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Various forms of environmental degradation of the Arctic— some visible to local inhabitants, most ignored by the international community—threaten the people and wildlife of the Arctic region. These threats are too subtle and dispersed for the public to notice ... except in retrospect. Swiss Coalition for the Protection of Whales • Global Survival Network Polar Exposure: Environmental Threats to Arctic Marine Life and Communities

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Page 1: Polar Exposure: Environmental Threats to Arctic Marine ......Polar Exposure: Arctic Environmental Threats · 1 Narwhals Male—and some female—narwhals grow a uniquely distinguishing

Various forms of environmental degradation of the Arctic—

some visible to local inhabitants, most ignored by the

international community—threaten the people and wildlife

of the Arctic region. These threats are too subtle and

dispersed for the public to notice ... except in retrospect.

Swiss␣ Coalition␣ for␣ the␣ Protection␣ of␣ Whales␣ • Global␣ Survival␣ Network

Polar Exposure: Environmental Threatsto Arctic Marine Life and Communities

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Various forms of environmentaldegradation of the Arctic—some visibleto local inhabitants, most ignored by theinternational community—threaten thepeople and wildlife of the Arctic region.These threats are too subtle and dispersedfor the public to notice ... except inretrospect.

Two marine mammal species—thebeluga whale and the narwhal—areindicators of the myriad threats facing lifein the Arctic marine environment today1.These two cousin cetacean species—toothed whales belonging to the smallercetacean species—are wanderers of theArctic marine environment. Each speciesnumber several separate and distinctstocks around Greenland, Russia, Canadaand the United States. Within theseareas, the whales have traditionallycoexisted with, and have been sustainablyconsumed by native peoples.

The beluga and narwhal are nowunder pressure from hunting, environ-mental degradation, and atmosphericchange. Moreover, both species are part ofinternational trade—narwhals for theirivory tusks, and belugas for the entertain-ment industry. These factors, along withaboriginal hunting in most ranges of thespecies, may endanger the very existenceof these whales.

Arctic communities are alsothreatened. Health problems have arisenamong indigenous peoples as a result ofincreased contamination of the marine

environment and marine mammals—contamination originating in the moresouthern and industrialized world. Byconsuming meat and blubber from marinemammals, a significant portion of theArctic people are unwittingly exposingthemselves to second-hand pollutionspread from sources far away.

Arctic people have coexisted withand consumed whales for centuries.Factors beyond their region and beyondtheir control threaten to destroy thatbalance. The South Greenland belugawhale is extinct2 and others may follow.The St. Lawrence Estuary population ofbeluga whales is suffering fromenvironmental degradation.

This changing relationship betweenhumans and whales, and the damaginghealth effects on both, should not beanalyzed in the context of who should, orwho should not, exploit the Arctic’snatural resources. Inuits have beenaffected socially, culturally, andeconomically after Norway, Iceland,Canada and Russia depleted the whalestocks on which they subsisted. Thesubsequent and necessary protection ofthe great whales has perpetuated a steadydecline in small cetacean stocks, as nativehunters have been forced to rely primarilyon small cetaceans such as beluga andnarwhal.

The destruction of the Arctic is aninternational crisis that demandsinternational action.

ContentsNarwhals ...........................1Belugas .............................5Threats ............................11Contamination of theArctic Environment ......... 15Health Policy andRisk Management ............ 17Recomendations ..............18References ....................... 19

front cover:Uummannaq, Greenlandback cover:Upernavik, Greenland

Greenland, 1997

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NarwhalsMale—and some female—narwhals

grow a uniquely distinguishing tusk ofivory protruding from their upper jaw.This tusk can grow up to two meters long,while the full body length of an adultnarwhal can reach 4.5 meters. Thenarwhal’s tusk is used for combativeinteraction with other males and to stir upthe ocean bottom for prey. A malenarwhal may weigh up to 1,350 kilos anda female 900 kilos. The animals feed onArctic cod fish, squid, and crustaceans.

Range and PopulationOf beluga and narwhal, the narwhal

has the most limited geographic range ofthe two species. Three distinct popula-tions of narwhal have been provisionallyrecognized: Baffin Bay and Davis Strait(called the Baffin Bay stock), NorthernHudson Bay, and East Greenland. In1991, the International WhalingCommission’s (IWC) ScientificCommittee expressed concern aboutnarwhal catch levels in Greenland andCanada. In 1992 the IWC made it clearthat neither country had reduced thisconcern3. In fact, during its meeting in1992, the Joint Commission on theConservation of the Beluga and Narwhal(JCCBN), a Greenland-Canada bilateralbody comprised of Arctic researchers andcommunity members, acknowledged thatharvests of narwhal from the Baffin Baystock was not sustainable and thatmanagement action should be taken4.

The Baffin Bay narwhal populationmigrates between the Canadian HighArctic and the West-North/West Coast ofGreenland. Inuit communities on eachcoast of the Baffin Bay hunt thesenarwhals. It is difficult to say how manyanimals are taken in the combined hunt.There are inadequate or nonexistentreporting schemes in both Canada andGreenland, though most apparent in theWest Greenland area where the reportingsystem broke down completely in the1980s5. The Joint Commission’s ScientificWorking Group in 1995 accepted that allreported catches of narwhal within theBaffin Bay stock are under-reported.Furthermore the Commission could notassign population status to narwhal due touncertainties in stock identity,abundance, rate of increase andmortality2.

In 1991 scientists estimated that thenarwhal stock of Northern Hudson Baytotaled 1,300 animals, a conservativelylow number since submerged animals werenot counted3. Scientists furthermaintained that the stock is a discreet oneand that it should be managedaccordingly. A maximum of 40 narwhalshave been hunted annually from thisstock between 1974 to 1987, and in morerecent years, 14 narwhals were killedbetween 1993 and 19966.

DNA sampling has concluded thatthe East Greenland population ofnarwhals is also discreet, and that in itsmigration, the stock wanders north toSvalbard and the Barents Sea region ofthe Russian Arctic3. Very little is knownabout the status and distribution of thisstock; there is no population estimate ofthese animals. It is known, however, thatthe hunt for narwhals on the east coast ofGreenland has ranged between 40 and 60animals annually, while in 1989 and 1990the catch was an estimated 70-80animals7. It is presumed that the struckand loss rate of animals, especially onopen water, is high.

As mentioned, narwhal groups arefound in the Barents, White, Kara,Laptev, East Siberia and the Chukchi Seaswith no known or reliable data on harvestof the species. Reports of narwhals in theEurasian Arctic Ocean have registered theanimals as far as 85˚ North and straying tothe Bering Sea8, 64. Records and sighting of

The Arctic

1. Thule2. Melville Bay3. Upernavik4. Maarmorilik mine5. Nunavik6. Uummannaq7. Ilulissat8. Nuuk9. Davis Strait

10. Baffin Bay11. Arctic Bay12. Baffin Island13. Cumberland Sound14. Iqaluit15. Lake Harbour16. Hudson Strait17. Ungava Bay18. Sanikiluaq19. Hudson Bay20. Churchill River21. Beaufort Sea22. Chukchi Sea23. East Siberian Sea24. Laptev Sea25. Kara Sea26. Novaya Zemlya27. Svalbard28. Barents Sea29. Murmansk30. Kola Peninsula

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narwhal from Alaskan waters areextremely rare and the presence of thespecies here is considered exceptional9.There are no data to suggest that narwhalsare being hunted off Alaska.

