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Friday
July 11, 2014
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White River: Twin Fawns
Front Page Photo By SUSAN HOYT ©2014
(Please respect the rights of photographers, never republish or copy
without permission and/or payment of required fees.)
Southeast Alaska: Scientists Perform Necropsy on Whale with Long History in Southeast Alaska - Some knew her as Max, or Aequorea, or simply #539. She had a long sighting history in Southeast Alaska, dating back to 1975, but will be seen no more. A team of nine traveled by boat to a beach near Funter Bay last Thursday to perform a necropsy on the 48-foot female humpback whale.
"The left mandible was fractured and the right mandible was traumatically dislocated from the cranium,” said Dr. Kathy Burek of Alaska Veterinary Pathology Services as lead veterinarian on the necropsy. “Cause of death was determined to be ship strike."
NOAA Fisheries Alaska Region Marine Mammal Stranding Coordinator Aleria Jensen measures the length of a female humpback whale during a necropsy near Funter Bay last week, while University of Alaska Fairbanks marine biology graduate student Suzie Teerlink holds the other end of the line.
A charter operator reported the floating whale on Tuesday, July 1. NOAA Fisheries Protected Resources Division and Office of Law Enforcement responded to the report, and located the animal, which had likely only been dead a few days, judging from the fresh condition of the carcass. The NOAA team towed the carcass to shore in upper Chatham Strait and secured it for Thursday’s necropsy. A U.S. Coast Guard crewman assisted with that effort.
When the team of nine—a captain, a gun bearer, a veterinary pathologist, marine mammal specialists, and volunteers—arrived on the scene Thursday, they saw an exposed jawbone and the fracture was immediately apparent. The team collected various tissue and organ samples from the carcass, including stomach contents. Analysis of the eye and ear plug should tell scientists her age.
“Any and all samples from her will be extremely valuable given her long and very complete reproductive history,” said Christine Gabriele, a wildlife biologist with the Humpback Whale Monitoring Program at Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, who has been following #539 for many years. “She’s a really interesting whale.”
This particular humpback was first documented in Glacier Bay in 1975. According to the collaborative Southeast Alaska humpback whale database, she's had 5 calves between 1982 and 2005, and has at least 3 grand-calves.
“She was seen regularly in Glacier Bay and Icy Strait,” added Janet Neilson, also with Glacier Bay’s Humpback Whale Monitoring Program. “Our last confirmed sighting of her was in 2012.”
“It is rewarding to study such long-lived beings,” said Fred Sharpe, a scientist with the Alaska Whale Foundation who has also studied this humpback for many years. “By photographing their distinctively pigmented tails, we can learn much about an individual’s habits and social life.”- More...
Friday - July 11, 2014
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Fish Factor: Revolutionary Technology: Unmanned Gliders By LAINE WELCH - Ocean chemists are calling it “revolutionary technology” as unmanned gliders track how melting glaciers may be intensifying corrosive waters in Prince William Sound.
“It’s been hugely successful. We’ve flown these things all over inside and outside of Prince William Sound, we’ve had great control over them, we’ve been able to move them to exactly where we want them to be. They are making thousands of measurements all over,” said Jeremy Mathis, director of the Ocean Environment Research Division at the Pacific Marine Environmental Lab in Seattle. Mathis also is an affiliate faculty member at the University of Alaska/Fairbanks and oversees studies at Newport, Oregon.
In different regions of the world, natural processes (like glacial melt) are worsening the effects of ocean acidification so that a region like Prince William Sound may already be preconditioned, Mathis explained.
Ocean acidification is a global phenomenon being driven by increased, human produced levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels. It is changing the chemistry of the entire ocean at a slow, methodical pace.
“So now we have this anthropogenic (manmade) process combining with natural process, and it makes some regions more vulnerable to the impacts of ocean acidification than others. And Prince William Sound is very high up on that list because of the processes that go on inside of it.”
Since May two Carbon Wave Gliders resembling yellow surfboards have been propelled around the Sound by wave motions to test surface water conditions. The gliders are controlled remotely back in the Seattle lab with an iPad.
Another so called Slocum Glider, also controlled remotely, resembles a yellow torpedo and makes dives down to 600 feet and then resurfaces. - More...
Friday - July 11, 2014
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| Science: Dinosaur Herds Thrived In Ancient Alaska Ecosystem - A trio of paleontologists have discovered a remarkable new tracksite in Alaska's Denali National Park filled with duck-billed dinosaur footprints – technically referred to as hadrosaurs – that demonstrates the animals not only lived in multi-generational herds but thrived in the ancient high-latitude, polar ecosystem. The paper also provides insight in the herd structure and paleobiology of northern polar dinosaurs in an arctic greenhouse world.
A trio of paleontologists announced the discovery of a tracksite in Alaska's Denali National Park filled with duck-billed dinosaur footprints that demonstrate the animals lived in multi-generational herds and thrived in the ancient Alaska ecosystem...
