Of all of the aquatic animals that could be collected in a gillnet on the Kenai River, crawfish are some of the least likely. Why? Because they do not naturally occur in the Kenai River or any other river in Alaska. Unfortunately, crawfish have been collected from the lower Kenai River twice in the last four years, and both times they were leftovers from someone’s dinner.
Scientists documented a single wolverine in California from 2008 to 2018. That wolverine was first discovered in February 2008 in the Truckee region of the Tahoe National Forest. The recent detections were likely of a different wolverine given that the species’ lifespan is typically 12 to 13 years.
On June 19, some kids spotted an unrecognized creature the size of a large whale offshore near the Alaska village of Iliamna. Other accounts followed.
A gray whale, presumed extinct in the Atlantic for over 200 years, was spotted by the New England Aquarium team south of Nantucket, suggesting climate change effects.
Harju said that due to its long tusks, she guessed that it was an older walrus, adding that the animal was calm during the hour that she watched it lay on the beach.
An elk was spotted swimming to the island of Utö in the Finnish archipelago, marking the first sighting of the animal in 40 years.
They detect the presence of the 'Devil Fish' in Sinaloa; a threat to fishing and ecosystems
A rare phenomenon of gnat larvae forming snake-like processions has been observed again in Interior Alaska, raising questions about their behavior and species classification.
A wayward walrus calf, just one month old, was rescued from the North Slope. Workers on the North Slope spotted the baby walrus on tundra, about four miles inland from the Beaufort Sea.
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.
In an unusual event, a pair of beluga whales swam about 60 miles up the Kuskokwim River to Bethel. After word got out, boaters pursued the belugas and took at least one of them. Now, an official is working to collect samples of the animal to better understand where it came from.
Entomologists confirm the report of the world's largest hornet — a worrisome invasive species that originates from East Asia and Japan — by a person in a rural area near the Canadian border.
It turns out that Grubby the opossum — who hitched a ride to Alaska in a shipping container in March — had babies.
Locals in Kotzebue showed a mix of excitement and concern over the weekend in response to reports that a rare polar bear was spotted in the area.
Scientists from the University of Alaska Fairbanks have observed an increase in chum salmon spawning in North Slope rivers, potentially indicating a shift in their population and a signal of climate change. Elizabeth Lindley, a Ph.D. student working on the project, says that while evidence of spawning in a new region may be a positive for salmon, the impact on important subsistence resources including Arctic char and Dolly Varden is uncertain.
Hunters in Central Southeast Alaska have reported a record harvest of 141 bulls during the month-long moose hunt, surpassing the previous record of 132 bulls set in 2021, with the majority of the harvest occurring on Kupreanof Island. A couple decades ago, there were very few of them in the region — and the hunt was almost entirely relegated to the mainland. But over the years, he said he’s seen more moose cropping up on remote islands.
Biologist Jessica Crance witnessed both sightings personally, and is among a handful of living people who have seen one of this population of right whales up close since the species was devastated by commercial whaling.
A fishing crew near Prince of Wales Island recently made an unusual catch: a Pacific green sea turtle. This not only excited the crew, but has also caught the attention of marine biologists.
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.
Recent research has found that coccolithophore blooms are occupying increasingly more space in the Barents Sea. Between 1998 and 2016, coccolithophore summer blooms have expanded poleward and their surface area in the Barents Sea has doubled.
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