Pete Thomas Outdoors

Shrinking ice forces thousands of walruses ashore in Alaska

The polar bear may be the sympathetic poster child to illustrate the effects of vanishing Arctic sea ice, but the plight of the Pacific walrus is similar and nothing illustrates that better than a video being shared by the U.S. Geological Survey's Alaska Science Center.

It reveals an astonishing 20,000 walruses massed together on the northwest coast of Alaska, at a time when they ought to be far offshore and using ice platforms to rest upon between foraging missions in the Chukchi Sea.

With ice this year near an all-time recorded low, the tusked mammals have increasingly sought the refuge of land, taking them far from feeding grounds and altering their behavior. Younger, smaller walruses are in danger of being crushed as larger walruses jockey for territory in the haulout on the barren coast near the village of Point Lay.

 

Long swims to offshore feeding areas -- walruses typically forage on the sea floor for shrimp, crabs, sea cucumbers and small mollusks -- might stress even the strongest of the mammals.

"They become a little more restricted in the areas they can forage, because they now can access only what's available from shore," Science Center biologist Chad Jay told the Los Angeles Times, adding that some radio-collared walruses are swimming as far as 40 miles to find food.

An adult walrus requires about 100 pounds of food per day, so its day is full even under ideal conditions, with ice platforms immediately above or very close to prime feeding areas.

This represents the fourth year of the giant haulout near Point Lay, for an animal whose population may number about 130,000 animals and is under consideration for endangered species protection.

But unlike the past three years more animals have tried relocating north of Point Lay, beyond traditional areas, where there is no ice and, thus, no suitable habitat, especially for calves that are reliant on their mothers.

Jay stated: "We're wondering what they're going to do, because they're spending their time in the water while they're out there. If the weather gets up, it could exhaust the animals. The calves are totally dependent on the mother for protection, and the calves are also hitching a ride on the mother when they're traveling, and sometimes the mother and calf can get separated."

A few dead calves were spotted during the aerial survey of the Point Lay haulout, and last year several calf carcasses remained after the walruses left for their fall-winter grounds on pack ice in the Bering Sea.

Scientists, meanwhile, continue to study the impacts of dwindling ice on walruses and other animals that inhabit Arctic waters.

93-year-old woman catches lunker salmon to win derby

A 93-year-old great-grandmother was crowned Queen of the Silver Salmon Sisterhood recently after out-fishing nearly 800 entrants during a women's-only competition in Valdez, Alaska.

Lenore Groundwater, visiting from Arizona, won the Silver Salmon Derby with the catch of a 16.58-pound salmon and during the ceremony she played to the crowd, explaining that fishing is more about luck than skill.

"That's the same thing about living so old," she joked.

Before being honored, when asked by a derby official whether she wished to reveal her age, she replied, "I'm 39 backward."

Groundwater is an inspiration, having taken up salmon fishing five years ago. But she implied she can do without all the attention. "It's probably not helping my high blood pressure," she said.

Her prized catch edged the second- and third-place catches by less than a pound. The best part about winning, she said, was calling her husband to rub it in as he was getting skunked while fishing nearby on the Kenai River. "It was a great phone call," she remarked.

Not surprisingly, Groundwater announced that she'll share the winnings with her grandchildren. Watch video of her speaking during the ceremony here.

-- Image shows Lenore Groundwater and son Lance posing with her 16.58-pound silver salmon. Courtesy of Valdez Fish Derbies

Grizzly bear attacks group of teens in Alaska wilderness; one victim states, 'I thought I was going to die'

A nighttime crossing of a creek in the Alaska wilderness turned into a nightmare situation for seven teenage hikers taking part in a survival-skills course, as a mother grizzly bear with a cub attacked the group and inflicted serious wounds to two of the hikers.

The incident occurred Saturday night in the Talkeetna Mountains about 120 miles north of Anchorage, where hikers between the ages of 16 and 18 were backpacking as part of a month-long National Outdoor Leadership School course.

At least four hikers were attacked and all seven were injured, directly or indirectly, as a result of the attack. They gave each other first-aid, according to reports. Ultimately, they were evacuated by Alaska State Troopers and the Alaska Air National Guard.

