Grant Gilchrist – Discusses Arctic seabird research
Grant Gilchrist, Research Scientist at Environment and Climate Change Canada, speaks with Environment Minister, Catherine McKenna about his work studying seabirds and what monitoring their behaviour tells us about a changing Arctic.
Grant Gilchrist – Visits Hantzsch Island on the Canada C3 Expedition
“It’s important to consider that what we do has a potential impact on marine environment and Arctic wildlife in Canada … and I think this expedition has demonstrated that there is a commitment to change.” The Canada C3 cruise visited Hantzsch Island, where Grant Gilchrist described the thousands of Arctic sea birds that nest on the rocky island cliffs and how they are being impacted by climate change.
Cody Dey – ‘The Birds and the Bears’
“Global warming forces polar bears ashore where they eat hundreds of eider duck eggs.” Declining sea ice cover is forcing polar bears to spend more time on land, where they must look for novel food sources. As a result, bears are eating large quantities of eider duck eggs. Dr. Cody Dey used drones to study the effect of this predation on eider populations and the consequences for Inuit communities that harvest eider down.
Paul Smith – Visits the Torngat Mountains National Park
Paul Smith, a research scientist at Environment and Climate Change Canada, explains the challenges faced brought by climate change in the Torngat Mountains National Park. Warming of the tundra is causing ‘shrubification’ in the arctic, these changes to the plant community have cascading effects on wildlife that live there.
Arctic Eider Society – Movie trailer for ‘People of a Feather’
‘People of a Feather’ is a 15x award winning, full-length documentary film about a unique Inuit culture that relies on eider ducks for food and clothing, and the challenges they share adapting to changing sea ice ecosystems. visit www.peopleofafeather.com for more information
Arctic Eider Society – Community based monitoring by Inuit
This short video summarizes ongoing community-based environmental monitoring programs with the Arctic Eider Society in Hudson Bay and the reasons behind it. For more information, visit: www.arcticeider.com
Feature in Canadian Geographic magazine by Cody Dey
A bear in the henhouse: How the drama of climate change is playing out on a small island in Hudson Bay. “For more than 20 years, the eiders on Mitivik (literally, ‘the duck place’) have been studied by government, academic and Inuit researchers. Long-term ecological studies of this kind are rare in the Arctic, but are more important than ever to understand our changing environment.” https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/bear-henhouse
Grant Gilchrist – ‘Ice Watch’ on the Canada C3 Expedition
A Canada 150 Signature project, ‘Canada C3’ was a 150-day expedition from Toronto to Victoria via the Northwest Passage that took place from June 1 to Oct. 28, 2017. It inspired a deeper understanding of our land, our peoples and our country. Here, Grant reflects on his time on the ship during Leg 7.
“Climate change is altering the Arctic ecosystem. Data collected by the Canadian government shows that the Hudson Strait is now ice-free for a full two months longer than it was 25 years ago, a change that’s rippling through the ecosystem. Scientists, including local Inuit researchers, are carrying out field and drone surveys and conducting genetic testing of polar bears to investigate the consequences.” https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/collecting-eiderdown-polar-bear-market/
