Tag Archives: Robin Barefield

Age of Skeletal Remains

April 7, 2019Living in the wilderness on Kodiak Island, Murder MysteryBones, Forensic Anthropology, Forensic Entomology, How to Age a Skeleton, Post Mortem Interval, Robin Barefield, Skeltal Remains, Studying skeletal remains, Taphonomy, Time Since Deathadmin

Age is critical information when attempting to identify skeletal remains. How old was the individual when he died, and how long has he been dead?

Two weeks ago, I discussed how a forensic anthropologist determines gender from skeletal remains, and last week, I described how an anthropologist can deduce race and height from an examination of human bones. This week’s post covers ways a forensic anthropologist pins down age. When we talk about age in relation to bones, we must consider two separate issues. First, how old was this individual when he died, and second, how long ago did he die? If you are an investigator trying to determine the identity of skeletal remains, then the answers to both questions will aid you in your investigation.

How old was this person when he died?

When examining a skeleton, a forensic anthropologist considers the processes of growth and decline. Bone growth and tooth emergence can be used to age the skeletons of children, adolescents, and young adults. Once an individual reaches adulthood, his bones stop growing, and his bones, joints, and teeth begin to decline from wear and tear. The rate and degree of decline is far more variable than the process of growth, so anthropologists often struggle to age the skeletal remains of adults.

When we are born, our “bones” are mostly soft cartilage. As we grow, the cartilage is replaced by bone at areas called a growth plate at the end of each bone. Once growth is complete, the growth plates fuse. Infants have more than 300 growth plates which eventually fuse, and since the growth plates fuse and different, known rates, an anthropologist estimates age by analyzing the fused and unfused plates. Teeth also emerge from the gums at a predictable age and provide an accurate estimate of age in juveniles.

Forensic anthropologists can estimate the age of young adults by looking at the skull. When we are born, our skull consists of five flat bones connected by fibrous material called sutures. These sutures allow our heads to expand as we grow, but once we reach adulthood and stop growing, the sutures begin to fuse, and most are completely fused by the time we are 40-years old. If the sutures on the skull have not yet fully fused, then an anthropologist can use them as a rough guide to estimate the age of the individual.

Once bone growth stops and the skull sutures have disappeared, the forensic anthropologist must estimate age at the time of death by studying the degenerative changes in the skeleton. Joints are prone to deterioration, and the pelvis is one of the most common areas used for age estimation. The two halves of the pelvis meet above the pubic area at a joint called the pubic symphysis. This joint undergoes consistent changes throughout a person’s life and can be used to estimate age. Another consistent change in the human body is the cartilage between the end of the fourth rib and the sternum. Over time, this cartilage slowly changes to bone. Other degenerative changes in the spine and joints provide clues to the age of the individual.

I suggest this excellent slideshow for more information on ways to age skeletal remains.

How long ago did this person die?

One of the most difficult questions a forensic anthropologist is asked to answer is how long skeletal remains have been at the location where they were found. If investigators hope to compare the remains to a list of missing persons, they need an estimate of the time since death. Forensic taphonomy is the study of the factors, including environmental factors, which affect decomposition. Biotaphonomy is the study of how the environment affects the decomposition of the body, and geotaphonomy is the study of how decomposition of the body affects the environment around it. Forensic entomology is the study of insect progression on a corpse, and advances in this field now provide researchers with an accurate estimation of the time since the death of a recent corpse.

The post-mortem interval of skeletal remains more than a few years old is difficult to pinpoint. The environment takes a toll on bones. In a hot, dry environment, bones crack over time, while bones submitted to a cycle of thawing and freezing disintegrate into fragments. Recent research has focused on measuring the citrate content of bone for an estimation of the time since death, but results have been varied, and more research is needed. For now, forensic anthropologists often used their best guess from years of examining bones to determine the post-death interval of skeletal remains.

Next week, I’ll touch on other information experts can learn by examining skeletal remains, including what long-deceased populations ate to survive.

Robin Barefield is the author of three Alaska wilderness mystery novels, Big Game, Murder Over Kodiak, and The Fisherman’s Daughter. To download a free copy of one of her novels, watch her webinar about how she became an author and why she writes Alaska wilderness mysteries. Also, sign up below to subscribe to her free, monthly newsletter on true murder and mystery in Alaska.

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Bones

March 24, 2019Living in the wilderness on Kodiak Island, Murder MysteryForensic Anthropology, How to determine gender from bones, Karluk Bones, Robin Barefield, What Bones tell usadmin

If you stumble across a pile of bones in the woods, can you tell if they are human bones, and if they are human, did they belong to a male or female? How old was he or she at the time of death? Was the individual tall or short? What killed him or her, and how long ago did the person die?