The two seriously injured hikers are Joshua Berg of New City, N.Y., and Samuel Gottsegen of Denver, Colo. Both are 17.

Gottsegen, who was bitten on the head and chest, and suffered a punctured lung and broken ribs, told 7News in Denver: "I thought I was going to die when I was being attacked. I was so scared. I looked behind me and the bear was behind me. So, I started running down the hill and it tackled me on the way down."

The teens were able to activate a personal locator beacon and built a makeshift camp to await their rescue.

The Anchorage Daily News reports that the attack occurred during the group's first day of backpacking without adult supervision. The hikers, on their 24th day of the course, were supposed to call upon skills they had learned earlier in the course.

The ADN quotes a spokesman for the National Outdoor Leadership School as saying that the group, which had been walking in a line, was making noise, which is intended to prevent surprise encounters.

The spokesman also said three members of the group carried bear spray, but it remains unclear whether any  of the hikers used the repellent.

The bear apparently mauled the first teenager to have crossed the creek, then attacked another hiker before returning to its first victim.

Biologists with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game as of Monday morning had not decided what to do about the bear, if it can be located by Troopers.

-- Generic grizzly bear image is courtesy of Wikipedia

Woman lands 335-pound halibut her first time fishing

 A woman who had never been fishing before now has an angling tale of a lifetime as well as a shot at capturing the $15,000 top prize in an Alaskan fishing derby after landing a 335.7-pound halibut.

"Oh my God, it was huge," Annette Gutierrez, 47, told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.  "It was insane to get such a very big fish my first time."

At 7-feet, 3 1/2-inches, the halibut was almost two feet taller than the 5-foot-6 Gutierrez, and 142.3 pounds heavier than the fish that had been topping the leaderboard for the Valdez Halibut Derby, which runs through Sept. 4.

Gutierrez, from Gila, N.M., works as a truck driver for a Fairbanks, Alaska, construction company during the summer. Her 12-hour, 7-day-a-week schedule doesn't allow for much down time, so when she and her fiance, Steve Perkins, who works for the same company, had a few days off together they decided to head to Valdez and go fishing on a friend's boat on July 2.

"I’ve never been anywhere near the ocean or big boats like that in my life," she said. "Where I’m from in New Mexico is a little, tiny ranch town with a little river running through it."

Gutierrez hooked the lunker after only an hour of fishing, and was chided by Perkins and friend Mike Chambers for taking so long to bring the fish in -- having no idea what was on the end of her line.

"It took me about 30 minutes to bring it in," she said. "They kept laughing at me and telling me I had a 30 or 40 pounder."

It took all three of them to get the huge flatfish over the boat’s railing once it was subdued, Gutierrez said.

By the time they reached the Valdez dock, four hours from where they had been fishing, word had gotten out that a derby-contending big fish was coming in.

"We got in and there were people everywhere," Gutierrez said. And it wasn’t until she saw the fish hanging that Gutierrez realized what she had caught.

"I had no clue what I did. I don’t think it even hit me until they hung it up and I said 'man this is big.'"

-- Image of Annette Gutierrez next to the 335.7-pound halibut she caught courtesy of Valdez Fish Derbies and Valdez Chamber of Commerce.

Father's Day fishing trip off Alaska nets monster halibut

A Father's Day fishing trip off Homer, Alaska, became more than just a bonding experience as Chad Aldridge, the son, reeled in one of the heaviest Pacific halibut ever caught on rod and reel.

It weighed 350.8 pounds and vaulted the angler into first place in the season-long Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby. It's the sixth-heaviest halibut in the 25-year derby history.

Aldridge caught the barndoor halibut on 80-pound-test line, after a 45-minute struggle, on a chunk of herring. The International Game Fish Assn. lists the 80-pound line class world record as a 413-pound specimen caught in 2002 off Unalaska.

The IGFA lists the all-tackle world record as a 459-pounder caught in 1996 off Dutch Harbor, Alaska. But in all classes the IGFA lists only those two specimens as weighing more than 400 pounds, and only four surpassing the 350-pound mark.

