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An ocean first: Underwater drone tracks CO2 in Alaska gulf

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An ocean first: Underwater drone tracks CO2 in Alaska gulf


SEWARD, Alaska — Within the chilly, uneven waters of Alaska’s Resurrection Bay, all eyes have been on the grey water, on the lookout for one factor solely.

It wasn’t a spout from humpback whales that energy via this scenic fjord, or a sea otter lazing on its again, munching a king crab.

As an alternative, everybody aboard the Nanuq, a College of Alaska Fairbanks analysis vessel, was wanting the place a 5-foot lengthy, vibrant pink underwater sea glider surfaced.

The glider — believed to be the primary configured with a big sensor to measure carbon dioxide ranges within the ocean — had simply accomplished its first in a single day mission.

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Designed to dive 3,281 toes and roam distant components of the ocean, the autonomous automobile was deployed within the Gulf of Alaska this spring to supply a deeper understanding of the ocean’s chemistry within the period of local weather change. The analysis may very well be a significant step ahead in ocean greenhouse fuel monitoring, as a result of till now, measuring CO2 concentrations — a quantifier of ocean acidification — was principally completed from ships, buoys and moorings tethered to the ocean ground.

“Ocean acidification is a course of by which people are emitting carbon dioxide into the ambiance via their actions of burning fossil fuels and altering land use,” mentioned Andrew McDonnell, an oceanographer with the Faculty of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences on the College of Alaska Fairbanks.

Oceans have completed people an enormous favor by taking in among the C02. In any other case, there can be far more within the ambiance, trapping the solar’s warmth and warming the Earth.

An underwater glider bobbing within the Gulf of Alaska. The glider was fitted with particular sensors to check ocean acidification.
AP Photograph/Mark Thiessen

“However the issue is now that the ocean is altering its chemistry due to this uptake,” mentioned Claudine Hauri, an oceanographer with the Worldwide Arctic Analysis Middle on the college.

The big quantity of information collected is getting used to check ocean acidification that may hurt and kill sure marine life.

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Rising acidity of the oceans is affecting some marine organisms that construct shells. This course of may kill or make an organism extra vulnerable to predators.

Over a number of weeks this spring, Hauri and McDonnell, who’re married, labored with engineers from Cyprus Subsea Consulting and Providers, which offered the underwater glider, and 4H-Jena, a German firm that offered the sensor inserted into the drone.

Most days, researchers took the glider farther and farther into Resurrection Bay from the coastal group of Seward to conduct exams.

This May 4, 2022, photo shows an underwater glider being pulled apart on the University of Alaska Fairbanks research vessel Nanuq in the Gulf of Alaska to allow a sensor inside to be swapped out.
An underwater glider is being pulled aside on the College of Alaska Fairbanks analysis vessel Nanuq within the Gulf of Alaska to permit a sensor inside to be swapped out.
AP Photograph/Mark Thiessen

After its first nighttime mission, a crew member noticed it bobbing within the water, and the Nanuq — the Inupiat phrase for polar bear — backed as much as let folks pull the 130-pound glider onto the ship. Then the sensor was faraway from the drone and rushed into the ship’s cabin to add its information.

Consider the foot-tall sensor with a diameter of 6 inches as a laboratory in a tube, with pumps, valves and membranes shifting to separate the fuel from seawater. It analyzes CO2 and it logs and shops the information inside a temperature-controlled system. Many of those sensor elements use battery energy.

Because it’s the business normal, the sensor is similar as discovered on any ship or lab working with CO2 measurements.

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Hauri mentioned utilizing this was “an enormous step to have the ability to accommodate such an enormous and energy hungry sensor, in order that’s particular about this undertaking.”

“I feel she is without doubt one of the first individuals to truly make the most of [gliders] to measure CO2 straight, in order that’s very, very thrilling,” mentioned Richard Feely, the Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s senior scientist on the company’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle. He mentioned Hauri was a graduate scholar in 2007 when she accompanied him on the primary acidification cruise he ever led.

The problem, Feely mentioned, is to make the measurements on a glider with the identical diploma of accuracy and precision as exams on board ships.

“We have to get confidence in our measurements and confidence in our fashions if we’re going to make vital scientific statements about how the oceans are altering over time and the way it’s going to impression our vital financial methods which might be depending on the meals from the ocean,” he mentioned, noting that acidification impacts are already seen within the Pacific Northwest on oysters, Dungeness crabs and different species.

