Transcript Sara: Welcome to Seas the Day, a podcast from the Duke Marine Lab. I am Sara Norton, an undergrad at Duke majoring in Biology and Marine Science and Conservation. Aileen: I am Aileen Lavelle, a second-year coastal environmental management student at the Duke Marine Lab. Sara: This episode is made by students participating in the Bass Connections project team: Belugas Sentinels of Climate Change in the Arctic. Our team is led by Dr. Dave Johnston and Dr. Andy Read, and our fellow team members include Ph.D. student Greg Merrill, Master students Ike Benaka, Ana Bishop, and Bryan Graybill, and undergraduate student Lilly Samuels. Aileen: This August, we had the opportunity to travel to Churchill, Manitoba, in Canada, the Polar Bear Capital of the World, to see belugas in person and learn about the impacts of climate change on these charismatic species and the ecotourism industry in a small, isolated town that depends on them. *hydrophone recordings of beluga whales* Sara: You are listening to a hydrophone recording of Delphinapterus leucas, Qilalugaq, or Beluga Whales in Churchill, Manitoba. *hydrophone recordings of beluga whales* Sara: Hydrophones are microphones designed to be used underwater for recording or listening to underwater sound. We took these recordings on our Bass Connections trip this summer while on a small inflatable boat covered head to toe in insulated Arctic suits. *hydrophone recordings of beluga whales* Aileen: Yes, we were happy to be bundled up that day. The western Hudson Bay beluga population is estimated at 60,000 individuals, making it one of the largest populations of belugas in the world. In the Churchill River, belugas aggregate in the river and estuary during the ice-free season from late June until early September, with peak numbers from mid-July to mid-August. Different age classes (adults, juveniles, and calves) generally move in and out of the river with tides but can be observed in the river at any time. Sara: The reason that belugas aggregate here is debated among scientists, but Andy Read told us that since belugas need to molt their skin, this may be the reason for their migrations to the Hudson Bay. Unlike humans, who continually shed our skin, belugas keep these layers during the cold winter months in the Arctic and travel south to shed in the summers. It’s been proposed that whales in polar regions can divert blood flow away from their skin to preserve body heat, which stops the normal continuous shedding of skin. The Churchill River is much warmer than the winter range for Belugas, and the rocky bottom of the river is the perfect place to rub against the coarse gravel to remove the layer of old, yellowed skin. Aileen: Churchill really is the perfect getaway for belugas, which explains why so many travel there each summer. During peak months, the area is so packed with whales, it’s impossible not to see them, which also makes it the perfect place for beluga tourism. While there, we had a few chances to go out on the river and into the bay, and we saw hundreds of Belugas that swam right up to the boat and followed behind in our wake. Andy Read reminded me several times not to squeal with excitement, which was surprisingly hard, as these brilliant creatures approached our boat making bubbles and turning upside down to better “see” or echolocate at our boat to understand their surroundings. Belugas are called the Canaries of the Sea because of their complex patterns of communication, which researchers have yet to be able to decipher. Sara: Since their main form of communication is through sound, marine mammals, and particularly odontocetes or toothed whales, dolphins, and porpoises are very susceptible to marine noise and exposure. Belugas have the potential to be even more impacted by sound in the ocean than other species because of adaptations, notably the melon, or the large fatty head of the beluga that allows them to have this highly developed auditory communication. The melon is the rounded structure on the top of the beluga’s head, composed of lipid that individuals can manipulate into different shapes when producing sounds. Like in finding Dory, when the beluga Baily uses her melon to focus and project echolocation signals through the water. Aileen: This upcoming sound is the sound of a cargo ship moving at 20 knots, courtesy of Thomas R. Kieckhefer *cargo vessel noise* Aileen: Vessel traffic affects marine mammals in a variety of ways, such as behavioral disturbance, acoustic masking, chemical contamination, and increased vessel strikes. The impact of vessel noise and its impacts on cetaceans is a major research component in Doug Nowacek’s lab within the Duke University Marine Lab. Recent research in Churchill on the belugas has found their highly attuned hearing abilities can be impacted by vessel noise almost 80 km, or around 50 miles, away, that is the length of 20 laps of the Indy 500. When belugas are exposed to vessel noise, even at high distances away, researchers found increased swimming rates. Additionally, when vessels were within 5 km of the acoustic recorder, the normally chatty belugas reduce their vocalizations significantly. This articulates the concept of acoustic masking