Scientists aboard a U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker have discovered something unusual in the Arctic Ocean off northern Alaska: a volcano-like structure rising more than 500 meters from the seafloor and possibly emitting gas.

The discovery came as scientists from different organizations were aboard the Healy, one of two polar-class Coast Guard icebreaking cutters, were working on a mission to better understand uncharted waters in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas north of Alaska.

Although the structure rises well above the seabed, it tops out at about 1,600 meters below the water’s surface, so it is too deep to pose any risks to navigation, the Coast Guard said in a statement. However, there appears to be a plume of gas rising from the structure that nearly reaches the water’s surface, the Coast Guard said.

The discovery is part of a project called the Alaskan Arctic Coast Port Access Route Study. The project is surveying what have been uncharted waters and collecting depth data along a corridor that the Coast Guard has proposed to be a preferred vessel route between Utqiagvik, the nation’s northernmost community, and the U.S.-Canada border. The project is making use of equipment aboard the Healy to gather data and create detailed images of the seafloor and objects along the proposed Utqiagvik-to-Canada corridor.

Multiple organizations are collaborating on the project, which is in its first phase: the U.S. National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the University of New Hampshire, along with the Coast Guard.

Capt. Meghan McGovern, the commanding officer of the NOAA Ship Fairweather, is part of the Healy mapping team and commented on the discovery.

“Although data analysis is ongoing, these findings are exciting and offer insight into what may exist beneath the ocean’s surface, much of which is unknown in this region,” McGovern said in a Coast Guard statement. “The coordination and partnerships during this mission fill critical gaps in the region for all waterway users and provide a foundation for safe navigation in the Arctic.”

The port access route study accomplishments came despite some difficulties endured earlier in the year by the Healy, its crew and its visiting scientists.

The Healy had to cut short one of its Arctic research cruises after a fire broke out in its electrical system in July, when the ship was sailing off the coast of Canada’s Banks Island. The Healy returned to its home port of Seattle for repairs, then sailed back north on Oct. 1 to resume this year’s Arctic mission.

The Healy is the only Coast Guard icebreaker designed to support scientific research. This year, it hosted 20 early career scientists, along with their mentors, to help them gain Arctic research experience and skills.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – A week of warm temperatures during the day and below-freezing conditions overnight makes for an icy mess across Southcentral.

In addition to the warm weather, windy and wet conditions continue for the coastal areas of Southcentral, Southwest, and Southeast Alaska as a storm turns near Kodiak.

This storm will stick with us one more day, before moving on to the east. That means Seward, Portage, and Whitter will see rain on Friday, with showers also likely in Homer, Valdez, and Cordova. The higher elevations, including Turnagain Pass, will likely see a wintry mix Thursday night through Friday.

Anchorage will stay mild on Friday, with temperatures starting out slightly below freezing before warming back to the mid-30s in the afternoon.

An extended stretch of storm-free weather is likely starting this weekend. But with drier and clearer conditions, it also means temperatures will steadily fall 2 to 4 degrees with each day. Get ready for teens and 20s in Anchorage and the Mat-Su by the middle part of next week.

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Republican Alaska U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has long been an outspoken critic of President-elect Donald Trump.

She says she never voted for him. Not in 2016, not in 2020, and not this year.

After Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, Murkowski said Trump should have resigned the presidency immediately. She was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 attack. Trump then vowed to campaign against Murkowski; still, she won reelection in 2022.

Now, Murkowski says she will work with the Trump administration, setting aside their fraught history.

“At the end of the day, regardless of how a given president feels about me personally or politically, my job, my role is to make sure that Alaska stands to gain, and that’s what I intend to do,” Murkowski said Wednesday.

“I have been able to work with every single president, Republican and Democrat, to advance things that work in Alaska’s best interest. That’s part of my job,” said Murkowski, who met with Alaska news media in her Anchorage office. “You figure out areas that you can work together in. You figure out those areas where you need to push back in.”

Murkowski, like other Alaska politicians, has said that Trump’s policies could be more favorable to resource development projects in Alaska.

One area where she said she expected to push back on a Trump agenda was on the fate of the Affordable Care Act, the law championed by President Barack Obama that Trump tried unsuccessfully to repeal during his first term in office.

“By then, there had been a growing acceptance and appreciation for how the ACA had allowed so many people who weren’t able to previously receive insurance be able to afford to have it,” said Murkowski.

She said “there may be areas” where she would be willing to consider changes to the law, but she was not open to a wholesale repeal of it.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said ahead of Election Day that his caucus would seek to reform the Affordable Care Act if Trump is re-elected. Even congressional inaction during a Trump presidency could impact the Affordable Care Act. Republicans have signaled they may allow major subsidies approved during the Biden presidency to sunset. Those subsidies helped ACA enrollment nearly double in recent years.

Murkowski originally voted against the Affordable Care Act in 2009, then voted against its repeal in 2017.

Murkowski, who voted against the Biden Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, also said she would not support its wholesale repeal. Trump has vowed to repeal parts of the bill.

“There are many aspects of the IRA that are legitimately issues that may be worthy of review. But it’s not unlike what we saw with the ACA, where once the law was in place, you started to see the benefits play out from it,” said Murkowski. She said those include tax provisions that have led companies to invest in microchip manufacturing and green energy technologies.

“People are saying, ‘Well, not sure that I liked what got us here, but I like what’s happening now, so don’t get rid of this,’” said Murkowski.

“Oftentimes it just doesn’t make sense to unspool it all,” said Murkowski.

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