Fish | 11 | ||
Birds | 8 | ||
Ocean / Sea | 6 | ||
Surface Waters / Wetlands | 6 | ||
Marine Mammals | 6 | ||
Invertebrates | 3 | ||
Weather | 2 | ||
Microbes | 1 |
Death / Die-off / Decline | 19 | ||
Seasonal Timing | 3 | ||
Unusual Range / Sighting | 3 | ||
Unusual Size / Abundance | 2 | ||
Algal Bloom | 2 | ||
Deformity / Disease / Injury | 2 | ||
Pollution | 1 | ||
Extreme Temperature | 1 |
2019 | 25 |
A range of wildlife-related events have been occurring this month in Shishmaref and other parts of Norton Sound.
The timing coincides with other sea bird deaths reported in St. Paul Island, Pilot Point, and Ugashik.
"Within a week we saw thousands of shearwaters along the beaches, and witnessed hundreds dead. They would sit on the tideline unable to walk, foraging on dead fish that had washed ashore and trying to feed on the fish in the nets of the set net sites as well."
"I discovered possibly 43 seabirds and may have missed more on August 3, 2019, just on the southwest side and did not go further on southeast side of our beach. Not sure, maybe they died of hunger."
Nine short-tailed shearwaters (Ardenna tenuirostris) were seen floating in the Kuskokwim river, directly in front of Bethel. The birds were acting disoriented and farther up the Kuskokwim than normal.
More than 50 birds and a seal were found along the shoreline.
This is the 6th observation on this topic received in LEO Network from Southwest Alaska since July 22, 2019.
Eighteen dead shearwaters (genus Puffinus) have washed ashore at Humpy Cove. Additional birds were observed by other community members at Wide Bay and Morris Cove.
Warm water near Golovin is hurting pink salmon. Many salmon caught had red speckled dots on flesh, raising concerns about food safety. Female pink salmon were seen dead in the bay.
Dead salmon and whitefish found along the banks of the Yukon River.
Salmon are dying along the Andreafsky River and Lower Yukon River before spawning out. Water surface temperatures have been unusually warm, at one point reaching 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
Dead chum salmon have been spotted floating down the Yukon river. Water temperatures are measuring at 70 degrees, the warmest in recollection.
We observed more than 50 otherwise healthy (not spawned out) dead fish including pink and chum salmon and white fish
"Over 40 dead dog salmon, one shee fish, one lush fish, and two delmaga all dead along the river going towards the creek opening."
In early July, dead fish were observed floating along Kouwegoki Slough and along Powers Creek, among other locations.
A variety of stranded marine mammals were observed in the Port Heiden area between August 17 and 26th.
Alaska has experienced a series of seal mortalities in June that were concentrated in the northern part of the state. This dead seal was found on the bluff near a public park in Anchorage.
"Its face was down in the mud and it was laboring to breathe. Its body condition was wasted and we could see its ribs."
18 dead seals were found along the coast, and are like part of a larger mortality event that includes 60 seals total. The average number of dead ice seals normally found in a year is 18.
Grey whale (Eschrichtius robustus) found beached near the Placer River along Turnagain Arm is one of five grey whales reported dead along the Alaska coast during 2019.
"When we looked over the side of the boat, we saw clumps of mussels floating up the whole Tuksuk channel. No one has ever heard of something like this before."
Hundreds of dead sand lance (Ammodytes hexapterus) found along the shores of White Sands Beach.
Krill (Thysanoessa spinifera) were found washed up along the beach in Dutch Harbor. Samples sent to University of Alaska Fairbanks are in the process of being tested for toxins.
"Our temperatures reached 83 degrees, and seem to be getting hotter! We think that maybe the warm water has something to do with the humpy die-off?"
Thousands of dead sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) found dead along the beach during a period of warm weather. Additional salmon have been observed in the Togiak River, raising concerns about possible challenges to subsistence harvest.