Defenders of Wildlife Blog

The Royal Dutch Shell Company began drilling in Alaska’s Chukchi Sea on Sunday, with potentially disastrous consequences for Alaska’s wildlife.

The Chukchi Sea is home to many imperiled species, such as bowhead whales, Pacific walrus, and polar bears, a species already facing enormous challenges due to melting sea ice, one of the many effects of climate change.  A major oil spill here could be even more destructive to wildlife than the Gulf oil spill of 2010, because a cleanup response would be nearly impossible to perform.  Here’s why:

The threatened Steller’s eider, a seasonal visitor to the Chukchi. Birds suffer heavily in oiled waters: the oil on their feathers destroys their insulation from the cold, and makes them sick when they try to clean themselves.

Infrastructure.  The nearest coast guard station is in Kodiak, Alaska, more than 1000 miles away.  The closest village to the Chukchi Sea drilling site has just one small boat ramp and no hotels to accommodate cleanup crews.  The nearest airports that can handle the large cargo planes needed to transport oil cleanup equipment are 100 miles away or more.

Weather.  The Chukchi Sea is almost completely covered in ice over the winter months.  In summer, 20-foot swells, gale force winds and thick, lingering fog is common.  Stormy seas would endanger the lives of crew members and render oil booms and skimmer boats useless.  It can take weeks or months for backup rigs to drill relief wells, even in the relatively calm waters of the Gulf; in the Chukchi Sea, it may take even longer.  Worst of all, if an oil well breaks open and can’t be capped by the end of the summer, it will gush into the sea for months beneath the Chukchi Sea’s winter ice pack.

Temperature.  The temperature of Arctic seawater is often far below freezing, making it difficult to burn off oil because the water below the surface-oil cannot be heated sufficiently to start the burn.  Oil dispersant chemicals are known to be ineffective in cold temperatures, in addition to the potential harmful effects they could have on marine life.  Finally, oil simply takes longer to break down in cold temperatures.

A Fragile Ecosystem.

Polar bears are already stressed by the loss of sea ice they use to hunt due to climate change.  A major oil spill would jeopardize their food supply even more.  Photo (c) Joan Cambray.

The Chukchi Sea supports an intricate and delicate web of life. It provides critical food sources for migratory birds from around the world and pristine waters for important parts of the life cycle of many fish species. Every part of this ecosystem, from the tiniest zooplankton to the greatest bowhead whale, would be threatened by an oil spill in the Chukchi.  As the Defenders of Wildlife Fact Sheet on drilling in the Arctic details,

 “exposure to oil damages the eyes, mouth, skin and lungs of marine mammals and reduces the insulating effect of feathers on birds. Wild animals can also suffer from kidney failure after ingesting oil in attempts to clean themselves. Those animals that manage to survive will still be at risk from accumulating pollutants and metals in their bodies from the fish they eat. They may also suffer from starvation as the food chain they rely on for survival is disrupted.”

Even without a spill, noise and toxic pollution that are a normal part of industrial drilling will negatively impact local wildlife.  There is also so much about the arctic ecosystem of the Chukchi that we just don’t know anything about.  In its review of drilling plans the government admitted to a complete lack of information on key wildlife populations and their use of the Chukchi, but approved Shell’s drilling plans anyway.    The fact is that the Chukchi Sea is one of the last places any oil company should be allowed to drill.

Noise from drilling rigs disturbs marine mammals like these bowhead whales, which depend on echolocation to navigate the icy waters of the Chukchi.

Ironically, Shell was only able to drill for one day before a large ice floe forced it to back off the drill site. This should be a warning cry about the hazards of drilling in the Chukchi Sea.

We must not let our thirst for oil put yet another rich and vibrant ecosystem at risk of an environmental catastrophe, especially when this time, if an oil spill happens, cleanup will be virtually impossible.  Only time will tell if Alaskan wildlife can weather this latest threat to their survival.

