Underwater soundscape and radiated noise from ships in Eclipse Sound, NE Canadian Arctic

Published February 2021

Eclipse Sound in the eastern Canadian Arctic is a region where ship traffic is increasing due to tourism and industrial development. The community of Pond Inlet, located on Eclipse Sound north Baffin Island, experienced almost triple the annual shipping traffic during 2011-2015. This was the largest proportional increase in shipping of any region in the Canadian Arctic. The change was due to increasing numbers of tourism-related vessels (i.e. passenger ships and pleasure craft) and in bulk carrier and tanker ships. While increasing traffic by tourism-related vessels is widespread across the Canadian Arctic, the additional cargo ship traffic past Pond Inlet was associated with the 2010-2015 development of the Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation (BIMC).