Background Articles

The current outbreaks of avian influenza (also called “bird flu”) have caused devastation in animal populations, including poultry, wild birds, and some mammals, and harmed farmers’ livelihoods and the food trade. Although largely affecting animals, these outbreaks pose ongoing risks to humans.

Beluga whales in Cook Inlet have been in a long period of decline, about two percent a year. But a new population count points to a reversal. The latest numbers have led researchers to declare the population stable for the first time in decades.

A federal appeals panel issued a last-second ruling Wednesday that will allow this summer’s Southeast Alaska troll chinook salmon fishery to open as scheduled July 1.

Scientists think a traumatized orca initiated the assault on boats after a "critical moment of agony" and that the behavior is spreading among the population through social learning.

Ireland’s major contribution to the study of whales comes from an accidental stranding off the coast of Wexford.

The whaling industry and whale experts believe Norway must promote whale meat. The Minister of Fisheries fears that this could ruin the sale of other Norwegian seafood.

On the north slope, the whale brings together and sustains life for everyone. "We have a bond with the animals. They fed us, they clothed us, they sheltered us since time immemorial. Without them, we wouldn't survive the Arctic."

At the world’s northernmost year-round research station, scientists are racing to understand how the fastest-warming place on Earth is changing — and what those changes may mean for the planet’s future.

Scientists are studying the diets of the oceans’ top predators as they change in response to their environments. This is because how much and what they eat can affect how ecosystems function.

The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency has allowed for 1,500 grey seals to be hunted in the Baltic Sea and 630 harbour seals on the west coast.

Large, high-fat copepods — distantly related to shrimp and crab — are dwindling and loosing fat with the lack of sea ice from global warming.

The Copper River Basin in Alaska has experienced less reliable snow and ice conditions in recent years, impacting winter activities such as trapping, hunting, and gathering firewood. This study, based on nine oral interviews with local residents, reveals that crossing rivers has become more treacherous and difficult, with significant changes in ice conditions observed since the 1970s. Decreased snowpacks and increased shrub growth have also posed obstacles for accessing winter trails, requiring individuals to cut through forests. These changes, combined with socio-economic and technological factors, have affected the way people engage in winter activities in the Copper River Basin. Overall, this research contributes to the understanding of climate change's impact on winter activities in Alaska and the Circumpolar North.

Only certain Alaska Native people can hunt sea otters. But as otter populations have grown, so have calls to loosen federal laws protecting them.

With ice declining, bowhead whales of the Pacific Arctic choose to stay longer in the waters up north. A change in migration patterns could affect the bowheads' health and safety, as well as the hunters' access to the subsistence resource.

A new variant of bird flu has recently infected both sea lions and mink. Health authorities around the world are now monitoring that it does not begin to infect humans.

Russian and American scientists have been cut off from collaborating for a year, and Arctic research is suffering.

A new report predicts there will be almost no narwhal left in an area off the northeastern coast of Baffin Island this summer and says shipping traffic from the nearby Mary River iron ore mine is to blame. The mine's operator says it leaves out key information.

The pack killed all the black-tailed deer on the island and another established pack back on the mainland was preventing their return. Scientists assumed they would die off from starvation.

A polar bear that killed a young mother and her baby last month in western Alaska was likely an older animal in poor physical condition.

Despite the negativity toward using and selling fur, Indigenous people say fur can be a sustainable, respectful and even luxurious material for clothing, accessories and art.