Posts Near Nanwalek Map Timeline

A new plant species is establishing itself in the area and impacting native beach greens.

No obvious cause of death for this adult and juvenile otter.

"This season we have observed many salmonberry bushes that appear to be defoliated. It seems something is eating the leaves. We have also noticed the berries look sickly."

"We usually pick salmon berries in early July."

Discoloration of water in bay. Is this an algal bloom?

A 24-hour, 245 mile survey of fireweed plants from Anchorage to Seldovia revealed an almost complete absence of flowering.

Black oystercatchers have returned to Nanwalek, Alaska, and three eggs have been spotted on the beach.

It turns out that Grubby the opossum — who hitched a ride to Alaska in a shipping container in March — had babies.

Some Southeast fishermen skipping fall season entirely, other’s say season has been “hit or miss”

Two dead otters (one recent) on Kasitsna Bay side. We also found another one yesterday on the Kachemak side.

Walked two miles of spit and did not see any others.

A resident of Seldovia reported an infestation of worms infesting an area of salmonberry brush and nettle.

It's cold. And those frigid temperatures aren't going away anytime soon. The cold has set in across most of Alaska and set daily record lows in places like Homer, King Salmon and Bethel. It's relatively early to be seeing such cold.

High-fire danger prompts burn ban this week, A burn suspension is in effect for the Kenai Peninsula due to high fire danger, high fire activity and limited firefighting resources, according to a special notice from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources.

However, if ingested by oysters and other shellfish, the sudden burst of a ciliate form of zooplankton — or animal plankton — called Mesodinium rubrum could turn their meat pink.

A decomposing sleeper shark was found on the beach in Kasitsna Bay.

A flock of Speckle Belly geese re-visit Seldovia.

Partially decomposed whale

Coastal Alaskans were roused out of bed last night following a 7.8 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami warning. The warning was canceled within a matter of hours.

Until 2007, there have been only three verified reports of green sturgeon in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea, and two anecdotal reports from the Copper River and Unalaska areas.

First time we have ever seen a dead pup.

Defoliation of willows, alders, and berry bushes may be related to different insect species depending on the plant.

Ticks spotted on a Northwestern crow may have picked up ticks while scavenging for food.

Strong winds might have blown sea cucumbers (Cucumaria miniata) up on to the beach, exposing them to the cold at low tide.

A winter storm combined with a 20.7-foot high tide hammered the north shore of Kachemak Bay last Thursday.

As nearly every commercial salmon fisherman in Upper Cook Inlet can tell you, the 2019 season fell far short in every department.

Warm temperatures are likely causing alders and other woody Alaskan plants to bud in fall and early winter. As winter sets in, the buds are damaged and the plants will produce fewer buds come spring.

The man was walking his dogs on a well-used trail when he came across a sow with two cubs, a Fish and Game assistant area wildlife biologist said.

Highbush cranberries benefited from unusually warm, sunny conditions.

Willow and currants are budding unusually late, during an unusually warm fall.

Dead humpack whale found between Port Graham and Seldovia.

Unusual foam on autumn fallen leaves does not belong to a spittlebug, but may be a type of fungus.

A large group of dead northern sea nettles (Chrysaora melanaster) found near the shore in Kasitsna Bay.

The Destination Charger was donated by Tesla Corporation and installed by Mark Haller and his crew from Midnight Sun Solar, along with Tyson Belle from Diamond Ridge Electric.

Little rainfall during this year’s warm, dry summer left Seldovia and Nanwalek scrambling to conserve water.

A Kenai Peninsula village is rapidly running out of water. Low snowpack and little rainfall has led Nanwalek to declare a water emergency.

"Nanwalek was in an emergency drought, we had to have water flown in for 60 households."

“Whenever a seismic boat goes past and we drop our gear, the fish aren’t there. Any fisherman, or fisherman worth their salt, will tell you there’s an impact. They’ve seen it first-hand.”

