Canada’s Inuit block Arctic study

A judge in Canada’s northern Nunavut province has blocked a series of joint German-Canadian scientific Arctic experiments after Inuit residents said the tests would hurt sealife, according to government sources.

A territorial judge granted a last-minute injunction that halts a major seismic programme that was set to begin on Monday in Lancaster Sound, north of Baffin Island.

The experiments, designed to study the earth’s early history, were being carried out by Natural Resources Canada together with Germany’s Alfred Wegener Institute.

Justice Susan Cooper agreed with fears from Inuit communities that the experiments, including firing an underwater air gun to collect data, have a negative impact on area walruses, seals and whales. The devices do not kill sea animals but it could render them deaf and scare them away from the area for a long time, said David Crocker, an attorney for the Inuit.

“If the Inuits are right, they could lose their livelihood, their food source, their way of life,” remarked Mr Crocker. The Canadian government has not said if it will appeal the decision.

National Resources Canada said in a brief statement that it “remains committed to the goal of its Geo-mapping programme which is to increase our knowledge of the geology of the North”.