sign in sign up
<<
Home , CCGS Amundsen, Martin Frobisher

UNFROZEN SEA: SAILING THE

Michael Byers

In late October 2006, Michael Byers travelled through Bellot Strait in the Canadian North, on the the first ship ever to do so in October. “We were 700 kilometres north of the Artic Circle“ he writes, “but there was no ice.” The shrinking sea of ’s region poses challenges both for the ecosystem and for animals such as the polar bear, as well as for Canada’s claims of Arctic sovereignty over disputed waters such as the Northwest Passage. Where explorers once died in search of the “Arctic Grail,” a northern route from Europe to Asia, the Northwest Passage is now open water in the summer. “In March 2006,” writes Byers, “the area covered during the winter by sea-ice was at an all-time low: 300,000 square kilometres less than the previous year. At this rate the Arctic could lose all its sea-ice by 2030.”

Fin octobre 2006, Michael Byers s’est rendu dans le Nord canadien par le détroit de Bellot, à bord du premier bateau à faire cette traversée en octobre. « Nous étions à 700 kilomètres au nord du cercle arctique et il n’y avait pas de glace », écrit-il. Le retrait de la mer dans la région arctique du Canada constitue un défi pour l’écosystème et les populations animales, notamment les ours polaires, mais aussi pour la souveraineté revendiquée par notre pays sur des eaux contestées comme celles du passage du Nord- Ouest. Là où sont morts des explorateurs en quête du « Graal arctique » — une route du Nord entre l’Europe et l’Asie —, ce passage est devenu en été une étendue d’eau libre. « En mars 2006, observe l’auteur, la zone de glace marine était plus réduite que jamais pour la période hivernale : 300 000 kilomètres carrés de moins que l’année précédente. À ce rythme, il n’y aura plus de glace marine en Arctique dès 2030. »

here has all the ice gone?” Joe Immaroitok attempt. Their greatest challenge was sea-ice, which has asked. It was October 24, 2006, and he was star- almost always filled the straits, even in summer. William W ing at Foxe Basin. A shallow expanse of ocean Parry spent the summers of 1821 and 1822 waiting for the ice the size of Lake Superior, the basin usually freezes over by to clear from Fury and Hecla Strait. But though the strait is early October, enabling the to travel across to Baffin named after his ships, he never made it through. Leopold Island to hunt caribou. This winter, the local council in McClintock, despatched by Lady Franklin to search for her Igloolik was considering chartering a plane to take the husband on King William Island, tried six times to penetrate hunters across the unfrozen sea. Bellot Strait during the summer of 1858 before continuing his A few hours before I spoke with Immaroitok, I’d sailed journey by dog-sled. It took three years — through Fury and Hecla Strait on board the CCGS Amundsen, including two winters lodged in the ice — to complete the Canada’s research . All we saw were a few chunks of first full transit of the Northwest Passage in 1906. thick, aquamarine “multiyear” ice — formed when ice sur- vives one summer or more, and new ice accretes to it — n 2004, the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment reported that which had floated down from higher latitudes and were eas- I the average extent of sea-ice cover in summer had declined ily avoided. The previous day, we’d passed through Bellot by 15-20 percent over the previous 30 years. The remaining ice Strait — the first ship ever to do so in October. We were 700 was 10-15 percent thinner overall and 40 percent thinner in kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, but there was no ice. the middle of the . These trends are expected to The two straits are part of the Northwest Passage, the so- accelerate, so that by the end of the 21st century, there might called Arctic Grail. From Martin Frobisher in 1576 to John be no sea-ice at all in the summer. Recent satellite measure- Franklin in 1845, generations of European explorers searched ments analysed by the US National Snow and Ice Data Center for a navigable route through the Arctic islands to Asia. Many are even more alarming. In March 2006 the area covered dur- of them — including Franklin and his men — died in the ing the winter by sea-ice was at an all-time low: 300,000

