What Is the Best Month to Visit Alaska and See Bears? If you're dreaming of seeing wild bears in their natural habitat, few places rival the breathtaking wilderness of Alaska. With its sweeping mountain ranges, salmon-filled rivers, and endless forests, Alaska offers some of the best bear-viewing opportunities in the world. [...]
Raven roosts shrouded in mystery March 30, 2023 / Ned Rozell Last week, while getting ready to climb into a bunk, I heard the yell of a raven outside. And then another, and a few more. I pulled on my boots. Outside, a steady stream of black bodies glided overhead, many of [...]
The inner workings of the world’s largest sockeye salmon hatchery EAST FORK OF THE GULKANA RIVER — In late summer, a few months before this mossy valley will feel the sting of 40-below air, bright red salmon dart through a crystal-clear pool amid fragrant green vegetation. The Gulkana Hatchery has a Garden [...]
By Ned Rozell During a good year in Bristol Bay, a surge of more than 100 million pounds of sockeye salmon fights its way upstream, spawns, and dies. In Bristol Bay and elsewhere in Alaska, this incredible pulse of salmon carcasses enriches streams and rivers and makes young salmon hardier. That’s the [...]
Alaska Caribou Cams Give Insight Into Secret Lives Caribou wearing cameras around their necks have filmed a secret world of mushroom nibbling, desperate head-shaking during bug episodes, and nuzzling of wet newborns seconds after they fall to the tundra. The caribou cams gave biologists who teamed up from several agencies a new [...]
Riley the Wolf of Denali Passes Away Riley the wolf has died. She lived in the wild until almost the age of 11, which biologists call a remarkable feat. Wolves are lucky to live to 6. The female wolf, former leader of the once-mighty Riley Creek pack in Denali National Park, drowned [...]
What We Learned from Mt. Redoubt's Eruption 30 Years Ago By Ned Rozell On December 15, 1989, a pilot who had flown a 747 passenger jet all the way from Amsterdam was looking forward to landing in Anchorage. There, he would take a short break before continuing to Tokyo. Descending over Southcentral Alaska, he and [...]
Fish Tapeworms Found Near Fairbanks Alaska Pond By Ned Rozell A few times each week, someone carries something dead or alive through the doors of the UA Museum of the North, hoping an expert can identify it. A couple weeks ago, a woman arrived with a small jar of what appeared to be white worms. [...]
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 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 [...]
