The not-so-hidden impacts of seismic testing in the Arctic

Late last year, the Trump administration fast-tracked permits for ConocoPhillips’ winter exploration program in the Western Arctic, including ecologically sensitive areas near Teshekpuk Lake. We, alongside partners, challenged the approval and while the legal challenge is ongoing, a court has temporarily allowed the oil giant to continue its activities, for now.

ConocoPhillips’ one-year program includes 300-square-miles (192,000 acres) of seismic testing and new drilling inside the Western Arctic’s National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska.

And this isn’t just happening in the Western Arctic. A state-owned corporation that holds leases on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has recently solicited bids for seismic surveys and related work, potentially paving the way for seismic testing and further oil exploration as soon as next winter. As oil companies ramp up drilling and seismic testing, sensitive Arctic ecosystems face irreversible impacts.

As oil companies ramp up drilling and seismic exploration, sensitive Arctic ecosystems face irreversible impacts. 

With all of this information, you might be asking yourself, just like I did, what is seismic testing? Let’s break it down. 

Picture dozens of massive industrial “thumper trucks”—some weighing up to 90,000 pounds—driving back and forth across fragile, snow-covered tundra, pounding shockwaves into the ground to map oil and gas deposits beneath the surface.

The operation brings noise, traffic and increased human presence to the area. Seismic testing is usually done in the winter, when frozen ground and snow can, supposedly, bear the weight of these massive, heavy trucks.  

But while companies claim winter operations minimize damage, frozen tundra is still vulnerable. These heavy industrial vehicles, not just the thumper trucks, but the bulldozers that haul mobile camps as well, compress snow and soil, crush delicate vegetation and break through the natural insulation that protects permafrost beneath the surface.

In theory, companies are supposed to do seismic only when there is sufficient snow cover, and temperatures are low enough, but in practice it's nearly impossible to comply. The topography is varied and there are high winds, so there is no consistent snow cover across the area.

When the tundra gets crushed, vegetation dies and the permafrost below can start to thaw. This could lead to sinkholes, thermokarst (which happens when permafrost melts and the ground collapses) and long-term ecosystem damage. Thawing permafrost also releases greenhouse gases, worsening climate change in an Arctic that is already warming faster than the rest of the planet, leading to further permafrost thawing.

These scars on the tundra can remain visible for decades. Studies of seismic surveys on Alaska’s North Slope and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge have documented vehicle scars that remain visible nearly 30 years later. Snow alone cannot fully protect the tundra, and recovery can take generations—if it happens at all. 

Arctic wildlife depends on vast, connected landscapes to survive and seismic testing disrupts those connections.

Caribou rely on wide, uninterrupted terrain to migrate and raise their calves. The trucks’ noise and constant vibrations may scare herds away from critical feeding areas during the harsh winter. On top of that, the area of this proposed exploration activity intersects with a spring migration route up to their calving grounds.

In the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, seismic testing could happen during one of the most sensitive periods for polar bears. Mother bears den in snowdrifts on the coastal plain to give birth and nurse their cubs. Seismic activity can crush or disturb these hidden dens, putting newborn cubs at risk before they ever emerge.

Predators like wolves and bears may lose access to hunting areas, while smaller mammals may be crushed or avoid disturbed landscapes entirely. Insects and other tiny species that rely on intact tundra habitat may decline as their homes and food sources are fragmented or destroyed. And the plants that many animals feed on—mosses, lichens, grasses and sedges—may take decades to recover, reducing food availability for caribou, muskoxen and other herbivores. 

The consequences extend beyond wildlife, plants and the climate. Many Alaska Native and other Alaska communities depend on caribou, fish, migratory birds and other wildlife for subsistence food, cultural practices and economic stability. In the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, oil development that disrupts the Porcupine Caribou Herd’s annual migration could endanger food security, cultural traditions and ancestral ways of life for the Gwich’in and Iñupiat peoples, who have lived in relationship with these lands for countless generations. The Western Arctic supports critical herds, including the Teshekpuk and Western Arctic herds all of which face threats to their calving and nursing areas.

Seismic testing is not a temporary industrial activity. Its effects are long-term and interconnected, impacting the land, the animals and the communities who depend on both.