UPDATE 9/17/12:  Shell’s oil containment barge suffered damage to its oil containment dome during testing, causing the company to scrap efforts to drill in the Chukchi until next year.  The barge had been previously plagued with leaks and safety standard issues, and has been unable to reach Coast Guard certification.  The threat of an oil spill has subsided-for now-but this fragile place will be in danger once more if drilling resumes in 2013.

America's Arctic Ocean provides vital habitat for Alaska's disappearing polar bear populations.

WASHINGTON – In the latest in a series of reckless decisions about America’s Arctic Ocean, the Obama administration on December 16 gave Royal Dutch Shell the green light to drill in the Arctic’s Chukchi Sea beginning next summer – despite the fact that there is no proven way to clean up an oil spill in the Arctic’s extreme conditions and there is significant dearth of scientific information, making it impossible to understand the impacts of Shell’s activities.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced conditional approval of Shell’s plan to drill six exploratory wells in the Chukchi Sea in 2012 and 2013. This decision follows on the heels of the Obama administration’s controversial approval of exploratory drilling in the Arctic’s Beaufort Sea, also beginning in the summer of 2012. However, before Shell can actually begin drilling the administration still must approve a series of permits – including a final APD or “application for permit to drill.”

The Arctic Ocean is prone to hurricane-force storms, 20-foot swells, pervasive sea ice, frigid temperatures and months-long darkness.  There is no proven way to clean up an oil spill in these extreme conditions. What’s more, the Arctic has extremely limited infrastructure to provide the support and equipment needed for a spill. Administration officials themselves have expressed concerns about spill response in the Arctic. Admiral Robert Papp, the top officer at the U.S. Coast Guard, recently told Congress that if the Deepwater Horizon disaster was “to happen off the North Slope of Alaska, we’d have nothing. We’re starting from ground zero today.”

“The administration needs a realistic oil spill response and recovery plan before exposing this unique region with its fragile wildlife to an oil disaster we are unlikely to be able to control.”

The last public spill drill in the Arctic – that tested booms and skimmers and other conventional methods of oil spill cleanup in partial sea ice conditions in 2000 – was deemed a failure.

In addition, scientists, courts, communities, and, most recently, the U.S. Geological Survey, have identified basic missing scientific information that makes it impossible to fully and fairly evaluate Shell’s plans.

Since the BP Gulf tragedy in 2010, the federal government instituted a capping and containment requirement for well blowouts that requires containment be in place within 15 days.  Shell has not built or tested under Arctic conditions such a structure.

The Arctic's Chukchi Sea, courtesy USFWS

Alaska Native communities have existed in the Arctic for thousands of years, alongside myriad species of wildlife including polar bears, bowhead whales, walrus, ice seals and hundreds of species of birds. An oil spill in these Arctic waters would destroy vital habitat for this wildlife as well as the subsistence lifestyle that sustains the Inupiat people of Alaska’s Arctic coast.

Defenders’ president and CEO Jamie Rappaport Clark said, “America’s Arctic Ocean is a pristine and fragile environment. Its importance to the survival of polar bears, bowhead whales and other marine life is too great to hand over to Big Oil given the inadequate assurances of safety. The administration needs a realistic oil spill response and recovery plan before exposing this unique region with its fragile wildlife to an oil disaster we are unlikely to be able to control.”

Read the full release and see what other groups are saying about the rubber stamped approval. 

The Arctic's Chukchi Sea. Photo courtesy USFWS

WASHINGTON (November 8, 2011) – The Obama administration today announced its Proposed Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2012-2017. The plan schedules 15 potential lease sales for the five year period – 12 in the Gulf of Mexico and three off the coast of Alaska.

