Peard Bay

SPECIAL BECAUSE Haul-outs for marine mammals and migration area for shorebirds and waterbirds.	SPECIES Ringed seals, spectacled eiders, polar bears, walrus, waterfowl and shorebirds.	THREATS Future fossil fuel infrastructure; climate change.				1,000 LAKES Peard Bay is dotted by thousands of tiny thaw lakes — water that melts and collects on permafrost.	WHAT’S IN A NAME? Named by English naval officer Frederick William Beechey after a fellow officer. RESERVE MAP >
		SIZE Approximately 107,000 acres, the second smallest of the five Special Areas.		BIRD CENTRAL Continentally-significant Important Bird Area.

SPECIAL BECAUSE Haul-outs for marine mammals and migration area for shorebirds and waterbirds.	SPECIES Ringed seals, spectacled eiders, polar bears, walrus, waterfowl and shorebirds.
THREATS Future fossil fuel infrastructure; climate change.
SIZE Approximately 107,000 acres, the second smallest of the five Special Areas.	BIRD CENTRAL Continentally-significant Important Bird Area.
1,000 LAKES Peard Bay is dotted by thousands of tiny thaw lakes — water that melts and collects on permafrost.

WHAT’S IN A NAME? Named by English naval officer Frederick William Beechey after a fellow officer. RESERVE MAP >

The newest of the Reserve’s Special Areas, Peard Bay encompasses 107,000 acres in the northwest between Utqiaġvik and Wainwright. This area includes high densities of ice seals and polar bears, and the highest density of spectacled eider nesting areas in Alaska. The colorful males display black feathers surrounding white eye patches, resembling a pair of spectacles! Tens of thousands of shorebirds, especially red phalaropes, move through Peard Bay after breeding.

Peard Bay also provides haul out areas for ringed and bearded seals. Peard Bay is characterized by thousands of small thaw lakes, freshwater bodies formed in a depression by meltwater from thawing permafrost.

VISIT MORE: Peard Bay | Colville River | Kasegaluk Lagoon| Teshepuk Lake | Utukok River Uplands

VULNERABLE WILDLIFE

Spectacled Eider: This species’ name comes from its adult males, whose breeding plumage is characterized by a white back and a black tail, belly and chest, and a bright orange bill with white feathers at the base – and of course, its green shaggy head with round white “spectacles” around each eye; Length: Males, 20 inches long/Females, 19 inches long; Weight: 3 lbs; Fun Fact: Spectacled eiders spend much of the year in places so remote that its wintering grounds were only recently discovered in 1999.

PEOPLE AND THE REGION

Peard Bay is located just to the northeast of Wainwright, and southwest of Utqiaġvik. The area provides feeding and haul-out areas for spotted seals and walrus, and provides habitat for nesting loons, waterfowl and shorebirds, all of which are important subsistence foods for the Inupiat.

THREATS

One threat to the Peard Bay Special Area is potential energy development in the Arctic Ocean — there is currently no prohibition against developing an infrastructure corridor, such as a pipeline, to transport oil from offshore drilling through Peard Bay and into Alaska’s interior or across northern Alaska to facilities at Prudhoe Bay. Climate change is also having a profound effect on the region — rising temperatures and the disappearance of sea ice is causing more and more marine mammals, such as seals and walrus, to haul-out on the mainland, resulting in greater vulnerability to predators and hunters. In addition, melting permafrost is removing a critical buffer between coastlines and the impact of ocean waves. As permafrost disappears, coastal erosion could become significant, destroying wildlife habitat and nesting areas and disrupting local communities. The coastal denning and feeding habitats for threatened polar bears also become more important every year as sea ice levels continue to decline.