Alaska Fish & Wildlife News
April 2009

Tracking Bowhead Whales

By Riley Woodford

Protected from frigid Arctic waters by a foot-thick layer of blubber and built with a powerful sea ice breaking skull, the bowhead whale is perfectly suited to life in the north. Bowheads are mysticetes, like humpback whales – efficient filter feeders and outstanding undersea singers – but unlike humpbacks, they don't migrate to tropical waters to calve.

Alaska's bowheads begin to travel north in April, well before the ice has retreated, using leads in the Chukchi Sea and crossing under ...   Bowhead Whales ArticleContinued

Filling in the Blanks for Susitna Sockeye Salmon

By Richard Yanusz and Mark Willette

The Susitna River has always contributed a significant share of sockeye salmon to one of the most contentious fisheries in Alaska. Fishery researchers have been trying since statehood to figure out how productive the Susitna River is, in order to manage the fishery in a sustainable manner. But this is a big task, given that the Susitna River drainage area is larger than nine of our states, and the discharge is the fifteenth largest in the U.S. Susitna River sockeye salmon assessments in the past ...   Susitna Sockeyes ArticleContinued

Alaska South Coastal Wildlife Viewing Guide

By Riley Woodford

Alaska's coastline between Prince William Sound and the Aleutian Islands offers exceptional opportunities to watch wild animals and birds. Spectacular sea bird rookeries, whales and other marine mammals, and the world's largest brown bears can be found along this 900-mile route, plied by the ferries of the Alaska Marine Highway.

Alaska's South Coastal Wildlife Viewing Guide is a colorful new 112-page guide to wildlife watching opportunities in the region. It highlights viewing opportunities ...   New Wildlife Guide ArticleContinued

Editorial
Membership for The Alaska Board of Game

By Kristy Tibbles

Predator management in Alaska is contentious and critics often attack the Board of Game in the press. Letters and editorials have expressed values and ideology, but often they show a misunderstanding of the Board of Game – how it operates, what it does, and who serves on it.

The qualifications for Board of Game membership defined under Alaska Statute are rather basic; the Governor appoints each member on the basis of their interest in public affairs, their good judgment, knowledge, and ...   Board of Game ArticleContinued