The Lorino community caught the first bowhead whale in five years.To pull the giant over 17 meters long ashore, all the heavy equipment of the village was needed. According to hunters, this is the third “greenlander” caught in the entire history of the community.
The Western Arctic Caribou Herd has been declining for years, and the migration patterns of the animals have been changing. In several locations in Northwest Alaska, caribou have been arriving later and later in the season. Friday last week, people in Kotzebue finally started seeing caribou — hundreds of them ― crossing the Kotzebue Sound north of town, coming from the Noatak riverside.
Hunters in Central Southeast Alaska have reported a record harvest of 141 bulls during the month-long moose hunt, surpassing the previous record of 132 bulls set in 2021, with the majority of the harvest occurring on Kupreanof Island.
Shifting seasons and hotter temperatures could allow Alaska farmers to grow more abundant and diverse produce. But climate change can also bring drought, pests and permafrost thaw. Human-caused climate change is bringing longer and warmer growing seasons, but also pests and unstable weather.
David Kuptana, an elder and full-time harvester said ice should be forming around his home on Victoria Island this time of year — but instead, temperatures have been hovering around zero and it's been raining.
Scientists from the University of Alaska Fairbanks have observed an increase in chum salmon spawning in North Slope rivers, potentially indicating a shift in their population and a signal of climate change, although the impact on Indigenous communities and other species remains uncertain.
Red and Black Currants are present on the property and the moose seem to be picky about what berry they like to consume.
"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."
Is the abundance of insects unusual? Updates from around the state with picking and weather impacts.
Frost exposure and poor pollination are behind expectations for a less than ideal season, according to research institute Luke. Bilberry patches at particular risk are in the regions of South Karelia, Kainuu, Keminmaa, Ylitornio, as well as certain areas of Central and South Ostrobothnia.
Alaska is one of the only places in the world where peony flowers grow in the summer months. But the unusually cold, wet weather this year is delaying the blooms by weeks.
Amid severely restricted fishing on the Kuskokwim River, one bright spot has been abundant sockeye salmon runs at 30,000 fish daily near Bethel.
Several thousand pink salmon were caught in one net in connection with the extraction of the blacklisted fish. Too many Pink Salmon in the oceans and rivers threaten other species of salmon in Norway.
While many Bering Sea crab populations find themselves in freefall, Dungeness crab is breaking records in regions that used to hardly see them.
A total of 94 brown bears, five black bears and five wolves were killed in the program that began May 10 and ended June 4, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said this week. That’s more than four times the number biologists predicted would be taken. State biologists also say disease and changing food supplies might be a bigger factor overall.
King and summer chum runs are forecasted to be poor, with little to no harvestable surplus available.
However, numerous fishermen say the assessment of a decline in the stock doesn't match what they're seeing on the water, where haddock appear to them to be plentiful.
Kuujjuaq, Quebec experienced record-breaking temperatures this week. Locals say hunting practices and the ability to travel on the land are being significantly reduced by the thaw.
"In our country Afghanistan I have observed that the level of water is decreasing day by day."
As engineers and government officials try to locate the source of a sewage leak into the Capilano River, the Squamish Nation and a group of volunteers who monitor waterways on the North Shore say they are worried about the effect on young salmon in the river.
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