Category Archives: Kodiak Wildlife

Wildlife of Kodiak Island including biology, behavior, and news

Goldeneye Ducks

April 21, 2024BirdsAlaska Ducks, Barrow's Goldeneye, Common Goldeneye, Ducks, Ducks on Kodiak Island, Goldeneye, Robin Barefieldadmin

Flocks of Goldeneyes are a familiar sight nearshore in bays and coves on Kodiak Island in the winter. While both Common and Barrow’s Goldeneyes visit Kodiak in the winter, Barrow’s are the most prevalent in this region, and they live year-round on the island.

The Common Goldeneye’s range stretches from Alaska and northern Canada down to California and northern Mexico and east across most of the contiguous United States. Barrow’s Goldeneyes are much less numerous and are found mainly in Alaska, western Canada, and the northwestern continental US.

Goldeneyes are medium-sized ducks with large, triangular heads. The bill is black with a small amount of yellow at the tip. It is narrow and slopes downward from the face. They have streamlined bodies and short tails.

An adult male Common Goldeneye has an iridescent green head that usually appears black. It has a round white spot near the bill and a bright yellow eye. Its back is black, and the sides are white. An adult female has a brown head and a gray back and wings. Both males and females display large white patches on the wings when flying.

A Barrow’s Goldeneye looks very similar to a Common Goldeneye. A Common Goldeneye has a round white spot behind its bill, while a Barrow’s Goldeneye has a crescent-shaped white spot behind the bill. A Common Goldeneye has an angular head, while a Barrow Goldeneye’s head appears rounded. Also, Barrow’s Goldeneyes have a black spur on the side, a mark that is absent in Common Goldeneyes.

When they hatch, male Goldeneye chicks have gray-brown eyes. They turn purple-blue, then blue, then green-blue as they age. By five months, they have clear pale green-yellow eyes, and finally, they turn bright yellow. Females have pale yellow to white eyes.

Goldeneyes mainly breed in the forests of Canada and Alaska, with smaller numbers of Common Goldeneyes breeding in North Dakota, Montana, Minnesota, and the Northeast. They nest in holes in trees near rivers, lakes, or wetlands. Since Barrow’s Goldeneyes do not always nest in tree cavities, they can nest farther north than Common Goldeneyes, extending north of the treeline. Barrow’s Goldeneyes breed on Kodiak Island, while Common Goldeneyes do not.

Common Goldeneyes migrate to the coast in the winter, gathering in bays and other protected areas along the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts. Barrow’s Goldeneyes mostly winter on the North Pacific Coast. Both species favor wintering areas with gravel, rock, and boulder substrates where they can find small mollusks and crustaceans. In the interior, Goldeneyes migrate only far enough south to find lakes and rivers that remain ice-free in the winter. During the winter, they form flocks of four to several hundred ducks.

Goldeneyes are compact and can fly over forty miles per hour. When flying, their wings make a whistling noise, and they are sometimes called “the whistler.” They are also strong swimmers and divers and spend much of their time on the water, where they dive for prey. When diving, they squeeze their wings tight to their body and kick with their feet. Dives can last up to a minute.

Goldeneyes form monogamous pairs sometime between December and April, and the pair stays together until the male leaves the female early in the incubation period. Before choosing a mate, the ducks gather in small courtship groups. The males perform elaborate displays, and the females respond with their own displays, often lowering their necks and swinging their heads forward. When they reach the breeding area, the male defends the female and the breeding territory from other Goldeneyes and Buffleheads.

When she reaches the nesting area, the female selects a cavity in a live or dead tree for the nest, often returning to the same nest year after year. The female might also lay her eggs in the nest of another duck. She smooths out material already in the nest to form a bowl and then plucks down feathers from her breast to form a soft lining. She lays four to nine eggs in the nest, which hatch after twenty-seven to thirty-three days. When they hatch, the chicks are covered in black and white down. They are alert with their eyes open and leave the nest after a day or two. If the nest is high up in a hole in a tree, the first step can be treacherous for the ducklings. The mother stands at the tree’s base and calls to her chicks while they step from the nest one by one and tumble to the ground.

Once the ducks leave the nest, the female usually protects them from other ducks. However, some mothers are less maternal and leave their young soon after they hatch. Her ducklings then join the brood of another duck.

Goldeneyes eat aquatic invertebrates, including crabs, shrimp, amphipods, and mussels. They also eat small fish, fish eggs, and insects. Vegetation, such as seeds and tubers, comprise a small part of their diet.

