The Arctic Summer Knows No Darkness
It’s been light out 24 hours a day for a while now in Gjoa Haven, Nunavut. Although the sun has been setting, it’s only been dropping just below the horizon for a brief rest before popping back into view. Yesterday marked a seasonal change: the sun rose and won’t set again until mid-July. Tired after […]
Whiteouts Bring New Meaning to Everyday Tasks
We’ve recently come back from a successful five days out on the ice drilling holes, taking measurements and testing different fishing gear to see what fish occur in the area (see that story here). We were in the St. Roch Basin, northwest of Gjoa Haven, if you’re keeping tabs. The snow machine that I was to […]
Gathering Food Data on the Northern Ice
I’m preparing to head out onto the ice with Dr. Peter de Groot, a researcher from Queens University, and some very skilled and knowledgeable hunters from the community of Gjoa Haven, Nunavut. Peter’s drilling holes into the ice in order to lower different kinds of fishing gear as part of a study to assess what […]
It’s warmed up to -4 degrees C in Gjoa Haven, Nunavut – right in time for my arrival. The ice will be softening over the next few weeks and beginning its rapid retreat. By mid-June, the ice will be too dangerous for travel. There’s a similar situation in the fall when the ice is beginning to re-form. That’s […]
Breaking Down Barriers and Building Bridges in the Arctic
As head of Arctic initiatives at the Vancouver Aquarium, I am fortunate to be able to travel north and experience the Arctic first-hand. But I’m far from the first to set foot on the ice and tundra of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. There are about 50 communities in Canada’s Far North, and to truly understand […]
We’ve talked a bit on this blog already about the importance of sea ice in the Arctic. But there are also large areas of “permanent” ice on land: massive sheets that spill glaciers – rivers of ice – into the valleys and the sea. You might have heard that if all of the ice on Greenland melted, the Earth’s ocean […]
Visiting The Finest Little Harbour In The World
By Neil Fisher, Vancouver Aquarium videographer and photographer Gjoa Haven, also known as Uqsuqtuuq (meaning “place of plenty blubber”), is situated on the southeast coast of King William Island, Nunavut. In 1903, while transiting the Northwest Passage, famed Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen wintered in Gjoa Haven, which he called “the finest little harbor in the world.” […]
An Under-ice Checkup for the Arctic Archipelago
By Eric Solomon, director of Arctic programs, Vancouver Aquarium “I don’t live 50 meters down, so why should I care what the temperature is?” asked a new friend in Gjoa Haven. It’s a fair question, and I promise to answer it, but first some quick background: It’s been a week since returning from Gjoa Haven, […]
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