“A rapid increase in
shipping in the formerly ice-choked waterways of the Arctic poses a significant
increase in risk to the region’s marine mammals and the local communities that
rely on them for food security and cultural identity.” That’s the conclusion drawn by a group
of Alaska native groups and the Wildlife Conservation Society following a
workshop last week.
Before
the climate started warming, sea ice had been a major obstacle to large ships
traveling in the high Arctic, but that is less and less of an issue for the
ships, and more and more of an issue for marine life.
“The disappearance of
summer sea ice from the region’s coastal areas is leading to major changes in
this part of the world,” said Martin Robards, director of the Wildlife
Conservation Society’s Beringia Program. “The presence of large ocean-going
vessels is expected to increase as the region becomes more attractive to both
international shipping and extractive industries seeking minerals, oil, and
gas. The northern sea route is 30 percent shorter than the comparable route
linking northern Europe to Asia via the Suez Canal, which only supports the
conclusion that the Bering Strait is likely to get busier.”
While this workshop and
its conclusions focus on the marine mammals in the Bering Sea and the waters
around Alaska – a region that is far from the range of the narwhal – it is just
as true for the eastern Canadian Arctic and the waters around Greenland where
narwhals will be similarly affected.
One strategy suggested by the workshops participants for combatting the effects of increased shipping was to enforce a reduced speed for shipping through the Arctic region. The strategy has been successful in reducing ship collisions with the imperiled North Atlantic right whale along the U.S. East Coast, and it is worth trying in the North as well.
But ship strikes are primarily an issue for larger whales
like bowheads. Narwhals are more
likely to be affected by the low-frequency noises that the ships emit. The sea
unicorn is skittish and the noise from increased shipping is certain
to be a significant disturbance to their feeding, migration and communication.
“There is mounting evidence that human-generated sounds in the
marine environment have negative effects on marine life,” said Howard
Rosenbaum, director of The Wildlife Conservation Society’s Ocean Giants Program. “An increase in background noise from
increased shipping, coupled with increases in underwater noise from industrial
activities and other potential stressors, is of great concern for the Arctic’s
marine species and their important habitats.”
An even greater threat comes from increased oil
exploration and the likelihood of an oil spill in a region with little or no
capacity to contain it. As I wrote
here last year, the U.S. Geological Survey believes that there may be as
many as 50 billion barrels of oil off the coast of Greenland, a quantity
similar to that of Libya, which could provide an economic boost that would
transform the island and sever its financial dependence on Denmark. The
expense of drilling in the region, along with the short drilling season and the
risks that oil rigs would get rammed by icebergs, had made oil drilling in the
region unattractive. But increasing oil prices, satellite tracking of
icebergs, and warming temperatures have created a huge opportunity and growing
interest among oil companies around the world.
“The lack of international
response capability to a spill in these waters is a serious concern in light of
the increased interest in oil and gas exploration, or the rise in transportation
of petroleum products by tankers through the Arctic,” added Robards. “A
comprehensive approach is clearly needed to prepare for a potential
environmental disaster in a region where marine mammals transit both national
and international waters.”
Hopefully the concerns
raised at the Alaska workshop will be heard by U.S. policymakers and the Coast
Guard and shared with their counterparts in Canada and Greenland. Arctic marine life will have plenty to
deal with from the warming climate without having to also defend themselves
from a flotilla of noisy ships.