The oldest recorded Common Goldeneye was a male at least twenty years and five months old when he was found in Wisconsin. He had been banded as a young duck in Minnesota.

Goldeneye populations remain stable in most areas of their range, but biologists predict their range will shift northward as the climate warms.

Join other authors and me at our Facebook Beach Party! The main event occurs on June 1st, but sign up early because we begin giving away prizes on May 15th! I will host an hour from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Alaska Time (8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. EDT) during the main event on June 21st. Please join me if you can. I would love your support, and you might win a prize!

My true crime book, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier, was a finalist for the Silver Falchion Award for the best true crime book of 2023.

Robin Barefield is the author of five Alaska wilderness mystery novels: Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, and Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge. She is also the author of the non-fiction book Kodiak Island Wildlife and the true-crime book Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier. Sign up below to subscribe to her free monthly newsletter on true crime and mystery in Alaska, and listen to her podcast, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier.

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Sea Ducks Near Kodiak Island: Harlequin Ducks

December 11, 2023Birds, Kodiak WildlifeHarlequin Duck, Harlequin Ducks in Alaska, Kodiak Ducks, Robin Barefieldadmin

What is that black and white duck? Like all northern places, winter arrives early in Alaska. When the leaves turn yellow and orange, stiff breezes blow them off the trees. Heavy rain and turbulent wind mark October and November, and this is when the winter ducks arrive to wait out the storms in sheltered coves.

Thousands of sea ducks overwinter in the deep, narrow bays and coves on Kodiak Island, and several species are year-round residents. The species appear distinctly different when viewed close-up, but they can be difficult to distinguish from a distance. Over the next few posts, I will cover a few common sea ducks we see near Kodiak in the winter.

Harlequin ducks, with their showy plumage, are the easiest sea ducks to identify. They are small diving ducks. Males weigh approximately 1.4 lbs. (650 g), and females average 1.3 lbs. (575 g). Males are brightly colored with slate-blue bodies, white bands, and collars bordered by black lines on the chest and neck. They have a large crescent in front of the eye, a white spot behind the eye, and a white stripe along their neck. A black streak bordered by white and chestnut brown runs along the top of the head, and the flanks are chestnut brown. Their dark brown wings sport an iridescent blue patch on the inner edge. Females are not nearly as colorful. They have a brown body with a white belly, a white patch behind the ear, and white patches in front of the eye.

There are two populations of harlequin ducks in North America. The eastern population breeds from northern Quebec and Labrador south into Newfoundland and northern New Brunswick. This population winters in southern Canada and northern New England. The western population breeds along the rivers in interior south coastal Alaska, Yukon Territory, British Columbia, southwest Alberta, and south to the Rocky and Cascade Mountain regions of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and western Montana and Wyoming.

Males and females return to the same breeding and wintering areas each year. Once they reach the wintering area, the ducks form pairs, and pairs often reunite annually. Females breed after they are two years old. As soon as they reach the breeding area, females build their nests on the ground, on small cliff ledges, in tree cavities, or on stumps. They often choose nesting sites on islands in streams and pick places where vegetation or other cover conceals the nest. The female lays five to six eggs in the down-lined nest. She incubates the eggs for approximately twenty-nine days, and the young can feed themselves immediately after hatching. Young harlequins can fly when they are forty-five to fifty-five days old.

Males leave the breeding area soon after the female lays the eggs. The males then begin to molt and cannot fly for twenty-five to thirty days while they shed their old flight feathers and grow new ones. The females molt four to eight weeks after the males.

Harlequins are good swimmers, and they feed by picking up insects, snails, amphipods, fish eggs, and crabs from the bottom of a river or near shore in the ocean.

Oddly, harlequins suffer more broken bones than any other duck species, and by X-raying museum specimens, researchers have learned that most adults have endured multiple healed fractures.

While it is difficult to determine the age of a duck, the oldest recorded harlequin was a male in British Columbia. He was at least twenty years and nine months old when he was identified by his leg band in 2014. Researchers had banded him in Alberta in 1995.

The western population of harlequins is much larger than the eastern population, and biologists estimate its size at 150,000 to 250,000 birds. While scientists do not entirely understand the movements of harlequins between Alaska’s wintering and breeding areas, They believe the bulk of the western population winters in the Aleutian Islands.

A harlequin duck is one of nature’s most stunning creatures. Looking through my binoculars at a harlequin floating in a patch of sunlight, I can hardly believe I am staring at a wild duck and not an intricate piece of art.

