NUNAVUT - Representatives of Nunavut Tunngavik were in Quebec City last month, taking in presentations about marine mammals from scientists around the world.

The Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals is about marine mammals all over the world, not only the Arctic. But there was plenty there to interest NTI's director of wildlife Gabriel Nirlungayuk.

"Me and a co-worker presented a posted on co-management of bowhead whales in Nunavut," said Nirlungayuk.

Nirlungayuk compared the format of the conference to be "like a luggage carousel," where each presenter took 15 minutes and then the next one began. If you wanted to talk to a scientist after the presentation, you took him or her aside afterwards while the next one started.

With many of the presentations on the marine mammals of the Arctic, Nirlungayuk was able to contribute and correct some of the misconceptions southern scientists have about the North.

One scientist reported that less snowfall ice meant ring seals had a harder time breeding because they can't dig dens to raise their cubs. Nirlungayuk told him ring seals change their behaviour when there's not much snow, giving birth out on the open like harp seals do. The cubs can handle the exposure, but the danger lies in predation by Arctic foxes and polar bears. Another scientist reported on overpopulation in the polar bear population of Foxe Basin, in contrast to scientists' reports of polar bear depopulation in other regions.

"That was interesting for us and encouraging that it was coming out for the scientific community," said Nirlungayuk. Another presentation he found interesting was a presentation on what kinds of whales might move into the Arctic as sea ice recedes. Department of Fisheries and Oceans researcher Stephen Ferguson compared the life cycle of Arctic whales – bowheads, beluga and narwhal – and looked for whales with similar characteristics which might adapt to Arctic conditions without ice.

Arctic whales live longer than most whales. Bowheads can live up to 200 years and narwhals and belugas can live more than 100. But they don't reproduce often, and when they do there's a high infant mortality.

Southern whales with similar characteristics include orcas, humpbacks and minke whales. Orcas have already been colonizing traditionally unfamiliar waters in recent years.