LEO Network

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The LEO Network is a worldwide network of observers and experts that share their observations of environmental change.
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Observations

Late Freeze-up
Late freeze-up of sea ice along the shoreline
Elim, Alaska, United States

Ice Departure Delayed
Sea ice conditions making it difficult for community to harvest seasonal fish.
Unalakleet, Alaska, United States

Weather Shifting Sea Ice Flow
Unusual weather patterns are pushing the sea ice away from the coast.
Unalakleet, Alaska, United States

Trapped on Sea Ice
A snowmachiner was trapped on the quickly moving floe and he was rescued later by a helicopter.
Nome, Alaska, United States

Poor Sea Ice Changes Hunt
Lack of sea ice affects seal hunting.
Unalakleet, Alaska, United States

Changing Sea Ice
3-5-13 Changing sea ice - Unalakleet, Alaska, USA

Poor Sea Ice - Our Sea Garden
The sea is our garden for food and other things.
Wales, Alaska, United States

No Ice Fishing Yet
10-17-13 No ice fishing yet - Shishmaref, Alaska, USA
Shishmaref, Alaska, United States

Ice Fishing Hazardous
11-4-13 Ice fishing hazardous - Golovin, Alaska, USA
Golovin, Alaska, United States

Bad Ice Disrupts Subsistence
1-26-14 Ice disrupts subsistence - Unalakleet, Alaska, USA

High Sea Water Temperatures
9-18-14 High surface water temperatures - Bering Sea
Bering Sea, Alaska, United States

No Sea Ice Yet
By this time of the year, we usually have 2-3 miles of shore-fast ice that sticks to our beach. We as a village have not done our winter harvest of seals and walrus, and we are worried that we will not be able to bowhead whale hunt.
Wales, Alaska, United States

No Sea Ice
South winds blew out most of the sea ice. Going to be bad ice if it refreezes for spring hunt.
Shishmaref, Alaska, United States

No Permanent Winter Ice and Early Break Up For Nome
Nome, Alaska, United States

Sea Ice - No Sea Ice!?
Sea ice is here and then disapears.
Elim, Alaska, United States

Open Water in Our Ocean
This fall freeze-up was somewhat delayed, not just in the Bering Straits region, but all the way up to Barrow.
Shishmaref, Alaska, United States

Ice of Change - Amid Waterfowl Sightings
No sea ice; hunters say it should not be like this today.
Diomede, Alaska, United States

Arctic in January - No Sea Ice
Residents use drones to show unusual sea ice conditions along the Chukchi coast.

Ocean Ice Is All Gone
Rough seas and moving sea ice.

No Snow on the Seward Peninsula
Despite the time of year, there is still no snow on the Seward Peninsula.
Elim, Alaska, United States

Too Wet for Food Preserving
10-15 13 Too wet for food preservation - Elim, Alaska, USA

Warm weather delays subsistence
10-24-13 Warm weather delays subsistence - Shaktoolik, Alaska, USA
Shaktoolik, Alaska, USA

Where is the Snow?
1-3-14 Where is the snow - Solomon, Alaska, USA
Solomon, Alaska, United States

Finally snow - then rain
1-20-14 Snow then rain - Shaktoolik, Alaska, USA
Shaktoolik, Alaska, USA

Finally Snow in Golovin
There has been a lack of snow in the Golovin area ever since the January 2014 warm spell.
Golovin, Alaska, United States

Unseasonably Warm
11-13-14 Unseasonable warm - Unalakleet, Alaska, USA

Wet Snowgo Race
Warm weather has made for unsafe traveling conditions, including a snowmachine race.

Warm Wind with Drizzling Rain
A heatwave in Unalakleet, Alaska.

Unseasonably Warm and Rainy
Nome was hit by unseasonably warm temperatures and strong winds.
Nome, Alaska, United States

Storms pummel Bering Sea islands after ‘crazy’ ice melt-off
Recent storms and warm seas melted a vast stretch of ice in the Bering Sea, leaving some islands surrounded by water when they should be locked in ice.
Diomede, Alaska, United States
Anchorage Daily News

Seal with Hair Loss
Seal with hair loss observed in Bering Strait region

Ringed Seal (*Phoca hispida*) with Sores
Ringed seal with sores found in Shishmaref.

Dead Baby Belugas (*Delphinapterus leucas*)
Several sightings of dead baby belugas were reported on the shores of the community and in the area over the past few days.

Hairless Seal
10-19-13 Hairless seal - Shishmaref, Alaska, USA

Dead Spotted (*Phoca largha*) and Ringed (*Pusa hispida*) Seals
We are spotting dead baby 'spotted' and 'ringed' seals washing up on the beach with no signs of lesions or signs of gun shots.
Wales, Alaska, United States

Bearded Seal (*Erignathus barbatus*) with Hair Loss
11-18-15 Bearded seal with hair loss - Shishmaref, Alaska, USA

Low Salmon Numbers
Commercial and Subsistence Harvest

Dead Sea Mammal and Sea Birds on the Beach
Residents of Chevak and Hooper Bay found two species of sea bird either dead or approachable near the mouth of the Kiuqliiviq and Aprun rivers near fish camps. Residents of Hooper Bay also found a dead sea mammal on the beach.
Hooper Bay, Alaska, United States

Unusual Bearded Seal (*Erignathus barbatus*)
5-29-12 Unusual bearded seal - Shishmaref, Alaska, USA

Pacific Herring *Clupea pallasii* Early
Hunters noticed some herring were starting to spawn near Cape Denbigh. The herring scheduled to arrive on May 25th, are over a week early.
Shaktoolik, Alaska, USA

Kelp Greenling (*Hexagrammos decagrammus*)
7-3-14 Kelp greenling - Golovin, Alaska, USA
Golovin, Alaska, USA

Pacific Sleeper Shark (*Somniosus pacificus*)
10-20-14 Sleeper shark - Shishmaref, Alaska, USA

Scientists find dramatic increase in pollock in Northern Bering Sea
Three researchers from the NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center completed a trawl survey of the Northern Bering Sea in 2017 and found a dramatic increase in pollock.
Northern Bering Sea, Alaska, United States
The Nome Nugget

Blackline Prickleback (*Acantholumpenus mackayi*) Caught While Fishing For Herring
Blackline Prickleback (*Acantholumpenus mackayi*) caught along the Bering Sea Coast
Chevak, Alaska, United States

Mysterious marine mammal injuries hint that some sharks are shifting their range northward into the Arctic - Arctic Today
Sleeper sharks are already known to range as far north as the Chukchi Sea, but reports of possible shark attacks on seal and sea lions have increased — and now come from further into the Arctic.
Bering and Chukchi Seas
Arctic Today

Warmer Arctic waters attract surprising visitors: clams, fish and whales
Ice in the north Bering Sea is diminishing, researchers aboard a Coast Guard ship report.
Washington Post

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