sea ice
Lack of sea ice sends seal pups and walrus calves to beach
It’s been a busy couple of months for members of the Alaska Marine Mammal Stranding Network, including Alaska Sea Grant’s Gay Sheffield, as they respond to multiple reports of dead ice seals along the coast of the Bering and Chukchi Seas. NOAA Fisheries reported in mid-June that at least 60 seals have recently washed up…
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 Bering and Chukchi region. Since 2013, Sheffield, an associate professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, and Ahmasuk have…
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 spring trip to Utqiaġvik, I had a chance to find out by visiting the farthest-north atmospheric observatory operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration…
Read More“We have never been here before” — Gay Sheffield, on ecosystem-wide changes in the Bering Sea
The Bering Sea is undergoing massive changes that include the dramatic loss of sea ice last winter. As Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory agent Gay Sheffield notes in the interview below, “we have never been here before.” Sheffield spoke to the Associated Press at the American Geophysical Union conference this week in Washington, D.C., saying…
Read MoreStudy aims to help Alaska’s North Slope officials adapt to climate change hazards
(UTQIAĠVIK, Alaska)—Stacy Bowen’s family has owned The Fur Shop for some 40 years. The cream-colored store in Utqiaġvik sits on the edge of the Arctic Ocean. Crammed floor to ceiling with animal skins, costume jewelry, fabric bolts, souvenir sweatshirts and fresh flowers flown in from the tropics, the eclectic shop is a commercial hub for…
Read MoreNome Nugget: “Nature follows its own break-up calendar.”
Interview with Gay Sheffield and others.
Read MoreTo list or not to list. The battle continues over the Pacific walrus.
Our Nome-based Marine Advisory agent Gay Sheffield stopped by the studios of KNOM-FM recently to discuss the federal government’s decision not to grant protections to the Pacific walrus under the Endangered Species Act. “Listing the walrus isn’t going to bring the sea ice back,” she said. Listen to the full interview here.
Read MoreBeaufort and Chukchi Seas have near record open water
Temperatures are dropping and the days are getting darker as Alaska moves into autumn. But despite the approaching winter chill, there’s lots of open water north of Alaska—a near record, in fact. That has potential implications for fall storms and coastal erosion in northwestern Alaska.
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