Increased northern shipping potential danger for Arctic animals

Increased shipping could make parts of the Northwest Passage among the most dangerous places in the Arctic for the whales and other mammals that live there, a study suggests.

In a paper published Monday, Donna Hauser of the University of Alaska warns that Lancaster Sound at the eastern gate of the passage could become a choke point for ships and marine mammals. “That is one area that has the potential for high conflict,” she said. “It’s an obligatory pathway for both vessels that are going in and out of the passage as well as marine mammals that are migratory.”

Hauser and her co-authors looked at 80 populations of narwhals, belugas, bowhead whales, seals, walrus and polar bears across the North and attempted to gauge how vulnerable they would be to large ships.

Transits of both the Northwest Passage and the Russian Northern Sea Route are expected to increase as climate change melts the sea ice.

Hauser’s study examined how the animals’ habitat could intersect with probable sea routes in September when ice is at its lowest and shipping would be busiest. It then weighed what would be the likely impacts of increased shipping on mammals.

The study concluded that just more than half the populations would be exposed to shipping. It also found that animals in Lancaster Sound, along with a portion of Russia’s central Arctic coast, were the most vulnerable.

Polar bears and seals face little risk, but whales would be the most vulnerable to harm.

Hauser said ship traffic could disrupt the behaviour of whales and affect their communication. Ships could also collide with them. “There’s been a lot of research to suggest that vessels may have impacts on marine mammals,” she said.