arctic
High school students learn about harmful algae in western Alaska
For three days in November, students from Nome-Beltz High School learned about ocean algae, especially about toxin producing species that cause paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) in humans and marine wildlife.…
Read MoreTracking bird flu in Western Alaska
The United States is in the midst of a bird flu outbreak first detected in December 2021. Alaska Sea Grant’s Gay Sheffield has been closely monitoring the situation in the…
Read MoreResearch investigates toxins in Arctic food webs and marine mammals
A new bulletin published by Alaska Sea Grant summarizes research to inform the public and help them understand the risk of paralytic shellfish toxins in Arctic Alaska food webs and…
Read MoreCause of seabird die-offs still unknown
For the fifth year in a row, Gay Sheffield has been investigating unusual seabird deaths in Western Alaska in collaboration with Bering Strait residents, Kawerak Inc., the U.S. Fish and…
Read MoreImproving sea ice forecasts for safer subsistence harvests
Alaska Native people have lived along the coasts of the Chukchi and Bering seas in northwest Alaska for thousands of years. The rich bounty of the ocean, including marine mammals,…
Read MoreKNOM: Little known about algal toxins’ effects on subsistence in Arctic waters
Alaska Sea Grant’s Gay Sheffield says two different samples of clams from that voyage were found to have high levels of an algal toxin called saxitoxin
Read MoreNew York Times publishes op-ed, co-authored by Gay Sheffield, on how sea ice loss imperils life in Alaska
The New York Times published a column by Vera Trainer, Rick Thoman and Gay Sheffield today about the dramatic extent of sea ice loss in Alaska and how it is…
Read MoreSheffield, Ahmasuk honored for seabird mortality response
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has honored Alaska Sea Grant’s Gay Sheffield and Brandon Ahmasuk of Kawerak, Inc. for leading a coordinated response to seabird mortality events across the…
Read MoreCarbon dioxide sample from Utqiaġvik provides wake-up call on climate
How does the buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere measured at Hawai‘i’s Mauna Loa volcano over the last six decades compare with the air above Alaska? During a recent…
Read MoreNome Nugget: Slight uptick in Cesium-137 heralds arrival Of Fukushima plume in Northern Bering Sea
After the 2011 tsunami that caused the destruction of a nuclear powerplant at Fukushima, Japan, Bering Sea coastal residents anticipated that some radiation would show up in the region. Now it has, but at levels that are well below concern.
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