The Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre is expanding its filed research to monitor how the increasing changes in the Arctic could have worldwide effects.
On Oct. 28, the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre held a press briefing at the Sunset Beach shoreline to draw attention to the increasing water levels and its potential and major worldwide consequences.
"The Arctic is melting. What used to be ice is becoming open water. Now, huge previously inaccessible areas are now open to all sorts of human activity - navigation, shipping, mining, oil and gas exploration, tourism and research," said research associate Dr. Valeria Vergara who works at the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre.
Vergara explained what the team found during their field work and stressed that these are just the beginning. As economic development increases, the Arctic waters have become a loud environment for sea creatures like the Beluga whales that use low frequency sounds called 'contact calls' to talk with each other. Communication is critical to the Beluga whales for survival, particularly in the winter then darkness fills the water. The noise level underwater increases with human traffic and the disruption of contact calls could define death and survival for mother Beluga whales and their kin.
John Nightingale, president and CEO at Vancouver Aquarium, echoed the concerns of Vergara and stressed that the Canada's Arctic is facing an 'uncertain future'. In a press release, Nightingale explained that in the past 40 years, the sea ice thickness has seen a decrease of 65 percent. Canada's Arctic makes up 40 percent of the country and major changes could lead to vast consequences that would extend way beyond the country.
Nightingale highlighted the importance of increased awareness on the climate changes happening in Canada's Artic, which is home to nearly 100,000 Canadians and several iconic-wildlife. Experts speculated that the Arctic could become ice-free by 2030 for the first time in history. This phenomenon could lead to increased human traffic, potential oil exploration, shipping and other man-made activities that would destroy that marine life habitat.
In the next few months, the Vancouver Aquarium will be highlighting native wildlife, culture and people in the region who could be affected by the melting Arctic in hopes to increase awareness of this global problem and find ways on how to preserve it.
