https://programs.wcs.org/canadanew RSS feeds for Wildlife Conservation Society Canada 60 https://programs.wcs.org/canadanew/Muddy-Boots/ID/18883/Worth-the-wait-Encountering-bowhead-whales-in-Canadas-Arctic.aspx#Comments 0 https://programs.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=20118&ModuleID=41427&ArticleID=18883 https://programs.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=18883&PortalID=96&TabID=20118 https://programs.wcs.org/canadanew/Muddy-Boots/ID/18883/Worth-the-wait-Encountering-bowhead-whales-in-Canadas-Arctic.aspx By Morgan J. Martin,  WCS Canada postdoc at the University of Victoria in collaboration with the Wildlife Conservation Society Canada working on behavioral responses of bowhead whales to shipping noise. The pandemic kept me grounded for two years, the research conditions were challenging, but when I finally did make it to Igloolik in Nunavut, it was an experience I will never forget. When I started a three-year postdoctoral researcher position at WCS Canada in June 2020, I was supposed to hit the ground running and immediately begin my postdoc with a summer Arctic field season attempting to tag bowhead whales. But the world was a bit upside-down at that time and the local Inuit communities had closed their doors to any outside visitors. This continued through 2021 as the pandemic unfolded, so I missed a second summer Arctic fieldwork season and I began to wonder if I would ever get to visit the Arctic communities. That’s why I was very excited to learn that my summer 2022 Arctic fieldwork season was going to happen. On June 18, 2022, I traveled to the community of Igloolik, located on Igloolik Island in Nunavut, joining a fieldwork team with three scientists from the federal Department of Fisheries and Ocean’s Arctic program. We arrived in Igloolik hoping to find community members with boats to hire to take us out to find bowhead whales. On our second night in town, we met with the Igloolik Hunters and Trappers Association (HTA) who are responsible for approving any research proposals in the area. Our meeting with the HTA lasted three hours with the HTA members asking lots of good questions about our research plans. That’s not surprising because the Arctic is changing rapidly thanks to climate change and the people living in Igloolik have experienced these changes firsthand. They are therefore keen to closely monitor how climate change stands to further impact their community.   The members of the HTA approved our research and kindly offered for us to stay in their hunting shelters located near the ice floe edge. The purpose of our fieldwork was to tag bowhead whales with satellite tags as well as with non-invasive suction cup tags that contain hydrophones (underwater acoustic recorders) that can record the whales’ movements in three dimensions underwater. Our aim was to collect bowhead whale behavior data in a pristine Arctic region where vessel traffic has increased and is anticipated to continue to increase primarily due to mining on Baffin Island (a proposal to expand the Baffin Island iron ore mine was recently denied due to its environmental impacts, but the company has now revived a different proposal for shipping more ore from the mine). We need a better understanding of how bowhead whales react to vessels and underwater vessel noise to understand the impacts of this growing ship traffic. Three experienced hunters from Igloolik joined our team with two small, motorized boats as we set out to try to find and tag bowhead whales. Tagging the whales with the suction cup tags proved to be difficult due to the ice conditions and the whales’ behavior. The whales were spending most of their time hanging out in the pack ice, where we were unable to drive the boat to get close enough to them to apply the suction cup tags. We resorted to standing on the edge of the ice floe and waiting for the bowheads to travel in and out of the pack ice to reach them. Next summer, we are going to take a bit of a different approach by using a second type of tag that does not need to be retrieved once it falls off the whale and can be deployed from slightly farther away, which we hope will help increase the number of whales we can tag. We also plan to play back underwater recordings of vessel noise to the tagged bowhead whales in order to measure how they respond to noise underwater. This will give us the ability to assess how the whales’ behavior changes in response to vessel noise and to try to determine what noise level causes the whales to react. Arctic fieldwork is not glamorous. It is cold and exhausting and unbelievably beautiful at the same time. We spent 12 consecutive nights in the shelters provided by the HTA. There was no indoor plumbing, no bathroom and no one showered during that time. We collected snow every day to melt for our drinking water. We left our campsite around 8 a.m. each morning to launch the boats at the edge of the ever-changing floe edge and we were usually not back in our camp until around 10 p.m. each night. I ate a lot of pop-tarts, and ramen noodles were an absolute staple for everyone during the day. We ate dinner together around midnight, and then we all crashed because we had to repeat everything the following morning. The sun never set and just circled around us overhead. It was mentally and physically one of the more challenging things I have done. Todd, Levi and Travis, the Igloolik community members who were working with us to find the bowhead whales, worked non-stop and they kept things moving smoothly. We shared many laughs on the boat and around the dinner table at night. Our research would not have been possible without them because they knew the local waters and navigated around sea ice with ease.  