New bathymetric map of the western Gulf of Alaska. New seafloor maps show for the first time the course of ancient ice masses. They show how they shaped essential habitat for the western Gulf of Alaska’s abundant fish, seabirds, and marine mammals. Scientists wove together historical and modern data—from century-old hand-drawn charts to modern multibeam surveys. They created […]
Arctic cod is an important source of food for whales, seals, fish, birds, and humans in Arctic ecosystems. Arctic cod surviving to the juvenile stage were smaller and in poorer condition 5 months after embryonic oil exposure. Top fish experienced clean seawater whereas bottom fish was exposed to brief, low concentrations of dispersed oil during […]
NOAA scientists and partners have released a Climate Vulnerability Assessment for groundfish, crabs, and salmon in the Eastern Bering Sea. They looked at the potential impacts of changing climate, ocean temperatures, and other environmental conditions on 36 groundfish, crab and salmon stocks. Of these, four rockfish stocks, flathead sole and Tanner crab were determined to be the most vulnerable. Several […]
NOAA Fisheries and partners invite members of the public to participate in conserving the endangered Cook Inlet beluga whales at the third annual “Belugas Count!” —being held Saturday, September 21, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., in the greater Anchorage area. This celebration and citizen count is free and open to the public. No registration is […]
A dead seal found on a beach near Kotzebue, Alaska. Credit: NPS/Raime Fronstin NOAA is declaring an Unusual Mortality Event (UME) for bearded, ringed, and spotted seals in the Bering and Chukchi seas. From June 1, 2018 to present there have been reports of 282 dead seals, with 119 stranded seals in 2018 and 163 in 2019. The increase […]
A dead gray whale found near Wrangell, Alaska. Taken 6/17/2019. Credit: Ceona Koch NOAA Fisheries Alaska Region has received reports of three additional dead gray whales this week, bringing the number of gray whale mortalities in Alaska to ten. The confirmed gray whale reports all came from Southeast Alaska. On Monday, a fisherman reported […]
I flew to Dutch Harbor, AK with three other crab biologists. We met the captain and crew of the fishing vessel Royal American chartered to conduct our crab research. To be efficient in our use of time and resources, we are actually conducting two research projects. We are tagging red king crab and conducting a trawl survey for Tanner […]
Photo: A hunter from Kotlik counted 18 dead seals along 11 miles of shore, north of Kotlik. Credit: Harold Okitkun/May 7, 2019. NOAA Fisheries is responding to several reports of unusually large numbers of dead ice seals along the coast of the Bering and Chukchi seas, in Alaska. At least 60 dead seals have […]
On May 28, 2019, NOAA Fisheries received a report of a dead gray whale in Chignik Bay, a community on the southern side of the Alaska Peninsula. The whale was first observed alive in an unusual location under the community’s dock. It was observed dead on May 25, and towed to a beach away from town due to […]