Since 1998, the CEI research vessel has been PENELOPE, a 22 foot chestnut freighter canoe.

 

In the North West territories we have explored the Mackenzie River from Fort Providence to the sea, followed the twisting skein of channels that make up the Delta, and have traveled from Yellowknife and up to the East arm of Great Slave Lake. With PENELOPE we have seen the dry gulches and hoodoos of the Red Deer river in Alberta.

Our intention now, is to expand the research of CEI by turning a greater focus on the sea. Although PENELOPE is a wonderful boat on the river, even very, very big rivers like the Mackenzie, she can be wet when it is rough. So, in 2006, we will be looking for a larger sea boat. This boat will serve as the flagship for WHALEFORCE and the sea-going research vessel for the CEI.

It has been made very clear to the CEI over the past 36 years, that, no matter how vital the subject, research funding is seldom available for in country work, but more readily available for work outside the country. It is the hope of the CEI that the possession of a seagoing boat, larger than PENELOPE, will enable us to do more work outside Canada.

 Insect Survey:

Insects are vital for the maintenance of biodiversity, and a true indicator of the impact of Global Warming on the Environment.

 

Over the past two years, Pierre Terret of France, in partnership with the Tribe, has headed up the CEI insect survey on Blood (Kainai) Tribal Lands, and developed the essential training, identification, and data management tools for an insect survey. Pierre’s preliminary report on his work can be found on this website. Provided Pierre is able to obtain future funding for this programme, he hopes to continue it.

 

Over the past years, CEI in partnership with the Tribe has initiated a base-line bird survey of portions of the 500 sq. miles of the Kainai Lands. Due to lack of funding it may not be possible to continue with this as the survey was initially designed. Birds, like insects, are a compass indicator of the health of biodiversity in our Province of Alberta. The CEI will continue to look for funds to continue this research.

The CEI developed and proved a “Hair-trap’ designed to collect uncontaminated hair samples from swift fox in the wild. The use of the hair-trap over the last six years has demonstrated, beyond argument, that uncontaminated hair samples can be obtained from swift fox in the wild, in all weathers, without subjecting the swift fox to stress or handling. These hair samples have been analyzed at the Natural Resources DNA & Forensic Profiling Centre, Ontario, and through DNA analysis have provided information on individuality and parentage of the swift foxes from which the hair was collected. (Cullingham. C 2002)  The analysis of DNA for individuality and parentage is simpler collected from the hair of carnivores than from the scat of carnivores. DNA analysis in scat comes from the sampling of shed stomach cells in scat. When analyzing shed stomach cells in the scat of herbivores it is necessary to separate stomach cells from food. If the animal is eating plants and grasses this is not such a difficult job. However, if the animal is feeding on a variety of mammal prey the job of separating the stomach cells of prey from the stomach cells of predator is much more difficult. It is perceived that it is easier to collect scat in the wild, than to set hair-traps and collect hair, but the advantage of the hair-trap is that it is selective, it is designed specifically for swift fox, and because it contains an attractant to swift fox, swift fox are the species whose hair is predominantly collected by hair traps.

The use of live traps in the government authorized winter swift fox surveys (1996-97, 2000-2001) showed a demonstrable percentage of foxes trapped suffered tooth and paw injury, and even when the traps were modified to reduce injury (2000/01) swift fox still suffered broken jaws needing surgery/euthanasia (Response to environmental petitions 157A/157B Parks Canada). Unfortunately, the government Agencies prefer the use of