noise maps,” or maps for 331 vessels ranging from tankers to icebreakers, “to understand the noise footprint created by ships” and predict the noise exposure on marine species.
What makes our maps so unique is that every single one of the map model predictions is being validated, compared and corrected in field measurements, which hasn’t been done in this region before, said Johnson, emphasizing collaboration with the Mittimatalik Hunters & Trappers Organization for their fieldwork.
The conference session underscored the need for sustainable and collaborative solutions to manage Arctic shipping impacts, especially with local Inuit organizations.
Source: Nunatsiaq News
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