Ninilchik

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”

An approximate 69% of adult razor clams at Ninilchik beaches and 84% at Clam Gulch beaches have died. The department said the cause of the high natural mortality rate of the clams remains unknown, but may be due to a combination of heavy surf, habitat changes, environmental stressor and predation.

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.

"My husband and I have been dipnetting on the Kasilof since 2014. This year we noticed more small fish than usual and all but ~5 of the 35 fish we caught had parasites."

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.

“The midpoint of the Anchor River king salmon run was extremely late. These fish are really having some odd, unprecedented run timing and behavior."

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 Alaska Division of Forestry is warning Alaskans in the Southcentral region of the state about high fire danger.

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.

A poor return of king salmon on the Anchor River will shut down all sport fishing on the Anchor and Ninilchik rivers and Deep Creek drainages beginning Saturday morning, the Alaska Department of Fish & Game announced Thursday.