Barrow Canyon

Barrow Canyon is a submarine canyon that straddles the boundary between the Beaufort and Chukchi seas.[1] Compared to other nearby areas and the Canada Basin, the highly productive Barrow Canyon supports a diversity of marine animals and invertebrates.

Map of Barrow Canyon in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas in Alaska

Geography

Starting roughly 95 miles west of Barrow, Alaska, Barrow Canyon stretches 150 miles along the coast, crossing into the Beaufort Sea north of Point Barrow. The canyon is roughly 15 miles wide, and reaches depths up to 1,200 feet below the surrounding cliffs and peaks.

Fauna

Due to the region’s high primary productivity and high biomass of zooplankton[2] and benthic invertebrates,[3] Barrow Canyon is an important foraging area and concentrated migration passageway for marine mammals and birds following openings in the sea ice. Bowhead and beluga whales travel through the canyon during the spring and fall migrations.[4] The corridor is likely used by many bird species migrating to the North Slope for summer breeding.[5]

Several species of birds, including yellow-billed loons, spectacled eiders, king eiders, Arctic terns, black-legged kittiwakes, glaucous and Sabine's gulls, long-tailed ducks, and red phalaropes, rely on areas near the shoreline along the canyon for foraging.[5][6][7]

Many species of marine mammals are found in Barrow Canyon throughout the year. As offshore sea ice melts, Pacific walrus rely on coastal habitat for haulouts and on the region’s rich seafloor for foraging.[8] Beluga whales, polar bears, bowhead whales, and several species of seals, including spotted seals, bearded seals, and ringed seals, also rely on this region as an important feeding area.[9][10][11] Gray whales cluster at the mouth of Barrow Canyon where there are large concentrations of zooplankton.[12]

Local use

Local villages rely extensively on areas influenced by the high levels of productivity at Barrow Canyon during the year.[13][14] The Inupiaq whaling captains have long known about the migration route for bowhead whales and have helped scientists document important places.[15]

Importance

A 2010 study identified Barrow Canyon as a key to resilience in the Arctic marine ecosystem.[16] Due to the unique factors that contribute to the high levels of primary productivity in the region, the canyon will likely provide ecosystem resilience to climate change into the future.[17]

The entire Chukchi Coast, including parts of Barrow Canyon, has been designated as Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) for saffron cod and Arctic cod by the National Marine Fisheries Service. Both Arctic cod and saffron cod are critical species to the Arctic marine food web.[18] Additionally, snow crab have been found in the area and while there is no existing fishery for them in the Arctic, they are a commercially important species in the Bering Sea.[18][19]

On January 27, 2015, President Obama—using his authorities under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act—withdrew the Beaufort Sea Barrow whaling area from all future oil and gas leasing activity. Additionally, an additional subsistence area north of Barrow in the Chukchi Sea was deferred from leasing in the 2012–2017 Final Program. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement also recognizes additional portions of the Barrow Canyon region as Environmentally Important Areas.[20]

