CANADA’S ARCTIC MARINE ATLAS CANADA’S ARCTIC MARINE ATLAS Suggested Citation: Oceans North Conservation Society, World Wildlife Fund Canada, and Ducks Unlimited Canada. (2018). Canada’s Arctic Marine Atlas. Ottawa, Ontario: Oceans North Conservation Society. Cover image: Shaded Relief Map of Canada’s Arctic by Jeremy Davies Inside cover: Topographic relief of the Canadian Arctic This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0 or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA. All photographs © by the photographers This Atlas is funded in part by the ISBN: 978-1-7752749-0-2 (print version) Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. ISBN: 978-1-7752749-1-9 (digital version) Library and Archives Canada Printed in Canada, February 2018 100% Carbon Neutral Print by Hemlock Printers © 1986 Panda symbol WWF-World Wide Fund For Nature (also known as World Wildlife Fund). ® “WWF” is a WWF Registered Trademark. I | CONTENTS Foreword ........................................................................... ii Introduction ..................................................................... iv Canadian Arctic Reference Map ................................... 2 FOREWORD The Changing Arctic ....................................................... 6 Humans and the Environment ....................................... 8 Inuit Nunangat, the Inuit homeland in Canada, embraces Canada’s Arctic waters and Inuit Land Claims .........................................................................10 coastline. From Davis Strait in the east to the Mackenzie Delta in the west, these Inuit Travel Routes and Sea Ice ..............................................12 waters are abundant with marine life that has sustained Inuit for millennia. Inuit, as Inuit Place Names ....................................................................14 Industrial and Commercial Activities ...................................16 humans, are a key part of a healthy Arctic and share the sea-ice, polynyas, estuaries, Management and Conservation ............................................18 and passageways of Canada’s northern seas with marine mammals, fish, and birds. Physical Oceanography of the Arctic .........................20 Introduction ...................................................................................20 Canada’s Arctic Marine Atlas is a compendium of maps and introductory descriptions Landscape of the Seabed .......................................................22 that thoughtfully depict what we know about the animals that inhabit Canada’s Seawater Sources and Surface Currents ........................24 northern waters as well as their habitats. While recognizing what is known, it Sea Ice and Its Variation ..........................................................26 Tides and Their Effects .............................................................32 is important to understand that Canada’s Arctic is experiencing unprecedented Storms and Their Effects .........................................................34 ecological change. At the same time, the region is facing a new generation of geo- Big Arctic, Little Arctic .............................................................36 political and industrial interests that will have a direct impact on the future of Inuit Bottom of the Food Web ...............................................38 Nunangat and its 53 communities. Phytoplankton ..............................................................................39 Amphipods and Pteropods .....................................................42 Calanoid Copepods ...................................................................44 This compendium is about Arctic biological marine life. Even though it does not Cold water Corals and Sponges ...........................................46 explicitly depict Traditional Knowledge, it does acknowledge the hard-fought political history and empowerment of Inuit in Canada. The atlas also includes maps of Inuit Marine and Anadromous Fishes of the Arctic ...........48 Anadromous Fishes ...................................................................52 place names and trails, illustrating that Inuit Nunangat is the place of our people Pelagic Fishes ..............................................................................54 and all they do and know. Together with scientists and others, we can combine our Bottom Fishes ...............................................................................56 knowledge and our vision to achieve what none of us can do alone. Forage Fishes–1 ...........................................................................58 Forage Fishes–2 ...........................................................................60 I strongly encourage all who have an interest in the future of the Arctic and its people Coastal and Marine Birds of the Arctic ......................62 Arctic-Breeding Geese .............................................................66 to use Canada’s Arctic Marine Atlas as one starting point toward sound stewardship Arctic-Breeding Sea Ducks–1 ................................................70 of our national Arctic heritage. Together with the continued involvement of Inuit in Arctic-Breeding Sea Ducks–2 ............................................... 74 shaping their future on their terms, the information compiled here is an essential Arctic-Breeding Loons ..............................................................78 Arctic-Breeding Seabirds ........................................................82 contribution to a vibrant, Canadian Arctic. Arctic-Breeding Shorebirds....................................................86 Marine Mammals of the Arctic ....................................90 Baleen Whales..............................................................................94 Mary Simon Toothed Whales–1 ......................................................................96 Toothed Whales–2 ......................................................................98 Honourary Chair, Oceans North Pinnipeds–1 ..................................................................................100 Pinnipeds–2 .................................................................................102 Carnivores ....................................................................................104 Further Reading ........................................................... 106 Data Notes .................................................................... 112 Acknowledgements ..................................................... 113 | II III | Photo facing page: Subsistence hunters at the polyna edge. (photo: Jennifer Provencher) INTRODUCTION Reflecting on Canada’s storied history, the northern half of the country deserves more than a passing thought. From the search for the Northwest Passage to the recognition of land claims, the Arctic has loomed large in the imagination, geography, economy, law, and policy of Canada. Canada’s Arctic Marine Atlas by Topic HUMANS AND THE ENVIRONMENT It will continue to do so into the future, as Canada fulfills its role as a leader in Arctic affairs and as the Arctic shapes Canada’s destiny and self-understanding. The Canadian Arctic is a homeland and frontier, frigid If we are to act on the basis of the best available infor- and friendly, a source of riches and priceless just as it is. A mation, it is essential that existing information is in fact place of competing visions and understanding—intimately available. In compiling the data and creating the maps in PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY known to Inuit, eagerly explored by adventurers, carefully this atlas, we have made use of extensive data in public studied by scientists, and yet filled with the unknown and archives and databases, for which we are very grateful. We the rapidly changing. It is deserving of respect, awe, won- have also had access to some data that are not, or not yet, der, and attention. The Canadian North is the largest area publicly available, for which we are also grateful. Finally, we inhabited by a single Indigenous people and home to more are aware of additional data that is not yet accessible, for a Bowhead Whales, Beluga Whales, Polar Bears, and Narwhal variety of reasons, and we encourage the holders of those than any other place on the planet. data to make use of public archives as soon as possible. In this atlas of Canadian Arctic waters, we celebrate While the right to publish is important in research, good BOTTOM OF THE what is known about the area and its inhabitants and governance is a greater aim in the long run, and can be FOOD WEB ecosystems. We also acknowledge how much more is to be achieved only with access to all existing information. learned, if Canada is to serve as an able steward of all that Combining data from different sources and across its Arctic has and stands for. Inuit have thrived in the Arctic different intellectual and ecosystem domains is essential because they understand the fine details of land and sea in to building a complete picture of the Canadian Arctic. It is, all their innumerable variations from day to day, year to however, challenging to match data collected at different year, generation to generation. Canada, too, can thrive as scales and times and for different purposes. Understanding an Arctic nation only if it is guided by knowledge and care, an ecosystem