THE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY JOURNAL OF THE MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE

VOLUME 6 ISSUE 2

MMS

APRIL/MAY/JUNE 2009

SCIENCE

Energy in Motion:

Researching 

Designs, Standards 

for Wave and 

Current EnergyGenerating Devices 

First Alaska CIAP 

Grant Awarded:

Noise Monitoring in 

the Chukchi Sea

Alaska Native 

Hunters and 

Whalers Actively 

Engage in Satellite 

Tracking Studies

The Long-Lived 

Bowhead Whale

Final Rule for 

Renewable Energy 

Development on 

the U.S. Outer 

Continental Shelf
2 mms OCEAN SCIENCE Science & Technology Journal

Volume 6 Issue 2

mms OCEAN SCIENCE is published 

quarterly by the Minerals Management 

Service to communicate recent ocean 

science and technological information 

and issues of interest related to offshore 

energy recovery, ocean stewardship, 

and mineral revenues.

Please address all questions, comments, 

suggestions, and changes of address to:

Dr. Deborah Epperson

mms OCEAN SCIENCE Editor

Minerals Management Service

1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard

New Orleans, LA 70123

deborah.epperson@mms.gov

(504) 736-3257

3 Ken Salazar, the 50th Secretary of 

the Interior

4 Energy in Motion:

Researching Designs, Standards for Wave 

and Current Energy-Generating Devices

6 First Alaska CIAP Grant Awarded:

Noise Monitoring in the Chukchi Sea

7 Alaska Native Hunters and Whalers 

Actively Engage in Satellite Tracking Studies

10 The Long-Lived Bowhead Whale

11 Marine Ecologist 

Chuck Monnett

12 MMS-India Cooperation and Exchange 

Improves Environmental and Human Safety

14 Department of the Interior 

Partners in Conservation Awards

15 Final Rule for Renewable Energy 

Development on the U.S. Outer 

Continental Shelf

16 New Waves

Late-Breaking News & Information

ABOUT THE COVER

Top left: Secretary Salazar touring the Medusa Spar 

offshore oil production rig in the Gulf of Mexico. 

Photo courtesy of Tami Heilemann, Department of 

the Interior-NBC.

Top middle: Devils Tower is located 150 miles 

southeast of New Orleans in the deep water of the 

Gulf of Mexico. 

Top right: Walrus cow and calf. Photo courtesy of 

Alaska Department of Fish & Game.

Main photo: Bowhead whales near Barrow, Alaska. 

Photo courtesy of Julie Mocklin, National Marine 

Mammal Laboratory, Alaska Fisheries Science Center.

Back page: Background platform image by 

Gregory S. Boland.

All photos courtesy of Minerals Management Service 

unless otherwise noted.

Publication services provided by Schatz Publishing Group

 THE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY JOURNAL OF THE MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE

For more information about the Minerals Management Service, 

check out our Web site:

www.mms.gov

Subscribe

To receive mms OCEAN SCIENCE, sign up at

www.gomr.mms.gov, then click on e-mail subscriptions on the 

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e-mail deborah.epperson@mms.gov or call (504) 736-3257

APRIL/MAY/JUNE 2009 Volume 6 Issue 2

MMS

SCIENCE

APRIL/MAY/JUNE 2009
MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE APRIL/MAY/JUNE 2009 3

Two days after he 

was unanimously 

confirmed by the U.S. 

Senate, Ken Salazar, 

the 50th Secretary of the Interior, 

introduced himself to employees of 

Department of the Interior bureaus 

in an All-Employees Meeting held 

in Washington, D.C., reaching 

employees across the country 

through teleconferencing lines.

In his mild-mannered tone, 

Salazar made it clear that he is no 

newcomer to resource management. 

His family has ranched and farmed 

lands in the San Luis Valley 

of southern Colorado for five 

generations, a heritage symbolized 

by his trademark cowboy hat.

“My family’s livelihood 

depended on the health of our land. 

Our parents taught us about the 

importance of water and about the 

importance of land. Because the 

sustainability of our family depended 

on how we took care of our land 

and our water, they taught us that 

we had to be responsible stewards of 

the water, soil, and wildlife around 

us, so that we could preserve the 

balance that allows us to ranch and 

farm, generation after generation.”

Elected Colorado’s 35th U.S. 

Senator in 2004, Salazar helped 

craft and pass the Energy Policy 

Act of 2005 and the Renewable 

Fuels, Consumer Protection, and 

Energy Efficiency Act of 2007. 

He also served on the Energy and 

Natural Resources Committee.

From 1999 to 2004, Salazar 

served as Colorado’s Attorney 

General, and from 1987 to 1994 was 

chief legal counsel and executive 

director of the Colorado Department 

of Natural Resources, creating 

the Youth in Natural Resources 

Program to teach young people 

about their state’s natural resources. 

On March 17, 2009, in a U.S. 

Senate Committee on Energy 

and Natural Resources hearing 

on energy development on the 

public lands and Outer Continental 

Shelf (OCS), Salazar explained 

that “Developing these renewable 

resources requires a balanced and 

mindful approach that addresses 

the impacts of development on 

wildlife, water resources, and other 

interests under the Department’s 

management jurisdiction. 

“At the same time, we must 

recognize that we will likely 

be dependent on conventional 

sources—oil, gas, and coal—for a 

significant portion of our energy 

for many years to come.” He also 

added that “Continuing to develop 

these assets, through an orderly 

process and based on sound science, 

adds important resources to our 

domestic energy production.”

Gathering and assessing 

information for a new 

comprehensive, environmentally 

appropriate energy development 

plan for the OCS has a high priority. 

In April 2009, to hear interested 

parties’ positions on energy 

development on the OCS, Salazar 

held four regional public meetings 

(New Jersey, Louisiana, Alaska, 

California). He also requested 

and received from the Minerals 

Management Service (MMS) and 

the U.S. Geological Survey, a report 

on our offshore oil and gas resources 

and the potential for renewable 

energy resources, including 

wind, wave, and tidal energy. 