While we might be able to identify human bones, most of us cannot answer many questions about the bones, and most of the answers elude even law enforcement officers, coroners, and trained medical examiners. Forensic anthropologists are the experts who interpret skeletal remains.

In my latest novel, Karluk Bones, Jane Marcus and her friends stumble across skeletal remains near Karluk Lake on Kodiak Island. They find a skull as well as a long femur, so they know at least some of the bones are human. The remains don’t appear to be recent, but they also don’t look ancient, and Jane and her friends argue about how old they might be. Jane reports the bones to the Alaska State Troopers, but Sergeant Patterson also can’t guess at the age of the bones, so he hands them off to a medical examiner who in turn sends them to a forensic anthropologist, and she is able to answer some, but not all, of the questions about the bones.

I love learning, and one of the things I enjoy most about writing fiction or non-fiction is having the opportunity to dig into a new subject and study it not only until I understand it but until I know it well enough to explain it to my readers. Using science to help solve the mystery of the bones in my novel proved trickier than I expected, and Ying, my fictional anthropology student at the University of Alaska, ended up relying on cutting-edge scientific techniques to provide answers about the human remains Jane and her friends found.

Beginning with this post and continuing for the next two or three weeks, I will describe what a forensic anthropologist can deduce from bones.

Human or Non-Human

It is easy for us to recognize a human skull, and most laymen can identify many other human bones, but if you discover skeletal remains in the woods, human bones might be mixed with those of other animals. If a forensic anthropologist visits the scene, she can quickly separate human from non-human remains. If a forensic anthropologist is unavailable, then investigators must collect all the bone scraps and send them to an anthropologist to be sorted in the lab. Once they are in the lab, the anthropologist cleans the bones and attempts to provide a general physical description of the individual whose remains she is studying. The description includes:

Gender
Age at Death
Race
Height

The anthropologist also tries to try to determine the cause of death as well as estimate how long ago the individual died. This week, I will discuss how gender can be determined from bones.

Gender

The pelvis and the skull provide the most useful information for determining the gender of the individual.

Pelvis

Females have wider pelvises to provide enough space for the birth canal, and anthropologists use several definitive measurements to differentiate the pelvis of a female from the pelvis of a male. In most cases, though, a forensic anthropologist only needs to visually examine a pelvis to determine the gender of the individual. If the pelvis is available, it is the best bony structure to confirm the sex of the person.

Skull

Often, only the skull of an individual is found, but luckily, marked differences exist between the skull of a male and the skull of a female. An adult female’s skull remains slender and retains the smoothness of youth, while and adult male’s skull is more robust with heavier bones and larger muscle attachment areas. Females have a rounded forehead, while a male’s forehead slopes back at a gentle angle. A male has a more prominent brow ridge and square eye sockets, while a female has round eye sockets. Males have a square jawline, and a female’s jaw is pointed.

Since individuals vary, sex determination using only the skull is not as definitive as a confirmation made from examining the pelvis, but the skull usually provides the anthropologist with an educated guess at the gender of the individual.

Next week, I’ll discuss other characteristics a forensic anthropologist learns from reading bones. Meanwhile, be sure to sign up for my monthly Mystery Newsletter about true murder and mystery in Alaska.

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DNA Match Brings Justice for Sophie

March 17, 2019Murder Mystery, WritingAlaska State Troopers, Criminal DNA Database, DNA, Murder, mystery newsletter, Public DNA Database, Robin Barefield, Sophi Sergieadmin

Police have used DNA as a valuable investigative tool for the last few decades, but until recently, law enforcement agencies could only match DNA from a crime scene to a known criminal who had been convicted of a felony and forced to surrender a sample of his DNA to the national DNA criminal database. In the last few years, commercial databases have exploded in size as citizens willingly send samples of their DNA to companies such as Ancestry.com, 23andMe, and others promising to use your DNA to trace your ancestry or track genetic predispositions to diseases and conditions. Lately, when police fail to find a match in the national criminal database, they have begun submitting crime-scene DNA to commercial databases, hoping not necessarily for a direct match to an individual but for a match to a relative of their unknown suspect.

The best-known case for an arrest based on matching crime scene DNA to an individual’s familial DNA held in a commercial database is the April 2018 capture of Joseph James DeAngelo in Sacramento, California. De Angelo, dubbed the “Golden State Killer,” is believed to have committed at least 13 murders, more than 50 rapes, and over 100 burglaries in California from 1974 to 1986. When DNA held in evidence from one of the crime scenes matched the DNA in a commercial database of a distant relative of De Angelo, police had their first solid lead in the case in years.

