2.2 Alaskan perspective 



(Ragnar Elmgren and John Kineman) 



"The prediction or assessment of pollution effects on the basis of 

 observations extrapolated from one environment to another is seldom 

 supported by adequate data. Unfortunately, however, few data on 

 pollution effects exist for most areas and species, which has led 

 to the use of information from areas that may be dissimilar in 

 critical respects." (Evans and Rice, 1974) 



The above quotation defines the basic fallibility of intersite 

 comparisons, but serves as a reminder that, nevertheless, the pressing 

 requirements for oil and gas development have made such comparisons 

 necessary. It is therefore important that 1) study areas are selected 

 which are most comparable to those being assessed for development; and 

 2) the comparisons are thoroughly analyzed. 



The Baltic shares some important biotic and abiotic oceanographic 

 features with Alaskan coastal waters. The geographical extent of the 

 Baltic, from about 54 N to about 66 N, coincides largely with that of 

 Alaskan waters, resulting in similar annual pulses of incident solar 

 radiation as a forcing function for pelagic primary production at com- 

 parable latitudes. As in Alaskan waters, there are large differences in 

 climate between the southern and northern Baltic. The northernmost 

 Bothnian Bay features near-arctic conditions and is ice-covered for more 

 than half the year in the archipelagos, whereas in the much milder 

 climate of the southern Baltic near-coastal ice is generally present for 

 only one or two months. Water temperatures below about 20 m depth in 

 the Baltic Sea are also comparable to Alaska. Below this depth, near- 

 arctic conditions prevail throughout the year (annual mean temperature 

 about 2-5°C, peak temperature around 10 C during the late autumn storm 

 mixing) . 



Many Baltic macrobenthic species have taxonomica 1 1 y closely related 

 counterparts in Alaska. The similarity between Baltic and Alaskan 

 macrobenthos is especially striking when comparisons are made with 

 inshore samples from Prudhoe Bay in the Beaufort Sea (Feder, 1976), but 

 some dominant species are also shared with fauna of the Bering Sea 

 (Alton, 1974) and the coastal areas of Prince William Sound, an 



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