The finalization of the 

new rule for renewable energy 

development and production on 

the OCS is the first step toward a 

promising vista (see page 15).

Under Secretary Salazar, 

MMS will continue its mission 

to manage the ocean energy and 

mineral resources on the OCS 

and Federal and Indian mineral 

revenues to enhance public and 

trust benefits, promote responsible 

use, and realize fair value.

KEN SALAZAR,

Secretary Salazar accepts a stack of letters from a local fisherman at a town hall event in 

Dillingham, Alaska. Photo courtesy of Tami A. Heilemann, Department of the Interior.

THE 50TH SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR 

For more information

Department of the Interior 

www.doi.gov/welcome.html 
4 mms OCEAN SCIENCE Science & Technology Journal

I

nterest in the potential of wave 

and current energy generation, 

though not new, has increased 

as we explore sources of renewable 

energy. To develop a sound basis 

for managing and regulating these 

emerging energy sources, the 

Minerals Management Service 

(MMS) is funding research and 

studies related to the development 

of renewable energy projects 

on the Outer Continental Shelf 

(OCS). Many of these studies 

and evaluations are carried out 

through MMS’s Technology 

Assessment & Research Program. 

Free Flow Energy, an 

engineering consulting firm 

specializing in new technology 

hydrokinetics, was contracted by 

MMS to research and report on 

design and inspection criteria and 

standards for wave and current 

energy-generating devices. 

Focusing on wave and current 

energy conversion equipment and 

their supporting systems, Free Flow 

Energy reviewed current technologies, 

engineering standards, and existing 

inspection and monitoring approaches 

and technologies in the U.S. and 

abroad. The nine-month research 

project also described safety and 

regulatory concerns and performed 

a gap analysis outlining possible 

modifications to regulations and 

standards for wave- and currentdriven devices on the OCS.

According to the report, the 

most suitable sites for wave and 

current energy conversion will 

have one or more of the following 

characteristics: a deregulated power 

market, high electrical kilowatt 

hour rates, limited electrical 

power availability from traditional 

means, strong renewable energy 

incentives, and/or an existing 

electrical infrastructure.

The OCS presents design 

opportunities—unlike tidal flows, 

current flows are unidirectional—

and design challenges. For 

example, offshore storms and 

water salinity can confound OCS 

energy conversion systems’ design, 

implementation, and maintenance. 

ENERGY IN MOTION:

RESEARCHING DESIGNS, 

STANDARDS FOR 

WAVE AND CURRENT 

ENERGY-GENERATING DEVICES

Agucadoura Wave Park, the world’s first multi-unit wave farm, is still in the experimental stages. Located off the coast of Portugal, its three 

Pelamis wave conversion units were built by Pelamis Wave Power, a Scottish company. Photo courtesy of Pelamis Wave Power.
MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE APRIL/MAY/JUNE 2009 5

In general, equipment designed for 

shallow freshwater risks failure when 

deployed in deep saltwater because 

of salt-related corrosion and the 

higher pressures of deeper water. 

There is a wide range of 

technology to harness wave- and 

current-driven energy systems as 

resources for generating electricity. 

Because of the relative infancy 

of these technologies in the U.S., 

little research has been done on the 

OCS to document the technology’s 

durability, structural integrity, 

overall efficiency, and environmental 

safety and impacts. Quality design 

standards, safety factors, and 

monitoring procedures must be 

established to ensure the protection 

of delicate ocean ecosystems.

Companies and institutes 

in Canada, Denmark, Finland, 

France, Norway, Portugal, Spain, 

the United Kingdom, the U.S., as 

well as Australia, New Zealand, 

and South Africa, are actively 

developing and piloting wave 

and current energy devices. 

There are no design and 

construction standards specifically 

for wave and current energy 

conversion technology, but the 

European Marine Energy Centre 

(EMEC) and International 

Electrotechnical Commission is 

working on standards development. 

The EMEC, in the Orkney 

Islands of northern Scotland, is 

the leading test facility for tidal 

and wave energy equipment.

Some standards now in effect 

under MMS jurisdiction may be 

applied to wave and current energy 

conversion systems, but these 

apply to structures. For example, 

The Wavebob is an axi-symmetric, selfreacting point absorber, operating mainly 

in the heave mode. Developed by an Irish 

company, Wavebob, Ltd., it is specifically 

designed to recover useful power from ocean 

wave energy and to be deployed in large 

arrays offshore. In 2008 Wavebob, Ltd. 

received the Green Innovation Award in 

Dublin. Photo courtesy of wavebob.com.

For more information

MMS Renewable Energy and Alternate Uses

www.mms.gov/tarprojectcategories/AlternativeEnergy.htm 

TA&R Renewable Energy Research and Studies

www.mms.gov/tarprojectcategories/AlternativeEnergy.htm

Free Flow Energy website and report

www.freeflowenergy.com/new_project.html

platforms are designed to accept 

waves in ways that will reduce 

loading within the carrying capacity 

of the structure. But wave- and 

current-driven devices need to 

absorb and harness this source of 

energy; they need to be properly and 

effectively anchored or moored.

The final report noted that further 

development of these promising 

energy technologies will entail 

collaborative engineering standards, 

cooperation and coordination among 

developers, companies, academic 

institutions, and governmental 

agencies, as well as coordination with 

international efforts.

In April 2009 the Department of the Interior (DOI) 

and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

(FERC) entered into an agreement that clarifies 

the two agencies’ responsibilities for leasing and 

licensing renewable energy projects on the Outer 

Continental Shelf (OCS). The Memorandum of 

Understanding sets a process through which the 

DOI’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) and 

FERC will lease, license, and regulate all renewable 

energy resources on the OCS. The MMS has 

exclusive jurisdiction over nonhydrokinetic energy 

projects, including wind and solar; it also has 

exclusive jurisdiction to issue leases, easements, 

and rights-of-way for hydrokinetic projects. The 

FERC has exclusive jurisdiction to issue licenses 

and exemptions for hydrokinetic projects on 

the OCS.
6 mms OCEAN SCIENCE Science & Technology Journal

Through its Coastal Impact 

Assistance Program 

(CIAP), the Minerals 

Management Service (MMS) has 

awarded a $330,000 grant to the 

Alaska Department of Natural 

Resources. The first installment of 

the grant is $150,000. Funds will be 

directed to the Alaska Department 

of Fish & Game for monitoring 

of the sources and levels of 

anthropogenic (e.g., seismic activity) 

and natural (e.g., marine mammal 

calls) noise in the Chukchi Sea.

