YUKON RIVER — It’s high summer, past the solstice. Everything is alive here on the path of the Trans-Alaska pipeline. Since I started this hike across Alaska on the last day of April in Valdez, the country has softened, greened up and started flowing. Before we blink and it’s winter solstice again, here’s a description […]
Kitty Sopow presents a seagull egg she gathered. Photo: K. Sopow June 30, 2017 — During our first week and half in the field, we had some incredible experiences. We conducted our first interviews; tried subsistence-harvested foods, including berries and sockeye salmon; and watched fishermen set their lines in anticipation of the king salmon arriving. We also […]
In 2014 the Bering Sea warmed, raising concerns that pollock populations would plummet as they did in the previous warm phase of 2001-2005. But a new study suggests that this time young pollock had alternative resources that weren’t available during the last warming phase to help buffer ill effects of warming. With 2017 showing signs of cooling, […]
NOAA Fisheries, released Thursday, its biennial population estimate for the endangered Cook Inlet beluga whale. Scientists determined that the population size is between 279 and 386 animals, with a most likely estimate of 328 animals. The estimate is derived from data collected during a June 2016 aerial survey. The previous estimate, from 2014, was 340 […]