The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Fisheries Service has
accepted a petition from a California environmentalist group who submitted the
petition under the "Endangered Species Act" for the Alaskan
"ribbon seal" which lives in the Bering Sea.

Ribbon Seal

The Alaska
Department of Fish and Game has a lot of artic species that it needs to
worry about, being the only US
state with this type of habitat. Some endangered species include the
Short-tailed albatross, Eskimo curlew, Aleutian Shield fern, Steller's sea
lion, Bowhead whale, Fin Whale, Humpback whale, North Pacific right whale, Blue
whale, Sei whale, and Leatherback turtle. Along with these endangered species
join a list of four threatened animals including the Spectacled eider,
Steller's eider, Northern sea otter and Steller's sea lion.

I find it comforting that there are wildlife groups that are willing to take
it upon themselves to submit petitions (there are many petitions pending in
Alaska), in an effort to keep these amazing animals part of Alaska's rare and
magnificent landscape. It does become a bit worrisome as this list grows,
however, as this is a very unique habitat to the United States, and each animal
plays a vital part in the survival for the entire eco system. While over
fishing, climate changes and ecological changes may threaten this habitat, we
can only hope that dedicated citizens as well as governmental organizations
will be diligent in preserving Alaska's
beauty for generations to come.

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