HuntingNarwhal are hunted for meat,

blubber, skin and ivory. All of these partsare bartered and commercially tradedlocally. Narwhal ivory is sold to tourists inCanada and Greenland; some is exportedprimarily to Europe and Asia. Mostrecords of narwhal hunting in Greenlandare incomplete or nonexistent. Some dataare derived from the amount of ivory tusksregistered as exports, but these do notreflect females hunted which do not carrytusks10.

Methods used to hunt narwhals havechanged considerably. The majority ofboth Greenland and Canadian huntershave replaced their highly effective andtraditional kayaks and hand-heldharpoons, with using motorboats andrifles. This modern and preferred methodresults in a higher number of whaleslanded, but is also more wasteful. Manywhales are struck but lost during hunts.For the most part, these potentialcasualties and/or wounded whales are notcalculated into a final mortality estimate,although the government of Canada hasacknowledged struck and lost rates fromseven percent to 70 percent from theBaffin Bay narwhal stock11.

Canadian Inuits operate under aquota system when hunting narwhal,while Greenland has no such restrictions.In addition to the potential over-

exploitation of the stock, the current lackof a credible quota system in Greenland isdisconcerting, especially when one takesinto account deficient and inadequatereporting of actual catches. Since 1990 nohunting statistics have been availablefrom Greenland’s Avanersuaq Districtnorth of Upernavik. Danish scientistsreport that in Greenland’s UummannaqDistrict, south of Upernavik, 400-500narwhals were killed in 1989 but only 275animals were actually reported. Toillustrate the impossibility of relying ondependable trends in, or data from, theGreenland hunt, a recorded 1,019narwhals were killed in Uummannaq in1990, while the assumed total from onlytwo months of that year was 1,046animals12. Greenlanders are able to catchbeluga and narwhal approximately sevenmonths out of the year. The JCCMNBestimated that the average total annualkill between Canada and Greenland is820 for the years 1983-1993, not counting1991, when there were no numbers fromGreenland at all. This does not includenumbers from Avernersuaq where thereare no records kept, but where theJCCMNB estimated the number of killsto be around 150-200 annually2. None ofthese numbers assume that there ismortality as a result of struck but lostanimals.

In 1992, the IWC ScientificCommittee affirmed that apparentinconsistencies in correlation betweennarwhal catches and documented mattaksales in villages of northwesternGreenland meant that the true averageannual catch was, or is, probably twice aslarge. The IWC Scientific Committeeexpressed serious concern in 1992 thatthe status of the narwhal had beendeclining3.

Canada also concedes that much ofthe actual harvest data pertaining tobeluga and narwhal kills are incompletein the regions where the whales arehunted. Reporting schemes dependheavily on government officials beingpresent when hunting occurs, which isnot always the case6.

Narwhal hunts typically experience asignificant struck and loss rate, meaningthat some animals are not counted amongtotal mortality if they are known to havesunk or escaped with wounds after beingstruck. Particular concern about struck

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and lost rates is voiced by scientistsregarding the hunts around the west coastof Greenland. However, in a report by theCanadian based Arctic FisheriesScientific Advisory Committee (AFSAC)it was found that struck and lost rates inthe Canadian hunt ranged from 42-56percent. The AFSAC declared thisunsustainable for the narwhalpopulation13.

TradeThe narwhal’s ivory tusk has

historically been linked to mythical andmagical imaginations of unicorns, and tobeliefs in the ivory’s powers as anaphrodisiac. Whole narwhal tusks, as wellas smaller carvings, continue to be soughtfor their aesthetic value. Greenland is richwith a history of carving from narwhaltusks, while Canadian Inuits havetraditionally done very little carving.However, as a result of substantial demandfor these products by tourists, huntingcommunities have started carving14.

International trade in narwhal tusksbegan in the seventeenth century, mostlyfrom Canada and Greenland into Asiaand Europe. Since then, the narwhal hasbeen one of the most important animalsin the Inuit hunt. There is significanteconomic value in tusk ivory, and mattakand meat remain traded internally withprice fluctuations determining the level ofexploitation by hunters15. Present daytrade involves whole tusks as well ascarvings from Canada and Greenland.CITES lists the narwhal on Appendix IIand thereby mandates that export permitsbe issued for all narwhal products leavingGreenland and Canada. In 1984, theEuropean Union (EU) banned import ofnarwhal products into EU membercountries (EU Reg. 3626/82, laterreplaced by EU Reg. 338/97). However,Greenland successfully campaigned for acontinuous exemption under these rules,thus making it possible for Greenland asthe only territory to export narwhalproducts to European Union countries.After the new EU regulation came intoforce in 1984, prices for narwhal ivoryfirst crashed and since bounced back tofull pre-regulation market prices16.

Furthermore, narwhal tusks andcarvings can be exported to EU countriesif they are traded not for commercialpurposes, but rather as “personal effects.”

According to CITES records, of 23 tusksentering France in 1991, 17 wereimported under this “personal effects”label and the rest for commercial use16.

Selling carvings is easier and moreprofitable than selling whole tusks.However, whole tusks have been shownto be more obviously discernible to theCITES permit system and thus to controlsand true monitoring of trade activity. Theexport of narwhal products has not slowedsince regulations aimed at curbing tradecame into force17. On the contrary,demand by tourists by importing countriesis increasing. Registered exports of ivorycarvings from Greenland has increasedfrom 306 pieces in 1991, to 714 pieces in199510. Prices for narwhal productsapproximately doubled between 1975 and199016. Since 1990, prices have remainedfairly stable17. Greenland sees significantexports of narwhal carvings mostly bytourists, although some pieces are sentdirectly to importing countries. Mosttourists shops, travel agencies, airportsand specialty art shops in Greenland sellivory carvings. In Greenland’s capital,Nuuk, one two-meter intact ivory tusk(approximately six kilos) cost 8,000Danish kroner, ($1,100 USD) in thesummer of 1997. Calculating with roughly75 percent of a tusk remaining as carvingsafter the actual carving process, potentialnet gain from one tusk can reach Dkr.9,000 ($1,285) considering that one small25 gram pendant costs Dkr. 300 ($43)17.

Greenland’s domestic regulations onthe exportation of ivory products areconsistent with other countries’ rules.Responsibility lies with the exporter to

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Hunters with narwhal(circa 1920)

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obtain the mandatory permits in order tobring the wares out of the country, in thiscase narwhal products. However,Greenland’s authorities have made almostno effort to warn visitors about thenecessity of registering exports. Further-more, Greenland authorities have failedto set up adequate controls at keyinternational exit points. Current customregulation leaflets available at the mainpolice station and in some airports inGreenland do not mention the export ofnative animal products, such as narwhaland walrus carvings. The carvings arebought by tourists who receive noinformation from vendors as to exportpermits or regulations, and are thusexported without CITES permits17. Since1988, when about 100 tusks wereexported with permits from Greenland,the number of narwhal ivory exports hasdoubled, and in some years tripled18.