The Chukchi Sea is important 

to many species of marine mammals, 

including polar bears, pinnipeds, 

such as walruses and ribbon seals, 

and cetaceans, such as beluga and 

bowhead whales. These marine 

mammals are an important 

part of the subsistence culture 

of coastal Alaska Natives.

Future oil and gas development 

is planned in the Chukchi Sea. 

Substantial changes in the marine 

ecosystem, anticipated from climate 

change, include reduction of the 

thickness and spatial extent of 

sea ice. This can change acoustic 

propagation. Add to that an 

increase in anthropogenic noise 

sources from oil and gas activity 

and vessel traffic, and it’s likely 

that noise levels and sources in 

the Chukchi Sea will change. 

Before increased activities 

begin, and to gauge how marine 

mammals’ distribution and 

abundance may be influenced 

by those activities, it’s crucial to 

establish baseline information. 

Hydroacoustic monitoring projects 

have been carried out in the Beaufort 

and Bering Seas, but there is little 

data from the Chukchi Sea.

The three-year project will 

gather and analyze data and 

information about existing noise 

levels and possible impacts on 

marine mammals. 

In February 2009, a workshop 

was held in Anchorage to prioritize 

future research objectives, discuss the 

experimental design of new acoustic 

studies, including the logistics of 

instrument deployment, and develop 

strategies for collaboration and 

conservation. Participants included 

members of the oil and gas industry, 

Alaska Native marine mammal 

organizations, the North Slope 

Borough, the State of Alaska, the 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration, universities, 

consulting firms, and MMS. 

In the first two years of the 

project, hydroacoustic instruments 

will record noise, distinguishing 

among ambient, anthropogenic 

noises and calls made by marine 

mammals. During the third year, 

data will be analyzed, and findings 

will be documented in a report. 

This new information is 

necessary to soundly assess impacts 

of oil and gas developments 

projects and to comply with the 

Alaska Coastal Management 

Program by avoiding, minimizing, 

or mitigating those impacts.

FIRST ALASKA CIAP GRANT AWARDED: 

NOISE MONITORING IN THE CHUKCHI SEA

Female ribbon seal. Photo courtesy of Vladimir Burkanov, NOAA.

For more information

MMS press release

http://mms.gov/ooc/press/2009/press0330.htm

Alaska Department of Fish & Game, Division of Wildlife 

Conservation, Marine Mammal Programs

www.wildlife.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=marinemammals.programs

Polar bear swimming in the Chukchi Sea. 

Photo courtesy of U.S. Fish & Wildlife 

Service.
MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE APRIL/MAY/JUNE 2009 7

I

n early March 2009, under 

several feet of sea ice, 

protected from the harsh winds 

and wind chill temperatures 

of -50° F, a bowhead whale idled 

in the relatively warm waters of 

the Bering Strait. This young 

30-foot-long whale, poised near the 

intersection of the Arctic Circle 

and the International Date Line, 

is set to dash northward followed 

by thousands of other bowhead 

whales though the icy leads of the 

Chukchi Sea. They’re traveling 

to the abundant feeding areas of 

the Canadian Beaufort Sea for the 

summer open-water season. 

For the past 6 months scientists 

have been continuously monitoring 

this whale’s remarkable journey: 

an annual migratory cycle with a 

month-long visit to the Bering Sea 

near the entrance to the Gulf of 

Anadyr. 

 This young whale, #2008-8, 

equipped with a satellite transmitter, 

has sent scientists more than 2,000 

bursts of information about its 

location and dive history. Its story 

began on September 23, 2008, 

at Barrow, Alaska, shortly after 

Billy Adams’ power boat came 

a few meters away from it, and 

Harry Brower, Jr., used a modified 

harpoon to carefully insert a 

transmitter into the foot-thick 

blubber on the whale’s back. 

A New Engaged Approach

Harry and Billy are Alaska 

Native whalers. Their critical 

involvement in this Minerals 

Management Service (MMS)-

funded bowhead whale tracking 

study is an outstanding example of 

a new approach to marine mammal 

research in the Arctic: directly 

involving Native subsistence hunters 

in handling the animals, deploying 

equipment, and making and 

interpreting observations. 

Lori Quakenbush, Alaska 

Department of Fish & Game 

(ADF&G) is lead on this study and 

an architect of the new approach. 

Since August 2006 her team has 

deployed satellite transmitters on 

28 bowhead whales. Lori spent over 

a year building consensus among 

Native whalers and their supporting 

organization, the Alaska Eskimo 

Whaling Commission (AEWC), 

and winning commitments of 

whalers’ involvement in field 

activities. Her efforts were furthered 

by cooperation of the North 

Slope Borough (NSB, the local 

governmental unit) and critical 

support from senior wildlife 

biologists, particularly Craig 

George, from the Department of 

Wildlife Management. 

When two teams of Native 

whalers, led by Harry Brower, Jr., 

Billy Adams, and Lewis Brower, 

tagged 13 bowhead whales in just 

4 days in September 2008, the 

value of the consensus was proven. 

The transmitters of those whales 

ALASKA NATIVE HUNTERS AND WHALERS

ACTIVELY ENGAGE IN SATELLITE TRACKING STUDIES

Bob Small, Alaska Department of Fish & Game, and Albert Simon, Hooper Bay, with a 

recently tagged beluga whale. Photo courtesy of Bob Small, Alaska Department of Fish 

& Game.
8 mms OCEAN SCIENCE Science & Technology Journal

and planning the study, the results 

benefit all parties: a greater shared 

understanding of the importance of 

the study results and also a study 

design that reduces interference with 

subsistence activities.

