fbpx
Alaska Magazine
Author

Tim Lydon

Browsing
barry glacier
30-Second Reads

Glacial Retreat Brings Landslides

By

Above: Barry Arm in Prince William Sound. The slope that could slide is pictured left of the Barry Glacier (middle glacier). Photo by William Rome Public lands, the theme of this month’s issue, have many meanings. They are valued for recreation, heritage, tourism, preservation, and of course as longtime homelands for Alaska Native people. But they also hold scientific value, as shown by recent research of new landslide risks in Prince William Sound. In 2020, scientists discovered a potentially large landslide that could trigger a tsunami in Barry Arm in western Prince William Sound. It followed retreat of the Barry Glacier, part of the Chugach National Forest. The glacier withdrew from beneath a massive wall of rubble that now hangs above the narrow ocean channel. If the “debuttressed” wall comes down, models show it could send up a tsunami of over 1,500 feet in the popular Harriman Fjord area. A…

sitkin volcano
30-Second Reads

The Double-barreled Great Sitkin Volcano

By

Public lands come in many shapes, including the giant oval dome that is Great Sitkin Mountain in the central Aleutian Islands 26 miles east of Adak. Rising to 5,709 feet, Great Sitkin (Sitх̑naх̑ in Aleutian) is part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, managed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It is also within the federally designated Aleutian Islands Wilderness.

wildlife tracking
30-Second Reads

Online Migrations

By

Want to see the flight paths of migrating swans as they come and go from Alaska? Or the seasonal meanderings of Pacific walruses in the Chukchi Sea? Now you can via USGS’ new Tagged Animal Movement Explorer (TAME). The online tool animates the migratory routes of hundreds of marine mammals, seabirds, and others that are carrying satellite transmitters.

alaska baseball
30-Second Reads

Root for the Home Team

By

The Alaska Baseball League is celebrating its 50th year. The league’s five teams, all from the Anchorage and Kenai Peninsula areas, play an annual season that begins in June and wraps up with a post-season “Top of the World” tournament in early August. The collegiate league uses equipment that meets Minor League specifications, and its players are unpaid so they can maintain NCAA eligibility.

Dakhká Khwaán Dancers
30-Second Reads

Inland Tlingits to Open Celebration

By

Above: The Dakhká Khwaán Dancers. Photo courtesy Simon Ager The Dakhká Khwáan Dancers from Whitehorse, Yukon, are the lead dance group at this month’s Celebration in Juneau, the region’s largest Alaska Native gathering. It’s the first time in the event’s 42-year history that the lead dancers hail from outside of southeast Alaska. “We are the first Interior Tlingit group to be given the honor,” says Marilyn Jensen-Yadułtin, the founder and leader of the group since 2007. “We are very humbled, honored, and excited.” As lead dancers, they will sing and drum as dozens of groups file onstage during Celebration’s opening and closing events. Jensen-Yadułtin says it takes “tremendous endurance,” as each performance requires three hours of non-stop singing and dancing. The group has practiced for months and will debut new regalia, songs, and masks. First formed in Carcross, Yukon, the Dakhká Khwáan Dancers have grown from six to 30 members…

Sign up for our newsletter for more exciting Alaska travel content.