Aldrige, 32, an oil company worker, said he and Ronnie Aldridge (both are pictured above) talked a lot about Father's Day while he was reeling the fish to the surface, and during a marathon struggle to subdue the powerful behemoth and haul it aboard.

"It was great to have him there to watch me bring the fish up," Chad Aldridge said. "He told me it was the biggest fish he had ever seen boated, and he has caught a lot of big halibut over the years."

Besides Ronnie Aldridge, there were two family friends on Chad's 24-foot boat. Chad hooked the fish during the morning's first stop, while reeling in for a planned move to another location.

"All of the sudden my line just stopped, then I felt the head shake so I lifted up fairly hard to set the hook," he explained. "Then it took off and and I thought, 'This is serious.' I knew it was big but thought it could also be a skate, a shark or even a whale."

Since the group had only a single gaff, and because giant halibut improperly subdued have been known to smash the insides of boats and injure anglers, a radio plea for assistance was made. Chad's uncle, who had been fishing nearby, arrived with another gaff and harpoon.

Ronnie Aldridge handled the harpoon honors. Still, another 45 tense and chaotic minutes transpired before the fish was calm enough to be dragged over the rail. "It had the mouth the size of a basketball," Chad recalled. "It took three of us and it was all we could do to lift the fish up and in, and when we did it fell right on top of me."

-- Image showing Ronnie (left) and Chad Aldridge with prized halibut catch is courtesy of Homer Jackpot Halibut Derby

Is Bigfoot now roaming the woods of Ketchikan, Alaska?

The latest alleged Bigfoot sighting places the fabled ape-like creature alongside a logging road near Ketchikan, Alaska. YouTube user putua76 provided video evidence in a May 10 post, along with seemingly genuine commentary.

"My heart's pounding a million miles an hour," the videographer exclaims, after capturing a fleeting glimpse of a large, grayish-looking beast walking swiftly through the forest.

But as the Alaska Dispatch astutely points out, "The creature is hard to see, hidden behind trees and partially or totally obscured, giving just enough evidence for the skeptics to dispute and just enough for the believers to support."

Let the viewer judge and our guess is that there will be more skeptics than believers, but you never know. According to the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, however, this marks the first reported Bigfoot/Sasquatch sighting in Ketchikan, and only the 22nd in Alaska.  Many more sightings have been made in the Pacific Nortwest region of Canada and the lower U.S.

Alaska native John Baker wins Iditarod in record time

The Iditarod sled-dog race has a new champion and, for the first time in the event's 39-year history, it's a Western Alaskan native.

John Baker, who was born and raised in Kotzebue above the Arctic Circle, guided his team of 10 dogs into Nome at 9:46 Tuesday morning, local time. His time of 8 days and 19 hours, over an 1,131-mile route from Willow (near Anchorage) to Nome,  breaks by about three hours a record set in 2002 by Martin Buser.

Local villagers along the trail have been pulling for Baker -- who is of Inupiat heritage -- for the past several days. On Monday, as Baker coasted into the White Mountain checkpoint, a fan held up a sign that read, "I'm happy that an Eskimo is in front,"

Baker, 48, set the record in part because of hard, fast trail conditions, but also because of relentless pressure applied by Ramey Smyth, who had been in close pursuit leaving the past several checkpoints.

Smyth, who was one hour behind leaving the final checkpoint at Safety, was expected to easily finish second. Hans Gatt was in third.

Lance Mackey, who was attempting to win the grueling race for a fifth consecutive year, was in the middle of the pack with a diminished team, having been forced to drop off seven of 14 dogs at various checkpoints because of concerns for their health.

Baker led since Eagle Island, the 17th of 25 race checkpoints. His decisive move, however, was resting in Unalakleet, the 19th checkpoint, for only about four hours. Short rest periods became necessary thereafter because of pressure from Smyth.

Baker had previously finished third twice, and had 11 top-10 finishes.

