**Six Selected Presentation Summaries**

**From the**

**Information Transfer Meeting**

**March 2003**

**Sponsored by the**

**Alaska OCS Region**

**Minerals Management Service**

**For Presentation to the**

**Minerals Management Service**

**Scientific Committee Meeting**

**Anchorage, Alaska**

**April 24, 2003**

**THE MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE ARCTIC NEARSHORE IMPACT MONITORING IN
THE DEVELOPMENT AREA (ANIMIDA) PROGRAM: INTRODUCTION TO**

**A MULTI‑YEAR MONITORING PROGRAM IN THE NEARSHORE BEAUFORT SEA**

Paul Boehm, Ph.D. and John Brown

Battelle, 255 Bear Hill Rd. Waltham, MA 02451

\(781\) 895‑4862, FAX (781) 895‑1506, E-mail: boehmp@battelle.org

Offshore oil and gas development and production activities have been
initiated at Northstar Island and are proposed for the coming years at a
modified Liberty prospect site in the nearshore Beaufort Sea. There is
concern about the long‑term effects of these developments, as well as,
long‑term effects of any development associated with future offshore
lease sales and exploration activities. Historical chemical and physical
data have been collected in the region over several decades.
Nevertheless, the sensitivity of the region adjacent to Northstar and
Liberty, and the highly variable and complex environmental conditions,
make further monitoring necessary. In response to interagency reviews of
related environmental impact statements (EISs) and development and
production plans, the U.S. Department of Interior, Minerals Management
Service (MMS) initiated the ANIMIDA Program as a long‑term study for
monitoring potential impacts of the Northstar and Liberty developments.
ANIMIDA Phase I was started in June 1999 and included hydrocarbon and
metals chemistry measurements in sediment and tissue samples, as well as
acoustic measurements adjacent to the Northstar and Liberty sites. Phase
II of the ANIMIDA Program was initiated in July 2000 and incorporates
seven tasks including hydrocarbon and metal chemistry studies, suspended
sediment studies, an assessment of subsistence whaling at Cross Island,
biota contaminant assessment, and a study of the \"boulder patch\" area.
An overview of the ANIMIDA Program status to date will be presented.

**A DESCRIPTION OF POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF OCS ACTIVITIES**

**ON BOWHEAD WHALE HUNTING ACTIVITIES IN THE BEAUFORT SEA**

John C. Russell, Ph.D. and Michael A. Downs, Ph.D.

EDAW, Inc.

1429 Kettner Blvd., Suite 620, San Diego, CA 92101

\(530\) 621-1633, FAX (530) 621-8179, E-mail: jcr@adams-russell.com,
downsm@edaw.com

Subsistence hunting for marine mammals and especially bowhead whales has
a long history as an organizing element of Iñupiat social, cultural,
religious, and economic life. Archaeological evidence shows that Iñupiat
dwellings were sometimes made with whale ribs and other skeletal parts.
Whales were prominent in religious beliefs, practices, and symbols; and,
sharing of whale products among kinsmen and other Iñupiat defined and
reinforced social bonds. Muktuk, whale meat, and other whale products
also provided an essential source of protein and fat that Iñupiat
believed essential for their diet and health.

When European and American whalers entered the Arctic they employed
Natives as whalers and exposed them to new whaling technologies.
Post‑contact, whaling has remained essential to modern Iñupiat values
and lifestyles: the Barrow High School mascot is the \"Whalers;\"
employers allow time off for whaling crew members to hunt; Nalukataq and
related whaling ceremonies are important cultural events; and, muktuk
and other whale products have cultural, economic, and health‑values for
community members.

Oil development activities in the late sixties and early 1970\'s
resulted in new change agents affecting Iñupiat communities: new
sociopolitical institutions emerged; settlement and residence patterns
began to change; transportation technologies such as snow machines
became more available as did wage employment with the newly formed North
Slope Borough. Modernization of Iñupiat communities accelerated with
exposure to these and other change agents. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS)
oil activities were perceived to present unique threats and
consequences, including ones specific to whaling. Iñupiats expressed
concern that OCS oil development activities could deflect whale
migration father off‑shore, contribute to whale skittishness, and
otherwise adversely affect whale behavior. These types of concerns are
perceived to have negative influences on whale hunting; and, any threats
to whale hunting also affect other aspects of community and personal
life connected to whaling.

Using multiple data sources, this project examines Iñupiat assessments
of the influences of development on participation in traditional
activities, especially whale hunting and its related sociocultural
components. A focus is to identify Iñupiat assessments of OCS activities
as a particular type of development threat or opportunity; and, the
perceived affects of OCS activities on whale hunting and related
traditional activities. In addition to observational (ethnographic) and
secondary source data, three surveys are being administered (whaling
captains, randomly selected households, and high school juniors and
seniors) to examine variation in these assessment among and within three
North Slope communities (Barrow, Kaktovik, and Nuiqsut) and one
\"control\" community in western Alaska. The data should assist
communities to identify and plan for sociocultural problems related to
ongoing development in the Arctic.

**MEASUREMENTS OF TEMPERATURE, SALINITY AND CIRCULATION IN COOK INLET,
ALASKA**

Stephen Okkonen, Ph.D.

