Monitoring a mystery bird in Yakutat, Alaska

Monitoring a mystery bird in Yakutat, Alaska By Ned Rozell YAKUTAT — On sandy barrier islands between mountains and the sea, two different birds that look alike lay their eggs side-by-side. Biologists here are learning more about the less-common, more mysterious one. Arctic terns and Aleutian terns gather together on ocean spits to scratch out [...]

Changing Climate Forcing Ducks North to Alaska

Changing Climate Forcing Ducks North to Alaska By Ned Rozell Every spring, millions of ducks touch down on Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge, a spread of muskeg and dark water the size of Maryland. These days, more ruddy ducks seem to be among them. Recent sightings of this handsome, rust-colored bird — the males with [...]

Detecting Alaska’s Next Earthquake in Realtime

Detecting Alaska's Next Earthquake in Realtime By Beth Grassi Across Alaska and a sliver of western Canada, 280 seismic stations silently do their jobs. Hidden in dark holes drilled into rock in boreal forest, northern tundra and mountaintops, the instruments wait patiently for the next tremor. The EarthScope Transportable Array of seismic monitors is now [...]

The dashed line of the Arctic Circle

The dashed line of the Arctic Circle By Ned Rozell A friend and I just camped out at the Arctic Circle, about 200 miles north of where we live in Fairbanks. A dashed line on the map went right through our campsite. That line, the Arctic Circle, traces the northern hairline of the globe, at [...]

Caribou on the Run at Fortymile River

Caribou on the Run at Fortymile River By Ned Rozell Floating down the Fortymile River, we heard the roar of a rapid just ahead. At the same time, we noticed the caribou, about 50 of them, clustered on a cliffside near the water. It was too late to pull over. I aimed the canoe for [...]

Pink salmon — too much of a good thing?

Pink salmon — too much of a good thing? By Ned Rozell Of the five species of salmon that swim Alaska waters, the pink is by far the most plentiful. Some scientists think the fish is an overabundant predator that outcompetes other salmon and some seabirds. In the late 1990s, Japanese researchers noticed an intriguing [...]

Alaska’s Crested Auklet

Alaska's Crested Auklet By Ned Rozell Millions of Alaska birds nest on rocky emerald islands seen by few people other than ship captains. One of the funkiest of these creatures is the crested auklet, which looks like a bassist in a punk band and smells like a tangerine. These hand-size birds have intrigued Hector Douglas [...]

Alaska Hot Springs, Far and Wide

Alaska Hot Springs, Far and Wide By Ned Rozell KANUTI HOT SPRINGS — After a few hours of skiing through deep snow, Forest Wagner and I smelled a tuna sandwich. We knew we were closing in on warm pools of water. From the frozen Kanuti River, we moved along an open stream up toward Kanuti [...]

Streaking, Manmade Lights in the Sky

Streaking, Manmade Lights in the Sky By Ned Rozell I slept outside a few nights ago. Lying a platform of packed snow, my face looking upward from the sleeping bag, I squinted at the Big Dipper. Within a few minutes, what appeared to be a moving star slanted across the dipper. Then another. And another. [...]

Where are the Yukon Chinook Salmon Headed?

Where are the Yukon Chinook Salmon Headed? By Ned Rozell In a packed university conference room, biologist Randy Brown spoke of chinook, the fatty king of far-north salmon. “It's more than just a fish, it’s a culture,” Brown said to the Fairbanks crowd, many of them Alaska Natives. Brown is the lead author on a [...]