For relatively invasive research 

studies (such as tagging bowheads) to 

succeed, the cooperation and support 

of potentially-affected Alaska Native 

stakeholders are essential. 

Direct involvement gives 

the Alaska Native community a 

partnership in the findings and a 

voice in how the project develops. 

Moreover, the Native community 

offers valuable expertise. They are 

familiar with the region and the 

distribution and behavior of marine 

mammals, and have local knowledge 

of weather, ice conditions, and 

other safety hazards. Perhaps most 

important, the Native community 

calls on their traditional knowledge 

to interpret observations by using 

what is known from the past. 

Working with local communities 

is also cost effective, compared 

with studies that use aircraft and 

large vessels. 

have been broadcasting for 

7 months and are providing the 

first documentation of the bowheads’ 

winter and spring activities in the 

Chukchi and Bering Seas. 

The active participation of 

the whalers in an MMS initiative 

also resolves potential political 

and logistical problems associated 

with high-profile studies of this 

kind. Alaska Native people living a 

subsistence lifestyle harvest marine 

mammals, especially bowhead and 

beluga whales, walruses, and bearded 

seals. Local development, including 

industrial activities associated 

with oil and gas, is often seen as 

potentially threatening to their 

traditional ways of life. 

This view sometimes extends to 

scientific research. Native hunters 

and Native Commissions, such 

as the AEWC and the Eskimo 

Walrus Commission, have expressed 

concerns about the potential of 

research projects to directly interfere 

with annual hunts by displacing or 

sensitizing animals and so making 

them harder or more dangerous for 

hunters to obtain. 

If the community believes the 

research is not worthwhile or will 

negatively impact their hunting, 

researchers face serious obstacles. 

Such concerns have made it difficult 

and expensive to undertake tagging 

and behavioral studies of bowheads 

and thus studies have been limited. 

But when the hunters and 

whalers are involved in developing 

Alaska Natives Help Scientists 

Advance Research 

A number of MMS-supported 

cooperative projects have been 

undertaken in recent years or are 

now underway. The first notable 

study of this type was conducted 

1998-2002 by ADF&G biologists 

Kathy Frost and Lloyd Lowry, NSB 

biologist Robert Suydam, and Native 

beluga hunters from Point Lay. 

Native subsistence hunters harvest 

beluga whales when they enter 

Kasegaluk Lagoon near their village 

in late June and early July. The 

whales are driven into shallow water 

where they can be instrumented 

with satellite-linked transmitters 

that record location and dive 

information. Twenty-three belugas 

were equipped and monitored by 

ARGOS satellites for up to 154 

days. One noteworthy observation 

was that 5 of 9 adult males tagged 

early in their northward migration 

traveled through 90 percent pack 

ice cover to reach 79°N–80°N 

latitude by late July/early August. 

Researchers were surprised that 

these whales penetrated so far 

northward and into the ice pack.

Without the direct involvement 

of local Alaska Native hunters 

and whalers, these valuable 

studies would 

likely not be 

possible, or 

certainly would 

be greatly 

diminished. 

Left to right: Mikkel Jensen (Greenland Institute of Natural Resources), Craig George (NSB 

Wildlife Biologist), and whalers Anthony Edwardson, Harry Brower, Jr., and Billy Adams discuss 

tagging bowhead whales at Barrow, Alaska. Photo courtesy of Lori Quakenbush, ADF&G.
MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE APRIL/MAY/JUNE 2009 9

Alaska Native whalers are also 

key in field activities of another major 

MMS-supported study: the Bowhead 

Whale Feeding Study, conducted 

by the National Marine Mammal 

Laboratory (NMML). Dave Rugh, 

with NSB biologist Craig George, 

assembled a team of Barrow whalers 

to conduct boat surveys of bowheads 

and other marine mammals in the 

Beaufort Sea. During 2008, data 

from 18 surveys helped the research 

team estimate the timing and 

extent of local habitat use. Alaska 

Native whalers from Barrow also 

helped deploy passive acoustic and 

oceanographic instrumentation and 

moorings, assisted with bowhead 

diet and health studies by providing 

bowhead tissue samples from whales 

taken in the subsistence harvest, and 

helped calibrate data on whale length 

from aerial photography.

Two village-based studies of 

pinnipeds began in 2009. The first, 

led by Peter Boveng of the NMML, 

actively involves Alaska Native 

hunters in satellite-tagging bearded 

seals near villages along the Chukchi 

Sea coastline. During this 5-year 

study, 100 or more seals are expected 

to be tagged; local Alaska Natives 

have critical roles in boating, 

seal capture, and tagging. The 

tags will provide data about seal 

movements and behavior. 

In the second study, led by 

Quakenbush, Alaska Natives from 

coastal villages will learn to tag 

walruses with satellite transmitters 

and will tag over 100 animals during 

the next 5 years. The tagged walruses 

will help us better understand their 

movements and other behaviors, 

especially hauling out on beaches 

near the villages. Natives will conduct 

periodic surveys along the coastline. 

This is important because, as a result 

of diminished summer sea ice thought 

to result from global climate change, 

large groups of walruses are beginning 

to assemble on beaches where they 

have not previously been observed.

Tagging a bowhead near Tuktoyaktuk, Canada. Photo courtesy of

Bob Small, Alaska Department of Fish & Game. Tagging walrus, using crossbows. Photo courtesy of Lori 

Quakenbush, Alaska Department of Fish & Game.

For more information

MMS, Alaska OCS Region

www.mms.gov/alaska/

Alaska Native links

www.mms.gov/alaska/native/aknative.htm 

Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Mammal 

Laboratory, NOAA

www.afsc.noaa.gov/nmml/

North Slope Borough

www.north-slope.org/ 

Alaska Department of Fish and Game

www.adfg.state.ak.us/

Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission

www.uark.edu/misc/jcdixon/Historic_Whaling/AEWC/AEWC.htm

The Alaskan Arctic is changing. 