This increase in legal trade innarwhal products, along with apparentillegal exports by unwitting tourists, raisesquestions about the actual status of thenarwhal population and the future of thestock. Also, there is concern that tusk-carrying male narwhals are predominantlytargeted in certain areas because of theextra incentive for hunters to sell ivory. InArctic Bay, Canada, studies have shownthat reported catches of narwhals havebeen strongly biased toward adult maleswho yield the biggest tusks16. Concern fornarwhal stocks should not, however, focuson whether tusks are traded commerciallyas a byproduct of the aboriginalsubsistence hunt, but rather on whethercommerce in ivory itself is a major

motivating factor of the hunt.Financial incentive to supply a

growing demand for narwhal ivory by anincreasing number of tourists toGreenland and Canada, and by certainforeign markets, should not beunderestimated. Moreover, unlikeCanada, Greenland sets no limit as to theamount of tusks, or carvings from tusks,that can be taken out of the country withCITES permits. Although the officialnumber of certificates issued for tuskexport during any one year in Canada byno means reflect the true number of tuskstaken from narwhals, it does point to thefact that the species from which theproduct originates can become threatenedby trade pressures.

While EU member countries are nolonger legal ports of entry for narwhalproducts, some non-EU destinations serveas entrepots for the narwhal ivory trade.Switzerland has become a significantimporter of narwhal ivory and teeth; Swissmerchants then reexport the products totraditional import markets, such as Japanand other European countries19. In 1984,when the European Union banned theimport of ivory, Canada claimed that ithad no domestic market in which to sellivory20. However, less than half the tusksobtained from narwhal hunts between1975 and 1990 were exported with CITESpermits which would then mean eitherthat there was in fact a significantdomestic market, tusks were stockpiled, ora significant amount of ivory was exportedillegally14.

As with most other commerciallyinteresting species, management is anecessary component of the harvest ofnatural resources14.

International Whaling CommissionThe IWC Scientific Committee has

recommended that narwhals be includedin the Schedule of the IWC and thus begiven status as a stock to be managed bythe IWC. However, this proposal has notbeen accepted, and neither Canada norGreenland are accepting intervention ofany kind from the IWC to facilitateconservation of narwhal or belugapopulations. Canada left the IWC in 1982and Greenland continues to rejectdiscussions concerning all small cetaceansin the IWC. This lack of internationalcooperation makes scientific progress and

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adequate monitoring of stocks verydifficult. In 1992, the IWC ScientificCommittee recommended that bothCanada and Greenland improve theirreporting systems. In 1997, still nothinghas been done by either Canada orGreenland to implement improvedsystems which would facilitate betterscience and monitoring of a sensitivenarwhal population.

CITESIn 1985, Germany proposed that

narwhals be placed on CITES Appendix Iin order to prevent over-exploitation as aresult of excessive trade. Both Canada andGreenland mounted considerablecampaigns against this proposal and it wasdefeated. Since then, prices for narwhalivory have increased in Canada and haveremained high in Greenland14.

Beluga Range and PopulationThere are seven Canadian beluga

populations: The high Arctic stock(thought to be shared with Greenland),the east and west Hudson Bay stock, theBeaufort Sea stock, the south-east BaffinIsland stock, the Ungava Bay stock and

the St. Lawrence stock.There are five Alaskan beluga

populations: Cook Inlet, Bristol Bay,Norton Sound (probably shared withRussia), Beaufort Sea (shared withCanada), and eastern Chukchi Sea (mostlikely also shared with Russia).

Greenland has a western and aneastern population of beluga whales, thewestern thought to be shared withCanada as mentioned above. Russianstocks of beluga whales are present in theBarents Sea, Kara Sea, and the WhiteSea. Limited information is available fromthese areas.

In the case of most of ranges outlinedabove, scientists have not yet been able todraw precise boundaries of the animals2.

Greenland and CanadaThe Baffin Bay/Davis Strait

population of belugas has experienced asignificant decrease in its population. Thestock is thought to be shared betweenGreenland and Canada, exactly as withthe narwhal population of the same area.A survey of belugas from 1981 resulted inan estimate for this stock of up to 26,800whales. An identical aerial survey in 1991

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Belugas, Alaska

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ended with a revised estimate of belugas,which showed a 30 percent decline in thepopulation3, 4. In its 1994 report, theJCCMNB warned that harvest of belugascannot be sustained. In its 1995 report itconcluded that the Baffin Bay belugasnumbered between 4,000 and 8,000whales and that the annual catch rate isbetween eight percent and 32 percent.The abundance estimate was based on theassumption that there is only one stock inthe Baffin Bay area2.

Thus a 1996 report updatingscientific estimation of the plight of theBaffin Bay/Davis Strait beluga whalesconcluded that this beluga stock size hassuffered a significant decline in the last 13years, possibly up to 62 percent21. Sincethen, neither Canada nor Greenland havereacted to these grave warnings fromscientists. As far as can be ascertained,annual harvests have not decreased oneither side of Baffin Bay.

According to the JCCMNB (1995),the West Greenland hunters have atendency to kill predominantly younganimals and females in their hunt, whichdisrupts gender ratios and maximumpotential growth of the population. TheJCCMNB forecasted that if the huntcontinues at 1990s levels, the WestGreenland portion of the Baffin Baypopulation of belugas will be depleted.However, since the JCCMNB operateswith the understanding that the BaffinBay population is shared with Canada,this prediction means potential depletionand/or grave consequences for the entirerange, not only West Greenland.

Based on these findings, the IWC’s

Scientific Committee once againexpressed concern over the Canadian andGreenland hunts and recommended, as ithad during its 1991 meeting, that the killrate for belugas in this area be reducedbelow 1992 levels and that monitoring ofthe species continue.

The East Greenland population ofbelugas are thought to occur from the eastGreenland coast to Svalbard, Norway.The belugas of this range have beensubject to extensive commercial whalingby Russian and Norwegian hunters duringthe 19th century. Norway has sinceprotected these whales from commercialhunting. Still, it is clear that some whaleshave been killed as Norwegian scientistsrefer to whales caught in the last 30 years,some of which have been killed for dogfood22.

CanadaThe St. Lawrence River population

of beluga whales is threatened withextinction and has remained at a constantlow level since the early 1970s when truemonitoring of the population began. Thestock is depleted from what is thought tohave been a historical size of about 5,000animals before the advent of commercialwhaling of these animals in the 1700s, toonly 500 animals today23. According tobeluga scientists working in the St.Lawrence, the whales have not shownsigns of recuperation, partly because theyhave been caught in a genetic bottleneck.The animals are experiencing geneticinbreeding, immune depression, increasedrisk of disease, stunted growth andreproductive failures24.

The animals are now protected fromhunting, but have as top predators in thefood chain fallen victim to the industrialworld’s dangerous pollutants. Scientistsbelieve that the beluga whale populationof the St. Lawrence is failing to reboundbecause of their long term exposure to ahighly toxic and complex mixture ofchemicals derived from industrial outputsfrom both local sources and fromindustries far away whose pollutantsgravitate toward the Arctic. Belugawhales of the St. Lawrence are strickenwith ailments related to mercury, lead,PCBs (polychlorobiphenyls), DDT andMirex (pesticides, or organohalogen)contamination. All of these pollutantsaffect the immune system. They have also

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been found to cause cancerous growths in40 percent of 73 dead belugas examinedduring the last 15 years23. Other ailmentsinclude a variety of bacterial infections,respiratory problems, ulcers and failure ofreproductive organs25. Offspring containmuch higher levels of contaminants as aresult of the direct transfer of toxiccompounds through nursing, and possiblyalso from the mother’s womb23.

Belugas carry the heaviest loads oforganohalogens of all marine mammalstested in the St. Lawrence. According toCanadian researchers, belugas of the St.Lawrence are showing 100 times greaterconcentrations of PCBs than other whalespecies and seals studied in the same area.The animals studied contained more than50 parts per million (ppm) of PCBs,which under Canadian regulationsclassifies parts of the whales as toxic23.