Graphic courtesy Perot Museum of Nature and Science
The scientific paper – entitled "Herd Structure In Late Cretaceous Polar Dinosaurs – A Remarkable New Dinosaur Tracksite" – has been published in Geology, the flagship journal produced monthly by the 126-year-old Geological Society of America (GSA) and regarded as the world's premier scientific publication for the industry. Anthony R. Fiorillo, Ph.D., the Perot Museum of Nature and Science's curator of earth sciences and a Fellow of the GSA, is the lead author. Stephen Hasiotis, Ph.D., of the University of Kansas' Department of Geology – also a Fellow of the GSA – and Yoshitsugu Kobayashi, Ph.D., of the Hokkaido University Museum, are the co-authors.
It began in 2007, when the trio went on a survey sponsored by the U.S. National Park Service. At that point, the Upper Cretaceous Cantwell Formation in the Alaska Range of Denali had not been explored. On the last day, perched precariously on the steep side of the mountain, Fiorillo said the three men were giddy when they came upon the wealth of tracks.
"Without question, Denali is one of the best dinosaur footprint localities in the world, but what we found that last day was incredible – so many tracks, so big, and so well preserved," said Fiorillo. "Many had skin impressions so we could even see what the bottom of their feet looked like. And there were lots of invertebrate traces – the tracks of bugs, worms, larvae and more – which were important to us because they showed an ecosystem existed during the warm parts of the years."
Hasiotis adds that the findings told them a lot about how hadrosaurs lived as families within the warmer-than-expected Arctic climate. - More...
Friday - July 11, 2014
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Science: Scientists study ocean acidification in Prince William Sound - Scientists are teaming up this summer and early fall to use new unmanned tools to study how melting glaciers in Alaska’s Prince William Sound may be intensifying ocean acidification in the sound and on the Gulf of Alaska continental shelf.
Scientists and crew aboard Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge's M/V Tiglax are among NOAA's partners in research in Prince William Sound on ocean acidification. (Wiley Evans, NOAA's Cooperative Institute for Alaska Research at the University of Alaska Fairbanks)
The term “ocean acidification” describes the process of ocean water becoming more acidic as a result of absorbing nearly a third of the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere from human sources. This change in ocean chemistry is making it difficult for marine organisms such as shellfish and corals to build and maintain shells and skeletons. - More...
Friday - July 11, 2014
Online: Study reveals copyright complexities, social norms in online media creation - In the age of mashups, fan fiction and content sharing, online media creation has spurred new complexities in copyright, effectively turning the legal concept of "fair use" on its ear, according to a new study from Georgia Tech.
Research into fan fiction and other types of remix communities reveals many legal misconceptions persistent among different groups when applying copyrighted work to their own creations. The research also highlights online social norms – independent of actual law – that guide the use of copyrighted works in fan communities.
For the study, Georgia Tech researchers interviewed content creators who participate in remix and fan creation activities – think "Gangnam-style" parody videos or Twilight fan fiction – and found that legal ambiguity, rather than technical limitations can be a higher barrier to creating media online. The study focused on participants' understanding of the U.S. copyright law's "fair use" provision, which allows for the use of copyrighted material without permission from the owners in certain instances. - More...
Friday - July 11, 2014 |
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the editor at editor@sitnews.us or call 617-9696
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 Collateral for City Loans By Ralph Marcello - There is one major error in the letter concerning the City's collateral for their loans. The collateral IS NOT the private real estate and personal property of the citizens of Ketchikan. The collateral is the TAXES collected, both current and future, from real estate and personal property assessments. - More...
Wednesday AM - July 09, 2014
Wolf mother deaths threaten pack survival but not population By Richard Steiner - The research on Denali wolves confirms what we have said all along, that the killing of breeding females can result in catastrophic consequences. Indeed, it is absurdly obvious. - More...
Wednesday AM - July 09, 2014
Final is Final By A.M. Johnson - History is established to leave a course for the present to learn from the past not change the past. A case in point is a quote from President Calvin Coolidge. - More...
Wednesday AM - July 09, 2014
Sealaska Shareholders Meeting 2014 By Dominic Salvato - Participating online was a frustrating experience. The screen was blank at one time for almost an hour and still the meeting went on. - More...
Wednesday AM - July 09, 2014
FairTax eliminates need for IRS By David Boone - According to a recent Fox News poll, an overwhelming majority (76 percent ) of Americans believe the Internal Revenue Service intentionally destroyed two years-worth of emails. - More...
Wednesday AM - July 09, 2014
RE: Un-necessary consequences for Marijuana By Casey O'Brien - I'm writing this letter in response to Marvin Seibert's letter regarding marijuana legalization. - More...
Wednesday AM - July 09, 2014
RE: Behind the scenes of City Government By Douglas J. Thompson - Thanks again for another on the mark letter Mr. Dial. I just wonder how many residents know that their property or business within the Ketchikan borough & city boundaries are the collateral used to secure municipal (and all governmental bonds for that matter)? In the event of local bankruptcy your personal property can go to the highest bidder to repay that defaulted bond. Whether fully paid for or not. - More...