Researchers in Canada had beforehand connected a smaller, prototype CO2 sensor to an underwater drone within the Labrador Sea however discovered it didn’t but meet the targets for ocean acidification observations.

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“The exams confirmed that the glider sensor labored in a remote-harsh setting however wanted extra improvement,” Nicolai von Oppeln-Bronikowski, the Glider Program Supervisor with the Ocean Frontier Institute at Memorial College of Newfoundland, mentioned in an e mail.

The 2 groups are “simply utilizing two several types of sensors to resolve the identical challenge, and it’s all the time good to have two totally different choices,” Hauri mentioned.

There is no such thing as a GPS unit contained in the underwater autonomous drone. As an alternative, after being programmed, it heads out by itself to cruise the ocean in accordance with the navigation instructions — realizing how far to go down within the water column, when to pattern, and when to floor and ship a locator sign so it may be retrieved.

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Because the drone exams have been underway, the US analysis vessel Sikuliaq, owned by the Nationwide Science Basis and operated by the college, performed its personal two-week mission within the gulf to take carbon and pH samples as a part of ongoing work every spring, summer time and fall.

These strategies are restricted to amassing samples from a hard and fast level whereas the glider will be capable of roam all around the ocean and supply researchers with a wealth of information on the ocean’s chemical make-up.

The imaginative and prescient is to in the future have a fleet of robotic gliders working in oceans throughout the globe, offering a real-time glimpse of present circumstances and a strategy to higher predict the longer term.

“We are able to … perceive far more about what’s occurring within the ocean than we’ve got been earlier than,” McDonnell mentioned.

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On the centennial of the Nome Serum Run, the story of the sordid aftermath for its two most famous dogs, Balto and Togo

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On the centennial of the Nome Serum Run, the story of the sordid aftermath for its two most famous dogs, Balto and Togo


Part of a continuing weekly series on Alaska history by local historian David Reamer. Have a question about Anchorage or Alaska history or an idea for a future article? Go to the form at the bottom of this story.

As of Feb. 2, it has been 100 years since Gunnar Kaasen drove a dog team into Nome with the medicine that saved lives and staved off a potential diphtheria epidemic. Famously, Balto was in the lead of that team, the dog that became a media sensation, so much so that reporters begged Kaasen into reenacting the entrance into town during daylight so that photographers could, more or less, capture the moment. It was the conclusion of the Nome Serum Run.

Thanks to the 1995 animated movie and countless other retellings, Balto lives on in the American psyche as the toughest of hero dogs. The historical accuracy of these accounts varies wildly, yet one thing is true. People know about Balto. Good Alaskans also know that Togo was the lead dog for the serum run’s longest and most dangerous leg. Less well-known is the aftermath, what happened to Balto and Togo in the following years. Certainly, no one present in Nome that day could have predicted that Balto would be the abused guest of a 10th-rate museum on a Los Angeles backstreet within two short years. Balto’s salvation and Togo’s quieter retirement are their own epic tales.

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The backstory is well-repeated history and legend. In January 1925, several children in isolated Nome contracted diphtheria, a highly contagious bacterial infection that targets the respiratory system. The infection was usually treated with an antitoxin — a serum — made from the plasma of immunized horses. However, the isolated town’s only doctor was out of serum after a resupply order went unfilled with the onset of winter. Diphtheria victims can choke to death as infected tissue expands and blocks their airways. Throats fill with a grey mass, swelling as the patient asphyxiates. It is a nasty way to die.

Winter and a nasty approaching storm prevented planes from delivering the serum. Salvation was left to dog sled teams, the one viable method of transportation left. Leonhard Seppala, already a dog racing legend, was the first musher out. His beloved Togo, a husky named for a Japanese admiral, was in the lead. Seppala intended to travel the entire course on his own. After he left Nome, a relay system of relief drivers was organized. Over five and a half days, 20 drivers and 150 dogs traveled almost 700 miles in a relay race against time.

On Feb. 2, 1925, Balto led Kaasen’s team into Nome with the diphtheria serum. Kaasen, Seppala, and Togo suddenly became celebrities, but none were more famous than Balto. The Nome Serum Run was a massive national story in the early days of radio broadcasting. Romantic perceptions of Alaska, sick children, a frantic race through dire weather, and heroic dogs were a compelling combination. People around the country eagerly listened for the outcome. Cheers stabbed out across the country when the run was finished, wherever there were radios.

