Alaska's Important Bird Areas and Chukchi Sea oil

The federal government announced this week that it would sell petroleum leases in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska’s northwest coast on February 6.

The Northern Alaska Environment Center, the Center for Biological Diversity, the World Wildlife Fund, and other conservation organizations immediately condemned the sale. And with good reason. The groups argued that oil and gas exploration could have disastrous impacts on polar bears, walrus, whales, fish, and other valuable Arctic creatures; that the proposal doesn’t account for changes being caused by global warming; that the industry lacks the ability to clean up oil spills in the treacherous broken-ice conditions sure to be found in the Chukchi Sea; and that scientists simply haven’t assembled enough data -- about species composition, distribution, abundance, habitat preference, timing of use and residence, etc. -- to be able to quantify whatever effects future development might have.

You can see the proposed sale area plotted on the map above, created by Jessica Eskelsen. (Click on the map to see a larger version.) The immensity of the area, 29.7 million acres, about the size of the state of Pennsylvania, was enough to give us pause. But then we double-checked the number of Important Bird Areas that Audubon Alaska has identified in the area. What we found should give everyone pause: the Alaskan coast opposite the lease area is simply alive with birds.

Here's a rundown of the Important Bird Areas, from Barrow in the north to Kotzebue Sound in the south:

Teshekpuk Lake
Teshekpuk Lake and nearby Dease Inlet are of international significance for many breeding and migrating birds, including high densities of shorebirds and waterfowl. In some years, the region supports more than 50,000 molting Snow, Cackling, and Greater White-fronted Geese, and up to 30% of the Pacific Flyway population of Brant. Breeding populations of federally listed Spectacled and Steller’s Eider are also supported, as are some of the highest breeding densities of the vulnerable Yellow-billed Loon in the western hemisphere.

Breeding species: Willow Ptarmigan, Greater White-fronted Goose, Northern Pintail, Greater Scaup, King Eider, Long-tailed Duck, Short-eared Owl, Bar-tailed Godwit, Long-billed Dowitcher, Samipalmated Sandpiper, Baird’s Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Dunlin, Stilt Sandpiper, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Red-necked Phalarope, Red Phalarope, American Golden-Plover, Black-bellied Plover, Arctic Tern, Yellow-billed Loon, Lapland Longspur

Peard Bay
A large, relatively deep bay west of Barrow. USFWS aerial surveys have recorded sizable concentrations of threatened Spectacled Eiders, particularly in August, presumably molting birds, and satellite telemetry data indicates the importance of near-shore habitat for post-breeding Yellow-billed Loons.

Breeding: Brant, Common Eider, Spectacled Eider. Also recorded: Long-tailed Duck, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, Dunlin, Red Phalarope.

Kasegaluk Lagoon
One of the longest lagoon-barrier island systems in the world. More than 25,000 shorebirds, including 19 different species. Red Phalaropes were most numerous (46%), followed by Dunlin (20%), Red-necked Phalaropes (5%), Pectoral Sandpipers (5%), and Semipalmated Sandpipers (3%). Peak single-day counts in August show up to 2,500 birds, mostly Red Phalaropes. Waterfowl use a wider area on and offshore. The portion north of Icy Cape is a primary feeding/staging area for Black Brant, with up to 40,000 birds (a large proportion of the Pacific Flyway population) present in late summer. Coastal aerial surveys and on-shore migration surveys encountered Yellow-billed Loons, particularly in the fall. An Aleutian Tern colony is located south of Point Lay.

Breeding species: Snow Goose, Brant, Common Eider. Passage: Greater Scaup, Spectacled Eider, Long-tailed Duck, Surf Scoter. Also recorded: Dunlin, Red Phalarope.

