Defenders of Wildlife Blog

Greg Buppert, Staff Attorney

Endangered mussels being tagged and placed in the Powell River in Tennessee. ©Gary Peeples/USFWS

Most folks know that Tennessee is home to great music, the Smoky Mountains, and Andrew Jackson. What they probably don’t know is that the state is also the epicenter of freshwater aquatic biodiversity in the U.S. — its rivers, creeks, and wetlands provide habitat for more than 300 species of fish, 125 species of mussels, and 75 species of crayfish. Sadly, Tennessee’s aquatic habitats and species, and those of the Southeast in general, are among the planet’s most imperiled. According to the American Fisheries Society, more than 70 percent of the region’s mussels, 48 percent of its crayfishes, and 28 percent of its fishes are endangered, threatened, or identified as species of special concern. Mining, dams, development, logging, agriculture, and climate change are the prominent obstacles to freshwater conservation, but the threats are myriad and increasing.

Surface coal mining — prevalent at a gigantic scale in West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama—is especially destructive for freshwater life. Surface mining requires the removal of large tracts of dense Appalachian forests, permanently disrupting the gentle percolation of water through the forest floor that forms headwater streams. Without the buffer of the forest to soak up rainfall and snowmelt, streams in mined watersheds receive greater and more intense runoff, and in turn, downstream floods are more frequent and more destructive. Mining’s disruption of the water cycle cripples the vital processes that headwater streams perform in a freshwater ecosystem, like fueling the downstream food web with organic material.

A creek in West Virginia, polluted by mine runoff. ©Elias Schewel

Surface coal mining also exposes virgin bedrock to the elements, triggering a weathering process that contaminates stream waters with toxic metals and salts. Mining operations blast away entire mountain tops to reach coal seams that may be only two feet thick and dump massive rubble piles into nearby valleys. Streams are buried, and in some cases, most headwaters in a watershed are entombed in mine rubble. As metals and salts leach from the newly exposed bedrock, the chemistry of stream waters becomes increasingly toxic to aquatic life. Certain metals like selenium are concentrated at especially harmful levels as they move through the food chain. Not surprisingly, biodiversity suffers marked declines following the onset of surface mining.

Attempts to restore abandoned mining lands offer little hope for the recovery of aquatic life; reclaimed lands cannot replace the ecological functions of undisturbed forests and headwaters. Evidence suggests that the return to a natural system may be hundreds or even thousands of years in the future. Surface mining also impacts an area significantly greater than the footprint of the mine itself. A recent study by scientists at Duke University confirmed that, while mines occupied approximately five percent of the land area in southern West Virginia, they caused steep declines in aquatic biodiversity in more than 22 percent of the region’s streams.

Most mining lands in the Southeast are privately owned, and the region’s freshwater species and habitats are some of the least protected in the U.S. Though the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, and other federal environmental laws provide tools to protect aquatic ecosystems, state and federal agencies have, in general, failed to implement these laws strenuously enough to reverse the decline of the region’s water quality. In the case of surface coal mines, the best hope for species and habitat protection often amounts to nothing more than a sternly-worded letter from the EPA that the permitting agencies simply ignore.

Cumberland darter, ©USFWS

Defenders is working to find a legal foothold to increase the protection of freshwater species in the Southeast. Together with the Sierra Club, Tennessee Clean Water Network and SOCM, we are exploring strategies to address the impacts of surface mining on endangered and threatened fish in Tennessee. The northern Cumberland Plateau is home to many surface mines and two fish listed under the Endangered Species Act: the blackside dace and Cumberland darter. These species are especially vulnerable to coal mining’s impacts on water quality, and entire populations have disappeared after mining operations began in occupied watersheds. Without intervention, surface coal mining will continue to push these species towards extinction. We’ll keep you posted on our work in Tennessee, and hopefully make real progress for cleaning up the water in the southeastern U.S.

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.

A weekly homage to endangered species, large and small

You’ve probably heard of the proverbial “canary in the coal mine,” but have you heard of the “trout in the cold stream”? Neither have I, which is why I just made it up to highlight the fact that the threatened bull trout is an equally vital indicator of the health of mountain streams.

The presence of bull trout populations are an excellent indicator of stream health in the northwestern United States.

Bull trout are a member of the salmon family and depend on pristine waters, more so than almost any other fish. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, bull trout habitat must meet strict requirements known as “the four C’s”: cold, clean, complex and connected.

