The Polar Bear SeaS

The Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, the Arctic waters north of

Alaska, are known as America’s ‘Polar Bear Seas’ – and for good

reason. One of the most unique marine ecosystems in the world,

these waters are home to the entire population of U.S. polar

bears and have consequently been designated a critical habitat.

Here sea ice meets the northern edge of the continent and

animals congregate in great numbers. In addition to polar

bears, this bountiful zone is home to millions of migratory

birds, beluga whales, and endangered bowhead whales.

It has been called the “Arctic Ring of Life.” But aggressive

oil and gas industry interest in leasing these areas for

exploration and development threatens the sustainability

of this natural area and the livelihood of Alaska Native

communities.

Oil exploration and development pose serious risks to the

Polar Bear Seas.

• The intense noise of seismic exploration and drilling

is pushing marine mammals farther out to sea.

According to the National Academy of Sciences and

reports from Inupiaq subsistence hunters, drilling has

already changed the migratory patterns of endangered

bowhead whales by as much as 30 miles. At that

distance, the animals are not entering their critical

habitat and community needs cannot be met.

• Polar bears are especially vulnerable to oil spills

because they search for food in the open lands and

broken ice where spilled oil would pool.

• Ringed seals would be displaced by the effects of full-

scale, offshore exploration and development, and would

also see increasing mortality and lower birth rates.

• Pacific walrus and gray whales could be disturbed from

important feeding areas in the Chukchi Sea.

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Call or wriTe your eleCTed

rePreSenTaTiveS

This is the most important step you can take. Urge the Obama

administration to permanently protect the special places of

America’s Arctic and encourage key decision makers to support

administrative actions to save the Arctic.

Find and contact your representative: www.house.gov

Find and contact your Senators: www.senate.gov

white house: (202) 456-1111, www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

submit-questions-and-comments

department of interior: (202) 208-3100, feedback@ios.doi.gov

Tell your FriendS, Tell The world

Ask your friends and relatives to write letters and make calls to

key decision makers to save the Arctic.

Educate your community and highlight the important role the

Obama administration plays by writing a letter to the editor of

your local newspaper. Look up your local newspaper at www.

usnpl.com and find out how you can submit a letter.

here’S how you Can helP

Chill The drillS

• Waterfowl flocks, including threatened Steller’s and

spectacled eiders, in marine waters, lagoons, sensitive

coastal wetlands, and protected area shorelines could

be devastated by spills.

• Pristine shorelines like the Arctic National Wildlife

Refuge and Teshekpuk Lake would be harmed by

offshore oil spills, air pollution, noise disturbance, and

pressure to build facilities such as ports, refineries,

staging areas, airports, and pipelines.

• As onshore development spreads along Alaska’s coast,

there is an increased chance that offshore development

will be linked up, posing even greater cumulative

impacts to wildlife and people.

The offshore Arctic is suffering from the effects of climate

change at unmatched rates. The polar bear’s Arctic sea

ice habitat is melting rapidly and experts believe the

polar bear may be extinct by 2050. Any new industrial

development in these waters would only add to the effects

of climate change already causing stress for Arctic wildlife.

The Polar Bear Seas remain today some of the least

understood; scientists still lack basic information about

life in the Arctic Ocean making it impossible to gauge the

impact of the risky, aggressive drilling proposed by Big Oil

in these abundant, pristine waters.

What is known is that there is no proven way to clean up

an oil spill in this unique area. The extreme, icy conditions

of the Arctic coupled with the remoteness of the region

and the lack of nearby oil spill response capacity make

drilling too great a risk. Our last wild frontiers should be

permanently protected, not opened to drilling that will

only deepen our addiction to oil. We should be working to

make our cars cleaner and more efficient and expand our

transportation choices.

Icy Cape

BaySmith

Teshekpuk Lake

Atqasuk

Colville Ri

ver

Wainwright

Barrow

Nusqsut

Point Lay

Point Hope

Kaktovik

Kivalina

Noatak

DeadhorsePrudhoe

Bay

Noatak River

Canning River

Porcupine River

Cape Lisburn

Cape Thompson

Point Barrow

KasegalukLagoon

Ledyard Bay

HarrisonBay Stefansson

Sound Camden Bay Demarcation

Bay

B R O O K S R A NG

E

C h u k c h i S e a

B e a u f o r t S e a

WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AREA

Peard Bay

P O L A R B E A R S E A S

A R C T I C N A T I O N A L W I L D L I F E R E F U G E

N A T I O N A L P E T R O L E U M R E S E R V E — A L A S K A

ALASKA

NUMBER OF SPECIES

Species include Bowhead, Beluga and Gray Whales; Bearded, Ringed and Spotted Seals; Walrus; Polar Bears;

Proposed Important Bird Areas

1 4 8

0 50 100 miles

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