Within the month, Kaasen had signed a movie deal. Two months to the day after the conclusion of the serum run, Balto arrived in Los Angeles and was heralded as the greatest hero of the age. Mayor George Cryer welcomed Balto, Kaasen, and the rest of the dog team at city hall and presented Balto with the “bone of the city.” Actress Clara Horton placed a floral wreath around the dog’s neck. Multiple modern sources claim the actress was America’s sweetheart Mary Pickford, but contemporary accounts uniformly name Horton as the one at the scene.

Despite the Hollywood pageantry, the ceremony hinted at the future as the Alaskan visitors noticeably faltered in the spotlight. Garbed in heavy furs to maintain the far north mystique, Kaasen sweated profusely from the attention and warmer sun. Balto did not react to the wreath and only sniffed at the literal bone. The mayor repeatedly prodded him with little response. The notoriously corrupt Cryer, whose personal fortune mysteriously multiplied during his time in office, craved the positive publicity rub from the noble canine.

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In May, their first movie was released, the 30-minute short “Balto’s Race to Nome.” As Balto and his entourage toured the West Coast to support the film, a statue was announced for New York’s Central Park. Designed by Frederick Roth, the bronze sculpture was unveiled with Kaasen and Balto in attendance on December 15, 1925. As the New York Times noted, Balto was “unmoved” by the spectacle.

That heady spring of 1925, with its movie shoots and tours, represented the peak for Balto, his driver, and the team. After the statue was dedicated, Kaasen returned to Alaska, discouraged by the lifestyle Outside and disagreements with his producer. There would be no second movie. The dogs were sold to a different promoter, who took them on another round of touring. But all glory eventually fades, and by the end of 1926, Balto and the remaining dogs from the team had been sold again and were the property of a shabby Los Angeles dime museum.

For several months, Balto and his team were chained in a backroom. Once kings of the Alaska trails, the only time the dogs saw the sun were the brief visits to an alley for their “daily dozen.” No exercise. Snow was a fading memory. Per the Oakland Tribune, “There probably was never a more dejected, sorrowful looking lot.” The Oakland Post-Enquirer declared, “There is a bronze statue of Balto in Central Park, New York, in commemoration of his great feat. But he and his dog companions are living a bleak existence here.”

Cleveland businessman George Kimble visited Los Angeles in February 1927 as attention to the dogs’ plight peaked in the local press. He happened upon the museum and was disgusted by the sight of Balto and his team chained to a sled inside a cage. Right away, he offered to buy the lot. He just needed $2,000, about $35,000 in 2025 money, to complete the purchase and transport the dogs to their forever home in Cleveland. There were two problems. Kimble didn’t have anything like that kind of cash at hand and had just two weeks to raise the funds.

Kimble directed a plea for support back home, and a Cleveland Balto Committee was instantly formed. Kimble told the Cleveland Plain Dealer, “There should be enough dog owners and public minded citizens in Greater Cleveland to subscribe a dime apiece to bring these heroic dogs here.” Committee chair James B. Ruhl said, “It is a humane cause. It is an educational cause. Cleveland boys and girls will have probably the most heroic dog in history here as an example of dog life and man’s companions in the northlands.” Park Director Frank Harmon promised the dogs would become pampered residents of the Brookside Zoo.

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The campaign went public on March 1, 1927. Within 24 hours, more than $200 was raised. A day later, they were up to $306. The day after that, it was $679. Models in fur coats drove around town with a placard: “Bring Balto to Cleveland!” Small, polite offerings gathered like the first claps after a performance. They poked and prompted each other until there was a great din of thunderous applause. On March 5, the count was at $1,111.

Radio stations in New York and Detroit picked up the story and amplified the call for donations. One response came in from Japan. Children sent their pocket change. Patients in hospitals gave what they could. Some gave a penny. One person gave $100.

Polar explorer Roald Amundsen reached out to the Plain Dealer. He wrote, “Your Balto campaign has my highest sympathy. Having done nearly all my polar work assisted by these faithful dogs, my heart is quite naturally with them … Do what you can for these brave dogs and secure them a bright future. They certainly deserve it.”

