LEO Network

About the LEO Network
The LEO Network is a worldwide network of observers and experts that share their observations of environmental change.
Continue

Observations

Had to free a reindeer
The Governor of Svalbard helped free a reindeer that had become stuck, reportedly in trash, in Longyearbyen. Authorities suggest such incidents may recur due to litter.
Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway
Svalbardposten

Will die of exhaustion or malnutrition
A reindeer in Nordkapp, Finnmark, was found entangled in trash and was freed by a passerby. The article warns that litter can kill reindeer through exhaustion or starvation.
Nordkapp, Finnmark, Norway
iFinnmark

Increasing Trash on Reynolds Bridge Road
An increase in garbage, including glass, has been observed accumulating along Reynolds Bridge Road in Benton, Tennessee, particularly in areas without houses.
Benton, Tennessee, United States

Environmental disaster threatens the Amga due to loggers’ negligence
Public monitors in Aldansky District, Yakutia, found logging waste, hazardous trash, and unremoved timber left by LLC Vostochnoe near the Amga River, warning of heightened wildfire risk and potential environmental harm. They urge prosecutors and the republic’s ecology ministry to enforce cleanup and fire‑prevention measures before the lease expires in December.
Aldansky District, Sakha Republic, Russia
Yakutia.Info

The most littered beach I have seen
Students and staff from Svalbard Folk High School cleaned more than 100 bags of marine debris from a beach at the south end of Woodfjorden, Svalbard. Participants described it as the most littered beach they had seen.
Woodfjorden, Svalbard, Norway
Svalbardposten

Considered sinking it with gunfire
Norway’s Coast Guard considered using a machine gun to sink a drifting mooring buoy near Svalbard before eventually hauling the rusty steel structure aboard. The incident highlights marine debris hazards in Arctic waters.
Hinlopen Strait, Svalbard, Norway
Svalbardposten

Fire at Yellowknife landfill likely caused by wrongly tossed electronics
A small fire broke out at the Yellowknife landfill on April 22, likely ignited by improperly disposed electronics, but was quickly extinguished by city staff and the Yellowknife Fire Division.
Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada
CBC News

Bin-busting bears in Tofino and Ucluelet making quick work of bear-resistant garbage cans
Wildlife officials report that bears in Tofino and Ucluelet have learned to breach bear-resistant garbage bins, leading to concerns about increased bear-human conflict.
Tofino and Ucluelet, British Columbia, Canada
CBC News

Thousands of trees have blown over in Norrfjärden: "Like a war zone"
Severe weather in Norrfjärden, north of Umeå, has caused thousands of trees to blow over, leaving many without power. Umeå Energi technicians are working to clear the devastation and restore electricity.
Norrfjärden, Västerbotten, Sweden
SVT Nyheter

Erosion continues along Noatak River
High water throughout the summer continues to erode the river bank.
Noatak, Alaska, United States
Richard L Thoman Jr, Gemini , Jeffrey Luther, Crane Johnson

Litter change along the Glenn Highway
Litter along the stretch of the Glenn Highway from Eagle River to Wasilla is significantly less noticeable.
Eagle River, Alaska, United States

NOAA responds to entangled whale in Unalaska's Iliuliuk Bay
Authorities are gathering images and information to coordinate helping an entangled humpback in Unalaska’s Iliuliuk Bay.
Dutch Harbor, Alaska, United States
Alaska Public Media

Minister Alarmed by Plastic Pollution on Eldey Island
The expedition revealed that gannets have easy access to plastic, as their nests are mostly made from plastic debris. Hundreds of dead gannets were also observed by the experts, with it being estimated that three factors played a role in their deaths: natural attrition, bird flu, and plastic pollution.
Eldey Island
Iceland Review

Thousands of Cigarette Stubs Wash Up on East Iceland Beach
A resident of Eskifjörður, East Iceland was shocked to see thousands of cigarette stubs washed up on the shore of the fjord yesterday.
Eskifjörður, East, Iceland
Iceland Review

Black bear in tree for 24 hours
Anchorage, Alaska, United States

Floating Helmet
"My son found this helmet floating here in Prince William Sound."
Tatitlek, Alaska, United States

