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The LEO Network is a worldwide network of observers and experts that share their observations of environmental change.
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Biologists survey invasive crawfish in Kodiak Island lake
A team of biologists is surveying a lake on Kodiak Island for crawfish, an invasive species in Alaska that has been observed in higher frequency over past several years.
Kodiak, Alaska, United States
Anchorage Daily News

Trade-offs between foraging efficiency and pup feeding rate of lactating northern fur seals in a declining population
Foraging strategies and their resulting efficiency (energy gain to cost
ratio) affect animals' survival and reproductive success and can be
linked to population dynamics. However, they have rarely been studied
quantitatively in free-ranging animals. We investigated foraging
strategies and efficiencies of wild northern fur seals Callorhinus
ursinus during their breeding season to understand potential links to
the observed population decline in the Bering Sea. We equipped 20
lactating females with biologgers to determine at-sea foraging
behaviours. We measured energy expenditure while foraging using the
doubly-labelled water method, and energy gained using (1) the types and
energy densities of prey consumed, and (2) the number of prey capture
attempts (from acceleration data). Our results show that seals employed
2 foraging strategies: one group (40\%) fed mostly in oceanic waters on
small, high energy-density prey, while the other (60\%) stayed over the
shallow continental shelf feeding mostly on larger, lower quality fish.
Females foraging in oceanic waters captured 3 times more prey, and had
double the foraging efficiencies of females that foraged on-shelf in
neritic waters. However, neritic seals made comparatively shorter trips,
and likely fed their pups similar to 20 to 25\% more frequently. The
presence of these strategies which either favor foraging efficiency
(energy) or frequency of nursing (time) might be maintained in the
population because they have similar net fitness outcomes. However,
neither strategy appears to simultaneously maximize time and energy
allocated to nursing, with potential impacts on the survival of pups
during their first year at sea.
Reef Rookery, Saint Paul, Alaska, United States
MARINE ECOLOGY PROGRESS SERIES
Tiphaine Jeanniard du Dot, Andrew W. Trites, John P. Y. Arnould, John R. Speakman, Christophe Guinet

Worms frozen in permafrost for up to 42,000 years come back to life
Nematodes moving and eating again for the first time since the Pleistocene age in major scientific breakthrough, say experts.
Магадан, Магаданская область, Russia
Siberian Times

This aquatic grass could help shellfish threatened by ocean acidification
An increase in carbon emissions are showing up not only in the air, but also in water. Now researchers and shellfish farmers are teaming up to see how marine plants can help stave off the effects of ocean acidification. Special correspondent Jes Burns of Oregon Public Broadcasting reports.
Thornedyke Bay, Washington, United States
PBS NewsHour

Aequorea (hydrozoan) bloom in the Northern California Current
Dataset from Dr. Brian Burke (NOAA; brian.burke@noaa.gov); derived from surface trawls taken during NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center Juvenile Salmon & Ocean Ecosystem Survey (JSOES).
Northern California Current
NOAA NWFSC CCIEA Custom Plotting

Norway’s New Invaders: The Spanish Slug – Visions from nature
Considered the most destructive pest slug in Europe, the Spanish slug, or Arion lusitanicus, or Arion vulgaris, or sometimes Geoff (there’s some controversy over the name, thanks to the fact that the Arion genus contains up to 50 species and they all look a lot like one another) is between 7-15cm long and can weigh up to 15kilos if it’s sitting on a dog.
Norway
NTNU

Climate Change draws invasive species to the Arctic
Warmer temperatures and declining sea ice pulls foreign animals and plants to the Arctic, with drastic consequences for these sensitive ecosystems.
Nuuk, Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq, Greenland
ScienceNordic

Sun'aq Tribe of Kodiak Starts Crayfish Monitoring Program
In August 2017, Sun’aq Tribe of Kodiak was awarded funding by USFWS Tribal Wildlife Grant (TWG) Program. The two-year project, titled “Distribution, Movement and Diet of Invasive Crayfish Populations in Buskin River Watershed on Kodiak Island, Alaska” focuses on characterizing the distribution (snorkel/scuba diving surveys), movement (radio tagging) and diet (stable isotope analyses) of the Signal Crayfish population within Buskin Watershed.
Bushkin Lake, Kodiak, Alaska, United States
Sunaq.org

Record-breaking marine heatwave powered by climate change cooks Tasmania's fisheries
Climate change has warmed the waters east of Tasmania at four times the speed of the global average. But the heatwave of the southern summer of 2015/2016 was something exceptional, damaging fisheries and bringing new species to the island. It's a sign of things to come, say the researchers examining these events.
east coast of Tasmania, Australia
ScienceDaily