My experience in Igloolik shaped me in ways that I was not expecting. I came home with an extreme sense of gratitude for everyday luxuries like running water and fresh produce. I am no stranger to living in remote places. However, the Arctic climate is harsh and I have a newfound respect for the people who call it home. The opportunity to see bowhead whales up close is something I will never forget. These are the second largest creatures by mass that live on planet Earth. After two years of studying about bowheads, finally seeing them in person truly was a life highlight. They made me feel small, mortal, and left me revering at the same time. I am proud to have been part of a research team at WCS Canada working to protect these animals from the impacts of shipping in the Arctic. Check out a Story Map about our work with Bowhead whales. Lynsey Grosfield Mon, 20 Mar 2023 23:05:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:18883 https://programs.wcs.org/canadanew/Muddy-Boots/ID/18884/A-Bake-Sale-for-Wildlife.aspx#Comments 0 https://programs.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=20118&ModuleID=41427&ArticleID=18884 https://programs.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=18884&PortalID=96&TabID=20118 https://programs.wcs.org/canadanew/Muddy-Boots/ID/18884/A-Bake-Sale-for-Wildlife.aspx On a late summer afternoon in Whitehorse, Hilary Cooke was sorting through the mail not really looking for anything in particular, when she came across an interesting hand written letter. It isn’t too often that we receive hand written letters, and almost never coming from a community school. She opened it diligently, and inside to her surprise she found a hand written cheque addressed to the Wildlife Conservation Society Canada for $450 addressed by St. Elias Community School in Haines Junction. With some digging around, the Whitehorse-based field office discovered that students from grade 8 had organized a bake sale to raise funds for wildlife research and the conservation and preservation of Yukon’s wild spaces. St. Elias Community School is a small northern community school within the Yukon First Nations School Board with approximately 142 students from Kindergarten to grade 12.   Down the hall – St. Elias Community School We were so thrilled that these students wanted the proceeds to go to wildlife conservation, that we started conversations with the teacher for an opportunity to visit the class. With students on summer break, teachers changing classes, and navigating our own field seasons and other commitments, our opportunity didn’t come until this February, but nevertheless, our excitement was still HIGH!  The day finally arrived, and a few members of the Northern Boreal Mountains (NBM) and Western Arctic team were ready to make the close to two-hour drive from Whitehorse to Haines Junction. Luckily, the roads were clear after a heavy snowfall, and even a couple of coyotes made a quick appearance along the way. Chrystal Mantyka-Pringle, Conservation Planning Biologist and Co-Director of the NBM program, and Maya Chartier, Arctic Wildlife Technician for the Western Arctic program planned a presentation for the students of the class. Chrystal showcased the NBM Canary in a Gold Mine field video and highlighted a Weston Family Boreal Research student’s contributions on the Yukon River Chinook Salmon. There even were some videos of bears doing their best back scratch and booty bear shake that was captured by trail cameras in the field as part of a research study on the impacts of human development on species at risk. Maya played some marine mammal audio clips from hydrophones in the Arctic, and showed a few videos of field work tagging ringed seals in the Arctic and drone footage from the Arctic team field site. At the end of the presentations, students were given an opportunity to ask some questions. One of the students really wanted to know what classes they needed to take in order to be a Marine Biologist and if we needed any volunteers!   