When the news about the capture of the Golden State Killer broke, I imagine detectives around the country began considering their cold cases and wondering if they could use a similar technique with DNA they held in evidence. Troopers in Alaska wasted no time submitting DNA from one of the state’s best-known cold cases, and the results were no less dramatic than those for the capture of DeAngelo in California.

As many of you know, I write a monthly newsletter about true murder and mystery in Alaska. Several months ago, I wrote a newsletter titled, “Murder in a College Dorm,” about the 1993 brutal rape and murder of 20-year-old Sophie Sergie at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. A janitor found Sophie’s partially-clothed body stuffed in the bathtub in a second-floor bathroom at Bartlett Hall, a dormitory on the campus of the university. Sophie had been sexually assaulted, stabbed in the face, and shot in the back of the head with a .22 caliber firearm. The murder occurred in April, just as students were taking final exams and preparing to leave campus at the end of the semester. Police interviewed as many students as possible, but the task overwhelmed them.

Police recovered DNA from Sophie’s body, but DNA processing technology had not yet been introduced to Alaska in 1993. In 2000, investigators uploaded the DNA collected at Sophie’s crime scene to the FBI database but learned little other than the DNA belonged to a male. The sample did not match anyone in the FBI’s database.

In 2010, a cold-case investigator attempted to re-interview everyone who lived in Bartlett Hall when Sophie was murdered, including an ex-resident named Nicholas Dazer. The investigator asked Dazer if when he lived at the dorm, he had a gun that fired .22-caliber ammunition. Dazer said he did not own a gun, but he recalled his roommate, Steven Downs, had an H&R .22-caliber revolver. With little else to go on, the case again went cold, and few people believed it would ever be solved.

After authorities in California arrested suspect Joseph James DeAngelo in April 2018 by obtaining a familial match from comparing DNA collected at a crime scene to a commercially available DNA database, Alaska State Troopers decided to try the same thing with DNA collected from Sophie’s body in 1993. They sent the DNA from Sophie’s case to Parabon NanoLabs, the same facility used to analyze the DNA in the Golden State Killer case. On December 18^th, 2018, a forensic genealogist submitted a report comparing the DNA from the suspect in Sophie’s case to a likely female relative. The woman whose DNA was considered a familial match to the DNA collected from sperm left at Sophie’s crime scene is the aunt of Steven Downs. Downs was an 18-year-old college student living at Bartlett Hall when Sophie was murdered. Downs was also Nicholas Dazer’s roommate, the one who owned the H&R .22-caliber revolver.

Downs was arrested at his home in the small town of Lewiston, Maine and charged with the sexual assault and murder of Sophie Sergie. He denied any involvement in Sophie’s rape and murder, despite the fact a specimen of his DNA taken after his arrest matched a sample collected from sperm cells at the crime scene. His attorney said Downs would not waive his rights and did not agree to be extradited to Alaska. Downs is currently being held without bail in an Auburn, Maine prison until his next court hearing when Alaskan authorities expect to escort him back to Fairbanks to stand trial.

Will Sophie finally receive justice?

If you would like to receive updates on Sophie’s case as well as learn about other murders and mysteries in Alaska, please sign up below for my monthly Mystery Newsletter.

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Deepwater-Release Technique for Rockfish

March 3, 2019Fish, Kodiak WildlifeDeepwater Release, Deepwater-Release Technique for Rockfish, Protecting Rockfish, Robin Barefield, Rockfish Conservation, Rockfish in Alaskaadmin

This week, I ‘ll describe the deepwater-release technique developed for rockfish. In my last post, I wrote about rockfish conservation and talked about ways anglers can help preserve vulnerable rockfish populations. Due to their unvented swim bladder, rockfish are extremely sensitive to changes in water pressure. When an angler catches a rockfish in water deeper than 90 ft. (27.43 m) and reels it to the surface, the fish’s swim bladder rapidly expands, compressing internal organs and often pushing the stomach out through the mouth. These pressure change can also rupture blood vessels, tear the swim bladder, and cause bulging eyes or gas bubbles in the eyes.

Stomach protruding from yelloweye rockfish mouth — Distressed Rockfish

Sometimes rapid pressure changes cause physiological damage so severe it kills the fish, but in other instances, the fish can survive if the angler quickly returns it to the depth where it was caught.

Since a rockfish’s swim bladder rarely deflates on its own once the fish arrives at the surface, the fish cannot dive and instead floats until it dies or is eaten. Anglers sometimes mistakenly feel they can help the fish by either puncturing the stomach protruding from the fish’s mouth or puncturing the fish’s body to let air out of the swim bladder. This technique, called “fizzing” or “venting,” often leads to infection and eventual death.

