The highly pathogenic influenza that just claimed its first known polar bear victim continues to circulate in the world’s wild populations.
A parasite-riddled seal afraid of the water is the first Alaska marine mammal rescued in 2017. The seal will not be returned to the wild if it continues to survive rehabilitation at the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward.
Sleeper sharks are already known to range as far north as the Chukchi Sea, but reports of possible shark attacks on seal and sea lions have increased — and now come from further into the Arctic.
As sea ice off Alaska continues its long-term vanishing trend, two seal species that depend on ice may be showing the effects in their bodies. Ribbon seals, distinctive for their black-and-white striped patterns on their fur, and spotted seals, known for their speckled coats, became thinner over time.
The notoriously difficult-to-study Pacific walrus population decreased by about half between 1981 and 1999, likely due to hunting and changes to sea-ice habitat, according to a new USGS study that is considered the most up-to-date and comprehensive so far. The Pacific walrus is being considered for Endangered Species Act protections.
Vitamin D deficiencies have long been a concern in high latitudes because sunlight — which stimulates its production in the body — is scarce in winter months.
A mysterious disease, possibly a virus, has afflicted ring seals along Alaska's coast, killing scores of them since July, local and federal agencies said on Thursday.
The animals didn't necessarily become sick, researchers said, but were encountering the new pathogens much more frequently.
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.
Around 60 ice seals have been reported dead across northern and western Alaska this month. The cause of the strandings and deaths is not known.
The article describes a Utqiagvik family's significant milestone in catching the first bowhead whale of the spring season, amidst challenges posed by climate change affecting sea ice stability.
The ice conditions are similar to last year (with) lots of young ice and close leads," said Captain Frederick Brower. "We all went out and broke trail to the edge, but a high west wind came along and added about three-quarters to 1 mile of ice and (we) had to break trail through that and began whaling from the new edge ... . The conditions were not favorable but we made due with what we had and continued on with our whaling season."
The two men, who were both part of an active whaling crew, were in one of the boats on a towline, towing a whale to shore, when their boat flipped, according to fellow whalers who were there when it happened.
That's right, California sea lions. As populations of native Steller sea lions decline, Maniscalco says a growing number of California sea lions are showing up on Steller sea lion rookeries and haul-outs across the state. According to his research, some 33 sightings have been recorded. And some of those California sea lions have made their way as far west as the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea.
From Point Hope to Kaktovik, North Slope communities saw anywhere from 10 to 15 bears in each village this winter. For the most part, bears are not going into the villages, but in some cases, they come close enough for people to take photos and sometimes, people come too close.
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