A string of 24 remote islands in northeastern Hudson Bay are a step closer to forming a new 24,000-hectare Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area after the northern community of Inukjuak, Que., received $1.43 million in partner support from the federal government earlier this month.

The islands — called Arqvilliit, which means “the place where you see bowhead whales” in Inuktitut — act as a refuge for wildlife whose habitat is increasingly threatened by climate change, polar bears in particular.

Shaomik Inukpuk, town manager of Inukjuak and chair of the Arqvillit protected area steering committee, told The Narwhal the ecosystem will be unable to function without polar bears.

“Although we hunt polar bears, we need the polar bears — they maintain the critical balance of keeping different species in check,” Inukpuk said. “We need polar bears in hunting seals. If there are too many seals, there will be a lot less fish, which can have a tremendous impact on people here.”

Much of the federal funding will go toward research and monitoring efforts on the islands.

This year is on track to be the worst for Arctic sea ice, which has been receding at unprecedented rates in recent years due to climate change and above-average temperature increases in the Arctic. The loss of sea ice prevents polar bears from accessing seal-hunting grounds and is believed to be contributing to the decline of populations and the size of individual bears.

Polar bears will be the focus of preliminary monitoring and research, Inukpuk said. 

Map showing the location of the Arqviliitt Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area. Map Carol Linnitt / The Narwhal

The islands a ‘safe haven’ for wildlife

The islands, which are technically located in Nunavut but fall within Quebec’s Nunavik marine region, are teeming with wildlife such as seals, walrus, bowhead whales, ducks and shorebirds.

While research and monitoring will initially focus on polar bear habitat, other species such as Atlantic walruses, harlequin ducks and common eiders will also benefit, Inukpuk said.

“It’s very important to control the population of different species,” he said, adding that the islands could receive designated protected status in about three years, if everything goes according to plan.

Protecting the islands, which are also known as the Ottawa Islands, dovetails with the Government of Canada’s national commitment to conserve 25 per cent of Canada’s land, inland waters and oceans by 2025, Cecelia Parsons, a spokesperson with Environment and Climate Change Canada, told The Narwhal in an email. 

In total, 68 Indigenous-led projects, including Arqvilliit, were selected this year to receive funding from the Canada Nature Fund, a five-year funding initiative, Parsons added.

“The protection of Arqvilliit is an important step towards reconciliation with Nunavik Inuit, by supporting and respecting their way of life and the wildlife on which they rely for their health, culture and livelihood.

Atlantic walrus in the shallows at Arqvilliit. Photo: Yvan Pouliot / Arqvilliit IPCA Steering Committee

A Rock Ptarmigan sits among the rocks near the shores of Arqvilliit, with Hudson Bay in the background. Photo: Lisa Koperqualuk / Arqvilliit IPCA Steering Committee

‘We’re hoping at least the polar bears will have a place to go’

The islands have so far been spared from development, leaving the natural cycles of local flora and fauna undisturbed. Putting protections in place now will ensure the islands stay that way for polar bears, Inukpuk said, adding the islands serve as the predators’ home base, where they mate, rear their young and return to after hunting seals from ice floes. 

Surrounding the islands, though, is quite literally a sea of change.

Climate change is by far the biggest impact polar bears are facing, with freeze happening later and breakup occurring earlier, Inukpuk said.

“The biggest impact is the thinning of the ice. It’s visible,” he said. “Every year the ice is getting thinner. Even if it will be very thin, we’re hoping at least the polar bears will have a place to go.”

According to a 2018 traditional knowledge report, residents of three Nunavik Inuit communities noted an abundance of polar bears in the Nunavik marine region, despite population declines in other areas surrounding Hudson Bay. 

“Participants in all three communities generally felt that the number of bears is healthy, and among the highest numbers they have seen in their lifetime,” the report states.

However, many participants expressed concern that the increase in bears observed in the region is linked to changing environmental conditions, including warmer ocean currents that are contributing to unstable ice. 

“For example, in years when there are large areas of open water near communities, more bears are observed,” the report states.

Protecting the islands over the long term could help prevent polar bears being driven onto the mainland, Inukpuk said.

“Humans and polar bears don’t mix.”

There’s also hope that an increase in monitoring can lead to a better understanding of how the islands are vulnerable to ocean pollution. In Hudson Bay, currents tend to move counter-clockwise, “so the islands actually receive whatever is carried in that water,” said Jennie Knopp, community and science director at Oceans North, a marine conservation organization that works with Indigenous and coastal communities and an adviser and project coordinator with the Arqvilliit steering committee. 

“It’s one of the reasons the steering committee wants to do monitoring and protections of the islands to ensure that, in the future, if there’s pollution — microplastics, whatever — that it’s not going to negatively impact the islands,” she said.

The islands already benefit animals that depend on them for much of their survival, Knopp said. The trick is to keep the islands the way they are.

“I guess the best way you can describe [the islands] is that they’re like a safe haven in the middle of the bay,” she said.