Sunday AM - July 06, 2014
This is the rest of "the story" my dearest Paul Harvey. By Heather Herndon - The State of Alaska wants to gamble with your money to support a mining company that has never successfully produced anything. Worse, the company in question, UCore, has failed on its last two mining claims, Lost Pond in Newfoundland and another in Canada. Its sole remaining asset is the Bokan-Dotson Mountain project. - More...
Saturday PM - July 05, 2014
Move To End Federal Funding Of Alaska Predator Control By Richard Steiner - I realize that public interest in Alaska's predator control issue waxes and wanes, but the issue we disclose here is a new, significant finding, which should be of interest to the Alaska public. - More...
Saturday PM - July 05, 2014
THE 1967 FAIRBANKS FLOOD By James M. Eagan - Just finished reading The 1967 Fairbanks Flood by June Allen which tells about how the people of Fairbanks managed so well during the flood of 1967. That is not exactly the way I remember it and I was there. The mention of one critical aspect of the story is conspicuous only by its absence. Were it not for the heavy equipment and volunteer efforts of personnel from both Fort Wainwright and Eielson AFB, the city of Fairbanks and nearby communities such as North Pole would have been disaster areas until at least the next spring. - More...
Saturday PM - July 05, 2014
Don Young By R.K. Rice - So, the penalty for illegal use of campaign funds, and accepting illegal “gifts”, (bribes) is the unbelievably harsh penalty, of having to pay back the amount that was received. Apparently the fox is guarding the henhouse. - More...
Saturday PM - July 05, 2014
Grant Street Garbage By Vanessa Bruns - As residents of Grant Street we all know that there are bears that love to wander through our neighborhood and they are attracted to our garbage cans. The past two weeks I have gone into the woods and picked up MULTIPLE garbage items that have been ripped out of garbage bags (which are from our garbage cans) by these bears. The bears are not the point of my issue, my issue is with the residents of Grant Street that are not securing their garbage cans appropriately. When confronted about the issue everyone has the "it's not mine attitude" When in fact in some cases, the garbage that I have picked up has mail that has the person's name on it. - More...
Saturday PM - July 05, 2014
Checking ID, Assumed Guilt and a Lack of Common Sense By Amanda Mitchell - I wanted to bring to light a recent local experience in our town of Ketchikan. My husband and I went into Safeway. After picking up a few items, we walked together into the liquor store where my husband purchased beer. My husband was carded, but he was almost refused beer because I didn’t have my identification on myself. I have been into the same liquor store with my kids to pick up beer and my kids were never carded. As much as I would like to say it, I do not look like I am in my 20's. It was automatically assumed if we are with another adult we are guilty of buying alcohol for minor. However, I literally can have a minor with me, who is not carded, and be sold alcohol. To the cashier's credit, who else gets to decide whether or not the person who is purchasing the alcohol is going to commit a future crime and has the intent of purchasing to/for a minor? The cashier position has just gotten really cool as now the job duties includes being a detective, judge, jury and psychic. Move over, Miss Cleo! - More...
Saturday PM - July 05, 2014
RE: Un-necessary consequences for Marijuana By Marvin Seibert - First I need to clarify Mr Johnson's comments, I do not work in a state funded halfway house or in the substance testing industry. I have not lost my job due to Pot legalization in Colorado. I have moved to Ketchikan and still employed in the same industry and company for the past 14 years and it is 0% drug related. I am still trying to figure out how long you need to live here before you should be able to comment on important issues as this. I am a registered voter in Ketchikan.
You suggest that we should not leave our children's future to a judge. That is emotion talking and not reason. What decisions do you want to take away from the legal system. Who will pick and choose what judges are allow to handle. Do we go the way of the anarchist and just let judges rule when we know and like what the outcome going to be. We are a nation of laws ( except in the Whitehouse unfortunately ) not mob rule. - More...
Saturday PM - July 05, 2014
My idea of tax reform. By Wiley Brooks - Reform serves the purpose getting rid of that which is bad and replace it with something better. That is why I call for tax reform --- real and true tax reform. The present income tax code punishes good behavior, taxes production and jobs, drives jobs, companies and capital out of our economy into off-shore tax avoidance havens, and; it hides taxes embedded in the price paid by the consumer. Without production there is nothing to buy, no improvement in standard of living, no tax base to support government. The cost to all of us who pay taxes to comply with the 75,000 pages of codes is over $440 billion per year. It gives imported goods a price advantage while it rewards domestic special interest by embedding favors in the codes. The system which includes the Internal Revenue Service is corrupt. - More...
Saturday PM - July 05, 2014
RE: Behind the scenes of City Government By Laura Plenert - Rodney Dial, as ALWAYS is correct. This is a man who has studied and reviewed what is going on in Ketchikan. He is not just shooting from the hip. He digs and knows his stuff. - More...
Saturday PM - July 05, 2014
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