Ledyard Bay
A broad, open bay between Kasegaluk Lagoon and Cape Lisburne. Important staging and molting habitat for a variety of shorebirds, seabirds, and waterfowl and, as described in an epochal paper published in 1999 in The Auk, one of two principal molting and staging areas off coastal Alaska for threatened Spectacled Eiders. (The other is in eastern Norton Sound, about 600 km south.) Satellite telemetry data indicates the importance of near-shore habitat for post-breeding Yellow-billed Loons.

Species data: Spectacled Eider (non-breeding), Black-legged Kittiwake (breeding), Common Murre (breeding), Thick-billed Murre (breeding).

Cape Lisburne
A complex of eight neighboring cliff colonies about 40 km northeast of Point Hope. One of two major seabird colonies on the east coast of the Chukchi Sea. (The other is the Cape Thompson area, approximately 85 km to the south.) Whole-colony counts have not been done since 1976-77, so estimating the current population is problematic. Total seabird population is on the order of 500,000 birds, primarily Thick-billed Murres (315,000 birds), Common Murres (135,000), and Black-legged Kittiwakes (30,000).

Other breeding birds: Pelagic Cormorant, Glaucous Gull, Black Guillemot, Pigeon Guillemot, Horned Puffin, Tufted Puffin. Kittlitz's Murrelet concentrates at the site.

Cape Thompson
A complex of five neighboring cliff colonies about 45 km southeast of Point Hope. The total seabird population is about 350,000 birds, primarily Thick-billed Murres, Common Murres, and Black-legged Kittiwakes. Birds are present at the colony from June through August. In 1960, the complex supported an estimated 421,000 birds, including 393,000 murres (about 60% Thick-billed Murres and 40% Common Murres), 26,000 Black-legged Kittiwakes, and 2,300 Pelagic Cormorants, Glaucous Gulls, Black Guillemots, Pigeon Guillemots, Horned Puffins, and Tufted Puffins.

Other breeding birds: Pelagic Cormorant, Glaucous Gull, Black Guillemot, Pigeon Guillemot, Horned Puffin, Tufted Puffin. Kittlitz's Murrelet concentrates at the site.

Krusenstern Lagoon
A beach ridge-wetland complex entirely within Cape Krusenstern National Monument, at the north mouth of Kotzebue Sound. The lagoon usually supports more than 5,000 shorebirds. Most abundant: Red-necked Phalaropes, Western, Semipalmated, and Pectoral Sandpipers, and Long-billed Dowitchers. Arctic and Aleutian Terns also nest in the area.

Noatak River Delta
One of the most important sites to shorebirds along the Chukchi Sea coast of Alaska. Studies suggest an average biweekly population of 73,000 shorebirds on saltmarsh habitat alone. Dunlin are the most abundant. They occur in "moderate" densities even into early October. Although data are lacking for the extensive unvegetated flats, the overall number of shorebirds using the delta could exceed 100,000. Several tern colonies are also in the delta. The number of Aleutian Terns exceeds 1% of global population.

Southeast Chukchi Sea
Large offshore area 500 km long and 100 km wide extending northeast from Russia’s Chukotski Peninsula to the latitude of Point Barrow. Tens of thousands of Northern Fulmars and hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of Short-tailed Shearwaters in late summer. Also many thousands of Crested Auklets and Least Auklets come as far north as Cape Lisburne. --C.H.

Edited on 8-Jan-08 to include a link to the following NPR story about the effects of climate change on Pacific walruses in the Chukchi Sea: Walruses Move Ashore as Arctic Ice Retreats by Annie Feidt (All Things Considered, 4-Jan-08). --C.H.

Note: The Chukchi Sea lease sale was completed on Feb. 6, 2008. According to the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service, companies submitted 667 bids, totaling almost $3.4 billion. In the final environmental impact statement for the lease sale, MMS estimated "the chance of a large spill greater than or equal to 1,000 bbl occurring and entering offshore waters is within a range of 33-51%" (page ES-4). --C.H.

Comments

[Forest V. Strnad]

I notice that for the Yellow-billed Loon these are important areas ad need to be preserved.