LEO Network

About the LEO Network
The LEO Network is a worldwide network of observers and experts that share their observations of environmental change.
Continue

Observations

The Arctic is full of mercury, and scientists think they know how it's getting there
The remote Arctic tundra may seem like the last place on Earth human pollution should be causing a problem — yet it’s filled with mercury contamination.
Toolik Field Station, Alaska, United States
The Washington Post

Oil spill tops 1 million gallons, threatens Gulf of Mexico wildlife
A spill from a pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico has released over 1 million gallons of oil, threatening local wildlife and prompting containment efforts.
Gulf of Mexico
Washington Post

Sea life beneath Antarctic ice shelf is changing, and warming may be why
In dives to the seafloor, scientists have noticed big differences in only a few years.
McMurdo Station, Antarctica
Washington Post

In hot water: South Florida ocean tops 100 degrees; could be world record
A buoy in Manatee Bay, about 40 miles south of Miami, posted a temperature of 101.1 degrees at 6 p.m. after a morning low of 91 degrees. Temperatures remained at or above 100 from 5 p.m. through late evening. For comparison, the “ideal” temperature of a hot tub is 100 to 102 degrees, according to jacuzzi.com.
Miami, Florida, United States
Washington Post

Warmer Arctic waters attract surprising visitors: clams, fish and whales
Ice in the north Bering Sea is diminishing, researchers aboard a Coast Guard ship report.

Scientists have discovered vast systems of flowing water in Antarctica. And that worries them.
Nansen Ice Sheet, Antarctica

The Pacific blob caused an 'unprecedented' toxic algal bloom - and there's more to come
The 'blob' caused it this time around. But oceans will keep getting warmer in the future.
Northeast Pacific Ocean

Carbon dioxide spikes to critical record, halfway to doubling preindustrial levels
The concentration of the heat-trapping gas topped 420 parts per million, while the planet has warmed more than two degrees. This is the highest daily average concentration to be recorded. Data was collected at the Mauna Loa Observatory on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii

Scientists may have solved 2011’s mysterious marine die-off along the Pacific coast
Scientists first caught on to the strange event when they found thousands of purple sea urchins and other organisms dead in their laboratory tanks.
Northern Pacific Coast

North Pole surges above freezing in the dead of winter, stunning scientists
Arctic temperatures are warmer than ever recorded in February.
North Pole

This Giant Dead Sea Creature Washed Up On An Island, And It's Freaking Everyone Out
Pulau Seram, Maluku, Indonesia
The Huffington Post

California Sea Level Could Rise 10 Feet By End Of This Century
San Bruno, California, United States
The Huffington Post

Canada's 'Iceberg Alley' Is Spectacular This Year For A Sad Reason
Ferryland, Newfoundland, Canada
The Huffington Post

Wave after wave of garbage hits the Dominican Republic
The images are shocking, but perhaps not for people who live in the Dominican Republic.'It happens pretty much all the time,' says Cyrill Gutsch
Santo Domingo de Guzmán, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
National Post

This May Be The Most Contaminated Killer Whale Ever Recorded
Tiree, Scotland, United Kingdom
Huffington Post

Plastic pollution in Thailand soars during Covid-19 pandemic
Thai canals are clogged with discarded packaging, landfills are overflowing with mountains of bags, and trash bins are stuffed full of crumpled food wrapping.
Thailand
South China Morning Post

Sargassum harasses South Florida during worst seaweed assault on record
South Florida beaches faced a sargassum assault this summer that some scientists believe is part of the largest spread of the nomadic marine weed on record, and one that could continue through September.
Palm Beach, Florida, United States
Palm Beach Post

Turkey struck by ‘sea snot’ because of global heating
Increasing blanket of mucus-like substance in water threatens coral and fishing industry
Sea of Marmara
the Guardian

Satellites track real-time damage of ocean blob menacing Hawaii
A blob menacing Hawaii is now visible from space. A massive heatwave in the Pacific Ocean is killing off coral. Satellites are capturing the destruction so that scientists can learn how to rebuild the reefs.
Hawai'i, United States
The Verge

Hundreds of apparently 'flash-frozen' turtles wash ashore in New England
Robert Prescott, of the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, believes a warming trend allowed the turtles to delay their migration south.
Cape Cod, Massachusetts, United States
the Guardian

