Stories from - ALASKA
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Steller’s Eider May Nest Again on the Delta
The last Steller’s eider nest was observed on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (Y-K Delta) in 2005; prior to that observation, only a handful of nests had been found since 1976. Read More
Stories from - ALASKA
View All StoriesThe Aleutian Canada (cackling) goose (Branta canadensis leucopareia) was, ironically, a victim of the fur industry. In the mid-1700s, Russian fur traders first introduced nonindigenous foxes ... Read More
Featured Species in Alaska
Yellow-billed loon
The yellow-billed loon is a migratory bird. Yellow-billed loons frequently drown in fishing nets and traps, and have been threatened by oil spills in their migratory and winter habitat.
Yellow-billed loon
Photo credit: Ted Swem, USFWS
Short tailed albatross
Historically, millions of these birds bred in the western North Pacific on several islands south of the main islands of Japan. Only two breeding colonies remain active today: Torishima Island and Minami-kojima Island, Japan. The world population is currently estimated to be about 1,200 birds and is increasing.
Short tailed albatross
Photo credit: James Lloyd
Polar bear
When the polar bear was listed as threatened in 2008, it marked the first time the Endangered Species Act was used to protect a species threatened by the impacts of climate change.
Polar bear
Photo credit: Susanne Miller, USFWS
Steller’s eider
Steller's eiders are the least abundant of the eider species. The global population is estimated to have declined approximately 50 percent (400,000 to 220,000) since the 1960s.
Steller’s eider
Photo credit: Laura L. Whitehouse, USFWS
Kittlitz’s Murrelet
A small diving bird related to puffins and murres, the Kittlitz's murrelet is one of the rarest and least known seabirds in North America. The species has undergone steep population declines in several of its core population areas.
Kittlitz’s Murrelet
Photo credit: Edwin Winkel
Partnership Stories in Alaska
Polar Bear Research on the Chukchi Sea
Polar bears are the largest carnivores and a unique symbol of the Arctic. World-wide, polar bear populations remain relatively stable; however, climate change, contamination of the Arctic environment, potential over-harvest, and increasing human development in polar bear habitat pose conservation challenges for polar bears. More »
Found in Alaska
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The Aleutian shield-fern (Polystichum aleuticum) is known to exist only on Adak Island in the central Aleutian Islands. Some scientists consider it a living fossil left over from the Pleistocene Epoch. It may once have been more widespread, but periods of glaciation likely reduced its abundance to the remnant population existing today.
Photo credit: Mike Boylan, USFWS -
Spectacled eiders (Somateria fischeri) once nested along much of the Alaskan coast, from Bristol Bay to the Arctic Coastal Plain. Today, these large sea ducks nest discontinuously, within the central coast of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in western Alaska and along the Arctic Coastal Plain of northern Alaska. These birds spend most of the year in marine waters where they probably feed on bottom dwelling molluscs and crustaceans.
Photo credit: Laura Whitehouse, USFWS