Sea Lice Exploded among Wild Young Salmon near BC Fish Farms
B.C salmon farms last year were besieged by sea lice, according to a new University of Toronto study, which also found a dangerously steep rise of infestation among young wild salmon who swam nearby.
Broughton Archipelago, British Columbia, Canada
The Tyee

Characterization of three novel species of Labyrinthulomycota isolated from ochre sea stars (Pisaster ochraceus)
FioRito, Rebecca, Celeste Leander, and Brian Leander. "Characterization of three novel species of Labyrinthulomycota isolated from ochre sea stars (Pisaster ochraceus." Marine Biology 163.8 (2016): 1-10.
Bamfield, British Columbia, Canada
FioRito, R., Leander, C. and Leander, B., 2016. Marine Biology, 163(8), pp.1-10.
Rebecca FioRito, Celeste Leander, and Brian Leander

Contagious cancers found in bivalves
Contagious cancers occur in clams and other bivalves, and some can even spread between different species of bivalves.
Esquimault, British Columbia, Canada
CBC News

Crawdad pie, anyone? In Kodiak, an invasive species proliferates
There's somewhat of a slow motion invasion of a fresh water crustacean happening in Buskin River and Buskin Lake. It has a hard shell, two claws and tastes great in pies.
Kodiak, Alaska, United States
Alaska Public Media

Blob of warm Pacific water may have killed dozens of whales
The "unprecedented" warm water in the Pacific caused a massive toxic algae bloom from California to Alaska.
Coastal British Columbia
CBC

Lobster population moves north due to warming ocean
The lobster population has crashed to the lowest levels on record in southern New England while climbing to heights never before seen in the cold waters off Maine and other northern reaches — a geographic shift that scientists attribute in large part to the warming of the ocean.
Portland, Maine, United States
New York Post

Scientists may have solved 2011's mysterious marine die-off along the Pacific coast
Scientists first caught on to the strange event when they found thousands of purple sea urchins and other organisms dead in their laboratory tanks. Their theory: The mass deaths were caused by a huge bloom of algae.
Northern Pacific Coast
Washington Post

Mysterious ocean 'blob' could be behind warmer B.C. temperatures
If you're wondering why British Columbia experienced such a mild winter and early spring, you could maybe blame it on a mysterious "blob" of warm water in the Pacific Ocean.
British Columbia
CBC

Lucrative crab industry in danger
For decades, the crab piled up in fishing boats like gold coins hauled from a rich and fertile sea. But the very ocean that nursed these creatures may prove to be this industry’s undoing.Scientists fear ocean acidification will drive the collapse of Alaska's iconic crab fishery.
Dutch Harbor, Alaska, United States
The Seattle Times

Growth Rate of the California Sea Cucumber Parastichopus californicus: Measurement Accuracy and Relationships between Size and Weight Metrics
Management of the fishery for California sea cucumbers *Parastichopus californicus* in the Pacific Northwest is limited by a lack of natural growth rate estimates.These findings are an important addition to the knowledge of California sea cucumber biology and are valuable for the stock assessment, fisheries management, and aquaculture of this species.
Pacific Northwest, United States
North American Journal of Fisheries Management

From common to rare: The case of the Mediterranean common dolphin
Our results showed that local fisheries have negatively impacted the marine biodiversity of the ecosystem causing sharp declines of common dolphins and major fish stocks and weakening the robustness of the marine food web.
Nydri, Ionian Islands, Greece
Biological Conservation
Piroddi, Chiara, Giovanni Bearzi, Joan Gonzalvo and Villy Christensen

Invasive Parasite Spreading Among West Coast Estuaries
A parasitic isopod that scientists identified five years ago has all but decimated mud shrimp populations in coastal estuaries ranging from British Columbia to northern California - with the exception of a handful of locations in Oregon from Waldport to Tillamook.
Newport, Oregon, United States
Phys.Org

Humboldt squid on the move
July 23, 2007 – Over the last five years, large, predatory Humboldt squid have moved north from equatorial waters and invaded the sea off Central California, where they may be decimating populations of Pacific hake, an important commercial fish.
Monterey Submarine Canyon, California, United States
MBARI

Veterinary Division - Reportable Diseases Report
All persons practicing veterinary medicine in North Carolina shall report these listed diseases and conditions to the State Veterinarian's office by telephone within two hours after the disease is reasonably suspected to exist.
North Carolina, United States
North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services news release

