A pandemic and one baby later, we finally published our big feature on a proposed Inuit-led national marine conservation area — which could protect 15,000 square kilometres of coastal waters in northern Labrador.
Photo: Pat Kane / The Narwhal
In this week’s newsletter, we chat with senior editor Elaine Anselmi about her travels to Nunatsiavut, helicopter rides through dense fog, polar bears, whales and icebergs — all things behind the scenes of her latest feature on a proposed Inuit-led national marine conservation area
Few people will ever get the chance to visit Torngat Mountains National Park in northern Labrador. It’s one of the most beautiful places on Earth, where the coastal waters at the feet of the mountains cradle whales, boats and icebergs alike. Coral gardens thrive; offshore oil and gas is largely untapped.
Back in 2020, when Elaine initially pitched the story, she was set to make the trip with photojournalist Pat Kane that summer … until you-know-what upended their plans.
A year later, she had a wee scheduling conflict. “Nothing big, just a baby on the way!” Elaine told me.
Finally, this July, the duo made it out to the field, after a day of flying (or two, in Pat’s case, coming from Yellowknife) to Happy Valley-Goose Bay and on to the town of Nain in Nunatsiavut — the Inuit region of Labrador.
There was talk of taking a fishing boat some 300 kilometres up the coast to the Torngats, but after a crabbing trip went long, they hopped a flight up to the Torngats base camp — and soon saw their first live polar bear.
“There are a lot of polar bears in the Torngats,” Elaine recalled. “We saw more than a dozen over the week there and at one point Pat and I were joking about, ‘Oh, just another polar bear.’ ”
It’s not just the polar bear sightings that make for an envious story: Elaine boarded the CCGS Amundsen — a research vessel and icebreaker that adorns the $50 bill, flew in a helicopter through the mountains in some of the most dense fog she’s ever seen, cast a line in the Labrador Sea and even jumped in. She spent a whole lot of time with people who know this land intimately.
Understanding, and subsequently protecting, these fragile waters won’t happen without equally incorporating Inuit Knowledge with western science into future plans. That’s what the Nunatsiavut Government is doing — by gathering information from the people who know the land best.
“We don’t do research for the sake of research. We do research for the sake of Nunatsiavut, right? For people. Otherwise, what’s the point of it?” Michelle Saunders, government research manager, told Elaine.
The piece is our latest in the series Spirits of Place, which shines light on how Indigenous nations and communities are protecting the land and waters they have stewarded since time immemorial. And we hope you’ll find the time to read it.
Calling all unsung heroes: The Narwhal is looking for a unicorn to manage our operations and finances. In just five years, we’ve grown from two to 22 staff, expanded our budget sevenfold and opened bureaus to cover new regions. All of that requires a mountain of work behind the scenes to ensure things run smoothly, from budgets and payroll to benefits plans and hiring procedures.
Maybe that unicorn is you? Or maybe you know someone who’d be a great fit? Please spread the word!
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In The Globe and Mail, Nasuna Stuart-Ulin documents the search for white Spirit bears in B.C.’s rainforest — an ecosystem that has become a hub for regenerative travel and non-invasive, culturally sensitive scientific research.
Elaine’s reaction when she and Pat saw the first polar bear on their reporting trip. Tell your friends to sign up for our weekly newsletter, so they can stay in the know about all our polar bear sightings (and more!).
Here at The Narwhal, we do journalism differently. As an independent non-profit, we’re accountable to you, our readers — not advertisers or shareholders. So we measure our success based on real-world impact: evidence that our reporting influenced citizens to hold power to account and pushed policymakers to do better.
Our stories have been raised in legislatures across the country and cited by citizens in petitions and letters to politicians.
Take our reporting on Alberta’s decision to allow cougar hunting in parks, which was cited in an official ethics complaint against the parks minister. And, after we revealed an oil and gas giant was permitted to sidestep the rules for more than 4,300 pipelines, the BC Energy Regulator started posting the exemptions it grants publicly.
This kind of work takes time, money and a lot of grit. And we can’t do it without the support of thousands of readers just like you.
Here at The Narwhal, we do journalism differently. As an independent non-profit, we’re accountable to you, our readers — not advertisers or shareholders. So we measure our success based on real-world impact: evidence that our reporting influenced citizens to hold power to account and pushed policymakers to do better.
Our stories have been raised in legislatures across the country and cited by citizens in petitions and letters to politicians.
Take our reporting on Alberta’s decision to allow cougar hunting in parks, which was cited in an official ethics complaint against the parks minister. And, after we revealed an oil and gas giant was permitted to sidestep the rules for more than 4,300 pipelines, the BC Energy Regulator started posting the exemptions it grants publicly.
This kind of work takes time, money and a lot of grit. And we can’t do it without the support of thousands of readers just like you.
We’re fighting for our right to report — and your right to know. Stay in the loop about our trial against the RCMP and get a weekly dose of The Narwhal’s independent journalism
We’re fighting for our right to report — and your right to know. Stay in the loop about our trial against the RCMP and get a weekly dose of The Narwhal’s independent journalism
