LEO Network

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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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Observations

King crab boom in northern Norway has become multi-million dollar industry
This crab from the Pacific Ocean was once introduced into the Barents waters of the Soviet Union in Arctic Russia. Since then the invasive species has spread to Norway’s Barents Sea and a multi-million dollar industry has sprung up around it. In 2023 Norway exported 2,500 tons of king crab worth 1,2 billion kroner (€100 million).
Barrents, Norway
The Independent Barents Observer

Mystery invertebrate in a red crab
A crab was caught on the ice just offshore in Nome. It had a small invertebrate in the gills of the crab.
Nome, Alaska, United States

Sea Lice Outbreak Claims At Least 1 Million Salmon in Tálknafjörður
An unprecedented outbreak of sea lice in Tálknafjörður has led to the loss, or the need to dispose of, at least one million salmon. “Nobody has seen anything like this before. There is a Norwegian veterinarian who has been working in Iceland because of this and he has never seen anything like this in his 30-year career,” Karl Steinar observed.
Talknafjordur, Westfjords, Iceland
Iceland Review

Alaska cancels snow crab harvest again due to population concerns
The snow crab harvest in Alaska has been canceled for the second year in a row due to concerns about population sustainability, but red king crab and Tanner crab will be available for commercial fishermen this season. Last year was the first time in history the U.S. snow crab fishery was closed. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game said the harvests were closed over concerns about long-term conservation and the sustainability of crab stocks.
Kodiak, Alaska, United States

Crab pots 'absolutely stuffed' as Bering Sea Dungeness fishery breaks records
While many Bering Sea crab populations find themselves in freefall, Dungeness crab is breaking records in regions that used to hardly see them.
Nome, Alaska, United States
Alaska Public Media

High levels of PSP in Blue Mussels
Blue mussels collected on 6/15/2023, were way above the FDA limit for safe consumption of 80 μg/100g.
Sand Point, Alaska, United States

Dangerous PSP toxin levels found in some Southwest Alaska clams, mussels
High levels of PSP toxins have been found in razor clams in Chignik Lagoon and blue mussels in Sand Point, Alaska, making them unsafe to eat and potentially causing paralytic shellfish poisoning, with no known cure.
Chignik, Alaska, United States
Alaska Public Media

Floating Helmet
"My son found this helmet floating here in Prince William Sound."
Tatitlek, Alaska, United States

Invasive Pacific oyster spreading rapidly in Norway
The invasive Pacific oyster is spreading rapidly in Oslofjord, causing injuries to bathers and threatening local ecosystems, with Oslo municipality now offering a reward for their removal.
Oslofjord, Oslo Viken, Norway
TV 2

Rare pearl mussels discovered in Highland and Trossachs lochs
Scientists said the critically-endangered species had previously only been found in rivers and know pearl mussels have been discovered in the Scotland Lochs.
Scotland
BBC News

Hawke’s Bay red sea’s final act was to kill sea creatures
Test results show the bloom was almost certainly to blame for mass deaths of kina as well as crayfish, starfish and sea cucumber which washed ashore at Hardinge Rd, including Sandy Beach, and on a small part of Westshore Beach eight days ago.
Hawke's Bay, New Zealand
NZ Herald

Invertebrates recover at Miller Creek
Just over a year ago, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game applied the pesticide rotenone to two lakes and a stream in the remote Miller Creek drainage on the northern Kenai Peninsula to eradicate the last known population of invasive northern pike on the Kenai Peninsula.
Soldotna, Alaska, United States
Peninsula Clarion

NOAA trawl survey: Cold pool returns in the Bering Sea
The Bering Sea’s cold pool, a critical part of the seafloor ecosystem, had shrunk to a worrying degree in recent years, but it is continuing to slowly return, according to the latest results of NOAA’s bottom trawl survey. Saffron cod, also called tomcod, seems to be bouncing back after a few bad years, and Arctic cod and blue king crab numbers were also better.
Bering Sea
The Nome Nugget

Saxitoxin detected in regional clam
By Diana Haecker
Savoonga, Alaska, United States
The Nome Nugget

Lots of dead krill washed up on Sarichef Island
Die-offs of krill are in some cases associated with hypoxia (low oxygen) excess sediment suspended in the water column and changes in water temperature. There were recent reports of high levels of Alexandrium in water samples in the areas, and Norton Sound Health Corporation is performing some testing of krill samples (see below). There was also an unprecedented storm event only a week ago, unusual for the storm surge and early season.
Shishmaref, Alaska, United States
Gay Sheffield, Brandon Ahmasuk, Dean Stockwell, Racheal Lee, Jacqualine Schaeffer, Anahma Shannon, Sadie McGill, Emma Pate

Aquaculture: Oyster and mussel growers on Prince Edward Island calculating losses from Fiona
James Power doesn’t have a final tally yet on how much post tropical storm Fiona cost Raspberry Point Oysters Ltd., but the damages are likely to be in the ...
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada

Storm bounty in clams
Storms can bring a bounty to the beach - driftwood sometimes or in this case, clams! But be careful out there. There are new concerns about emerging levels of harmful algae in Western Alaska waters, which could impact shellfish and human health.
Mertarvik, Alaska, United States
Louisa Castrodale, Chris Dankmeyer, Jacqualine Schaeffer, Gay Sheffield, Racheal Lee, Bob Gerlach, Brian Lefferts, Emma Pate, Joanna Barton, Julie Matweyou, Thomas Farrugia, Karen Pletnikoff

Unidentified juvenile crab
Juvenille crab was found at a salmon set-net site. Is this a Puget Sound species that has now been found on the Alaska Peninsula?
Orzinski Bay
Tammy Davis, Karen Pletnikoff, Melissa Good, Asia Beder

Norton Sound crab fishery bounces back with record year following fishing hiatus
After no commercial crabbing since 2019, this summer’s Norton Sound Red King Crab fishery had a record year of $3.7 million dollars in ex-vessel value.
Nome, Alaska, United States
KNOM Radio Mission

Evidence of invasive crab that could wreak havoc on Alaska fisheries found near Metlakatla
The European Green Crab are a threat to ecosystems and commercial fisheries. They uproot eelgrass beds in search of food, which serve as habitat for herring and salmon.
Metlakatla, Alaska, United States
Alaska Public Media

B.C.’s sea life is bouncing back, slowly, after the 2021 heat dome
One UBC scientist says his early estimation that a billion creatures died from the 2021 heat dome was too low. Today, life is returning to areas scorched by last year’s unprecedented heat wave. The die off was patchy and the plants and animals in the intertidal zone that survived the heat wave “are the parents to the next generation,” Harley said.
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
The Narwhal

Sudden lake draining event
"The event occurred on June 29th, on our native allotment near Kotzebue (Illivak). We left home in the morning and when we came back around 8:00 PM in the evening the whole lake had drained! It looked like it was blown up with dynamite."
Kotzebue, Alaska, United States
Ken Tape, Richard L Thoman Jr, Gemini , Guido Grosse, Susan Tessier, Benjamin Jones, Anna Liljedahl , Vladimir Romanovsky, Jacqualine Schaeffer, Joanna Barton, Ingmar Nitze, Bruce Forbes

Volunteers confront an invasion of black slugs near Whittier
Volunteers at the Whittier Slug-Out learned about Alaska’s invasive species and helped mitigate European black slugs near a popular cove on Prince William Sound.
Whittier, Alaska, United States
Anchorage Daily News

Decaying Sea Cucumbers
I have photos of four different sea cucumbers decaying, but my friend claims to have observed around 10 dead sea cucumbers.
Saxman, Alaska, United States
Jesse Endert, Gary Freitag, Mandy Lindeberg

Rarely found snail at Saltstraumen in Bodø, not seen since the 19th century
When he checked closer, he found that the snail he found was an Arctic shrub, or *Dendronotus robustus*. All of the previous sightings have been made on Svalbard, so this may be the first confirmed find in mainland Norway.
Bodø, Nordland, Norway
NRK

Photographer finds massive octopus dead on Vancouver Island shore
A B.C. photographer and her dog found a Giant Pacific octopus washed up on the shore of a Vancouver Island beach.
Cherry Point, British Columbia, Canada
Victoria Times Colonist

Japanese skeleton shrimp found in Nateekin Bay
Historically cold temperatures made it difficult for invasive species survive in Alaska. The Japanese skeleton shrimp *Caprella mutica* is now established in Unalaska area and in this observation observed on a buoy line in Nateekin Bay.
Unalaska, Alaska, United States
Melissa Good, Tammy Davis, Elizabeth E Mears

Encouraging signs in Huu-ay-aht rivers, despite salmon declines elsewhere
Observations this year from Huu-ay-aht territory see that volume of herring may finally be improving, as the First Nation is reporting a growing number of wild salmon migrating through its rivers.
Anacla 12, British Columbia, Canada
Ha-Shilth-Sa

High clam mortality rate forces closure on east Cook Inlet next year
An approximate 69% of adult razor clams at Ninilchik beaches and 84% at Clam Gulch beaches have died. The department said the cause of the high natural mortality rate of the clams remains unknown, but may be due to a combination of heavy surf, habitat changes, environmental stressor and predation.
Clam Gulch, Alaska, United States
Peninsula Clarion

Invasive European green crab found in Nuu-chah-nulth territories
The Lummi Nation has declared a disaster after removing 70,000 invasive European green crabs from their sea pond in November.
According to Seattle-based King News, the Lummi Nation cultivates shellfish and juvenile salmon in their 750-acre sea pond. The European green crab preys on young oysters, clams, and are known to dig down into the sand, uprooting eel grass, which is habitat for juvenile salmon.
Marietta-Alderwood, Washington, United States
Ha-Shilth-Sa