On March 7, they reached $1,382 but were running out of time. The Cleveland option to buy Balto and the rest of his team was set to expire on March 9. For the sake of their bid, the publicity had been a double-edged sword. Contributions continued to pour in, but other groups, organizations with ready funds, expressed interest in purchasing Balto. As of March 8, the total stood at $1,517; they needed another $500, or the effort was lost.

Clevelanders went to sleep on the 8th with uncertainty but awoke to the best of news. With a burst of generosity, the goal was surpassed that very morning. At the end of the day, they had collected $2,245.88, with more offerings still coming. Payment was rendered at noon, and the dogs were immediately crated and shipped east.

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The reasonable modern Alaskan will wonder, where were the contemporary Alaskans in all this? Largely absent and unaware until the entire incident had passed. The slow passage of news north meant that most Alaskans heard of Balto’s transfer to Cleveland after the fact. There had been no real time for Balto’s dreadful existence at the Los Angeles museum to garner any real attention or support in Alaska. Still, the Seward Daily Gateway expressed something like sour grapes when they described Balto and his teammates as “inmates of Cleveland zoo.” Of course, there was no zoo in Alaska then and wouldn’t be for another 40 years.

Balto arrived in Cleveland on March 19. He was accompanied by six serum run teammates: Alaska Slim, Billie, Fox, Old Moctoc, Sye, and Tillie. The other six dogs from the team had previously passed or been sold off. In a parade through town, the dogs once again pulled a sled, albeit in rain, not snow. Still, the once stoic Balto who spurned movie starlets, politicians, and all other pomp now eagerly pulled in his harness. Thousands attended, in a throng lining the road five people deep. Songs supposedly popular in Alaska were sung. And they even dug up a few former Klondike gold rushers who took turns at the sled. Around 15,000 people visited the zoo on the first day of the dogs’ residence.

Mission accomplished, the dogs reportedly settled into their retirement with ease, their pen a frequent stop for locals and visitors alike. Balto passed in 1933. He was 11 to 14 years old, depending on which source you want to believe. By then, Alaska Slim, Billie, Fox, Old Motoc, and Tillie were already gone. Sye, the last of Balto’s 1925 team, died in 1934 at the age of 17.

While Togo received a decent amount of praise and commendation after the serum run, he was nonetheless overshadowed by Balto, much to Seppala’s dismay. The Norwegian musher bred, named, raised, and trained Balto but did not race with him. Of the Central Park statue, Seppala wrote in his memoir, “I resented the statue to Balto, for if any dog deserved special mention, it was Togo.” He more generously noted, “I hope I shall never be the man to take away credit from any dog or driver who participated in that run” but maintained that Balto was only a “scrub dog.” Seppala would have also resented Anchorage’s Balto Seppala Park, which was developed several years after his death.

At the least, Togo enjoyed a more straightforward and relaxing retirement. Seppala, Togo, and a full herd of other dogs launched their own national tour in 1926. In 1927, Seppala was racing and winning in New England. When he had to return to Alaska later that year, Togo stayed in Maine with Elizabeth Ricker, with whom Seppala had opened a kennel. Over the next two years, Seppala traveled back and forth, maintaining the connection between the things he loved most, his wife and home in Alaska and Togo in Maine. By late 1929, Togo was mostly blind and pained by his joints. On Dec. 5, Seppala put Togo to sleep. The great dog was 16 years old.

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For Seppala, it was just a break from each other. Decades later, approaching his own end, he wrote in his journal, “While my trail has been rough at times, the end of the course seems pretty smooth, with downhill going and a warm roadhouse in sight. And when I come to the end of the trail, I feel that along with my many friends, Togo will be waiting and I know that everything will be all right.”

• • •





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Interest in refugee services rises after federal policy changes, Alaska agency says

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Interest in refugee services rises after federal policy changes, Alaska agency says


ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – A recent executive order now has Americans asking how refugees in their communities will be affected.

Build Belonging, an event on Feb. 2 is hosted by Catholic Social Services with their Refugee and Immigration Services program. During the interactive event from 1-4 p.m., Alaskans can hear about the first-hand experience of a refugee in America and learn about the potential impacts of the executive order issued on Jan. 20.

Local organizations like the ACLU of Alaska, Alaska Literacy Program, and Anchorage Neighborhood Health Center will speak about their work with refugees in the Anchorage area, but the event won’t only center around speeches.

Attendees can try food from other cultures made by refugees, sign up for volunteering opportunities, or participate in activities designed to contact elected officials regarding legislation that could impact the refugee landscape.

