With the coronavirus pandemic leaving Russia's cities quiet and deserted, its wild animals have decided to check things out.
The open ocean off Utqiagvik in fall and early winter is evidence of climate change. Remarkably, bowhead whales appear to be thriving, although there are new challenges. Kidney-worm infections have been detected in bowheads, possibly brought by other species of whales coming north. And then there are the killer whales, a natural predators of bowheads now venturing north.
Dozens of walruses were found dead earlier this month at their seasonal haulout near Point Lay. The findings came just about a day after locals said they saw an airplane they believed to be flying inappropriately over the herd, which comes to shore each year once the sea ice recedes past the continental shelf and it becomes too deep for them to feed.
Marine biologist and director of Dingle’s OceanWorld Aquarium, Kevin Flannery, told the Irish Times it is “very unusual” for a walrus to be spotted in this part of the world, although there have been potential sightings from surfers and fishermen in Ireland in the past.
Scientists worry for the pup's survival. Due to the pup’s albinism, it not only has bad eyesight, but could also be ostracized by the colony due to its unique characteristics.
On Sunday night, a plump ringed seal pup was spotted on the ice in front of Breaker’s Bar on Nome’s Front Street. UAF Alaska Sea Grant agent Gay Sheffield was called and moved the pup to a more secluded beach. The ice had likely gone out too fast and the mother finished up the normal weaning process on the ice chunks in front of Nome.
Residents of the coastal Chumikan village reported two adult whales and one baby on Wednesday afternoon, on a shore of the Uda River that flows into the sea. Alexei Paramonov spent hours protecting the pod from wild animals and poachers and saved the baby whale from hypothermia.
Sixteen gray and humpback whales have been reported stranded off Washington and Oregon since April 3, the largest number in nearly two decades.
John Ahkvaluk , 56, a polar bear guard revealed that this is not a good sign for the village. It’s the first time in several years that bears come at this time of the year. “It’s a warning that they got no food out there and they came looking for it here,” he said. After the incident, Luchie Manlangit, the school principal, and I invited John Ahkvaluk to talk to the kids and to share some protocols if polar bear will come around again.
Near Nome, reports of seal pups and walrus calves hauled out on beaches are piling up at an unprecedented rate.
Public health officials confirmed that four Nome residents had been hospitalized in early January with preliminary results pointing to poising from foodborne type E botulism from an aged beluga flipper.
But an Icelandic whale-watching crew spotted the right whale named Mogul three times this week, leaving a research scientist wondering why the animal ventured so far.
Scientists are waiting for water samples analysis that could hold skin cells for possible DNA testing. . Read more at straitstimes.com.
The community of Gambell fought a distemper outbreak among its dog population this spring and managed to squash the epidemic in its early onset. Distemper is a deadly disease that can afflict dogs and wildlife alike and also has been documented in the North Atlantic to jump from dogs to marine mammals like seals.
The extraordinary sight of a 30-foot long dead humpback whale that washed up on a beach area in Anchorage.
This comes just days after other reports of about 60 dead ice seals found from Kotlik to Kotzebue and Kivalina to Point Hope.
Verified reports of deaths and circumstantial evidence animals trapped in ‘bycatch’
The appearance of walrus on the ice off Nome added some excitement to the onset of spring.
It is the first polar bear seen in the city in more than 40 years, according to local environmentalists.
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