If Alaska expands how many pink salmon its hatcheries — such as the one in Tutka Bay — produce, will there be unintended consequences that harm Kachemak Bay?
The elusive animals use snow caves to give birth and nurture their young. Just how much spring snow they need is not yet known.
Fire Island is producing more than expected for this time of year according to Ethan Schutt, senior vice president of land and development for Cook Inlet Region, Inc. (CIRI) the Alaska Native corporation that operates the wind farm. So far about 17,000 megawatt hours have been produced, enough to power roughly 6,500 Southcentral homes each month.
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.
No one really knows why algae put so much effort into making poisons. Alexandrium makes saxitoxin, and causes PSP. Another algae called Pseudo-nitzschia produces domoic acid, the source of amnesiac shellfish poisoning.
Kwigillingok, a community on the Bering Sea coast of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, is used to some flooding during high tides. But in recent years, that flooding has grown more severe, reaching a new threshold last week.
Last summer’s unusually warm weather fueled an explosion in the western blackheaded budworm, leaving masses of browning trees in many areas of Southeast. The worm, which is the larval stage of the budworm moth, is known to feed on the new growth of trees, leaving them with a brownish-red appearance.
There were 4,500 lightning strikes in Alaska Tuesday — the latest in a run of days with thousands of ground strikes. There were also another 13 new, primarily lightning sparked wildfires in the state Tuesday, mostly in the Interior. The lightning storms have coincided with very dry conditions.
The Kuskokwim River breakup has led to widespread flooding, affecting roads and drinking water in several communities, with Kwethluk experiencing significant impacts.
Ship Creek in Anchorage will be closed to sport fishing for two weeks to support salmon stock sustainability at a local hatchery.
“The midpoint of the Anchor River king salmon run was extremely late. These fish are really having some odd, unprecedented run timing and behavior."
Moose and other species have advanced north with warming temperatures. University of Alaska Fairbanks assistant professor of water and environmental research Ken Tape said movement of boreal species into far northern Alaska has corresponded over the last century with earlier snow-melt and river ice out.
An immunocompromised man from Kenai Peninsula is the first known fatality from the Alaskapox virus, a rare zoonotic disease primarily transmitted through animal contact.
Just this month, more than 23 inches of snow have fallen in Anchorage, 17.5 inches above normal. A weekend storm clogged Anchorage streets, creating hazardous road conditions. The Anchorage School District closed school buildings and canceled after-school activities, calling a remote learning day.
Both buildings were occupied during the collapses but everyone got out safely and no injuries were reported, according to Anchorage Fire Department spokeswoman Lexi Trainer.
A fast-moving wildfire near Elliot Highway in Fairbanks, Alaska, has led to a Level 3 evacuation order for residents, with the fire rapidly growing to over a thousand acres.
A boulder tumbled down the face of Mount Roberts early Wednesday, damaging one side of the Basin Road Trestle’s wooden railing and closing the road. Mattice says slides are more common in the fall, but warm, wet conditions this winter contributed to the rockfall — especially this weekend’s heavy rains.
The Spenard Builders Supply facility in Anchorage suffered a significant roof collapse due to heavy snow, causing no injuries but damaging the structure and nearby utilities.
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