which I think of like trying to speak over a bustling room full of chatter. *chatty room noise* This would be really hard to speak over, or to ignore while trying to do work, and for belugas and other cetaceans, the loud ambient noise from vessels might mean they just stop vocalizing for inability to be heard above the rest of the noise. It could also mean they could become harder to spot for ecotourism operators since studies in other locations have observed that belugas may change their behavior in response to boat traffic, diving, or swimming away from the source of the sound. We interviewed Wally Daudrich, and here’s what he had to say about his relationship with the beluga whales and how vessel traffic might impact this relationship Wally: In my world, I look at the belugas as our business partners because we provide some sense of protection for them, and then in response, we get a close intimate relationship with the Beulgas. In that, they are very friendly, and our clients enjoy it. Sara: Moreover, sound travels much faster through water than through the air, so any changes in the overall soundscape are much more prominent underwater than we may perceive above the water. As sea ice recedes due to climate change, we are already seeing an increase in the number of vessels that are traveling in and around the Hudson Bay and other northern passageways. This increase in vessel traffic can significantly change the soundscape and may have serious impacts on the belugas that call Churchill their summer home. Aileen: Churchill may be especially impacted by increasing vessel traffic due to its history as a port town. For centuries, the Port of Churchill has been an important trade location, from the site of a Hudson Bay Company fur trading post to an international commercial port to a distributor of supplies to communities further north in Canada. In 2023, just this year, Churchill saw its first cruise ship dock at the Port in over a decade. For Churchill, this increase in boat traffic is not only a potential negative impact for belugas, but also for the tourism operators who rely on them as part of their livelihood. Sara: Churchill represents an excellent opportunity for “Last Chance” tourism, which gives visitors the opportunity to view endangered locations and species before they disappear. Churchill is situated in the perfect location for ecotourism as the town is directly in the path of Polar Bear migration and, of course, beluga migration. There are also excellent opportunities for birdwatching and viewing the Aurora Borealis. The town is close to the Churchill Wildlife Management Area and Wapusk National Park, and also boasts historical sites including the Fort Prince of Wales National Historical Site, a remnant of the Hudson Bay Company. While in Churchill, we had the opportunity to see the big three, belugas, polar bears, and the northern lights, and more. We got to see polar bears in the wildlife management area, boat trips to see belugas, and hikes to see birds, shipwrecks, abandoned rocket ranges, and the incredible triple junction biome of the boreal forest, the tundra, and the Hudson Bay. While there, we stayed at the Churchill Northern Studies Centre, a non-profit focusing on research and experiential education, where the aurora dome and back deck offered the perfect spot for gazing at the northern lights. Aileen: While aboard Lazy Bear Lodge’s large tourism vessel, we saw so many belugas in the water surrounding us that the whales looked like white caps at the top of waves. The water was so clear in some sections we were able to see the eyes of mother calf pairs as they gracefully dipped below the surface. We had a lot of fantastic photos of the belugas, thanks to their highly social and inquisitive nature and also the past marine mammal identification training that Greg and Ana had, didn’t hurt. Dr. Dave Johnston is interested in starting a collaboration with Wally Daudrich, Owner and Founder of Lazy Bear Lodge. Wally originally was a local Polar Bear tour guide and motivated by devastating loss from wildfires, as result of climate change, to create an eco-friendly lodge that would reflect the history and beauty of its surroundings. Dave hopes that this partnership will be mutually beneficial as future Master of Environmental Management students can travel to Churchill, understand the unique social fabric of the town and then co-create plans for enhancing sustainability practices, that would generate greater revenue but more importantly, work towards a larger goal of reducing carbon emissions to help beluga whales. Aileen: Now here’s more from Wally on his upbringing and his connection to churchill Wally: We basically live and work in Churchill and have spent all my adult years in a good portion of my teen years in church. So, I’m always looking to try and understand. The Northern Studies Center, if I’m correct, they use cliché on their, on the side of their building to know and understand. Think of understand, you know, you can look at a beluga whale and you can say, oh, that’s cute. It’s got a permanent smile, smooth skin, obviously eats fish. But, uh. You know, do you understand how that animal lives? Just like me trying to