Read more about Kodiak Wildlife in my book Kodiak Island Wildlife.

My true crime book, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier, was a finalist for the Silver Falchion Award for the best true crime book of 2023.

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The Status of Whales in the North Pacific

August 14, 2023Gray Whale, Humpback Whale, killer whale, Kodiak WildlifeDead Humpback Whales, Endangered Orcas, Gray Whale, Gray Whale Deaths, Southern Resident Orcas, Warming Oceansadmin

Since 2019, the carcasses of 332 gray whales have washed up on beaches in the Western United States. One-hundred-and-thirty-five deaths occurred in Alaska, prompting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to declare an “unusual mortality event.” However, there is good news this year. The gray whale deaths have tapered off, and biologists believe the population might be recovering.

During the summer of 2018, waters in the Bering Sea soared nine degrees warmer than average. These increasing seawater temperatures have reduced winter ice cover in the region, leading to reduced productivity. Primary productivity in the northern Bering Sea declined by 70% from 1988 to 2004. This previously ice-dominated, shallow ecosystem favored large communities of benthic amphipods (the favorite food of gray whales), but it has now been replaced by an ecosystem dominated by zooplankton, such as krill. Gray whales have responded by migrating further north to the Chukchi Sea, but amphipods might now be disappearing from this region as well, forcing gray whales to consume less nutritious krill, and krill might not contain the amount of fatty acids the whales need to build adequate blubber.

Biologists estimate that one-quarter to one-third of the West Coast’s gray whale population has died in recent years. The dead whales appeared extremely emaciated, and researchers think there were too many whales for the amount and type of food they could find to eat as the oceans warm and the environment changes. However, this die-off was not a novel situation. Gray whales suffered a previous mortality event over two decades ago and slowly recovered.

This year, researchers counted more gray whale calves than in the previous few years, and the whales looked healthier during their annual migration north. Only time will tell if the population is recovering, but it seems to be on the rebound.

Meanwhile, the news is not as good for humpback whales in Alaska. Four humpbacks have been found dead on Kodiak this year. The whales were extremely decomposed, leaving scientists with no clues as to the cause of their deaths.

Orca populations in Alaska appear healthy, but the endangered southern resident orcas near Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands continue to struggle. A research study in the Public Library of Science suggested that 99% of the orcas studied in the area had photographic evidence of skin lesions. Researchers evaluated photos from nearly 20,000 orca sightings from 2004 to 2016 and noted that the lesions became more prevalent.

The lesions usually appear as gray patches on the orca’s skin. Biologists don’t know what causes the lesions but fear they are a sign of continued declining health in the animals. While researchers cannot directly correlate the lesions with whale deaths, they think they are likely signs of an embattled immune system.

The southern orcas face several threats. A growing population of humans in the area where the whales live has caused more pollution. More sources of underwater noise have affected the ability of the orcas to hunt using echolocation. Increased water temperatures and solar radiation probably also stress the animals. One of the most significant factors leading to the decline of the southern orcas is the dramatic decrease in the number of Chinook salmon, the orca’s favorite food, in the area. Researchers documented a 75% drop in reported sightings of southern residents from 2004 to 2020, corresponding with a 50% decline in Chinook salmon from British Columbia’s Fraser River.

Changes in whale populations reflect the health of our oceans. Gray whales prefer to feed on benthic amphipods, but as sea ice diminishes and the environment of our northern oceans changes, benthic amphipods are on the decline. Humpback whales feed on zooplankton and small fish, but as the seas warm, zooplankton isn’t as plentiful as it once was. Orcas eat fish, but salmon and other species have declined in many areas.

The whales are telling us they don’t like their changing environment, but will we listen and do something about it?

Read more about Kodiak Wildlife in my book Kodiak Island Wildlife.

My true crime book, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier, is a finalist for the Silver Falchion Award for the best true-crime book of 2023. Thank you to the Readers and Writers Book Club for mentioning it in their August Newsletter.

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Avian Flu Poses Threat for Wildlife in Alaska

May 19, 2023Bald Eagle, Birds, Harbor Seal, Kodiak Bear, Kodiak Wildlife, Red Foxadmin

In 2022, an avian flu strain reached the United States. Over the past year, more than fifty-eight million domestic poultry and thousands of wild birds have died from the viral H5N1 flu strain. According to biologists, it is the largest bird flu outbreak in U.S. history and doesn’t seem to be going away. As its name suggests, the virus mainly affects wild and domestic birds but can also infect mammals.