North Atlantic right whales may face extinction after no new births recorded
Declining fertility and rising mortality, exacerbated by fishing industry, prompts experts to warn whales could be extinct by 2040
Gulf of Maine
the Guardian

Oceans suffocating as huge dead zones quadruple since 1950
Areas starved of oxygen in open ocean and by coasts have soared in recent decades, risking dire consequences for marine life and humanity
Temuco, La Araucanía, Chile
The Guardian

Octopus invasion on Welsh beach blamed on effects of recent storms
An incredibly rare octopus invasion may have been caused by recent storms. Storm Ophelia, quickly followed by Storm Brian caused huge waves and storm surges as gusts of up to 80 mph hit the Welsh coast.
New Quay, Wales, United Kingdom
The Telegraph

Penguin disaster as just two chicks survive from colony of 40,000
‘Catastrophic breeding event’ leads to demands for a marine protected area to be set up in East Antarctica
Petril Island

Plastic waste now polluting Arctic Ocean, scientists find
Plastic waste in the ocean is now so widespread it is polluting remote ice floes in the Arctic, scientists have discovered.
Arctic Ocean
The Telegraph

Rough seas hamper containment and recovery operations at White Rose oilfield
Husky Energy was still working as of deadline to address a sizable offshore oil spill that occurred Friday, but rough seas on Saturday and into Sunday afternoon continued to prevent containment and recovery of approximately 250,000 liters of oil despite the arrival of a recovery team Sunday afternoon.
White Rose Oilfield
The Telegram

Thousands of seabirds found dead along east coast – with climate change blamed
Rising sea temperatures may mean prey swimming in deeper water out of reach of guillemots, razorbills, puffins and kittiwakes
Stromness, Scotland, United Kingdom
The Independent

Rare Glass Sponge Reef Smothered By Fish Farm Waste
Underwater camera captured ‘a wasteland, covered in brown sediment.’
Cecil Island Fish Farm, British Columbia, Canada
The Tyee

Caribbean-bound tourists cancel holidays due to foul-smelling seaweed
Algal blooms threaten the economies of the globe’s most tourism dependent nations, scuttle holidays plans and give climate scientists more to worry about
Cancún, Quintana Roo, Mexico

‘It’s time for us to go’: the Mexican fishing village swallowed by the sea
El Bosque, a Mexican fishing village with a population of 400 people, is being swallowed by rising sea levels, and experts predict that the entire village could be underwater within a year, leaving residents displaced and without adequate housing alternatives.
El Bosque, Tabasco, Mexico

Killer whales are stalking boats and stealing their fish
Pods of killer whales are stalking the boats of Alaska fishermen and stealing their halibut catches, leaving the men with no fish and thousands of gallons of fuel wasted trying to flee.
It’s not...
Bering Sea
The Verge

Three great white sharks venture 'very tight' to Nova Scotia shores
Three great white sharks broke the border rules big-time on Friday. The sharks were tracking very tight to shore near South Shore communities.
Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada
The Telegram

Thousands of Queensland beachgoers stung by swarm of jellyfish
Surf Life Saving Queensland said a “whopping” 3,595 people were stung by jellyfish, forcing the closure of popular swimming spots across the northern state. Lifeguards said the invasion was caused by unusually strong north-easterly winds.
Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
The Independent

'Nature is taking back Venice': wildlife returns to tourist-free city
Look down into the waters of the Venice canals today and there is a surprising sight – not just a clear view of the sandy bed, but shoals of tiny fish, scuttling crabs and multi-coloured plant-life.
Venice, Veneto, Italy
The Guardian

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

Thousands of blue jellyfish clog cooling system in Israeli power plant
Thousands of jellyfish clogged up a cooling system and threatened to suspend production at a power plant in Israel. Video filmed at the Electric Company power plant on Thursday shows the light blue sea creatures being swept down a chute and into a bin. The power plant, based in the coastal city of Ashkelon, about 15 miles north of the Gaza strip, uses seawater to cool its
Ashqelon, Southern District, Israel
The Independent

Russian scientists find 'most powerful' ever methane seep in Arctic Ocean
Russian scientists in the Arctic Ocean said they have discovered the most powerful methane gas fountain ever recorded, highlighting the danger of this greenhouse gas accelerating climate change or causing an oil or gas spill as it erupts from thawing permafrost.
Bennett Island, Russia
The Telegraph