understand where my clients come from, how they live. what the heights of building they work in, where do they get their food, you know, interesting things about any ecosystem. Some ecosystems are downtown New York. So when, when you do things like recycling and when you do things like, uh, reusing, repurposing, living within a budget and such, uh, you try to understand things, uh, in a deeper way. Aileen: Would you describe yourself as an environmentalist and why or why not? Wally: If you know my history, I’m a very conservative person, meaning that. I’m very old school in so many ways. I believe highly, very much so, in personal responsibility. Aileen: Yeah, so I guess I’m interested in this idea of what’s the role of conservatives in conservation or in environmental protection. Wally: A key word that a lot of people throw around, and it, and it is a key word, and it is of utter importance, is sustainability. Uh, you know, we built our lodge on fire-killed trees. We used a resource that otherwise would probably just be lying in the bush right now. A ceiling boards that you see in the lodge, especially in the lobby and the cafe was recycled from there. The logs, as well as a lot of recycled wood, like the floor of the lodge came from the original Canadian national railway warehouse. It’s natural for a business person to want sustainability because that’s part of our bottom line. Uh, it’s not normal. For a business to waste because waste is throwing away profit and profit is, is conserving. We do have a lobbying organization called the Churchill Beluga Whale Tour Operator Association. You can see our website, uh, on behalf of our industry, but obviously the whales and the bears, like the federal government wants to create a, a marine park in our area. And I’m all for that. I’m okay with that. But I’m just hoping that they don’t put onerous regulations and permitting processes in place. I’m one of two founding members of the Auxiliary Coast Guard in Churchill. All our boats are certified with them. And then Sea North Tours, they also do, working with the Inuit guys up north, so that, uh, we have a respectful dialogue and a relationship with them, so that the Belugas, basically, in the Seal River and south of the Seal River, are unharmed and unthreatened. I respect indigenous use of belugas, uh, because it’s historic. Sustainability means that I gotta keep those smiling belugas coming back. They have to be healthy and, uh, they have to be fit so that we can continue having that, um, commodious relationship with them. Aileen: Dave hopes this partnership will be mutually beneficial as future Master of Environmental Management students can travel to Churchill, understand the unique social fabric of the town, and then co create plans for enhancing sustainability practices that would generate greater revenue, but also, more importantly, work towards a larger goal of reducing carbon emissions to help our beluga whales. Wally: Uh, what I envisioned right from the start when I spoke with David is the type of research that they can provide would be useful for both our federal and our provincial or state level governments. They’re always interested in getting accurate numbers to see where, where the populations are at. And there’s quite a dichotomy between different groups as opposed to where the polar bear population is, for instance, with Duke on board, especially with. The drone technology that you guys have, we are hoping in the future that once you’re established in our area, that perhaps we can fly different zones along the Hudson Bay coastline. You’re giving a snapshot of the bear population. That would otherwise probably cost us at least hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars to create that census. And I’m not putting an obligation on Duke, but we could almost do it on a yearly basis. Aileen: During our time in Churchill, we visited the Itsanitaq Museum, which is free to the public. The Itsanitaq Museum was originally created in 1944 by Catholic missionaries that acquired hundreds of Inuit carvings and artifacts dating from Pre-Dorset (1700 B.C.) through Dorset, Thule and modern Inuit times. Dorset refers to members of the “Arctic Small Tool Tradition” who were the first inhabitants of the Churchill area, living a largely nomadic lifestyle following caribou for hunting. As an Irish-American, raised Catholic, it is imperative that I recognize my positionality in the grander context of the history of settler colonialism but also the particular connection to changing the landscape of Churchill and wrongful subjugation, relocation and erasure of Indigenous poeples. The Indigenous people of Churchill are the Thule people, the ancestors of the present-day Inuit, who arrived around the year 1000, and the Chipewyan and Cree peoples. Churchill is on Treaty 5 territory, which was signed in 1875 between Queen Victoria of Britian, who still ruled Ireland and my ancestors at that time, and the governor of Manitoba and by the many different Indigenous groups and Métis groups in Manitoba. In exchange for access to an area of approximately 100,000 square miles, the Indigenous signatories of Treaty 5 were supposed to receive 160 acres per family