-- Pete Thomas

Alaska musher John Baker poised to claim first Iditarod title

John Baker is poised to win his first Iditarod sled-dog race and Lance Mackey, in 17th place, is so far back that it will be nearly impossible for him to claim a fifth consecutive race title.

With only four checkpoints between Koyuk and the finish line at Nome, Baker holds a substantial lead and is better-rested than Ramey Smyth, his nearest competitor.

Smyth left Koyuk 50 minutes behind Baker but did so after resting for only 2 hours, 21 minutes. That wouldn't be so bad but, in trying to keep up, he did not sleep at the previous checkpoint at Shaktooklik. (Baker restied for 3:13 in Koyuk.)

Hans Gatt is in third place and was about two hours behind Baker when he pulled out of Koyuk, having left three dogs and leaving him with a team of 10. Baker and Smyth each have 11 dogs.
 
Baker, 48, a perennial high finisher, lives above the Arctic Circle in the town of Kotzebue, and is popular among western Alaskan fans of the grueling, 1,131-mile race. He's unassuming and soft-spoken,  leaving it up to his thick-furred teammates to issue any statements.

Smyth, in the Anchorage Daily News, referred to Baker's team as "the toughest dogs in Alaska."

It's worth pointing out that last year Baker was among those who threatened to overtake Mackey, but he became confused beyond the Cripple checkpoint and thought he had strayed onto the wrong trail.

However, another time-costly mistake like that is virtually impossible this year because mushers, for the first time, are allowed to use GPS units.

Mackey, a Fairbanks musher who is down to only eight dogs, told the Anchorage newspaper that it'd be "great for the sport and the state of Alaska if Johnny Baker could pull it off."

The distance between Koyuk to Elim is 48 miles. The following leg, to Golovin, is 28 miles. The final legs after that are 18, 55 and 22 miles. That's a lot of snow miles but for now, as cliché as this may sound, the race is Baker's to win or lose.

-- Pete Thomas

Image is of John Baker

Lance Mackey's Iditarod hopes fade as dog team dwindles

For Lance Mackey, prospects of winning a fifth consecutive Iditarod sled-dog race are becoming increasingly slim. He pulled into the halfway point Thursday with only 10 dogs, having left six at previous checkpoints because of concerns for their health.

Mackey as of Thursday afternoon was listed in sixth place, but realistically he was in third because three of the top six -- including the top two competitors -- had not yet taken their mandatory 24-hour rest period. The top six were Trent Herbst, Kelley Griffin, Martin Buser, Hugh Neff, Cim Smyth and Mackey. Herbst, Griffin and Smyth still have to take a 24-hour rest and will be passed by several mushers.

That essentially makes it a Buser, Neff and Mackey battle at this point during the 1,131-mile race from Anchorage to Nome. Buser, however, still has 14 dogs, and Neff has 13. To see and hear Mackey talk about his diminishing chances of winning for a fifth time and adding to his legend -- it was shot when he still had 12 dogs -- check out the video:

 

Lance Mackey takes early lead in Iditarod sled-dog race

Sixty-two mushers hit the Iditarod Trail on Sunday, and to no one's surprise Lance Mackey was in front of the pack on Monday morning.

Mackey, who has won the Iditarod sled-dog race from Anchorage to Nome four years in a row, was first out of the Finger Lake checkpoint. (The official start of the race was from Willow, outside of Anchorage.)

Finger Lake, the fifth of 25 checkpoints along the 1,131-mile route, is 937 miles from the finish line, and though the course is said to be in good shape, extreme weather may present formidable challenges.

Robert Bundtzen, a 12-year race veteran whose best finish was 27th, was second, 15 minutes behind Mackey. Hugh Neff was third, 30 minutes behind Mackey.

Next stop, 30 miles ahead of Finger Lake, is Rainy Pass, followed by the Dalzell Gorge, where conditions can be brutal for the mushers and their dogs.

Mackey, who lives in Fairbanks, holds the Iditarod record for consecutive victories and with a fifth triumph he'd tie Rick Swenson, the winningest Idiatarod champion.

The champion of this year's race will earn $50,000.

-- Pete Thomas

Note: The Anchorage Daily News features extensive coverage of the 2011 race