Recently, biologists have developed a new deepwater-release technique to submerge rockfish as quickly as possible either to the depth where they were caught or 100 feet (30.5 m), whichever comes first. Research on this technique has shown a substantial increase in the survival of released rockfish. One laboratory study produced a survival rate of 96% for recompressed rockfish. Another study in the wild found only 22% of yelloweye rockfish released at the water’s surface managed to submerge, but 98% of yelloweyes survived when submerged to the depth where they were captured.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has now added the deepwater-release technique to its list of “best practices” for anglers to employ to minimize release mortality of rockfish. Biologists believe if they can convince anglers to use this technique, as well as follow other rockfish conservation methods, rockfish mortality will decrease significantly.

What is the deepwater-release technique? It is a simple procedure, but since time is critical, rockfish anglers should have the gear ready and be prepared to implement the technique as soon as the rockfish arrives at the surface.

Several deepwater-release devices, from simple to sophisticated, can be purchased, but you can also easily make your own deepwater-release device. Begin with a 3-lb. jig with a single hook and grind the barb off the hook. Next, take a fishing rod and attach the line to the bend of the hook. Assemble the device and have it ready to go before you start fishing. The fish is much more likely to survive if you minimize its time at the surface, so have the device assembled and make sure you know what to do before you catch a rockfish.

If you think you have a rockfish on the line, quickly reel the fish to the surface. The swim bladder will inflate regardless of your reeling speed. Remove the hook from the fish’s mouth and attach the release device. If using a homemade device, hook the barbless hook through the soft tissue of the jaw. Gently drop the fish back into the water and release the anti-reverse on the reel, allowing the line to free spool. Allow the fish to descend until either the jig hits bottom, or reaches 100 ft., whichever comes first. Then, give the rod a hard tug to release the fish. The faster you can perform this technique, the more likely the rockfish will survive.

Next week, I’ll discuss marine reserves as a possible management option to protect rockfish populations. Reserves are controversial because both sport and commercial fishing are prohibited in reserves, and many biologists question if reserves work as a form of conservation.

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y the way, Mary Ann’s books would make perfect Christmas presents!

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Rockfish Conservation

February 24, 2019Fish, Kodiak WildlifeBlackRockfish, Robin Barefield, Rockfish, Rockfish Conservation, Yelloweye Rockfishadmin

This week, I want to discuss rockfish conservation. Over the past few weeks, I’ve discussed how rockfish are more vulnerable to overfishing than most species of fish, and non-pelagic rockfish populations are particularly fragile. Rockfish prefer rocky habitats where anglers can easily find and target them, and rockfish are quick to take a lure, making them easy to catch. Also, they grow quickly but mature slowly, so they are often caught before they can reproduce and sustain their population. It is their physiology, though, not their lifestyle which makes rockfish susceptible to annihilation by anglers.

Rockfish rarely survive catch-and-release fishing because they have an unvented swim bladder. The swim bladder is a balloon-like organ which adjusts the buoyancy of a fish. As the fish ascends toward the surface, the swim bladder inflates. If the swim bladder has a vent, it can easily again deflate when the fish dives, but a rockfish cannot quickly deflate its swim bladder, and since the fish normally remains in deep water, it has no need to make large adjustments in the inflation or deflation of its bladder. When an angler catches a rockfish, though, and reels it to the surface, the gasses in the swim bladder expand and compress internal organs. Often, by the time the fish reaches the surface, the stomach bulges into the mouth cavity. Other common pressure-change injuries include ruptured swim bladders, ruptured blood vessels in internal organs, and bulging eyes or gas bubbles in the eyes.

Once the swim bladder of a rockfish has completely expanded, it will not likely deflate on its own because it does not have a vent. If the angler releases a fish with an inflated swim bladder, the fish floats on the surface until it suffocates, or something eats it. Gulls often land near floating fish and peck out its eyes while the fish is still alive.

Rockfish are good to eat and are harvested in commercial, sport, and subsistence fisheries from California to Alaska. Anglers have depleted many rockfish populations from British Columbia to California, and even when fisheries managers enact strict regulations or completely ban fishing in certain areas, these populations are slow to recover. Only older rockfish can reproduce, and few rockfish larvae survive to reach maturity.

