April 2015 Photo of the Month Tongass Sunset by MIKE GATES -Photographer receives $100.00. There were many beautiful & interesting photographs featured during the month. The selection of the Photo of the Month is made by the number of likes received both on the website and FB. Thank you to all the photographers who submitted photographs. Congratulations to photographer Mike Gates. Ketchikan: Announcements / Meetings / Events Ketchikan: Ketchikan Cruise Ship Calendar for 2015 PDF(Courtesy Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska) Historical Ketchikan June Allen Dave Kiffer Louise B. Harrington Ketchikan Today's Forecast Weather Extremes Ketchikan Weather Data Current Weather Alaska Search the News Ketchikan Alaska Sitnews RSS widget

Alaska: Rare buzz saw shark fossil returns to Alaska - A rare, estranged fossil rock containing the imprint of a prehistoric shark’s 360-degree spiral of teeth, originally discovered in Alaska nearly 30 years ago, has been returned to the Last Frontier.

Helicoprion (buzz saw shark)
By Ray Troll © 2015
Courtesy Alaska SeaLife Center

“Buzz Saw Sharks of Long Ago,” part of Alaska SeaLife Center’s Summer of Sharks, is a brand new exhibit at the center about a prehistoric, whorl-toothed shark called Helicoprion, or buzz saw shark, that roamed the Permian Seas more than 270 million years ago. The exhibit is on loan from the Idaho Museum of Natural History in collaboration with Ketchikan resident and Alaska artist Ray Troll.

“Buzz Saw Sharks of Long Ago” combines fossils, sculptures and artwork featuring the world’s only animal – past or present – with a complete 360-degree spiral of teeth. In addition to the detailed artwork from Troll, the exhibit also features a documentary film about Troll’s fascination with these sharks, a spiral-patterned art couch, a mechanize model of the whorl tooth shark jaw and a life-size rendition of a Helicoprion head bursting through a wall.

The newest addition to the exhibit is a Helicoprion fossil rock with Alaska roots. Richard K. “Savik” Glenn found the buzz saw shark fossil rock – the only documented find in Alaska – in 1986 as a graduate student on a mapping expedition in the Brooks Range. His master’s thesis advisor, geologist Gil Mull, sent the fossil rock to the Smithsonian Institute for official identification and, due to a filing error, Glenn lost contact with the fossil. Glenn is now the Executive Vice President of Lands and Natural Resources at Arctic Slope Regional Corporation.

Upon hearing Glenn’s account of the fossil he found and inadvertently lost, Helicoprion aficionado and ASLC Ocean Ambassador Award winner Troll worked diligently with fellow Helico-specialists in the scientific community to locate the long lost fossil, which is now joining the current buzz saw shark exhibit at the ASLC.

“I've been obsessed with this big, weird prehistoric shark for over twenty years and to find out that one was found in my home state of Alaska 29 years ago just blows my mind,” said Troll. “You just can't make this stuff up. When Richard told me about the rock, I knew we absolutely had to have it for the exhibit in Seward.” - More...
Friday AM - May 15, 2015

Ketchikan: Guardian Flight kickstarts Professional Excellence Fund - Guardian Flight took the opportunity during Nurses Week to announce its generous donation to start a Fund for Professional Excellence to augment education for caregivers at PeaceHealth Ketchikan.

“The professional development of our caregivers is essential to our ongoing commitment to patient care,” said Ken Tonjes, CAO of PeaceHealth Ketchikan. “It’s vital we stay abreast of innovations in technology and research that impact our patients and keep in step with changes in federal guidelines. This fund will help ensure our caregivers are well versed in the best ways to provide care to our patients.”

The $2500 donation will kickstart the fund to provide education and training opportunities for people in a cross section of healthcare careers. Seth Krasnow RN, who works for both Guardian and PeaceHealth Ketchikan, presented the check to Mr. Tonjes and Shannon Updike RN, the Regional Vice President for Patient Care Services at the Nurses Week breakfast Friday morning, May 8. - More...
Friday AM - May 15, 2015

Ketchikan: Warm & dry weather conditions bring increased wildfire risk to Tongass National Forest - High temperatures, possible high winds and drier weather conditions are forecasted for the Tongass National Forest for the near future. Tongass fire officials are asking that all area residents, campers, hunters, and day users across the forest enjoy the beautiful spring conditions but please be cautious with any open fire activities.

“We’re not under any closures,” said Forest Fire Management Officer Tristan Fluharty, “but we are in a period of warmer temperatures, possible high wind and dry weather, so recreationists should be extra careful where fire is concerned.”

If you do have any type of a fire, do not leave it unattended at any time, and please make sure you take the time to put it out completely. - More...
Friday AM - May 15, 2015

Alaska: Wasting found in multiple Kachemak Bay sea stars By DEBORAH MERCY - Decaying sea stars suspected of having wasting disease were discovered last week in Kachemak Bay.

A sea star photographed on Elephant Island in Kachemak Bay this spring displays lesions typically caused by wasting disease.
Photo by Brenda Konar

Brenda Konar and Katrin Iken, researchers with the University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, found the sick sea stars while surveying long-term monitoring sites for Gulf Watch Alaska.

Thought to be caused by a virus, the sickness starts with lesions on the skin and culminates with the disintegration of the animal. Wasting disease currently is killing sea stars along much of the Pacific coast, ranging from Baja California north to Southeast Alaska. Similar die-offs occurred in the North American Pacific in the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s but not at this magnitude and not in Alaska.

“Many scientists thought the disease was not going to come here because our waters are too cold,” said Konar. - More...
Friday AM - May 15, 2015

Southeast Alaska: Southeast Alaska Business Climate Survey Launched; Regional Survey Will Be Used to Develop the 2020 Southeast Economic Plan - Southeast Conference has launched a Southeast Alaska Business Climate Survey. This five-minute survey is directed at business owners, managers, and the self employed; however those who are not will be directed to a one-minute survey of their own.

The purpose of the regional economic survey is to better understand the obstacles and advantages of owning and operating a business in Southeast Alaska. It will also enable Southeast Conference to track change in economic outlook over time by industry and community, along with determining which institutions are most valuable to local businesses. Finally, it allows the regional economic development entity to track private investment. - More...
Friday AM - May 15, 2015

Alaska: AMHS Summer 2015 Ferry Service Moves Forward as Scheduled - The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities announced this week that Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) ferry service for summer 2015 will proceed as scheduled with the exception of one significant revision.

Governor Bill Walker restored funding to the AMHS fiscal year 2016 operating budget by allocating $5.5 million of unused fiscal year 2015 AMHS fuel trigger funds. The additional funding allows AMHS to provide ferry service as previously scheduled with one exception. The MV Taku will not sail in July and August this year, as previously scheduled.

“The additional funding allows AMHS to honor its previously booked reservations to Alaskans, visitors and businesses,” said ADOT&PF Deputy Commissioner Michael Neussl. “The department apologizes for any inconvenience the uncertainty in the AMHS budget and the resulting schedule changes may have caused for passengers who have planned travel aboard state ferries this summer.” - More...
Friday AM - May 15, 2015