Simulating community effects of sea floor shading by plankton blooms over the West Florida Shelf
Phytoplankton blooms are increasingly conspicuous along the world's
coastlines, and the toxic effects of these blooms have become a major
concern. Nutrient enrichment often causes phytoplankton blooms, which
decrease water transparency, but little is known about the effects of
such light regime changes on whole communities of the continental shelf.
A series of simulations designed to evaluate the potential effects of
shading by phytoplankton blooms on community organization were conducted
using a balanced trophic model of the West Florida Shelf ecosystem and
the Ecopath with Ecosim modeling approach. Many functional groups in the
system were predicted to decline as benthic primary production was
inhibited through shading by phytoplankton, especially when associated
biogenic habitat was lost. Groups that obtain most of their energy from
planktonic pathways increased when shading impact and associated
structural habitat degradation were complemented by enhanced
phytoplankton production. Groups predicted to decline as the result of
shading by plankton blooms include seabirds, manatees, and a variety of
demersal and benthic fishes and invertebrates. Some counterintuitive
predictions of declines (mackerel, seabirds, and surface pelagics)
resulted because these groups are somewhat dependent on benthic primary
production. The overall effect of the simulated bloom-associated shading
of benthic primary producers resembled a trophic cascade where the
number of full cycles of biomass gains and losses was approximately
equal to the number of trophic levels in the system (4.7). (C) 2003
Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
The West Florida Shelf, USA
ECOLOGICAL MODELLING
Okey, TA., Vargo, GA., Mackinson, S., Vasconcellos, M., Mahmoudi, B and Meyer, CA

Federal survey delivers more bad news to Bering Sea crab fleet
The king crab harvest survey could indicate a second bleak year for crabbers in Washington, Oregon and Alaska as warm water affects the number of adult crabs.
Bering Sea
The Seattle Times

Canceled crab season could devastate Unalaska
This year, that industry came to a drastic halt. In October, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game closed both the the Bristol Bay Red King Crab and Bering Sea Snow Crab seasons. Kelty said he is expecting between the lost revenue from the past two years, intertwined with the suspended season, he is expecting both the crabbing industry along with sector businesses to lose close to a billion dollars.
Unalaska, Alaska, United States

Invasive earthworms are remaking our forests, and climate scientists are worried
As earthworms silently devour leaf litter across the country, they are changing soils, restructuring ecosystems and depleting our forests' carbon stocks.
Canada
CBC

Winter red king crab fishery in Alaska’s Bering Sea canceled
Low stocks have prompted the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) to cancel the red king crab fishery in Alaska’s Bering Sea.
Unalaska, Alaska, United States
seafoodsource.com

Sunflower sea stars need help after catastrophic population declines, scientists say
Experts say a wasting disease epidemic has decimated about 95% of the sunflower sea star population from Alaska’s Aleutian Islands to Mexico’s Baja California peninsula. Without sea stars to keep them in check, sea urchins are causing a troubling decline in kelp forests that provide food and shelter.
West Coast of North America
oregonlive

Scientists point to climate change as likely cause for Alaska snow crab decline
“This is unprecedented in the United States for a mature, rationalized fishery to suffer a stock collapse, in part due to climate change,” the executive director of the Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers said.
Bering Sea
Anchorage Daily News

'The aliens to watch': how the humble earthworm is altering the Arctic
After hitching a ride with humans, the species has colonised entire areas – and may be making the soil too fertile
the Guardian

As the once-lucrative Bering Sea crab harvest resumes, Alaska fishermen face challenges
Alaska fishermen face challenges as the Bering Sea crab harvest resumes, with environmental and economic upheaval threatening the future of the industry. Scientists are questioning whether full recovery is possible in a warming world for these ailing crab populations that have supported some of the world’s most lucrative fisheries.
Bering Sea

Ocean animals face a mass extinction from climate change, study finds
Rising temperatures and dwindling oxygen levels are decimating marine species. But humanity can avert mass die-offs by curbing fossil fuel use and other planet-warming activities.
Oceans of the World
Washington Post

How did earthworms reach Alaska traveling 30 feet a year?
Most of the 17 species of worms in Alaska seem to be exotic types that have recently settled the last Frontier with the help of humans, who gave them a lift.
Alaska, United States
Anchorage Daily News

Bering Sea crabbers fear another bleak season as populations dwindle in Alaska’s warming waters
Researchers say warmer waters themselves aren’t killing crabs, but they may be allowing predators to move in and disease to spread more easily.
Kodiak, Alaska, United States

