Nunavut seismic test scheme bombs in Pond Inlet

The waters of Eclipse Sound, located between Pond Inlet and the mountains of Bylot Island, see thousands of narwhals during the late summer. A proposed seismic survey would take place in a section of Lancaster Sound not far from Pond Inlet later this summer. (PHOTO BY GABRIEL ZÁRATE) (

POND INLET—Federal scientists faced yet another hostile crowd June 8 when they visited Pond Inlet to explain plans for seismic testing in Baffin Bay and the mouth of Lancaster Sound.

Pond Inlet is the fourth community visited by the group of scientists, who previously participated in community consultations in Arctic Bay, Clyde River and Resolute Bay.

The crowd of 50 people, mainly older Inuit men, who showed up June 8 at Pond Inlet’s community hall, repeatedly applauded as they took turns voicing their opposition to the “Geomapping for Energy and Minerals” project planned for later this summer.

“What you want and what we want are two different things,” one man told the visiting scientists.

“The government, the [Inuit] organizations, they don’t talk about the negative and dangerous parts that could happen, just the good sides,” Paniloo Sangoya said.

Many speakers said they are concerned about the underwater noise of seismic testing, which involves an “air gun” that shoots out compressed gas.

Chief geologist Donald James explained that the sound produced by this gun decays quickly, saying that, at 600 metres away from the charge, it sounds no louder than the sound of a boat engine.

And if a marine mammal is seen within a kilometre of the boat, use of the gun stops until the animal moves away, he said.

But James drew cries of outrage when he admitted the noise of the gun can reach 246 decibels.

Experiments on underwater sound tolerance have shown people experience dizziness when a sound is louder than 170 decibels — and marine mammals have even more sensitive ears due to the sound waves they use to navigate.

Whales might strand themselves on beaches because they’d be deafened and disoriented from the noise, suggested Jen Inuaraq.

Bowhead whales emit noises up to 180 decibels, a visiting scientist pointed out.

“That’s when they’re speaking their language, not a bomb!” shouted one resident from the back of the hall.

Organizers of the seismic project said they wanted to hire local hunters as marine mammal spotters to make sure whales are not in the vicinity when the seismic tests are underway.

But Jayko Alooloo, chair of the Mittimatalik HTO, said he’s never received a letter to this effect — and he criticized the project’s proponents for coming to visit Pond Inlet less than three months before the startup date. Their visit was “useless,” he said.

Others at the meeting said they feared seismic testing will lead to offshore drilling, despite the scientists’ claims to the contrary.

“Just because there’s a geological map of an area, it doesn’t mean oil and gas exploration will follow,” James told them.

But Chris Debicki, manager of the Nunavut section of the environmental group Oceans North, rose up to say James’s statement contradicted the official description of the project.

That’s “simply not true…there’s 100 million of federal dollars behind you, and that money is not to find out what interesting rocks are at the bottom of the sea,” he said, citing information from the Natural Resources Canada website that says the information gathered by the seismic study will guide decisions leading to “the discovery and development of new energy and mineral resources.”

James told those at the meeting that he understood the “unanimity” of their opposition and promised to reflect that in his report to Ottawa.

The project has yet to receive a science license from the Nunavut Research Institute, the last major regulatory hurdle before it can proceed.

The decision on whether the NRI approves the project may end up with the responsible cabinet minister, Daniel Shewchuk or go to the premier and cabinet.

Speaking in the legislative assembly June 3, Shewchuk defended the project to Pond Inlet’s Tununiq MLA James Arvaluk, who asked why there would be mapping of petrochemical resources in the region of Lancaster Sound, an area under consideration to become a marine wildlife protected area.

“As part of establishing any marine mammal conservation area, any national park or any park, the information and requirement is to do seismic testing whether it’s on land or water, and that is to know the resources that you have and to delineate the boundaries of the area you would like to protect,” Shewchuk said.

Shewchuk declined to comment to the Nunatsiaq News on Pond Inlet’s reaction until he sees the community consultation report from the NRI representative who attended.