Background Articles

In September 2021, photographer Dmitry Kokh visited Kolyuchin Island and found the strange sight of polar bears that had taken over an abandoned settlement.

Reports of groups of up to 10 mule deer in Southeast Alaska near Skagway have been received by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and there is evidence that fawns are being born here. Studies show that nearby populations harbor a variety of diseases that have biologists concerned.

While the Kenai Peninsula is relatively lucky that the ecosystems here are fairly intact, there are still a handful of invasive species making their way into the streams, fields and gardens here.

The warming climate in Alaska and across the circumpolar North is creating new health and safety risks for people, animals and ecosystems. This piece is the part of a series that explores zoonotic diseases and other hazards emerging in a warming and thawing Alaska. One warm June day, Joey Ausel found an odd speck

Polar bears have started scavenging in areas populated by humans, as well as coming ashore at the same time seabirds are nesting and snacking on their eggs. This new behavior is due to shrinking of their hunting grounds, where they usually hunt for smaller porpoises and seals.

Warming waters have driven thousands of ocean species poleward from the equator, threatening marine ecosystems and the livelihoods of people who depend on them.

A never before seen species of Ermine (the Haida Ermine), has been discovered in Southeast Alaska. It is one of three main ermine species in the world. Researchers say the isolation of Prince of Wales Island and Haida Gwaii allowed the species to develop and that there could be more discoveries to be made.

Also dubbed the murder hornet, the invasive wasps threaten pollinators and have been found in communities along both sides of the Canada-U.S. border and on Vancouver Island. B.C. officials will focus on the Fraser Valley in their efforts to track and eradicate Asian giant hornets this year.

Researchers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration believe they have identified a new species of whale in the Gulf of Mexico. The Rice's whale is a filter feeder that can grow to 42 feet. It's also critically endangered. There are believed to be fewer than 100 of them left.

People swimming at Sydney's world famous Bondi Beach had a close shave with several sharks. Drone footage showed dozens of people taking a morning dip and swimming past a large school of salmon, unaware that up to two sharks, believed to be Grey Nurses, were feeding on the fish nearby.

Bottlenose dolphins on Scotland’s east coast are expanding their range and swimming further south, according to one of the world’s longest-running studies of the species.

Researchers have identified an invasive blood-sucking parasite on mud shrimp in the waters of British Columbia's Calvert Island. The discovery represents the northern-most record of the parasite on the West Coast and is likely an indication of its ability to spread without human transport.

Asian giant hornets are the largest of all hornet species. This specimen was 1½ inches (four centimetres) long but they can be up to a centimeter longer and have a wingspan the size of a small hummingbird.

How the beavers got to the Baldwin Peninsula, which is surrounded by salt water and extends north of the Arctic Circle, is anyone’s guess.

Sightings of the Asian giant hornet have prompted fears that the vicious insect could establish itself in the United States and devastate bee populations.

Changes are coming to the Arctic so fast that scientists haven't even had a chance to understand what's there

Scientists have documented a recent population explosion of beavers on the Baldwin Peninsula near Kotzebue.