The following is a statement from Jamie Rappaport Clark, president and CEO for Defenders of Wildlife:

“The Obama administration made the wise decision to protect vast tracts of the country’s oceans from oil and gas exploration. However, the inclusion of the Arctic Ocean in the country’s five-year drilling plan is indefensible. From the extreme and unpredictable conditions of the region to the lack of a realistic spill response, the risks of a drilling disaster in the Arctic remain too high to authorize exploratory drilling. While the announcement proposes to address these threats by deferring drilling for a handful of years, the only way to protect this fragile marine environment from the threats posed by dangerous oil and gas exploration is to take it off the table altogether.

Drilling in the Arctic Ocean poses grave threats to America's vanishing polar bears. Photo courtesy USFWS

“Instead of enabling our country’s addiction to oil for five more years, the administration should strengthen its efforts to wean America off dirty fossil fuels, accelerating the transition to a clean energy future.”

Learn more:

See how offshore drilling threatens the Arctic’s fragile marine environment.

Shell may begin drilling in the Arctic’s Beaufort Sea as early as next summer. Read about the oil giant’s inadequate oil spill response plan and the threat it poses to bowhead whales and polar bears.

This week, the National Journal’s Energy and Environment Experts Blog asked, “Should Obama open Arctic waters to drilling?” Defenders’ president and CEO Jamie Rappaport Clark responded with a resounding, “NO.” Read more about what she has to say about risky drilling in the pristine Arctic environment. 

It’s been a busy time for the Obama administration’s rubber stamp of Big Oil’s to do list. In August, the administration approved the first part of Shell’s plans to start drilling in Alaska’s Beaufort Sea as early as the summer of 2012, the most aggressive Arctic drilling proposal in the history of the country. And just this week, the administration reaffirmed the sale of almost 500 oil and natural gas leases in the adjacent Chukchi Sea, opening 2.8 million acres to drilling. This isn’t just giving offshore drilling the green-light; this is slamming on the accelerator, apparently with the hope or expectation that the obstacles in the road ahead—the rough, frozen Arctic seas, the harsh climate and remote location—magically vanish.

What ever happened to the Obama administration’s stated commitment to make decisions “based on sound science and the public interest, and not on the special interests?”

What ever happened to the Obama administration’s stated commitment to make decisions “based on sound science and the public interest, and not on the special interests?” Because if that commitment held true, the government wouldn’t allow drilling in the Arctic’s extremely sensitive and unique marine environment until we have filled the glaring information gaps identified by the U.S. Geological Survey just this summer. It would have acknowledged the recent studies that show that the Beaufort Sea’s Camden Bay provides habitat of “special significance” to the endangered bowhead whale. And it certainly would have heeded the U.S. Coast Guard officials’ repeated warnings that the resources to clean up an oil spill in the waters of the Arctic Ocean simply don’t exist. And yet none of that information has slowed down the “full speed ahead” attitude toward drilling in the Arctic Ocean.

Bowhead whales, courtesy NOAA

After BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, the Obama administration wisely delayed plans by Shell Oil to drill in the Arctic. Now is not the time to give in to pressure from Big Oil and forgo that prudent commitment to safety. There is still too much to learn about the pristine Arctic environment, and too much to lose if we don’t. When it comes to opening the Arctic waters to risky drilling, the administration should not let the voice of reason—and of science—fall on deaf ears.

Learn more:

Read the full question and see what others are saying on the National Journal’s Energy and Environment Expert Blog.

See how offshore drilling threatens the Arctic’s fragile marine environment.

Read more about Shell’s inadequate oil spill response plan and the threat it poses to bowhead whales and polar bears.

Summer is coming to a close in the Northern Hemisphere, and to say it was not a good year for Arctic sea ice would be something of an understatement. In fact, the National Snow and Ice Data Center reports that this August was the second lowest month ever for sea ice since satellite record-keeping began in 1979 (higher only than an all-time low in 2007). But the melt season isn’t over yet–and with one more week to go, sea ice already covers less than two-thirds of the area it covered in the early 1970s. Both the Northwest Passage and the Northern Sea route appear to be open, and several large areas of open water (polynyas) have opened within the ice pack.

