Google Street View technology is used to capture imagery of the sea ice around Sanikiluaq. - photo courtesy of Arctic Eider Society |
Traditional wisdom meets high-tech
Online mapping tool tracks sea ice around Sanikiluaq in real time
Stewart Burnett
Northern News Services
Monday, December 21, 2015
SANIKILUAQ
Traditional knowledge and high-tech gadgets are coming together in Sanikiluaq to develop a community-made resource that tracks area geography and sea ice trends.
The Arctic Eider Society just launched an interactive website called IK-MAP, which maps Sanikiluaq and four regions in northern Quebec with information found by hunters and community members.
Joel Heath, executive director of the society, said the project is focused on trying to get a better understanding of Hudson Bay and trends in its water with respect to the impact from hydroelectric projects.
"To try and have the communities working together in a meaningful way, we developed this interactive online mapping platform," said Heath from Vancouver, where he received positive feedback about the project at the ArcticNet conference.
"The idea is that the results from our programs go on there in real time, so a hunter goes out from one of the communities and does a salinity sample or takes an icicle, and people from the other communities can see what's been going on."
Finding out where to look and what to prioritize comes from the communities and traditional knowledge, said Heath.
"People can review results themselves and apply their own knowledge system to interpret them."
Users can tag sea ice and area wildlife. The interactive map shows various locations of mussels and eider ducks around Sanikiluaq.
"The idea is providing the tools for Inuit to be able to use their own knowledge systems in terms of monitoring and interpreting data from sea ice," said Heath.
He was surprised to find just how much freshwater is in Hudson Bay in the winter under the ice. In one northern Quebec community, tests showed up to 28 metres of freshwater beneath the sea ice.
"We knew there were layers of freshwater under the ice - we just had no idea they were that extensive," said Heath. "It was something we'd heard from traditional knowledge but hadn't quantified, so it was really interesting to see that. That surprised a lot of us."
The society teamed up with the Hamlet of Sanikiluaq, Google and others to train community members on the tools so they could add to the map themselves. The website just went live, but Heath already has plans for another research binge in Sanikiluaq this winter.
He says the aim this time is to do more detailed oceanography and water analysis to see how the water changes with the season. All of the information will be added to the online map as it is collected.
In addition, the society is developing curriculum for Northern schools to use the data in students' education.
"The idea is to teach science using sea ice examples that are local and culturally relevant," said Heath.
His focus right now is on the Hudson Bay area, but with the reception the program is getting, Heath is certainly interested in expanding across Nunavut should the opportunity arise.
See the map in action at www.arcticeider.com.