Belugas are bottom-grubbing animalswhich makes them especially susceptibleto contaminated invertebrates living insediment. Belugas seem particularlysusceptible to illness when carryingcontaminants. Cancer among the St.Lawrence belugas ranks twice as high asthat in humans overall and is exceededonly by cases of Australia and NewZealand sheep which feed on pasturestreated with carcinogenic herbicides23.

During the winter, four nonresidentpopulations of beluga whales migrate tothe Canadian Hudson Strait where theyjoin one residential stock of belugas. Thenonresident populations spend thesummer in Ungava Bay, SoutheasternBaffin Island/Cumberland Sound andEast Hudson Bay. The Ungava Bay andEastern Hudson Bay groups are classifiedas depleted stocks, but are still beinghunted by local Inuit communities.

The IWC has reiterated its concernfrom previous meetings over theseCanadian populations still being targeteddespite their status as highly vulnerable3.The Southeastern Baffin Island/HudsonStrait group is similarly classified asdepleted, and is also still being hunted.

AlaskaThe Beaufort Sea/Western Arctic

stock is shared between Alaska andCanada and is estimated at 39,039-42,566animals26. The U.S. National MarineFisheries Service (NMFS) suggests thatthis population is stable and may be

increasing. NMFS has determined thatthe maximum number of animals that canbe removed from this stock is 781 animalsannually. According to NMFS, CanadianInuit whalers have taken an average of110 whales a year between 1990 and1994, and Alaskan whalers have taken anaverage of 58 animals in a three yearperiod from 1992 to 1994. Thus the twohunts do not together exceed the annual781 recommended as maximum allowablecatch for this population.

However, the numbers quoted fromthe Alaskan and Canadian hunts do notinclude possible incidental removals, nordo they reflect any struck but lost records.Nor do they reflect potential gaps ininformation from hunters who do notrespond to monitoring surveys26.

The United States recognizesanother four stocks of belugas asbelonging to the Alaskan sphere. TheEastern Chukchi Sea population ofbelugas was estimated at 3,710 individualsin 1996. However, this is said to be aminimum figure as some areas wherebelugas are known to occur within theeastern Chukchi had not been included inthe latest survey. Scientists are not able todetermine what the optimal sustainablepopulation level is, thus leaving thescientific community and hunters alike inthe dark as to the true health of thepopulation.

U.S. scientists estimate that theChukchi Sea population may sustain ahunt of 74 beluga whales annually.However, this does not take into

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Beluga mother and calf,Chukchi Sea

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consideration the number of animalskilled by other means. While largecommercial fisheries operate in this rangeof belugas, no incidental deaths in fishinggear have been reported by observers inthe period 1990-1994. No data areavailable from ships’ logbooks from 1993to 1997. Alaskan natives have beenhunting an average of 63 whales a yearfrom the eastern Chukchi stock ofbelugas26. This number does not includethe potential addition of animals struckbut lost in the hunt. The landed numberof 63 animals is therefore not far from thePotential Biological Removal (PBR)figure of 74 set by scientists as maximumannual kill.

It is unclear whether this stock isshared between both Alaskan and Russianhunters27. The Russians are providing verylittle information about the status of theirbeluga population, hunting, or distur-bance of the belugas’ habitat. Russianscientists have experienced immenseeconomical and technological problemssince the collapse of the Soviet Union.Those scientists in the forefront of belugascience during the old regime arecurrently struggling to maintainlaboratories, connections to foreigninstitutions, budgets for field operations,etc. Limited funding has also preventedRussian marine mammal scientists frompassing on their science and institutionalknow-how to a new generation of Russianbiology students, as the general lack offunding affects the entire scientificcommunity.

The Norton Sound stock of belugas

is calculated at 7,986 animals with aminimum estimate of 6,439. According toU.S. scientists, the maximum annualremoval rate should be no more than 129animals. During 1993, native hunters ofAlaska killed 136 belugas, and in 1994they took 116. From 1995, the U.S.Government estimates that a total of 74whales were killed. However, reports fromlocal areas are insufficient to properlydetermine the actual number of belugaskilled annually. Several villages were notsurveyed, assumptions are made as to howmany whales these villages have takenbased on past years, and struck but lostrates are unknown26. Moreover, NMFSand other scientific bodies questionwhether the animals killed in NortonSound may belong to other stocks, orwhether they are shared with Russianhunters.

As is the case with the easternChukchi Sea beluga population, there areextensive fishery operations in the NortonSound area. However, there are no reportsof incidental mortality and no log reportsavailable to determine whether there infact have been deadly fisheriesinteractions since 199326.

The Bristol Bay population ofbelugas was estimated at 1,526-1,555animals in 1994. Maximum recommendedbiological removal from this population is31 individuals annually. Native Alaskanhunters caught an average of 20 animalsbetween 1993 and 1995. There are noreliable data on struck but lost animals inthis hunt, although of nine belugas killedin the 1995 hunt, three were struck andlost—a third of the total kill. Thus theactual kill figure could be as high as 26,close to the maximum allowable removal.This still does not include potentialincidental bycatches from fishingoperations.

Bristol Bay has a large salmon gillnetfishery and a large drift gillnet fisherywhich, combined, number 2,600 vessels.Records from vessels show that up to 12beluga whales were incidentally caught infishing gear in 1983, while one belugawhale was killed in 1990 and one in 1991in the fishery. These records may benegatively biased and may not reflect thetrue amount of incidental kills in thisfishery26.

The Cook Inlet stock of belugawhales faces a similar situation. The

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The North American Arctic

1. Bristol Bay2. Norton Sound3. Bering Strait4. Cook Inlet5. Prince William Sound6. Beaufort Sea7. Chukchi Sea8. St. Lawrence River

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population is estimated at 981 animals,although other results from surveys haveshowed a lower number of 881.Nevertheless, NMFS is using 981 animalsto derive a maximum allowable catchnumber of 20 animals annually. However,native hunters of Alaska take anestimated 40 animals a year from thisstock. 1995 is the only year where struckbut lost rates have been reported. Duringthis year, of 72 animals taken, 22 (30.5percent) were struck but lost. A massstranding (probably unrelated to humanactivities) of 60 belugas occurred in thesummer of 1996, leaving four animalsreported dead26.

The Cook Inlet hunt of belugas iscause for great concern: the actual annualtake exceeds the maximum allowablecatch, is subject to extensive struck andlost rates, and there are no reliableestimates on the level of incidental takesin fisheries (there are 1,304 gillnettingvessels in the area). Finally, it is notknown how many Cook Inlet belugas arekilled by residents outside the community.Since 1992, the Cook Inlet MarineMammal Council (CIMMC) has beenworking on a formal community-basedagreement for struck and lost rates ofbelugas in Cook Inlet, and the AlaskaBeluga Whale Committee (ABWC) hasdrafted a management plan. Neither themanagement plan nor the agreementamong hunters to address struck and lossrates have been finalized28.

RussiaAs mentioned earlier, Russian

marine mammal scientists have sufferedgreatly from the post-Soviet economictransition. Very little work has been donein what is presently thought to be theRussian range of beluga whales; theBarents, Kara, and White Seas. A 1996report on belugas from the White Seaconcluded that the resident population ofbelugas in the White Sea number no morethan 900 animals. There is noinformation as to how many whales arecurrently killed here.

