The sea lions have posed a long-running conundrum for wildlife officials, pitting mammals protected under federal law against protected — and valuable — fish runs.
Chum returns are the lowest on record, leaving communities with empty freezers and uncertainty about getting through the winter.
“The fact that an otter attacked a person was certainly surprising,” said a wildlife biologist with Fish and Game, who added that it’s hard to know what the motivation behind the otter’s “unusual behavior” was.
The haze is expected to subside by the middle of next week, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service said.
Sea ice has shrunk, but scientists are seeing signs that Alaska's bowhead whales are flourishing.
Patrick Jones, wildlife biologist for the state Department of Fish and Game, said he has heard of dogs killing moose, caribou and a days-old musk ox calf, but nothing like this attack.
The snowfall came after Anchorage broke the daily record for warmest Dec. 31, with temperatures at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport measuring 46 degrees.
A wildlife biologist believes a lynx that recently approached a young girl may have been a juvenile. The girl’s father said he’s now on higher alert after the encounter.
“It started breaking into pieces beneath us,” said Phillip Rode.
One party’s camping gear was blown away in the wind. The other’s shelter was destroyed, and they couldn’t start a fire. The Rescue Coordination Center launched from Anchorage but had to turn back due to "extreme conditions".
One reading on the Hillside clocked winds reaching 91 miles per hour. The day saw reports of property damage, road closures and downed power lines.LEO Note: According to Rick Thoman of NWS, these are unusually high winds for April.
As of Monday evening, no structures had been damaged in the Munson Creek Fire, which was less than a half mile from the popular resort.
Rockfall along the Seward Highway near Beluga Point has been happening since wind and rain battered the area earlier this week.
The flooding started when large chunks of ice jammed at Deneki bridge, according to an advisory issued by the National Weather Service.
Biologists believe the 18- to 20-foot whale may be sick or injured. It’s unclear if it will be able to swim out during high tide.
While Anchorage was getting hammered by wind, snow was piling up in the Susitna Valley — with a whopping 4 feet of snow at Hatcher Pass, according to a rough estimate.
“Smoke concentrations will be such that they could impact public health at times, according to an advisory issued by the state Division of Air Quality.
After he lost the trail, Jeff King stopped his dog team and draped his sleeping bag over his head to block the battering wind and blowing snow. He was somewhere between the villages of Ambler and Shungnak in the Kobuk 440 Sled Dog Race. Conditions ranged from howling to furious. King lay down with his team. He cuddled a dog named Twister and tried to sleep. That’s when a flaw in the plan rattled his bones. The work of getting there had caused him to sweat, dampness worsened by blowing snow that found its way inside his clothing.
The dog’s owner waded waist-deep into Taku Lake and was bitten on his hand while pulling the husky-mix away from the river otters,.
Two popular rivers are being closed to fishing because almost no cohos are making it upstream.
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