In Alaska, more than twelve hundred chickens and ducks have died from the avian flu, and it has killed more than two-hundred wild birds, including eagles, ravens, and shorebirds. Biologists have also found the virus in wild mammals, including bears and foxes. Migrating wild ducks and geese spread the virus when they defecate contagious droppings across the areas where they travel.

Scientists have no treatment for avian influenza, and the mortality rate is high for poultry and wild raptors such as hawks, eagles, and owls. Symptoms in diseased birds include fatigue, difficulty walking, nasal discharge, decreased egg production, and swollen combs or wattles.

Transmission to humans is rare, but flu viruses tend to mutate easily, so this disease could affect humans in the future. Scientists have already identified the virus in marine mammals around the world. Biologists have detected outbreaks among seals and other marine mammals in Maine, Chile, and Peru.

The remoteness of most areas in Alaska makes it difficult for biologists to know how widespread the disease is here. In October 2022, researchers found a sick black bear cub in Glacier Bay National Park that tested positive for the H5N1 virus. A month later, a deer hunter on Kodiak Island collected the carcass of a dead brown bear cub that tested positive for the virus. A necropsy on the brown bear cub revealed infection in the cub’s brain, lungs, and liver. Biologists suspect both cubs scavenged on wild birds that had died from influenza and inhaled the virus while tearing the birds apart. Luckily, at this point, the virus cannot be transmitted from bear to bear.

Kodiak bears are at risk if a deadly novel virus spreads among them. A 1998 study on the genetic diversity of North American brown bears indicated that Kodiak bears have less genetic diversity among them than other populations of North American brown bears. Several of the genetic samples from bears on Kodiak showed identical genotypes, meaning the bears were so genetically similar that biologists could not measure the differences between them. According to a 2006 report conducted for the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge, the genetic variation among Kodiak bears is much lower than the variation found among any other brown bear population. While the Kodiak bear population presently remains healthy, this low genetic variability makes this population susceptible to decimation by novel parasites or pathogens, which could reach Kodiak and infect bears.

If you see a sick wild bird in Alaska, report the animal to a hotline managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at 866-527-3358 or by email at ak_mbm@fws.gov. In particular, look for signs of disorientation, twitching, or tremors, and birds with necks twisted back.

For those of you in the Anchorage area, I have a book signing at Barnes and Noble on Saturday, May 27^th, from 1-5 p.m. Please stop by and say hi. I would love to meet you. I will be at Mosquito Books at the Anchorage airport on Tuesday, May 30^th.

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Ochre Sea Stars Arrive on Kodiak Island

November 25, 2022Kodiak Wildlife, Marine InvertebratesOchre Star, Sea Star, Sea Stars in Alaska, Starfishadmin

The Ochre Sea Star (Pisaster ochraceus) has arrived on Kodiak Island. Ochre sea stars are common in the Pacific Northwest, but the species is slowly expanding its range further north into the cooler waters of the Gulf of Alaska. Brenda Konar, professor of marine biology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, says she thinks Kodiak is near the end of its range.

Ochre stars inhabit the Gulf of Alaska and are now common in Prince William Sound. What does their northward migration mean? Scientists think they could be moving further north due to warmer water temperatures in the North Pacific. Ochres stars are incredibly hardy and adaptive, allowing them to inhabit exposed rocky beaches from Baja California to Prince William Sound. Ochre stars can wedge their bodies into rocky crevices on wind-swept coasts, so they don’t get washed away during a storm.

Ochre sea stars reign near the top of their food chain. Seagulls can eat young sea stars, and sea otters eat sea stars of any size, but they have no other predators. Ochre stars eat a wide variety of prey, including mussels, limpets, sea urchins, snails, chitons, and barnacles.

Ochre stars are important in the intertidal communities they inhabit, and scientists consider them a keystone species because their presence affects the intertidal community. They are voracious predators and seem to prefer mussels. Mussels are superior competitors for space on rocky coasts, but when Ochre stars wipe out a group of mussels, other species move in to colonize the area. Since mussels tolerate desiccation better than Ochre stars, mussels can proliferate in the upper intertidal zone. In contrast, the presence of Ochre stars in the lower intertidal eliminates large mussel beds and allows other species to flourish.

Ochre stars begin breeding at age five. They broadcast their eggs and sperm into the water, and fertilization occurs externally. The larvae float in the ocean for a few months and then settle onto the bottom, where they take on the sea star shape. Scientists believe it is during this floating larval stage when the sea stars expand their range. Ochre stars are the most long-lived species of sea star and can live twenty to thirty-five years.