Indigenous-led research a priority for Arqvilliit

The habitats that the islands provide, along with a list of species that use them, aren’t well documented, Knopp said, so developing a catalogue of wildlife is a priority. Trail cameras will be set up to estimate the population of polar bears and further research will be done to determine exactly how they use the islands.

“We’re working on a plan to figure out what that looks like because it’s quite a big area,” she said, adding that Nunavik Inuit are going to carry out most of the monitoring efforts. “We’re focusing on areas that will give us the most information.”

Part of the early work will include documenting traditional knowledge, mapping the islands and conducting interviews to identify areas of cultural or archeological value for the Inuit, Knopp said.

An archaeological site in a bay on one of the Arqvilliit islands. Photo: Yvan Pouliot / Arqvilliit IPCA Steering Committee

“It’s a historically important location for Inuit,” she said, adding that rocks arranged in circles indicate where tents once stood and there are remnants of large caches that likely stored meat at one time. Massive bowhead whale bones are also commonly found on the islands.

“This is a watershed moment that the government is recognizing the ability of Nunavik Inuit or any Indigenous group in Canada to manage and conserve their own lands as they’ve done for a millennia,” she said. “It’s a really nice shift in conservation and Inuit self-determination.”

The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for our free weekly dose of independent journalism.

The hundreds of polar bears that gather each year on the west coast of Hudson Bay for a seal hunt may be in for a long, hungry wait.

This year is on track to be the worst on record for the formation of Arctic sea ice, which the bears rely on for the hunt, according to Alysa McCall, director of conservation outreach and a staff scientist at Polar Bears International.

“Right now, we’d expect a certain area of the High Arctic to be covered with sea ice,” but it remains open water, she said. Satellite imagery shows there is still a lot of open water in the Arctic. 

No ice, no food. A delay in the freeze of Arctic water makes it more difficult for polar bears to hunt seals, a necessary source of fat. Photo: KT Miller / Polar Bears International

Polar Bears International, a conservation organization that focuses on wild polar bears and their habitats, is celebrating Polar Bear Week from Nov. 1 to 7. The organization uses live webcams and on-the-ground scientists to raise public awareness of the bears, which are particularly calm and playful during their wait.

“It’s actually been some of the best polar bear action I’ve ever seen. I’ve been glued to the cams,” McCall said.

But the absence of sea ice this year emphasizes the extent to which polar bears are vulnerable to the climate emergency. 

“They are experiencing some of the very first impacts of climate change,” McCall told The Narwhal.

Polar bear, including this mother and her cubs near Churchill, Man., are on the frontlines on the climate crisis. Photo: BJ Kirschhoffer / Polar Bears International

Climate change is having ‘concrete impacts’ on polar bears

Arctic sea ice ebbs and flows seasonally and is usually at its lowest in September. From September to March, the amount of sea ice in the Arctic can double or triple.

But due to the climate emergency, warmer temperatures have meant dramatic changes to seasonal ice fluctuations, including when ice shows up, how much of it shows up and how long it hangs around for.

This is particularly true for the Arctic, where surface air temperatures have increased at twice the rate of the global average, a phenomena known as Arctic amplification.

Polar bears near Hudson Bay can end up chilling on land for four weeks longer today than they did in the 1980s. Photo: Steven C Amstrup / Polar Bears International

For the polar bears lounging near Hudson Bay, that means ice is appearing at later dates in the year, according to McCall. She said the late ice can mean polar bears end up hanging around for four weeks longer on land compared to the 1980s.  

“What that means for polar bears is a longer wait to get food,” McCall said, noting that while on land the bears might forage for kelp, eggs, berries and the occasional vole but they won’t find the kind of fat they require and usually get from seal blubber. “Sea ice equals seals, which equals calories, which equals happy bears.”

The loss of sea ice is also having measurable impacts on the region’s polar bear population. In the 1980s, there were about 1,200 individuals in the population and now there are about 800, representing a 30 per cent decline. Fewer cubs are surviving into adulthood and individuals are getting smaller in stature in the western Hudson Bay population, McCall said.

Fewer cubs in the western Hudson Bay population are surviving into adulthood and individuals are getting smaller in stature. Photo: Steven C Amstrup / Polar Bears International

As greenhouse gas emissions increase, the results are expected to be dire for polar bears across the planet. A recent study published in the journal Nature Climate Change estimates most populations could disappear by 2100 if the globe continues to warm at its current rate. The researchers determined that a moderate drop in emissions would be unlikely to prevent the local extinction of some polar bear subpopulations. 

McCall said the Hudson Bay polar bears, which are near Churchill, Man., could experience reproductive failure as soon as 2080 without significant climate action. 

“If we want to have healthy polar bears throughout the Arctic, we really need to act now to protect the Arctic, which comes down to fossil fuel emissions,” she said.

“If we can switch to more renewable energy, we’ll be doing a favour for the bears and ourselves. This is not an individual problem. This will only be solved by community action. It’s about pushing leaders to get some policy changes to change the system that we’re living in to get our climate back to functioning the way it should.”

