Kenai bark beetles primed for another devastating run By Ned Rozell [fusion_dropcap]E[/fusion_dropcap]d Berg has spent much of his life observing the natural happenings on a large peninsula (the Kenai) that juts from a larger peninsula (Alaska). The retired ecologist who worked many years for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been around long enough [...]
Scientists conduct full necropsy in quest to determine what killed killer whale From a NOAA press release: [fusion_dropcap]A[/fusion_dropcap] collaborative team of scientists is investigating what caused the death of a female killer whale found on a beach in Portage Bay, Kupreanof Island, northwest of Petersburg. The team was able to reach the 17.4 foot long [...]
Deaths of large whales in Gulf of Alaska an unusual mortality event - NOAA Via NOAA press release [fusion_dropcap]N[/fusion_dropcap]OAA is declaring the recent deaths of 30 large whales in the western Gulf of Alaska an "unusual mortality event," triggering a focused, expert investigation into the cause. An unusual mortality event is a stranding event that [...]
Alaska's wildfires and the changing boreal forest By Ned Rozell [fusion_dropcap]I[/fusion_dropcap]n late July, more than 300 wildfires are burning in Alaska. With burned acreage totals one month ahead of the historic 2004 fire season, summer 2015 is again the year of the wildfire. Many scientists are not surprised. In papers written a few years ago, [...]
NOAA Fisheries rescue harbor seal pup near Juneau Alaska: [fusion_dropcap]J[/fusion_dropcap]uneau, AK — An orphaned harbor seal pup is in stable condition at the Alaska SeaLife Center (ASLC) in Seward, after being picked up from a Douglas Island beach earlier this week. When NOAA Fisheries marine mammal experts received a call late Monday morning from two [...]
Rocks from space in Alaska backcountry By Ned Rozell [fusion_dropcap]O[/fusion_dropcap]n February 26 at 1:06 p.m., someone in northern Alaska may have seen a torch of light in the cold daytime sky. On that afternoon, satellites detected a meteoric fireball headed toward Earth. An asteroid six feet in diameter penetrated the atmosphere at 13 miles per [...]
Anatomy of the worst fire year By Ned Rozell [fusion_dropcap]I[/fusion_dropcap]n a gorgeous warm May this year, we have not yet sniffed the bitter scent of flaming spruce. When we do, many of us will think back to a year that still haunts us. In summer 2004, a Vermont-sized patch of Alaska burned in wildfires. That [...]
Mosquito Season Starts In Alaska By Ned Rozell [fusion_dropcap]S[/fusion_dropcap]luggish mosquitoes, sprung from the leaves where they overwintered. Moths and butterflies flitting the fields and south-facing slopes. Beetles skittering along in pinstripe-grooved exoskeletons. One of the 17 trillion mosquitoes,Photo by Ned Rozell How many insects are stirring on the surface of Alaska? That's a [...]
Serpentine Hot Springs and early Alaskans By Ned Rozell [fusion_dropcap]S[/fusion_dropcap]kiing across the raw, open landscape of the Seward Peninsula a few weeks ago, my friends and I dreamed of getting out of a big wind and into the tub at Serpentine Hot Springs. Though none of us had been there, we all recognized the Serpentine [...]
Beaufort Sea Lake Drains Into the Sea By Ned Rozell [fusion_dropcap]I[/fusion_dropcap]f a lake drains on top of the world, will anyone hear it? Ben Jones and Chris Arp did. The Anchorage- and Fairbanks-based scientists placed sensors in a bathtub-shaped lake on Alaska's northern coast a few years ago. From what they can tell, the lake [...]
