Image: An Aleutian tern in Yakutat. Photo by Nate Catterson. YAKUTAT — On sandy barrier islands between mountains and the sea, two different birds that look alike lay their eggs side-by-side. Biologists here are learning more about the less-common, more mysterious one. Arctic terns and Aleutian terns gather together on ocean spits to scratch out […]
Image: Dead trees near a shoreline of Russell Fjord about 15 miles from the town of Yakutat. Ned Rozell photo. RUSSELL FJORD — Standing on this smooth gravel shoreline, 15 miles northeast of the town of Yakutat, you can tell something big happened. A forest of dead trees encircles the shoreline. The dry, bone-white stems […]
The forces shaping Alaska never sleep, especially near Yakutat. I visited the fishing town of about 800 people and many dogs a few years back. My assignment was to write about scientists studying Hubbard Glacier, which slammed the door on Russell Fiord in summer 2002, creating the largest glacier-dammed lake in the world for a […]
Yakutat once found quirky fame as a surfing destination for the adventurous. Now, residents are looking into capturing wave energy to provide the town’s power. Jeremy Kasper and Stephanie Jump, with UAF’s Alaska Center for Energy and Power, are investigating the best potential underwater-energy sites. Ocean waves can generate electricity as underwater devices convert […]