marine mammals – Alaska Sea Grant

Hooking Nome students on HAB research

By Tom Moran | February 9, 2026

A high school student in a brown parka and black pants holds a small fish in his hand and smiles broadly. He sits on the ice with his other hand holding a stick with a line running into the hole. Beside him are a clipboard and a bucket.

Ice fishing is not the most common method of data collection. But for students at Nome-Beltz High School, a couple of afternoons in December spent jigging for tomcod was a…

Fellow spotlight: Katie Pietrucha

By Kate Barber | April 5, 2024

Katie Pietrucha smiling in a black fleece jacket with blurred woods and snow background.

Alaska Sea Grant State Fellow Katie Pietrucha is working with the regulatory program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Alaska Marine Mammals Management Office. USFWS manages three species of…

Improving sea ice forecasts for safer subsistence harvests

By Anne Gore | March 25, 2021

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,…

KNOM: From krill to whales, marine life is washing up dead in the Bering Strait

By Alaska Sea Grant | July 5, 2019

Throughout the month of June, dead marine life was being reported on a weekly basis in the Bering Strait region, and Alaska Sea Grant’s regional Marine Advisory agent responded.

Marine advisory agents promoted

By Paula Dobbyn | October 30, 2018

Woman holding large object while older man inspects it with small telescopic lens

Julie Matweyou and Gary Freitag of Alaska Sea Grant’s Marine Advisory Program received promotions this month. Matweyou, the marine advisory agent based in Kodiak, received tenure and is now associate…

Alaska Sea Grant agent gives update on marine mammal strandings

By Paula Dobbyn | February 23, 2018

Our Marine Advisory agent Gay Sheffield spoke about marine mammal strandings last month in Anchorage during a meeting of the National Marine Fisheries Service Marine Mammal Stranding Network. Among the…

Gay Sheffield

By Dave Partee | October 24, 2017

Gay SheffieldMarine Advisory Program Agent, Nome (907) 443-2397 Contact Gay Bio page Marine Advisory Program 400 East Front Street Nome, AK 99762 Gay Sheffield Expertise Marine ecology, marine mammals, subsistence…

Two-page guide explains marine mammal salvage rules

By Paula Dobbyn | August 30, 2017

It’s not uncommon for Alaskans strolling their state’s vast coastline to encounter a marine mammal, dead and washed up on shore. When a surprise encounter happens, questions often bubble up.…

New bulletin for Alaska beachcombers on rights to marine mammal parts

By Paula Dobbyn | August 18, 2017

Have you come across beached marine mammal remains in Alaska, and wondered if you could legally take them home? A new publication makes it easy to understand who has rights to bones, teeth and other parts for subsistence or souvenir. Photo by LCDR Mark Wetzler, NOAA Corps.