Harmful algae colours the Oslo fjord green
Scientists now say that the harmful alga will survive the winter and that it will probably turn green in the Oslo fjord next year as well.
Oslofjord, Oslo, Norway
NRK
Lea Girolami Bråthen, Dag Aasdalen, Maren Nan Myrseth

Jellyfish attack nuclear power plant
Scotland’s only working nuclear power plant at Torness shut down in an emergency procedure this week when jellyfish clogged the sea water-cooling intake pipes at the plant. To protect marine life and avert nuclear disasters, scientists are investigating the use of drones to provide estimates of jellyfish locations, amounts, and density.
Torness Power Station, Scotland
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

Gumboot Chiton Cryptochiton stelleri Die-off
We saw over 100 on a 1/2 mile stretch of beach. I am wondering if the chiton die-off is related to the stormy conditions or something else?
Coupeville, Washington, United States

Valuable crab populations are in a ‘very scary’ decline in warming Bering Sea
King and snow crab populations in the Bering Sea have plummeted ahead of the harvest season, some by 99% compared to previous years.
Bering Sea
The Seattle Times

An invasive parasite is taking over Alaska blue mud shrimp. Researchers want to kill it.
Orthione griffenis, or O. griffenis, eventually kills its host shrimp, and soon the remaining shrimp can’t find each other to reproduce, rendering a blue mud shrimp population extinct.
Sitka, Alaska, United States

Large jellyfish threaten fisheries in the Sea of Japan
Swarms of giant jellyfish are floating along the coastline of the Sea of Japan, and the damage they may cause to fisheries is feared to be the worst in more than a decade.
Wakasa Bay, Japan
The Japan News

Decrease in Prawn Abundance of Desolation Sound
It is apparent that this area of coastline has experienced a sharp decline in its prawn populations. This may be due to increased fishing pressure from commercial prawn fishermen.
Powell River, British Columbia, Canada
David Oswald, Cody Thomas, Conlan Magel, Tom Okey

Marine vomit spread along the western coast of Norway
A self-cloning and invincible enemy invades coastal areas. The carpet sea squirt (Didemnum vexillum) or “marine vomit” have been observed nearby Stavanger and Bergen. Large yellow flakes has spread on the seabed and kills everything beneath. It may grow on boats and can spread along the coast.
Engøysundet, Stavanger, Rogaland, Norway
NRK
Josef Benoni Ness Tveit, Håkon Mannsåker

Sea cucumber die-off near Vancouver Island
When Kathleen Reed descended for her usual weekly dive off the coast of Nanaimo, B.C., last Saturday she was shocked by how many dead sea cucumbers she saw. Experts and harvesters fear that sea cucumbers are being hit by an illness similar to sea star wasting disease.
Dolphin Beach, British Columbia, Canada
CBC

Not seeing as many earthworms after rain events
"This year I walked along the same route after a rainstorm and see only one or two — sometimes none"
Anchorage, Alaska, United States
Kimberly Porter, Luke Williams, Derek Sikes

He has lived for 74 years – for the first time the river is dry
Extreme drought in the west means that households with private waterworks are out of water. Elvar's dried up. "The situation is very serious," he says.
Skinlo, Breim, Vestland, Norway

Sea Life Die-Off Found on Beach
"While on a field trip for work, we stopped at the beach and you can notice hundreds of dead clams and star fish littering the beach."
Elim, Alaska, United States
Carol Oliver, Derek Sikes, Leigh Takak, Gay Sheffield, Racheal Lee

B.C.'s heat wave may be to blame for several cases of shellfish poisoning
Several people have fallen ill with food poisoning after eating shellfish in B.C. in the last 10 days, and health officials are warning that warm ocean waters might be to blame.
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
CBC

Blue mussel die-off in Skagway
"The first wave of dead mussels washed ashore on July 14th, possibly earlier but this was the first report we received. I took the pictures included in my LEO observation on July 16th, and the temperatures were only just then beginning to climb into the upper 70s and lower 80s."
Skagway, Alaska, United States
Kris Holderied, Mandy Lindeberg, Reuben Cash

European Skipper (Thymelicus lineola) in Northwest, BC
A European Skipper butterfly is observed in Northwest BC, an introduced species and one of several stressors underlying insect declines.
Smithers, British Columbia, Canada

Intertidal life after significant heat wave
In Malahat Drive in BC, an extraordinary heat wave, combined with low tides during the middle of the day resulted in the die off of possibly billions of intertidal invertebrates along the coast of British Columbia and Washington State.
Malahat Drive

Extreme heat cooks shellfish alive on Puget Sound beaches
A record-shattering heat wave June 26-28 coincided with some of the year's lowest tides on Puget Sound. The combination was lethal for millions of mussels, clams, oysters, sand dollars, barnacles, sea stars, moon snails, and other tideland creatures exposed to three afternoons of intense heat.
Anacortes, Washington, United States
KUOW

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