Belugas of the White Sea feed for astretch of 100-150 kilometer coastline inthe southern area of the sea in the monthsof July and August, which is also whereand when they breed. The Russianscientists involved in White Sea researchare concerned about several threats to the

beluga: excessive shipping traffic off thecoastal area, overfishing, contamination,and hunting by Inuit. Provided funding isavailable, Russian scientists will in thefuture attempt to assess the damage to theanimals from these threats as well as fromongoing stress contributed by humanactivities. Russian scientists also suggestthat whaling by Inuit communities hasnegative effect on the small size of thepopulation29, while it is unclear how manywhales are taken from this populationannually.

Scientific research in the Barentsand Kara Seas is limited by financialconstraints. Belugas have been targeted incommercial whaling operations in theBarents and Kara Seas area for decades. Inthe years 1954 to 1966, a total of about23,000 belugas were killed. In recentyears, annual catches have been around400, though since 1990 belugas have beenincreasingly scarce30.

Since the end of the Soviet Union,the Inuit of northern Russia have beenlargely left to their own economic devicesand have suffered immensely during thistime. Some Russian policy makers andscientists propose reestablishing andincreasing quotas for certain cetaceanspecies (beluga, bowhead and graywhales) in order to alleviate economic

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hardships experienced by isolatednorthern communities. However, with thelimited knowledge existing on the belugawhales of the Russian Arctic, it is highlyinadvisable to consider further directedhunts of these species. Moreover, theRussian government has a responsibilityboth to its citizens and to theenvironment to see to it that outlyingcommunities receive support from theirgovernment in the form of alternatives tobeluga whale hunting.

HuntingInuits still hunt and kill some belugas

and narwhal the traditional way—withhand held harpoons or spears from kayaks.However, most Inuits now hunt thewhales with modern technology includingmotorized boats and rifles. Inuits inGreenland have also been using largefishing cutters of 50 tons or more withmounted harpoons to target belugas. Thismethod of hunting is not only verywasteful as many whales are lost by

sinking on the open ocean3, but themethod is also illegal according todomestic regulations. The GreenlandHome Rule dictates that no dynamite,harpoons, or shotguns may be used in thehunt for narwhal and beluga31.

Trade and CaptivityNo trade data are available

pertaining to the capture and export ofbelugas for the entertainment industryfrom 1993 to the present. In the nine yearperiod from 1984 till 1993, Canadacaught and exported 31 live beluga whalesto the United States and Japan. Between1991 and 1993 Russia captured sixanimals for export to Japan and Israel32.These records do not necessarily reflecttrue removal. At present, there areapproximately 70 belugas in captivity inthe United States and an unknownnumber of animals in Japan, Europe andother locations33.

Zoological parks and aquaria whichimport belugas with the intent of breedingthese whales in captivity argue thatcaptive breeding will help conserve aviable population. However, success withsuch programs has been limited. Recordsshow that between 1981 and 1994, therewere five successful beluga births inaquaria throughout the United States,and an additional six births where thebaby died34. This information is notnecessarily complete since someinstitutions did not participate in theZoological Society of London’s survey.

Canada’s Churchill River Estuary ispart of the range of the Hudson Baypopulation of beluga whales; among thehealthiest of all the Canadian belugapopulations. However, the data pertainingto the health of belugas from theChurchill River placed in aquaria havenot been encouraging. Forty-four percent(30 animals) of the 68 animals capturedhere have died in aquaria. The captivityprograms have clearly demonstrated thatbeluga whales are better off in theirnatural environment.

Threats to the Arctic EnvironmentIn addition to severe pressure from

hunting, beluga and narwhal are facedwith highly exploitative commercialfisheries in all their ranges, contaminationfrom dumping, long-range atmospherictransfer of pollutants, noise pollution, oil

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Beluga, Bronx Zoo,New York, 1995

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and mineral exploitation, climate and seatemperature changes, ozone depletion,increased vessel traffic, and other suchfactors which directly or indirectly affectthe whales’ abilities to survive. In light ofthe proven decline in both narwhal andbeluga populations in recent years, it isvital to assess these factors.

Ozone depletionAtmospheric ozone protects living

organisms on earth from harmful solarultraviolet (UV) radiation. Ozonedepleting chemicals such aschlorofloucarbons (CFCs) which takefrom 50 to 100 years to break down, arereducing ozone levels at alarming rates inthe Arctic and Antarctic. The destructionof ozone by CFCs allow for greateramounts of DNA-damaging UV-Bradiation to reach the earth’s surface andpenetrate the ocean where sensitivephytoplankton communities confined tonear-surface waters are harmed byirradiance. This in turn alters thedynamics of the marine ecosystem.

The destruction of certain life formsin the upper layers of the ocean may alterpatterns of predation, competition,diversity and trophic dynamics among allliving marine organisms35. Data from theArctic show a 5-10 percent decrease inthe protective ozone layer between 1979and 1992 around 60˚ N36.

In 1997, U.S. scientists discoveredseveral holes devoid of ozone over andnear the Arctic. One such hole is a fewhundred kilometers wide and consideredsmall, another is larger and spans over athousand kilometers over the Arcticvortex. Other holes over the Arctic havebeen documented as increasing infrequency and severity. The scientists arewarning that the documented increases ofUV during winter and spring are adverselyaffecting ecosystems and human health inthe Arctic37.

Beluga and narwhal are especiallysusceptible to increased solar radiation inthat they have less skin pigmentationthan most other cetaceans, and have nofur or feathers to protect their skin andeyes from the low-lying Arctic sun.Furthermore, they live mostly near theocean’s surface36.

Global warmingScientists warn of catastrophic

consequences if human-induced changesto the delicate balance of the atmosphereare not reversed38.

Carbon dioxide creating thegreenhouse effect may result in an annualrise in global temperature of about 2˚ C by2100 and a 10 centimeter rise in sea level.In some Arctic areas temperatures havealready varied up to 10˚ C beyondprevious records36.

Cetaceans are affected by globalwarming in several ways: decreasedprimary marine productivity and food-webstability; sea level changes which mayalter physical oceanography and thusmigration of cetaceans; meteorologicalpatterns which may be causing increasedcoastal precipitation; and changes insalinity levels which could lead tonegative impacts upon fish resources39.Scientists warn that species which aresensitive to changes in globaltemperatures will face greater competitionin the marine ecosystem36.

People of the Arctic, who are depen-dent upon stable climates, crops, andfisheries for survival, are also threatenedby global warming. Researchers predictthat even if present outputs of CFCs canbe stopped and their adverse effectsmitigated, climate change is likely todisrupt culturally important hunting andfishing activities for years to come40.

Dumping, radioactive materialsArctic countries are gravely

concerned about the contamination ofthe Arctic waters from radioactivesources. The United States has ordered

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Greenland waste dump, 1997

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several government agencies, includingthe Energy Department, theEnvironmental Protection Agency, andthe Central Intelligence Agency toanalyze sources of air- and water-borneradiation and potential and real damageto the environment. In 1992, the CIAraised concerns about radioactivecontamination of the Arctic, whenDirector Robert Gates identified knownand forecasted leaks of radioactivity—mostly from Russian sources—as one ofthe most pressing threats facing theArctic environment. Radioactive wastedumped at Russian military installationshas contaminated lakes, streams,groundwater and the ocean. SomeRussian scientists have acknowledgedfatal consequences for the people of theNorth41. The Russian government, on theother hand, has been less inclined toaddress this problem, as evidenced by thearrest and incarceration of AlexanderNikitin, a former naval officer whopublicly reported radioactive leakage fromRussian submarines.