Garbage piles up in Paris, mice and rats spread
In Paris, the sidewalks are now filled with huge rubbish rocks. The garbage workers are striking and do not intend to back down. Rats and mice, for their part, seem to have happy days.
Paris, France
NRK

U.S. downs another aerial 'object' over Lake Huron as search continues for wreckage in Yukon
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the search for an object downed over the Yukon yesterday is ongoing, while several U.S. representatives say that country's military has destroyed another object over Lake Huron.
Yukon, Canada
CBC

After China balloon scare, Air Force shoots down object flying above Alaska’s North Slope
Object shot down by US Air Force, ordered by Biden, over North slope of Alaska.
Utqiaġvik, Alaska, United States
Alaska Public Media

Cleanup continues at Kodiak spaceport after January rocket crash
ABL Space Systems is still investigating the crash, but says the rocket rose more than 700 feet before its engines shut down 11 seconds after launch.
Kodiak, Alaska, United States
Alaska Public Media

Whale washed ashore in Kauai dies with fishing nets and plastic bags in stomach
A whale that washed ashore in the island of Kauai over the weekend likely died in part because it ate large volumes of fishing traps, fishing nets, plastic bags and other marine debris, scientists said Thursday, highlighting the threat to wildlife from the millions of tons of plastic that ends up in oceans every year.
Hanamā‘ulu, Hawaii, United States
mauinews.com

September storm leaves behind treasured beach finds
The remnants of Typhoon Merbok not only battered Alaska’s west coast in September, the storm also left behind a few treasures in its wake.
Chevak, Alaska, United States
KYUK

Can we convince tourists to go hiking without leaving any traces?
A growing number of people are visiting Norway’s protected areas. This poses new challenges for national park management. Excrement and rubbish left behind by thousands of tourists degrades Lofotodden National Park’s idyllic nature. What can be done about this problem?
Å, Nordland, Norway
The Independent Barents Observer

A polar bear in Russia is rescued after getting its tongue stuck in a milk can
In a report this week, a team of Canadian and U.S. scientists warned that hungry polar bears are increasingly turning to garbage dumps to fill their stomachs as their icy habitat disappears due to climate change.
Dikson, Krasnoyarskiy, Russia
ArcticToday

River erosion threatening old dump site
Community gravel source and old dump site threated by erosion.
Noatak, Alaska, United States
Joy Britt, Kayla Nay, Sarah Durand, James Benzschawel, Jeffrey Luther, Erin Nelson, Desirae Mack, Joanna Barton

Bank erosion exposing old landfill contents
A fisherman was coming home from fishing last night and noticed (what he thought was) a coffin sticking out of the old gravesite above one of the markers I used to measure erosion with last summer. It turned out to not be a coffin, but rather an old air duct or metal meat trailer.
Noatak, Alaska, United States
Chris Dankmeyer, Paul Walton, Tom Wolforth, Jeffrey Luther, Joy Britt

Unusual container found on Bering Sea beach
This container was found on the beach near Nelson Lagoon, Alaska. No letters or numbers, symbols or any other noticeable identifications. It turns out it is a special type of long term bait container used for crab fisheries.
Nelson Lagoon, Alaska, United States
Melissa Good, Mark McNeley, Tom Okey, Gay Sheffield, Amy Holman

Red Book’s Steller Sea lion rescued from a plastic death trap in Russian Far East
The endangered mammal got tied up to the Nevelsk breakwater from debris and rope that it got caught in.
Nevel’sk, Sakhalin, Russia
The Siberian Times

Ships traveling into a warming Arctic are leaving garbage in their wake, scientists warn
Following another year of stark climate impacts in the Arctic, scientists warned Tuesday of a new scourge hitting the region: marine trash. With the region warming twice as fast as the rest of the world, sea ice that has long blanketed the Arctic Ocean is disappearing, opening new routes to shipping.
Nome, Alaska, United States
ArcticToday

Only two flamingos sighted on Sidi Boughaba Lake
On a hiking trip, observer sees a lone pair of Flamingos at Sidi Boughaba Lake National Park. This was not expected from a sociable bird species that travel in large flocks.
Kenitra, Gharb-Chrarda-Beni Hssen, Morocco
David Oswald, Chyna Williams, Salma Sayeh

