Journalist and documentary filmmaker, Ian Rowan, is on a quest to save the unicorns of the sea as seismic cannon testing threatens to destroy these mythical underwater creatures.
Have you heard of Unicorns? Perhaps you’re a huge fan of them. Did you know that the myth, though some would argue that it’s not a myth, of unicorns comes from tusks retrieved from narwhals back in the day?! Narwhals themselves seem like wondrous and mythological, magical creatures. But they’re real. Let’s keep them that way!
This summer, with the green light from the Canadian government, oceanic oil and gas exploration is set to begin in Baffin Bay, Canada using seismic cannon testing. The method that the mapping agencies will use is extremely destructive to sea life, and especially to cetaceans – dolphins, whales and narwhals. It just so happens that 90% of the earth’s narwhals call Baffin Bay home. This testing could led to the near extinction of an entire species. The Inuit Mayor of Clyde River, Jerry Natanine, is leading the crusade to protect narwhals against seismic blasting in Baffin Bay this summer. His coalition has been granted a hearing in Toronto on April 15th to appeal the Canadian government’s decision to allow this method of testing. I’ve assembled an all-star team to join me in a journey to Toronto to cover Natanine’s battle and the plight of the narwhals.
The method for mapping the seafloor uses seismic cannons, which are 100,000 times louder than a jet engine (250dB), to penetrate the seafloor and map pockets of underground oil. It’s been proven to deafen and kill whales off of the California Coast and even their environmental impact estimates include large numbers of dolphin and whale fatalities as part of the costs of searching for oil. These cannons send deafening sound waves throughout the ocean every 10 seconds, 24 hours a day, for months. It drowns out whalesong, leaves pods unable to communicate, they become disoriented, and many end up dying as a result. The non-profit ocean conservation group Oceana has an informative video about the practice and successfully thwarted seismic mapping off the Atlantic coast of the U.S.
Jerry Natanine, the Inuit Mayor of Clyde River, and his coalition have been granted a hearing in Toronto on April 15th to appeal the Canadian government’s decision to allow mapping this summer. A number of groups, including Greenpeace and Save Our Arctic, are coming together to support the cause and garner more widespread attention.
Please take a few minutes to check out Ian’s Kickstarter Campaign Here and give what you can (campaign lasts until 9th April)
And for something else…
This post was written by Ian Rowan
Twitter: @Quotidianian