Caribbean swamped by seaweed that smells like rotten eggs
From Belize to Barbados, tourist beaches have been swamped by huge tides of foul-smelling sargassum – and climate change could make the problem worse
Ambergris Caye, Belize, Belize

Melting Arctic ice reduces bowhead whale migration
Researchers in Canada find that population did not bother making the 6,000km roundtrip in 2018-2019
Bearing, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas

38 million pieces of plastic waste found on uninhabited South Pacific island
Henderson Island

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

Sea Lice Plagues Return and Threat to Wild Salmon Increases
Major sea lice epidemics have erupted on Atlantic salmon fish farms on Vancouver Island’s west coast over the last three months, according to industry, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and independent reports.
Clayquot Sound, British Columbia, Canada
The Tyee

Meat industry blamed for largest-ever dead zone in Gulf of Mexico
A new report shows toxins from suppliers to companies like Tyson Foods are pouring into waterways, causing marine life to leave or die

Sierra Leone's stinking seaweed linked to Caribbean invasion
Proliferation of thick brown algae is affecting fishing, tourism and marine life on both sides of the Atlantic, say scientists
Tokeh, Western, Sierra Leone

The Salish Sea’s orcas are late for their annual summer visit, the latest sign something is wrong
Researchers say their absence is a stark reminder that the orcas are slowly starving to death because there is not enough Chinook salmon to sustain them.
Salish Sea
The Star

Seabirds found with more than 250 pieces of plastic lodged in their stomachs
Scientists examining the devastating impact plastics are having on the world's oceans have identified seabirds with more than 250 man made objects lodged in their stomachs.

Major Disaster Averted in Icy Kara Sea After Two Oil Barges Ran Aground
Fuel shipments normally take place during autumn from departure ports such as Murmansk and Arkhangelsk. However, last fall saw a sudden freeze-up and quickly accumulating sea-ice on the Northern Sea Route, including the Kara Sea. Of the two rescued barges, one contained 7,000 tons of diesel fuel, while the other was loaded with 170 tons of kerosene.
The Moscow Times

Ecosystems across Australia are collapsing under climate change
Australia has seen an unprecedented number of widespread, catastrophic transformations in response to extreme weather events.
Australia
The Conversation

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

Farmed Atlantic Salmon Virus Linked to Disease in Chinook
Research finds farmed salmon virus may cause jaundice/anemia.
Okisollo Channel, British Columbia, Canada
The Tyee

Whale-dolphin hybrid species discovered off coast of Hawaii
A rare whale-dolphin hybrid species has been discovered off the coast of Hawaii, scientists say. The animal is the first-ever documented offspring of a rough-toothed dolphin and the rare melon-headed whale, a team from the Cascadia Research Collective concluded in a report released this week.
Kaua'i, Hawaii, United States

Weathering 'Storm of the Century'
Conception Bay South was dealt a hard hand by what some have dubbed the ‘storm of the century.’ At least two local churches, Topsail United and All Saints in Foxtrap saw siding ripped off their steeples by the 120 kph winds.The most extensive damage was along the coastline, with both CBS mayor Terry French and Royal Newfoundland Yacht Club Commodore Larry LeDrew estimating millions of dollars worth of damage.
Conception Bay South, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
The Shoreline News

Extraordinary levels of pollutants found in 10km deep Mariana trench
Mariana Trench

Humpback Whale Rescued Near Russia’s Murmansk Region
A humpback whale named Stanislav was successfully freed from a fishing net in a first-of-its-kind rescue operation in Russia's Barents Sea.
Murmansk, Murmansk, Russia
The Moscow Times

«We have a difficult ice situation around the oil platform»
At this time of year, there has never before been such a complicated ice condition around Russia’s offshore Arctic oil platform «Prirazlomnaya».
The Independent Barents Observer

Large-scale internet outage due to cut fiberoptic cable interrupts business as usual
On Sunday, Nomeites noticed that their internet wasn’t working and that cell service was spottier than usual. Large fiberoptic line was damaged by sea ice deep underneath the moving sea ice above.
Nome, Alaska, United States
The Nome Nugget

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

Researchers find high concentrations of harmful algae in regional waters
Researchers stepping off the research vessel Norseman II in Nome last weekend, brought significant news of having found very high concentrations of a phytoplankton called Alexandrium catenella in regional waters. Alexandrium is an algae that can produce saxitoxins, which can cause dangerous paralytic shellfish poisoning in people. The scientists issued an advisory, notifying Norton Sound Health Corporation, UAF Sea Grant and the Alaska Division of Public Health.
Nome, Alaska, United States