The number of polar bears on the west coast of Hudson Bay has dropped from about 1,200 individuals in the 1980s to about 800 today. Photo: KT Miller / Polar Bears International

‘These bears aren’t going to be here in a few decades’

John Gunter, CEO of Frontiers North Adventures, said he hopes Polar Bear Week can help make Churchill, the “polar bear capital of the world,” feel less remote for people. 

Gunter supplied his tundra buggy, usually reserved for seasonal tourists now absent due to the pandemic, to the scientists with Polar Bears International.

“We realize that not everyone is going to have that personal, life-changing experiencing locking their gaze with a wild polar bear, and what the polar bear cam helps us do is share these bears, for free, with people from all over the world,” he said. “Hopefully through the cam we can inspire people to become more engaged in their communities and in the environment.”

Frontiers North Adventures CEO John Gunter worries the Churchill polar bears will be gone in a few decades, a “grim” prospect. Photo: KT Miller / Polar Bears International

Gunter said he is personally observing what the science is saying — Arctic freeze-up is happening later and polar bears are getting smaller in size.

“It’s likely that these bears aren’t going to be here in a few decades,” he said. “That’s grim.”

That positions Polar Bear Week as but another important means to send a crystal-clear message that climate change is here and will worsen if nothing is done to reverse its course.

“We’ve got to acknowledge that that’s the case and deal with the implications,” Gunter said. “I don’t think we lose anything by better conserving our resources and being better stewards of our lands.”

The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for our free weekly dose of independent journalism.

By David Suzuki

The Arctic may seem like a distant place, just as the most extreme consequences of our wasteful use of fossil fuels may appear to be in some distant future. Both are closer than most of us realize.

The Arctic is a focal point for some of the most profound impacts of climate change. One of the world’s top ice experts, Peter Wadhams of Cambridge University, calls the situation a “global disaster,” suggesting ice is disappearing faster than predicted and could be gone within as few as four years.

“The main cause is simply global warming: as the climate has warmed there has been less ice growth during the winter and more ice melt during the summer,” he told the U.K.’s Guardian.

Over the past 30 years, permanent Arctic sea ice has shrunk to half its previous area and thickness. As it diminishes, global warming accelerates. This is due to a number of factors, including release of the potent greenhouse gas methane trapped under nearby permafrost, and because ice reflects the sun’s energy whereas oceans absorb it.

With all we know about climate change and what’s happening in the Arctic, you’d think our leaders would be marshalling resources to at least slow it down. Instead, industry and governments are eyeing new opportunities to mine Arctic fossil fuels. Factoring in threats to the numerous species of Arctic creatures – including fish, seabirds, marine mammals such as whales and seals, and polar bears – makes such an approach even more incomprehensible.

Royal Dutch Shell has been preparing to drill in the Arctic, spending $4.5 billion on operations and lease purchases. But its record shows how risky this is. First, a spill containment dome failed a routine safety test and was crushed by underwater pressure. More recently, a drilling rig, which was being towed to Seattle so Shell could avoid paying some Alaskan taxes, broke free during a storm and ran aground on an island in the Gulf of Alaska. The disastrous BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 showed how dangerous ocean drilling can be even in relatively calm waters and how bogus the claims of the industry are that it can contain or even clean up a spill.

Responding to climate change and vanishing Arctic ice by gearing up to drill for the stuff at the root of the problem is insane. Unfortunately, many fossil fuel companies and governments are engaged in a mad rush to get as much oil and gas out of the ground – no matter how difficult – while there’s still a market. The ever-increasing devastation of climate change means we will eventually have to leave much of it where it is – or at the very least, substantially slow the pace of extraction and use the resource more wisely – if we want to survive and be healthy as a species.

In Ecuador, knowing that exploiting the country’s massive oil reserves will fuel climate change and cause massive environmental destruction in one of the world’s most biologically diverse rainforests, leaders are taking a different approach. The government plans to leave oil fields in Yasuni National Park untouched if other countries help compensate for some of the lost revenue. So far only about $300 million has been raised toward the $3.6 billion over 13 years that the government believes would make up for half the oil’s value, but the idea is gaining momentum.

The Guardian notes the money won’t go to government but will be “held in trust funds and administered by the UN Development Programme working with a board made up of indigenous peoples, local communities, academics and others.”

Ivonne Baki, head of the negotiating committee of the Yasuní-Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini, told the Guardian Ecuador does not want to become overly dependent on oil. “Oil countries are cursed,” she said. “Developing countries depend on it so much that they do not develop anything else. It breeds corruption and the poor pay the price.”

With Arctic ice melting, Australia on fire and increasing droughts, floods and extreme weather throughout the world, it’s past time to get serious about global warming. It remains to be seen if a plan like Ecuador’s will work, but surely a developed country like Canada can at least learn that wastefully exploiting precious resources as quickly as possible isn’t the only option.

Written with contributions from David Suzuki Foundation Communications Manager Ian Hanington.

Learn more at www.davidsuzuki.org.

The Narwhal’s reporters are telling environment stories you won’t read about anywhere else. Stay in the loop by signing up for our free weekly dose of independent journalism.