30 OPTIONS POLITIQUES MAI 2007 Unfrozen sea: sailing the Northwest Passage square kilometres less than the previous the ice-free season is even longer, other navigation by 2015” if “the current rate year. At this rate, the Arctic could lose all polar bears are less lucky. In , of ice thinning continues.” of its sea-ice by 2030. the bears’ birth rate is plummeting as Shipping companies are also watch- Phytoplankton in the Arctic, like lengthening summers impose famine- ing closely. A navigable Northwest all plants, remove carbon dioxide from like conditions on a species that has Passage offers a route between Asia and the atmosphere by photosynthesising. evolved to hunt seals on ice. the Atlantic seaboard that is 7,000 kilo- Because the waters they live in are so Off Cape Felix, near where Franklin metres shorter than the one through the cold, when the phytoplankton die they died, the ship stopped alongside a multi- — saving on time, fuel sink into the ocean depths without year ice floe the size of a hockey rink to and transit fees. In the short term, uncer- decomposing: the carbon they have extract an ice-core: a cylindrical cross- tainties about the weather, the availabil- removed from the atmosphere remains section cut out with a hand-powered ity of search and rescue, and the movement of multiyear ice Phytoplankton in the Arctic, like all plants, remove carbon will — along with higher dioxide from the atmosphere by photosynthesising. Because insurance premiums — dis- the waters they live in are so cold, when the phytoplankton die suade reputable companies. But less reputable ones might they sink into the ocean depths without decomposing: the take the risk. There are quite carbon they have removed from the atmosphere remains at the a few rusting tankers with bottom of the sea for hundreds of years. Jody Deming from the Liberian flags and disgrun- University of Washington, who was on board the Amundsen tled creditors sailing on the world’s oceans. with me, is worried that as the water warms up the activity of International shipping marine bacteria that feed on the dead plankton will increase, in the Arctic carries with it releasing carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere. serious environmental risks. An oil spill would cause cat- at the bottom of the sea for hundreds of auger. The ice contains microbes able to astrophic damage. Large ships empty- years. Jody Deming from the University withstand temperatures as low as -35°C. ing their ballast tanks as they entered of Washington, who was on board the The way they do this, once it is fully these shallow waters could introduce Amundsen with me, is worried that as understood and synthesised, could have destructive new species, such as fish the water warms up the activity of important medical applications. As we parasites or poisonous algae. marine bacteria that feed on the dead arrived, an Arctic , snow-white and These dangers are of great concern plankton will increase, releasing carbon no bigger than a cat, scampered behind to the Inuit. When I asked Maria dioxide back into the atmosphere. a small ridge. In previous years, the fox Kripanik, the deputy mayor of Igloolik, Gary Stern from the Canadian would not have been stranded, appar- about the possibility of increased ship- Department of Fisheries and Oceans, ently without food, because first-year ice ping through the Northwest Passage, who was also on the ship, is studying would already have formed across the her first thought was for “our animals.” mercury levels in Beluga whales, which surface of the ocean. The waters of Foxe Basin, she have been rising far more steeply than explained, are home to whales, seals can be explained solely by the contami- ith the ice disappearing, the cur- and walrus, which the Inuit depend on nant being carried on the wind from W rents and narrow channels pose for food. There are also security con- industrial sources further south. One less of an impediment to navigation: an cerns. The police and military presence possible explanation is that, as the per- experienced sailor could now take a in the region is relatively light, which mafrost melts, naturally occurring mer- large through the straits during could make it attractive for ships carry- cury leaches out of the soil and into the the late summer and early autumn. ing illicit cargoes. Smugglers, illegal sea, where it is carried up the food chain. Governments are gradually waking up migrants, even terrorist groups might Climate change is having more to this new reality. In 2001, a report pre- see an ice-free Arctic as a back door to immediately apparent effects on other pared for the US Navy predicted that North America. Cruise ships are already Arctic mammals. In Queen Gulf, “within five to ten years, the Northwest frequent visitors. The Kapitan we encountered the only “first-year” ice Passage will be open to non-ice- Khlebnikov, a Russian-flagged converted of our voyage — as well as our only polar strengthened vessels for at least one icebreaker, offers luxury trips through bear. The bear was thin and, as he month each summer.” A briefing given the Northwest Passage. The Canadian walked, his hind feet kept breaking to the Canadian defence minister, Coast Guard’s 2005 Arctic Traffic through the ice. But he will have made it Gordon O’Connor, in February 2006 Summary lists another six cruise ships through the winter, since he is now able was confident that “the Northwest and eight pleasure-craft as visitors to to catch ring seals. Further south, where Passage could be open to more regular the Canadian Arctic that year.

POLICY OPTIONS 31 MAY 2007 Michael Byers

Courtesy Frédéric Lasserre Open sea, north of the Arctic Circle, in October. “Where has all the sea-ice gone?”

The greatest incentive for future development of powerful navigation. The coastal state retains shipping, however, is the presence of — and now climate change — has title to the waters, but foreign vessels substantial deposits of oil and gas. The brought the issue to the fore. have a right of “transit passage,” much US Geological Survey estimates that 25 Canada claims that the passage like walkers on a footpath through percent of the world’s undiscovered constitutes Canadian internal waters. British farmland. Since straight base- fossil fuels are located under the Arctic In 1986, it drew “straight baselines” lines cannot be used to close off an Ocean. Big Oil is already planning around its Arctic islands. Under inter- existing international strait, the crux of against the day when they are discov- national law, straight baselines may be the dispute concerns the requirement ered: Shell has recently commissioned used to link the outer headlands of an that the strait be used for international an analysis of the legal status of the archipelago or fragmented coastline. navigation. In the past century, only passage, which is the subject of a long- Provided the lines are of a reasonable two vessels have openly passed through standing international dispute. length, the straits and channels with- the Northwest Passage without asking in them are then subject to the full Canada’s permission: a US-owned ice- wnership of the islands along the force of the coastal state’s domestic strengthened tanker in 1969 and a US O passage is not at issue. They were laws. Canada argues that its baselines Coast Guard icebreaker in 1985. Some assigned to Canada by Britain in 1880, are consolidated by historic usage, submarine voyages have almost certain- and the resulting title has never been including the occupation of the sea- ly taken place but the passage of a sub- contested. As for the straits and chan- ice by the Inuit. marine, because it is covert, can’t create nels between the islands, the nearly The United States insists that the a new right under international law. impenetrable ice meant that for passage is an “international strait”: a argues that two transits can- decades the issue of ownership and waterway connecting two expanses of not create an international strait. control was never discussed. Only the high seas that is used for international Washington points to a judgment of the

