Kotzebue, which is on Alaska’s northwest coast, had a rare visitor over the past weekend. Word quickly traveled through town that a polar bear had wandered into the area.
The gawkers woke the bruin
It is not unheard of for Kotz to see a polar bear. In fact the world’s largest documented polar bear was found in Kotzebue in the 1960’s. That bear weighed more than 2200 pounds and stood at 11 feet. Still, it does not happen often that Kotz gets to see the great white bruin.
Time to swim away from the bear watchers
The bear this weekend, more than likely, was left stranded by no sea ice to escape to. It hung around fish camp, just outside of Kotzebue, for a while. It didn’t take long for onlookers to come out to see the bruin. People were curious, but cautious, by all accounts. Eventually, the bear took off for a swim in Kotzebue Sound, and escaped the gawkers.
I received word over the the weekend, that photographer Tom Sadowski had passed away in his home in Maine this summer.
Anyone who has perused a gift store in Alaska has seen his postcards. Those postcards, were not in the Hallmark tradition, per se, but more of a quirky, sometimes zany, and always humorous visual, of life and travel in the 49th State.
Sadowski was a long time columnist for the Anchorage Free Press, writing some 500 weekly columns. He had gone into semi-retirement only last year.
For the first time, the Ironman Triathlon will be taking place in Alaska in August of 2022. The capital city of Juneau will host the event.
The 2.4 mile swim will take place in Auke Lake, followed by a 112 mile bike ride, and finishing up with the 26.2 mile marathon.
Juneau does not have a road that is 112 miles long, but a course around Auke Bay has been planned by Ironman officials. The marathon will take place in the Mendenhall Valley.
The race often attracts 1500 athletes, along with their families and friends. Juneau is pretty excited about the event, and it’s a beautiful location to hold a triathlon.
The growing lava dome on Great Sitkin; Photo credit: AVO/Dave Ward (8/4/21)
I had to share this shot from the Alaska Volcano Observatory and photographer Dave Ward. Great Sitkin has been at Level Orange and the lava dome has been growing since mid-July. According to AVO, the dome is now 100 meters across. What are the odds of having such a clear day out on Great Sitkin Island? Wonderful shot by Mr Ward.
Great Sitkin has been active most of the summer, although that lava dome build up has occurred in the last couple of weeks.
The glow of Great Sitkin at night. Photo credit: AVO/Peggy Kruse
Both Pavlof and Semisopochnoi Volcanos are also at Level Orange. Pavlof is known to erupt with little to no warning, and it is showing elevated seismic activity, and at least one ash eruption. Explosions and elevated seismic activity on Semisopochnoi Island also continues. At least one ash eruption dissipated quickly, and sulfur dioxide emissions have been detected by satellite.
Cleveland Volcano rounds things out at a Level Yellow. Some seismic activity, but no reported ash eruptions.
The U.S. – Canadian Border will be open to vaccinated residents of the United States starting today. This is what you will need to ease the strain:
For anyone over the age of 12, proof of vaccination, at least 2 weeks prior to your crossing, will be needed. The Canadian Government will accept the Pfizer-BioNtech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca/COVISHIELD vaccines. It should be noted that large cruise ships are still banned from Canadian waters, but that moratorium is scheduled to be lifted November 1. Just in time for the Holiday Cruise Season?
All travelers must show proof of a negative Covid-19 test within two days of crossing.
As usual, a passport is required.
Travelers should fill out forms on the website ArriveCAN, and upload their vaccination information, within 72 hours of arrival at the border. Downloading the app is also suggested, since this will not be the only time many travelers will be using the site.
Travelers must be asymptomatic upon arrival at the border. They will also need a quarantine plan if they develop symptoms after arriving in Canada.
Random travelers will be asked to submit to an additional Covid-19 test while in Canada. Checking in with ArriveCAN will be required.
Prepare for long waits. This will all take time to verify at the border, especially at first.
Signing onto the site ArriveCAN if you are thinking of crossing into Canada is a must to get a feel fro what Canadian border officials are looking for. From what I have read, the site is well laid out and user friendly.
Interestingly, the U.S. Border is not open to Canadian travelers, which has small Alaskan communities frustrated. Towns like Hyder in the photo were hoping to see the border open in both directions, but that will not be the case for now.
After a year hiatus, Salmonfest is back this weekend in Ninilchik. Three days, 65 acts on four stages. It’s quite the event, and a true celebration of all things salmon.
A remote mining camp outside Nome, Alaska; Photo credit USCG
Another Alaska tale that captured some global interest recently, was the man who was rescued outside of Nome by a United States Coast Guard helicopter. Reports came into Alaska first, that a bear had attacked a man on a four wheeler, the man escaped to a mining shack, only to be harassed for days by the rogue bruin. I was an immediate skeptic, but quickly moved on from the story, as I had closer things to worry about.
Now, the Nome Nugget has called out the bear tale. Enough contrary evidence has surfaced to call the ordeal into question. Since Alaskans rarely need much of an excuse to take a ride out onto the tundra, several Nome residents ventured out to the mine claim in question. The door handle on the mining shack looked to have been knocked off by a hammer, and the four wheeler looked to be in great shape, but there are obvious scratches on the trailer that were “either made by a screwdriver, or a bear with one claw.” Also, there was no bear sign to be found around the cabin. “There’s no hair, no tracks, no scat, nothing.”
The most damming evidence found was the untouched two pounds of bacon in a cooler sitting on the four wheeler. For his part, the man who claimed to be stalked by the bear has not changed his story: “They can believe what they want,” the man told the Nugget. “I was there. I know what happened. I haven’t been that scared in a very, very long time.”
Even though the area is certainly known for its bears, Sourdough Miners in the area believe that the “victim” accidentally crashed his four wheeler, and was too embarrassed to admit it. At any rate, both Sourdough and Coast Guard officials believe the man truly needed rescuing, regardless of the actual circumstances. Another example of the Coast Guard’s vital role in Alaska.
A live killer whale is stranded on shore rocks in the vicinity of Prince of Wales Island, Alaska. Credit: Captain Chance Strickland and Crew of M/V Steadfast
The story of the beached orca near Prince of Wales Island in Alaska caught the attention of many of you. The killer whale, now known to be T146D, was found by locals recently, trapped out of water on some rocks.
Keeping T146D wet
The locals kept it wet, first by pouring water from buckets on the orca, then by spraying water from a yacht that showed up to help out. Eventually, NOAA fisheries experts came along to keep watch over the stranded orca.
A rather unhappy orca
T146D ended up getting some cuts and abrasions from the rocks, but after at least 6 hours of being stranded, the tide came in, and the orca was able to free itself.
T146D is a Biggs Orca, which has a population of approximately 300, and they ply the waters off western North America. T146D is thought to be a female, but that is an educated guess. The killer whale is known to be 13 years old.
There was some speculation early on, that the orca was caught off guard due to the 8.2 earthquake recently off the coast of Alaska. NOAA has disputed that, saying there is absolutely no evidence of the earthquake having anything to do with the stranding. More than likely, the orca was hunting harbor seals and came too close to the rocks. There have been five live-strandings of Biggs Orcas in the past 20 years. All survived the ordeal and rejoined their pod, according to NOAA. The population of Biggs Orcas are known to hunt harbor seals in shallow waters.