In addition to waste dumping, theCIA concluded that extensive Sovietnuclear and atmospheric testing has beenthe greatest contributor to radioactivecontamination of Alaska and northernCanada. Since the 1963 Limited Test BanTreaty came into force, these tests werereduced while others began increasing,such as underground nuclear weaponstesting and explosions for mining, seismicsounding, or other blasting42.

Norwegian researchers have foundconsiderable levels of radioactive cesiumin the Barents Sea, which they attribute

largely to Russian dumping as well as theChernobyl nuclear accident of 1986. In1992, Norway’s Prime Minister GroHarlem Brundtland declared thatdumping represented a “security risk topeople and to the natural biology ofnorthern waters”43.

Russia is planning to install afloating nuclear power plant in theArctic. The facility would be transportedfrom the site in the east Siberian Sea/Bering Strait to the port of Murmansk inthe Barents Sea for repairs and fuelreloading. According to Russian officials,the plans have been approved by theInternational Atomic Energy Agency andconstruction of the plant is scheduled tobegin in 199944.

The Greenland Home Rule iscurrently discussing the possibility ofusing Greenland as a repository for asmuch as 400 tons of decommissionednuclear warheads from both the UnitedStates and Russia. According to a U.S.report, Greenland may be used for futurenuclear storage, since the world’s biggestisland is strategically situated 2,400 milesfrom both Washington and Moscow. Itsgeographic remoteness, in theory,provides a barrier to terrorists, as well asradioactive and political fallout45.

Local waste disposalMuch Arctic sewage disposal and

waste burning is not adequately controlledand is contaminating the immediateenvironment40. Greenland has no sewagetreatment facilities. Untreated sewagegoes into the sea via sewers or septictanks. In less populated areas the sewageis collected in plastic bags and burned. Itis not known to what extent raw sewage isaffecting the immediate coastal areas ofthe Arctic, if at all. However, it is knownthat burning waste results in the dischargeof contaminating heavy metals containedwithin the waste36.

Vessel trafficIncreasing ship traffic, created

primarily by oil and gas vessels as well asmajor fishing fleets, have become lifethreatening competition to the whales29.In the Barents Sea of the Russian Arctic,scientists are currently documentingbeluga whales and their altered behaviorin relation to predation, communicationand breeding. Scientists are observing

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behavioral changes and attribute them toincreased interaction between vessels andwhales in the whales’ traditional habitats.

OverfishingThe most important fish species in

the diet of belugas and narwhals arehalibut and Arctic cod, respectively. Bothfish species are being overexploited, withGreenland’s halibut in danger of depletionfrom overfishing. Scientists warn thatseveral fish species need managementunder quotas. The percentage of smallerand immature fish caught is increasingeach year and has now reached up to 77percent of the catch in the Ilulissat area,69 percent in Upernavik, and 62 percentaround Uummannaq46.

Oil and gas explorationOil has become an integral part of

life in the Arctic. Fishing fleets in theBarents Sea burn enormous amounts ofdiesel oil47. The increasing number ofvessels carrying more fuel represent agrowing risk to the Arctic environment,as does the exploration for that oil.

In the Davis Strait and off the westcoast of Greenland, oil exploration datesback to the late 1970s. The first discoveryof oil in this area was made in 1993 alongGreenland’s west coast where belugawhales and narwhal migrate. Since then,Greenland authorities have invitedinternational companies to apply forexploratory drilling permits36.

The Barents Sea has also become amajor oil and gas territory. TheNorwegians have drilled over 50 wellsthere, and the Russians have drilled 40more to the east since the 1980s. Russia isplanning to place a large gas field offNova Zemlya, which straddles the BarentsSea, primary habitat of the beluga.Associated threats to the marineenvironment from oil and gas explorationinclude noise pollution (as a result ofunderwater testing detonations), waterdispersal in the drilling phase, and theactual drilling process which can releaseoil and chemicals into the water36.

A Northstar Project proposed for theAlaskan Beaufort Sea has targetedcommercially viable quantities of oil. Theproject site would be located no morethan two to eight miles off shore wherebelugas are dependent upon habitat andfood sources. Scientists have analyzed this

project, as well as a nearby large scale oiland gas lease that has the potential ofspilling up to 29,000 barrels of oil inYakutat Bay, Alaska. The scientists haverecommended that there be considerationof the close relationship between hunters,consumers of whale products and whalesin these areas, and that impactassessments should include analysis ofpotential mortality in the event of spills,damage to food production-relatedchanges in marine mammal distribution,movements, and abundance, as well ashow Inuits may be affected by exposure tocontaminants in whales from the oilindustry48.

The retrieval and transportation ofoil and gas can lead to disastrousaccidents, such as the Exxon Valdez spillin Prince William Sound, Alaska, the

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most famous of many spills in recentdecades. Although no Arctic accidentshave compared to the magnitude of theExxon Valdez spill, such potentialcatastrophes involving the release of oiland gas will increase as more operationscommence exploration and drilling,especially in the waters off Greenland andthe Barents Sea.

The Arctic marine environment isextremely sensitive to spills as ice covermakes cleanup difficult or impossible.Also, fauna are susceptible since oildegrades especially slowly in coldclimates. Spilled oil enters marineanimals’ breathing holes, and poses adirect and lethal threat to marine life aswell as birds that tend to land on slick-looking surfaces49.

Noise pollutionBoth belugas and narwhals are

dependent upon sound to communicate,navigate and find food. Human-madenoise can severely disrupt the vitalfunctions of whales that have previouslybeen undisturbed in their feeding,breeding, resting, and migration.

Interference with any of thesefunctions could result in starvation,reproductive failure, predation and diseasefrom crowding, over-exploitation of foodsources, and involuntary avoidance ofpreferred habitats. Negative effects uponmarine mammals from industrial noise—emanating from vessels, industry, aircraft,seismic maneuvers—differ greatlydepending on the sounds the whales maketo communicate48.

Some whales use very lowfrequencies and are thus more likely to beaffected by even the slightest foreignnoise when communicating. Belugas andnarwhal depend on passive listening tolow-level, low-frequency ambient sounds

of moving and solid ice to obtaininformation which is critical to theirnavigation and survival in ice-coveredwaters. Increased background noise couldinterfere with this listening process andresult in diminished navigational andhunting capabilities, leading tophysiological stress and reduced health ofa population50.

Belugas in the St. Lawrence Riverhave been documented to respond tooutboard motor and ferry noise; they havedistinctly altered their vocalizationpatterns when approached. Scientistsconclude that when noise instigates achange in whale communication patterns,the whales may experience a reduction intheir efficiency of communication, whichmay further inhibit their instinctualstrategies of overcoming stressful ordangerous situations51.

Both beluga and narwhal have beenextensively documented to becomedisplaced by noise caused by ships as far as49 kilometers away52. Other observationsof noise impact on belugas include:

· Diving immediately when helicopterflew over at 305 meters

· Lowflying aircraft have preventedbelugas from entering Eschiltz BayAlaska on several occasions

· Swimming away from drilling noisefrom 50 to 500 meters away

· Avoiding vessels up to 80 kilometersaway, with the pod splitting up andnot rejoining for several hours.

