caribou

Editor's note: Sarah James is an elder of the Gwich'in native people of northern Alaska, inside the Arctic Circle. In Copenhagen for the United Nations climate negotiations, she spoke with InvestigateWest correspondent Alexander Kelly and videographer Blair Kelly, stressing the need to protect the caribou that her people depend on for their very existence.

Editor's note: Subhankar Banerjee caused quite  a stir when an exhibit of his photography of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was pulled at the last minute from a prominent spot at the Smithsonian Institution. The exhibit was moved instead to the basement at the same time debate over drilling in the refuge was raging in D.C. Smithsonian officials denied that they were censoring the exhibit for political reasons, but legions of critics don't believe that.

Banerjee once lived in Seattle, where he was helped by the Blue Earth Alliance, an organization co-founded by Seattle photographer Natalie Fobes. The group's motto: "Photography that makes a difference." (Banerjee serves on the group's advisory board.)

InvestigateWest correspondent Alexander Kelly and videographer Blair Kelly caught up with Banerjee in Copenhagen, where the Indian-born artist traveled to call attention to the plight of the Arctic during the United Nations negotiations on a global climate treaty (for more information, see www.artport-project.org):

More than just ice is heating up in the Arctic. U.S. and Canadian ships embarked on a joint exploration to map the sea floor in early August, an effort to determine how far the continental shelf extends from shore and possibly increase each country's claims to resources, reports Elizabeth Bluemink in the Anchorage Daily News. Traditionally, countries hold rights to areas within 200 nautical miles (about 230 miles) of their coasts, but those claims can be extended if they can prove the continental shelf goes beyond that point.

As the ice cap has melted over the years, Canada and the U.S. have waited to explore the Arctic sea floor in search of massive amounts of suspected gas and oil reserves. A third of the world's undiscovered gas and billions of barrels worth of oil could be below the surface, according to Bluemink. If the new data gathered on this exploration proves the shelf extends beyond the 200-nautical-mile-limit, the U.S. could lay claims to the underwater land and all creatures and resources associated with it.

Those favoring conservation of the Arctic rather than drilling don't have to hold their breath yet. Because the U.S. has not ratified the Law of the Sea Treaty, any claims they make to the area will not be recognized internationally.

Researchers are analyzing the data collected on the venture. One find is a massive underwater mountain almost 3,600 feet high that scientists say may help explain the Arctic Ocean's history.

Other researchers are more concerned with the Arctic's future. As the climate warms, many areas in the Arctic are changing rapidly, reports Randolph E. Schmid of the Associated Press. Faster melting ice means changes in growing seasons, which affects many species' ability to find food.

As Yellowstone welcomes wolf cubs in an earlier Western Exposure post, the battle over Alaskan aerial hunting of wolves continues in Congress, reports Eriak Bolstad of the Anchorage Daily News. Aerial hunting is used to control wolf populations on non-federal lands to aid recovery of struggling caribou and moose populations. New legislation by two California Democrats would restrict shooting to situations where other species faced imminent extinction, and the hunts could only be carried out by federal and state wildlife agency employees. Those who favor the proposal say shooting wolves from airplanes is inhumane and moose should be treated like wildlife rather than livestock. Opponents say altering the program would threaten subsistence hunters who rely on moose to survive.

– Emily Linroth

In what they're calling the first worldwide census of caribou, scientists at the University of Alberta at Edmonton say the ungulates known for their long migrations have seen their numbers drop nearly 60 percent over the last three decades. Fluctuations in the caribou's numbers are natural, Moises Velasquez-Manoff reports for the Christian Science Monitor. But traditionally, one herd's numbers might go up while others dropped. In recent decades, though, all the numbers seem to be headed down, the lead author of the study says. Caribou and reindeer, which are related, are found across the Northern Hemisphere at upper latitudes.