Given the rarity of similar incidents, the whales have attracted a large crowd since Christmas Eve. On Boxing Day, the Coastguard confirmed that patrols have been taking place to ensure the safety of the public in the days since the animals were stranded.

Avian flu has decimated the marine creatures on the country’s Pacific coastline and scientists fear it could be jumping from mammal to mammal

EnviroNews Exclusive: Warmer, shorter winters due to climate change are a boon for the ticks that harm people, their pets and wildlife, scientists told EnviroNews in a series of exclusive interviews for this report. A walk in the woods can be refreshing, fun and good exercise.

The novel virus has only affected two people, both in Fairbanks. The "Alaskapox" was first identified in 2015 after a Fairbanks woman sought medical attention for a small skin lesion, pained fever and fatigue. In August, a second Fairbanks woman with no known connection to the first was found to have the virus. Scientists suspect both women may have gotten the virus from contact with small wild animals.

Biologists are trying to determine what's ailing ringed seals that live off Alaska's Arctic coast. Scores of seals stranded on beaches this summer appeared to have skin lesions, and dozens have died.

An unusual bird was sighted in the Yukon Flats village of Chalkyitsik recently. The raptor, uncommon to the state, has also been spotted in a few other Alaska locations. Bird biologist Jim Johnson says there’s broader evidence that the nomadic turkey vulture is expanding north.

Two hundred walruses surprised residents on an Alaskan peninsula after arriving en masse on a beach.

In the Glenallen area, Yukon and Kuskokwim River communities, and Northwest Arctic floodwaters caused by snow melt and rapid warming have caused many communities to be flooded.

State Veterinarian Dr. Robert Gerlach says the Mat-Su case confirms that migrating birds have brought avian influenza to Alaska.

Sunshine is abundant this time of year, but cooler temperatures this week have slowed the melting of a well above normal snowpack in Fairbanks. That’s affecting migratory bird’s arrival at a local refuge.

With Halloween just over a week out, Fairbanks is looking at the potential of a third straight year with minimal snow cover, and a possible first ever green Halloween.

Carcasses examined so far have shown no indication of disease, and tests are pending for harmful algal toxins. Seabirds have been found emaciated and starved, and changed ocean conditions may have affected prey.

Breakup of the Yukon River over the weekend has led to serious flooding in Eagle, Circle and Fort Yukon.

Hot, dry weather over the northern Interior is keeping wildfire season alive longer than normal.

A wildfire is burning in a remote area of northwest Alaska. The Alaska Fire Service reports that the Zane Hills Fire was discovered this week, and mapped at 1,900 acres.

Frigid north winds blow down from the Arctic Ocean, freeze saltwater and push sea ice south. The ice normally prevents waves from forming and locks onto beaches, walling off villages. But not this year.

The closures of the campgrounds, facing the threat of falling trees, likely will last through summer, the state parks division said.

Flooding that halted Alaska Railroad trains north of Talkeetna Saturday, has receded, but train traffic remains shut down. Listen now

A wildfire north of Delta Junction has reignited. The more than 8,000-acre South Fork Salcha Fire was started by lightning earlier this month in a remote area about 70 miles southeast of Fairbanks.

Walruses over the last decade have come to shore on the Alaska and Russia sides of the Chukchi Sea as sea ice diminishes because of global warming.