The Executive Summary Report of the key findings from the International Polar Year 2007-2008 at Fisheries and Oceans Canada is available at: http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/science/publications/ipy-api/index-eng.html.
The summary report details findings from International Polar Year (IPY) research projects undertaken by and in conjunction with the Government of Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The findings reveal profound changes that are impacting the Arctic Ocean, which are in turn driving major impacts on ecosystems:
- In Hudson Bay, as the sea-ice declines the system is shifting from a polar bear/seal system with Inuit hunters at the apex to one dominated by cetaceans with killer whales at the apex. This shift is eroding Inuit traditional subsistence culture.
- Surveys of Traditional Inuit Ecological Knowledge (TEK) reveal uncommon sightings of marine mammals that would not normally be seen in Hudson Bay, including fifty-three individual killer whales identified from nine different sightings. Other uncommon sightings include humpback whales, Greenland shark, and harp seals.
- The state of the Hudson Bay/James Bay ecosystem, as well as how specific species might respond to climate change and variability, are being further assessed through studies of the distribution, movements, and critical habitat of beluga whales and arctic chars.
- The study of the area of persistent open water in the Arctic known as the Circumpolar Flaw Lead System is exploring the importance of climate processes in changing the nature of this system and the effects of these changes on the marine ecosystem, contaminant transport, carbon fluxes, and greenhouse gases.
