MSGID: 1:317/3 64a64387   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Tracking ships' icy paths amidst climate change    
      
     Date:   
         July 5, 2023   
     Source:   
         Michigan State University   
     Summary:   
         Understanding when and where ships are entering areas of Arctic   
         sea ice can help better understand the potential impacts of vessel   
         traffic in the region.   
      
      
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   There has been much buzz about the warming planet's melting Arctic   
   region opening shipping routes and lengthening travel seasons in ocean   
   passageways that ice once blocked. Expanded fishing, trade and tourism   
   is envisioned.   
      
   Operative word: Envisioned.   
      
   Scientists at Michigan State University (MSU), University of Waterloo,   
   and University of Alaska Fairbanks report in Climatic Changewhere vessels   
   are traveling in the ice-covered waters of the Arctic between Alaska   
   and Russia, and what those reports may mean for important wildlife and   
   communities in the region.   
      
   "Even with climate change, sea ice is still a substantial barrier to   
   Arctic vessel traffic," said Kelly Kapsar, a research associate at   
   MSU's Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability (CSIS). "Sea   
   ice also provides critical habitat for many endemic Arctic species and   
   a hunting platform for Indigenous subsistence hunters. Understanding   
   when and where ships are entering areas of sea ice can help us to   
   better understand potential impacts of vessel traffic in the region."   
   Whether its fishing vessels seeking better catches over a longer season,   
   or Russian shipping companies eager for better ways to deliver oil and   
   gas to Chinese customers, increased marine traffic is a given. Whether   
   this traffic occurs only in the open water season, or also in times of   
   ice cover is not.   
      
   But the researchers point out the difference between what ships could   
   do as ice changes, and what they will do can be vastly different.   
      
   "Up until now projections have been about theoretical ships, such as   
   noting certain vessel types can travel through up to 2 meters of ice,"   
   Kapsar said.   
      
   "But that's like saying a car can drive up to 200 mph -- just because it   
   can doesn't mean it will."  Combining satellite pictures of ice cover   
   with GPS vessel tracking data the team was able to analyze how the   
   ships have been behaving as the shipping passages change. What they've   
   found is that many ships are following the ice, fishing close to the   
   edge of ice packs. The researchers also found marked overlap between   
   areas with vessels traveling in sea ice and the overwintering areas for   
   bowhead whales.   
      
   Previous research by another group has demonstrated that between 1990 and   
   2012, some 12% of bowhead whales harvested by Alaska Native subsistence   
   hunters showed signs they had been tangled in fishing gear, and 2% had   
   scars from being struck by vessels. The new analysis points to a growing   
   threat to wildlife which also are using the receding ice as they travel   
   and breed.   
      
   Noise from large boats also can disrupt marine mammals. Ships equipped   
   to break ice potentially could strand both animals and people traveling   
   across the frozen expanses. Increased traffic also raises fear of   
   accidents and oil spills. The new pathways are far away from rescue or   
   clean-up crews.   
      
   So far, Kapsar said, their work indicates ship travel reflects a certain   
   caution, offering indications that capability is balanced by practical   
   and economic realities. For now.   
      
   Kapsar and co-author Jianguo "Jack" Liu are members of MSU's Ecology,   
   Evolution, and Behavior Program. "Mapping vessel traffic patterns in the   
   ice- covered waters of the Pacific Arctic" also was written by Lawson   
   Brigham and Grant Gunn. The work is funded by the National Science   
   Foundation.   
      
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   Story Source: Materials provided by Michigan_State_University. Note:   
   Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
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   Journal Reference:   
      1. Kelly Kapsar, Grant Gunn, Lawson Brigham, Jianguo Liu. Mapping   
      vessel   
         traffic patterns in the ice-covered waters of the Pacific Arctic.   
      
         Climatic Change, 2023; 176 (7) DOI: 10.1007/s10584-023-03568-3   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230705171107.htm   
      
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