By Tom Fries Arctic News May 26 - June 1, 2012
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NOTE FROM
THE AUTHOR: Thank you, as always, for your readership. I hope you’ll excuse a brief
gap next week while I attend a week-long event abroad. I look forward to
sharing our next edition with you on 18 June!
BEST READS OF THE
WEEK
If you’ve
only got a few minutes this week, spend your time on these particularly useful,
informative, creative or well-written pieces.
The policy
wonks among you absolutely must read a newly-released
set of recommendations for Canada’s upcoming chairmanship of the Arctic
Council from the Munk-Gordon Arctic Security Program. The recommendations are
actionable and discrete, the report is written well and information-rich
without being dry…it’s an exemplary piece.
Bob Reiss,
author of The Eskimo and the Oil Man, wrote a guest post on Forbes
explaining why he has come to support Shell’s drilling plans in Alaskan waters despite
his own environmentalist leanings. One Shell rig headed for Arctic prospects
that’s gotten a lot of coverage is the Kulluk,
and a nice
article from the Seattle Times covers the refurbishment of that huge beast,
which is almost complete. Popular Mechanics also wrote an
in-depth description of the rig, its staff, and what might be done to
mitigate a spill should something, god forbid, happen.
The complex
tug of war over the appropriate role for individuals, researchers, governments
and industry in the Arctic never ceases to fascinate. A Fortune
blog from Jon Birger regarding Shell’s Arctic plans illustrates this
nicely, as does an article
from Alaska Dispatch on the shrill, infantile (in my estimation) fight
between Alaska’s governor and various federal environmental agencies. Providing
another perspective on the same issue is a
nice piece from the Moscow Times on the legacy of a Soviet-era decision to
artificially expand the range of Kamchatka crabs, thereby supporting fisheries.
The
engineering that’s necessary to make a go of it in the North can be simply
jaw-dropping. While the Nord Stream pipeline isn’t technically Arctic, it’s a
useful analogue for work that might eventually need to be done; check out the
work that will go into connecting two sections of the Nord Stream pipeline
under the Baltic (Natural
Gas Europe, AB).
Wow.
BLOOD AND TREASURE
Word came
via Northrop Grumman, primarily, that Canada is considering the use of
$30mn-$50mn drone aircraft based on Northrop Grumman’s Global Hawk as a tool to
help monitor its Arctic territory. Thanks to the Financial
Times for doing the research to learn that, for its current visual
coverage, Canada relies on occasional manned missions and on “a Polar satellite
that takes a very narrow picture of the territory – and thus needs three weeks
to collect information on the entire area.” The planes under discussion are
under construction for the US, but might be orphaned by reductions in defense
spending. Because of this status, any such purchase would have to go through
the US Department of Defense. Goose Bay, NL and Comox, BC are being cited as
potential home bases (G&M).
This model of aircraft apparently suits an Arctic climate because it flies “at
60,000 ft, above the weather and airliners plying time-saving polar routes” (Aviation
Week).
Russia
meanwhile is also preparing to reopen air bases on Novaya Zemlya, Naryan-Mar
and Franz-Josef Land (RIAN), while
political and financial considerations seem to have finally pushed Russia’s
purchase of five Borey-class submarines forward despite their budget-busting
high prices (BO).
Norway, meanwhile, is apparently having a fire sale for its northernmost
submarine base outside of Tromsø (BO),
while Voice of Russia analyzed
an actual fire aboard the USS Miami at a dock in Maine. The two Barents Sea
neighbors are meanwhile preparing details for their Barents 2012 joint naval
exercises (Naval
Today), and the US Coast Guard is looking at its own upcoming Arctic Shield
exercises (Coast
Guard News). NATO, meanwhile, is underway with its marvelously-titled Dynamic
Mongoose 12 exercise, which consists of training exercises pitting submarine
and anti-submarine operators against one another (Naval
Today).
For those of
us who prefer not to see potential armed warfare all over the Arctic, the
release of a briefing note from Canada’s Department of National Defence
indicating that Canada does not see Russia as a military threat felt
vindicating (ceasefire.ca).
THE POLITICAL SCENE
First,
special kudos are due to the Munk-Gordon Arctic Security Program for its newly-released
set of recommendations for Canadian chairmanship of the Arctic Council. The
recommendations are fairly concrete, the report is written well and information-rich
without being dry…it’s an exemplary paper.