32 OPTIONS POLITIQUES MAI 2007 Unfrozen sea: sailing the Northwest Passage

International Court of Justice, in a case Harper’s indecisiveness is all the tions and scrutiny by maintaining that concerning the Corfu channel, which more unfortunate, because US interests the passage is an international strait. suggests that the volume of traffic is have changed. During the Cold War, the Access to the waterway is not real- irrelevant. The US position has received United States was focused on maintain- ly in question, since Canada would be some support from the European ing open access for its navy, and especial- very unlikely to deny entry to one of Commission, which in 1986 joined the ly its submarines. Under the law of the its allies, or indeed to a reputable ship- State Department in protesting against sea, submarines may pass through an ping company. As Pierre Trudeau said Canada’s drawing of straight baselines. international strait without surfacing or in 1969, “to close off those waters and More unauthorized transits would seri- otherwise alerting the adjacent coastal to deny passage to all foreign vessels in ously undermine Canada’s claim. Yet state or states, something not permitted the name of Canadian sovereignty... Canada is poorly equipped to prevent in internal waters. From Washington’s would be as senseless as placing barri- them. The bulk of its military presence perspective, the Canadian claim threat- ers across the entrances of Halifax and is provided by the Canadian Rangers, ened to create an inconvenient prece- Vancouver harbours.” Washington’s 1,400 part-time volunteers, many of dent for straits and channels elsewhere. concern about an inconvenient prece- them Inuit, who live in 59 ham- dent is also misplaced. It can lets stretching from Today, Washington is more plausibly be argued that the to the Alaskan . They are concerned about terrorists sneaking near absence of international not trained or equipped to stop into North America, or rogue states navigation to date has created ocean-going vessels. a situation where the passage The ’s using the oceans to transport WMD. can be distinguished from the small fleet of icebreakers is inca- And these challenges would best be other waterways that the US pable of operating in the addressed through a domestic legal argues are international straits. Northwest Passage in winter, and system’s criminal, customs and In March 2005, then-US is redeployed to the Gulf of ambassador Paul Cellucci St. Lawrence each autumn. The immigration laws, rather than the revealed that he had asked the ships are also growing old: the much looser constraints of State Department to take a “seri- largest, the Louis St. Laurent, was international law. The Canadian ous look at our longstanding pol- built in 1969; the Amundsen is system is the only domestic legal icy” on the Northwest Passage. just a decade younger. If Canada This has created an opportunity is to control the passage, it will system that could plausibly be to resolve the dispute. The need ships that can go any- applied in the Northwest Passage. In Canadian government should where, at any time. the circumstances, it doesn’t benefit seize the initiative by offering to the United States — or most other provide open access for all US efore being elected prime countries — to have foreign vessels government vessels, facilitate B minister in January 2006, shipping by reputable compa- Stephen Harper promised shielded from reasonable regulations nies, and invest in the equip- “three new armed naval heavy and scrutiny by maintaining that the ment necessary to police the icebreakers.” Now he is hesitat- passage is an international strait. passage on a year-round basis — ing. The icebreakers were not in return for the United States mentioned in his first budget, and did Today, Washington is more con- recognizing Canada’s claim. Having seen not feature in a $17.1 billion defence cerned about terrorists sneaking into almost no ice in late October, it’s clear to procurement package announced last North America, or rogue states using me that we’ve no time to waste. June. Perhaps he has realized that it the oceans to transport WMD. And would be better if the new vessels these challenges would best be Michael Byers holds the Canada were supplied to the Coast Guard, addressed through a domestic legal Research Chair in Global Politics and which uses its icebreakers to clear system’s criminal, customs and immi- International Law at the University of paths for other ships, provide search gration laws, rather than the much . He is a project leader and rescue, support research scientists looser constraints of international law. within ArcticNet, a federally funded con- and help in the enforcement of fish- The Canadian system is the only sortium of more than 100 scientists from ing and environmental regulations as domestic legal system that could plau- 27 Canadian universities. His new book, well as customs and criminal law. sibly be applied in the Northwest Intent for a Nation: What Is Canada With the addition of light armaments Passage. In the circumstances, it does- For? is being published this month by and a few police or military person- n’t benefit the United States — or most Douglas & McIntyre. This article was nel, they could also play an enhanced other countries — to have foreign ves- first published in the London Review of security role. sels shielded from reasonable regula- Books (www.lrb.co.uk).

POLICY OPTIONS 33 MAY 2007