A die-off last year at St. Paul Island, the first compelling case of fatal saxitoxin poisoning in marine mammals, comes as more harmful algae is found farther north.
Oceans
Paralytic shellfish poisoning moves beyond Alaska’s shoreline
Researchers are finding the poisonous toxin throughout the year, and in animals away from the ocean.
Plastic fish food bags litter the water between Sitka and Juneau
A shipping container full of empty hatchery feed bags fell off a barge near Admiralty Island.
Scientists and Inupiaq hunters count bowhead whales. So far, the numbers seem to be on the rise.
Bowheads might be thriving as the sea ice in the Arctic declines. Past bowhead research suggests that the whales were in better physical condition in years with less sea ice.
Toxic algal blooms in Southeast will likely become less predictable with warming seas
Sitka had an early bloom that led to high shellfish toxins in April, and there is currently a paralytic shellfish toxin advisory across Southeast for recreational and subsistence harvest.
Arctic sea ice has been hitting record lows. Scientists just lost a critical tool for studying it.
According to an internal budget document, the Trump administration is seeking to end nearly all of NOAA’s climate research.