Arctic Environmental Research

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management‘s 

(BOEM) Environmental Studies Program (ESP) 

develops, funds and manages scientific research 

on the marine, coastal, and human environments

to inform the Federal offshore oil and gas leasing 

program. Since the ESP’s launch in 1973, it has 

funded more than $1 billion nationwide, with more 

than $475 million dedicated to research in coastal 

Alaska, producing more than 1,000 study reports 

and peer-reviewed publications. These studies 

have provided information for use in 25 different 

lease sales, generating nearly $9.5 billion for the 

U.S. Treasury.

The ESP currently manages more than 50 

ongoing study projects in Alaska, in disciplines 

such as protected and endangered species; 

physical oceanography; fate and effects of

pollutants; wildlife biology; subsistence, and 

traditional knowledge studies; and economic 

forecasting. Completed study reports are available on ESPIS, the ESP Information System.

Select Exciting Current Projects:

Aerial Survey of Marine Mammals and 

Unmanned Aerial System Experimentation

 NOAA Photo

BOEM continues to partner with the NOAA 

Fisheries National Marine Mammal Lab (NMML) to 

conduct annual offshore line-transect aerial 

surveys in both the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas. 

This long-term (35+ year) monitoring program 

provides substantial information about the variable 

abundance and distribution of bowhead whales, 

gray whales, beluga whales, pacific walrus, polar 

bears, and bearded seals during critical seasons 

of their annual life history. In 2015, BOEM also 

partnered with NMML and the US Navy to test the 

ability of unmanned aerial systems to survey 

cetaceans as a potential means to decrease risk 

to personnel, increase survey efficiency, reduce 

survey costs, and minimize disturbance to marine 

wildlife. The performance of UAS relative to 

manned aircraft is not yet well understood and 

requires more research as a monitoring tool.

Arctic Marine Biodiversity Observing 

Network (AMBON)

As the Arctic warms and sea ice retreats, it is

increasingly important to observe and monitor 

measures of ocean biodiversity as an indicator of 

ecosystem health. To that end, BOEM launched a 

five-year partnership study under the National 

Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP) in 

the Chukchi Sea with the University of Alaska 

Fairbanks (UAF), NOAA and industry. The

Illustration courtesy of UAF Professor Katrin Iken
$4 million AMBON project builds on prior marine 

sampling strategies through distributed biological 

observatory (DBO) networks intended to extend

gridded data collection in taxonomic and spatial 

coverage on the Chukchi shelf over the leased

area. Notably, AMBON will add a significant new 

molecular component to previous biodiversity 

observations and will extend ongoing monitoring 

programs across the Chukchi Sea.

Oil Spill Detection and Mapping: Arctic 

Tracer Release Experiment (ARCTREX)

Photo courtesy of ARCTREX website 

http://www.ims.uaf.edu/artlab/projects/ARCTREX/

In collaboration with UAF, this study will perform 

targeted dye release experiments at both the 

surface and bottom layers of the Chukchi Sea to 

examine applications for mapping spilled oil in 

Arctic waters. These experiments are designed to 

test available observational technologies and their 

capability to map a biodegradable dye plume 

(simulating an oil spill) and deliver real-time data 

to response agencies for improved tracking and 

containment operations.

ANIMIDA III (Arctic Nearshore Impact 

Monitoring in Development Area)

After three decades of leasing activities, the 

Northstar gravel island in the Beaufort Sea is the 

only existing facility in Alaska that produces 

hydrocarbons from federal offshore lease blocks. 

Anticipating future development, the ESP initiated 

a long-term monitoring program in 1985 to 

establish a baseline of contaminants in sediments 

and benthic biota at specific locations across a 

regional scale. ANIMIDA III is the current five year 

monitoring program set up to provide benchmark 

monitoring results for detecting changes in 

chemical contamination, turbidity, Boulder Patch 

productivity, and impacts to subsistence activities.

The monitoring has been extended eastward to 

include the Liberty prospect.

Community-Based Monitoring

Frontline observations of ongoing climate change 

are made by local residents, who can readily 

identify abnormalities in local habitat, prey 

availability, species composition, and seasonal 

timing of ecological processes. In an effort to 

capture and document such observational data 

more efficiently, BOEM is now partnering with the 

Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium to extend 

into North Slope Borough communities their wellestablished Local Environmental Observer (LEO) 

Network and innovative communication 

applications. BOEM also partners with the UAF 

Coastal Marine Institute and teams of community 

residents in Pt. Hope, Pt. Lay, Wainwright, Barrow, 

and Kaktovik to deploy tide gauges to acquire 

better annual records of variation in local sea 

levels. Three moorings are deployed by local boat 

crews in each community.

Social Indicators in Coastal Alaska: Arctic 

Well-Being Synthesis Study

Under BOEM contract, Steven R Braund & 

Associates is updating important socio-cultural 

and economic baseline data in coastal 

communities of the North Slope Borough. The goal 

is to measure the direction, pace, and magnitude 

of regional socio-economic changes, and the 

sense of well-being as expressed by residents in 

select Arctic coastal communities of Pt. Lay, 

Wainwright, Barrow, Nuiqsut and Kaktovik. This 

study will facilitate evaluation of current conditions 

and local trends in economic prosperity; 

education; the health and safety; cultural continuity 

and well-being; the status of indigenous rights and 

local control; and quality of the physical 

environment. The household survey, approved at 

both national and local levels, began in 2016.

www.boem.gov/akstudies Updated Feb. 2016