Institute of Marine Science, University of Alaska Fairbanks

P.O. Box 1025, Kasilof, AK 99610

\(907\) 283-3234, E-mail: okkonen@ims.uaf.edu

Temperature and salinity measurements acquired in central and lower Cook
Inlet during spring and fall 2002 show that the hydrographic structure
of tide rip fronts varies spatially and seasonally. Increased river
discharge during summer and fall strengthens non‑tidal, density‑driven
currents associated with the tide rip fronts. The hydrographic structure
of the tide rip fronts also varies over the semidiurnal tidal cycle.
These results illustrate the need to incorporate density effects in
numerical oil spill trajectory models for Cook Inlet.

**BEAUFORT NEARSHORE UNDER-ICE CURRENTS**

Tom Weingartner , Ph.D.

Institute of Marine Sciences

University of Alaska Fairbanks

Fairbanks, AK 99775

\(907\) 474-7993, FAX (907) 474-7204, E-mail: weingart@ims.uaf.edu

*Presented by Steve Okkonen.*

Summary will be provided later.

**SUMMARY OF WORKSHOP ON PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY IN THE BEAUFORT SEA**

Tom Weingartner , Ph.D.

Institute of Marine Sciences

University of Alaska Fairbanks

Fairbanks, AK 99775

\(907\) 474-7993, FAX (907) 474-7204, E-mail: weingart@ims.uaf.edu

*Presented by Steve Okkonen.*

MMS sponsored a 2.5-day workshop on the physical oceanography of the
Alaskan Beaufort Sea, held in Fairbanks, Alaska in February 2003. The
workshop reviewed knowledge of the physical oceanography of the Beaufort
shelf and recommended studies to support Minerals Management Service\'s
mission with respect to industrial development on this shelf. There are
fundamental unknowns in the understanding of the ocean and ice
circulation, ocean density field, and of the forcing mechanisms
influencing the sea ice and oceanography. The study recommendations
consist of a mix of field (observational) and idealized model studies to
improve understanding of poorly understood physical processes and
boundary conditions and to provide data sets necessary for the proper
evaluation of regional pollutant transport models. Critical issues
requiring study are the:

1.  wind and surface stress fields established by mesoscale variations
    in the regional meteorology and sea ice distribution and deformation
    fields,

2\. effects of freshwater discharge and freezing (convective) processes
on the shelf circulation,

3\. controls exerted on the circulation and water property fields by the
lateral ocean boundaries of the Alaskan Beaufort Sea: the Chukchi shelf
(western boundary), the Canadian Beaufort shelf (eastern boundary), and
the shelfbreak and continental slope (offshore boundary), and

4\. shelf/slope bathymetry

These topics affect the time and space scales of the ice and ocean
circulation, which have not been well-resolved in the Beaufort Sea.
Consequently, the recommended studies are also designed to delineate the
major scales of variability.

**BOWHEAD WHALE FEEDING IN THE EASTERN ALASKAN BEAUFORT SEA: UPDATE ON
SCIENTIFIC AND TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE**

W. John Richardson, Ph.D.

LGL, Ltd. environmental research associates

22 Fisher Street, P.O. Box 280

King City, Ontario, Canada L7B 1A6

\(905\) 833-1244, FAX (905) 833-1255, E-mail: wjr@lgl.com

Summary will be provided later.

**BEHAVIOR OF RINGED SEALS AND RE‑INTERPRETATION OF AERIAL SURVEYS**

Oriana R. Harding^1^, Brendan P. Kelly^2^, Mervi Kunnasranta^3^

School of Arts and Sciences

University of Alaska Southeast

11120 Glacier Highway, Juneau, AK 99801

^1^(907) 465‑6844, FAX (907) 465‑6447, E‑mail:
oriana.harding@uas.alaska.edu

^2^(907) 465‑6510, FAX (907) 465‑6406 E‑mail:
brendan.kelly@uas.alaska.edu

^3^(907) 465‑8450, FAX (907) 465‑6447, E‑mail:
mervi.kunnasranta@joensuu.fi

Ringed seals spend much of the year hidden from view in snow caves
(lairs) on the shorefast ice of the Arctic Ocean. Each spring, as the
snow melts, seals abandon their snow caves and rest on the surface of
the ice. In the past, aerial surveys have been used to relate seal
numbers to ecological variables and industrial activities. Aerial
surveys, however, count an unknown proportion of the population that is
visible on the surface of the ice and assumes that the proportion does
not change over time.

We are testing the implicit assumptions of aerial surveys and
investigating how the proportion of visible seals changes over time and
between years. The results will be used in a reanalysis of past ringed
seal surveys.

From 1999‑2002, we tagged 48 ringed seals (8, 10, 14, 16 respectively)
in Prudhoe Bay. During May and June each year, we recorded hourly the
proportion of tagged seals in the water, hidden in snow caves, or
visible on the surface of the ice. The proportion of tagged seals that
were visible 1) had a strong diurnal pattern, peaking at 3:00 pm and 2)
was highly variable, changing from as much as 100% to 13% by the next
day. Lastly, the timing of lair abandonment varied greatly from year to
year.

In 2001 and 2002, in conjunction with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, we
found that spaceborne Ku‑band scatterometer data were sensitive to snow
deterioration and remotely indicated the timing of lair abandonment. We
are continuing to test the utility of scatterometer data and we plan to
model the effects of environmental covariates on the proportion of seals
visible. The model will then be used in a reanalysis of previous ringed
seal surveys.