The race to commit an island to memory

Can virtual-reality cameras, 3D models and digital archives prevent Qikiqtaruk's history from slipping away?

- Leyland Cecco HERSCHEL ISLAND-QIKIQTARUK

It was early July when the waters of the Beaufort Sea crept, then rushed, over the gravel spit of a remote Arctic island. For hours, the narrow strip of land, extending like the tail of a comma into the waters, gradually disappeared into the ocean.

When Canadian scientists on Qikiqtaruk (also known as Herschel Island), off the coast of Canada's Yukon territory, surveyed the deluge, they saw a grimly comical scene unfold.

Staff from the Yukon government were rushing to move old whaling buildings before they could slide into the ocean. It was not the first time water had enveloped the structures, and despite the team's efforts to prevent a sliver of history from being reclaimed by nature, it would not be the last. With one of the buildings perched on wood cribbing, they were able, with the aid of a strong cable, to move it 8 metres inland.

"We bought ourselves some time," said Stephan Biedermann, a conservation carpenter with the government who, for two weeks a year, scrambles with his team to temper the effects of flooding on the buildings. "But these are just short-term solutions. Until we have an idea of what something permanent might look like, we'll just keep racing to react to these floods."

Tempestuous weather has long been a staple of life for rangers and researchers on the remote Arctic isle. But the march of ocean waters inland has raised questions about how to preserve vulnerable elements of Qikiqtaruk's Arctic heritage.

"There is a stress you feel in the work, knowing there is a growing sense of urgency. But you know the urgency comes from the fact these places are meaningful to so many people, and so the work has value," said Biedermann.

When Richard Gordon was young, his family made the multi-day trek to Qikiqtaruk from Aklavik in a small boat. He spent summers fishing, camping and running through the remains of weather-beaten buildings.