The Alaska Native communities that 

have lived there for generations are 

experiencing significant challenges 

as a result of climate change and 

associated reduction of sea ice. At 

the same time, increases in oil and 

gas development, shipping, tourism, 

and other human activities are 

expected. In the Arctic, the need for 

sound science in decisionmaking has 

never been greater. 

The MMS understands that the 

Alaska Native community has a key 

role in advancing marine mammal 

science and research, which is critical 

to responsibly managing the rapidlychanging environment of the Arctic. 
10 mms OCEAN SCIENCE Science & Technology Journal

THE LONG-LIVED BOWHEAD WHALE

Known as the “ice whale” by the Eskimo and as 

the Greenland right whale by 19th-century whalers, the bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) lives 

exclusively in the Arctic Ocean and sub-Arctic waters 

around pack ice, usually in shallow water. Bowheads 

winter near the southern limit of the pack ice, then move 

north in the spring as the ice breaks up and recedes.

These blue-black whales have a white “chin strap” 

band around the lower jaw. The high, arched upper jaw 

is shaped like an archer’s bow. Like some other baleen 

whales, bowheads have no dorsal fin.

Among large whales, the bowhead is the best adapted 

to living in freezing waters. It has a blubber layer almost 

2 feet (0.6 meters) thick, the thickest of all whales. To 

break through the ice to breathe, bowhead whales use 

their massive heads, which are about 30-40 percent of 

their entire body length. 

The bowhead whale may be the longest lived mammal on our planet. Embedded weapon fragments and 

chemical analyses show that a bowhead whale’s lifespan 

exceeds 100 years. 

As the third largest whale in the world (after the blue 

and the fin), the bowhead has the longest baleen of any 

whale. An adult’s baleen plates can reach 14 feet long 

(4.3 m) and 12 inches (30 centimeters) wide. 

Mature adults can weigh over 60 tons (54,431 kilograms) and reach 40-60 feet long (14-18 m). Adults reach 

sexual maturity at about age 20. Typically solitary, bowheads form large groups in which they travel and feed. 

Bowhead whales are slow swimmers (and so prime 

hunting targets) and slow breeders. An adult female calves 

once every 3-4 years; the gestation period is 13-14 months. 

Usually born during the northward spring migration, 

calves are dependent on their mothers for up to a year. 

Predators of bowhead whales are few: humans and 

killer whales. Threats include ship strikes, entanglement in 

fishing gear, contaminants, anthropogenic (human-caused) 

noise, and habitat loss.

As early as the 15th century, bowheads were hunted 

commercially in the north Atlantic; in the north Pacific 

commercial hunting began in the 1840’s. Before then, the 

historic population, worldwide, was estimated at about 

30,000-50,000. Current abundance is estimated at 7,000-

10,000 worldwide.

The bowhead population now has only five stocks, 

each with distinct migration patterns based on food 

supply and the condition of the polar ice cap. The 

Spitsbergen stock (north Atlantic) has been reduced 

from an estimated 2,400 to fewer than 100; the Baffin 

Bay-Davis Strait and the Hudson Bay-Fox Basin stocks, 

once at an estimated 12,200, are now estimated at 450. 

The Sea of Okhotsk (north Pacific) stock was reduced 

from about 3,000 to its current 150-200. 

Only the Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort stock is found 

within U.S. waters. Before commercial exploitation, the 

stock consisted of 10,400-23,000 whales. It is currently 

estimated at 6,400-9,200 and is increasing 3.2 percent 

per year.

In the U.S., bowhead whales are listed as endangered 

under the Endangered Species Act and as depleted under 

the Marine Mammal Protection Act. They are also listed 

by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered 

Species. Commercial and subsistence hunting of 

bowhead whales is prohibited by the International 

Whaling Commission (IWC). However, the IWC made 

an exception for subsistence hunting by 10 Alaskan 

Native villages, who are among the indigenous peoples 

who have hunted bowhead whales for food and fuel for 

hundreds of years. 

The Minerals Management Service’s (MMS’s) 

Bowhead Whale Aerial Survey Project (BWASP) annual 

surveys began in 1987. Now conducted through the 

National Marine Mammal Laboratory, BWASP provides 

real-time data on bowheads’ fall migration across the 

Alaskan Beaufort Sea and monitors trends in behaviors, 

distribution, habitat, and 

relative abundance. 

Another MMS-funded program, the Bowhead Whale Feeding 

Ecology Study (BOWFEST) focuses 

on late summer oceanography and 

prey densities in relation to whale 

distribution and abundance. Results 

will help us understand bowhead 

behavior and distribution to better 

protect this endangered species.

For more information

Bowhead whale aerial surveys (BWASP, 

BOWFEST), National Marine Mammal Laboratory

www.afsc.noaa.gov/NMML/cetacean/bwasp/index.php

“Bowhead Whales May Be the World’s Oldest 

Mammals,” Alaska Science Forum

www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF15/1529.html 

Bowhead whale surveys, MMS, Alaska OCS 

Region, Kids Corner

www.mms.gov/alaska/kids/shorts/bwasp/bwasp.htm 

NOAA Fisheries, Alaska Regional Office

www.fakr.noaa.gov/protectedresources/whales/bowhead/ 

Bowhead whale, relative to 

average adult male. Photo 

courtesy of www.whales.org.

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Cetacea

Suborder: Mysticeti

Family: Balaenidae

Genus: Balaena

Species: mysticetus
MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE APRIL/MAY/JUNE 2009 11

MARINE ECOLOGIST CHUCK MONNETT

The Minerals Management Service 

(MMS) is proud of the people whose 

work helps protect our Nation’s 

precious resources. Ocean Science

recently spoke with Dr. Chuck Monnett, Marine 

Ecologist in MMS’s Alaska OCS Region. 

OS: Tell us about your background, 

what you did before you joined MMS.

