Credit: Government of Canada / Department Fisheries and Oceans Canada / Photo: Pierre Coupel 2018
EnvironmentPolar Bears, Whales and Co. Take Summer Break in Canada’s Newest Marine Protected Area
With climate change increasingly affecting Arctic ice, Canada has made plans to guard its far northern Arctic region of Tuvaijuittuq, giving refuge to ice-dependent species including walruses, polar bears, seals, and narwhals in the summers.
Thanks to the Canadian government and Qikiqtani Inuit Association, Tuvaijuittuq – meaning “the place where the ice never melts” – is now the newest Marine Protected Area, where water will be closed off from mining, oil, and gas extraction, dumping, and fishing with a method called trawling.
“Freezing any new human activities will help ensure the ice that never melts will remain true to its name,” says Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.