Background Articles

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.

The Institute of Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP) Tribes and Climate Change Program is publishing a report called the Status of Tribes and Climate C...

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.

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.

It’s not what you think.

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.”

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.

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.

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.