The Greenland part of Baffin Bay between 71° N and 78° N was opened for petroleum exploration in 2010 and seven licenses were granted by the Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum (BMP). A preliminary strategic environmental impact assessment (SEIA) of activities related to oil exploration and exploitation was published in 2009 before the area was opened. This preliminary SEIA was updated with new information obtained from environmental studies carried out by the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources and Aarhus University in 2011, and now, with the present report, the SEIA is updated again based on data from a strategic environmental study program carried out in the years 2011-2014.

The studies program included projects on intertidal flora and fauna, fish, seabirds and marine mammals as well as development of toxicological methods for monitoring in the Arctic and an updated SEIA. The studies focus on the entire eastern Baffin Bay; hence, each study contributes with important information to the overall updated strategic assessment.

New data are presented and used for the revised impact assessment in this updated SEIA-report, which constitutes the concluding part of the Eastern Baffin Bay Strategic Environmental Studies Plan 2011-2014.

The report is written by DCE – Danish Centre for Environment and Energy – and the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources (GINR) and can found here: http://dce2.au.dk/pub/SR218.pdf