Alaska Outdoors

A male Steller sea lion amid others on the coast of Alaska in Southeast. (Courtesy Photo / Michell Trifari)

Alaska Science Forum: Steller sea lions and mercury

Tiny bits of fish and squid may contain big answers.

A male Steller sea lion amid others on the coast of Alaska in Southeast. (Courtesy Photo / Michell Trifari)
The Iliamna Lake monster, depicted in this illustration by Alex Wit, is often described as shark-like in appearance. (Courtesy Image / Alex Wit)

Pride of Bristol Bay: Catching the Iliamna Lake Monster

““I was skeptical. I’m not skeptical anymore.”

The Iliamna Lake monster, depicted in this illustration by Alex Wit, is often described as shark-like in appearance. (Courtesy Image / Alex Wit)
This photo shows Amalga Harbor on Oct. 18. (Courtesy Photo / Judith MacBrine)

Wild Shots: Photos of Mother Nature in Alaska

Reader-submitted photos of Southeast Alaska in autumn 2020.

This photo shows Amalga Harbor on Oct. 18. (Courtesy Photo / Judith MacBrine)
An ermine emerges to look around while exploring the crevices among the roadside rocks. While its white winter coat is conspicuous now, it will help it blend in with its surroundings during winter. (Courtesy Photo /David Bergeson)

A white weasel wanders on a wintry walk

Darting in and out of the rocks was a small, white critter that quickly disappeared.

An ermine emerges to look around while exploring the crevices among the roadside rocks. While its white winter coat is conspicuous now, it will help it blend in with its surroundings during winter. (Courtesy Photo /David Bergeson)
Members of the Juneau Ski Club take ski during a Sunday recreation day. (Courtesy photo / Frankie Pillifant)

Nordic Ski Club and teams prepare to ski into season

It’s easy to distance skiing on the trails.

Members of the Juneau Ski Club take ski during a Sunday recreation day. (Courtesy photo / Frankie Pillifant)
Decoy geese can’t fly away…except perhaps during an October storm. (Jeff Lund / Juneau Empire)

Earning the ‘local’ title

If October was a fish, it would be a lingcod. Ugly. Nasty. Angry.

Decoy geese can’t fly away…except perhaps during an October storm. (Jeff Lund / Juneau Empire)
This photos shows colorful bleeding tooth-fungus, sometimes called strawberries and cream (Courtesy Photo / Jos Bakker)

Fun with 3 fungal curiosities

Mystery, bleeding teeth and bird’s nest fungus.

This photos shows colorful bleeding tooth-fungus, sometimes called strawberries and cream (Courtesy Photo / Jos Bakker)
A raven flies in Alaska. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)

Ravens and crows are hard to fool

By Ned Rozell Biologist Stacia Backensto has fooled a raven. When trying to recapture birds on Alaska’s North Slope during her graduate student days at… Continue reading

A raven flies in Alaska. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)
Elin Lunoe, and Pilot, a Steller sea lion, check each other out at a tank at the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward in this February 2015 photo. The Alaska SeaLife Center is among the recipients of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission funds. (AP Photo/Dan Joling)

SeaLife Center receives almost $300K in grant money

It was among 15 conservation organizations and state agencies awarded funds.

Elin Lunoe, and Pilot, a Steller sea lion, check each other out at a tank at the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward in this February 2015 photo. The Alaska SeaLife Center is among the recipients of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission funds. (AP Photo/Dan Joling)
A male northern flicker at Tee Harbor this year shows the red face mark of the western form and the red nape mark of the eastern form, so it may be an intergrade. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)

Finding bright spots in the forests and meadows

These little points of brightness matter.

A male northern flicker at Tee Harbor this year shows the red face mark of the western form and the red nape mark of the eastern form, so it may be an intergrade. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)
A 9-year-old Carl Tape — now a seismologist at UAF’s Geophysical Institute — poses beside a thermometer registering 50 below zero Fahrenheit during a Fairbanks cold snap in January 1989. (Courtesy Photo / Walt Tape)

Cold tolerance not the same for everyone

What makes someone hot-blooded when others are cold as ice?

A 9-year-old Carl Tape — now a seismologist at UAF’s Geophysical Institute — poses beside a thermometer registering 50 below zero Fahrenheit during a Fairbanks cold snap in January 1989. (Courtesy Photo / Walt Tape)
A harlequin duck flies in front of Jeff Lund, who decided sometimes a camera is better than a shotgun for shooting when dinner has been secured. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)

Duck, duck, jalapeno popper

To really love music, you have to at least appreciate different styles. Same goes with hunting.

A harlequin duck flies in front of Jeff Lund, who decided sometimes a camera is better than a shotgun for shooting when dinner has been secured. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)
Arctic bristletails, like the ones shown in this photo, are wingless insects that live along the shoreline. (Courtesy Photo / Aaron Baldwin)

We’re still learning about these unusual insects

The’ve been around for 400 million years.

Arctic bristletails, like the ones shown in this photo, are wingless insects that live along the shoreline. (Courtesy Photo / Aaron Baldwin)
An Alaska yellowjacket sits among the leaves in late fall. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)

Fall equinox and the signs of the big turn

It is time for Alaskans to start paying the bill for all that summer daylight.

An Alaska yellowjacket sits among the leaves in late fall. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)
Lora Vess is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Department Chair of Social Sciences at the University of Alaska Southeast. “

Raging fires are the new normal of climate change.

Sustainable Alaska: The role of humans in ‘natural’ disasters

Lora Vess is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Department Chair of Social Sciences at the University of Alaska Southeast. “
Lycopodium clavatum or running club moss often has long stems that are covered with short leaves, and they “run” over the ground before making erect branches that bear cones on stalks. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)

Club mosses and the evolution of land plants

The roots go back a while.

Lycopodium clavatum or running club moss often has long stems that are covered with short leaves, and they “run” over the ground before making erect branches that bear cones on stalks. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)
Message from a lonely Alaska island

Message from a lonely Alaska island

A message in a core.

Message from a lonely Alaska island
Tia Shoemaker, hunting guide and bush pilot on the Alaska Peninsula, stands next to her family’s plane.(Courtesy Photo / Tia Shoemaker)

Pride of Bristol Bay: A conversation with a hunter and conservationist

She is fighting to ensure future generations will experience the wilderness of Bristol Bay.

Tia Shoemaker, hunting guide and bush pilot on the Alaska Peninsula, stands next to her family’s plane.(Courtesy Photo / Tia Shoemaker)
There might be goats… just over the hill

There might be goats… just over the hill

There’s always a fish or deer or quorum of widgeon that peck at you during the off season.

There might be goats… just over the hill
A bear stands in a field of hemlock parsley at Eagle Beach two years ago before the bears demolished most of the plants. (Courtesy Photo / Doug Jones)

What’s on taproot: Carrots and their wild relatives

They grow near Juneau.

A bear stands in a field of hemlock parsley at Eagle Beach two years ago before the bears demolished most of the plants. (Courtesy Photo / Doug Jones)