Researchers find even higher algal levels in regional waters
After alerting the region to very high levels of harmful algal blooms west of Kotzebue and Gambell two weeks ago, scientist onboard the research vessel Norseman II have found even higher numbers of Alexandrium catenella algae cells near Wales, Diomede and Shishmaref.
Wales, Alaska, United States

Storm erodes shoreline at Shishmaref
High winds that pushed water high up on south facing shores of the Seward Peninsula cause shoreline erosion on the Chukchi Sea coast of Shishmaref, last week.
Shishmaref, Alaska, United States

Dead birds prompt warnings across Island
Health and animal control officials on the Island are warning that possible avian flu, specifically highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), may have infected hundreds of dead cormorants that have been found on Martha’s Vineyard beaches. On Wednesday, the state issued a press release saying that there has been an increase in shorebird deaths statewide, with …
Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, United States
The Martha's Vineyard Times

40-Meter High Wave Hits Icelandic Coast
The Road and Coastal Administration reported record-high waves at the south coast of Iceland as a severe storm swept the county.
Reykjavík, Capital Region, Iceland
The Reykjavik Grapevine

Spill of farmed Atlantic salmon near San Juan Islands much bigger than first estimates
A fish farm was destroyed after the Atlantic salmon escape, with Cooke Aquaculture calling it a “salvage operation.” Scientists debunked the statement from Cooke that “exceptionally high tides and currents coinciding with this week’s solar eclipse” caused the damage.
Cypress Island, Washington, United States
The Seattle Times

Graves continue to erode at historic St. Michael cemetery
Graves at the historic St. Michael cemetery in Alaska are eroding due to increased storms and erosion, prompting an archaeologist to recover exposed remains and coordinate efforts to re-bury them. Tom Wolforth’s prime mission was to appropriately handle the remains and make sure they could be reburied. He has been working closely with the tribe and the municipality to address their concerns. One concern, Martin said, was that these exposed remains could pose a risk of disease, especially if the dead had been buried during the time of the 1918 flu pandemic. But Wolforth assured them that if properly handled this shouldn’t be a problem.
St. Michael, 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

Seawall to protect Utqiagvik from extreme storms
A seawall planned for Utqiagvik is aimed at protecting residents from extreme storms while preserving their connection to the ocean.
Utqiaġvik, Alaska, United States
The Arctic Sounder
Alaska Media, LLC., Steve Keller designer and application developer

Two more Russian tankers transit Bering Strait
Two more Russian LNG tankers made history earlier this month passing through the North Sea Route, which extends along the northern coast of Russian Asia, in late January, the latest commercial ship
Diomede, Alaska, United States

Russian Cosmonaut Shares Unique Video of Shrinking Aral Sea as Seen From Outer Space
Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev posted a video of the Aral Sea on his Telegram channel showing the surface of the Aral Sea.  “Flying over the Aral Sea… or rather, what is left of it,” Artemyev wrote under the video.
Aral Sea
The Astana Times

Storm re-engineers mouth of Nome River
“My boys told me my cabin went into the river,” said Rita Hulkill, who is 82. “My cabin had been there since the 70s. The water has never been that high ever.”
Nome, Alaska, United States

Foreign plastic continues to wash up on region’s beaches
There has been a surge of plastic trash that has been washing up on beaches in Nome and across the Bering Strait Region.

Nature follows its own break-up calendar
Looking seaward over the last week from almost all points along the coasts of Norton Sound, folks have been dazzled by bright blue horizons colored by open water.

Research vessel en route to Nome after trapped in ice for 14 days
A research vessel, Norseman II, was trapped in unusually dense sea ice for 14 days off the Seward Peninsula coast during a Pacific walrus study, but is now en route to Nome for repairs.

