Why Canada Needs to Protect Hudson Bay’s Beluga Estuaries
A few years ago, I tagged along with a research team counting beluga whales in Canada’s western Hudson Bay. On one memorable July day, our boat was surrounded by 350 belugas, we spotted 11 polar bears and a bird expert r...
Why Canada Needs to Protect Hudson Bay’s Beluga Estuaries
As climate change ushers in rapid changes in the Arctic Ocean, northern nations and communities are scrambling to adapt at multiple scales. The International Maritime Organization (IMO), a UN body with authority to gover...
A Safer Bering Strait
Several weeks ago, Henry Huntington, Andrew Hartsig, and I traveled to Utqiaġvik to meet with leaders and others in the community. After Henry and Andrew left for home, I continued on to Point Lay. This village in the No...
Next Stop Point Lay
As I flew out of Nome, the passenger next to me pointed out the window as we flew over eastern Norton Sound at a huge area of open water. Open water wouldn’t seem like the type of thing you show your seatmate, but in thi...
Bering Sea Ice Hits a New Low in Spring 2018
You may recall that back in February, 3,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil (HFO) spilled into the water off Shuyak Island, Alaska. The spill occurred when hurricane force winds destroyed an old fuel dock, releasing this tar-l...
The High Price of Heavy Fuel Oil Spills
The foundation for our work in Alaska relies on understanding the people and the environment, and the ways in which both are changing, from legal and scientific perspective as well as local ones. We learn a great deal by...
Two Lawyers and a Scientist Go to the Arctic
Recently, when flying over the Beaufort Sea in the Arctic, NASA scientists stumbled on a bit of a mystery: three holes in the sea ice surrounded by irregular circular shapes. As part of its Operation IceBridge mission, N...
An Arctic Mystery: What are These Circles in the Arctic Ice?
I’m back in Alaska after a journey to London for a meeting of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a specialized agency of the United Nations that regulates...
Reducing Vessel Pollution
This conversation has been edited for clarity and length. Former Secretary of State John Kerry sat down with me to talk about our ocean. During his tenure at the State Department, Kerry led the Arctic Council, helped to...
On Earth Day: A Conversation with Former Secretary of State John Kerry
When Scott Pruitt was confirmed as Administrator of the EPA more than a year ago, his nomination raised red flags from all corners of the ocean conservation community. At his confirmation hearing, those concerns were val...