A massive die-off of sea stars on the west coast of the US, including Alaska, began in 2013. Biologists believe the die-off was caused by a virus that flourished during a cycle of hot water temperatures in the North Pacific. Most sea star species are beginning to recover, and the Ochre star seems to be one of the more resilient species.

Will we see more Ochre stars on Kodiak Island, and if so, what will their presence do to the intertidal communities? In Uyak Bay on Kodiak, where I live, mussels flourish in certain areas, but a large population of sea otters has decimated many of the bivalves, sea urchins, and crabs. If Ochre stars move into this area, will they survive the sea otters, and if so, how will they change the makeup of species in the intertidal zone? Only time will tell.

Thank you for reading!

I am excited to announce my new book about true murder and mystery in Alaska. Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier will be available for pre-order at Amazon on December 1st, and the book will be released in late December.

Robin Barefield is the author of five Alaska wilderness mystery novels: Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, and Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge. She is also the author of the non-fiction book Kodiak Island Wildlife. Sign up below to subscribe to her free monthly newsletter on true crime and mystery in Alaska, and listen to her podcast, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier.

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Green Sea Urchin (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis)

June 13, 2022Kodiak Wildlife, Marine InvertebratesGreen Sea Urchin, Green Sea Urchin in Alaska, Robin Barefield, Sea Urchin, Sea Urchins in Alaskaadmin

Green sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis) inhabit the Arctic regions of both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. On the east coast of the U.S., they range as far south as New Jersey, and they reach down to Puget Sound on the west coast. This species usually reside in the rocky intertidal area to 30 ft.(9 m), but they inhabit depths up to 3,770 ft. (1,150 m).

Like other echinoderms (such as the sea star and sand dollar), sea urchins are radially symmetrical and divided into five parts. Green sea urchins have a hard outer covering called a “test.” Tube feet and spines cover the surface of the test. The spines are jointed at the base, and the urchin moves by using its tube feet and lower spines. The green sea urchin’s spines are short and sharp, and they are more delicate than the spines of many other species.

An urchin’s mouth is centered on its underside surface, and it is surrounded by a complex feeding structure called Aristotle’s lantern. This structure boasts extensive musculature and five sets of triangular plates or teeth. These teeth allow the urchins to graze on tough algae, their favorite food. A sea urchin’s anus is located on the top of the animal.

Sea urchins are either male or female, and they mate by broadcasting their eggs and sperm into the water. They use environmental triggers such as temperature or daylight to time the release of their gametes and increase the chance of fertilization. The fertilized eggs develop into larvae and resemble tiny upside-down jellyfish. The larvae soon settle to the bottom and remain hidden to avoid predation.

Sea stars, crabs, wolf eels, other large fish, and sea otters are the main predators of green sea urchins.

Many cultures consider sea urchin eggs a delicacy, and both green and red sea urchins are commercially harvested in small fisheries in Alaska. Red sea urchins (Mesocentrotus franciscanus) grow larger and have a more southerly range than green sea urchins. Both species live near Kodiak, but the green urchins are more common. Harvesting sea urchins is both expensive and labor-intensive. Divers using either scuba gear or surface-supplied air handpick the urchins and place them in mesh bags. When the bags are full, they are lifted to the surface. The expense of harvesting, difficulties in marketing, and the uneven distribution of urchins limit the urchin fishery in Alaska.

Sea stars are the royalty of the echinoderm world, and I covered them a few years ago in this post. I am happy to note that the sea stars near us slowly seem to be recovering from sea-star wasting syndrome. You can read my post about the syndrome here.

In my next post, I will cover sand dollars. Various species of echinoderms species look very different from each other, but when you peel away the layers, you can see their similarities.

Robin Barefield is the author of five Alaska wilderness mystery novels: Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, Karluk Bones, and Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge. She is also the author of the non-fiction book Kodiak Island Wildlife. Sign up below to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true crime and mystery in Alaska, and listen to her podcast, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier.

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Enjoy a poem from Steve Levi’s new book, Bonfire Saloon.

Sea Cucumbers

February 23, 2022Living in the wilderness on Kodiak Island, Marine InvertebratesEchinoderms, Harvesting Sea Cucumbers, Kodiak Wildlife, Robin Barefield, Sea Cucumbers, Sea Cucumbers in Alaskaadmin

Sea cucumbers are some of the strangest-looking organisms on the beach. They might have the shape of a cucumber, but that is where the resemblance ends. At first glance, a sea cucumber looks like a plant, but it is an animal. As I mentioned in my last post, they are echinoderms related to sea stars, sea urchins, and sand dollars.

