Melting Arctic Ice Releases Deadly Seal Parasite. When wildlife pathologists arrived at Hay Island off the coast of Nova Scotia in March 2012, they met an eerie sight. Of the thousands of silver and black-speckled gray seals that lay on the rocky outcrop, roughly a fifth were dead, despite showing no outward signs of disease. Necropsies revealed that 406 dead seals were infested with a crescent moon-shaped parasite that had destroyed their livers, but it wasn't clear what the organism was or how the seals had contracted the parasite. Researchers revealed the parasite's identity here today at the annual meeting of AAAS, which publishes Science. They also explained how melting ice in the Arctic Circle is helping such pathogens disperse throughout the world's oceans. Science

Consensus Among the 5 Arctic Coastal States to Protect the Central Arctic Ocean Against Unregulated Fishery. Greenland hosted a meeting between senior government officials from the five Arctic coastal States February 24 - 26, negotiating an agreement concerning fishery in the central Arctic Ocean. The discussions went well, and there was a mutual understanding for the substance in a future agreement. Government of Greenland

Federal Officials Consider Bringing Steller's Eider Nest Back to Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. A small sea duck once plentiful in Alaska's coastal waters and nearby tundra is now so scarce that federal managers are considering a drastic solution -- repopulating wild areas with birds bred in captivity. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week announced it is considering reintroducing Steller's eiders to the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, a region in southwestern Alaska where the ducks once nested but no longer do so. The project would be coordinated with the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward, an institution that has studied Steller's eiders since 2005 and managed to breed hatchlings in captivity. Alaska Dispatch

Norway Confirms Small Arctic Oil Find. Norwegian oil explorer Det norske made a small oil discovery in the Arctic Barents Sea with a gross oil column of about 30 metres and much poorer reservoir quality than expected, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate said on Monday. MarineLink

Sea Otters Declared Recovered Following 1989 Spill. A federal study of Prince William Sound sea otters affected by crude oil spilled from the Exxon Valdez has concluded that the marine mammals have returned to pre-spill numbers a quarter century after the disaster. Sea otters feed on clams. Crude oil from the spill remained in sediment years after the spill and likely contributed to a delay in sea otter recovery, said lead author and research biologist Brenda Ballachey. ABC News

Former USGS Head Endorses Keystone Pipeline. A former head of the U.S. Geological Survey endorsed the idea of building the Keystone XL pipeline Thursday in an editorial contending that the pipeline would be less damaging to the environment than the "viable alternatives" of transporting oil by rail and truck. Marcia McNutt, who headed the USGS from 2009 to 2013 and now serves as editor in chief of the journal Science, wrote in the editorial, "I believe it is time to move forward on the Keystone XL pipeline." She said approval of the project could be made conditional on Canada's agreeing to reduce its oil industry's carbon emissions. Washington Post

Russia Prioritizes Northern Sea Route as Fastest, Safest Way to Europe and Asia. The Arctic is a treasure trove of mineral wealth hidden beneath thick ice sheets. But as global warming causes the ice to melt, new opportunities emerge. Climate is changing and so are the national interests of the Arctic states. The development of the Northern Sea Route has become one of Russia's priorities. Other countries appear equally interested in what promises to be the shortest and safest transportation route from Europe to Asia. Voice of Russia