Dead birds suspected to have died from Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza have been found on Kigigak Island and Tutakoke River in Alaska, with other bird species displaying unusual behaviors.
"Since about May 25, crews have been seeing multiple species showing what we believe are signs of highly pathogenic avian influenza. The signs we are seeing widespread is a headshaking that we equate to "getting the cobwebs out", like a person may do when they first wake up. This behavior occurs regularly every couple minutes. This behavior has been observed in: black brant, cackling geese, bar-tailed godwits, dunlin, lapland longspurs, spectacled eiders, emperor geese, greater white-fronted geese, sabines gulls, glaucous gulls, and red-necked phalaropes."
There is usually an abundance of this fish in the fall and early winter season. This is a usual harvest for most YK Delta coastal villages. Note: According to NOAA Bering Sea Bottom Trawl data, there has been an 88% decline reported in the biomass of saffron cod from 2020 to 2021 in the N. Bering Sea.
During the summer of 2019, warm water temperatures lowered the amount of dissolved oxygen in rivers and caused salmon across the state, including Mountain Village, to die before they were able to spawn.
Salmon are dying along the Andreafsky River and Lower Yukon River before spawning out. Water surface temperatures have been unusually warm, at one point reaching 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
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