As ice layers get thinner, ship sets another Arctic speed record
Favorable ice conditions meant that the ship »Baltic Winter» spent only about five and a half days on its voyage across the Northern Sea Route.
Novaya Zemlya, Архангельская область, Russia
The Independent Barents Observer

Pink water at Sentosa Cove caused by heavy rainfall
Investigations into the fish die-off and pinkish-purple colour of the Sentosa South Cove waterway earlier this month have found that they were caused by the heavy and persistent rainfall in recent weeks that altered water conditions.. Read more at straitstimes.com.
Sentosa
The Straits Times

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

Low oxygen levels along Pacific Northwest coast a ‘silent’ climate change crisis
If upwelling starts a month earlier than usual, the amount of oxygen, already low, has to last until the fall when storms promote mixing which adds oxygen back into the system. As of late September this year, upwelling is still occurring and low levels of oxygen are still persisting.
Seattle, Washington, United States
The Seattle Times

New Methane Discharge Discovered in Russia's Arctic
The finding is prompting concerns that a new feedback loop that accelerates climate change may have already been triggered.
The Moscow Times

As the Caspian Sea Disappears, Life Goes on for Those Living by Its Shores
Scientists predict the world’s largest inland sea will shrink by a quarter due to climate change by the end of the century. In Derbent, waves that once threatened to engulf entire streets have retreated by around 100 meters, leaving miles of fresh sand dunes up and down the former shoreline.
Derbent, Dagestan, Russia

Russia's Arctic coast warmest since records started, says weather service
Parts of Northern Siberia were up to 7℃ warmer than normal in 2020. The warming is the most significant along parts of the North Siberian coast, and especially around the peninsulas of Taymyr and Yamal. This has been brought on, in part, by polar vortex on the Arctic coast.
Taymyr Peninsula, Russia
Eye on the Arctic

Russian tanker passes through Bering Strait in the midst of winter
Last week, a 908-foot Russian tanker carrying liquified natural gas passed south through the Russian side of the Bering Strait, with two more to follow. The ships are traversing the northern coast of Siberia, called the North Sea Route, in the middle of January with no icebreaker escort, an unprecedented event that may hint at the future of the region as climate change alters global commerce.
Uelen, Chukotskiy Avtonomnyy Okrug, Russia

Beluga Family Rescued From Low Tide by Russian Emergency Worker
Residents of the coastal Chumikan village reported two adult whales and one baby on Wednesday afternoon, on a shore of the Uda River that flows into the sea. Alexei Paramonov spent hours protecting the pod from wild animals and poachers and saved the baby whale from hypothermia.
Chumikan, Khabarovsk Krai, Russia

Southern Hemisphere Hoodwinker Sunfish Washes Up in California
Rare hoodwinker sunfish, never before seen in Northern Hemisphere, washes up at Coal Oil Point Reserve
Isla Vista, California, United States
The UCSB Current

Debris from 3/11 disaster now washing ashore across Okinawa
Plastic containers washed out to sea after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster are starting to wash up on the shores of Okinawa Prefecture, leaving residents puzzled at the time it took for the items to travel just 2,000 kilometers.
Naha, Okinawa, Japan
The Asahi Shimbun

Oily substance found near Savoonga remains a mystery
About a month ago, residents of St. Lawrence Island found a patch of oily, white goo on the beach, along with some dead sea birds covered in the substance.
Savoonga, Alaska, United States

Mass die-off of clams fouls Revere Beach
The Division of Marine Fisheries is analyzing the clams and expects to have preliminary results in the coming days that might point to a cause.
Revere, Massachusetts, United States
The Boston Globe

Environment ministers on Barents coast to discuss Arctic sea safety and climate change
Visiting Vardø near Norway’s maritime border to Russia, the ministers will learn about Arctic sea traffic safety management.
Vardø, Finnmark Fylke, Norway
The Independent Barents Observer

Receding glacier causes immense Canadian river to vanish in four days
Kaskawulsh Glacier, Yukon Territories, Canada

'Historic Devastation' ahead from Hurricane Harvey
The remnants of Harvey re-intensified into a hurricane on Thursday, and it may become a major hurricane by Friday.
Corpus Christi, Texas, United States
The Weather Network

Atlantic salmon escape U.S. fish farm near B.C. waters
Local Indigenous community says the invasive species could devastate fishing industry in the area
Cypress Island, Washington, United States
The Globe and Mail

400 turtles found mysteriously dead off El Salvador coast
Hundreds of endangered dead sea turtles have been found floating off El Salvador's Pacific coast under mysterious circumstances, with authorities unable to determine what caused their demise.
La Libertad, La Libertad, El Salvador
The Weather Network

Florida Algae Blooms Send People to Hospital, Kill Marine Wildlife
Nearly 4,000 dead fish were counted on Sanibel area beaches and parks.
Saint Lucie River, Florida, United States
The Weather Channel

