NOAA

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Friday that the 70 dead whales seen this year it constitutes an "unusual mortality event."

Shellfish are particularly vulnerable to ocean acidification, and colder waters are becoming more acidic than warm waters. What does this mean for Alaska and its fisheries – especially crabs and oysters? Or for the food chain that feeds other species in the ocean? The answers are beginning to come in from the scientific world, and we’ll learn more about ocean acidification on the next Talk of Alaska.APRN: Tuesday, 2/17 at 10:00 a.m.Download Audio

An ambitious set of priorities has been put together for the American chairmanship of the Arctic Council that begins this year, but neither the federal government nor the state has much money to pay for implementing those priorities. Climate change is amplified in the Arctic, and the Arctic nations want to work together to respond.APRN: Tuesday, 2/6 at 10:00 a.m.Download Audio

Originally titled "Arctic Shipping: Not If, But When?" the panel discussion was appropriately renamed to reflect increasing activity and the current presence of almost 100 vessels in the Arctic. "Over 95 vessels are operating in the U.S. Arctic right now", Margaret Spring of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration reported at the Arctic Imperative Summit. Are we ready? Listen to representatives from NOAA, Alyeska Pipeline and Marine Exchange of Alaska discuss "Arctic Shipping: Not If, But How Much?" on first of four Addressing Alaskans programs recorded at the Arctic Imperative Summit .KSKA: Thursday at 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says U.S. and Russia researchers will begin the largest-ever survey of ice seals in the Bering Sea off Alaska’s west coast.

President Obama announced Friday a plan to shake up and streamline federal departments and agencies. As part of that, he wants to move the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA from under the Commerce Department to Interior.

The puzzling illness that’s affecting ringed seals in the Arctic is now officially an Unusual Mortality Event – or UME.

The federal government is seeking a six-month delay for deciding whether two seals that depend on sea ice should be listed as a threatened species because of climate warming.

Two of the three Killer Whales that swam far up the Nushagak River from Bristol Bay are dead. NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service confirmed the whales' deaths after reports from a local resident, Chris Carr of Portage Creek

Three Killer Whales, or Orcas have been spotted between the villages of Ekwok and New Stuyahok, about 60-70 river miles up the Nushagak River from Dillingham. Scientists from NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service say it is not unusual for the whales to head upriver after salmon, but it is odd that they’ve gone so far up this late in the season and that they’re lingering so long.