Researchers stepping off the research vessel Norseman II in Nome last weekend, brought significant news of having found very high concentrations of a phytoplankton called Alexandrium catenella in regional waters. Alexandrium is an algae that can produce saxitoxins, which can cause dangerous paralytic shellfish poisoning in people. The scientists issued an advisory, notifying Norton Sound Health Corporation, UAF Sea Grant and the Alaska Division of Public Health.
After no commercial crabbing since 2019, this summer’s Norton Sound Red King Crab fishery had a record year of $3.7 million dollars in ex-vessel value.
The cormorants moved in when the peregrins did not return this year. "We believe (they did not return) because of the bird flu."
A cormorant was observed in White Mountain. See also recent report from Golovin.
Many boats had to be secured & moved this morning. Hoping winds & rain slow down, but in the forecast.
Over the past five days there have been increasing reports of unusual behavior in a variety of bird species including brant goose, snow goose, white-fronted goose, and Canada goose.
This brant was seen at Mile 16 of the Nome-Council Road exhibiting spinning behavior.
Video shows unusual circling behavior of a brant goose filmed by a local hunter near Golovin, Alaska. Although the cause is unknown, this type of behavior is according to USGS, "highly suggestive" of an infection with Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI).
This fox "was not scared of me" and it continued to repeat this motion as the person (Venessa Koonooka), watched for ~10 minutes.
On Sunday night, a plump ringed seal pup was spotted on the ice in front of Breaker’s Bar on Nome’s Front Street. UAF Alaska Sea Grant agent Gay Sheffield was called and moved the pup to a more secluded beach. The ice had likely gone out too fast and the mother finished up the normal weaning process on the ice chunks in front of Nome.
A passenger on a small commercial plane flying between Nome and Golovin reported seeing 5-6 swans all motionless, floating on a pond. The reason of the behavior is unknown.
These windy conditions have started to negatively impact sea ice coverage in the Bering Strait. Based on satellite imagery and observations from residents across the region, more open water has started to appear along coastlines and thicker ice has been pushed around, climatologist Rick Thoman said. He noted that sea ice conditions are drastically different in the Bering Strait than they were five days ago.
Strong south winds hit 71 miles per hour in St. Michael, Shishmaref had its sea ice blown away and the Nome Airport saw 0.64 inches of precipitation – mostly in the form of rain - last weekend. The storm that hit on Saturday, Dec. 18 and continued all day Sunday brought the total precipitation for December thus far to 2.04 inches.
Following another year of stark climate impacts in the Arctic, scientists warned Tuesday of a new scourge hitting the region: marine trash. With the region warming twice as fast as the rest of the world, sea ice that has long blanketed the Arctic Ocean is disappearing, opening new routes to shipping.
"We lost internet and a power outage effected several residential homes and businesses. Of course there was no way to travel. Thankfully no medical emergencies."
Back-to-back winter storms hit Nome and the region with very strong, screaming winds and accompanying blowing snow. While the first storm on Friday seemed just like a warm up, the second storm hit the region with very strong winds that knocked out power in Wales, ripped buildings apart in Golovin and brought water levels up 6.73 feet over normal. The high winds also pushed away ice cover.
Current sea ice extent in Northern Alaska waters is the highest it’s been since November 2001.
"I've seen photos documenting one squirrel in Nome from 2007 and a Nome Nugget article in 2019, but we've had 3-4 reports of red squirrels this summer."
The commercial Silver harvest in the Norton Sound yielded the lowest numbers since 2002.This trend follows suit from last year as well, which yielded far less than projected. The run was “very poor,” Menard said. The preliminary catch was 7,100 Silvers. That’s less than half caught in the commercial fishery last year.
St. Lawrence Island, home to two native villages in the region, is also the summer home of several migratory seabird species, including kittiwakes, auklets, murre and shearwaters. Over the last several years, though, the bird colonies on the island have been shrinking, and no one has been able to determine why.
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