Stinger jellyfish swarms wipe out farmed salmon in west of Ireland
Killary Harbour, Ireland
The Irish Times

Russian Arctic Sea Fails to Freeze
For the first time since records began, the Laptev Sea has not yet formed sea ice by the end of October. Scientists attribute the lack of ice to early summer warming and an extreme heatwave in Siberia, as well as warm Atlantic currents flowing into the Arctic.
Laptev Sea

Foreign trash continues to wash up on regional shores
Residents across the Bering Strait have continued to report unusual amounts of foreign trash washing up on their beaches. After months of working on the models, NOAA has been able to pin the source of the debris as likely somewhere southwest of St. Lawrence Island in the Gulf of Anadyr.
Gambell, Alaska, United States

Arctic waters get long-sought protection after Ottawa, Inuit group reach agreement
An Inuit group and the federal government are creating a national marine conservation area in Lancaster Sound that will be – by far – Canada’s largest
Lancaster Sound, Canada
The Globe and Mail

Gulf of Maine Water Temperatures Soar Near Record Highs After Ocean 'Heat Wave'
NOAA and NASA satellites measured an average sea-surface temperature of 68.93 degrees Fahrenheit in the Gulf of Maine on Aug. 8, only 0.05 degrees below the all-time record high of 68.98 set in 2012. It is the epicenter of the U.S. lobster fishing industry, an important feeding ground for rare North Atlantic right whales .
Gulf of Maine
The Weather Channel

New Year's storm pummels Bering Strait, St. Lawrence Island
A series of low pressure systems swept through western and northwestern Alaska beginning December 28 until things calmed down on January 2, leaving sections of villages without power and communicat
Bering Sea, Western Alaska

Fall storm wreaks havoc
Starting on the night of Wednesday, November 4, and continuing through Friday, a major storm ripped through the Norton Sound region, causing widespread closures and some damaging flooding.
Teller, Alaska, United States

Brown Seaweed Appears in Massive Amounts on Florida, Caribbean Beaches
The foul-smelling seaweed is back yet again.
Miami Beach, Florida, United States
The Weather Channel

Sargassum is blamed for dead fish on Ambergris Caye
The thick accumulation of these sea plants on the coastline is apparently causing detrimental effects on certain fish species as residents have reported dead fish along the shores.
San Pedro Town, Belize, Belize
The San Pedro Sun

Open water wreaks havoc at Little Diomede
Last Tuesday, February 20, residents of Little Diomede have seen the impossible. Instead of looking out at a frozen seascape of ice, they witnessed open water and high surf crashing onto the shores and coming up beyond the high water line.
Little Diomede, Alaska, United States

Roads, cars submerged: Storm rages with snow, floods - The Boston Globe
The powerful winter weather storm was slamming into Massachusetts by mid-morning Thursday, bringing blizzard-like conditions in some areas, torrential rain in others, power outages and hurricane-strength winds on Cape Cod and the Islands.
Quincy, Massachusetts, United States
The Boston Globe

How Global Warming Fueled Five Extreme Weather Events
Scientists analyzed 27 extreme weather events from 2016 and found that global warming was a “significant driver” for most of them. We look at five cases.
The New York Times

Hurricane Maria Makes Landfall in Dominica as Other Islands Brace for Potential Disaster
Hurricane Maria barreled through the islands that curve through the Caribbean.
Dominican Republic, Caribbean
The New York Times

More dead marine mammals, birds found on region’s beaches
Alaska Sea Grant agent Gay Sheffield from Nome responded to report of a dead bowhead and a dead grey whale northeast of Shishmaref near Cape Espenburg.
Shishmaref, Alaska, United States

Algae blooms disrupt Cape Coral canals with foul odor, green spray-paint look
Algae blooms have infiltrated much of the Cape Coral canal system, creating a foul odor and a green, spray-paint tint to some of the water.
Cape Coral, Florida, United States
The News-Press

NOAA survey shows shocking lack of thermal barrier between northern and southern Bering Sea
The “thermal curtain” is another expression for “cold pool” that acts as a barrier to keep some species—pollock and Pacific cod, for example — from migrating across the eastern Bering Sea shelf and northward toward the Bering Strait. For the first time in 37 years of surveying the Bering Sea, we could not find the cold water barrier.
Diomede, Alaska, United States

Floodwaters recede after Deering declares disaster
For one day last week, the village of Deering needed to use a boat to get to the airport.
Deering, Alaska, United States
The Arctic Sounder

Bering Sea Superstorm Among the Strongest Extratropical Cyclones on Record
Partially derived from former Super Typhoon Nuri, the typhoon's remnants joined up with the polar jet stream and a very strong disturbance in the mid-latitude belt of westerly winds, leading to explosive development of low pressure.

