Migration is already starting in some places, even as snow still blankets Alaska—so let the games begin! Arctic-nesting birds have ranges that reach all 50 states and 6 continents, so the migrating birds you see in your backyard or favorite birding spot could be headed to the Arctic for the summer. What better way [...]

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After a long string of mishaps starting last August and including grounding its drill rig the Kulluk on New Year’s Eve, Shell finally admits it isn’t prepared to carry out exploration drilling for oil in the Arctic Ocean in 2013. Audubon President and CEO David Yarnold is quoted in this Chicago Tribune article.   Share [...]

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Today is a stellar day for the Arctic, especially Teshekpuk Lake. The Department of the Interior announced the final decision for the first-ever, area-wide management plan for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska will protect 11 million acres of the most important bird and wildlife habitat from oil and gas leasing. This includes 3.1 million acres surrounding [...]

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Even Grist online magazine is talking Important Bird Areas now, featuring a map created by Audubon Alaska. (Photo: East Sitkalidak Island by Stacy Studebaker, US Fish & Wildlife Service. Stacy is a Kodiak Island resident.)   Share on Facebook

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Following a long series of accidents, near-misses and reversals in Shell Oil’s attempts to drill in the icy Arctic environment, CEOs from several conservation groups, including the National Audubon Society, this week called on Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to suspect offshore oil and gas activities in the Arctic Ocean. Other groups that signed [...]

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Check out this L.A. Times update on the ongoing trials and tribulations of Shell’s drill rig the Kulluk, which ran aground near Kodiak Island on New Year’s Eve. (Photo: Black Scoter by Beth Peluso. Black Scoters are one of the species that winters in the Important Bird Area where the Kulluk ran ashore.) Share on [...]

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If it wasn’t clear already, the holiday grounding of Shell’s oil platform in the middle of critical, pristine habitat illustrates that the oil firm is not capable of safely drilling in harsh Arctic conditions. Audubon is asking everyone to send a letter to President Obama and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. Take a few [...]

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When Shell’s drill rig the Kulluk ran aground on New Year’s Eve, it was in a globally significant Important Bird Area. Now that Shell and the Coast Guard have towed the Kulluk off the rocks and to a bay…it’s still in the Important Bird Area where more than 100,000 seabirds overwinter, including Black Scoters and [...]

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Shell Oil is totally prepared to safely drill in the Arctic — NOT. Share on Facebook

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* This post was updated Dec. 19 to reflect breaking news from Alaska. Secretary of the Interior Salazar today announced a comprehensive plan for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and Teshekpuk Lake which will protect critical bird habitat for birds and other wildlife. These are protections that Audubon has fought to win for years. The NPR-A [...]

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Join this Buff-breasted Sandpiper in saying “Happy 52nd Birthday Arctic Refuge!” This past year the US Fish and Wildlife Service worked on revising the management plan for the refuge. In the draft, the agency made an important decision to formally consider Wilderness for the crucial Coastal Plain area – the biological heart of the refuge. [...]

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Temp: 40 F Weather: Sun and 25 knot winds I hadn’t seen a speck of land for two weeks until the island of Unalaska began emerging from the Bering Sea horizon some 50 miles before the end of our journey in Dutch Harbor. In the last three weeks we traveled through three seas (Bering, Chukchi, [...]

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Temp: 34 Weather: Sunny, 30 knot winds Crossing the windswept Bering Sea, offshore past the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and Nunivak Island, we are returning home. It is a fully sunny day, the first time I’ve recorded 0% clouds on the seabird forms. I think some sun is well deserved, and a good way to wind down [...]

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Temp: 23 F    Weather: Partly sunny, then cloudy, 15 knot winds Now that we are nearing Barrow Canyon, at the boundary between the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, we are seeing more wildlife. Today about 15 bowhead whales passed by the ship, a few ringed seals, and we began seeing more bird species such as Short-tailed [...]

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Temp: 30 F   Weather: Solid fog, 4 foot seas, 10 knot winds Magically, the weather had a complete change overnight. This morning was smooth—very calm seas and winds of 10 knots or less. The seas were slightly confused, having a swell coming from the east, hitting the port side, and wind waves coming from the [...]

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