astonishing alaska

Astonishing Alaska | A whale of a tale: Citizen science aids whale identification

(Alan Vernon/flickr)

Ryan Bieber
Planet Forward Correspondent | Ithaca College
HappyWhale, a website created in 2015, uses a unique algorithm to identify and track humpback whales. It relies on photographs from ordinary people to further scientific research.
Astonishing Alaska | A surprising collective discovery in Alaska's vast wilds
Victoria Middleton
Digital Editor, Planet Forward
When our 2022 Storyfest winners, traveling with Lindblad Expeditions, explored Alaska's vast and remote terrain, they were surprised that instead of feeling separated, they felt more connected.
Astonishing Alaska | Finding resilience and reflection: If you want to observe change, go to the edges
A tight shot of glacial ice showing the ice's rocky texture and deep blue color.

Up close with the deep blue of glacial ice. (Lisa Palmer/Planet Forward)

Lisa Palmer
Sr. Editor & Education Lead, Planet Forward
Whether it’s a natural landscape, a community, or a feeling inside you, spending time on life’s boundaries can transform your perspective.
Astonishing Alaska | Reading between the lines of Alaskan mountains
The view from green-blue waters of a mountain in the distance between two rocky landmasses in the midground.

(Jennifer Vilcarino/George Washington University)

Jennifer Vilcarino
George Washington University
Climate change doesn't just exist in data but before our eyes. Lindblad Expeditions naturalist Tim Martin explains that the rust-colored trimlines imprinted on Alaskan mountains paint a clear picture of glacial recession.
Astonishing Alaska | Chasing lipids: The industrial thirst for Alaskan oil
Slender fish handing from a line between wooden posts with large trees, mountains, and a body of water in the background.

Sun-dried candlefish, also known as hooligan, eulachon, and oolichan. (Brodie Guy/Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0))

Farzona Comnas
George Washington University
Today, petroleum is one of Alaska's main exports, but the use of oil in the region goes back thousands of years to the Tlingit people's harvesting of lipid-dense and flammable candlefish. Can this history illuminate a way to a green-fueled future?
Astonishing Alaska | Rocks are storytellers too
A bright blue sky stands behind towering mountains carved deep in the center by ancient glaciers. On the right a bright orange life jacket and camera lens are visible of a photographer capturing the scene aboard a small boat. Blue-green water is immediately in the foreground.

Ancient glaciers carved this canyon in Tracy Arm Fjord thousands of years ago. Our group sailed via Zodiac to the glacier’s face. (Halley Hughes/University of Arizona)

Halley Hughes
Planet Forward Sr. Correspondent | University of Arizona
An expedition with Lindblad in Southeast Alaska shows the realities of climate change and uncovers the mysteries behind the "language" of rocks.