Summer is here and the shipping season is starting soon.

In order to assist Qikiqtani communities plan summer activities on the water this season, Baffinland is currently permitted to ship 4.2 million tonnes of iron ore per year from Milne Inlet through Eclipse Sound.

The Shipping will be done entirely in the open water season, from mid July to mid October.

Throughout the entire shipping season, Baffinland will have approximately 142 passes in front of Pond Inlet.

QIA and Baffinland are working with the HTO to get up to date information on local ship traffic. For now, the only reliable way to get some information on ship traffic is via the Baffinland website: Baffinland.com

• Here is what you do if you want to see for yourself
  • Go to the Ship Locations section, wait for the map
  • Little red dots will appear on a map
  • Zoom in by double clicking, be patient, the dots will become arrows
  • Click on the red arrow once you have zoomed in and the ship information will show up
  • Come see your QIA Community Liaison Officer, they have been trained to use this web application

Monitoring projects

There are a number monitoring programs established to gage the impact of the mine. These programs are there to protect the environment and wildlife.

These programs include the Bruce Head Program which looks at Narwhal response to shipping.

The Narwhal Tagging Project is another program which uses satellite tags to see how Narwhal respond to changing noises in their environment.

A few other monitoring projects associated with the Mary River Project including the Marine Ecological Effects Monitoring Program look into changes in the water that may affect the ocean floor and fish.

Many of these programs are hiring local staff.

The jobs range from Field Technicians to Boat Operators.

If interested in these positions please contact the Mittimatalik HTO or your local Baffinland Community Liaison Officer.

The Mary River Wildlife Compensation Fund

Inuit in the five communities impacted by the Mary River Project can apply for funding through the Mary River Compensation Fund if an incident of loss or damage to wildlife occurs.

The Mary River Wildlife Compensation Fund was created as part of the Inuit Impact Benefits Agreement between QIA and Baffinland Iron Mine Corp.

The $750,000 fund is designed to help compensate hunters in Sanirajak, Igloolik, Arctic Bay, Clyde River and Pond Inlet.

The fund was created to address the potential environmental impact of the mine on Qikiqtani which could affect hunters.

The incident must be caused directly or indirectly by activities related to the Mary River Mine.

The guidelines and application for this fund can be found on our website.

QIA is also working on re-starting the shipboard monitoring program, which will assist in gathering even more up-to-date information on the impact of shipping on our waters.