NOAA Fisheries has renewed the Navy’s authorization to disturb small numbers of beluga whales and ringed seals during its Arctic research operations. The permit, known as an Incidental Harassment Authorization (IHA), covers activities from September 14, 2025, through September 13, 2026.
“This renewal IHA is valid from September 14, 2025 through September 13, 2026,” said Kimberly Damon-Randall, Director of the Office of Protected Resources at NOAA Fisheries, in the Federal Register notice.
The Office of Naval Research (ONR) conducts the Arctic Mobile Observing System (AMOS), part of its Arctic Research Activities program. The project deploys and recovers acoustic sensors — devices that use sound to measure under-ice conditions — from the University of Alaska’s research vessel Sikuliaq and, at times, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy.
These tools help scientists and naval engineers better predict ocean and ice dynamics, test new navigation systems, and understand how climate change is reshaping the region.
Because the work uses active acoustic sources and sometimes requires icebreaking, it can disturb marine mammals. Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NOAA must issue an IHA before such research can proceed.
The renewed authorization allows only Level B harassment — meaning short-term behavioral disturbance or temporary hearing effects, but no injury.
Importantly, NOAA does not expect any serious injuries or deaths from the Navy’s work.
To limit impacts, ONR must follow strict rules:
The Navy must also submit detailed monitoring reports within 90 days of completing fieldwork.
The Arctic is warming nearly four times faster than the global average, thinning sea ice and opening new shipping routes. This environmental shift is driving both commercial and military interest in the region.
Projects like AMOS aim to improve scientific understanding while ensuring U.S. naval operations can adapt to these changes. But as activity increases, so do concerns about impacts on Arctic wildlife. Beluga whales, which rely on sound to navigate under ice, are especially sensitive to noise. Ringed seals, listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, depend on stable ice for denning and raising pups.
NOAA concluded that with safeguards in place, the Navy’s work will have a negligible impact on these populations. The agency also determined the activities will not interfere with subsistence hunting by Indigenous communities.
The IHA renewal highlights the ongoing tension between scientific and defense research in the Arctic and the need to protect fragile ecosystems. By law, NOAA can only authorize incidental take if impacts are negligible and mitigation measures minimize harm.
Christopher Abbott, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Negotiations, underscored this point in the Federal Register appendix: “Authorization for incidental takings shall be granted if NMFS finds that the taking will have a negligible impact on the species or stock(s) and will not have an unmitigable adverse impact on the availability of the species or stock(s) for taking for subsistence uses”.
For ONR, the renewal means another year to advance tools that could shape future Arctic navigation and climate forecasting. For NOAA, it represents a continued commitment to ensuring marine mammals remain protected even as human activity expands in the far north.