MiningA mine in Greenland, which has

now been closed, is a perfect example ofwhat kinds of damage unsafe industry inthe Arctic can do to its localenvironment. The Maarmorilik lead andzinc mine in northwest Greenlandoperated next to important fishing andhunting communities and nearby fjords.Over more than a decade the minedischarged over 35,000 tons of waste amonth into the fjords, which led to thedestruction or abandonment of mostmarine and aviary resources in the areanear the mine.

Thirty toxic substances weredeliberately discharged into theenvironment, including lead, zinc,cyanide and cadmium. The result wasextermination of all animal life in theAffarlikavisa Fjord. In the nearby

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Qaumarujuik Fjord no more seals are to befound. Belugas have historically beenfound and hunted in the areas around themine, but no longer. Hunters believe thatnoise pollution from the mine forced thewhales to seek a different migrationpattern. The hunters also blamecontamination, traffic, and shipping toand from the mine for the collapse offisheries and the many negative changesin the local marine environment. By thetime the mine closed in July of 1990,scientists warned that the surroundingareas would remain contaminated foranother hundred years49. A Greenlandcompany is currently awaiting approval toestablish a zinc mine in the north easternpart of the country53.

Contamination of the ArcticEnvironment

The Arctic is a natural storagereservoir for atmospheric and waterpollution. The Arctic Ocean, 1.2 percentof the Earth’s total ocean water mass,receives an estimated 10 percent of all theworld’s riverine discharge. The Arctic hasvery limited outflows to other oceans,making it more vulnerable to industrial,urban, and agricultural pollutants thanany other ocean54. The Arctic stores theEarth’s pollutants arriving by ocean andair currents from as far away as India; itsice formations are repositories forpollutants.

The people of the Arctic have beenrecorded carrying pollutant levels 10 to 20times higher than in most temperateregions40. There are numerous substancesand ways in which air- and water-bornepollutants arrive in the Arctic where theyproceed to penetrate the food web. Ofheavy metals and persistent organicpollutants (POPs), mercury, PCBs andDDTs, respectively, are by far the mostwidely registered in people and animalsand most often attributed to negativehealth effects when consumed in highdoses.

Some naturally occurring tracemetals are essential for human life andmarine life. Substances such as PCBs,DDT, mercury, lead and cadmium derivedfrom industrial operations are definitelynot in this category, since even thesmallest dose can be toxic to thebiological system55. Industrial mercury andthe persistent organic pollutants, of which

PCBs and DDTs are the most prevalent,are very easy to accumulate in the body,but very difficult to metabolize.

Although no illnesses have yet beenreported to be a direct result ofcontaminants in the Arctic, researchersnote that not enough time or effort hasbeen spent to reach definitiveconclusions. However, developmentalproblems related to contamination inchildren have been proven to exist. Moreresearch is needed to determine to whatextent a person’s exposure to pollutants inthe Arctic has on their physical health40.

Epidemiological analysis requires asignificant sample size of the populationto be studied, that the sample size is fairlyhomogeneous economically, socially andculturally, that there is easy access tocommunities by researchers, and that theeffects of contaminants are known40.These are difficult requirements formedical researchers working on Arctichealth projects.

PCB ContaminationHealth and environmental

assessments carried out in ArcticGreenland have concluded that thepresence of persistent organic pollutantsand accumulation of these in thebiosphere is the biggest environmentaland health related threat to Arctic peopletoday47.

PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls)are a group of closely related organicchemicals used in the plastics andelectronics industries. In most parts of theworld, PCBs are no longer being used,although they are present in products stillin use, or in waste which may not be

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adequately secured36. PCBs don’tdisintegrate for years, decades, andpossibly even centuries.

The highest levels of PCBs havebeen recorded in Arctic communities,reflecting the Arctic people’s diet ofmarine foods40. Women of NorthwestGreenland have PCB levels as high as14.8 micrograms per liter of blood, andwomen from the Nunavik area carry 10micrograms per liter of blood.Neurobehavioral problems have beenknown to occur in children whosemothers carry 10 micrograms per liter ofblood36. Arctic women are in a high riskcategory.

Breast feeding mothers are able to ridthemselves of a significant amount ofstored and contaminated fats from theirmilk, but are in turn unwittinglytransferring these to their infants.Scientists having researched the transfer

of pollutants from womb to fetuses, andfrom mothers’ milk to babies, recordheavy contaminant loads beingtransferred to highly susceptible embryosand newborns. Mothers’ milk fat cancontain more parts per million of PCBsthan beluga whale blubber43, and all overthe Arctic, newborns have higherconcentrations than the allowable dailyintake for adults56.

Researchers have found an increasein infectious disease among those childrenexposed to contaminated breast milk.Canadian Iniut women’s breast milkcontains more than five times the amountof PCBs than in women in urbanQuebec57. One Inuit child out of everyfour has chronic hearing loss due toinfections in the Canadian Arcticcommunities surveyed43. Blubber from thenarwhal was found to be the main sourceof mothers’ exposure in the CanadianInuit study57.

Medical researchers have identifiednarwhal and ringed seals from Baffin Bayas being the primary contributors of thetransfer of PCBs to the native populationsof the Baffin Bay area. While some fattymarine foods do have components such asvitamins considered healthy to people,researchers express special concern forpregnant and lactating womenconsidering the fact that narwhal and sealblubber contribute 94 percent of thecombined PCB exposure from foods58.

Studies on the effects of carcinogenicsubstances on beluga whales in the St.Lawrence have yielded conclusionsdisturbingly similar to those of researchersexamining the effects of industrialpollutants on people living in Arcticareas. Female beluga whales of the St.Lawrence are known to carry up to 10ppm of PCBs in fat contained in theirnursing milk. Fat makes up 35 percent ofthe milk. Anything containing more than2ppm of PCBs is considered unsuitable forhuman consumption23.

DDT ContaminationNordic countries banned DDT in the

1970s, but the pesticide is still usedthroughout much of the world. DDT, partof the group of organic chemicals whichattack the immune system, is translated toDDE once absorbed by the animal orhuman system40. Neither PCBs nor DDTbreak down in the Arctic environment.

Greenland, 1997

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Instead they bind themselves to sedimentsand marine organisms, which travelthrough the food chain to whales andpeople where the DDT accumulates infatty tissue36.

The highest levels of DDT in Arcticmothers are recorded in the NorthwestTerritories, Canada, and NorthwestGreenland (4.6 and 4.0 micrograms perliter blood respectively). Overall,Greenlanders hold the world record forthe highest levels of DDT47. In the 1960sCanadian Inuit women’s breast milkcontained three times the level of DDTthan that of urban women in southernQuebec. Today, Inuit women of northernQuebec have four to five times higherconcentrations of DDE than southernQuebec women. This DDTcontamination stems from exposurethrough the food chain. Reproductiveeffects and increased risk of cancer,especially breast cancer, may be related tothe DDT levels, although the potentiallinks have not been proven40

Mercury ContaminationBlood mercury concentrations in

birthgiving mothers in Greenland exceedWorld Health Organization (WHO)limits for tolerable intake. These datahave been collected in communitieswhere people’s diet is primarily made up oflocal food, and compared with peoplefrom more urban communities. A directcorrelation has been made between theexcessive amounts of mercury in huntingcommunities and low levels of mercuryfound in people in urban areas where thepopulation is more accustomed towestern-style foods59.