Can sunflower sea stars keep sea urchins from overfeeding on declining kelp forests?
Researchers at Oregon State University are studying the relationship between sunflower sea stars and sea urchins to determine if the reintroduction of the sea stars can help protect declining kelp forests from overgrazing by sea urchins.
Sitka, Alaska, United States

Another Bering Sea snow crab season closure brings more financial hardships for fishermen
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced it was closing the 2023-24 Bering Sea snow crab season for the second season in a row.
Alaska News Source

Protecting Alaska's Harvest
Seldovia, Alaska, United States
Karen Pinchin

Clam Gulch and Ninilchik beaches closed to clamming for the 9th year in a row
The clam population crashed on the east side of Cook Inlet about a decade ago and has been slow to bounce back.
Clam Gulch, Alaska, United States
Alaska Public Media

Earthworm species may be native to Interior Alaska
A Fairbanks high school student has discovered five species of earthworms in Interior Alaska, including one possibly native to North America.
Fairbanks, Alaska, United States
UAF news and information

The bottom of the Bering and Chukchi seas could become too warm for some important species
There is danger lurking on the floor of the Bering and Chukchi seas for mussels, snails, clams, worms and other cold-water invertebrates, according to a new study led by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists.

Fish and Game: Tapeworm 'common' in Alaskan salmon
While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported larva of Japanese broad tapeworm has been detected in wild pink salmon from Alaska, the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game says the discovery is nothing new.
Alaska, United States

Bering Sea crab surveys show populations still low a year after marquee Alaska harvests closed
A year after the closure of the Bering Sea crab harvests in Alaska, surveys show that crab populations are still low, raising doubts about future harvest prospects and suggesting that continued closures may be necessary.
Southeast Bering Sea, Alaska
Alaska Public Media

In Hawaii, coral is the foundation of life. What happened to it after the Lahaina wildfire?
A deadly wildfire burned more than 2,000 buildings in the Hawaiian town of Lahaina on Maui in August and left behind piles of toxic debris.
Lahaina, Hawaii, United States
AP News

European Green Crab: Will they be the next aquatic invasive species in Alaska?
As ocean temperatures trend warmer than average, green crab larvae dispersed in ocean currents from more southern latitudes will find more suitable habitat along the Alaska coast. Recently, adult green crabs have been detected in Skidegate Inlet on Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, and larval crabs have been found in Prince Rupert, both less than 100 miles south of Ketchikan.
Ketchikan, Alaska, United States
Alaska Department of Fish and Game

Observed Evidence of Changing Forests:Testimonial for the Status of Tribes and Climate Change Report
The Institute of Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP) Tribes and Climate Change Program is publishing a report called the Status of Tribes and Climate C...
Spokane, Washington, United States
YouTube

Worms can be the cause of the appearance of stench in the meat of whales in Chukotka
Marine hunters of eastern Chukotka often encounter "stinky" whales whose meat is unsuitable for food. The situation has become a problem for local residents. Researchers from Moscow State University and the Beringia National Park believe they have found the causes of an unpleasant odor in animals.
Lavrentiya, Chukotskiy Avtonomnyy Okrug, Russia
goarctic.ru

Threatened listing proposed for sunflower sea star after population devastated by wasting disease
It causes legs to fall off and, ultimately, results in disintegration of the animals’ bodies. Climate change may be behind that disease, as the arrival of Pacific marine heat waves coincided with the disease outbreak, according to federal biologists.The sea star, with a range from Baja California to the Aleutians, would be the first sea star with an Endangered Species Act listing.
Gulf of Alaska

In Metlakatla, people from across Southeast learn how to watch for invasive green crabs
The destructive, invasive green crabs showed up in Metlakatla last summer. Stumpf explained a few key tells for a crab that doesn’t belong. “They have the five spines on either side of the eyes and then the three bumps in the middle,” he said. “So we’ve been teaching people with guides how to identify the crabs.”
Metlakatla, Alaska, United States
KTOO

Invasive species bill introduced to Alaska legislature
In June 2010, researchers discovered Didemnum vexillum — also known as “rock vomit” — in Whiting Harbor near Sitka. This species, which can cover large areas of the seafloor, is an aggressive invader and a potential threat to shellfish farms, groundfish fisheries, fish spawning and other resources. The council is also concerned about the European green crab which can potentially travel in the ballast water of oil tankers and be released into Prince William Sound.
Seward, Alaska, United States
Prince William Sound

Into the ice: Snow crab decline hits Bering Sea island community of St. Paul
This season’s quotas of snow crab catch were slashed by nearly 90%, a body blow to the small island government on St. Paul, where the crab are processed — and taxed.
Saint Paul, Alaska, United States

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