Arctic Information Transfer Meeting

322 Pages·2004·9.46 MB·English

OCS Study
MMS 88-0040
ALASKA OCS REGION
Arctic
Information Transfer Meeting
Conference Proceedings
Beaufat Sea
U.S. De~artmento f the Interior
~ineralkM anagement Service
June 1988
Alaska OCS Region
OCS Stucjy MMS 08-0040
ALASKA OCS REGION
1987
ARCTIC INFORMATION TRANSFER MEETING
Conference Proceedings
17-20 November 1987
Sheraton Anchorage Hotel
Anchorage, Alaska
Prepared for:
U.S. Deparlment of the Interior
Mlnerals Management Servfce
Alaska OCS Reglon
949 East 36th Avenue, Room 110
Anchorage, Alaska 995084302
Under Contract No. 14-12-0001-30297
Logistical Support and Report Preparation by:
MBC Applied Environmental Sclences
947 Newhall Street
Costa Mesa, Callforla 92627
June 1988
"This report has been reviewed by the Alaska Outer Continental Shelf Region, Minerals
Management Service, U.S. Department of the Interior and approved for publication. The opinions,
findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in the report are those of the authors, and
do not necessarily reflect the view of the Minerals Management Service. Mention of trade names
for commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendations for use. This
report is exempt from review by the Minerals Management Service Technical Publication Unit
and Regional Editor."
CONTENTS
Page
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
INTRODUCTION 1
Summary of Oil and Gas Activities in the U.S. Beaufort Sea .J eff Walker . . . . . . . . . . .3
PAPERS ON PHYSICAL SCIENCES
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Arctic Ocean .M J Hameedi 7
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Arctic Remote Sensing .W J Stringer 11
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hameedi/Stringer: Questions and Discussion 17
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sea Ice Motion .R obert S Pritchard 19
Arctic Circulation and Physical Oceanography .K nut Aagaard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pri tchard/Aagaar& Questions and Discussion 31
Ocean Circulation and Oil Spill Trajectory Modeling for Alaskan Coastal Waters .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Malcolm L Spaulding 35
The MMS Coastal Zone Oil Spill Model .M ark Reed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Spaulding/Reed: Questions and Discussion 43
Beaufort Sea Technology Update .D ennis V . Padron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
The Beaufort Sea Monitoring Program: Analysis of Trace Metals
and Hydrocarbons from Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Activities .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Paul D Boehm and Margarete S Steinhauer 53
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Padron/Steinhauser: Questions and Discussion 59
.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Coastal Geomorphology of Arctic Alaska .A Sathy Naidu 61
Arctic Boundary Issues .S tanley Ashmore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Naidu/Ashmore: Questions and Discussion 65
iii
PAPERS ON ENDANGERED SPECIES
Page
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Bowhead Whale Feeding . W Jobn Richardson 67
Applications of Stable Isotope Ratio Techniques to the Natural
. .
History of Marine Mammals . Donald M Scbell and Susan M Saupe . . . . . . . . . 71
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Richardson/Schell: Questions and Discussion 75.
Oil and Euphausiids: Laboratory Results. Ecological Notes.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
and Oil Spill Implications .P aul A Fishman 79
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tracking Whales by Satellite .B ruce R Mate 83
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
FishmanIMate: Questions and Discussion 89
.
Aerial Surveys of Endangered Whales .S ue E Moore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Moore: Questions and Discussion 97
PAPERS ON SOCIAL AND ECONOMICS
Sociocultural and Socioeconomic Changes in Barrow .R osita Worl . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Worl: Questions and Discussion 105
I
PAPERS ON BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Arctic Marine Ecosystems of the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas .
.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Donald M Scbell 107
Arctic Fishes: Distribution. Abundance and Uses .R andy Bailey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Bailey: Questions and Discussion 113
Effects of Industrial Activities on Ringed Seals in Alaska
. .
as Indicated by Aerial Surveys . Kathryn J Frost and Lloyd F Lowry . . . . . . . 115
. . . . . . . . .
Marine Mammals of Kotzebue Sound .K athryn J Frost and Lloyd F Lowry 121
. .
Acquisition and Curation of Alaskan Marine Mammal Tissues . P R Becker . . . . . . . 127
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Frost/Becker. Questions and Discussion 131
.
ISHTAR: Inner Shelf Transfer and Recycling in the Bering and Chukchi Seas
.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
C Peter McRoy 135
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
McRoy: Questions and Discussion 139
ARCTIC INFORMATION UPDATE SESSION
Page
A Study of Possible Meteorological Influences on Polynya Size .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
W J Stringer and J E Groves 141
. . . . . . . . . . .
Beaufort/Chukchi Ice Motion and Meteorology Update . Carol H Pease 145
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Circulation: Beaufort Sea Update .K nut Aagaard 151
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Stringer/Pease/Aagaard: Questions and Discussion 155
Current Response to Wind in the Chukchi Sea.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A Regional Coastal Upwelling Event .W alter R Johnson 157
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Arctic Plankton Communities .R obert T Cooney 163
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Cooney: Questions and Discussion 169
Isotope Studies of Arctic Zooplankton .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Susan M Saupe. Donald M Schell and Denis H Thomson 173
Continental Shelf Sediments. Arctic Alaska . A. Sathy Naidu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chukchi Sea Benthos .H oward M Feder 181
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Saupe: Questions and Discussion 191
Population Genetic Structure of Arctic Char
from Rivers of the North Slope of Alaska .R ebecca Everett . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
.
Pelagic Food Webs in the Chukchi Sea .A lan M Springer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Springer: Questions and Discussion 201
Endicott Development and Environmental Monitoring Program
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
and Industry Perspective .P amela R Pope 203
Coastal Processes and Oceanographic Property Distributions
.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
in Stefansson Sound .L ou E Hachmeister 207
Habitat Usage and Movement Patterns of Anadromous Fish
in the Prudhoe Bay Region of the Central Beaufort Sea .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Domoni R Glass 211
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hachmeister: Questions and Discussion 215
PAPERS ON INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
Page
OCSEAP Data and Information Management - M. J. Hameedi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
- . . . . . . .
Design and Management of the Alaskan Marine Database William Danforth 22 1
Arctic Living Marine Resource Database,
- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Interactive Assessment Capability Andrew Robertson
Marine Data and Information - An Alaskan Perspective - Michael L. Crane . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Robertson/Danforth/Crane: Questions and Discussion
Cataloguing and Appraisal of Oceanographic Data
and Industry Activities in Arctic Canada - Brian Smiley . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Environmental Studies Data System (ESDS) -
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Donald Aurand and William Lang
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Smiley/Aurand: Questions and Discussion
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
FISHERIES STUDY PLANNING SESSION
APPENDICES
Appendix I Information Transfer Meeting Agenda
'
Appendix I1 Information Transfer Meeting Speaker Biographies
Appendix I11 Information Transfer Meeting Attendees
Appendix IV Acronym List
Appendix V Conversion Table
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The work and the support of the following staff is gratefully acknowledged:
Minerals Management Sewice
Alaska OCS Region
Toni Johnson, Conference Coordinator
Support Staff
Karen Gibson
Marie Colver
Linda Thurston
Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment Program
Information Update Session
Jawed Hameedi, Session Coordinator
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
MBC Applied Environmental Sciences
Logistical Coordination, Report Preparation
Robert R. Ware, Marine Scientist
Charles T. Mitchell, Marine Scientist
Kathryn L. Mitchell, Logistical Support
Phyllis Barton, Word Processing
Larry Jones, Graphics
Anchorage Hi1t on Hotel
Susan Sutter, Conference Manager
Jane Colver, Conference Coordinator
Outside Word Processing Services
Bonnie Hazlitt