Hillary
Clinton was underway to the beautiful city of Tromsø this week to, according to
the articles I can find, act as a symbol of the United States’ interest in the
Arctic, and suggest without saying so directly that it is time for the US to
sign on to UNCLOS (Reuters,
Arctic
Portal). Former Secretaries of State Kissinger, Shultz, Baker III, Powell
and Rice all had no problem saying
so directly in the Wall Street Journal. Indeed, signing on would give the
US the chance to officially press its claim to Arctic Ocean territory, nicely
illustrated in an infographic from RIA Novosti.
Territorial
squabbles aren’t new to Russia, which is refusing to accustom itself to United
States Ambassador Michael McFaul’s habit of unusual frankness (RIAN). The world’s
largest country is also strengthening its Arctic borders (BO),
as well as its borders more generally (RIAN). Norway meanwhile
is opening a visa-free area to Russians who, sweetly, are instructed not to go
beyond 30km from the border (BN).
Consul General of Norway Oyvind Nordsletten says this observation system is
“mainly built on trust.” Adorable! Meanwhile the Barents Euro-Arctic region is
beginning to look forward to determining which areas of cooperation will be
covered under the Kirkenes-2 agreement, to be negotiated and signed next year (VOR).
Eyes are on
Canada as it prepares to take over the reins of the Arctic Council. A report
from the Gordon
Foundation, inter alia, drew plenty of headlines this week not least for
the recommendation that the bestowal of observer status on China and other
non-Arctic nations should be a priority (Nature
blog). The report also recommended that means should be identified to
support full participation by often under-funded and ill-equipped aboriginal
groups in the Arctic Council (Science
Codex). Aboriginal groups don’t act as a bloc, though – there is often
discord (CBC).
Perhaps in
preparation for the country’s new Arctic leadership role, the Canadian Polar
Commission is finally setting up some meager human infrastructure north of
Ottawa (Global
News). Meanwhile, Canadian officials’ “frank” remarks regarding the
validity of UN food envoy Olivier de Schutter’s negative statements on food
security in Canada continue to cause a kerfuffle (CBC).
Finally:
miscellanea. Contracting with northern vs. southern Canadian companies
continues to be politically touchy in the Northwest Territories (CBC),
and Ernst & Young seems to have concluded that corruption in Russia in on
the wane (BN).
ENERGY
The IEA
announced this week that world gas demand is likely to rise by 50% by 2035, if
one assumes that unconventional resources can and will be brought on-line (Platts).
Fatih Birol, chief economist at the IEA, said however that an
energy-development path focused on “more renewables, more efficiency and more
low-carbon technologies” is the better choice (Euractiv).
A meaningful proportion of future gas demand might be supplied from Arctic
resources, and Business Insider offered a
good survey this week of the developing prospects in the Beaufort and
elsewhere. It’s worthwhile to couple the Business Insider article with one
from the Globe and Mail that delves more deeply into the particular
attractions of the prospects that Canada opened last week.
There is of
course substantial resistance to oil & gas exploration from local residents
and environmental groups (NYT
blog), but federal judge Sharon Gleason this week expanded the territory
covered by an injunction protecting Shell’s drillships from Greenpeace
activists from a 12-mile to a 200-mile offshore boundary (The
Republic). Alaska also saw a 5% increase last year in oil and gas jobs, a
data point which clearly adds political strength for the industry (EOTA).
Bob Reiss’s new book The Eskimo and the
Oil Man covers the development of Shell’s activity plans for Alaska waters,
and it got a ton of coverage this week via the Leonard
Lopate show and Eye
on the Arctic. Mr Reiss himself wrote a guest post on Forbes
explaining why he has come to support Shell’s plans despite his own
environmentalist leanings.
In further
legal action, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals supported the
federal government’s decision to permit Shell to drill in Alaskan waters this
summer (ADN),
but heavy sea ice off Alaska’s northern coast could prove a practical barrier,
regardless of what may be legal (LA
Times). Despite the ice, Shell CEO Peter Voser said this week that he hopes
to be drilling within the summer (NASDAQ),
and the company’s interest in its Alaskan properties is beautifully covered by
Jon Birger via Fortune.
The US
Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement also announced this week that it
would be carrying out unannounced inspections of equipment in the Arctic this
summer (Int’l
Business Times), after conducting tabletop exercises this week modeling a
joint government-industry response to a blowout in the Chukchi Sea (Maritime
Executive). A nice
blog piece from NOAA highlights the necessity of incorporating local
understanding into any such plans. The USCG announced that it will scale back
the security services it offers to Shell’s offshore operations this summer (Dutch
Harbor Fisherman).
