Executive Summary Report Available
Key Findings from International Polar Year 2007-2008
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
To view the report, please go to:
http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/science/publications/ipy-api/index-eng.html
The Executive Summary Report of the key findings from the International
Polar Year 2007-2008 at Fisheries and Oceans Canada is available at:
http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/science/publications/ipy-api/index-eng.html.
The summary report details findings from International Polar Year (IPY)
research projects undertaken by and in conjunction with the Government
of Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The findings reveal
profound changes that are impacting the Arctic Ocean, which are in turn
driving major impacts on ecosystems:
- In Hudson Bay, as the sea-ice declines the system is shifting from
a polar bear/seal system with Inuit hunters at the apex to one
dominated by cetaceans with killer whales at the apex. This shift is
eroding Inuit traditional subsistence culture.
- Surveys of Traditional Inuit Ecological Knowledge (TEK) reveal
uncommon sightings of marine mammals that would not normally be seen
in Hudson Bay, including fifty-three individual killer whales
identified from nine different sightings. Other uncommon sightings
include humpback whales, Greenland shark, and harp seals.
- The state of the Hudson Bay/James Bay ecosystem, as well as how
specific species might respond to climate change and variability,
are being further assessed through studies of the distribution,
movements, and critical habitat of beluga whales and arctic chars.
- The study of the area of persistent open water in the Arctic known
as the Circumpolar Flaw Lead System is exploring the importance of
climate processes in changing the nature of this system and the
effects of these changes on the marine ecosystem, contaminant
transport, carbon fluxes, and greenhouse gases.
To view the report, please go to:
http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/science/publications/ipy-api/index-eng.html .