References
  1. "Barrow Canyon - submarine canyon, Arctic Ocean". Encyclopædia Britannica.
  2. Grebmeier J., Cooper L., Feder H., and Sirenko B., "Ecosystem dynamics of the Pacific-influenced Northern Bering and Chukchi Seas in the Amerasian Arctic", Progress in Oceanography, 2006. Retrieved 20-09-2016.
  3. Thorsteinston L., and Love M., "Alaska Arctic marine fish ecology catalog: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5038", Bureau of Ocean Energy Management OCS Study, 2016. Retrieved 20-09-2016.
  4. Clarke J., Moore S., and Johnson M., "Observations on beluga fall migration in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea, 1982-87, and northeastern Chukchi Sea, 1982-91", Report of the International Whaling Commission, 1993. Retrieved 20-09-206.
  5. Oppel, S., D. L. Dickson, and A. N. Powell, "International importance of the eastern Chukchi Sea as astaging area for migrating king eiders", Polar Biology, 2009. Retrieved 20-09-2016.
  6. Schmutz, J. A. and D. J. Rizzolo, "Monitoring Marine Birds of Concern in the Eastern Chukchi Nearshore Area (Loons)", USGS and BOEM, 2012. Retrieved 20-09-2016.
  7. Smith, M. A., N. J. Walker, C. M. Free, M. J. Kirchhoff, G. S. Drew, N. Warnock, and I. J. Stenhouse,"Identifying marine Important Bird Areas using at-sea survey data", Biological Conservation, 2014. Retrieved 20-09-2016.
  8. Jay C., A. Fischbach, and A. Kochnev. "Walrus areas of use in the Chukchi Sea during sparse sea ice cover", Marine Ecology Progress Series, 2012. Retrieved 22-09-2016.
  9. Huntington H., L. Quakenbush, M. Nelson "Effects of changing sea ice on marine mammals and subsistence hunters in northern Alaska from traditional knowledge interviews", Alaska Department of Fish and Game, 2016. Retrieved 22-09-2016.
  10. Bengtson J., L. Hiruki-Raring, M. Simpkins, and P. Boveng, "Ringed and bearded seal densities in the eastern Chukchi Sea, 1999–2000", Publications, Agencies and Staff of the U.s. Department of Commerce, 2005. Retrieved 22-09-2016.
  11. Clarke J., Ferguson M., Curtice C., and Harrison J., "Biologically Important Areas for cetaceans within U.S. waters – Arctic region", Aquatic Mammals, 2015. Retrieved 22-09-2016.
  12. Berchok, C.L., J.L. Crance, E.C. Garland, J.A. Mocklin, P.J. Stabeno, J.M. Napp, B.K. Rone, A.H. Spear, M. Wang, and C.W. Clark, "Chukchi Offshore Monitoring In Drilling Area (COMIDA): Factors Affecting the Distribution and Relative Abundance of Endangered Whales and Other Marine Mammals in the Chukchi Sea", Final Report of the Chukchi Sea Acoustics, Oceanography, and Zooplankton Study, OCS Study BOEM, 2015. Retrieved 22-09-2016.
  13. Pederson S., ["Regional Subsistence Land Use, North Slope Borough, Alaska"], Anthropology and Historic Preservation, Cooperative Park Studies Unit, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK, 1979.
  14. Braund S. and Burnham D., ["Subsistence economics and marine resource use patterns, InBarrow Arch Environment and Possible Consequences of Planned Offshore Oil and Gas Development"], Prepared by LGL Ecological Research Associates, Inc., Prepared for U.S. Department of Interior, Minerals Management Service and Department of Commerce, NOAA, 1984.
  15. Albert T., "The Influence of Harry Brower, Sr., an Inupiaq Eskimo Hunter, on the Bowhead Whale Research Program Conducted at the UIC-NARL Facility by the North Slope Borough", Fifty More Years Below Zero, Arctic Institute of North America, 2000. Retrieved 22-09-2016.
  16. Christie P. and Sommerkorn M., "RACER: Rapid Assessment of Circum-Arctic Ecosystem Resilience", WWF Global Arctic Programme, 2012. Retrieved 22-09-2016.
  17. Gunderson L., "Ecological Resilience-In Theory and Application", Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics, 2000. Retrieved 22-09-2016.
  18. North Pacific Fishery Management Council, "Fishery Management Plan for Fish Resources of the Arctic Management Area", 2009. Retrieved 22-09-2016.
  19. Logerwell E., K. Rand, S. Parker-Setter, J. Horne, T. Weingartner, and B. Bluhm "Beaufort Sea Marine Fish Monitoring 2008: Pilot Survey and Test of Hypotheses", Prepared for Minerals Management Service by Alaska Fisheries Science Center, 2010. Retrieved 22-09-2016.
  20. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, "Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program", Retrieved 22-09-2016.

Further reading

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