Oceans

Researchers are developing a field test kit that would make it easier to monitor for paralytic shellfish poisoning. Project partners include NOAA researchers from the Lower 48 as well as community testers based on Kodiak Island and in the Alaska Peninsula.

An estimated 40,000 houses have been damaged by flooding that some people have compared to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Some 86,000 people have applied for federal disaster aid.

Organizers announced last week that the Race to Alaska is a go for the summer of 2017. The 750-mile engineless boat race begins with a qualifying heat from Port Townsend, Washington, to Vancouver, British Columbia.

The cruise ship Crystal Serenity cast off from Seward Tuesday for a first-of-it’s kind trip through the Arctic’s Northwest Passage to New York City. It’s the first luxury liner to attempt the route — and the largest passenger ship by far. Many people are wondering if it’s a sign of what’s to come, as the Arctic sees increasingly ice-free summers.

Homer City Council passed a resolution on Aug. 8, formally requesting changes to U.S. Navy training exercises in the Gulf of Alaska. The proposed training area is 24 nautical miles from the Kenai Peninsula shoreline, just south of Prince William Sound and east of Kodiak Island.

This Arctic species can live longer than any other known animal advanced enough to have a backbone, scientists say — maybe more than 500 years. Their muscles might hold clues that could help humans.