CM: Before I came to MMS, I spent 3 years 

in the Hawaiian Islands working as a wildlife 

biologist and refuge manager for the U.S. Fish & 

Wildlife Service. As manager for the Hawaiian 

Islands National Wildlife Refuge, I monitored 

seabirds, sea turtles, monk seals, and several 

indigenous endangered species. 

My Ph.D. is in Ecology, my dissertation, 

funded by MMS, is about sea otter ecology 

in Prince William Sound. After graduate school I lived 

in Prince William Sound and continued researching 

sea otter behavior. When the Exxon Valdez oil spill 

occurred I was monitoring 57 sea otters that had been 

radio-instrumented and living in bays just east of the 

location of the spill. For the next 3 years I researched 

the spill’s effects on sea otters. 

OS: What specifically do you do? 

CM: MMS focuses on potential effects of oil and gas 

development on marine mammals in Alaska. They hired 

me as a Marine Ecologist in Alaska 10 years ago. I 

work in the Environmental Studies Section, providing 

direction to and oversight of research studies of marine 

mammals in Alaska. Until recently I did field research 

myself: on polar bears, bowhead whales, and other 

Arctic marine mammals. Most of my time now is spent 

designing studies for other biologists to conduct, making 

sure they have the resources necessary to complete their 

work, and reviewing and sharing their results. I review 

reports and keep in frequent contact with biologists. It’s 

exciting to be one of the first people to find out about 

their discoveries and to have access to near real-time 

data being reported through satellites. 

OS: What groups and agencies do you work with? 

CM: Federal science agencies like the National Marine 

Fisheries Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 

and State agencies like the Alaska Department of Fish 

& Game. I also work with scientists from many fields, 

like physical oceanography, climate change, marine 

mammal science, telemetry, acoustic monitoring, and 

aircraft operations. They, in turn, work for various 

entities, including University of Alaska, University of 

Washington, Oregon State University, Wood’s Hole 

Oceanographic Institute, and University of Alberta. 

I also work with stakeholders, including environmental 

organizations, Native groups, and oil companies. 

OS: What’s most exciting to you about the work 

you do?

CM: I like being on the cutting edge—applying 

new technologies to solve very challenging research 

problems. Studies that combine satellite tracking 

applications with passive acoustic and oceanographic 

monitoring are giving us exciting new insights about 

Arctic ecology.

OS: What do you find most rewarding, or most 

challenging, about your work? 

CM: The most challenging part of my work is getting 

diverse people to communicate, find common ground, 

and cooperate to solve important problems. The biggest 

reward comes when they do just that! 

OS: How does your work contribute to MMS’s 

mission? 

CM: MMS has oversight of environmentally sound 

exploration and production of our Nation’s energy 

resources on the Outer Continental Shelf. I like 

to think my work contributes substantially to the 

“environmentally sound” element of that goal.

OS: Right now what’s your pet project, and why? 

CM: MMS is supporting a number of multidisciplinary 

studies in the Alaskan Arctic that involve bowhead 

whales. I’m encouraging investigators from different 

disciplines to work on synthesizing complex findings to 

address emerging issues that are associated with climate 

change and expanding industrial development. 

 Dr. Monnett (far left) with aerial survey crew.
12 mms OCEAN SCIENCE Science & Technology Journal

Through its International 

Activities Program, the 

Minerals Management 

Service (MMS) 

engages in initiatives that promote 

better integration of safety and 

environmental concerns into offshore 

development decisionmaking. 

Key activities are assisting with 

needs assessments, monitoring and 

developing safety and environmental 

standards, and exchanging technical 

information with our counterparts in 

other nations.

With over 15 percent of the 

world’s population and a growing 

economy, India is a significant 

consumer of oil and natural gas. 

Imports meet some of India’s energy 

needs, but domestic oil and gas 

exploration, production, refining, 

and distribution are also undertaken 

in and offshore India.

In 2005, tragedy struck India’s 

largest offshore oil and gas field, the 

Mumbai (Bombay) High field, which 

is in the Arabian Sea about 100 miles 

(160 kilometers) west of the 

Mumbai coast. The field had been in 

operation since 1974. The Mumbai 

High North platform (MHN), a 

30-year-old, 7-story steel structure, 

was an oil and natural gas processing 

complex with a crude production 

capacity of 80,000 barrels per day. 

In July 2005 a support vessel lost 

control, collided with the MHN, and 

broke a riser that carried oil from 

the undersea wells to the MHN. The 

leaking crude oil caught fire; gas, 

under high pressure, began to escape 

and ignited. 

Within two hours, the entire 

platform had collapsed into the sea, 

leaving only a few foundation piers. 

Of 384 personnel, 11 people died 

and 11 others were reported missing. 

After the MHN accident, 

India moved quickly to form a 

30-member body of state and 

private entities tasked with 

developing safety regulations and 

inspection procedures: the Ministry 

of Petroleum and Natural Gas’ Oil 

Industry Safety Directorate (OISD). 

The OISD requested assistance, 

specifically from MMS, in developing 

regulations and procedures.

In 2006, the OISD and 

MMS signed a Memorandum 

of Understanding (MOU) for 

cooperation and information 

exchange related to safety and 

enforcement issues in regulating 

offshore oil and natural gas 

exploration and development. The 

Indian Government is self-funding 

its participation in the MOU; MMS 

participation is made possible 

through funding from the U.S. 

Trade and Development Agency. 

Since the MOU was signed, 

MMS provided significant time 

reviewing and commenting on the 

OISD’s intial set of 174 rules for 

improving offshore safety. In July 

2008, the OISD was codified by the 

Indian Parliament as the primary 

regulatory body to ensure onshore 

and offshore safety in upstream and 

downstream oil and gas operations, 

and the draft 174 rules were 

promulgated into law. 

