Homer Mayor Rachel Lord declared a local emergency after water and debris washed over the Homer Spit last weekend, damaging parts of the road and forcing closures.

No obvious cause of death for this adult and juvenile otter.

Two harbor seal pups, one from Naknek and another from Wrangell, were recently rescued and are receiving care at the Alaska SeaLife Center due to malnourishment and other health issues.

"This season we have observed many salmonberry bushes that appear to be defoliated. It seems something is eating the leaves. We have also noticed the berries look sickly."

"We usually pick salmon berries in early July."

Discoloration of water in bay. Is this an algal bloom?

A 24-hour, 245 mile survey of fireweed plants from Anchorage to Seldovia revealed an almost complete absence of flowering.

It turns out that Grubby the opossum — who hitched a ride to Alaska in a shipping container in March — had babies.

Two dead otters (one recent) on Kasitsna Bay side. We also found another one yesterday on the Kachemak side.

Walked two miles of spit and did not see any others.

A resident of Seldovia reported an infestation of worms infesting an area of salmonberry brush and nettle.

It's cold. And those frigid temperatures aren't going away anytime soon. The cold has set in across most of Alaska and set daily record lows in places like Homer, King Salmon and Bethel. It's relatively early to be seeing such cold.

High-fire danger prompts burn ban this week, A burn suspension is in effect for the Kenai Peninsula due to high fire danger, high fire activity and limited firefighting resources, according to a special notice from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources.

However, if ingested by oysters and other shellfish, the sudden burst of a ciliate form of zooplankton — or animal plankton — called Mesodinium rubrum could turn their meat pink.

A decomposing sleeper shark was found on the beach in Kasitsna Bay.

A flock of Speckle Belly geese re-visit Seldovia.

Partially decomposed whale

Coastal Alaskans were roused out of bed last night following a 7.8 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami warning. The warning was canceled within a matter of hours.

Until 2007, there have been only three verified reports of green sturgeon in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea, and two anecdotal reports from the Copper River and Unalaska areas.

First time we have ever seen a dead pup.