There are more than 1,250 species of sea cucumbers, and they occupy nearly every marine habitat worldwide.They range in size from one to two inches (2.5 to 5 cm.) to 10 ft. (3 meters). Most species reach a maximum length of between four to twelve inches (10 to 30 cm). Most, but not all, sea cucumbers have a cylindrical shape with protruding tube feet covering their bodies. All sea cucumbers live in the ocean, but some live in the. shallows, while others inhabit the deep ocean floor. They are benthic animals, meaning that they are bottom dwellers at whatever depth they live.

Sea cucumbers feed on algae, tiny aquatic animals, or waste particles. They gather their food with the eight to thirty tube feet surrounding their mouth.

When threatened by a predator, some species of sea cucumbers can discharge sticky threads to ensnare their attacker. Other species violently contract their muscles and propel their toxic organs from their bodies toward their attackers. They can quickly regenerate the missing organs. Sea cucumbers can also expose skeletal hooklike structures, making it more difficult for a predator to eat them.

While sea cucumbers can reproduce asexually, sexual reproduction is more common. They are broadcast spawners and gather in groups to release their eggs and sperm into the water simultaneously. When the eggs and sperm happen to meet, fertilization occurs. Sea cucumbers have a life span of five to ten years.

A sizeable culinary market for sea cucumbers exists in Asia, where certain species are considered a delicacy. The giant red cucumber is harvested in Alaska. Red sea cucumbers are found in many nearshore areas from Baja California, north and west to the Gulf of Alaska. Alaska’s largest sea cucumber fishery occurs in Southeast Alaska, with smaller fisheries near Kodiak and Chignik. Scuba divers commercially harvest cucumbers and then deliver eviscerated but live animals to shore-based processors. The cucumbers are processed by separating the five longitudinal muscle bundles from the skin with a scraper or a knife. The processor then boils the skin and dries it into a product called trepang or beche de mer. The processor freezes the longitudinal muscles and markets the dried skin and frozen muscles locally in the U.S. and Asia.

In early October, we often see sea cucumber harvesters diving for animals near our lodge. I often think they have a tough job jumping into the frigid ocean, searching for a small sluggish animal on the ocean floor.

Watch short videos about books by Alaskan authors — including my soon-to-be-released Alaska wilderness novel Massacre at Bear Creek Lodge. Follow the link. All About Alaska Through Books – BINGE Networks

Robin Barefield is the author of four Alaska wilderness mystery novels: Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, and Karluk Bones. She recently released the non-fiction book Kodiak Island Wildlife. Sign up below to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true crime and mystery in Alaska, and listen to her podcast, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier.

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Echinoderms in Alaska

October 24, 2021Kodiak Wildlife, Marine InvertebratesBrittle Stars, Echinoderms, Echinoderms in Alaska, Kodiak Wildlife, Robin Barefield, Sand Dollars, Sea Cucumbers, Sea Stars, Sea Urchins, Starfishadmin

Echinoderms are my favorite intertidal animals. They belong to the phylum Echinodermata and live only in marine environments. You won’t find an echinoderm in a river or stream. Their name originates from the Greek word for spiny skin, and all echinoderms have either a hard spiny covering or spiny skin.

What is an echinoderm? While there are around 7,000 species of echinoderms, they fall into seven major classes. These are the sea lilies, sea urchins, sand dollars, sea cucumbers, brittle stars and basket stars, sea daisies, and sea stars – or starfish. Echinoderms live in every marine habitat from the intertidal zone to the deep ocean. They are often brightly colored, and their reds, greens, purples, and oranges make them stand out against the monochromatic background of clam and cockle shells.

Some species of echinoderms do not look as if they should belong to this phylum. A sea urchin does not resemble a sea star, and sea cucumbers look nothing like other echinoderms. Body types range from flowerlike sea lilies to slug-shaped sea cucumbers. However, in addition to the spines, all echinoderms have pentamerous (five-part) radial symmetry, an internal skeleton, and a water-vascular system derived from a central cavity. Look at a sand dollar the next time you pick up one and note the star in the center of the disk and the five-part symmetry. Examine a dead sea urchin once its spines have dropped, and you will see the five plates. If you dissect a sea cucumber, the pentamerous symmetry reveals itself. Some sea stars have many legs, but look closely, and you will see the five-part divisions.

