White House Puts Walrus Hotspot Under New Protections

Every year, thousands of Pacific walrus gather to feed and raise their young along a shallow, 30-mile-long shelf off the coast of northwest Alaska. One of the Chukchi Sea's most biologically productive spots, it is an important feeding ground for bowhead whales too. And yet, it also happens to be just downstream from a number of oil and gas leases. Now, the US federal government is stepping in, granting new protections to ensure the safety of the spot.

According to The Associated Press (AP), the protections were first announced by Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, who described how current administration under President Barack Obama recognizes the Arctic plateau known as Hanna Shoal as a ecologically essential spot off-limits to future oil drilling.

The remote plateau is about 80 miles off Alaska's northwest coast, putting it far out of the way from most human influence. There, the shelf's shape interrupts ocean currents to creating eddies where plankton and algae swirl and fall. This nourishes bottom feeders that are in turn eaten by hungry walrus.

Unfortunately, the shelf is found near the borders of the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. Past estimates, the AP reports, have determined that these regions could hold 26 billion barrels of recoverable oil - a potential economic boon for Alaska. A whopping 90 percent of the state's revenue comes from oil taxes and drilling fees.

"This administration has effectively declared war on Alaska," US Sen. Lisa Murkowski told the AP on the advent of the announcement.

She explained that Alaska is already in for a rough future even without more drilling restrictions, as the recent drop in oil prices has led to a 3.5 billion budget deficit for 2016 in the state.

However, this wasn't exactly an unexpected move by policymakers concerned about the environment. Conservationists have kept a wary eye on Hanna Shoal for some time.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), from their region office in Anchorage, Alaska, even recently foot the $5.6 million-dollar bill for a five-year study of the region. (Scroll to read on...)

"[BOEM] decides on where the energy policy for the outer continental shelf goes in the future, where to potentially sell leases, and for approval of future development and production plans proposed by industry," BOEM oceanographer Heather Crowley explained to the Alaska Public Radio Network (APRN) back in 2012, when the study was launched.

Lead scientist Ken Dunton added that the work, which includes annual surveys and constant monitoring into 2016, will not only show "who's related to who, who's eating who, who's hunting whom, but in the end, how are toxins, whether they be heavy metals or polyaromatic hydrocarbons, going to be transferred through the food web."

It's important to note that the work is largely focused around finding ways to predict how a disaster such as a drilling leak would affect the plateau, not whether drilling there directly was an option. The reality, it seems, is that the BOEM is far more concerned about the threat of nearby untapped leases than putting the walrus hot spot on the market.

Which is why the announcement, despite Sen. Murkowski's complaints, will actually change very little. Oil companies have avoided claiming Hanna Shoal for three decades, and while the latest White House announcement means that 2,500 square miles of the region is now off-limits, there is still more than 184,000 square miles of Arctic Ocean territory available for future leasing, the AP concluded.

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