Rockfish are not easy to manage because they live in deep, rocky spots where biologists cannot employ traditional sampling techniques. In Alaska, researchers do not know the abundance of most rockfish stocks, so fisheries managers have elected to implement strict regulations for catching and retaining rockfish, especially for yelloweye and other non-pelagic rockfish. Since even the rockfish anglers release are likely to die, though, biologists now focus on informing anglers of the fragility of rockfish populations.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game distributes literature to sportfishing guides and posts informational signs near boat ramps to encourage anglers to follow these guidelines to avoid catching rockfish or to at least minimize rockfish harvest.

Angler's Guide to the Rockfishes of Alaska

If you are not targeting rockfish, avoid fishing where you are likely to catch them. Rockfish inhabit the steep sides of rock piles and reefs. Lingcod are found at the top of rock piles and reefs, and halibut lie on the flat bottom near a reef.
If you are targeting lingcod or halibut, keep your jig 10-15 ft. (3-5 m) off the bottom. Researchers in Oregon found this technique significantly reduced rockfish bycatch but did not affect the odds of catching halibut and actually increased the success rate for landing lingcod.
If you want to retain a few rockfish along with other species, target the other species first and retain any incidental rockfish you catch.
Fish with a circle hook. Circle hooks stick in the mouth and are not ingested, so they are easier to release and less likely to cause a serious injury.
Remember, rockfish only have a freezer life of four months, so don’t catch more than you can eat.
If targeting rockfish, implement deep-water-release methods.

In my next post, I will discuss deep-water-release techniques in more detail. This simple concept produces surprisingly successful results.

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Several weeks ago, I mentioned the Reader’s and Writer’s Book Club started by my publisher and some of my fellow authors. You can still claim your free lifetime membership to the club by following this link, but free membership will end within the next few weeks. I am currently writing a mystery with the aid of club members, and I invite you to join the fun!

As always, thanks for visiting my blog, and don’t forget to sign up for my free monthly mystery newsletter about true murder and mystery in Alaska.

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Black Rockfish

February 10, 2019Fish, Kodiak WildlifeBlack Rockfish, Black Rockfish in Alaska, Kodiak Fish, Robin Barefield, Rockfish, Rockfish of Alaska, Sebastes melonopsadmin

Black rockfish (Sebastes melonops) range from range from Amchitka Island, Alaska in the Aleutian Islands to California. Two weeks ago, I wrote about rockfish in Alaska, and I explained that biologists classify rockfish by dividing them into two groups: pelagic and non-pelagic. Last week, I wrote about yelloweye rockfish, a non-pelagic species. This week, I’ll write about black rockfish, a pelagic species and the most common rockfish in Alaskan waters.

Although not related to the bass family, anglers often refer to black rockfish as black bass because their shape resembles a bass. They have a mottled gray-black body, usually with dark stripes extending from the head to the gill cover. The sides are lighter than the back, and the stomach is pale gray. Black rockfish have a large mouth and a spiny dorsal fin. As with other rockfish, venom sacs lie at the base of each spine. The venom is only mildly toxic to humans, but it does cause pain and can lead to infection. Their light-colored stomach, the lack of pores or a knob on the lower jaw, black mottling on the dorsal fin, and their large mouth which extends past their eyes, are all features which distinguish black rockfish from similar species such as dark rockfish and dusky rockfish. Black rockfish grow to a maximum length of 29.6 inches (69 cm) and weigh up to 11 lbs. (5 kg).

Black rockfish are found anywhere from the surface to 1200 ft. (366 m) deep, but they usually inhabit water shallower than 492 ft. (150 m). They are sometimes seen in large schools at the surface when they are feeding, but they most commonly occur in rocky areas or remain above rocky pinnacles.

Black rockfish are much more mobile than yelloweye rockfish, but biologists in Oregon performed a tagging study and learned the average home range of a black rockfish is only .2 square miles (.55 sq. km). A rockfish sometimes travels outside its home range during the reproductive season or to feed.

Black rockfish reach sexual maturity between the ages of six and eight years. After mating, the female stores the male’s sperm for several months before fertilizing her eggs. Then, between January and May, she releases between 125,000 and 1,200,000 larvae. Black rockfish have a maximum lifespan of fifty years.

Black rockfish feed on zooplankton, crab larvae, and small fish species such as herring and sand lance. Predators of rockfish include sablefish, halibut, other fish species, and seabirds such as pigeon guillemots.

Black rockfish populations in Alaska are considered stable, but fisheries managers set conservative limits on all species of rockfish. Because black rockfish grow and mature slowly, live nearshore, and have small home ranges, they are susceptible to overfishing by sport and commercial fishermen. They are easy to find and easy to catch. Like other rockfish species, they have an unvented swim bladder, and when anglers reel them to the surface, they usually do not survive if released.

