(Fairbanks) — Counting caribou in Alaska’s largest herds has become more effective, thanks to a pair of newly acquired digital aerial camera systems. The systems replace World War II-era black-and-white film cameras previously used since the 1970s and enabled biologists last summer to pinpoint numbers for the Porcupine, Fortymile, Central Arctic, Teshekpuk, and Western Arctic […]
For the first time, we are using an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS), a hexacopter, to collect photographs of the endangered Cook Inlet beluga whale to estimate the length of individual whales and learn more about why it has been slow to recover despite many efforts to help it. The Cook Inlet watershed stretches some 50,000 […]
Beluga whales are one of Alaska’s iconic marine mammals. That’s why NOAA Fisheries and partners invite members of the public to participate in conserving the endangered population in Cook Inlet in a new event called “Belugas Count!” —being held Saturday, September 9, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., in the greater Anchorage area. From 9 a.m. […]
[cycloneslider id=”aleutian-sea-lions”] Hover over image to pause slideshow. Endangered Steller sea lions in the western Aleutian Islands continued to decline in abundance in 2016 by nearly seven percent. The latest report was released today and shows a concerning trend in abundance for Steller sea lions living in the western Aleutians. The species is made up of […]