In February 2009, OISD 

engineers visited the MMS Pacific 

OCS Region and the Gulf of 

Mexico OCS Region for shadow 

inspection training. During 

the 2-week visit, MMS staff in 

California and Louisiana provided 

detailed information about the 

MMS-INDIA COOPERATION AND EXCHANGE 

IMPROVES ENVIRONMENTAL AND HUMAN SAFETY

MMS Inspector Chet Miller (center) with engineers from India’s Oil Industry Safety Directorate 

during inspection training on an oil and gas platform offshore southern California.
MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE APRIL/MAY/JUNE 2009 13

legal framework, regulations, and 

inspection and enforcement tools 

used that help ensure clean and safe 

operations and proper metering of 

U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) 

oil and gas production. 

To see how inspections are 

carried out, OISD engineers met 

with MMS staff in District offices 

and accompanied MMS inspectors 

and engineers on routine inspections 

of offshore facilities. Guest engineers 

learned first-hand about audits 

and safety management systems 

being used by oil and gas operators 

working on the OCS.

Now MMS and the OISD 

are working closely on a revised 

audit mechanism to inspect India’s 

offshore operators. The OISD’s 

regulations and guidelines will 

provide a well-reasoned and 

enforceable regulatory regime that 

operators will find transparent and 

consistent with international best 

practices. To further this effort, 

MMS will carry out a joint audit 

on operators in India later this year. 

Also, in May 2009 India’s sister 

agency, the Directorate General of 

Hydrocarbons (DGH), plans to sign 

an MOU with MMS on cooperation 

in tendering, resource evaluation, 

and methane hydrates research. 

The MMS’s International 

Activities Program demonstrates 

MMS’s understanding that our 

shared planet needs protection and 

that international cooperation can 

help protect our oceans and the 

people engaged in energy exploration 

and production. As a steward of the 

ocean environment, MMS grasps the 

importance of protecting our natural 

resources and ensuring that energy 

activities are conducted safely both 

globally and domestically.

The Mumbai High North platform.

Mumbai High North on fire, July 2005.

The MMS’s regulatory program is a globallyrecognized system that includes prescriptive 

regulations, industry standards, and performance 

measures. These are the basis for safe and 

environmentally sound OCS operations. At key 

stages of the exploration and development 

process, lessees are required to complete 

a number of plans and permits. The MMS 

inspectors perform onsite evaluations of 

equipment and operational practices to 

assure that field activities are conducted in 

accordance with approved documents.

For more information

MMS International Activities Program

www.mms.gov/international/InternationalBrochure.htm 

MMS International Activities with India

www.mms.gov/international/india.htm

MMS press release

www.mms.gov/ooc/press/2009/press0217.htm 

Mumbai High North Platform fire

www.mace.manchester.ac.uk/project/research/structures/strucfire/CaseStudy/HistoricFires/Other/default.htm 

U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration: India

www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/India/Background.html 
14 mms OCEAN SCIENCE Science & Technology Journal

Two partnership projects nominated by the 

Minerals Management Service (MMS) received 

Department of the Interior’s Partners in 

Conservation Awards on May 7, 2009. These awards 

reaffirm the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) and 

MMS’s commitment to our ocean historical and 

natural resources.

Such partnerships lead to exceptional contributions 

in protecting and conserving our Nation’s ocean 

resources and help MMS fulfill its resource 

management mission.

The Battle of the Atlantic Expedition

This collaboration among Federal, State, and 

academic entities is a multiyear project to research 

and document shipwreck sites that were sunk off 

the North Carolina coast during the World War II 

Battle of the Atlantic. The summer 2008 expedition 

surveyed, photographed, and documented American, 

British, and German naval vessels (including German 

U-boats) and merchant vessels in the area known as 

the Graveyard of the Atlantic. The wrecks are war 

graves and were left undisturbed, consistent with 

U.S. and international policy.

The partners are East Carolina University, Gray’s 

Reef National Marine Sanctuary, MMS, National 

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Park 

Service, North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island, 

North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, and 

University of North Carolina Coastal Studies Institute.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR PARTNERS IN 

CONSERVATION AWARDS

Attending the award ceremony were, left to right: Ken J.P. Deslarzes, 

Geo-Marine, Inc.; Thomas E. Ahlfeld, MMS; Gregory S. Boland, MMS; 

Walter Cruickshank, Acting Director, MMS; Ned Farquhar, Deputy 

Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management, DOI; Ken 

Salazar, Secretary of the Interior; G.P. Schmahl, NOAA Office of National 

Marine Sanctuaries; James E. Sinclair, MMS; Donald R. Deis, PBS&J 

Ecological Sciences; William F. Precht, PBS&J Ecological Sciences.

For more information

Battle of the Atlantic Expedition, National 

Marine Sanctuaries, NOAA 

http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/missions/battleoftheatlantic/

Flower Garden Banks National Marine 

Sanctuary, NOAA 

http://flowergarden.noaa.gov/about/about.html 

Department of the Interior, Partnerships 

www.doi.gov/partnerships/ccawards.html

Flower Garden Banks Long-term Monitoring 

Through a partnership with the National Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Office of 

National Marine Sanctuaries and academic and private 

sector scientists, MMS has monitored the Flower Garden 

Banks in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico for many years. 

Careful management and monitoring helps keep these 

reefs among the healthiest in the world. 

The Flower Garden Banks is the northernmost coral 

reef in the western hemisphere. They are capped with reefbuilding corals that are home to a variety of marine life. 

The MMS’s stewardship program for the East and 

West Flower Garden Banks began in the early 1970’s. 

In 1992, the Flower Garden Banks National Marine 

Sanctuary was designated; Stetson Bank was added 

in 1996. The Flower Garden Banks National Marine 

Sanctuary is south of the Texas-Louisiana border. 

The partners are Boston University Marine Program; 

Dauphin Island Sea Lab; Geo-Marine, Inc.; MMS; 

NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries; and 

PBS&J Environmental Sciences.

