Davis Hovey, KNOM - Nome
Western Alaska’s dwindling jackrabbit population is being surveyed for the first time
Researchers don’t yet know why the population has been decreasing, and they say they need more information about the species to find out.
Scientists are using drones to count Chukchi Sea walruses without disturbing them
U.S. and Russian scientists are using less invasive technology to get a more complete survey of the walrus population in the Bering Strait region.
Alaska’s only Arctic deep draft port will get hundreds of millions of dollars from infrastructure bill
Alaska’s congressional delegation announced on Jan. 19 that the Port of Nome will receive a quarter of a billion dollars for future construction.
Unalakleet endures water shortage after nasty freeze-up
Unalakleet’s supply of water was running on empty following a nasty freeze-up at the end of December, prompting the community to pull together to conserve water.
Research cruise gets rare chance to study Bering and Chukchi seas
The final research cruise of 2021 in the Bering and Chukchi seas came through the region in November.
Covid funding helps build homes in overcrowded Bering Straits communities
Staffing turnover, logistical issues, and the wrench thrown into the plan by COVID-19 all delayed the construction of new homes that were slated for this year. Lyons says the upside of waiting though, is that BSRHA received additional funds from COVID related grants and can afford to build more homes in 2022.
This November’s sea ice extent in the northern Bering is the best in years
Current sea ice extent in Northern Alaska waters is the highest it’s been since November 2001.
Major COVID outbreak puts Savoonga into lockdown
Savoonga is on St. Lawrence Island, out in the Bering Sea. The regional health corporation on Monday reported 115 COVID cases in the community of less than 800 people.
A beluga from the Beaufort Sea has traveled unusually far south — all the way to Washington state
In the first week of October, The Seattle Times reported a single beluga whale had been sighted in multiple places across Puget Sound — something that hasn’t been seen in the area since the 1940s.
Scientists report an increase in harmful algal blooms in the northern Bering and Chukchi Seas
The blooms carry toxins, but scientists aren’t yet sure what impact they will have on marine mammals.
Native-owned Nome business makes traditional garments with modern materials
Alice Bioff said her approach comes from her background as an Inupiaq woman living in Nome. “I was surrounded by women who sewed atikluks, qaspeqs. I was around that all my life,” she said.
Dead seabirds are washing ashore in Western Alaska for the fifth straight summer
Researchers and federal scientists still have no definitive explanation for the cause.
Western Alaska residents fill buckets of late-budding salmonberries
Some possible causes for late budding in berries include more precipitation when flowers bloom, which reduces pollination, an overall lack of pollinators, or sometimes animals and birds eat the berries during the winter.
2021 Iron Dog set to start with more restrictions, less support
The 2021 Iron Dog will start in two weeks, but with an adjusted route and new COVID-19 precautions.
In Nome, few sexual assault crimes result in prosecutions
Some survivors think law enforcement doesn’t prioritize these kinds of crimes, especially when the victims are Alaska Native.
Fall storms set back Bering and Chukchi sea ice formation in already delayed season
As of Nov. 3, sea ice in the Bering and Chukchi Seas in is the lowest on record for the last five years, even with tiny bits of ice starting to form in Norton Bay and the Kotzebue Sound.
12 new COVID-19 cases reported in Stebbins
The report comes after two weeks without a case in the Norton Sound community.
COVID-19 cases send Gambell into lockdown
A VPSO is patrolling the community to limit contact between residents.
After dry summer, Nome sets daily rain record
Nome recorded 1.27 inches of rain on Sept. 14
‘Pulse’ of marine debris in Bering Straits likely coming from Russia
The trash included butane and penetrating oil.