Posts Near Nanwalek Map Timeline

Alaska health officials issued an alert after wild shellfish from Kachemak Bay’s inner bay tested above regulatory limits for paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins. Residents are warned not to harvest or eat untested wild shellfish; monitoring and test results are being posted by the Alaska Harmful Algal Bloom Network.

Students from the University of Alaska Fairbanks' Girls on Water program completed a week-long sea kayak expedition in Kachemak Bay and presented findings from small-group field studies (jellyfish, kelp, and moss) at the Kachemak Bay Campus.

A new plant species is establishing itself in the area and impacting native beach greens.

"This season we have observed many salmonberry bushes that appear to be defoliated. It seems something is eating the leaves. We have also noticed the berries look sickly."

"We usually pick salmon berries in early July."

A 24-hour, 245 mile survey of fireweed plants from Anchorage to Seldovia revealed an almost complete absence of flowering.

A resident of Seldovia reported an infestation of worms infesting an area of salmonberry brush and nettle.

Defoliation of willows, alders, and berry bushes may be related to different insect species depending on the plant.

Warm temperatures are likely causing alders and other woody Alaskan plants to bud in fall and early winter. As winter sets in, the buds are damaged and the plants will produce fewer buds come spring.

Highbush cranberries benefited from unusually warm, sunny conditions.

Willow and currants are budding unusually late, during an unusually warm fall.

Unusual foam on autumn fallen leaves does not belong to a spittlebug, but may be a type of fungus.

Local residents debated whether a massive release of spruce pollen, which accumulated on every surface—including car bonnets, picnic tables and the nearby Kachemak Bay—amounted to a “golden sheen” or a “yellow scum”. The fine dust turned the surface of the sea the colour of butter and left a bright, lemony line on shore that marked the extent of high tide and gave off a sickly sweet smell. This huge release of pollen might be yet another symptom of a rapidly changing environment.

As lower Kenai Peninsula temperatures have soared recently, local farmers and gardeners have concerns about how June’s lack of rain and steady warm temperatures will affect their businesses in the weeks ahead.

Spruce branch girdling causing discoloration in tree.

Cloudberries observed in new area around Seldovia.

Rapid growth of white spruce over the past three summers observed.

Year of the Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis)

Communities on the southern coastline of Kenai Peninsula have noticed changes to trees as a result of the aphid.

More early bloomers in Southcentral Alaska.

Early blueberries in Jakolof Bay, Alaska

5-25-14 High spruce pollen McDonald Spit, Alaska, USA