Scientists found plastic debris in the digestive track of southern right whale stranded in Argentina
Scientists found plastic debris in the digestive tract of a southern right whale stranded in Argentina, according to a study from the Southern Right Whale Health Monitoring Program, co-led by the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine; and Instituto de Conservación de Ballenas in Argentina.
Puerto Madryn, Chubut Province, Argentina
MercoPress

Foreign trash continues to wash up on regional shores
Residents across the Bering Strait have continued to report unusual amounts of foreign trash washing up on their beaches. After months of working on the models, NOAA has been able to pin the source of the debris as likely somewhere southwest of St. Lawrence Island in the Gulf of Anadyr.
Gambell, Alaska, United States
The Nome Nugget

Debris from 3/11 disaster now washing ashore across Okinawa
Plastic containers washed out to sea after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster are starting to wash up on the shores of Okinawa Prefecture, leaving residents puzzled at the time it took for the items to travel just 2,000 kilometers.
Naha, Okinawa, Japan
The Asahi Shimbun

Stunning beach with hundreds of colourful sparkling pebbles damaged by typhoon Maysak
The remarkable glass beach was formed after years of dumping old vodka, wine and beer bottles, along with jars and ceramics during the Soviet era. Record strong wind destroyed at least half of the unique beach on Ussuri bay.
Vladivostok, Primorskiy, Russia
Siberia Times

Foreign plastic continues to wash up on region’s beaches
There has been a surge of plastic trash that has been washing up on beaches in Nome and across the Bering Strait Region.
Nome, Alaska, United States
The Nome Nugget

Foreign Marine Debris Found in the Bering Sea
The Bering Sea has noted an abundance of foreign debris washing up on our shores. Communities like Unalakleet, Gambell, Savoonga and Nome have all reported and documented hoards of this debris.
Nome, Alaska, United States
Kawerak

Plastic pollution in Thailand soars during Covid-19 pandemic
Thai canals are clogged with discarded packaging, landfills are overflowing with mountains of bags, and trash bins are stuffed full of crumpled food wrapping.
Thailand
South China Morning Post

A Svalbard reindeer died after getting tangled up in plastic waste
Staff from the governor's office responded and found two bulls entangled on the shore. One lay dead in the water, and another could not move. A third bull had managed to get loose.
Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Svalbard and Jan Mayen
Arctic Today

Wave after wave of garbage hits the Dominican Republic
The images are shocking, but perhaps not for people who live in the Dominican Republic.'It happens pretty much all the time,' says Cyrill Gutsch
Santo Domingo de Guzmán, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
National Post

Unmasked: the scale of Arctic junk polluting the pristine environment
One region alone - Yakutia - has 5 million tons scrap metal dumped in polar regions, an ugly Soviet legacy.
Kotelny island, Yakutia Region, Russia
The Siberian Times

While the search for Utqiagvik whale researcher continues, his friends and family reflect on his role in the community
John Craighead "Craig" George was swept under a logjam last Wednesday on the Chulitna River near Cantwell, Alaska State Troopers said. The dive team responded to the area Friday morning but found that the water was too high to deploy.The rafting party was decending when they encountered an unusual amount of logjams.
Cantwell, Alaska, United States
Alaska Media, LLC., Steve Keller designer and application developer

More than 500 empty barrels were collected by volunteers from the ancient Eskimo settlement of Unazik
Residents of the Providensky urban district, together with border guards and military personnel, cleared the territory near Cape Chaplin from barrels. Volunteers collected more than 500 old empty barrels near the ancient Eskimo settlement Unazik, Chukotka news agency reports.
Provideniya, Chukotskiy Avtonomnyy Okrug, Russia

A once-popular Anchorage mall has become an illegal dumping ground
The Northway Mall in northeast Anchorage sits almost totally empty. That’s led to people dumping loads of trash, furniture, appliances and industrial waste all over the property.
Anchorage, Alaska, United States
Anchorage Daily News

Support

Observation Template