As I have mentioned several times over the past few posts, both pelagic and non-pelagic rockfish are highly susceptible to barotrauma, physical injuries due to rapid changes in pressure when an angler catches a rockfish and brings it to the surface. In my next post, I will discuss ways to spare rockfish from barotrauma and methods to protect fragile rockfish populations.

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Yelloweye Rockfish (Sebastes ruberrimus)

January 27, 2019Fish, Kodiak WildlifeFish of Alaska, Fish of Kodiak Island, Robin Barefield, Rockfish, Rockfish of Alaska, Sebaste ruberrimus, Yelloweye, Yelloweye Rockfishadmin

The brightly colored yelloweye rockfish looks like a fish you might expect to see swimming near a tropical reef, but yelloweyes live in the frigid waters of the northeastern Pacific Ocean, from Baja California to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. Anglers sometimes call yelloweyes red snapper, but they are not snappers and are not related to the red snappers found in the Gulf of Mexico.

Yelloweyes are among the largest rockfish found in Alaska and can grow to 36 inches (91.44 cm) in length and weigh 24 lbs. (11 kg.). They vary in color from orange-yellow to orange-red, and they tend to become more yellow as they age. Juveniles are usually bright red and have two vertical stripes, one above and one below the lateral line. As they age, the stripes fade, and their color changes to a red-orange or orange. A very old rockfish might be yellow. While their fins tips of adults are usually black, the fins of juveniles are tipped either white or black. As their name suggests, their eyes gleam bright yellow, making them easy to identify. In addition to the spines found in their dorsal and anal fins, several small spines sprout from their head.

Adult yelloweyes are solitary fish and live in steep, rocky areas, where they can find shelter. They typically live on the ocean bottom, and they don’t venture far from their rocky homes. They usually live between 300 and 600 ft. (91.44 – 182.88 m), but they have been found in only 48 ft. (14.63 m) of water and as deep as 1,800 ft. (548.64 m). Because yelloweyes live in rocky areas near the bottom and have small ranges, biologists classify them as one of the species of non-pelagic rockfish.

Rockfish are long-lived and slow to mature. Yelloweyes can live over 100 years, and the oldest recorded was a 121-year-old individual caught in Southeast Alaska. Yelloweye males mature when they are approximately 18-years-old, while females do not reach sexual maturity until 22-years of age. Males fertilize a female’s eggs internally, and the female then carries and nourishes the eggs until they hatch into larvae. One female can give birth to as many as 2,700,00 larvae.

Since the female nourishes her eggs and gives birth to live organisms, you might expect rockfish to have a higher reproductive success rate than do other fish species where eggs receive little or no parental care, but unfortunately, only a small percentage of rockfish larvae survive to adulthood, and even fewer survive until they are sexually mature. As soon as they are released, ocean currents sweep most of the larvae out to sea, and the young fish die before they have a chance to feed and grow. Other larvae starve to death from a lack of food, while many fall prey to larger fish, seabirds, and other organisms. The few larvae that survive, drift with the ocean currents while they eat and grow into small fish. They then settle to the bottom where they can find protection from predators among rocks and under kelp. As the young grow, they move into deeper water.

Yelloweye populations are fragile and vulnerable to overfishing. Females do not reproduce until they are over twenty-years-old, and once the female releases her larvae, few of the young survive. Recruitment of young fish into the population is slow, and if a fish reaches sexual maturity and is then caught by an angler or eaten by a predator, the population suffers not only the loss of this one individual but also the loss of all the potential young this one fish could have produced during its long life.

Because yelloweyes seldom move from one area to another, they are easy targets for anglers, and they are easy to catch. Even strict regulations which prevent the retention of non-pelagic rockfish do not protect yelloweyes because when an angler reels a yelloweye to the surface from a depth greater than 90 ft., the fish usually cannot return to the bottom, and when released, it floats at the surface until it dies. Yelloweyes, like other rockfish, have an un-vented swim bladder, and as the swim bladder inflates when the fish is reeled to the surface, it compresses internal organs and often pushes the stomach out of the mouth. The fish cannot deflate its swim bladder at the surface, but the swim bladder will deflate to the normal size if the angler can return the fish to the bottom where it was caught. New deep-water release techniques have helped improve the survivability of released rockfish.

The best way to avoid killing a yelloweye is to avoid fishing in the rocky areas where they live. Fisheries biologists find it difficult and expensive to manage non-pelagic rockfish because hauling them to the surface to tag them would likely kill them. Researchers believe most yelloweye populations in Alaska remain stable, but they’ve enacted strict regulations to protect these beautiful fish.

