Proposed oil drilling off Alaska coast prompts studies of environmental impact

Beneath the placid, summertime surface of the Chukchi Sea here on the northwest coast of Alaska, an underwater canyon acts like a bathtub drain. From the south, three currents wash in from the Bering Strait, carrying loads of nutrients.

Plankton make tasty treats for bowhead whales, sea birds and fish. Benthos, organisms that live near the ocean floor, nourish walruses, diving ducks, gray whales, bearded seals and various fish.

"If you eat food in the water column, if you're a ringed seal, that's where you want to be," says A. Michael Macrander, an environmental ecologist at Shell Oil.

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Thomas Erdbrink 23 Aug, 2011

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