South Greenland at a Crossroads
South Greenland is a magical place. A hot spring sits on an open hillside above an iceberg-filled fjord. Inuit sheep farmers have restored an agricultural practice first introduced by Erik the Red and other Norse settler...
South Greenland at a Crossroads
There’s no doubt about it: I could never survive living in the Arctic. I am definitely not well-suited for the cold, ice and wind. But what makes the Arctic inhospitable to some animals (like me) makes it the perfect hom...
Facts About Beluga Whales
I was lucky to grow up around Cook Inlet in Alaska, and the region is still my home. In our local Dena’ina language the inlet is called Tikahtnu, which means “big water river.” Tikahtnu has been home to the Sugpiaq and D...
Meet Ocean Conservancy’s Director of Arctic Indigenous-Led Conservation
This blog was written by Kirsten Williams, Summer 2022 Legal Intern for Ocean Conservancy. Kirsten is entering her fourth year as a joint Law (JD) and Master of Environmental Management (MEM) student at Vermont Law &...
How Can We Protect the North Pacific Right Whale?
The puffins flap vigorously to stay aloft, and those with full bellies can only flop across the water. Shearwaters earn their name as they zip over the wavetops. Kittiwakes and fulmars circle a little higher, looking bac...
My Trip Along the Alaska Marine Highway System
At the beginning of May, the Biden administration canceled proposed offshore oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska’s Cook Inlet. Selling new offshore leases to oil companies would have set the st...
Biden Administration Decision Curbs New Drilling
Floating in the Brooklyn Pier One15 with the Manhattan skyline silhouetting its two 79-foot masts, the cargo sailboat Grain de Sail makes for a dramatic sight. While a wind-powered cargo vessel may seem like a 19th Centu...
Wind-powered Cargo Vessel Holds Hope for a Greener Future
It’s May on St. Paul Island in the Bering Sea, and more than half of the world’s breeding population of Laaqudan, or northern fur seals, are returning to the Pribilof Islands. After a winter foraging in the open ocean, t...
Multi-scale Solutions Critical to Solving St. Paul’s Marine Debris Problem
Many marine animals, including whales and dolphins, depend on sound to navigate through the ocean, find prey, hide from predators and communicate with each other. For this reason, noise from ships and other sources such...
Reducing Underwater Noise from Ships
UPDATE! On January 27, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia canceled the most recent offshore oil and gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico. The court determined the Department of the Interior’s envi...