There's At Least One Creature on Earth That's Loving Global Warming. About 23,600 square miles of Arctic sea ice  melted every day in May, a record-high amount. That is good news for one group: bowhead whales, the Arctic's largest marine mammal. Warming temperatures are leading to a massive sea-ice melt that's troublesome for native people and polar bears. Both rely on the ice to launch hunts. But the melt also seems to boost food availability, at least if you're a bowhead. The Washington Post

Historical Maps, Whaling Ship Logs Evidence of Rapid Arctic Ice Decline. Historical data have revealed that Arctic sea ice is declining at record speeds. A team of researchers has put together data spanning the last 125 years on the extent of sea ice in the Arctic. The research shows that the decline of sea ice - specifically during September, the summer melt season - is much steeper than before. According to Florence Fetterer, principal investigator at the National Snow and Ice Data Center, the data were collected from a variety of sources including aerial surveys from the U.S. Navy and the U.K. Met Office, as well as yearbook maps from the Danish Meteorological Institute. Gaps were supplemented with ship and aircraft observations, whaling ship logbook entries, and diaries. E&E News

 

Russia Kicks Up Arctic Oil Drilling As Polar Ice Caps Melt. Russian oil company  Gazprom Neft, the country's fourth largest oil producer, said two weeks ago that four wells were now in production at the northern Prirazlomnoye field after two more were successfully started. The Prirazlomnoye field is an Arctic offshore oilfield located in the Pechora Sea, south of Novaya Zemlya, Russia. Production from an ice-resistant offshore rig perched in the Pechora passed 43,980 barrels of oil per day (bpd), the company said. Full field development plans call for 32 wells. In March, the company said that it had reached a milestone with production of its 10 millionth barrel of oil at the field, while it revised its production schedule higher to 35 million barrels. Forbes

 

HMC Ships Depart for Northern Operations. The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) is deploying two ships to Arctic waters this summer, continuing the RCN's presence in the Canadian North. HMC Ships  Shawinigan  and   Moncton departed from their home port of Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Thursday, August 11 to conduct sovereignty and surveillance patrols as part of Operations QIMMIQ and NANOOK 2016. While at sea, the ships will also be partnering with Canadian Hydrographic Services, Parks Canada, Canadian Coast Guard, and the Arctic Research Foundation to conduct hydrographic surveys. The Chronicle Herald

Studies to Look into Level of Plastic in Greenland Animals. Greenland does not produce chemicals, but scientists are increasingly worried about the presence of plastics and other forms of chemicals in the food chain. In order to determine how widespread chemicals, particularly those that make up plastic, are in Greenlandic animals, the Danish government is spending part of the 24 million kroner ($3.7 million) it has set aside for Arctic research in 2016 to study maritime birds. The Arctic Journal

 

Study Measures Methane Release from Arctic Permafrost. A University of Alaska Fairbanks-led research project has provided the first modern evidence of a landscape-level permafrost carbon feedback, in which thawing permafrost releases ancient carbon as climate-warming greenhouse gases. The project, led by UAF researcher Katey Walter Anthony, studied lakes in Alaska, Canada, Sweden and Siberia where permafrost thaw surrounding lakes led to lake shoreline expansion during the past 60 years. Space Daily

Scientists Map Migration Paths of Arctic Breeding Birds. Conservation of intertidal habitat -- 65 percent of which has been lost over the last 50 years -- is critical to the survival of countless birds during migration on the East Asian Australasian Flyway. In an effort to understand the threats and inform conservation of these areas, scientists from The Institute of Biological Problems of the North (Russian Academy of Sciences) and WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) have collaborated to identify vital stopover areas for the dunlin, a shorebird known to migrate up to 7500 km (4700 miles) to reach its destination. Science Daily