Background Articles

The fishing season has ended for Bering Sea Tanner crab. Crabbers caught the record-low quota of two million pounds just before the end of March. Nichols said the average size of the crab caught was smaller than in seasons past. That could be because buyers agreed to accept crab they would've previously turned away.

Residents wonder if a proposed port expansion will help or hinder efforts to address chronic social problems.

Ice lies thick on the Yenisey River as nuclear-powered icebreaker "Sibir" escorts a cargo ship to the remote terminal applied by oil company Rosneft

There’s an old saying that captures the essence of subsistence harvesting: “When the tide is out, the table is set.” Clams, mussels and other food are available for the person. Climate change has impacted subsistence in the ocean and on the land. Community members share observations on changes.

The huge sea stars, which help conserve kelp beds by eating sea urchins, have been devastated by a wasting disease that is linked by scientists to climate change.

In coming decades, the ocean conditions that triggered the snow crab crash and harvest closure are expected to be common.

Atmospheric rivers, those long, powerful streams of moisture in the sky, are becoming more frequent in the Arctic, and they’re helping to drive dramatic shrinking of the Arctic’s sea ice cover.

Harmful algal blooms will become a more common feature of a warming Arctic. Last summer, a massive bloom was detected off the coast of Western Alaska, almost by chance, when scientists sailing through the Bering Strait and Chukchi Sea found worryingly high levels of Alexandrium catenella.

About 25 kg of sticky mass from a company entered the sewage system. Sewage goes into the sea from operating plant impacting fish and other sealife.

A UAF graduate student has found microplastics in the stomachs of spotted seals harvested in the Bering Strait region.

Backyard Buoys project will give residents real time data such as wave height to whaling crews and communities throughout the North Slope. A system of buoys will be displaced across the slope this summer.

For isolated communities at the top of the world, keeping the planet’s largest land predators -- polar bears -- out of town is key to coexistence.

Warming soils beneath Utqiagvik are triggering erosion that threatens homes, infrastructure and cultural resources. The North Slope has seen some of the fastest changes in coastal erosion in the nation.

Underwater forests, such as kelp forests, have been found to cover a large area and have the potential to absorb significant amounts of carbon dioxide, making them important in addressing the climate crisis, although more research is needed to understand their long-term carbon sequestration capabilities.

The Arctic Sounder - Serving the Northwest Arctic and the North Slope

The Arctic hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T., is collapsing into the ocean as it loses up to a meter of coastline each year. The people who live there are in a race against time to preserve their way of life — and their community — before it is washed away.

Garbage and wood were removed by the municipal services of the village of Rytkuchi of the Pevek urban district from the coastline and tundra near the settlement. This was the final stage of a large-scale clean-up, which began in the summer after a strong storm.

There are new signs that killer whales, which are swimming farther north and staying for longer periods of the year in Arctic waters, are increasingly preying on Alaska’s bowhead whales. A newly published study found that 2019, an especially warm year in the region, also seems to have been an especially dangerous year for bowheads.

The recent closure of the Bering Sea snow crab and Bristol Bay red king crab fisheries has some Western Alaska towns taking a hard look at their futures, including St. Paul.

For the first time ever, the Bering Sea snow crab fishery will not open for the upcoming season. The Bristol Bay red king crab fishery will also be closed for a second year in a row.