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Mystery Newsletter

Happy New Year 2019

December 30, 2018Living in the wilderness on Kodiak Island, WritingKodiak, Kodiak Wilderness Mystery Author, New Year's Resolutions, Robin Barefieldadmin

Happy New Year! Time flies, doesn’t it? I feel as if I just wrote my 2018 New Year’s post. Since I post my resolutions on my blog, I can’t pretend at the end of the year to forget what resolutions I made in January. A quick look back at last year’s post reminded me I did not finish as many writing projects as I’d planned.

I work hard to be a successful author, but as an author, I must wear many hats. On my best days, I’m able to sit down and work on my novel, and on my worst days, I spend my time promoting my books, my website, or my mystery newsletters. I couldn’t have known a year ago how much time I would spend in the coming year working on promotion and on building my author platform, and the more time I spend on promotion, the less time I have available to write. It’s a trade-off, and usually, I choose writing, but during the last few months, I decided to get serious about my author business.

Although my next novel, Karluk Bones, is not yet ready to send to my publisher, I finished the rough draft this past week. I resolve to send Karluk Bones to my publisher by late spring and have it in the hands of readers by late summer or early fall. I know how long it takes to edit and publish a novel, so this seems like a reasonable resolution.

My second resolution is a promise to myself to finish editing my wildlife book and get it published and to market by the end of the year. I made this same resolution last year and didn’t accomplish it, but I hope 2019 will be different. My wildlife book requires extra time and energy in every facet of the writing and editing process. I know the book will never be perfect, but I want to do the best job I can on it, and I hope it will be worth the wait.

Karluk Bones and The Wildlife of Kodiak Island will be my two be my two main writing projects for 2019, but I hope to begin my next novel sometime this coming spring or summer. I already have a rough idea for the plot, and I would love to start writing it now. My next planned non-fiction book will be a compilation of my true stories of murder from Alaska. These are the tales I write every month for my Mystery Newsletter, and I have more than enough compiled for a book.

I’d better stop before I promise too much. I plan to remain active in The Reader’s and Writer’s Book Club, and I hope to write more articles for True Crime: Case Files and Medium. I also want to leave enough time in my schedule to explore other opportunities I discover.

I haven’t written a wildlife post in several weeks, but I’m returning to fish and will write about rockfish over the next few weeks. Thank you for reading my posts this past year, and I hope you will stay with me through 2019.

Happy New Year, I wish you health, happiness, and prosperity!

Mystery Newsletter

Happy Holidays

December 23, 2018Living in the wilderness on Kodiak Island, Uncategorized, WritingJane Marcus, Kodiak Island, Robin Barefieldadmin

Wherever you are and whatever holiday you celebrate this time of year, I wish you peace and happiness. I celebrate Christmas, and I thought this year it would be fun to follow my friend, Author Mary Ann Poll’s lead. For my Thanksgiving post, Mary Ann sent a note from her protagonist, Kat, describing how Kat celebrates Thanksgiving in Ravens Cove, Alaska. So, for my Christmas post, I decided to look in on my main character, Jane Marcus, and see how she celebrates the holiday.

For those of you who don’t know Jane, she is a fisheries biologist at the Kodiak Marine Center. She is unmarried but has a long-distance relationship with an FBI agent who lives in Virginia. Let’s see how she’s doing this holiday season.

I disconnected with my father and wiped the trickle of tears from my face only to open the dam for a full flood. I knew now I should have flown back to Kansas for the holidays. Nothing happens at the Marine Center during the Christmas break, and I could have taken leave for a week or two to fly home to see my father. He sounded lonely on the phone, and although he told me he’d spent a nice afternoon with my brother and his family, I could tell he missed me, and I missed him. I hadn’t seen him in a year.

I’d made the trip to Kansas the previous year for Christmas, but I hated flying during the holidays, and the family obligations overwhelmed me. This year, I wanted peace and quiet, so I stayed in Kodiak, and now I wanted my family. I laughed at myself. I needed to adopt a cat or maybe a goldfish.

I didn’t plan to spend the entire day at home alone. My friend, Dana, invited me to a Christmas party. I think Dana and her current boyfriend, Jack, invited half the town of Kodiak to their Christmas buffet. Jack volunteered to host the event at his place since Dana’s tiny house wouldn’t hold a crowd larger than three.

As I walked down the hall to my bedroom to change my clothes, I heard my phone chirp in the living room. I hurried back, grabbed the phone from the coffee table, and felt a smile play across my mouth when I read the phone’s display.

“Merry Christmas, Agent Morgan,” I said.

“Merry Christmas to you, Jane. Where are you?”

“I’m at home in Kodiak, and you?”