Of the
equipment that will be serving Shell in Alaskan waters this summer, the rig
that’s gotten the most coverage is the Kulluk.
A nice
article from the Seattle Times covers the refurbishment of that huge beast,
which is almost complete. Popular Mechanics also wrote an
in-depth description of the rig, its staff, and what might done to mitigate
a spill should something, god forbid, happen.
The Kulluk isn’t the only rig garnering
interest; a new ultra-deepwater rig costing $700mn and designed for year-round
use in the Norwegian Barents will be built by Hyundai for delivery in March
2015 (scandoil.com),
while Troms Offshore Supply welcomed a new platform supply vessel to its fleet
(Offshore
Magazine) and Statoil awarded a $605mn four-year contract for a jack-up rig
to Maersk Drilling (AB).
Statoil is also looking at implementing RFID technology to help manage its
equipment (AB).
There was a
surprising amount of diverse writing on renewable energy in the Arctic this
week, with the IEA releasing a paper indicating that worldwide supply of bioenergy
– a significant energy source particularly in remote Arctic communities – could
double by 2050 (IEA).
The Center for American Progress also hosted Alaska’s senators for a discussion
of renewable energy in that state (videos
here), and indeed Senator Murkowski is preparing a proposal for a new
comprehensive energy policy (Chicago
Tribune). Also, a ranty
but possibly useful blog post from savingiceland.org covered that country’s
plans for expansion of hydro and geothermal energy.
In Canada,
the premiers of Alberta, Manitoba, BC, Saskatchewan and the Northwest
Territories met to discuss, among other things, the possibilities that exist
for Canadian gas to become a regular source of supply for Asian markets (CBC),
and the government of the NWT released a speech indicating that territory’s
continued interest in becoming as much of an oil-&-gas hub as possible.
There are troubles at home to be dealt with first, though; the Nunavut community
of Sanikiluaq requires an airlift of fuel (NN),
and a pipeline spill from Pace Oil & Gas Ltd. in Alberta’s northern reaches
seems to have “killed one duck” (G&M)
as well as sending 22,000 barrels of oil mix into the surrounding muskeg.
In Russia,
the Shtokman project continues to be buffeted by myriad questions and
exhausting challenges, with Gazprom announcing last Friday that the project
would indeed be switched to LNG (AFP).
Though Shtokman is a gas project, Arctic oil is of increasing interest to
Russia as it looks to maintain/reclaim (depending whom you read) the title of
world’s top oil producer from the Saudis (AD).
There continues to be buzz about the possible departure of Statoil and/or the
addition of Shell to the project partners (Upstream
Online, RIAN),
and President Putin enjoined the partners to pick up the pace of their
decision-making (Reuters).
Shtokman
isn’t the only Russian energy news, though, and we heard this week as well that
Lukoil’s first quarter profits were up substantially over 2011 (WaPo), as well as that Rosneft is looking to sell oil
out of the ESPO pipeline for late July (Bloomberg).
TNK-BP’s CEO Mikhail Fridman appears to have resigned (Offshore
Energy Today), while a former deputy chief executive returned as an
adviser, with hints that he might be slated to take over the top job (Reuters).
The best story, though, is the eye-popping work that will go into connecting
two sections of the Nord Stream pipeline under the Baltic (Natural
Gas Europe, AB).
Wow.
Next door in
neighbor Norway, drilling plans for a new prospect near the Skrugard and Havis
fields has Statoil excited (Upstream
Online), and the company is moving forward with exploratory drilling off
the Faroes as well (AB),
but the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate is falling victim to a labor dispute (AB)
and a HuffPo
article highlighted the…shall we say, “awkward” discussions around Statoil’s
involvement in Canadian tar sands.
As a last
note, a quick report
and recommendations on Greenland’s hydrocarbon future, if it has one, came
out from two master’s candidates at Lund University in Sweden, and MarineLink
provided a
thorough (if not revolutionary) overview of the interests at stake in
Arctic business writ large.
MINING
As is often
the case, much of the mining news this week comes from Canada. Devolution talks
continue between the territorial government of Nunavut and Canada’s federal
government over benefits to come from development of the territory’s gold,
uranium and iron resources (Chronicle
Herald), while Sabina Gold & Silver Corp’s Back River property in the neighborhood of Bathurst Inlet
appears to hold at least $1.1bn worth of gold (NN).
Plans for a lead-zinc mine in Yukon are meanwhile being scaled back fairly
substantially (EOTA).