What does this mean for the marine mammals who call the sea ice home? This August, as many as 8,000 walruses gathering sought refuge on the northwest coast of Alaska. But an early haul-out on the beach is no safe alternative to their customary sea ice. Not only do the walruses lose access to the shallow waters of the continental shelf where they dive for clams, snails and other food, but large groups of the animals on land also face the danger of stampedes. In September 2009, more than 130 mostly young walruses were crushed after a disturbance spooked a walrus herd at Alaska’s Icy Cape.

Ice-loss trends are having serious impacts  on polar bears. As sea ice melts, reports of bears swimming miles from shore, drowning and even resorting to cannibalism have become alarmingly frequent. Without sea ice providing them access to seals, they must search farther inland for food, risking interaction with people and communities.

Scientists are at work to figure out why the ice is disappearing so fast, trying to collect better data through new satellite, plane and submarine observations–even drilling holes and poking a tape measure down to measure ice thickness.  They say the thinning of ice over recent decades may hasten an ice-free summer as soon as 2020.

Until then, there are things we can do to help marine mammals like walruses and polar bears adapt to a changing landscape. From protecting these animals under the Endangered Species Act to preserving what shrinking habitat they have, we can help increase the chances of their survival in an uncertain future.

Learn more

Read Defenders report, Sea Bear Under Siege, to see our recommendations for helping polar bears survive in a world with less and less sea ice.

Learn more about sea ice and the value it provides to wildlife in the Arctic.

A recent oil spill off of Norway's coast shows how difficult - if not impossible - it would be to clean up a spill in Alaska's waters.

Even as Republicans in Congress continue to do Big Oil’s bidding, YOU joined more than 250,000 people from across the country to demand that oil companies keep out of America’s Arctic Ocean.

Earlier this week, Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA) introduced legislation that would waive environmental laws – even as we continue to clean up the largest manmade environmental disaster in U.S. history – and force the Obama administration to allow risky drilling in the Arctic Ocean. Meanwhile, more than 250,000 people called for no leases sales in the Arctic’s Chukchi and Beaufort Seas in the nation’s 2012-2017 offshore drilling plan during a public comment period that ended today.

Many cited the lack of science and the inability to clean up an oil spill in Arctic waters as reasons why the federal government cannot include lease sales in Arctic waters in the new five-year plan. Currently, there is no proven way to clean up an oil spill in the Arctic’s extreme conditions. In addition, there is a serious lack of scientific data on the Arctic, which is often called “the least understood area in the world.”

“Americans have spoken loud and clear, and safeguarding the pristine Arctic Ocean has come out ahead of embarking on a potentially devastating search for oil.”

Defenders’ offshore drilling expert Richard Charter said, “Americans have spoken loud and clear, and safeguarding the pristine Arctic Ocean has come out ahead of embarking on a potentially devastating search for oil. The risk of another massive oil disaster such as the one that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico less than a year ago – or worse, is simply too great to hand over the keys to an industry looking to make a profit at any cost.”

Keep drilling out of Alaska's Beaufort Sea (Photo courtesy of NOAA)

America’s Arctic Ocean is a national treasure. Home to many of our nation’s most beloved wildlife species – polar bears, walrus, ice seals, bowhead whales, beluga whales and more – these Arctic waters are the “garden” for the Inupiat people of Alaska’s Arctic coast. This fragile and abundant marine environment is under great stress from the impacts of climate change – the Arctic is projected to be free of summer sea-ice by 2030. With so much at stake, the federal government must not allow a headlong rush into risky drilling in America’s Arctic Ocean.

Learn more:

See how Defenders is working to protect wildlife and natural habitats from the dangers of offshore drilling.

Didn’t get the chance to speak up? You can still help! Call the White House and let the president know that you OPPOSE drilling off American coasts.