Attending the award ceremony were, left to right: Nathan Richards, 

East Carolina University; Joseph Hoyt, NOAA; John Wagner, East 

Carolina University; Steven H. Sellers, East Carolina University; 

Walter Cruickshank, Acting Director, MMS; Ned Farquhar, Deputy 

Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management, DOI; Ken 

Salazar, Secretary of the Interior; Dave Ball, MMS; David Alberg, 

NOAA; Tane Casserley, NOAA; David Conlin, National Park 

Service.
MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE APRIL/MAY/JUNE 2009 15

On April 22, 2009—Earth 

Day—President Obama 

announced that the U.S. 

Department of the Interior (DOI) had 

finalized the long-awaited regulatory 

framework for renewable energy 

production on the Outer Continental 

Shelf (OCS). According to Secretary 

of the Interior Ken Salazar, “This new 

framework will enhance our energy 

security and create the foundation for 

a new offshore energy sector that will 

employ Americans developing clean 

and renewable energy.” 

 The Renewable Energy 

and Alternate Uses of Existing 

Facilities on the Outer Continental 

Shelf Final Rule (Final Rule) 

establishes a program for granting 

leases, easements, and rightsof-way for orderly, safe, and 

environmentally responsible 

renewable energy development 

activities on the OCS. The Final 

Rule and Notice of Availability 

of the Final Environmental 

Assessment were published in the 

Federal Register on April 29, 2009. 

In this exciting new arena, the 

Minerals Management Service’s 

(MMS) Environmental Studies 

Program and Technology Assessment 

and Research Program have 

crucial roles in ensuring safety and 

environmentally responsible use of 

renewable OCS resources. These 

programs’ extensive investigations 

and research will inform MMS’s 

management of renewable energy 

activities.

The MMS has been an active 

partner with New Jersey and 

Rhode Island, which have been 

active in planning efforts to help 

determine OCS areas appropriate 

for development. 

Several other nations use offshore 

wind farms and are investing in 

developing other renewable resources, 

such as current and wave energy. 

Initiatives researching European 

experiences with offshore renewable 

energy will yield information about 

possible similar activity in U.S. waters. 

We also have opportunities to partner 

with and learn from other nations’ 

expertise in offshore renewable energy.

To avoid conflicts among users 

and maximize the economic and 

ecological benefits of the OCS, 

the Final Rule will be applied in 

conjunction with interagency-led 

planning activities, such as spatial 

planning incorporating ecosystembased science and stewardship, 

socioeconomics, research, and 

modeling. The Council on 

Environmental Quality will help 

coordinate this interagency effort; 

MMS and the National Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Administration 

(NOAA) will have key roles.

A Memorandum of 

Understanding (MOU) signed by 

the DOI and the Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission (FERC) on 

April 9, 2009, paved the way for the 

Final Rule’s publication. The MOU 

clarifies the agencies’ jurisdictional 

responsibilities for leasing and 

licensing renewable energy projects 

on the OCS. 

Under the MOU, MMS has 

exclusive jurisdiction regarding 

the production, transportation, 

or transmission of energy from 

nonhydrokinetic renewable energy 

projects, including wind and solar. 

The FERC has exclusive jurisdiction 

to issue licenses for the construction 

and operation of hydrokinetic 

projects, including wave and current, 

but companies must first obtain a 

lease through MMS. 

The MMS and FERC will work 

together to develop policies and 

regulations for OCS hydrokinetic 

projects and will coordinate to ensure 

that hydrokinetic projects meet 

the public interest, including the 

adequate protection, mitigation, and 

enhancement of fish, wildlife, and 

marine resources and other beneficial 

public uses. 

The Final Rule and the MOU 

ensure that developing renewable 

energy on the OCS happens efficiently, 

in an environmentally responsible 

manner, and with appropriate benefit 

to the people of the United States.

FINAL RULE FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY DEVELOPMENT

ON THE U.S. OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF

For more information

Renewable Energy and Alternate Uses of Existing Facilities on the Outer Continental Shelf; Final 

Rule (30 CFR 250, 285, 290)

www.mms.gov/offshore/AlternativeEnergy/PDFs/AD30RenewableEnergy04-22-09.pdf

Renewable Energy Program, MMS

www.mms.gov/offshore/RenewableEnergy/index.htm

President Barack Obama at the Trinity 

Structural Towers manufacturing plant in 

Newton, Iowa, April 22, 2009. The green 

facility builds towers for wind energy 

production on the site of a former Maytag 

plant east of Des Moines. Photo courtesy of 

Daywire/Getty Images.
mms OCEAN SCIENCE

Minerals Management Service

Mail Stop 5431

1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard

New Orleans, LA 70123

Prstd Std

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Nia. Falls, NY

Permit No. 28

MMS: A steward of 

the ocean environment

NEW WAVES Late-Breaking News & Information

On March 18, 2009, Secretary of the Interior 

Ken Salazar opened the bidding for Central Planning 

Area Lease Sale 208, his first lease sale as the newlyconfirmed Secretary of the U.S. Department of the 

Interior. Held at the Superdome in New Orleans, 

Louisiana, the sale of 348 blocks off the coast of 

Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi garnered bids 

for leases covering approximately 1.9 million acres of 

the Outer Continental Shelf in the Gulf of Mexico. 

Lease Sale 208 generated $933,649,315 in 

bids, including $703,048,523 in high bids. Seventy 

companies submitted 476 bids on 348 blocks. The 

deepest block to receive a bid is in the Lloyd Ridge 

area at a depth of 9,961 feet (3,036 meters). 

The lease sale included the 181 South Area, 

designated for revenue sharing in the 2006 Gulf 

of Mexico Energy Security Act (GOMESA). 

Central Planning Area Lease Sale 208

Through GOMESA, coastal states and specified 

counties and parishes will receive 37.5 percent 

of the oil and gas leasing revenues. The Land 

and Water Conservation Fund will receive 

12.5 percent of the allocated revenue.

For more information

Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 208 information

www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/lsesale/208/cgom208.html

Secretary of the 

Interior Ken 

Salazar examines 

a lease sale map 

with Lars Herbst, 

MMS Gulf of 

Mexico Regional 

Director and Chris 

Oynes, MMS 

Offshore Energy 

and Minerals 

Management 

Associate Director.