Alaska Fish & Wildlife News
March 2024

Marine Mammal Mania
New Video Highlights Sea Lion Research

By Riley Woodford

Darting massive Steller sea lions from a small inflatable raft on the outer coast of Southeast Alaska is highlighted in the first episode of Marine Mammal Mania.

The new series of short videos features the work of the Marine Mammal program at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The first episode, titled Age estimation for Steller sea lions using DNA methylation, looks at collecting tissue samples from adult Steller sea lions, using a special dart delivered by a crossbow. ...   Marine Mammal Mania Article Continued


Better Culverts are Fish Friendly

By Michael Mazzacavallo

On a sunny September day, myself and two technicians, Beth and Kat, were surveying culverts in the Mat-Su Borough and assessing their ability to effectively allow fish to pass through them. Culverts, for the unfamiliar, are those pipes – often made of corrugated or grooved metal – that funnel streams under roads, railroad tracks, and trails.

That day we were assessing a series of culverts along Cottonwood Slough, a tributary to Cottonwood Creek, where the once wild stream had ...   Better culverts Article Continued


A Collared Pika’s Winter
in The Subnivean Realm

By Arin Underwood

Last autumn I was clambering around on a snowy rockslide in Southcentral Alaska when I found a trail of tiny footprints in the snow. The tracks confirmed that I’d found what I was looking for, the den of a collared pika where I could deploy some temperature loggers for the winter.

Despite the collared pika’s adorable appearance - resembling a mountain gerbil with small round ears - they are not rodents but rather lagomorphs, the same order as rabbits. And unlike their close ...   Collared Pika Article Continued


Moose-Vehicle Collisions in Alaska

By Marian Snively

On a snowy day, a big cow moose is trudging down the shoulder of a Kenai Peninsula highway. A calf is behind her. The driver of an approaching car spots the pair and slows down, flashing her hazard lights as she passes to alert other drivers of the hazard.

When snow gets deep, moose find that plowed roadways offer easier access than back country trails. This puts them in danger from cars — and puts people in danger from moose and vehicle collisions.

In 2023, about 520 wildlife-involved ...   Moose & Vehicles Article Continued