Alaska health officials issued an alert after wild shellfish from Kachemak Bay’s inner bay tested above regulatory limits for paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins. Residents are warned not to harvest or eat untested wild shellfish; monitoring and test results are being posted by the Alaska Harmful Algal Bloom Network.

The Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve detected Pseudo-nitzschia at bloom levels in Kachemak Bay starting July 4. This diatom can produce the toxin domoic acid, associated with amnesic shellfish poisoning, though toxin production is not yet confirmed. Observed bird deaths and marine mammal strandings have spurred collection of mussel samples for lab testing.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has closed the Ninilchik River to all sport fishing from June 23 through July 15 to help meet king salmon escapement and broodstock collection goals.

Two small wildfires on the Kenai Peninsula have been reported and quickly contained as the region enters an early fire season. Burn permits are now required on all state, private, and municipal lands due to early warm temperatures and low snowpack.

Area biologists recommend securing attractants as warmer weather leads to earlier bear activity on the Kenai Peninsula, prompting calls for caution among residents.

The Anchor River in Alaska has flooded again due to an ice dam, marking the worst flooding in recent history and prompting road closures and infrastructure concerns. This is the second such incident in a month, highlighting an unusual increase in flooding events this year.

A winter storm disrupted services in Homer, Alaska, knocking out power to South Peninsula Hospital for 90 minutes after backup generators failed.

Flooding from an ice jam on the Anchor River led to water flowing over Anchor Point Road, but no damage was reported.

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.

Homer Spit Road sustained damage from high tides and winds, prompting short-term repairs and highlighting the need for long-term erosion control measures.

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.

A Kachemak Bay water taxi crew had a once-in-a-lifetime walrus sighting.

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

An approximate 69% of adult razor clams at Ninilchik beaches and 84% at Clam Gulch beaches have died. The department said the cause of the high natural mortality rate of the clams remains unknown, but may be due to a combination of heavy surf, habitat changes, environmental stressor and predation.

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.

"My husband and I have been dipnetting on the Kasilof since 2014. This year we noticed more small fish than usual and all but ~5 of the 35 fish we caught had parasites."

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.

“The midpoint of the Anchor River king salmon run was extremely late. These fish are really having some odd, unprecedented run timing and behavior."

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.

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.