Forty-four years ago, the first sighting of a humpback known as Old Timer coincided with both the end of commercial whaling and the establishment of the Endangered Species Act.
Wildlife
Bird death reports are up In Homer, food sources possibly to blame
The reports are coming from beach walkers and local citizen scientists dedicated to surveying seabird populations.
After years of teaching, a shy Western screech owl retires in Sitka
It’s not every day you see a Western screech owl. However, if you’re lucky, Peanut may look your way the next time if you’re ever at the Alaska Raptor Center.
Feds ask cruise ships, boats to stay farther away from seals
Federal officials want cruise ships, tour boats and kayaks to stay far away from harbor seals in Alaska’s glacial fjords.
Dead fish, wildlife in Aleutians may be victims of toxic algae outbreak
Potentially harmful algae are always present in seawater, but it’s only when they bloom into dense concentrations that they can cause much harm to the things that eat them.
Denali wolf hunt planned despite low population numbers
This spring, Park biologists counted fewer than 50 Denali wolves, heightening a long-running battle over the popularly viewed animals.
Beneath Alaskan Wildfires, A Hidden Threat: Long-Frozen Carbon’s Thaw
As millions of acres of forests burn across the state this summer, there’s growing concern about what impact that might have on permafrost — and how melting permafrost might affect climate change.
Groups seek halt to POW wolf hunting, logging
Six organizations want the state to cancel the upcoming wolf trapping and hunting season on POW, the federal Office of Subsistence Management to cancel the subsistence wolf harvest, and the Forest Service to halt logging activity on the Big Thorne Timber Sale.
When Detecting Land Mines, The Nose Knows — Or, In This Case, The Trunk
In Angola, elephants avoid leftover land mines by using their prodigious sense of smell. The U.S. Army took notice — and now it’s hoping to learn from elephants how to develop a better detector.
Federal bill would change rural designation process for subsistence
The Organized Village of Saxman lost its designation during a 2007 Federal Subsistence Board review. A bill now in Congress would change the rural determination process.