"Jakolof Creek is dry almost all the way up to the switchbacks and continues to recede. The early run of red salmon may have made it to the lake, but that is probably the only run that has."

It’s official: the Kenai Peninsula is in a moderate drought. After months of warm weather and little rain, the United States Drought Monitor designated the region abnormally dry. The drought is creating a crisis for farmers who are having to water their crops more often while at the same time their wells are drying up. There are roughly 260 farms on the peninsula.

Hoverfly larva (possibly Dasysyrphus) found out in the open. Usually, they are found in stagnant water, on a decomposing animal carcass, or in rot holes of trees.

Large groups of loons are rarely observed in the summer on Homer's Beluga Lake. Over a dozen were observed calling back and forth on Beluga Lake.

Local residents debated whether a massive release of spruce pollen, which accumulated on every surface—including car bonnets, picnic tables and the nearby Kachemak Bay—amounted to a “golden sheen” or a “yellow scum”. The fine dust turned the surface of the sea the colour of butter and left a bright, lemony line on shore that marked the extent of high tide and gave off a sickly sweet smell. This huge release of pollen might be yet another symptom of a rapidly changing environment.

As lower Kenai Peninsula temperatures have soared recently, local farmers and gardeners have concerns about how June’s lack of rain and steady warm temperatures will affect their businesses in the weeks ahead.

The Homer Spit’s future as an iconic tourist attraction is in danger of washing away. Erosion along the spit’s sea walls is not a new problem. City officials are working with state and federal agencies to find a lasting solution.

We did not see a single sea star in the Kachemak-side tide pools, and boulders we visit each year all looked a little vacant, with a lot of empty, critter-free space.

The Homer Tribune - Offering news of the people, places and events of Homer and the lower Kenai Peninsula

Dead sea otter (Enhydra lutris) found on the beach with no obvious sign of injury although it did show signs of hair loss.

Sea Nettle (Chrysaora melanaster) jellyfish washed up on the beach.

Squid are becoming more common on the shoreline over the past few years.

Spruce branch girdling causing discoloration in tree.

On this occasion he did not just vomit once, but over and over, combined with severe diarrhea and fatigue.

Very early for a hummingbird, especially in a non-urban area without feeders.

Pink salmon are showing up in unexpected places around the Homer area.

Cloudberries observed in new area around Seldovia.

We wondered at the huge number of pinks still in the lagoon. Are they running later then normal?

Sea star wasting syndrome, or disease as it has become known, hit Kachemak Bay hard in 2016, killing about 90 percent of sunflower and true star populations.

Unidentified Ant

Tube-Dwelling Worms on Seldovia Beach

Found Pipefish

Squid are occasionally found in the area, but not very often.

If Alaska expands how many pink salmon its hatcheries — such as the one in Tutka Bay — produce, will there be unintended consequences that harm Kachemak Bay?

Sea star wasting disease, a type of densovirus, reduced the count of sea stars in Kachemak Bay from 180 last spring to a measly five this year.

No one really knows why algae put so much effort into making poisons. Alexandrium makes saxitoxin, and causes PSP. Another algae called Pseudo-nitzschia produces domoic acid, the source of amnesiac shellfish poisoning.

Sick and bloated sea lion may have been caused by eating rotten fish, noted state DVM.

Sea star wasting syndrome was first documented in Kachemak Bay in 2014, but it wasn’t until last summer that the mysterious infection began killing sea stars in large numbers.

Land's End Resort was built more than 50 years ago, and during that time, the Homer Spit has changed dramatically. A change in the direction and intensity of winds may be driving the faster erosion.

A robin was sighted in southcentral Alaska; an early arrival.

When a creature mysteriously turns up dead in Alaska—be it a sea otter, polar bear, or humpback whale—veterinary pathologist Kathy Burek gets the call.

Kachemak Bay has witnessed massive die-offs of sea stars, murres and razor clams. Whats going on?

