recent data

The book; "Stepping Stones of Ungava and Labrador" offers a snapshot of Labrador in 2004, and the years leading to then. But Labrador is changing fast, and you may wonder how. For example, how are current PCB levels in Saglek as a result of the clean-up operation? What is happening now at Voisey's Bay? Here are some references to more recent developments in Ungava and Labrador.

Canadian government apologizes to relocated Inuit;- 18th August 2010; Canadian "Globe and Mail" writer Bill Curry published a report titled "An Apology for the Inuit five decades in the making." It describes an apology by John Duncan, the new Canadian Government "minister of Indian Affairs" for the relocation of Inuit groups in the 1950's. Finally the government has acknowledged false pretenses and broken promises on this issue. Well worth reading while it's available on-line.

PCB levels around Saglek

Saglek... Reduction of PCB contamination in an Arctic Coastal Environment; a first step in assessing ecosystem recovery after the removal of a point source. Tanya M.Brown, Tom A. Sheldon, Neil M. Burgess and Ken J. Reimer. September 2009. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es900941w

Polar bears in Labrador.

I was surprised how many polar bears we saw during our "Stepping Stones" trip, but according to wildlife biologist Neil Burgess, there are many more there now!

Here is what he's been noticing;

"... I have been leading a research study of the impacts of PCBs on breeding birds at Saglek. We did our first study in 1999 before the PCB clean-up. We returned in 2007 after the clean-up, to repeat the study. The good news is the PCB levels in the marine ecosystem have dropped quickly after the PCB clean-up. PCB levels in the guillemot chicks I studied in 2007 were about one-third of what they were in 1999. Similar declines were seen in PCB levels in fish and marine sediment in Saglek Bay. Both Labrador Inuit and National Defense are very happy with the drop in PCB pollution at Saglek. National Defense spent more than $30 million on the Saglek clean-up. the results aside, it's been a great project to work on. I've enjoyed working closely with other scientists from all over, mentoring Inuit students who have helped with the field work, watching Torngat Mountains National Park come into being (as you know, Saglek Bay is the southern boundary of the new park), and most of all, spending many months enjoying the landscape and wildlife at Saglek Bay.

One point you'll appreciate. the number of polar bears in the Saglek area has increased dramatically since 1999. I was astonished by the number of bears on the islands in the Bay in 2007. I had a chance to talk about it with a couple of polar bear biologists who were doing a helicopter survey of Labrador polar bears in 2007. Their speculation was that climate change was disrupting the normal migration patterns of the bears. Normally during late winter the bears move south over the ice from Baffin Island down along the Labrador coast to the area where harp seals have their pups on the ice in early spring. When that is over, the bears migrate north on the ice back to Baffin Island. Now, the sea ice is melting before the bears can get back to Baffin and they end up swimming ashore in Labrador. Folks in Nain tend to agree with this.

I love going on multi-day kayak trips in Newfoundland with my wife, and I've always wanted to go on an extended paddling trip in northern Labrador. But with my recent work trips to Saglek and Nain, I am not comfortable with camping on shore in Torngat Park. There are too many bears now. loar bear encounters are anything but fun, as you well know. The Inuit paddlers in Nain really want to go for a trip up Manvers run. But even there, po;lar bears are now more common. Staying overnight in a cabin or on a mother ship may be the wisest strategy. At least you can get some sleep. We've been camping out on the paddling courses around Nain. I sure hope the bears don't make that too dangerous as the climate warms up more and more. The last thing I want is to have someone chewed up on a kayak course!" (Neil Burgess)