Nunavik’s Plan Nunavik, a response to Québec’s Plan Nord detailing Nunavik
Inuit preconditions for support of Plan Nord, should be released during the
first week of June (NN),
and we’re looking forward to reading it. The NWT also shared the news this week
that it is investing in the development of its own equivalent mineral
development strategy to the tune of $1mn (miningnorth.com).
In other mining
news, the wholesale moving of the Swedish city of Kiruna is good fodder to
discuss the relationship between mining towns and the mines themselves (WSJ),
as is Alaska’s proposed Pebble Mine, a project with multi-billion dollar
potential within spitting distance of ecologically-valuable Bristol Bay (AD).
BUSINESS AND
INDUSTRY
In general
business news around the circle, Russia’s Economic Ministry has announced
privatization of portions of Sberbank, Rosnano and Sovkomflot, as well as the
Arkhangelsk trawl fleet (see fisheries, below) and the port of Murmansk (BN). Jobs in Alaska’s manufacturing
sector grew 1.8% over the past 12 months (MarketWatch),
including most fancifully new jobs in the Bear Creek Winery bottling plant in
Homer (Alaskan wine?), but across the border in Canada bad news came for the Nunavik
Investment Corp., which will likely close its doors after failing a forensic
audit (NN).
[Shipping]
Russia was
doubtless proud this week to find itself tied with such world leaders as Guinea
and Lebanon in the World Bank’s recent Logistics Performance Index, which
assessed the logistics “friendliness” of various countries (BN). Meanwhile, Maritime
Executive – which I find increasingly impressive – published a lengthy
blue-sky piece on the possibility of setting up river barge-based transport in
Canada’s North. Also in Canada, Nunavut Sealink and Supply Inc. seems to have
secured a semi-monopoly on government resupply contracts within Nunavut (Canada
Newswire). In terms of ocean transit, Japan’s transport ministry is looking
at an Arctic Ocean route to help develop Japan into a world-leading shipping
hub (Japan Times),
and Norway and Russia are looking at increased traffic in the Barents as
possible incentive to develop their own Arctic ports (BO).
In terms of
air transport, the opening of an Iqaluit-Nuuk route from Air Greenland, at the
low, low price of $748 one way (!!!), garnered
notice from Nunatsiaq News. The route will save three days’ flying. Might
be worth it.
[Fisheries]
Russia’s
state-owned Arkhangelsk-based trawler fleet may soon be privatized, and it
looks as though Russian Sea Group – one of many large fisheries, and partly
owned by Putin ally Gennady Timchenko – will certainly bid. Competitors are concerned
that the Gazprombank-managed sale is rigged (Reuters, Bloomberg).
In Canada, the problem is more fish than fleet; Trevor Taylor, policy director
of Oceans North Canada, published a
heartfelt but rather non-specific call to arms asking Canada to take the
lead in blocking fishing in the Arctic until sustainable management of those
stocks is possible.
Next door in
Alaska, much-lauded Copper River salmon have arrived in Anchorage (Cordova
Times), while the run of King salmon in the Yukon River is predicted to be
just awful, perhaps resulting in the barring of commercial fishing for the
third year in a row (fis.com).
In terms of broader impact of climate change on fisheries in Alaskan waters, summaries of
several legitimately fascinating studies were released by NOAA this week. Take
the time to browse the abstracts. The Moscow Times also published a
great piece on the long-term impact of the Soviets’ transplantation of
Kamchatka crabs to the Barents, and on the commercial jockeying between the
different contingents that depend today upon the income from that particular
stock.
[Other
Industries]
Tourism: A
dramatic dropoff in tourism for Inuvik is a source of no small concern,
considering the importance of the industry to the local economy (NNSO).
Biotech: Tromsø
is making an effort to become a biotech hub with the establishment of the
Barents BioCentre and a new BioTech North industry cluster (nortrade.com).
Telecom: The
expansion of competitors into Canada’s northern territories means that
long-time de facto monopolist Northwestel may be looking at a tougher time
ahead (Whitehorse
Star). The company may be able to offer better internet service, at least,
with the completion of a new fiber-optic link across the Deh Cho Bridge (CBC).
Lumber: RusForest
did not do well in Q1 2012 (lesprom.com).
Fur: An
enthusiastic and informative review of a new book on the history of fur farming
in Alaska may well be richly deserved – you’ll have to see for yourself (FNM).
