Associated Press: Spotted seals off Alaska’s coast do not merit endangered species protection despite losses of Arctic sea ice from global warming, a federal agency announced Thursday. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, however, will list as threatened a small population of spotted seals that live off the coasts of Russia and China. Doug Mecum, acting administrator for NOAA’s Fisheries Service Alaska region, said spotted seals in two populations closest to Alaska exceed 200,000 …