61 North Consulting LLC (formerly North Wind Consulting LLC) was established in early 2009 to provide professional marine mammal monitoring and mitigation services.  Building on previous experience in Arctic waters as marine mammal observers aboard oil and gas exploration vessels, in the Alaska Marine Mammal Observer Program, and as fisheries observers in the North Pacific Groundfish Observer Program, we are meeting a growing need for experienced marine mammal observers and biological technicians in Alaska and around the country. 

Services

• Provide mitigation strategies for marine projects that comply with the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and any National Marine Fisheries Service issued Incidental Harassment Authorizations (IHA), Letter of Authorizations (LOA), or Letter of Concurrence (LOC).
• Produce, review, update, and implement marine mammal protection plans
• Provide biological technicians, marine mammal observers (MMO), and protected species observers (PSO) to meet mitigation requirements, survey, and data collection needs.
• Provide logistical support, equipment, and structures to allow for marine mammal monitoring in all weather conditions
• Train MMO/PSOs in monitoring and communication requirements tailored to meet the needs of each project/client
• Develop sighting forms and observation logs (weather, sea state, in-water activities, etc)
• Produce summary reports for NMFS
• Inventory of qualified MMO/PSOs for land-based, vessel-based, and fixed-wing aerial monitoring solutions 
• ArcGIS mapping capabilities