The drive to Haines Junction, Yukon At the end of the presentation, students were given some WCS Canada swag and left with a better understanding about the work that we do and an impression that they truly did make a difference with their kindness and warm gesture. And just by chance, some maybe were left with a spark that may bring them one day into the incredible work that we do for wildlife research and conservation. The next generation of conservations scientists, Ella and June (middle) were the organizers of the bake sale, with their teacher, Albert Surroca (far right). From WCS Canada, Chrystal Mantyka-Pringle (and her two kids, Aurora and River who came along for the ride), and Maya Chartier. The two students that arranged the bake sale were asked why wildlife and conservation are important to them. “[Wildlife and Conservation] is important to me because I spend a lot of my time outdoors and with wildlife and I feel it’s really important for ecosystems, because we learn a lot of that in school, and if we don’t have wild places, the world wouldn’t be a beautiful or happy place.” - Ella “Wildlife and Conservation[ is important because if there are animals that disappear, the whole ecosystem becomes out of balance.” - June ] Lynsey Grosfield Wed, 08 Mar 2023 23:16:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:18884 https://programs.wcs.org/canadanew/Muddy-Boots/ID/18177/A-powerful-new-approach-to-nature-conservation-in-Canada.aspx#Comments 0 https://programs.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=20118&ModuleID=41427&ArticleID=18177 https://programs.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=18177&PortalID=96&TabID=20118 https://programs.wcs.org/canadanew/Muddy-Boots/ID/18177/A-powerful-new-approach-to-nature-conservation-in-Canada.aspx by Lina Cordero, Conservation Communications Intern, Wildlife Conservation Society Canada Canada is a big place. There are tens of thousands of lakes in this country, including some of the largest in the world. It is home to forests with a combined area larger than India and has the world’s longest coastline at more than 200,000 kilometres, including along the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic oceans. This much space means Canada is blessed with a huge abundance and richness of nature and human cultures. Canada’s landscapes can be divided into ecozones that are shaped by climatic and landform differences that lead to often quite different characteristics.  It is no wonder, then, that Canada is home to more than 80,000 species of plants and animals. The country’s varied landscapes are also the homelands of Indigenous Peoples, with many different languages, traditions, and a deep history of interacting with nature that has helped shape the landscapes and ecosystems we see today. The sheer size of Canada alone makes it very important to the planet’s biodiversity and climate regulation. For example, boreal forests and peatlands in Canada are among the world’s largest intact (roadless) ecosystems and are one of the world’s most important carbon storage areas. But while conserving Canadian nature is important to the entire world, it is very challenging to decide where action is most needed within the 10 million square kilometres of Canada’s lands and inland waters. A global partnership of scientists, governments, and conservation organizations has come up with a global standard for identifying the most critical places for the retention and safeguarding of nature. The Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) standard helps us zero in on places that are of high importance to maintaining biodiversity and often at risk of disappearing. KBAs can vary in size from small patches of undeveloped land in some of our largest urban areas, which may represent the best remaining habitats for highly endangered species, including lichens or insects, to huge expanses of northern land that are vital for enormous bird aggregations and for species such as caribou and polar bears. They are a way of steering conservation attention to areas where impact will be greatest thanks to a scientifically rigorous assessment process. The KBA Canada Coalition, a collaboration involving many organizations and sectors, is proud to have developed one of the world’s first comprehensive national programs to identify KBAs. Canada is the first country in the world to adapt the global KBA standard to a national level to identify sites of both global and national significance, leading the way for many other countries. Here is just a glimpse of some of the 73 approved KBAs in Canada so far (with more than 900 other sites still being assessed), and some interesting facts about them. Read the rest of the story here. Lynsey Grosfield Mon, 03 Oct 2022 21:57:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:18177 https://programs.wcs.org/canadanew/Muddy-Boots/ID/18072/WCS-Canada-comments-on-Canadas-Critical-Minerals-Strategy-to-Natural-Resources-Canada.aspx#Comments 0 https://programs.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=20118&ModuleID=41427&ArticleID=18072 https://programs.