Sea-ice lies thick on the water as Russian oil tanker sails Arctic route without icebreaker escort
Loaded with up to 38,000 tons of oil, the 245 meter long tanker Shturman Skuratov makes this year's first transit shipment on the Northern Sea Route. Despite major concentrations of sea-ice, the tanker sails without icebreaker assistance.
Northern Sea Route

Harmful algae bloom detected in Bering Strait waters
High concentrations of harmful algae called Alexandrium catenella have been detected in the Bering Strait waters near St. Lawrence Island, Wales, and Little Diomede, posing a potential danger to human health and urging caution when consuming certain seafood.
Bering Straits, Alaska

Seafood's new normal: An ecosystem at risk
Special report: A huge disruption to California's coastal ecosystem is under way after several years of unusually warm ocean conditions and drought.
Northern California Coastal Areas
The San Francisco Chronicle

With less sea ice, expect seal pups near shore
On Sunday night, a plump ringed seal pup was spotted on the ice in front of Breaker’s Bar on Nome’s Front Street. UAF Alaska Sea Grant agent Gay Sheffield was called and moved the pup to a more secluded beach. The ice had likely gone out too fast and the mother finished up the normal weaning process on the ice chunks in front of Nome.

Research has no answers for continued seabird die-off
St. Lawrence Island, home to two native villages in the region, is also the summer home of several migratory seabird species, including kittiwakes, auklets, murre and shearwaters. Over the last several years, though, the bird colonies on the island have been shrinking, and no one has been able to determine why.

44 percent increase in unique ships entering Canada's Northwest Passage, says report
The number of ships entering Canada's Northwest Passage, and the distances sailed, are all increasing, says a new report from the Arctic Council.
Eye on the Arctic

Shocking temperatures across the Arctic
A belt of warm air is currently stretching from northern Greenland across the North Pole to the Laptev and East Siberian Seas north of the Russian mainland. Northeast of Svalbard from Franz Josef Land to Severnaya Zemlya see similar heat. On a recent November weekend the average temperature was 6.7°C above normal across the Arctic.

Too Many Sea Otters?
Some want to be able to kill them again off BC's coast. Part one of a Tyee special report.
Chesterman Beach, British Columbia, Canada

Jumbo squid invade San Diego shores, spook divers
La Jolla, California, United States
The Christian Science Monitor

Please go fishing, Washington state says after farmed Atlantic salmon escape broken net
Thousands of farmed Atlantic salmon were accidentally released into the waters between Anacortes and the San Juan Islands, and officials are asking people to catch as many as possible. Tribal fishers, concerned about native salmon populations, call the accident “a devastation.”
Cypress Island, Washington, United States

Spring bounty: Utqiagvik landed 10 whales in less than two weeks
This early in spring, the season usually only starts, but the weather patterns have been changing, and so has been the harvest time, Donovan said.
Utqiaġvik, Alaska, United States
The Arctic Sounder

In Nicoya Gulf, the deadly red tide lingers
Since early February, the gulf, and beaches and islands surrounding it, have been in the throes of one of the worst blooms of red tide in recent years.
Paquera, Puntarenas, Costa Rica
The Tico Times | Costa Rica News | Travel | Real Estate

Scientists Find Worrisome Lesions on Endangered Southern Resident Orcas
The peer-reviewed research published this week in the Public Library of Science suggests that 99% of the orcas studied had photographic evidence of skin lesions. Researchers evaluated photos from nearly 20,000 orca sightings from 2004 to 2016, finding that lesions — often gray patches and gray targets on the orcas' skin — generally became more prevalent over time.
Seattle, Washington, United States
The Daily Chronicle

Busiest ferry routes inside Arctic Circle go electric
Norway’s successful transition to zero-emission transport sector continues. By the end of 2022, the last remaining ferry connection along European route E6, Bognes-Skarberget, will operate on batteries.
Bønes, Vestland, Norway

Support

Observation Template