MINERALS MANAGEMENT SERVICE
ARCTIC INFORMATION TRANSFER MEETING
Since 1975, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) Alaska Outer Continental Shelf Region
Environmental Studies Program has funded over 100 million dollars of research to study the
Arctic environment. The purpose of these studies is to provide federal resource managers and
policymakers with the best information available on the Arctic for decision-making purposes, and
to improve our understanding of the potential impacts of oil and gas development on this
ecologically sensitive region.
Information Transfer Meetings (ITMs) are MMS-mandated and are designed to be used as a
tool to share MMS Environmental Studies Program results with other MMS program personnel,
and also the scientific community, other federal, state, and local government agencies, and the
general public. ITMs generally focus on information resulting from past and present ongoing
research, in particular lease sale planning areas.
The Alaska Region Environmental Studies Program has funded two ITMs to date. The first
ITM was held in Anchorage, Alaska in May 1985 and focused on results of studies conducted in
the Bering Sea region. The conference proceedings (OCS Study 85-0084) are available through
the Alaska OCS office. The second and most recent ITM is the subject of these proceedings.
Held at the Anchorage Hilton between 17-20 November 1987, the ITM focused on studies and
research conducted in the Arctic region - the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas.
In8 o njunction with the ITM, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
Outer ontinental Shelf Environmental Assessment Program (OCSEAP) held an Information
Update meeting on 18 November. OCSEAP, formed in 1974 as a result of an interagency
agreement between NOAA and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), provides MMS with
marine environmental information in support of the need to make sound management decisions
regarding the development of oil and gas resources in Alaska.
The scientific presentations at the 1987 ITM included a total of 35 speakers. General topics
included: physical and chemical oceanography, endangered species, biological sciences,
socioeconomics, and information management. A total of 161 people attended the meeting.
Registered attendees are listed in Appendix 111. A special MMS fisheries study planning session
was also held on the last day of the meeting. Recommendations from that meeting's discussion
are included in these proceedings.
Summaries of each speaker's presentation and the discussion following groups of two or
three speakers are presented in order of the conference agenda with only slight modifications.
The meeting agenda is given in Appendix I. Speaker bibliographies are included in Appendix II.
Because many speakers and participants used acronyms to abbreviate agencies, studies, and
scientific jargon during the talks and the discussion periods, a list of the acronyms used and
their definition is provided in Appendix IV. Metric to English unit conversions for the reader's
convenience are given in Appendix V.