Group seeks endangered species

listing for Alaska lake seals

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The only known freshwater harbor seals in the U.S. should be listed as as threatened or endangered, an environmental group said Thursday in its second petition for the animals.

The Center for Biological Diversity petitioned for additional protections for the 400 harbor seals that live at Iliamna Lake in southwest Alaska.

“Without Endangered Species Act protection, we risk allowing these seals to fall victim to the world’s wildlife extinction crisis,” said Kristin Carden, a biologist with the group.

The seals are threatened by climate change, Carden said.

“If the lake ice is not as prevalent, that presents problems for the seals,” she said.

Development of a proposed massive copper and gold mine, the Pebble project, is a more immediate threat, according to the group.

Iliamna Lake is Alaska’s largest and deepest lake. It’s about 75 miles (121 kilometers) long and 22 miles (35 kilometers) wide. The seals live about 71 miles (115 kilometers) from marine seals in Bristol Bay.

The seals are thought to be able to stay year-round by using cracks in the ice, ice caves or underground caves, according to the listing petition.

The proposed Pebble open-pit copper and gold mine would increase vessel traffic on the lake, including an ice-breaker ferry that would destroy critical winter habitat, according to the petition. The mine also would harm seals with construction activity, an increase of humans, noise, harm to seals’ prey and habitat contamination through pollution and spills, according to the petition.

A listing would require the federal government to ensure that permits it issues for a mine would minimize impacts to the seals, Carden said. A listing also would require designations of the seals’ critical habitat and steps to minimize harm to that habitat.