The Patrol Vessel Stimson in Dutch Harbor, Alaska. KUCB/John Ryan photo.
The Patrol Vessel Stimson sailed out of Dutch Harbor Monday morning, marking the end of an era for Unalaska and for the Stimson.
After 17 years based in Dutch Harbor, it’s heading to Kodiak, where the state of Alaska’s biggest patrol vessel will be based.
“I will certainly miss Dutch Harbor,” said Alaska Wildlife Trooper Sergeant Robin Morrisett, one of six Department of Public Safety employees who are leaving Unalaska with the Stimson. “I’ve got a lot of friends here, and so does everybody else on the boat. We’re all going to miss Dutch Harbor.”
The Fennica leaves Portland. OPB/John Rosman photo.
Arctic drilling is under way.
Shell Oil confirmed Thursday night that its Polar Pioneer rig sent a 20-foot-wide drill bit spinning into the floor of the Chukchi Sea about 5 p.m. Alaska time.
It came at the end of one of the most eventful days in the company’s eight-year effort to find oil in the Arctic Ocean.
“This is a significant milestone. A lot of people have worked very hard to get us here,” Shell spokeswoman Megan Baldino said.
Saildrone Inc. CEO Richard Jenkins turns his back (unwisely?) on two of his creations in Unalaska.
Aquatic robots have been spotted in the Aleutian Islands. Two ocean-going drones were seen sailing into Dutch Harbor Monday night with no one on board. Just what are these orange robots doing out there--and should we be alarmed?
TRANSCRIPT
These robots are 18 feet tall. Each one has a bright orange wing of carbon fiber sticking up from a floating platform. At sea, they look like oversized windsurfers.
The Fennica in Dutch Harbor, shortly before leaving for Portland for repairs. KUCB/John Ryan photo
UPDATE 8 P.M.: Police disbanded the protesters, and the Fennica left Portland for Alaska about 6 p.m. Pacific Time Thursday. Meanwhile, Shell began drilling in the Chukchi Sea on Thursday, FuelFix reports.
Melissa Good with UAF Alaska Sea Grant collects a sample from a Steller's sea lion carcass by Unalaska's Summer Bay. KUCB/John Ryan phot
Scientists have been receiving reports of dead and dying mammals, birds and small fish in the Aleutian Islands. They think the killer might be toxic algae proliferating in unusually warm ocean waters.
“All the signs are that we’re having a major harmful algal bloom event,” Bruce Wright with the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association said.
Wright said it could be the algae that cause paralytic shellfish poisoning; the algae that generate domoic acid are another possible culprit.
Former Senator Mark Begich, his former Senate staffer Schawna Thoma and Grant Aviation president Bob Lowrance in Unalaska. KUCB/John Ryan photo.
Unalaska got a visit from a former senator on Wednesday.
Former U.S. Senator Mark Begich came to town to do some public relations work for Grant Aviation.
Begich now runs a five-person P.R. and consulting firm called Northern Compass Group.
The airline hosted what it called a town hall meeting on how to improve its service in the Aleutians.
“You cannot determine the long-term plan of Grant Aviation without knowing what the communities need and want and then prioritizing what’s real and possible,” Begich said.
The damaged Fennica icebreaker, shortly before leaving Dutch Harbor for Oregon. KUCB/John Ryan photo.
The Obama administration approved Shell Oil’s plan for drilling in the Arctic Ocean Wednesday. But for now at least, Shell is restricted on how deep it can drill.
With a key piece of Shell’s oil-spill equipment currently heading away from the Arctic, the Interior Department told the company it cannot drill into any oil-bearing rock layers.
Shell’s “capping stack” is on board an icebreaker, the Fennica, that apparently hit an uncharted rock and tore a three-foot hole in its hull in Dutch Harbor on July 3.
