Baffin Ice Shrinking
The edge of the ice floe along Davis Strait and southern Baffin Island has moved closer to shore this year, Environment Canada says.
Normally the ice floe edge is 400 to 500 kilometres offshore but this winter it's about half that distance, says Lionel Hache who is with the department's Canadian Ice Service.
Hunters in Pangnirtung say it's the worst year ever in Cumberland Sound, off Davis Strait.
Peterloosie Qarpik, chair of the Pangnirtung Hunters and Trappers Organization, says the ice is not safe for travel — hunters are seeing young seals falling into the water because the ice is so thin.
None of this is any surprise to me, and its not like I go out on a ski-doo hunting seals. Last year the ice in the bay broke up without the need for an icebreaker to visit, the first time in the eighteen summers I've been up here where that was the case.
On the bright side, my sealift order should arrive earlier this year.
