Canadian Arctic: Ground Zero for Climate Change

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January 2008

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FUTURE OCEANS

Canadian Arctic: Ground Zero for Global Warming

BY JEAN-MICHEL COUSTEAU

Arctic expedition members from left, Don Santee, leader; Fabien Cousteau; Matt Ferraro, cameraman; and Gary Holland, soundman, pose in the bright evening sun with Baffin Island in the background. Photo: Carrie Vonderhaar, Ocean Futures Society

The Ocean Futures Society 2008 PBS special, Sea Ghosts, is about many things: the world of beluga whales, the indigenous people depending on them for survival and how this culture partners with science to study and protect these endangered marine mammals.

It’s also about environment – the Canadian Arctic. In summer, this northern land permits a glimpse of seldom seen wildlife – belugas, musk oxen, the shy Arctic fox, among others – all a thrill to see.

But this season also reveals a silent menace for which, some researchers say, the Canadian Arctic is Ground Zero. The threat is Global Warming and our film team was on site in recent months to witness and record its effect in this fragile land of the midnight sun.

OFS cameraman Matt Ferraro, who spent several weeks in the Arctic community of Pangnirtung, says global warming is “on everyone’s lips these days…it’s a ‘buzz word’ that’s not fully understood.” He said every member of the OFS team was made aware that global warming is happening – right now. “North of the Arctic Circle, it’s clear to see the ice is disappearing, quickly,” he said.

Matt and his colleagues learned that each encounter with terrestrial and marine wildlife was a precious opportunity to witness – and film – a rich ecosystem that’s changing virtually in front of their own eyes. High on the team’s wish list of animals to see and film were polar bears, whose snow and ice habitat diminishes yearly as Arctic pack ice succumbs to the effects of global warming. Some scientific reports warn that with this habitat loss as much as two-thirds of the world’s polar bear population could be gone within 50 years. For 10

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the polar bears sea ice is a platform from which to hunt seals; its disappearance means longer swims and less food.

While looking for belugas along the ice edge, photographer Carrie Vonderhaar hit the jackpot with her close-up images of a mother polar bear and her cubs. After a lengthy wait, the bears approached the team, coming within 50 feet (15m) of its boat. “These animals obviously have an amazing sense of smell, they were heading directly towards us before we even knew what the three tiny dots in the distance actually were,” Vonderhaar recalls. “They were heading straight for us – maybe they were curious, or hungry.”

While searching for pods of belugas off Pangnirtung, the team was able to observe and film walruses hauled out on the summer pack ice. These pinnipeds divide their time between the water and beaches or ice floes, where they congregate in large herds. They may spend several days at a time either on land or in the sea. Hunted over the past 2000 years for their tough hides and rich oil, the Baffin Island walrus was a depleted, scarce resource by 1920. Now about 15,000 Atlantic walruses exist in the Canadian Arctic, in the waters of Greenland, the Svalbard Archipelago and the western portion of the Russian Arctic. In April 2006, the Canadian Species at Risk Act listed the Northwest Atlantic walrus population – including Québec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador – as extirpated or nearly eliminated from their habitat in this region of the country.

In the quest to find and film elusive belugas, the team overcame challenging obstacles. In order to shoot stills and footage of belugas

FUTURE OCEANS

A curious polar bear cub is wary of the OFS team photographing from a boat near this pack ice. Photo: Carrie Vonderhaar, Ocean Futures Society

congregating at the mouth of the Cunningham River estuary and inlet, Matt and Carrie stationed themselves in an observation tower where they had to remain for 12 hours at a time due to the tidal action.

While the tower proved an excellent vantage point for observation, the space was small, cramped and devoid of creature comforts. But they did see some of the thousands of whales that come into the warmer shallow water to rub their skin clean on the cobblestone riverbed.

Their ultimate goal was to dive and film the belugas underwater but, unfortunately, the visibility was too poor during their first week and after several days of topside filming the team was forced to take cover from a 100mph wind storm. When they returned, the belugas were gone. These cetaceans are known to migrate out to feed in deeper water before heading over to the west coast of Greenland as the fall ice forms. Matt accurately summed up the experience: “In the Arctic, challenges are around every corner. Just keeping your tent together through the night is hard!”

The greatest challenge facing the team now is to bring home to viewers a message of hope and renewal in Sea Ghosts. Expressing the sentiments of all OFS members, Fabien Cousteau said, “The way we can save the Arctic is to show people what we have seen.” He said environmental problems facing humankind seem daunting but in reality all stem from everyday behaviours and bad habits inherited over time. “We can change habits from bad to good as individuals, societies and as a global community and in so doing benefit the entire planet.”

Pods of beluga whales congregate in the warm, shallow waters of the Cunningham River inlet, where they rub themselves along cobblestones to slough off dead skin. As many as 3,000 individuals may be seen here for only a few weeks during the short summer season in the Canadian Arctic. Photo: Carrie Vonderhaar, Ocean Futures Society

Expedition leader Don Santee, right, a veteran of previous Arctic film projects with both Jacques Cousteau and son Jean-Michel, joins Fabien Cousteau to watch as two walruses haul out of the sea onto the summer ice pack.

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