Narratives of North

NARRATIVES OF NORTH

03 CREATE ECOLOGICAL CONNECTIONS BETWEEN SCOTLAND AND ARCTIC FAUNA. THE PLIGHT OF THE POLAR BEAR HAS BECOME A METAPHOR FOR THE CHANGES THE ARCTIC IS EXPERIENCING. ALLOW PEOPLE TO ENTER NEW HUMAN - NON HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS, BUILDING A BOND WITH POLAR BEARS AND GAINING A NEW PERSPECTIVE OF THE NORTH.

STORY 3.1

Polar bears have become somewhat synonymous in people’s minds with the thought of melting Arctic ice and climate change. Despite the fact that they are not the most endangered species, or their loss the greatest threat to the ecosystem, they are easy for people to relate to. This might be because of their striking appearance or their ‘cute’ factor. Nonetheless the polar bear has become the ‘poster child’ in campaigns to ‘save’ in the Arctic. Whether the polar bears need saving is another matter. There is currently a programme being established at the Highland Wildlife park to breed the first polar bear cubs in the UK since 1992.

What if it were possible to connect people with the captive polar bears? What if there were a device that could allow people to follow the breeding programme and re-locate their ‘concern’ for the bears closer to home?

The device could monitor the activities or even hormone patterns of the captive bear, displaying them on a device in the home. If the breeding programme is successful and the bear becomes pregnant, the device could reflect the gestation period in some way, and alert the people ‘hosting’ the device when they should go to visit the new born cubs.

Would knowledge of bear cubs being bred make people less nervous about the plight of Arctic bears? Would the device raise questions around the artificial nature of preserving Arctic species? How would changing the attention placed on the captive bears affect the attention given to wild polar bears?

STORY 3.2

Several British organisations undertake scientific research to gather new knowledge of the Arctic and the changes occurring in the region. WWF is one of these charities, concerned for Arctic fauna. One activity WWF undertake is to monitor polar bears in the Arctic and gather data on their health, behaviour and the ways in which they respond to a changing Arctic environment. Female polar bears are anaesthetised and samples are taken for scientific analysis.

The bear is then tagged with a radio collar, which monitors the bear for the rest of her days. (Male bears’ necks are wider than their heads and so cannot wear a collar). The collar monitors the location, range travelled by the bear and her temperature. They can tell when the collar is immersed in salt water and at what depth. Analysing the data also reveals when the bear is hibernating/ giving birth in a den.

What if it were possible to use the data collected by the collar of a bear to monitor the bear from the domestic environment? What if a device could communicate the different variables experienced by the bear to a human, who over time builds a bond with ‘their’ bear? Different aspects of the bear’s wellbeing could be communicated through a wearable device, making the bear’s life a part of the wearer’s daily activity?

How the device manages this data could affect the kind of relationship that evolves. Does the human feel disturbed by the presence of a predator in their life? Does the activity of the bear influence the wearer’s own activity? Does forming an intimate bond with a polar bear mean that we are more likely to protect the species in the future?

STORY 3.3

As the geography of the Arctic changes, so too does the habitat of the polar bear. Some regions are witnessing a decrease in the polar bear population whereas others are seeing an increase or stable population. Do the bears know something we don’t know? Could tracing the movements of the polar bears indicate where the ice is thickest, or the seals (and therefore fish) more numerous?

What if it were possible to see Arctic geography from the perspective of the polar bear? What if a device could use data provided by radio collars of individual bears to create a new cartography of the Arctic based on the physical relationship between a bear and the Arctic topography? Where the bears go, on what terrain and for how long could be mapped using this device. Over time the cartography would show patterns in the bear’s behaviour and illustrate permanent changes to their habitat through their response to the terrain.

It might be possible that one day the bear wanders off to a new territory alltogether, or remains at sea for a long period of time. Does the human feel concern for the bear at this point? Is the emergence of the bear after a long winter’s hibernation celebrated amongst the community who follow her?

The device could present data collected from the bear’s perspective, enabling a narrative to be created around the life of the bear. How would the family ‘hosting’ the bear’s data respond to the knowledge acquired? Would they invent stories around the bear’s day? Would they engage in the wider discussion of exploiting the Arctic?

STORY 3.4

As their habitat is gradually destroyed, the polar bears are forced to extend their range, hunting in strange territories, spending more time in open water and occasionally encroaching into human territory. The bears are taking increasing amounts of risk to ensure their own survival.

Some people may see this risk as necessary, and would wish to encourage the bears to inhabit new territories to overcome habitat loss. Others see the bears in terms of the danger they pose to humans, and think they should be restricted to non populated regions of the Arctic.

What if it were possible to measure the amount of risk undertaken by a singular polar bear at any given moment? What if there were a device that creates risk in the home in Scotland, which is reflective of the amount of risk taken by the bear? The device could use data from a bear’s radio collar to know the location of the bear. It would then calculate how close the bear is to human settlements in the Arctic and convert this into a risk factor that is communicated through the device.

While the human in the relationship may be superfluous to do anything to help the bear, would the knowledge of the risk the bear is undertaking affect decision making in their own life? Rather than thinking about the risk bears pose to humans, the device could encourage people to think about the risk we pose to the bears. Does this in turn help us to think about the impact we have on other species of fauna, or other aspects of the Arctic?

STORY 3.5

Polar bears are a keystone species - at the top of the food chain - and so have a trophic cascade effect on the ecologies around them. Some of these ecologies are shared with Scotland through the likes of migrating birds, whales and fish. As the oceans warm and the Arctic blooms with micro-algae, species will respond accordingly and new ecological patterns will emerge.

What if Arctic productivity of the Arctic and the amount of change occurring there could be measured through the flora and fauna in a territorial boundary?

What if a device in the Arctic could be used to measure the frequency of different species in a particular section of the far North? The device could detect the presence of an animal, or perhaps an invasive species, and transmit this data to a partner device in Scotland which represents the species present in the region.

Would the knowledge of changing Arctic species lead to tactical re-wilding?

Attempts to rebalance the ecosystems and use them for economic gain, such as the fishing industry? Or knowledge of which species to protect, recreate or destroy in Scottish waters in order to support the Arctic ecosystem? How would ecological stewardship become an area of expertise for Scotland and how could citizens participate?

How the data is used might be up to the people who record it. It could be that fish become so hard to trace as they move to colder waters that the locations of other species are used to trace the migration patterns of the species fishermen wish to catch. (fish = ringed seals = bear).