Died on beach.

But at least there is a stream...

Rapid growth of white spruce over the past three summers observed.

Washing ashore from Kachemak Bay

Year of the Salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis)

Marine Mammal

An Eight-spotted Langson's (Fabricius, 1775) or Langson's Forester Couper observed lower Kenai Peninsula of Alaska.

Communities on the southern coastline of Kenai Peninsula have noticed changes to trees as a result of the aphid.

More early bloomers in Southcentral Alaska.

The Department of Fish and Game plans to trap a flock of birds not native to Alaska that is trying to move in. The agency says starlings could cause big problems for humans and other birds native to the area. They want to get rid of the flock before their numbers grow.

Rapid changes raise questions.

Sea bird mortality observed on southeast end of Homer Spit

More reports of dead Murres observed in the Bristol Bay region.

Murre die-off in Seldovia continuing.

A large number of bird die-offs

Blue Sail Jellyfish

Sea bird deaths

Dead murres on beach

Polystyrene debris on beaches

Sea lion washes ashore in Nanwalek.

Drought and high temperatures have dried the creek and caused thousands of pink salmon and Dolly Varden to die before they could spawn. The event raises questions about vulnerability of area salmon streams to climate change, and for local residents food security.

Murre deaths reported along the shore of Nanwalek.

Dead birds on beach

Near MacDonald Spit, southern end of the Kenai Peninsula.

Sablefish an unusual catch

We have never had cranes stop in here before. Something has changed that these migratory birds are stopping here.

Normally, we have so many feet of snow throughout the village and the mountains would be packed with snow.

We used to be able to go ice fishing in the lagoon as well as ice skating. Now community members are using a net to get the tomcods.

These ladies found a snail that they had never seen before and brought them.

7-29-14 Crab larvae wash ashore - Port Graham, Alaska, USA

Early blueberries in Jakolof Bay, Alaska

7-10-14 Stranded sea otter - McDonald Spit, Alaska, USA

This sea lion was seen for over an hour floating along the shore and holding one front and one back flipper in the air.

5-25-14 High spruce pollen McDonald Spit, Alaska, USA

1-24-14 Lake of snow - Nanwalek, Alaska, USA

11-6-13 Dead seabirds - Nanwalek, Alaska. USA

7-11-13 Red phytoplankton bloom - Jakolof Bay, Alaska, USA

There were extreme rain events in September of 2012 that caused landslides, erosion and ultimately blockage of a culvert over Jakolof Creek.

12-6-12 Water shortage - Nanwalek, Alaska, USA

7-3-12 Barnacle decline - McDonald Spit, Alaska, USA

An unusual skeleton of a fish was found on the tide line in Kasitsna Bay.

3-9-12 Barnacles declining - Nanwalek, Alaska, USA

Adult abundance “well below” fishery thresholds on both beaches. This outcome was not unanticipated, as the department said when opening the fishery in Ninilchik last year that adult abundance met necessary thresholds for allowing harvest — at least meeting or exceeding 50% of the historical average — but juvenile abundance was low, meaning there would likely not be enough adult clams this year or next.

Homer police confirmed the Wednesday capture of the “wanted fugitive and somewhat local celebrity," otherwise known as an invasive species.

Alaska does not have opossums, but as of last month Homer had at least one. The mammal, considered an invasive species in Alaska, turned up in a shipping container from Washington state. It later escaped ingniting a flurry of opinions on the fate of this unusual visitor.

This summer, Kenai Peninsula beaches from Ninilchik to Kenai will be empty of setnets and buoys. Family-run commerial fishing businesses, a major economic force in the Cook Inlet region since territorial days, have been shut down and may not be coming back.

With Arctic permafrost thaw rapidly outpacing projections, researchers are racing to understand the impacts of an increasingly unstable future.

A wildlife biologist says the search isn’t over. Opossum litters are usually eight or nine joeys — and can be as many as 13.