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=18072&PortalID=96&TabID=20118 https://programs.wcs.org/canadanew/Muddy-Boots/ID/18072/WCS-Canada-comments-on-Canadas-Critical-Minerals-Strategy-to-Natural-Resources-Canada.aspx By Justina Ray, President and Senior Scientist at WCS Canada The federal government’s draft Critical Minerals Strategy is structured around colonial ‘new frontiers’ mindset that leads to a focus on expediting extraction instead of understanding the real consequences of opening up some of the world’s last remaining ecologically intact areas and carbon-rich stores to industrial development. Map from Canada’s critical minerals strategy: Discussion paper Our comments on the draft strategy point to the need for a more holistic approach to determining when and where mining for these minerals may be appropriate and how Canada can ensure greater long-term benefits for local communities – particularly the Indigenous communities whose homelands will be most affected -- and society at large. Perpetuating current approaches and proceeding with an “extraction first” mentality is going to have massive climate consequences as many of the most promising mineral deposits are located in areas that are also hugely rich in stored carbon.  If mineral development results in the release of far more stored carbon than it saves through the creation of things like EV batteries or solar panels, then we will be racing backwards on climate action instead of forward.  However, the federal strategy does not even address this massive climate risk and has little to say about how to also ensure globally important intact ecosystems are not deeply damaged by new resource projects. We believe the Strategy needs to be redrafted to better reflect the trade offs inherent in opening up globally important remote areas to mining.  Current planning and assessment systems are inadequate to deal with the cumulative ecological and climate consequences of a new mining rush in these areas.  We see little effort, for example, to address the critical need to protect the massive amount of carbon stored in many areas being targeted for mining or even to properly account for this impact.  Even a rough calculation shows that the end results of mining, particularly in peatlands, will result in increased land emissions in the name of advancing “green” solutions that could undermine the achievement of Canada’s emission reductions targets. There is certainly a need to advance things like electric vehicles, renewable energy generation and energy storage, but a truly sustainable approach (unlike what it is in the draft strategy), would adopt a clear hierarchy of reducing demand and massively increasing reuse (e.g., recovery of minerals from waste tailings) and recycling (e.g., of consumer electronics) before embarking on ecologically and climatically high-risk new mining ventures.  Canada has a long history of focus on the exploitation of critical natural resources in the name of economic development.  We should learn from our own history that the boom-and-bust cycle of poorly planned resource extraction is highly damaging to communities – human and natural.  A better strategy would be to recognize and integrate the broad spectrum of globally important resources that exist in Indigenous homelands within the northern reaches of Canada into resource extraction planning. These include, but are not limited to, massive stores of carbon, critical habitat for biodiversity, cultural keystone species, copious freshwater and world-class wetlands. Lynsey Grosfield Fri, 23 Sep 2022 05:08:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:18072 https://programs.wcs.org/canadanew/Muddy-Boots/ID/18178/Learning-from-the-biggest-and-smallest-animals-in-the-river.aspx#Comments 0 https://programs.wcs.org/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=20118&ModuleID=41427&ArticleID=18178 https://programs.wcs.org:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=18178&PortalID=96&TabID=20118 https://programs.wcs.org/canadanew/Muddy-Boots/ID/18178/Learning-from-the-biggest-and-smallest-animals-in-the-river.aspx Most of our research is on the biggest animals in the river — the lake sturgeon — because they are important to Moose Cree, and because they can teach us a lot about the health of the river. Lake sturgeon are big, long-lived, and migratory, and so they need intact rivers to thrive. Seeing healthy populations of giant lake sturgeon tells us that the overall river is also healthy. However some of the smallest animals in the river can also tell us a lot about the health of the river. There are a lot of small bugs, and other little creatures like clams, that live in the rocks and silt at the bottom of the river. Some of these creatures can only survive in clean and unpolluted waters. However, other types of creatures are tough, and can live in almost any water. By counting the number and type of these bugs and other creatures — called “benthic invertebrates” by scientists — we can learn about how how healthy and clean the water is. We can also measure levels of contaminants in these small creatures, which can tell us even more about how much pollution is in the river. This past week, our research team travelled to the North French River, and to the nearby James Bay estuary, and collected many samples of these benthic invertebrates. Next step is to take them back to the lab, and see what they can tell us about the health of the river, and the overall ecosystem! Read the rest on the Learning from Lake Sturgeon website. Lynsey Grosfield Thu, 18 Aug 2022 23:56:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:18178