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.

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.

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.

"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."

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.

The timing coincides with other sea bird deaths reported in St. Paul Island, Pilot Point, and Ugashik.

Warm air temperatures have melted the snow, leaving the soil without the insulation that snowcover usually provides.

When temperatures soar this high above the Arctic Circle, it’s an attention-grabber.

It was also during the week where a number of dead fish started to occur along the riverine segment.

There’s little relief from the daytime heat in the forecast for the rest of the holiday weekend.

People living in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta felt something unusual this past holiday weekend: a heat wave. Temperatures crept close to 90 degrees in many parts of the region.

Leads appeared following a warm storm, in areas with usually stable, shorefast ice. The leads separate many crabbers from their pots, and are illustrative of how Norton Sound's recent erratic sea ice patterns are altering subsistence opportunities and patterns.

Because of the increased travel distance, only families with larger boats were able to participate in the hunt and bring back enough to make the trip cost effective. With a heavier load in the boat, one family ran out of gas trying to get home and had to be rescued.

Warmer summers in Alaska means that extra precautions are needed to keep fish cool from the time of harvest until it has been processed and put away.

"Nanwalek was in an emergency drought, we had to have water flown in for 60 households."

Persistent high pressure over the Gulf of Alaska and Bristol Bay has kept most storms well away from the lower Kenai Peninsula. At Homer, total rainfall June 1-August 16 was only 53% of normal, making this the driest since 2004. The City of Seldovia has issued a "City Water Conservation Notice" on August 20th. The notice doesn't ban any specific water use but requests residents make an effort to use less water by minimizing watering lawns and washing cars and to take shorter showers.

The main water line comes from Lily Lake through 10,000 feet of line. According to Supervisor Dennis Durr, “We’re making 130 gallons a minute right now. Normally this time of year we should be making at least 250 gallons a minute. We’re not keeping up right now, but we are making water. That’s good. That’s keeping us in the ball game here.”

Above average snowfall at the headwaters of the Kuskokwim, and early break up, led to higher than average river flows past Aniak. The river banks are eroding, threatening community infrastructure.

High water posed safety hazards and resulted in the removal of boardwalk but also allowed boats to go further up river than usual.

This catch in a Tatitlek herring net places a school of shiner surfperch about 700 km north of their normal range.

Two sturgeon were caught in the Yukon River, farther upriver than has been previously reported.

Giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) is normally found in Prince William Sound and Kodiak Archipelago. However, it has recently appeared at the north end of Zachary Bay near Sand Point.