An echinoderm has a simple digestive system with a mouth, stomach, intestines, and anus. In many species, the mouth is on the underneath side of the animal, and the anus is on the top. A sea stars can push its stomach through its mouth, allowing it to digest its prey externally. For example, it can insert its stomach into a clam shell once its powerful legs have pried open the shell. The ability to extrude its stomach allows a sea star to eat animals larger than its mouth.

While echinoderms do not have brains, they do have nervous systems. They have tiny eyespots that can detect only light and dark, and some of their tube feet are sensitive to chemicals, allowing them to find food. They do not have a heart, but they have a network of fluid-filled canals. To breathe, they use simple gills, and their tube feet take in oxygen and pass out carbon dioxide.

Echinoderms are either male or female, and they reach sexual maturity when they are two to three years old. Most species broadcast spawn by releasing their eggs and sperm into the water at the same time. A sperm meets up with an egg by chance and fertilizes it. This type of reproduction is hit or miss, but a female releases as many as one hundred million eggs at one time, improving the chances of some being fertilized. Larvae float free for a period and eventually settle to the bottom and develop into their adult form.

Lifestyles of the different groups of echinoderms vary greatly, and over the next few posts, I will take a closer look at some of the species found in Alaska.

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Kodiak Island Wildlife by Robin Barefield with Photos by Mike Munsey

Robin Barefield is the author of four Alaska wilderness mystery novels: Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, The Fisherman’s Daughter, and Karluk Bones. Sign up below to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true crime and mystery in Alaska, and listen to her podcast, Murder and Mystery in the Last Frontier.

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Killer Whale or Orca?

August 22, 2021killer whale, Kodiak Wildlife, Orca, Uncategorizedkiller whale, Killer Whale Predation, Killer whales near Kodiak Island, Kodiak Wildlife, Minke Whale, Robin Barefield, whales in Alaska, What do killer whales eat?admin

Do you refer to the sleek black and white animal pictured above as a killer whale or an orca? Of course, a killer whale is not a whale but is the largest member of the dolphin family, but let’s set aside that fact. What you call these marine mammals may depend on your experience with them. If you’ve watched them perform at a marine park, then the name “orca” fits their apparent playful, intelligent demeanor. If you’ve observed them in the wild, then “killer whale” might be a more apt moniker.

We are in the middle of our summer wildlife-viewing and sportfishing trips at our lodge here on Kodiak, and over the last few weeks, we’ve had several encounters with killer whales. One day, they breached, spy hopped, and slapped the water while we watched with delight. They were orcas that day.

Another morning, we had a very different experience. Soon after we left our mooring, we encountered a bull and a cow orca, and we watched and photographed the killer whales for a while, trying to get the perfect shot of the male with his large, majesti

c dorsal fin. Then, we realized the horrific scene playing out in front of us.

The killer whales slowly maimed, tortured, and ate a minke whale while we watched. They first ate the whale’s tail, probably so it couldn’t escape. The poor minke continued to attempt to swim while the orcas followed it, ripping pieces out of it as the whale slowly died. While we watched the killer whales toy with the dying minke, we did not doubt we were watching “killer whales,” not “orcas. They behaved as the apex predators they are, but to us, their actions seemed cruel. Later, when I thought about the incident, I wondered if the killer whales left the minke alive, so it wouldn’t sink, and they could more easily consume it at the surface. Perhaps their actions were practical and not cruel. To those of us watching the saga, it seemed that the whales enjoyed taunting their prey and reveled in watching it suffer.

Male killer whale following maimed minke whale

Our recent encounters with these beautiful, large dolphins have again made me question what we should call them. Where they sit at the top of the food chain, I think they would prefer the name “killer whales.” The title makes them sound majestic and fierce.

Killer whales have strong jaws and up to 52 interlocking teeth. Their powerful tail fluke can stun or kill prey by slapping the water at speeds as high as (52 km per hour). They often feed in groups and can communicate with each other with sonar and by other means. Observers recently reported 50 orcas stalking a blue whale, the largest of all whales.

In the 1970s, marine parks such as Sea World began capturing orcas and training them to do tricks for public shows. People watched these shows and thought the whales were cute and lovable. Many believed they did not deserve the name “killer whale” and began calling the animals “orcas.”

