#komatik

Posted by: Trevor Taylor, policy director, Oceans North Canada 

Narwhal photo: Lyda Hill

While the Arctic Endeavour continues its push north into the ice off the Greenland coast, I visited Lancaster Sound on the Canadian side of Baffin Bay on a fact-finding trip. I work as policy director for Oceans North Canada. I arrived with other members of our team in the hamlet of Pond Inlet on Eclipse Sound for a trip out to the floe edge where the still-frozen sound meets the open waters of Baffin Bay. This nutrient-rich margin of ice is where marine life abounds in the early Arctic summer. 

We flew 38 nautical miles across Eclipse Sound to the southeast of Bylot Island and camped at Button Point. Scrambling up ridges and walking along sea ice starting to break up we witnessed a small part of what makes the Lancaster Sound region so important. We saw a polar bear ambling along the ice edge before plunging in to capture a seal; small groups of narwhal swimming along the margin of the ice, surfacing with their characteristic tooth flashing in the sun; Canada and Arctic snow geese flying overhead; and seals popping their heads up from breathing holes they maintain throughout the winter. 

Humans have been tightly integrated into this environment for thousands of years and still are. Snow machines pulling komatiks (wooden sleds) from Pond Inlet arrived on the floe edge for traditional Inuit harvesting including gathering sea bird eggs from the craggy cliffs and hunting seals and narwhal for food to be shared with the community. 

Polar bear photo: Lyda Hill

Hunters from Pond Inlet and other communities in the region have been leaders in efforts to protect Lancaster Sound for more than 30 years. Just last year, these communities insisted that no oil and gas activities should occur in these waters in order to protect the whale migration. I stood with the Inuit leader for Baffin Island last December and listened as the Canadian environment minister proposed a park boundary for Lancaster Sound and pledged that no oil and gas activity would take place while the park is being created – including the spectacular area of the floe edge where we just camped. 

The delay caused by the ice in northern Greenland to the Arctic Endeavour’s planned route is a potent reminder that ice is still a major factor for life in in Baffin Bay and Lancaster Sound. That’s true for industry, tourism, scientific work or traditional Inuit activities. This year the ice is doing its part to continue to protect the Arctic whale migration in this magical place. But the overall trend in the Arctic including Baffin Bay is for earlier melting and less ice. Anomalies such as this year’s pack ice that the Arctic Endeavour encountered cannot be relied upon. Humans will have to step up to protect the Arctic from inappropriate schemes made possible by receding ice. As elders and hunters from Pond Inlet and similar hamlets in the region remind us, a National Marine Conservation Area for Lancaster Sound is a good place to start.