James MacCracken, supervisory wildlife biologist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said in an Aug. 28 press conference call, “We are getting reports from Shell daily” of walrus near the ships and rigs and the talley so far is “700 walrus” seen by observers. When asked if all operations around the walrus by Shell are within the guidelines set by Interior Department regulation, MacCracken said, “Yes.” This is the first confirmation that protected sea mammals are swimming through the Burger oil leases which Shell just got permission to deep drill. Observers, paid by Shell, are required by Shell’s permit to perform drilling and other activities which might disturb or injure sea mammals. More information to come on this.
The press conference was also the first direct acknowledgement by the U.S. agencies in charge of studying and protecting the mammals that a new haul out had begun—nearly a week after the event actually started and only three days before President Obama begins his tour of Alaska focusing on rapid climate change. Gary Braasch made the first photos of the haul out at about 7 p.m. on Aug. 23, after seeing on USGS maps of locations of geotagged walrus that several were stationary in the Point Lay area.
Exposing the Big Game 
Just awful. It makes me sick to think of this beautiful area sullied. Why do we plow on ahead when an oil spill would be worse than disastrous? Even with the exploratory drilling there will be spillage? I truly am counting the minutes until this Administration is out the door.
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/attytood/For-Obama-and-climate-change-Denali-is-denial-spelled-sideways.html
Well, that doesn’t bode well for the walrus or the environment. However, there are predicted to be thousands of job loses in the oil industry with the prices plunging. Wish this would put the hold on Shell’s drilling. It looks as if there will be enough gas to fill up all those big SUVs for the foreseeable future.l
The entire thing is just nightmarish. The man has waited until the 11th hour to take a stand on climate change; it took him four years to even say the words, because anything connected to the dreaded ‘environmentalism’ is a vote and rating killer. And it really is only empty rhetoric, but who this rhetoric is directed to is a mystery. For most, it insults our intelligence, do his advisors think going on the Bear Grylls show is serious? Going on a reality show with his entire huge carbon-footprint entourage – who is that going to convince?
The US has been one of the biggest holdouts for decades on climate. Everything is going to change in a year? With the world population growing and growing and growing, that’s the biggest obstacle to slowing climate change, and there’s no way anyone is ever going to stop drilling until the last drop is gone – no one wants to take the first step of reducing consumption of just about everything – the first and best thing we all can do. Renewables are following the same playbook as oil and gas – too large-scale, and not concerned with land and wildlife.
Terrible! There will no doubt be a severe population crash coming soon. These poor animals have lost their ice habitat–thanks to Homo sapiens. As the ice & permafrost melts in the far north, more humans will be moving up there, to trash once-pristine areas, driving out the last remaining large carnivores and other animals. This planet will look much different from space very soon.