EnvironmentslidepollajaxEnergyAnimals

Athabasca Tar Sands Oil Pipeline Threatens Bears And Other Animals In Pristine Canadian Wilderness (PHOTOS)

PHOTOS: Pristine Wilderness Threatened By Oil Pipeline
|

From the iLCP:

The International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP) was invited by the Gitga'at Nation, one of Canada's First Nations, to conduct a RAVE (Rapid Assessment, Visual Expedition) in the Great Bear Rainforest in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

An international group of iLCP Photographers, working with partners Pacific Wild, Save our Seas Foundation, LightHawk, TidesCanada, and the King Pacific Lodge documented the beauty of this delicate ecosystem, part of the largest remaining coastal temperate rainforest on the planet. This region is threatened by the development of a pipeline to transfer oil from the Athabasca tar sands in Alberta, Canada to the coast for shipment by supertankers.

The Canadian Parliament is voting on this development on December 7, 2010. Let your voice be heard. Join this petition drive to urge Parliament to support the conservation of this unique landscape. Ask them to protect coastal jobs, the coastal environment, and coastal cultures.

The Athabasca tar sands in northern Alberta, Canada are arguably the world's most environmentally devastating oil extraction industries. And now there are plans to expand the tar sand operations to increase exports of oil to the United States and Asia. This would double the size of the tar sands and increase the release of green house gases and cause further impacts to the boreal environment of northern Alberta. However, the tar sands cannot expand without building a 2,000 mile pipeline across British Columbia and through the Great Bear Rainforest on British Columbia's wild coast. Moreover, a moratorium on large oil tankers would need to be created to prevent the enormous vessels from plying the waters of the fragile coast to receive the oil and carry it to oil-hungry Asia.

The Great Bear Rainforest
(01 of12)
Open Image Modal
A Kermode bear (Ursus americanus kermodei), also known as a Spirit bear, in British Columbia's Great Bear Rainforest. Revered by First Nations and long a part of their cultural mythology, these bears are not albino, rather a subspecies of the American black bear. Subsisting primarily on a diet of salmon, their habitat and survival would be severely threatened by construction of a pipeline to move oil from the tar sands to the coast. ©Ian McAllister/ Great Bear Rainforest RAVE/ iLCP
(02 of12)
Open Image Modal
The pristine waters surrounding Bella Coola, British Columbia. What does the future hold? Will megatankers ply these waters as they make their way to Kitimat to pick up tar sands oil from the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline? Will we ever learn, or care?©Cristina Goettsch Mittermeier/ Great Bear Rainforest RAVE/ iLCP
(03 of12)
Open Image Modal
Twin grizzly cubs of the year nestle in the sedges of a great bear rainforest estuary. The rich marine sedges supported by last fall's decaying salmon form a vital food source in early spring for grizzly bears. The estuary in which this photograph is taken is less than 20NM from the proposed tanker route and within a few hours reach by tidal current flow should an oil spill occur. Oil would decimate these estuaries which are a vital component of the rainforest ecological foundation.©Andrew S. Wright/Great Bear Rainforest RAVE/ iLCP
(04 of12)
Open Image Modal
Verdant Flow: A Great Bear Rainforest river flows green, thanks to the nitrogen left behind by last season's decaying salmon. Not only do salmon carcasses fertilize streams and rivers, but because bears and wolves drag half-eaten fish into the woods, the fish nourish the surrounding forest. Princess Royal Island, where this photo was taken in June, is in the heart of the rainforest, yet is "close to the action," photographer Andy Wright said. "If you do a 180-degree turn you would see the tankers traveling past," he said.©Andrew S. Wright/Great Bear Rainforest RAVE/ iLCP
(05 of12)
Open Image Modal
Twin grizzly cubs and their mom near a great bear rainforest estuary. The rich marine sedges supported by last fall's decaying salmon form a vital food source in early spring for grizzly bears. The estuary in which this photograph is taken is less than 20NM from the proposed tanker route and within a few hours reach by tidal current flow should an oil spill occur. Oil would decimate these estuaries which are a vital component of the rainforest ecological foundation.©Andrew S. Wright/Great Bear Rainforest RAVE/ iLCP
(06 of12)
Open Image Modal
Kyel Spring Camp, Gitga'at People fishing for halibut in Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia, Canada. In this region, fishing is and has been the main industry and source of sustenance for local populations. At the moment, there are over 26,000 jobs derived from fishing activities along the coast. The proposed pipeline poses a direct threat to the Gitga'at form of livelihood.©Cristina Goettsch Mittermeier/ Great Bear Rainforest RAVE/ iLCP
(07 of12)
Open Image Modal
A boat trip to South Benink Fjord to see the Nuxalk totem pole, a giant cedar tree, in Bella Coola, BC. Chief Qwatsinas- (Chief Edward Moody) of the Nuxalk Nation; one of the many First Nations who will be affected by the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline.©Cristina Goettsch Mittermeier/ Great Bear Rainforest RAVE/ iLCP
(08 of12)
Open Image Modal
Female leader of the pack of coastal rainforest wolves, is coming to the edge of the forest in the first light of dawn with her pups. After the female starts to howl the rest of the young join her in chorus. The pack sits on the rocky shore just at the edge of the high-tide line. Photographer Florian Schulz later watched the female go about hunting salmon in the creek in Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia, Canada.©Florian Schulz/Great Bear Rainforest RAVE/ iLCP
(09 of12)
Open Image Modal
Aerial image of Upper Nascall River, central coast of British Columbia, Great Bear Rainforest, Canada.©Ian McAllister/ Great Bear Rainforest RAVE/ iLCP
(10 of12)
Open Image Modal
Bald eagle in the temperate rain forest of coastal British Columbia, Canada, known as the Great Bear. With fjords and inlets along the Douglass Chanel (the proposed super-tanker route along Canada's B.C. coast).©Jack Dykinga/ Great Bear Rainforest RAVE/ iLCP
(11 of12)
Open Image Modal
Black bear hunting migrating salmon in temperate rain forest of coastal British Columbia, Canada, known as the Great Bear. With fjords and inlets along the Douglass Chanel (the proposed super-tanker route along Canada's B.C. coast).©Jack Dykinga/ Great Bear Rainforest RAVE/ iLCP
(12 of12)
Open Image Modal
A ILCP videographer films a large Stellar Sea Lion (Eumetopias jubatus) bull during the Great Bear Rainforest RAVE. This, the largest of all the sea lions, reaches 3m in length and can attain a maximum weight of 350 kg.©Thomas P Peschak/ Great Bear Rainforest RAVE/ iLCP

The iLCP Great Bear Rainforest RAVE team included the following iLCP Photographers: iLCP Fellow Wendy Shattil, Photographer and iLCP President Cristina Goettsch Mittermeier, National Geographic Photographer Paul Nicklen, the youngest founding member of the iLCP Florian Schulz, Emerging Photographers Joe Riis
and Jed Weingarten, World Press winner Daniel Beltra, Pulitzer prize winning photographer Jack Dykinga, Save Our Seas Chief Photographer Thomas P Peschak, photographer and Pacific WILD President Ian McAllister.

Guest photographers included Renee Harbers, Pat Freeny, Marven Robinson, and Andrew S. Wright.

Our 2024 Coverage Needs You

As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.

Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.

to keep our news free for all.

Support HuffPost
Suggest a correction
|
Submit a tip