Inletkeeper Blog
Public Comment Due Dec. 13: Alaska’s Biggest Business Deal of the 21st Century
2014 fire on Hilcorps' Baker Platform in Cook Inlet The Regulatory Commission of Alaska has extended public comment on proposals to transfer BP pipelines and other assets – including BP’s interests in the Trans Alaska Pipeline (TAPs) to Hilcorps. The new deadline is...
Dunleavy Opens Spill Rules for Industry Rollbacks
In the 1960’s and 1970’s, Americans joined together to secure some of the best air, land and water protections in the world. Then the pendulum started to swing back, with billions of dollars from corporations, think tanks and phony “astroturf” groups pushing an...
Listen to Hilcorp’s Relentless Seismic Pounding in Lower Cook Inlet Fish & Whale Habitat
Hilcorp’s seismic air gun blasting program started in full force this past weekend, with the seismic vessel Polarcus Alima running transects across some of the most important fish and whale habitat in Lower Cook Inlet. You can get an update on Hilcorp's daily seismic...
Massive Hilcorp Seismic Vessel Descends on Lower Cook Inlet Fisheries
As fishermen left the Homer Harbor Monday morning (September 9) to longline halibut in Lower Cook Inlet, the 273’ seismic vessel Polarcus Alima darkened the horizon in Kachemak Bay. The vessel had turned off its AIS vessel tracking system after leaving Japan last...
Lawsuit Challenges Hilcorp’s Plan to Blast Cook Inlet Beluga Whales
ANCHORAGE— Conservation groups filed a lawsuit today challenging the Trump administration’s approval of rules allowing Hilcorp Alaska LLC to harm Cook Inlet beluga whales and other marine mammals as it expands its offshore oil and gas operations in Cook Inlet. Cook...
Seismic Airgun Assault to Start in Lower Cook Inlet this Fall
Seismic air guns used for oil and gas exploration produce the loudest underwater noise next to explosions and warfare, and they can have devastating impacts on marine life. As a fisherman from Newfoundland put it, “Whenever a seismic boat goes past and we drop...
The Deliberate Disaster
Throughout his campaign for Governor, then later in defense of his sweeping cuts to kids, the elderly and rural Alaska, Mike Dunleavy has talked a lot about an “honest budget.” In fact, that’s what he calls it on the official state web site: An Honest Budget. Most...
The Day the Bears Went Hungry
Pebble Mine, Brown Bears & the Climate Crisis For the past year, Inletkeeper has been studying the brown bears in Lower Cook Inlet, to understand the potential impacts on bears and the bear viewing industry from the proposed transportation corridor and...
Heat Wave Hits Cook Inlet Salmon Streams
Climate Crisis Sends Stream Temperatures Off the Charts As Alaskans suffer through the smoke, haze and danger of a record-breaking heat wave, Alaska’s salmon are suffering too. On July 7th, stream temperatures topped 81.7 F (27.6 C) in the Deshka River, a major salmon...
Salmon Stream Temperatures Off the Charts
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJuly 10, 2019 HEAT WAVE HITS COOK INLET SALMON STREAMSClimate Crisis Sends Stream Temperatures Off the Charts (PDF Version Here) HOMER, AK— As Alaskans suffer through the smoke, haze and danger of a record-breaking heat wave, Alaska’s salmon are...