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.