Local Environmental Observer - LEO Network

06/08/2022

On June 1st, a huge section of river bank collapsed in Noatak. The collapse was documented with drone imagery as was a permafrost rebound signature in the river water.

Check out the rest of this LEO member's story at the LEO Network here: https://leonetwork.org/en/posts/show/FEA95F7D-7D4F-4395-9183-45A4F11A9D83

06/08/2022

On Sunday night, a plump ringed seal pup was spotted on the ice in front of Breaker’s Bar on Nome’s Front Street. UAF Alaska Sea Grant agent Gay Sheffield was called and moved the pup to a more secluded beach. The ice had likely gone out too fast and the mother finished up the normal weaning process on the ice chunks in front of Nome.

This Nome Nugget story is featured on the LEO Network:

By Megan Gannon

06/08/2022

"Since about May 25, crews have been seeing multiple species showing what we believe are signs of highly pathogenic avian influenza. The signs we are seeing widespread is a headshaking that we equate to "getting the cobwebs out", like a person may do when they first wake up. This behavior occurs regularly every couple minutes. This behavior has been observed in: black brant, cackling geese, bar-tailed godwits, dunlin, lapland longspurs, spectacled eiders, emperor geese, greater white-fronted geese, sabines gulls, glaucous gulls, and red-necked phalaropes."

Check out more of this story on the LEO Network: https://leonetwork.org/en/posts/show/BA795491-927B-45A0-AFB6-2A590CCFEDAA

06/08/2022

'It flew right over Alaska and it landed just west of Herschel Island, at Qikiqtaruk [Territorial Park], along the coast along the Yukon's North Slope,' Cameron Eckert, a conservation biologist with Yukon Parks and a bird enthusiast, said of the bar-tailed godwit.

Learn about this case of unusual range of a New Zealand Shorebird at the LEO Network: https://leonetwork.org/en/posts/show/A3C4FFDC-1573-46A1-B336-42F6B51799D0

06/08/2022

"There were a plenty of what appeared to be juvenile dead stickle back fish on the top of the embankment of a few ponds."

Check out this unusual phenomenon happening in Elim on the LEO Network: https://leonetwork.org/en/posts/show/63390628-A510-4293-B52D-53BAB035782F

05/30/2022

Check out the full story! Here: https://leonetwork.org/en/posts/show/84AFF952-806B-4B97-80A9-65CA7C9DD846

05/30/2022

The Yukon is the latest place to be hit with avian flu cases as an outbreak continues to spread across the country. Officials from the department of environment said in a press release Friday that two waterfowl carcasses in southern Yukon tested positive for the H5N1 virus strand. The Yukon government is asking residents to report sightings of sick or dead birds to their TIPP line at 1-800-661-0525.

Check out the rest of this story on the LEO Network at:

Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada / The Yukon is the latest place to be hit with avian flu cases as an outbreak continues to spread across the country. Officials from the department of environment said in a press release Friday that two waterfowl carcasses in southern Yukon tested positive for the H5N1 viru...

05/23/2022

The Local Environmental Observer (LEO) Network is a virtual tool which allows for communicating unusual environmental changes detected by people in their local area. 

05/21/2022

The LEO Network hosts webinars quarterly. Topics include strong trends in environmental, plant and animal behavior, climate overview with Rick Thoman, and platform updates and tools for users! Join us for amazing information on the changing environment in Alaska!

For example, as a relevant topic in LEO now, highly pathogenic avian influenza will be a topic of discussion at the upcoming UAF Strait Science webinar on May 26th at 6:30 pm as well as on the Alaska LEO Network webinar on June 14th.

Click this link to access recorded webinars, and keep and eye out for the next webinar invite!

05/21/2022

"I was too late to get a picture, but I saw 5-6 swans floating in a pond in this area. They all had their wings partly spread out in the water, with the heads stretched out in front of them. We were over 500’ up, so I couldn’t tell, but they were all floating in this weird way - wings less than half ways stretched out and the head stretched out pointed forward."

There was no on site follow up possible on this report, so it is not known whether these birds were alive or dead, sick or healthy. However, given recent reports of avian influenza in other parts of Alaska, all observations about unusual bird behavior are worth noting. This event was reported to the USFWS Sick Bird Hotline, 1-866-527-3358. Please note that there are no confirmed cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) at this time in the Bering Strait Region. HPAI will be a topic of discussion at the upcoming UAF Strait Science webinar on May 26th at 6:30 pm as well as on the Alaska LEO Network webinar on June 14th.

Check out the rest of this story and comments on the LEO Network:
https://www.leonetwork.org/en/posts/show/4E428719-CB3A-4E2F-A16A-EE3D95D4B7FE?cb=9fcbd456-5706-4265-bdb4-0b645b90fe1a

05/19/2022

Biologists say the bison population took a big hit this winter. More than a dozen were hit and killed by vehicles because the animals were using roads in lieu of their usual trails, which were covered by deep snow and ice. Check out the full and related stories on the LEO Network!

https://leonetwork.org/en/posts/show/0B1FF65C-2C6E-49C6-8753-B686179C00D2

05/18/2022

Check out the full story on LEO with the link below!

https://leonetwork.org/en/posts/show/545D993E-FE8A-4524-89C3-1B96CFD92D85