Harrison Bay (Beaufort Sea)

Harrison Bay is an estuary located north of Alaska that opens into the Beaufort Sea. It is adjacent to the Colville Delta. The powerful outflow of the Colville River creates a shallow region that is rich with nutrients, making it ecologically significant for wildlife.

Map of the Harrison Bay and Colville River Delta region in the Beaufort Sea

Geography

Harrison Bay is bordered by Cape Halkett near Teshekpuk Lake on the western side and Oliktok Point on the eastern side. From Oliktok Point, a long chain of barrier islands head east and cross through Prudhoe Bay.

Fauna

The waters of Harrison Bay make an ideal refuge for long-tailed ducks, king eiders, red-throated loons, Arctic terns, surf scoters, brant geese, and glaucous gulls.[1] In summer and fall, migrating red-throated and yellow-billed loons and king and spectacled eiders stop in to rest and feed.[2] Nearshore forage fish are important in Arctic food webs, linking energy from smaller prey items to larger predators like birds and marine mammals.[3] Harrison Bay is important habitat for forage fish, such as Arctic cod and capelin.[4]

In addition to the many birds, wintering polar bears hunt and feed on ice seals in the shore-fast ice, along open leads, or at openings in pack ice.[5] Pregnant polar bears frequently build winter dens in and around the area.[5][6][7]

Energy

In 2015, ConocoPhillips began drilling for oil in the Colville Delta.[8] According to Alaska Dispatch News, residents of the nearby village of Nuiqsut are concerned that the proposed drilling infrastructure will hurt subsistence hunting and fishing in the Colville Delta and thus Harrison Bay[9]

References
  1. Smith, M., N. J. Walker, I. J. Stenhouse, C. M. Free, M. Kirchhoff, O. Romanenko, S. Senner, N. Warnock, and V. Mendenhall, ["A new map of Important Bird Areas in Alaska"], 16th Alaska Bird Conference, Juneau, AK, 2014. Retrieved 15-09-2016.
  2. Smith, M., N. Walker, C. Free, M. Kirchhoff, N. Warnock, A. Weinstein, T. Distler, and I. Stenhouse, "Marine Important Bird Areas in Alaska: Identifying Globally Significant Sites Using Colony and At-sea Survey Data", Audubon Alaska: Anchorage, September 2012. Retrieved 2016-08-18.
  3. Craig, P., W. Griffiths, L. Haldorson, and H. McElderry, "Ecological studies of Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) in Beaufort Sea coastal waters, Alaska", Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 39, 1982. Retrieved 15-09-2016.
  4. Thornsteinson, L. and M. Love, "Alaska Arctic marine fish ecology catalog: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5038", Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Outer Continental Shelf Study, 2016. Retrieved 15-09-2016.
  5. Kalxdorff S., ["Collection of local knowledge regarding polar bear habitat use in Alaska"], USFWS Marine Mammal Management, 1997. Retrieved 15-09-2016.
  6. US Fish and Wildlife Service, "Habitat conservation strategy for polar bears in Alaska", 1993. Retrieved 15-09-2016.
  7. US Fish and Wildlife Service, "Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Designation of Critical Habitat for the Polar Bear in the United States", Federal Register, 05-05-2010. Retrieved 15-09-2016.
  8. Tribune News Services, "First oil flows from Alaska reserve set aside in 1923", Chicago Tribune, 03-03-2016. Retrieved 15-09-2016.
  9. Falsey, Jeannette Lee, "ConocoPhillips starts drilling in petroleum reserve", Alaska Dispatch News, 20-08-2015. Retrieved 15-09-2016.

Further reading

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