{"id":183,"date":"2012-08-13T13:02:47","date_gmt":"2012-08-13T17:02:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/noaacoastsurvey.wordpress.com\/?p=183"},"modified":"2022-03-18T16:55:26","modified_gmt":"2022-03-18T16:55:26","slug":"update-fairweather-reconnaissance-survey-12aug2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nauticalcharts.noaa.gov\/updates\/update-fairweather-reconnaissance-survey-12aug2012\/","title":{"rendered":"Update: Fairweather reconnaissance survey finds differences from chart depictions around Point Hope; scientists assess biological and chemical trends in Chukchi Sea"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Ensign Hadley Owen, NOAA, Junior Officer, NOAA Ship Fairweather (S-220)<\/em>
\n1200 hours, August 12, 2012: <\/strong>\u00a070\u00b038.7\u2019N\u00a0 162\u00b006.6\u2019W, approximately 22 miles north of Icy Cape, Alaska\u2019s North Slope<\/em>
\nIn 1963, the town of Point Hope (68\u00b0 21\u2019N\u00a0 166\u00b046\u2019W) \u2013 a small, ancient, and archeologically-significant Inupiaq community on Alaska\u2019s North Slope that remains at present a largely native village \u2013 narrowly avoided the creation of an artificial harbor by underwater hydrogen bombs. Part of \u201cProject Plowshare<\/a>,\u201d the planned creation of a deepwater harbor by thermonuclear power was intended to demonstrate the peaceful use of nuclear power for construction purposes. It was opposed by Native American communities, scientists in the state, and the Episcopalian church across the United States. The protest has been credited as one of the first government projects successfully challenged on the grounds of its potential environmental impact.
\n
\nPoint Hope is just one example of an Arctic Alaskan community for which an increased understanding of the regions oceans and near-coastal areas will prove relevant. From the bathymetry of the coastal region, to the chemical composition of its waters, and the characteristics of its benthic community, studies will document changes in the region due to increased exposure and vessel traffic. The NOAA Ship Fairweather\u2019s<\/em> current Arctic reconnaissance trip continues to offer that rare opportunity in environmental science \u2013 the establishment of \u201cbaseline\u201d characteristics of a largely untouched region from which to monitor potentially imminent changes.
\n\"\"<\/a>In 2008, the USCG Cutter Spar\u00a0<\/em>conducted a preliminary hydrographic survey around Point Hope (and other areas), which determined that strong currents in the area were contributing to large shifts in the coastal bathymetry (underwater topography). Sandy sediment and shallow depths, as well as the high level of coastal erosion, have resulted in a significantly changeable nature of the region\u2019s seafloor. Point Hope was one area of interest for this summer\u2019s investigation; on August 8, our ship-based reconnaissance survey of the spit of land\u2019s projection into the ocean showed differences from the area\u2019s charted depiction<\/a>.
\nWhile NOAA\u2019s Office of Coast Survey interest in updating our hydrographic understanding<\/a> of this region of the Arctic has driven this voyage, we were happy to welcome in Kotzebue a trio of scientists whose work overlapped with and supplemented our own mission. Dr. Doug Dasher, an environmental scientist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, has had an ongoing interest in Point Hope and related environmental radioactivity studies<\/a>. He and Terri Lomax, from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, are on board as part of a large-scale survey of biological and chemical trends in the waters of the Arctic Chukchi Sea. Under the Alaska Monitoring and Assessment Program<\/a> (AKMAP), they are using a stratified random sampling plan over a large area to get the \u201cbig picture\u201d of a marine area\u2019s health. Their work supports the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in their national Aquatic Resource Survey of the nation\u2019s waters.
\nAlso onboard is an aquatic toxicologist from NOAA\u2019s National Center for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), Dr. Ian Hartwell. His path crossed with Dr. Dasher\u2019s several years back in Kachemak Bay on Alaska\u2019s Kenai Peninsula (south of Anchorage), where they were both conducting similar research to their present study. Dr. Hartwell\u2019s work is part of NCCOS’ Coastal Ocean Assessment, Status and Trends (COAST) Program<\/a>, which conducts biological, physical, and chemical assessments<\/a> of habitats affected \u2013 or potentially affected \u2013 by contaminants.
\nTogether, they are paying particular interest to a 25 to 30 nautical mile corridor offshore in the Chukchi Sea. The corridor stretches between the Arctic Ocean\u2019s deep-water oil leases, currently being researched and developed by international oil companies, and the largely subsistence native communities of Alaska\u2019s North Slope. The forward-looking exploration of our Fairweather cruise meshes well with AKMAP\u2019s and NCCOS\u2019s goals of defining and describing the relatively untouched environment of the coastal North Slope. In light of increasing maritime traffic, AKMAP and NCCOS hope to monitor potential contamination and help to proactively address future environmental impact upon this still largely untouched Arctic region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Ensign Hadley Owen, NOAA, Junior Officer, NOAA Ship Fairweather (S-220) 1200 hours, August 12, 2012: \u00a070\u00b038.7\u2019N\u00a0 162\u00b006.6\u2019W, approximately 22 miles north of Icy Cape, Alaska\u2019s North Slope In 1963, the town of Point Hope (68\u00b0 21\u2019N\u00a0 166\u00b046\u2019W) \u2013 a small, ancient, and archeologically-significant Inupiaq community on Alaska\u2019s North Slope that remains at present a … <\/p>\n

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