Assessing long term population trends and distribution of northern common eider ducks (S. m. borealis) breeding along the south coast of Baffin Island, Nunavut
Project Number: 178
Year Funded: 2025
Lead Institution(s): Environment Canada
Project Lead: Grant Gilchrist
Collaborator(s): Cody Dey (ECCC), Scott Gilliland (Acadia University), Dominique Henri (ECCC), Annie Suvega (Aiviq Hunters and Trappers Organization)
Location: Nunavut
Focal Species: Common Eider (Somateria mollissima)
Project Description: Northern common eider ducks are an important harvested resource for their eggs, meat, and feather down. The eiders nesting along coastlines of Hudson Strait, Baffin Island, Nunavut are under several pressures including growing industrial marine shipping in the region, increased predation from polar bears, mortality from both fisheries by-catch and harvest on their wintering grounds in west Greenland and Atlantic Canada, and changes in local ice dynamics and food availability (e.g., changing sea ice conditions). This is concerning given that this coastal region has been identified by the Sea Duck Key Habitat Sites Atlas as an internationally important habitat for sea duck conservation (Site #35 Markham Bay). Eiders are known to be sensitive while nesting, and can be impacted by outbreaks of avian disease, human disturbance, or cascading impacts of climate change including higher rates of polar bear nest predation. The objective of this project is to resurvey the breeding colonies of common eider ducks nesting in Hudson Strait along the southern coast of Baffin Island, Nunavut, in direct collaboration with the Inuit community of Kinngait (formerly, Cape Dorset). The results of these new surveys (2025-2027) will be compared to historical information collected periodically on the same islands over a 68-year period since the 1950s. This will provide updated information on the distribution and number of common eiders in the region, as well as the impact of bear predation and avian cholera if they are detected. We will compare information from these new surveys to our historical dataset to assess the impact of shipping, polar bear predation, changing environmental conditions, and winter mortality on the common eider breeding population on Southern Baffin Island. Importantly, the results of this study will be shared with the community of Kinngait (municipal partner), the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board (Territorial partner), Environment and Climate Change Canada (federal partner), and the Greenland Institute of Nature (international); all to advise ongoing harvest regulations in both Greenland and Newfoundland/Labrador.
Project Reports: