Hudson Bay is losing ice faster than most parts of the Arctic. That doesn’t just make it harder for polar bears to hunt. It also means there are more ships in Canada’s great inland sea.
The federal government has identified a huge swath of Hudson Bay that could be protected as a National Marine Conservation Area along the coasts of Manitoba and Ontario.
This could help ensure the survival of polar bears, belugas, sea birds and hundreds of other species which are under increasing pressure from the changes in Hudson Bay.
Federal protection would also bring jobs and infrastructure investments that would enhance the region’s tourism industry.
Sadly, the process is stalled.
Help protect Hudson Bay! Tell the Prime Minister it is past time to get moving on the Western Hudson Bay National Marine Conservation Area.
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Protect Arctic Marine Habitat
Hudson Bay is losing ice faster than most parts of the Arctic. Help protect polar bears, beluga whales and many other threatened creatures in Canada’s great inland sea.
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Western Hudson Bay and Its Beluga Estuaries: Protecting Abundance for a Sustainable Future
Western Hudson Bay is a globally significant wildlife habitat, home to some of the largest concentrations of beluga whales and polar bears in the world.
For most of the year, its rugged shoreline is bound by a platform of sea ice where hundreds of polar bears roam and hunt for seals.
As the ice melts, some 55,000 beluga whales (28 per cent of the global population) migrate to the region’s major estuaries on the Churchill, Nelson and Seal rivers, to moult, calve, feed and seek protection from predators, while over 170 species of birds nest on its rocky coast.
Read this report by our partners Oceans North about why we should protect this incredible region.
Protecting Manitoba’s Beluga Estuaries
The river estuaries in Western Hudson Bay provide invaluable summer habitat for one-third of the world’s beluga whales. However, climate change and industrial impacts threaten this region’s ecological viability and have the potential to fundamentally impact the economic base and health of coastal communities that rely on its natural resources for sustenance.
Video © The Pew Charitable Trusts and Ducks Unlimited.
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