SOCIETY
(From the
author: Thanks to Nunatsiaq News for providing by far the best, and the most,
coverage of social issues in Canada’s North.) The city of Iqaluit is exploring
further ways in which it can achieve its goal of being a sustainable city (NN),
while simultaneously attempting to encourage “resilience” as a central goal for
communities (NN).
Many social organizations in Nunavik, however, are struggling mightily with the
minimal resources they have (NN),
and overcrowded social housing facilities in Nunavik are a growing problem, not
to mention enormous sums of unpaid rent (NN).
Poverty in Nunavik is a persistent issue, as 4 in 10 households there can tell
you (NN),
and a group in Nunavut is making an effort to produce a peaceful protest
against high food prices in that territory (NN).
Meanwhile, public engagement will be necessary in the Yukon to galvanize
government action against poverty (EOTA).
Some
interesting figures on the population of Canada’s territories came out this
week, with Yukon the oldest of the three (median age 39.1) and Nunavut the
youngest (median age 24.1 – quite a difference) (EOTA).
Yukon’s population also reached a record high in March of 35,944 (Whitehorse
Star), and a baby boom in the territory’s capital Whitehorse means that day
care is becoming hard to find (CBC).
The changing
environment and its impacts on Northern communities are the subjects of a new
set of policy recommendations released this week in which a new approach to
health and social service programs is suggested (NN).
Situations highlighting this need, such as a TB outbreak in Kangiqsualujjuaq (NN),
are easy to find. Health Minister of Nunavut Keith Peterson devoted time this
week to a smoking-reduction initiative in Nunavut (NN),
but the health issue garnering the most attention is a continued rash of
suicides in aboriginal communities in Nunavut (APTN).
The territory’s suicide rate in 2011 was 220 per hundred thousand, or nearly
four times that of Lithuania, which has the highest national rate in the world
(NN).
Now to a few
miscellaneous reads. An article on the establishment of ferry service to the
Pribilof Island community of St. George is well worth a read for the good
picture it gives of transport challenges (Bristol
Bay Times). The implementation of federally-mandated minimum sentencing may
result in up to $70mn in increased prison costs for the Northwest Territories (CBC).
A strange pilot program in Sweden is bringing unemployed immigrant youth on to
military bases for 10-week programs to (1) help them complete their high school
degrees, (2) familiarize them with the Swedish military as a future option, and
(3) offer them free room and board. It’ll be interesting to see what, if
anything, the program yields in increased diversity in Sweden’s military (thelocal.se).
SCIENCE,
ENVIRONMENT, ANIMALS
Plenty of
hand-wringing this week was associated with the announcement that carbon
dioxide has hit 400 parts per million in the Arctic (WaPo).
Al Gore is
unsurprisingly concerned in a blog post citing other writing from Climate
Central, and the Mistra Arctic Futures project is preparing research on the
value of ecosystem services at risk from Arctic oil work (arcticfutures.se). Meanwhile
Greenland had its warmest day on record at 24 degrees Celsius (dr.dk),
and melting of the island’s ice sheet appears to have been moving faster in the
past ten years than in the past fifty (sciencedaily.com).
You can watch a brief
video on the issue if you wish. In one of those marvelous grandma’s-attic
discoveries, photo plates from Knud Rasmussen’s 1930 expedition to Greenland
were discovered in a Danish basement; they’ll be used to gain insight into
changes on Greenland’s coast since that time (sciencedaily.com).
Meanwhile the dramatically high ice extent in the Bering Sea this past year is
a data point which seems to demand continued clarification and explanation (NSIDC).
Forest fires
are already wreaking havoc around the circle, with 23 forest fires raging in
Siberia (focus-fen.net)
and another under watch near Behchoko in the Northwest Territories (CBC).
Dry conditions in Canada’s North have led to the declaration of fire bans in
Yellowknife, Hay River and Fort Smith (CBC).
Science
policy and government funding have a great deal to do with what we know and
don’t know about the Arctic; to see what lies ahead for the National Science
Foundation’s Arctic research, check out the Interagency
Arctic Research Policy Committee’s Arctic Research Plan and their efforts to support
research on sustainability in the Arctic.
The
Northwest Territories is preparing a new Wildlife Act (Gov’t
of NWT), while Alaska is the scene of truly shrill and embarrassing to
watch political battles between Gov. Sean Parnell and federal conservation
agencies (AD).
No one appears to be eager to conserve large, confused and inconvenient adolescent
elks in Finland, which, stumbling about in their hormone haze, must be the kind
of nuisance that only a Finn can appreciate (YLE).