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Heba El-Hendi, the RAIS Program director, said the event is meant to cultivate community and belonging.

“This event is targeting how we, as individuals in the community, can support, what action items we can take, and what can we do to learn about the refugee experience,” El-Hendi said.

Addressing the executive order issued in January which halted the United States Refugee Admission Program, El-Hendi said it doesn’t mean there aren’t newcomers to the U.S. who need help. “Because the program has halted, doesn’t mean that our work has stopped.”

“In fact, we need more support and more community members coming and partaking in this collective together in supporting the communities that we have already here. ” El-Hendi said.

The Build Belonging event will be held in the auxiliary gym at the Alaska Airlines Center Feb. 2 from 1-4 p.m.

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Information on the Catholic Social Services RAIS program here.

See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com



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Yukon government warns that Trump tariffs will make Alaska life more expensive

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Yukon government warns that Trump tariffs will make Alaska life more expensive


Seven years ago, heavy tariffs levied by President Donald Trump against China triggered a trade war that crimped Alaska’s seafood exports and left fishermen with less money for their catches.

On Saturday, a second round of Trump tariffs is scheduled to take effect, and the impact on Alaska is expected to be even bigger than it was in his first term.

Trump’s new 10% tariff on China, Alaska’s biggest international trading partner, is accompanied by a 25% on imports from Canada, Alaska’s fourth-largest trading partner, and a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico.

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All three countries are expected to launch retaliatory tariffs on imports from the United States, making a variety of products more expensive here.

“Alaskans should know that the Trump administration’s tariffs on Canadian goods will make life more expensive for them, and will be damaging to businesses on both sides of the border,” said a spokesperson for Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai on Friday.

“These tariffs will make Canadian goods more expensive in Alaska, as higher costs paid by American importers will be passed on to American consumers,” the spokesperson said, adding that the Yukon government is closely monitoring the situation.

In 2023, Canada imported $596 million in products from Alaska — mostly unrefined minerals and ore concentrates, but also a substantial amount of seafood.

Red Dog Mine in Northwest Alaska sends almost 30% of its zinc to a smelter in British Columbia. In the Southeast Alaska town of Skagway, the Yukon government is planning to spend more than $45 million on a new terminal designed to export ore extracted from Yukon mines.

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The price of gasoline, heating fuel and natural gas could also be affected by the tariffs. Alaska’s Nikiski refinery occasionally imports Canadian oil for in-state use, and if Southcentral Alaska switches to imported natural gas, the nearest source is a terminal slated to open in British Columbia this summer.

Sen. Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage and co-chair of the state Senate’s committee on world trade, said on Friday that she intends to introduce a resolution formally opposing the tariffs.

The state of Alaska’s international trade office, devoted to increasing Alaska’s commerce with other nations, was unable to say what impacts Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration expects here.

China, Alaska’s biggest international trading partner, imported $1.2 billion in Alaska goods in 2023, with almost half that total consisting of seafood.

No state exports more seafood internationally than Alaska does, and when a Dunleavy-commissioned committee met early this year to craft a plan to reverse the seafood industry’s decline, stopping tariff increases was a major topic.

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Jeremy Woodrow, director of the state-run Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, said on Friday that if the tariffs encourage Americans to buy more Alaska seafood, then it’s possible that Alaska could avoid an economic hit.

The value of the U.S. dollar, the value of foreign currencies, plus normal supply and demand also matter in how much fish gets exported where, he said. Tariffs are only part of the equation.

Seven years ago, they were a conclusive part.

“We lost China as a destination market because of those high tariffs,” he said, adding that the trade that exists today tends to involve fish being exported to China for processing, then re-exported to another country for a final destination.

This time around, he said, “I think a lot of us are looking at Trump’s tariffs, especially for Canada and China, as more of a bargaining chip, and that these aren’t a lasting tariff.”

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Trump has said he wants Canada to do more to interdict the flow of illegal drugs coming to the United States. If Trump thinks Canada has done enough, he could lift the tariffs.

In the meantime, Woodrow said, ASMI will be working to encourage Americans to buy more Alaska seafood and will continue to grow the market for Alaska seafood in places like South America, which is unaffected — so far — by Trump’s tariff actions.

Originally published by the Alaska Beacon, an independent, nonpartisan news organization that covers Alaska state government.





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