https://hakaimagazine.com/features/quieting-the-global-growl/
"It’s late September, and autumn colors flush the forested slopes of Quebec’s
Laurentian Mountains. Sun dapples the two-lane blacktop that winds above
Canada’s brilliant blue St. Lawrence River. The St. Lawrence is a marine
highway that links Toronto, Cleveland, Chicago, Thunder Bay, and other ports
along the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. It’s a waterway where cargo ships,
vehicle carriers, and cruise ships run alongside recreational boats.
I’ve followed the river northeast past the neon riot of Montreal and the
historic grandeur of Quebec City to the village of Tadoussac. Here, the river
widens, shading into the Gulf and the salty Atlantic beyond, just where the
smaller Saguenay River reaches the St. Lawrence’s northern bank. Fjord, river,
and sea meet in a restive churn that stirs up a rich food web. In summer,
whales from 13 species mingle below. Minke whales, blue and fin whales,
humpbacks, and dolphins ply the waters.
At the Pointe-Noire headland, a network of walkways and viewing platforms
zigzags through maples, evergreens, and golden birch trees many meters above
the water. Tadoussac offers scientists fruitful research sites alongside
impressive whale watching, and a wooden placard at the walkway entrance makes
it clear that belugas are the local celebrities.
Most belugas live in icy Arctic waters. As the last ice age ended, a handful
lingered in the St. Lawrence estuary instead of following the cold water north.
Now their descendants are the world’s southernmost, cut off from the rest of
their kind. Quebec fishermen once decimated them by hunting them for sport,
their white hides fetching CAN $15 each. Today their numbers have rebounded
slightly to around 900.
A beluga surfaces below the platform, then dives into the sapphire water. Its
white form shades to teal to royal blue as it vanishes in the depth.
As our local guide speaks, I move closer to hear her clearly, in part because
of the wind, in part because a cruise ship is approaching from the St.
Lawrence.
All afternoon we’ve watched vehicle carriers, cargo ships laden with ore and
grain, and container ships moving cars, iPads, and other consumer goods as they
pass. The Saguenay also draws tourists, particularly during fall, so cruise
ships and pleasure craft abound.
The Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park limits how close commercial and
recreational vessels can come to whales. Ships must stay 400 meters away. If a
whale comes closer, boats must slow until the whale leaves. Whale-watching
boats can get a special license to creep within 100 meters of most whale
species, or 200 meters of belugas or blue whales, the two endangered locals.
These protections exist to protect whales from the noise that vessels emit."
Via Wayne Radinsky.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