Mothers in Northern Quebec/Nunavik, Canada, and NorthwestGreenland have the highest levels ofmercury in their systems in the Arctic. Ina health project conducted in theCanadian Arctic, 57 percent of Inuit hadblood mercury levels above acceptablelimits set by the World HealthOrganization. In Greenland, 16 percent ofthe population’s blood mercury levelsexceed levels which could have toxiceffects on people. The toxic effects fromsuch exposure would be difficult to detect,and easily overlooked40.

Recent examinations in the FaroeIslands, North Atlantic, illustrate thedirect effects of industrial mercury on

people eating whale meat laden with theheavy metal. Tests have revealed thatexposure to mercury from consuming pilotwhale meat significantly affects cognitivefunction in children60. In fact, in a sampleof more than 1,000 Faroese children pre-natally exposed to mercury, most boresigns of some sort of stunted neurologicaldevelopment related mainly tocontaminated pilot whale meat61.

Faroese and international researchershave recorded decreased brain function inchildren resulting in difficulties withlanguage, memory, attention span, andother developmental problems. Theconnection between mercuryconcentrations and the contaminationwith which the children are confrontedduring their mothers’ pregnancy has beenshown in children of about seven yearsold. Doctors recommend that theconsumption of whale meat be restricted;current recommendations are from 1989and outdated. Doctors suggest that agrown person should not eat more thanone meal a week of whale meat. Stricterguidelines are recommended, but thegovernment has yet to act62.

People in Greenland huntingcommunities consume an average of 1.6meals a day of traditional foods65.

Health Policy and Risk ManagementThe people and wildlife of the Arctic

are paying a high price for theindustrialized world’s use of pesticides,PCBs, mercury, nuclear energy, andcertain technologies. Any attempts tomitigate a potential health crisis amongpeople in the Arctic and theirenvironment should begin with publicnotification of the various potentialthreats.

Arctic communities have a right toknow what threats they may be facing.Local governments, along withinternational organizations, bear theresponsibility of empowering isolatedcommunities and individuals to makeinformed decisions about their own livesand health. Simultaneously, these samebodies must attempt to reduce the dangerscurrently facing beluga and narwhalpopulations from pollutants,environmental degradation and over-utilization.

Arctic communities have a rightto know what threats they maybe facing. Local governments,along with internationalorganizations, bear theresponsibility of empoweringisolated communities andindividuals to make informeddecisions about their own livesand health.

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Recommendations1. Belugas and narwhals are the only

whales of importance to many Arctichunting districts, but they receivelimited or no protection. They alsoreceive no protection from theInternational Whaling Commission.Belugas and narwhals should beincluded in the IWC Schedule inorder that they may be managedwithin an international convention.

2. The IWC Scientific Committeeshould convene an Arctic MarineEnvironment and Cetacean HealthWorkshop and invite scientists withrelevant expertise to addressenvironmental threats to the Arcticmarine ecosystem, and seek tocomplete health assessments ofArctic cetaceans.

3. Simultaneously, the Commissionitself should initiate an agenda itemon Implications of theConsumption of Cetacean Productson Human Health and seek to betterunderstand the changingrelationship between humans andwhales.

4. Finally, the medical and healthresearch community should beencouraged through the FAO,WHO, UN and other internationalorganizations, to engage in furtherstudies on health effects in theArctic from marine contaminationin order to help stave off humanhealth problems derived from adeteriorating Arctic environment.

5. Considering the significantpopulation decline recorded for theBaffin Bay beluga, Greenland shouldprevent further damage to thispopulation by establishing catchlimits and a new mandatoryreporting system.

6. Improved controls of the narwhaltrade in Canada and Greenland areneeded to halt the increase inexports of narwhal products andeliminate loopholes in present localenforcement regulations.

7. The Government of Canada shouldbegin participating constructively atthe IWC; it is vital that bothscientists and policy makers of allArctic beluga and narwhal rangesjoin in management-relateddiscussions outside regionalagreements.

8. IWC member countries should makeit a priority to support the IWCSmall Cetacean Fund and encouragetechnical, financial, and scientificsupport of Russian efforts to protectbeluga and narwhal.

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References1. Wheatley, B. and Wheatley, M.A. 1988.

Methylmercury in the Canadian Arcticenvironment past and present - natural or industrial?In; Arctic Medical Research, Vol. 47: Suppl. 1, pp.163-167, 1988.

2. JCCMNB. 1995. Report from the JCCMNBScientific Working Group, Winnipeg, June 12-16,1995.

3. IWC. 1992. Report of the Scientific Committee.Rep. Int. Whal. Commn. IWC 44: 194-197.

4. JCCMNB. 1992. Report of the Scientific WorkingGroup of the Joint Commission on the Conservationand Management of the Narwhal and Beluga.

5. IWC. 1993. Rep. Int. Whal. Commn. IWC 45: 133-134.

6. Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) Canada.Annual Summary of Fish and Marine MammalHarvest Data for the Northwest Territories, Vols. 6/1994, 7/1995, 8/1996.

7. Heide-Jørgensen, M.P., Dietz, R., Born, E.W. andGlahder, C.M. 1992. Occurrence of narwhals(Monodon monoceros) and white whales(Delphinapterus leucas) in Greenland. Submittedto IWC SC/44/SM 5, 1992.

8. Hay, K.A. and Mansfield, A.W. 1989. Narwhal,Monodon monoceros Linnaeus, 1758. Pp. 145-176in : Ridgeway, S.H. and Harrison, R. (Eds.)Handbook of Marine Mammals, Vol. 4: RiverDolphins and the Larger Toothed Whales. AcademicPress,␣ London,␣ pp.442

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Acknowledgements:David BowlesKarin Brem, Tierschutz BundNoëlle Delaquis, ASMSSue FisherSteven Galster, GSNFredrik LindqvistEd Lüber, ASMSSigi Lüber, ASMSFrank McGrath, Blow Up LabJanet MitchellDavid RinehartKristen SuokkoBernhard Trachsel, Zürcher TierschutzKatrin Vogelbach, Tierschutz Bund

Kat

heri

ne A

. Han

ly␣

Greenland, 1997

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Polar Exposure: Arctic Environmental Threats · 21

To order additional copies of this and other publications, please contact:

Swiss Coalition for the Protection of Whalesc/o ASMSPostfach 30

CH-8820 WädenswilSwitzerland

Tel: +41-1-780-6688Fax: +41-1-780-6808

Internet: http://www.ifi.unizh.ch/ifiadmin/staff/maurer/ASMS/asms.html

or

Global Survival NetworkP.O. Box 73214T Street Station

Washington, D.C. 20009U.S.A.

Tel: +1-202-387-0028Fax: +1-202-387-2590

Email: [email protected]: http://www.globalsurvival.net

contents copyright © 1997

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a ␣ r epor t ␣ p repared ␣ by ␣ Ka ther ine ␣ Ange lo ␣ Han ly ␣ f o r ␣ t heSwiss ␣ Coal it ion ␣ for ␣ the ␣ Protection ␣ of ␣ Whales

{ A r b e i t s g r u p p e ␣ z u m ␣ S c h u t z ␣ d e r ␣␣ M e e r e s ä u g e r ␣ S c h w e i z ␣ ( A S M S ) }{ T i e r s c h u t z ␣ B u n d , ␣ S w i t z e r l a n d }{ Z ü r c h e r ␣ T i e r s c h u t z , ␣ S w i t z e r l a n d }

in ␣ conjunction ␣ with ␣ Global ␣ Survival ␣ Network

Polar Exposure: Environmental Threatsto Arctic Marine Life and Communities