Kodiak Daily Mirror - Daily newspaper of Kodiak, Alaska

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TV show causes mermaid frenzy
Mermaids, dragons and mystic monsters — they all inspire our fantasies. Who has not looked upon the ocean and wondered what might live in its depths that we don’t know about. Who has never stood looking out at the crests of waves, a sudden splash, or a dark shape quickly moving away under water and wondered what it was that we saw but could not quite put a name to? Lucky are those who have felt the excitement of s...

Jun 07, 2013 | 0

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Amazing Nature: Carbon dioxide levels reach historic high mark
Four hundred parts per million of carbon dioxide! On May 10, the news went out that for the first time in history, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric observatory on Mauna Loa in Hawaii reached 400 parts per million. According to the NOAA website reporting this historic event, before the start of the industrial revolution these concentrations used to fluctuate b...

May 24, 2013 | 0

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Amazing Nature: How fish see the world
Fish, crab and octopus see the world in a different light Looking at a day’s catch of fish triggers a variety of reactions and emotions in onlookers. This week, a group of students from Anchorage on a field trip to Kodiak were treated to the sight of a fish hold sporting freshly caught cod, halibut and red and black rockfish. The most intriguing part of a dead fish are — no doubt — its eyes. Large and bulging, wi...

May 10, 2013 | 0

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Geologists examine large cracks in the ground formed by the 2002 magnitude 7.9 Denali fault earthquake, which was strongly felt in Fairbanks and Anchorage.
(Photo Courtesy Peter Haeussler, USGS)

Alaska Science Forum: Cook Inlet earthquake
Red and blue waves triggered by a magnitude 4.6 earthquake rippled outward from the Anchorage area and fizzled out after 45 seconds. Except in Cook Inlet basin, where the waves were trapped for another half-minute, bouncing back and forth, up and down, within the 7.5-kilometer-thick sedimentary basin. “It’s like throwing a rock in the pond. Except water is a homogeneous material. In the solid earth you have basins...

May 08, 2013 | 0

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Amazing Nature: Whales migrating to rich feeding grounds and gray whales getting the mud scoop
Once again, Kodiak is celebrating Whale Fest. To celebrate the occasion and watch some whales, we packed a group of boys into our cars and headed out to Narrow Cape last Saturday. Friday had been a pleasant and sunny day, and I hoped Saturday would follow suit. It did not. Clouds obscured the view of the mountains once we came over the pass to Pasagshak and the raindrops turned to hail, then snow. But just abo...

Apr 26, 2013 | 0

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Amazing Nature: Spring is coming to the ocean
Winter still holds its grip on Kodiak this week. Ponds and lakes are covered in sheets of ice, and on my walk around Lake Gertrude at Abercrombie Park today I watched the water from the little creeks that feed and drain the lake trickle under glassy covers of ice. Nonetheless, spring is coming to the ocean. A plankton sample we collected on Monday had many little nauplii in it. A nauplius is the first larval stag...

Apr 12, 2013 | 0

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Kenji Yoshikawa is seen in his garage in Fairbanks.
(Ned Rozell photo)

Alaska Science Forum: Permafrost scientist snowmachining from Alaska to Atlantic
Kenji Yoshikawa will soon sleep on brilliant, blue-white landscape that has never felt the imprint of his boots. Beginning on spring equinox, the permafrost scientist and a partner will attempt to drive snowmachines from Prudhoe Bay to Canada’s Baffin Island. While traveling a distance equal to Seattle to Tokyo to Seattle over land and sea ice, Yoshikawa will camp outside villages in an Arctic Oven tent. Along the...

Mar 20, 2013 | 0

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Amazing Nature: Small life forms are of big importance
The ocean has an endless supply of life forms and topics to write and learn about. Nonetheless, sometimes I sit in my living room staring into space and wonder what the topic of the next amazing nature column should be. On the last such occasion, my son asked if I had ever written about bacteria. I have not, and at first I wondered how to write about those minute life forms that in most people only spur images of...

Mar 15, 2013 | 0

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Sometimes, you can't identify a flower without a program. Take the case of this "garden geranium," one of the most common potted plants in America with over 200 varieties. t's actually a pelargonium and calling it by its Latin name (Pelargonium x hortorum) will help avoid any cases of mistaken identity. (AP Photo/Dean Fosdick)

Garden Gate: Collecting free flowers
If you like the idea of free flowers, listen up. This is the best time of year for starting a fresh batch of geraniums. By snipping a few cuttings from your, or a friend’s overwintered plant, you’ll be rewarded with cheerful displays of pink, white, salmon or red flowers. Before you grab a pair of shears and go knocking on your neighbor’s door though, mentally prepare yourself. Not all geraniums come through win...

Mar 04, 2013 | 0

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Amazing Nature: Biology and symmetry of sea stars
Once again, it is that time of year when Kodiak fifth-graders visit the Ocean Science Discovery Lab on Near Island to conduct a scientific experiment complete with predictions, measurements, data recording and analysis. The stars of the unit are sea stars, and we begin by talking about the biology of stars. Later, we move on to sea star geometry and math, only to wrap it up in a discussion of statistics. If that ...

Mar 01, 2013 | 0

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