“I’m in my apartment in Virginia right now, but I’m flying to Miami tomorrow on a big case. I’ll be there for a few weeks,” Morgan said

“I thought you were working on a string of murders in Indiana.”

“I was,” he said. “My involvement in the case ended yesterday.”

“Did you catch the killer?”

“We did, but not until after he’d murdered six women.”

“At least you got him,” I said.

Morgan didn’t say anything for a moment, and then, “I’m sorry Jane. I have another call, and I need to take it.”

“Maybe I’ll see you one day again.” I hoped I hid the bitterness I felt.

“You will,” he said. “Take care.”

I sank into the couch and began to cry again. Once the tears stopped, I realized I was in no mood for a party. I called Dana. She must have been busy because she didn’t answer until the sixth ring.

“Where are you?” She asked.

“I’m sorry Dana, but I don’t feel well. I won’t be able to make it to your party.”

“What? Nonsense. I’ll send Jack to pick you up. He has agreed not to consume alcohol tonight, so he is our designated driver for the evening.”

I thanked Dana but told her I was in no mood for a party. I headed to my kitchen, grabbed a bag of potato chips, poured myself a glass of wine, and turned on the television, quickly flipping past a parade of holiday shows until I found an old episode of Dateline. I settled on the couch and tried to concentrate on the show.

Fifteen minutes later, my doorbell rang. I opened the door a crack, and saw Jack’s smiling face.

“What are you doing here?” I asked. “I told Dana I wouldn’t be able to make it to the party.”

Jack smiled and shrugged. He looked even more handsome than usual. His black parka matched his eyes, and even in the fading light, I could see the dimple on his right cheek.

“You know Dana,” Jack said. “She gets what she wants, and I do as she says. She told me to collect you using any means necessary and bring you to our party.”

I laughed. “Do you plan to kidnap me?”

He shrugged again. “Speaking of kidnapping, Dana said to tell you we are discussing the recent abduction in Anchorage.”

“What abduction?” I asked

“You didn’t hear about it?”

I shook my head.

“A big oil executive. I can’t remember which company, but anyway, three masked men entered his house while he and his wife and kids were celebrating Christmas Eve. One of the guys pulled a gun and told him to come with them, or they’d start shooting his family.”

“Whoa,” I said. Then I took a step back and narrowed my eyes at Jack. “Are you making this up just to get me to go to your party?”

Jack held his hands in the air. “It’s true. You can check the Internet. Dana says with your detective skills, we need your input on the crime.”

“You’re playing dirty, jack,” I said. “You know I can’t resist discussing a crime.” I pushed the door open and let Jack into my house. “Have a seat,” I said. “I need to change my clothes.”

Have a wonderful holiday, and I will be back here next week to discuss my New Year’s resolutions. Meanwhile, leave a comment and tell me about your resolutions.

Mystery Newsletter

Introducing Author Masterminds’ Readers and Writers Book Club

December 16, 2018UncategorizedBook Club, Readers and Writers Book Club, Robin Barefieldadmin

As a way of saying THANK YOU for supporting me as an author, my publisher has authorized me to give my blog readers a free gift—a LIFETIME membership to the new Readers and Writers Book Club.

Memberships will soon be selling for $99–but you’ll never have to pay, as long as you accept my gift and sign up soon.

Your free lifetime Readers and Writers Book Club membership includes:
– Member Newsletter: Hear directly from authors in your inbox!

-Members Only Access: Unlock the private members’ area and exclusive content from the club’s authors.

– Community Access: Inside our private Facebook group you’ll have direct access to authors and will be able to share in the fun with other readers as well!

Here’s how to claim your gift (worth $99) to receive a lifetime membership for FREE!

Step One: Go here>> http://www.readersandwritersbookclub.com/join-the-club and enter your email address to claim your FREE lifetime membership to the club.

Step Two: Create your username and password on the following page.

Step Three: Login to the members’ area and enjoy the goodies published there!

You’re also allowed to give these memberships as a gift, as long as you forward this email or the link to whoever you’d like to share it with!

The club is expected to close free memberships after the first 2,000 people join, so make sure you grab yours here: http://www.readersandwritersbookclub.com/join-the-club

I hope to interact with my readers in several ways. I would love to read and discuss wilderness mystery novels, and perhaps we can choose a different novel every month. I encourage readers of my true crime newsletters to stop by the Facebook group and discuss the latest crime I’ve profiled. The Facebook groupwould also be a great place to talk about wildlife and Alaska, so please signup, and enjoy the fun. We have authors in our group who write in a wide variety of genres, so we have something for everyone!

Send the club link to anybody else you’d like to gift a gift to this season.

Thank you once again for your support!

I look forward to meeting you at the club.

Robin