of five, annuities of $5 per year, clothing and medals, articles for agriculture cultivation, education, and the right to hunt, fish and trap. Sara: During our visit to the Itsanitaq Museum and we spoke with Lorraine Brandson, the current curator who has worked at the museum since 1973. It was a fun moment, because we had been exploring the museum and checking out the gift shop when Ana decided to ask the woman at the cash register for advice choosing a book about Churchill. Turns out, one of the books Ana had picked was written by Lorraine, who was the woman behind the register! Lorraine wears many hats at the museum, from curator to cashier to author. This goes to show just how small the town really is, with a summer population of only around 900 residents. What is even more impressive is that a town with less than a thousand residents draws thousands of tourists from across the globe every year. The Itsanitaq museum is just one of the many places tourists might visit when they come to Churchill, but the entire tourism industry and economy of Churchill stands to be dramatically changed in the coming decades as climate change alters the nature and wildlife of the area. Aileen: So, thinking about our trip to Churchill and the rise of “last chance” eco-tourism in the region, why do you think Belugas are sentinels of climate change in the Arctic, and what can they tell us about our culture and identity as human beings? Sara: Belugas make such great sentinels for climate change because they’re so well known and well loved by people across the globe. One of my first introductions to the marine environment that made me interested in pursuing this type of career was with belugas. When I was a kid in South Carolina, my family loved to visit the Georgia Aquarium, which has beluga whales. And they were one of my favorite animals to see. I remember one time I was there with my grandpa, who’s this This bald white guy, he was wearing a white t shirt, and I looked at him, and I looked at the belugas, and thought, wow, my grandpa’s a beluga. And of course he isn’t, but this just goes to show the important connections that people form with these incredible species. Belugas are so important for tourism, for subsistence. for research, even for the existence value of them just existing. And so belugas make great sentinels because we care about what happens to them. And if we care about what happens to these belugas, then we’ll care about the effects of climate change in the Arctic and on other species. Aileen: I believe that climate change is the biggest challenge for our generation as it will exacerbate existing social inequalities and threaten the existence of many species but it is a problem where the future is not set in stone. The difference between a world 2 degrees warmer and a world 3 degrees warmer is exponential as the global change in atmospheric patterns, and weather will not be felt equally across the globe. The Arctic is of special concern and is experiencing warming ocean temperatures at unprecedented rates, causing extreme changes to seasonal ice coverage and thickness. Unpredictable ice patterns affect the ability of belugas to migrate and forage normally. In this way, belugas can truly act as “canaries in the coal mine” and also act as a unifying motivator to fight climate change. I want to live in a world where I can read the Baby Beluga book to my children just as my parents did to me and know there are still many healthy populations of these socially lovable creatures, they can see someday. Aileen: We are trying to take a page out of the “How to Save a Planet” playbook and provide some calls to action that will also be in the show notes, Sara: We hope you enjoyed today’s episode. This podcast was written and produced by Aileen Lavelle and Sara Norton, with support from the Seas the Day Team. Our theme song was written and recorded by Joe Morton. Our artwork is by Stephanie Hillsgrove. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter or Instagram @seasthedaypod and leave us a rating wherever you listen to podcasts. Aileen: If you want to learn more about Belugas in Churchill and the ongoing conservation efforts, check out the Churchill Beluga Whale Tour Operation Association, Center for Northern Studies, Sea North Tours, and Oceans North! Climate change is a complex and sometimes overwhelming issue, but you are not alone; there are many ways to connect with others over climate anxiety. The Climate Cafe, https://www.climate.cafe/, is a community-led, informal space where everyone is welcome to join the conversation and participate in climate action. The Good Grief Network and Climate Awakening also host virtual ways to connect! Trying to figure out what you can do to address climate change, making your own climate action Venn diagram may help you discover what strengths you have and how they fit into averting a climate catastrophe Need inspiration? Check out climatevenn.info for simple instructions, a template, and examples of climate action Venn diagrams others have made! If you want to learn more about ecotourism and ensure your next trip is socially and environmentally responsible, check out these tips: VOX Sustainable Travel Tips
