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A humpback whale calf has been disentangled from fishing gear near Juneau.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminstration spokeswoman Julie Speegle says the calf and its mother were spotted Wednesday morning by a charter fishing boat near Halibut Cove on Shelter Island. The whales appeared to be heading up Lynn Canal at about 5 knots. Other whale-watching boats monitored the pair until a NOAA team could arrive on-scene.

“The calf was trailing a bouy and it was entangled in the line, said Speegle. “Our whale disentanglement team did spend several hours observing the lines and how they were wrapped around the calf to figure out exactly which lines to sever in order to free the calf.”

The five-member, specially-trained disentanglement team also attached a transmitter to track the calf in case it raced away before they could return in a separate boat to free it.

“Mama was nearby and she was very protective of her calf throughout this whole operation,” said Speegle. “At times, she tried to position herself between the rescuers and the calf to protect her calf.”

Speegle said the calf was freed from the fishing lines Wednesday evening just west of Berners Bay.

The road out of Juneau is getting a little longer this summer. Crews are extending Glacier Highway, the capital city’s northernmost land route. It’s a step in what officials hope will be an approximately 50-mile highway, to the north and west along Lynn Canal.

Transportation Commissioner Marc Luiken told the Juneau Chamber of Commerce on Thursday that construction is ongoing.

“We are well on our way to being able to complete that about 3-mile extension this fall. It’ll be a gravel road out there initially; we’ll eventually get out there to probably put a chip seal on it. And then eventually we’ll improve it beyond that,” he said.

The work involves widening and upgrading an existing gravel road from Glacier Highway’s current end to Cascade Point, on Berners Bay. Miller Construction won the contract for the $2.5-million-dollar project.

Plans for the longer road, to the Katzehin River, are less clear. A new ferry terminal would be built, connecting drivers to Skagway and Haines.

Environmental groups sued to block the road. Two federal courts have ruled that planners should have considered improved ferry service as an alternative to laying down pavement. That’s blocked plans to begin construction.

Luiken says his staff, the governor’s office and the Federal Highway Administration are still considering what to do next.

“Really, it boils down to two options. We can either appeal to the Supreme Court. Or we can conduct a supplemental environmental impact statement that addresses the issues that the Ninth Circuit (Court) brought up in their ruling,” Luiken says.

He says either option would take up to two years. Both could take place at the same time.

Stories include the latest candidate to run for school board during the municipal election on October 4th and another buyer steps forward to pick up the last two weeklies being shut down by Calista Corporation.

Not eggs, after all.

Scientists have done a more detailed examination of that mysterious orange goo that showed up recently in a lagoon near Kivalina.

They are fungal spores.

Samples were sent down to the NOAA’s National Ocean Service Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research in Charleston, South Carolina. Doctor Steve Morton, a research oceanographer there, said they used an electron scanning micrograph to examine in greater detail the tiny orange balls that were seen in earlier pictures.

“It was just a very interesting, unusual event,” said Morton. “I’ve been during oceanographic work on red tides for 20 years now. This is the first one I’ve ever seen that’s caused by a fungal spore.”

Morton says the spores are consistent with a fungus that causes rust, or the discoloration that appears on plant leaves and stems. But it’s still unclear which of the 78-hundred types of rust fungi is the Kivalina goo.

Initial analysis by NOAA’s Ted Stevens Marine Institute at Auke Bay showed what appeared to be a concentration of microscopic eggs, possibly of an invertebrate like a copepod.

There’s not much that’ll make you feel better when you lose by 64 points. But after suffering their second straight blowout – 84 to 20 at the hands of the Homer Mariners last night (Thursday) – Thunder Mountain High School Head Coach Bill Byouer told his team it’s not the end of the world.

“I’m not dead, and neither are they,” Byouer said. “So they’ll be in here come Monday and we’re going to be fighting hard again and try for next week.”

The Falcons came out strong, forcing a Homer fumble on the first play from scrimmage. Less than two minutes later, Thunder Mountain Quarterback Camden Thomas connected with Sam Jahn on scoring strike from five yards out.

But Homer was simply too quick, too savvy, and too good for the out-manned Falcons. Mariners Running Back Dylan Day had eight touchdowns, including five on the ground, one after a catch, one on a fumble recovery and another on a punt return.

The Falcons’ other touchdowns came on a one-yard quarterback keeper by Thomas with 8:03 left in the first half, and a 57-yard scamper by running back John Jolly to cap the scoring with 2:38 left in the game. Between those two scores Homer pretty much dominated both sides of the ball.

To make matters worse, Byouer says seven of his players had to leave the game due to injury.

“JV stepped in there and still worked hard,” said Byouer. “I mean, I got young, young freshman out there, sophomores, you know, and they’re learning.”

Byouer can only hope another week of practice will help his young players take on their next opponent – Nikiski. The Bulldogs are 2-0 and coming off a 48-0 win over Sitka on Wednesday. They’ll be in Juneau for a showdown at Thunder Mountain next Saturday (8-27).

Meanwhile, The Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears play the North Pole Patriots tomorrow (Saturday) in the first Railbelt Conference game of the season.

The game is played in North Pole. The Patriots had their shake-down game last week against West Anchorage – and lost to the Eagles by a score of 44-28.

The Crimson Bears first game of the season last week was an easy victory over Thunder Mountain.

Photos by Brian Zittlau

Governor Sean Parnell and First Lady Sandy Parnell hosted the Annual Governor’s Picnic yesterday, the last of the summer. Picnics were already held in Anchorage, Mat-Su, Fairbanks last month.

The line for hot dogs and salmon was looping around the parking lot for the Sandy Beach shelters before Department Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners even started service at 4:30.

Here are some of the sounds from Thursday’s event at Annual Governor’s Picnic at Sandy Beach in Douglas. They include State Senator Dennis Egan, Governor Parnell and the First Lady, some of the Juneau and Douglas residents waiting in line or attending the event, and Fish and Game Commissioner Cora Campbell who served up the salmon.

In addition to Anchorage, Mat-Su, Fairbanks, and Juneau, Parnell announced that an additional picnic will be held in a community that will rotate each year starting next summer.