Bull trout thrive in water that is below 60 degrees Fahrenheit. That explains why they’re only found in rivers, lakes and streams in parts of the northwestern United States and Canada where the water stays cold year-round. Bull trout embryos are even more finicky. Studies have shown that the survival rates of offspring are much higher when they’re born in water that tops out around 46 degrees Fahrenheit.

In addition, bull trout eggs are buried several inches beneath the stream bed, usually in gravel bottom streams that provide sufficient cover for the newborn fish once they hatch. Waters must be clear and relatively free of sediment, otherwise the embryos get trapped beneath sediment and fail to hatch. Juveniles do best in streams where there are logs, pools and shade beneath river banks that offer plenty of places to find food and shelter. And adults often travel more than 100 miles from lakes and large rivers to find smaller spawning streams that meet all these requirements.

For all these reasons, bull trout are extremely susceptible to disruptions to their natural environment, whether that’s extra sediment and runoff from nearby development, changes in stream temperature that result from global warming, or competition from non-native species. So when populations of bull trout start to disappear, as they have in recent decades, you know that something is wrong.

Bull trout once filled nearly 60 percent of the Columbia River basin and could be found in large numbers across much of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, northern California and even into Nevada. Now only small populations exist in those states, they have been completely wiped out in California, and only a tiny remnant survives on the border of northern Nevada. Today, they occupy only half of their historic range in the Columbia River basin and less than a quarter of their historic range along the Klamath River.

Conservation Pays

A massive bull trout is rescued from a net.

The species was listed as threatened in 1998 and has since started to recover, especially in parts of Oregon and Montana. Where select populations are sufficiently abundant and stable, some regulated fishing is even allowed, providing a boon for local economies. Migratory bull trout can grow to sizes larger than 20 pounds, making them a favorite for recreational fishermen like at Montana’s Hungry Horse Reservoir, Lake Koocanusa and the South Fork Flathead River (see Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks bull trout fishing regulations). A recent economic study found that bull trout fishing in Montana alone results in additional income of $10 to 12 million, and double that once the money filters through the local economy.

Because of their threatened status, bull trout fishing comprises only a small portion of the regional fishing economy. But it could provide a much bigger boost if the fishery fully recovered.

Read more in Defenders’ report, Conservation Pays: How protecting endangered and threatened species makes good business sense.

Join Defenders of  Wildlife board member Jeff Corwin as he continues to document how the Gulf oil disaster will impact wildlife in the region. In this Nightly News piece with MSNBC’s Brian Williams, Jeff dives right in to check on the health of the largest fish on the planet: the whale shark.

They may be large (growing up to 40 feet in length!), but whale sharks are gentle giants, feeding mostly on plankton filtered through their enormous mouths. Feeding at the base of the food chain, they are at great risk in a still oil-stricken Gulf. However, the sharks are also a great indicator species for the health of the entire Gulf ecosystem. By affixing tracking devices to their fins, researchers can follow the fish and the depth at which they swim.

“Now that this whale shark has been fitted with transmitters, we’ll now know if it’s coming into harm’s way.” Jeff explains from the water.

Pipefish with Sargassum, photo credit David S. Lee

Two species of brown algae, Sargassum fluitans and S. natans, form one of the most unique marine ecosystems found anywhere on earth. Entirely pelagic throughout their entire life history, and growing only in the surface waters of the western Atlantic Ocean, Sargassum forms a specialized, floating habitat that is vital to a thriving variety of invertebrates, fish, sea turtles and marine birds. The modest-looking Sargassum that we see today has persisted and reproduced vegetatively in the western North Atlantic ocean for at least decades, and probably for hundreds or even thousands of years.

Earlier I described how and where Sargassum can form into larger clumps or patches wherever the ocean currents are particularly favorable. Aggregations of Sargassum range from small, widely dispersed clumps to rafts and large weedlines that continue for many kilometers. The great changeability in the structure of this habitat is due to constant variations in currents, storms, tides and wind-generated waves. Read the full story

Sargassum line on the water's surface, photo credit David S. Lee

Portuguese sailors named it sargaço, or “little grape.” It is better known regionally as Gulf weed, or the far more poetic sea holly. Sargassum is a seaweed that, when densely concentrated, functions as a biological oasis throughout the nutrient-poor, almost desert-like surface waters of the deeper stretches of the Gulf of Mexico. Much like a terrestrial oasis, the plants form the foundation of this unique ecosystem. Because of its significant role in providing food and shelter, marine scientists are paying close attention to Sargassum in the Gulf in order to assess the harm wrought by toxic oil spewing from the Deepwater Horizon spill. Read the full story