Nunavut mayor says seismic impact research is welcome to Inuit

A recent scientific report, commissioned by Greenpeace, says the impacts of pollution, climate change, increased shipping and hunting are already causing stress to the world’s narwhal populations, nearly all of whom frequent the waters off the east coast of Baffin Island. Underwater seismic blasting, if it’s allowed, will only add to this stress, the report says. (PHOTO BY NIORE IQALUKJUAK)

The mayor of Clyde River says some of what he’s been reading in a recent Greenpeace-commissioned report on seismic blasting and other human-made impacts on whales reflects what Inuit have been observing for years.

And Jerry Natanine said Aug. 27 he wishes the people who held community information sessions on behalf of seismic companies back in 2011 could have presented these kinds of facts so Inuit could have felt better informed on the subject.

“It gives us answers. It gives us an ability to judge whether we can live with this,” said Natanine.

“We’ve always said we’re not against development, per se, but how can we decide? This report is going to be very helpful. If we can make real judgments based on research, not just on hearsay, that would be really good for us.”

Greenpeace released a 100-page report on Aug. 24 which provides an overview of research and analysis of the impacts of seismic testing on Arctic whales and their prey, with specific attention paid to the world’s highly specialized narwhal populations, most of whom live in Baffin Bay.

The report, entitled “A Review of the Impact of Seismic Noise on Narwhal and other Arctic Cetaceans,” also mentions other impacts — sea ice loss, increased hunting and shipping, for example — that must be considered when introducing new stresses such as loud blasts from air guns used in seismic testing.

Natanine said facts about individual and cumulative impacts are necessary for Inuit to decide whether to support the surveys and the oil and gas exploration which may follow on its heels.

And while some people might dismiss the report because of Greenpeace’s environmental agenda, Natanine is not one of them.

“People are saying, it’s biased and things like ‘what else kind of report would Greenpeace come out with?’ I don’t think it’s biased at all. If you read the report, it makes perfect sense.”

And while he appreciates the moral support, publicity and money Greenpeace has been providing, he said that in the end, Inuit must decide for themselves whether the benefits of oil and gas development outweigh the risks and whether this kind of industrial activity can be done sustainably.

“The biggest concern I have is for people to benefit,” Natanine said. “But then again, I have the same concern with how are we going to deal with oil spills? Do we want to stay a hunter-gatherer society? I don’t know. I cannot be absolute on that.”

The report provides ample evidence that Arctic whales such as belugas and bowheads, exhibit avoidance behaviour when loud underwater sounds are introduced, and that this can strand or disorient them and interfere with foraging and communication.

Less is known about narwhals because they are more elusive but they are so similar to belugas, the report draws likely comparisons.

Narwhals dive to incredible depths — up to 1,500 metres — and live under pack and sea ice in winter, seeking out breathing holes when necessary and hiding from predators.

Between 80 per cent and 90 per cent of all narwhals in the world live in Baffin Bay, the report says. Their distribution ranges from northern Hudson Bay, around the east coast of Baffin Island and up into the High Arctic archipelago of islands.

They breed in spring, don’t eat much in summer and then spend their winters navigating the pack ice in Baffin Bay and Davis Strait and fattening up on Greenland halibut, their favourite food.

Aerial surveys peg the circumpolar population of narwhals in excess of 80,000 but because of a lack of data, more precise numbers are not available, the report says.

Because the narwhal habitat is so specific to the waters between Baffin Island and Greenland, the area where TGS-Nopec hopes to conduct five years of seismic testing for hydrocarbons under the sea floor, the report’s author’s recommend further study since Inuit rely on narwhals for food and ivory.

And narwhals are already under stress with climate change annually stealing more and more sea ice — which narwhal seek out as their natural habitat — and with their maktaaq showing increasing levels of organic pollutants and heavy metals.

“The resulting cumulative impacts on a particularly sensitive species such as the narwhal could quite realistically jeopardize the long term survival of the species,” the report says.

Natanine, along with the Nammautuq Hunters and Trappers Association and the Hamlet of Clyde River, recently lost their bid to stop the five-year seismic survey when the Federal Court of Appeal ruled against them Aug. 17.

That legal battle cost about $185,000, Natanine said. The Qikiqtani Inuit Association paid $35,000, Clyde River’s lawyer, Nader Hasan, reduced his fees and Greenpeace paid the rest, he said.

The Clyde River groups are now hoping the Supreme Court of Canada agrees to hear their case.

“We didn’t expect it to come this far. We thought the whole world was against us. That the world wants oil so much we’re just in the way,” he said.

“We would have given up long ago but the support we’ve been getting from around the world and our fellow Inuit from the region, makes it worthwhile. We just want to fight for the betterment of our lives, as Inuit.”

Natanine, who was hoping to run for the NDP in the upcoming October election, was denied the nomination by party brass in Ottawa who chose former Liberal MP Jack Anawak instead.

Natanine now says he may run as an independent candidate instead.