I tend to use both names, just as I have in this post, but it does this majestic animal a disservice to consider it docile and cute. Killer whales are very intelligent, and they are also the top predators in the ocean. They eat sharks, whales, dolphins, fish, seals, sea otters, octopuses, squid, and anything else they want to eat. They deserve our respect, and to watch them in the wild is a rare treat. I know the image of the large bull chewing on the live minke whale will stay with me for the rest of my life. I might never again call a killer whale an orca.

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Weathervane Scallop (Patinopecten caurinus)

July 31, 2021Kodiak Wildlife, Marine InvertebratesAlaska Bivalves, Kodiak Wildlife, Scallops, Scallops in Alaskaadmin

Kodiak is synonymous with giant bears, king crabs, and weathervane scallops. The weathervane, also known as the giant Pacific scallop, is the largest scallop in the world. Its beautiful orange shell makes it a treasure for beachcombers, and gourmet chefs prize its large adductor muscle for its taste and texture.

Weathervanes range from California to the Bering Sea and west to the Aleutian Islands. They prefer a mud, sand, or gravel substrate and live anywhere from the intertidal zone to depths of 984 ft. (300 m). They are more common in the deeper parts of their range. Adult scallops form dense, oblong beds that parallel the current.

The round valves of a weathervane can grow to 11.8 inches (30 cm) in diameter, and they differ slightly in color, ribbing, and shape. The upper valve appears reddish-pink and has approximately ten primary ribs alternating with smaller ribs. The bottom valve is lighter in color and has about twenty primary ribs separated by several smaller ribs. The top valve of a weathervane is relatively flat, and the organism rests on the rounder bottom valve.

Unlike most other bivalves, such as clams and mussels, scallops cannot burrow into the substrate to escape predation. Instead, they detect predators with their primitive “eyes” located on the front of their bodies, just inside the shell opening. These eyespots can detect movement, even in the dark depths where the scallops live. When a scallop detects a predator, it swims away from danger by rapidly opening and closing its shell. This movement requires a large adductor, or hinge, muscle. Processors remove this hinge muscle from the shell and market it as a “scallop.” They then dispose of the rest of the animal.

Scallops are either male or female, but gonad color is the only way to distinguish the sexes. Female gonads range in color from orange to red, while a male has creamy white gonads. Weathervanes become sexually mature when they are three to four years old and have a shell height of three inches. Scallops are broadcast spawners and reproduce by gathering in a large group and releasing clouds of eggs and sperm. When a sperm encounters an egg, it fertilizes it in the water column. Biologists think the increasing water temperature in May and June induces the scallops to spawn.

Fertilized scallop eggs sink to the bottom, where they remain for a few days until they develop into tiny larvae. The larvae swim and feed in the water column for a few weeks before sinking to the bottom and transforming into a benthic, filter-feeding scallop. Weathervane scallops can live for 28 years. Primary threats to weathervanes include predation by crabs, sea stars, and octopuses, diseases, habitat damage, and ocean acidification.

Consumers consider scallops a delicacy, and the commercial demand is high. Fishers use dredges to harvest scallops, though, and dredges can severely impact benthic organisms and their habitat. Concerns regarding the effects of dredging have prompted the Alaska Board of Fisheries to enact extensive closures of the scallop fishery and tightly regulate the scallop harvest. The commercial fleet of weathervane harvesters in Alaska is small, with a handful of vessels located in Kodiak. These boats dredge from beds located fifty to one-hundred meters deep, but their bounty does not meet commercial needs.

In the late 1980s, my husband and I volunteered to join an experimental mariculture venture for weathervane scallops sponsored by the Japanese government and several U.S. agencies, including the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. We suspended cages covered with fine mesh in the ocean and collected scallop larvae, as well as the larvae of several other invertebrate species. We then began growing the scallops to a marketable size. We didn’t gather many weathervanes, but we learned where to place the cages to collect the most scallop larvae. Unfortunately, the scallop project ended abruptly in 1989 when the Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred, and state and federal agencies focused their attention on cleaning up the oil and assessing the damage caused by the spill.

More than thirty years later, scientists still have not given up on raising scallops in a mariculture setting, but first, they realize they need to fill the gaps in their knowledge about weathervane biology. Researchers do not know how to determine the age of a weathervane properly, how fast they grow, or how abundant they are in Alaska’s waters. Biologists are also not sure about when weathervanes spawn or if they spawn several times a year. Once researchers can answer some of these questions, they hope to successfully induce weathervanes to grow and reproduce in captivity and make them a viable species to raise in a mariculture operation. Biologists think that farm-raised scallops and wild-caught weathervanes will someday complement each other in the worldwide marketplace.

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