Using a Geospatial Approach to Evaluate the Impacts of Shipping Activity on Marine Mammals and Fish in Arctic Canada
A loss in sea ice cover, primarily attributed to climate change, is increasing the accessibility and navigability of the Arctic Ocean. This increased accessibility of the Canadian Arctic, and in particular the Northwest Passage, presents important global and national shipping and development opportu...
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Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
2018
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10393/37777 https://doi.org/10.20381/ruor-22039 |
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ftunivottawa:oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/37777 2023-05-15T14:48:20+02:00 Using a Geospatial Approach to Evaluate the Impacts of Shipping Activity on Marine Mammals and Fish in Arctic Canada Joyce, Jenna Dawson, Jackie 2018-06-14 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10393/37777 https://doi.org/10.20381/ruor-22039 en eng Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa http://hdl.handle.net/10393/37777 http://dx.doi.org/10.20381/ruor-22039 Canadian Arctic Ship traffic Marine mammal Fish Underwater noise Thesis 2018 ftunivottawa https://doi.org/10.20381/ruor-22039 2021-01-04T18:27:27Z A loss in sea ice cover, primarily attributed to climate change, is increasing the accessibility and navigability of the Arctic Ocean. This increased accessibility of the Canadian Arctic, and in particular the Northwest Passage, presents important global and national shipping and development opportunities. However, increased shipping in the region also present challenges related to the environmental sustainability, sovereignty and safety, and cultural sustainability. The Low Impact Shipping Corridors (the Corridors) is currently the foundational framework for governing ship traffic within the Canadian Arctic. However, the Corridors were largely established based on historic traffic patterns and thus they do not fully consider important areas for marine mammals and fish in the region. This research addresses this important research gap by spatially identifying important areas for marine mammals and fish in the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut using both Traditional Knowledge and western science, evaluating ship tracks from 1990-2015, and geospatially identifying and evaluating areas of potential disturbance for marine mammals and fish related to vessel noise from different ship types transiting the Corridors within the study region. The results of this study indicate that all vessel types have the potential to cause behavioural disturbance to marine mammals and fish when navigating through these important wildlife areas, and that louder vessels (i.e. Tanker ships) travelling outside of these important wildlife areas have a greater potential to cause behavioural disturbance to marine mammals and fish than quieter vessels (i.e. Pleasure Crafts). The results also indicate that vessels navigating through certain regions of the Kitikmeot have a higher potential to cause behavioural disturbances in these species, including through the Gulf of Boothia, Franklin Strait, Rae Strait, Rasmussen Basin, and Bathurst Inlet. Thesis Arctic Arctic Ocean Bathurst Inlet Climate change Kitikmeot Northwest passage Nunavut Sea ice uO Research (University of Ottawa - uOttawa) Arctic Arctic Ocean Bathurst Inlet ENVELOPE(-108.051,-108.051,66.840,66.840) Canada Franklin Strait ENVELOPE(-96.851,-96.851,71.501,71.501) Gulf of Boothia ENVELOPE(-90.657,-90.657,70.719,70.719) Northwest Passage Nunavut Rae ENVELOPE(-116.053,-116.053,62.834,62.834) Rae Strait ENVELOPE(-94.926,-94.926,68.843,68.843) Rasmussen ENVELOPE(-64.084,-64.084,-65.248,-65.248) Rasmussen Basin ENVELOPE(-94.759,-94.759,68.436,68.436) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
uO Research (University of Ottawa - uOttawa) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivottawa |
language |
English |
topic |
Canadian Arctic Ship traffic Marine mammal Fish Underwater noise |
spellingShingle |
Canadian Arctic Ship traffic Marine mammal Fish Underwater noise Joyce, Jenna Using a Geospatial Approach to Evaluate the Impacts of Shipping Activity on Marine Mammals and Fish in Arctic Canada |
topic_facet |
Canadian Arctic Ship traffic Marine mammal Fish Underwater noise |
description |
A loss in sea ice cover, primarily attributed to climate change, is increasing the accessibility and navigability of the Arctic Ocean. This increased accessibility of the Canadian Arctic, and in particular the Northwest Passage, presents important global and national shipping and development opportunities. However, increased shipping in the region also present challenges related to the environmental sustainability, sovereignty and safety, and cultural sustainability. The Low Impact Shipping Corridors (the Corridors) is currently the foundational framework for governing ship traffic within the Canadian Arctic. However, the Corridors were largely established based on historic traffic patterns and thus they do not fully consider important areas for marine mammals and fish in the region. This research addresses this important research gap by spatially identifying important areas for marine mammals and fish in the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut using both Traditional Knowledge and western science, evaluating ship tracks from 1990-2015, and geospatially identifying and evaluating areas of potential disturbance for marine mammals and fish related to vessel noise from different ship types transiting the Corridors within the study region. The results of this study indicate that all vessel types have the potential to cause behavioural disturbance to marine mammals and fish when navigating through these important wildlife areas, and that louder vessels (i.e. Tanker ships) travelling outside of these important wildlife areas have a greater potential to cause behavioural disturbance to marine mammals and fish than quieter vessels (i.e. Pleasure Crafts). The results also indicate that vessels navigating through certain regions of the Kitikmeot have a higher potential to cause behavioural disturbances in these species, including through the Gulf of Boothia, Franklin Strait, Rae Strait, Rasmussen Basin, and Bathurst Inlet. |
author2 |
Dawson, Jackie |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Joyce, Jenna |
author_facet |
Joyce, Jenna |
author_sort |
Joyce, Jenna |
title |
Using a Geospatial Approach to Evaluate the Impacts of Shipping Activity on Marine Mammals and Fish in Arctic Canada |
title_short |
Using a Geospatial Approach to Evaluate the Impacts of Shipping Activity on Marine Mammals and Fish in Arctic Canada |
title_full |
Using a Geospatial Approach to Evaluate the Impacts of Shipping Activity on Marine Mammals and Fish in Arctic Canada |
title_fullStr |
Using a Geospatial Approach to Evaluate the Impacts of Shipping Activity on Marine Mammals and Fish in Arctic Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Using a Geospatial Approach to Evaluate the Impacts of Shipping Activity on Marine Mammals and Fish in Arctic Canada |
title_sort |
using a geospatial approach to evaluate the impacts of shipping activity on marine mammals and fish in arctic canada |
publisher |
Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10393/37777 https://doi.org/10.20381/ruor-22039 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-108.051,-108.051,66.840,66.840) ENVELOPE(-96.851,-96.851,71.501,71.501) ENVELOPE(-90.657,-90.657,70.719,70.719) ENVELOPE(-116.053,-116.053,62.834,62.834) ENVELOPE(-94.926,-94.926,68.843,68.843) ENVELOPE(-64.084,-64.084,-65.248,-65.248) ENVELOPE(-94.759,-94.759,68.436,68.436) |
geographic |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Bathurst Inlet Canada Franklin Strait Gulf of Boothia Northwest Passage Nunavut Rae Rae Strait Rasmussen Rasmussen Basin |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Bathurst Inlet Canada Franklin Strait Gulf of Boothia Northwest Passage Nunavut Rae Rae Strait Rasmussen Rasmussen Basin |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Bathurst Inlet Climate change Kitikmeot Northwest passage Nunavut Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Bathurst Inlet Climate change Kitikmeot Northwest passage Nunavut Sea ice |
op_relation |
http://hdl.handle.net/10393/37777 http://dx.doi.org/10.20381/ruor-22039 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.20381/ruor-22039 |
_version_ |
1766319424868974592 |