Thorne Bay

A rare sighting is possible indicator of prey abundance.

Landslide at 3 mile PSN happened outside the typical time of year for slides.

A killer whale that beached itself on Prince of Wales Island on Thursday has freed itself, according to federal biologists.

Heavy rains toppled trees and buried roads on Prince of Wales Island Monday. Local and state transportation crews are responding to at least seven landslides blocking roads on the Southeast Alaska island.

Large amounts of precipitation triggered landslides across Prince of Wales Island, blocking roads and damaging at least one bridge.

The crab spider, Misumena vatia, is a species well-known throughout Interior, Southcentral, and Southeast Alaska. Little is known about changes in their abundance.

If the cysts contain milky, white fluid, they are likely Henneguya, a harmless and relatively common parasite. But if they contain a larvae, they are likely tape worms which can infect people.

Warmer waters likely enabled a phytoplankton bloom to occur much later in the year than normal off the coast of Alaska and British Columbia.

Ocean water has a green tint near Craig and Klawock, Alaska.

This deer season has been the worst in recent memory for a lot of hunters on Prince of Wales Island.

Dead sea otter and star fish

1/27/15 Early plants - Klawock, Alaska, USA

12-31-15 Late coho salmon - Klawock, Alaska, USA

Thousands of varied salmon species reported dead at Klawock River.

Sitka black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis) seen with large amount of hair loss.

We found an unusual looking spider or insect.

For years, populations of Sitka black-tail deer have slumped, leaving residents without a staple source of protein. A three-day summit held in Craig last month prompted lengthy discussions about the problem. When loggers cut down a section of old growth Sitka spruce, hemlock and cedar in the Tongass National Forest, there’s no need to replant — trees grow back on their own. It’s what scientists call an “even-aged forest.” When trees all start growing at the same time, they create a dense canopy that prevents light from reaching the ferns and berry bushes that black-tail deer love to snack on. And because the trees grow close together, they end up long and spindly — not the massive, thick, tight-grained trunks that make old growth lumber so highly valued.