The Arctic Sounder - Serving the Northwest Arctic and the North Slope

The Yukon government has declared a state of emergency in the Mayo area, as a wildfire continues to threaten the community that was evacuated on Sunday.

Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologists collected the sample containing Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N2 virus, or HPAI, from a mallard during a routine bird-banding activity. The HPAI virus is not considered a threat to humans, Alaska officials said.

Residents of the Providensky urban district, together with border guards and military personnel, cleared the territory near Cape Chaplin from barrels. Volunteers collected more than 500 old empty barrels near the ancient Eskimo settlement Unazik, Chukotka news agency reports.

Spirit camp participants and residents along the Yukon River were shocked to see a lone beluga whale on the Yukon River in early August.

Biologists say the white raven is a genuinely uncommon creature. It’s not albino, but leucistic, evidenced by its sky-blue eyes. Given its rarity, it’s likely the same white raven that was first spotted on the Kenai Peninsula this summer.An “Anchorage White Raven Spottings” Facebook group has amassed close to 13,000 followers.

In late February, a research team determined that birds on Antarctica's mainland have been infected with highly pathogenic H5 avian flu. | Microbiology

Sean Whelly the mayor of Fort Simpson is worried that low water levels could impact the ferry’s ability to operate, potentially leaving the community isolated in the summer months.The water levels are the lowest he's ever seen at this time of year.

Wild theories emerged online about what the strange mass could be. Scientist believe the mass was in fact a scud cloud, a type of cloud that appears at low height above ground. It's usually detached and of irregular form.

Researchers from the Coral Reef Ecology Lab at the Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology documented the third global bleaching event as it occurred from 2014 to 2016 at the Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve (HBNP) on the island of O'ahu, Hawai'i. Their findings, published in the international journal PeerJ, show that temperature is by far the most influential factor in coral bleaching at this well-managed location where corals, fish, and all other organisms are protected.

"Miami’s temperature climbed to 95 on Friday, at a time of year when average highs are 83."

Local fisherman Darren Porter saw this coming. "It's just common sense. I mean, you can’t take your fishbowl and put it on your stove.”

Residents in Yukon's Southern Lakes region are bracing for the worst as water levels continue to creep dangerously high.

A group of about 30 walruses have been observed by residents of providence village in Emma Bay for the past few days. As the specialists of the Beringia National Park specified, killer whales drove marine mammals there, Chukotka news agency reports.

Finland’s sizzling temperatures will drop down to around 20 degrees Celsius next week.

The river, which starts at the Saskatchewan Glacier in the Columbia Icefields and flows through to central Saskatchewan, is usually murky brown by the time it reaches Edmonton in summer. In recent weeks, however, the water has taken on the hues of Alberta's glacial lakes, thanks to dry, hot weather combined with maintenance at a major dam.

This season is shaping up to be the worst fall for salmon fishing on the Yukon River in recorded history. It follows the worst recorded summer salmon season ever.

Egrets are more usually spotted in the Everglades or on the Pacific coast so the presence of this egret immediately attracted local photographers, including Bernice Sandy, who took many photos of the unusual bird.

The sewage pipes are protected from low temperatures with a heating system that runs on diesel. Throughout December and into January, several communities in the North Slope and Northwest Arctic have been scrambling for diesel, as well as gas and heating oil, essential to thaw pipes, heat homes and run snowmachines.