Across the pond at Southampton Island’s Coral Harbour, an upcoming caribou
count will help determine what, if any, restrictions will be placed on hunting
(EOTA).
Hunting of bowhead whales off of Alaska, at least, has been extraordinarily
successful this season (AD).
Enormous flocks of migratory birds are heading North from their wintering
grounds (Frontier
Scientists), and Arctic nesting birds may be altering their nest initiation
dates in response to the timing of spring snowmelt (APECS).
Finally, in
less easily categorized science news, we heard this week that Québec may be
considering adding the full Nastapoka River watershed (Note: it has freshwater
seals?) to Tursujuq provincial park in Nunavik (NN),
and that Alaska’s national parks will offer great views of the transit of Venus
coming up on Tuesday 5 June (nps.gov).
Scientists are monitoring Alaska’s northern lakes more closely (Valdez
Star) and exploring concentrations of carbon at different depths in the
Arctic Ocean (redorbit.com),
while CryoSat is offering great data that helps to map the Arctic’s ocean floor
(redorbit.com).
GRAB BAG
My own
personal thanks to Trude
Pettersen for a beautiful article
and photo
series on the (re)construction of the world’s northernmost monastery, Trifon
of Pechenga outside of Murmansk.
Solar
maximum next year! Everyone get ready for a year of awesome Northern Lights!
Enjoy a series of stop-motion videos in anticipation from Ole C. Salomonsen (NYT
blog). Try to ignore the Star Wars music, which leaves the impression that
the aurora is pacing like a tiger in the thermosphere, awaiting its opportunity
to devour you whole.
A Russian
ship hit an iceberg and went down in the Bering Sea this past week, but all 91
crew aboard were rescued (dnaindia.com).
I’m curious as to why there’s not more press on this – it seems like it would
make good headlines, no?
Minicopters,
which are neato until you realize that you can now be tracked pretty easily by
just about anybody, are being used by reindeer herders to find their own lost
animals (Arctic
Portal).
This is very
niche, but if you’re interested in the laws governing salvage from sunken
ships, you might be interested in this
story from ADN regarding a barge and a sunken tugboat in the Bering Sea. Also
the video of the tug sinking.
The
reinvigoration of Information Satellite Systems in Zheleznogorsk, a formerly
closed Soviet city, is the topic of a
great article from Russia & India Report.
Hoo boy,
this is really quite a collection of Alaska-themed tattoos from ADN.
It is hard
to think of anything more twee than a group of hardy, mountaineering Canadians
and Brits scaling Mount Barbeau on Ellesmere Island to celebrate the Queen’s
Diamond Jubilee with a “traditional English tea party” involving scones and
cakes (CBC).
Adorable.
The Alaska
Permanent Fund is considering some investments that seem kind of risky to me (AD).
But I am not in finance, so what do I know?
Again I must
observe that, below a certain threshold, there is absolutely no telling what
the Washington Post will find interesting or not. Completely baffling, the
stories they pick up.
The
treatment of aboriginal children in residential schools in Canada early in the
twentieth century is just awful to contemplate (CBC),
and it seems like the excavation of this particular wound in Canadian history
will continue for a while.
VIDEOS, PHOTOS
This may be
too much reality for you. It is almost too much for me. But the rendering of a
whale is not something I’ve watched on video before, so here you are. (Alaska
Dispatch)
Here are
some fantastic photos from…
Niccolo Bonfadini (and a second
one)
Clare
Kines photography (and a second
one)
The
Alaska SeaLife Center (which, by the way, is awesome and totally worth a
trip to Seward)
Nunatsiaq
News on Facebook – I can’t say these girls look so much refreshed as
pained.
Asksiberia.com
– photo series of a tourist train on the trans-Baikal railway.
And finally,
let me refer you again to the live
looncam at Connors Lake in Alaska, courtesy of Alaska Dispatch. Thanks
guys!
ABBREVIATION KEY
Aftenbladet
(AB)
Alaska
Dispatch (AD)
Anchorage
Daily News (ADN)
Barents Nova
(BN)
Barents
Observer (BO)
BusinessWeek
(BW)
Eye on the
Arctic (EOTA)
Fairbanks
News Miner (FNM)
Globe and
Mail (G&M)
Moscow Times
(MT)
Natural Gas
Europe (NGE)
Northern
News Service Online (NNSO)
Northern
Public Affairs (NPA)
Nunatsiaq
News (NN)
Ottawa
Citizen (OC)
RIA Novosti
(RIAN)
Russia Today
(RT)
Voice of
Russia (VOR)
