NOAA’s U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS®) Office announced today 11 new five-year cooperative agreements to support regional and national ocean observing. These agreements will enable U.S. IOOS regional associations to operate regional coastal observing systems (RCOSs) throughout U.S. waters, and will provide $45.7 million in funding for the first year.

Data collected from ocean observations:

• Supports anglers, aquaculturists, shipping and logistics managers, and coastal communities in making sound economic and safety decisions;
• Supports management and mitigation of coastal hazards, such as flooding and harmful algal blooms; and
• Provides essential information for weather forecasting and national defense.

The regional associations are a fundamental part of the national observing system, and help ensure that the system is both effective and efficient. They are federally certified to collect and manage high-quality observing data, forming robust partnerships with local stakeholders and coastal communities. As the regional component of the nationwide U.S. IOOS network, regional associations meet local needs by using stakeholder feedback to guide the development of RCOSs while also integrating national priorities and requirements.

These cooperative agreements are awarded every five years through a competitive process and support the continued operation and modernization of our nation’s coastal, ocean and Great Lakes observing capabilities. Total awards include additional funding from other NOAA offices in the National Ocean Service, National Weather Service, NOAA Fisheries, NOAA Satellites and NOAA Research.

The 11 new cooperative agreements for ocean observing are:

• Alaska Ocean Observing System will operate and maintain an RCOS for the state of Alaska. FY27 award: $4,569,040.
• Caribbean Coastal Ocean Observing System will operate and maintain an RCOS in the Caribbean, encompassing Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the island of Navassa. FY27 award: $3,202,501.
• Central and Northern California Ocean Observing System will operate and maintain an RCOS for Central and Northern California, extending from Point Conception north to the California–Oregon border. FY27 award: $3,892,052.
• Great Lakes Observing System will operate and maintain an RCOS for the Great Lakes region, which includes the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence River and interconnecting waterways. FY27 award: $3,383,210.
• Gulf of America Coastal Ocean Observing System will operate and maintain an RCOS for the Gulf of America, defined by Executive Order 14172 to include the U.S. Continental Shelf area bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the States of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, and extending to the seaward boundary with Mexico and Cuba and its estuaries. FY27 award: $3,648,766.
• Mid-Atlantic Regional Association Coastal Ocean Observing System will operate and maintain an RCOS for the Mid-Atlantic, which includes the ocean and estuaries between Cape Hatteras and Cape Cod. FY27 award: $4,936,249.
• Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal Ocean Observing Systems will operate and maintain an RCOS for the U.S. North Atlantic, which includes coastal waters from the Canadian Maritime Provinces to the New York Bight. FY27 award: $4,399,698.
• Northwest Association of Networked Ocean Observing Systems will operate and maintain an RCOS for the Pacific Northwest, centered on Washington and Oregon. FY27 award: $5,045,000.
• Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System will operate and maintain an RCOS for Pacific Islands to include the State of Hawai‘i; the territories of Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; the Freely Associated States the Republic of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands; and the U.S. Minor Outlying Islands (Baker, Howland, Jarvis, Johnston, Kingman, Midway, Palmyra, and Wake). FY27 award: $4,033,322.
• Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association will operate and maintain an RCOS for the U.S. South Atlantic, which includes the ocean and estuaries from North Carolina through the west coast of Florida. FY27 award: $4,766,800.
• Southern California Coastal Ocean Observing System will operate and maintain an RCOS for Southern California, encompassing the Southern California Bight. FY27 award: $3,868,131.

Media contact: National Ocean Service Public Affairs, oceanservicepress@noaa.gov

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AOOS’ Thomas Farrugia has been deploying IFCBs on vessels of opportunity since 2024 to detect harmful algal blooms (HABs) as early as possible. When an IFCB detects signs of a HAB, he sends an advisory to nearby communities, researchers, and agencies, alerting them to a potential toxic event that could affect humans and wildlife. In both 2024 and 2025, AOOS IFCBs detected blooms of Alexandrium that were followed by unusual mortality events involving fish, birds, and marine mammals in the Pribilof Islands.

Imaging FlowCytobot (IFCB) deployed on the Tiglax in 2026. Photo by Thomas Farrugia.

Between May and September 2026, AOOS conducted six IFCB deployments, each with an associated dashboard where the vessel track and plankton images can be viewed:

• R/V Sally Ride during the Spring Northern Gulf of Alaska LTER cruise (May 1-20)
• Stationary on the dock of the Kasitsna Bay Lab (May 28-July 7)
• F/V Northwest Explorer during the NOAA Bering Sea Bottom Trawl Survey (May 31-Aug. 14)
• R/V Woldstad during the Norton Sound hydrographic survey (June 17-Aug. 28)
• R/V Sikuliaq across multiple cruises (Aug. 21-ongoing)
• R/V Tiglax during the Fall Northern Gulf of Alaska LTER cruise (Sept. 14-22)

Across these six deployments, the IFCBs collected a total of 12,091 samples, representing millions of images of planktonic particles.

While R/V Sikuliaq was transiting from Seattle to Nome and crossing the southeastern Bering Sea, its IFCB detected an Alexandrium bloom that peaked at approximately 10,000 cells per liter on Aug. 28. The bloom was located about 70 nautical miles east of the Pribilof Islands, in the same general area as blooms detected in 2024 and 2025. AOOS issued an advisory to nearby communities, but, so far, no reports of unusual animal mortalities have been received.

Dashboard showing the Alexandrium bloom on R/V Sikuliaq on August 28, 2026.

In addition to detecting harmful algal blooms in near real time, IFCB data are archived for use in other research projects. These data can help characterize phytoplankton communities across Alaska throughout the summer. Data can be visualized and accessed through the AOOS portal and through dashboards developed by collaborators at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

To learn more about IFCBs, visit the Alaska Harmful Algal Bloom Network’s IFCB info page. Researchers interested in accessing the data or exploring the possibility of deploying an IFCB on a future cruise can contact Thomas Farrugia at farrugia@aoos.org.

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Alice Bailey (AOOS) and Ali Chene (PacIOOS) 7th graders at Blatchley Middle School collaborated on Backyard Buoys and plankton activities. Photo courtesy of AOOS.

Alice collaborated with Ali Chene from PacIOOS and the Sitka Sound Science Center for two days of programming with 7th graders at Blatchley Middle School. Through hands-on activities, students explored waves, Sofar wave buoys, and the Backyard Buoys app. The visit was such a success that AOOS has been invited back next year to lead additional workshops and classroom activities with high school students.

In late May, Alice, Katie Basile (Alaska Sea Grant), and ANSEP intern Deja, led an education evening for 22 youth in Quinhagak. Kids of all ages learned how to download and use the Backyard Buoys app and experimented with making and measuring different types of waves.

Sheyna and Alice were guest speakers at the Dig Afognak summer youth camp, hosted by the Native Village of Afognak July 17–21. They introduced Kodiak-area youth to waves, ocean sound, and ocean art through a combination of science and creative activities.

Holly and Lisa, along with Lisa’s son, Miles, participated in the annual Barrow Arctic Research Center (BARC) Science Fair in Utqiaġvik August 10–12. The fair brings researchers together to share their work with the community. AOOS highlighted the value of real-time wave buoy information and introduced attendees to the Backyard Buoys program.

Deja Jackson (ANSEP intern) helps Quinhagak youth understand wave motion and data using a sensor inside a mini buoy. Photo by Alice Bailey.

This fall, Darcy and Sheyna will mentor high school students through the Gifted Mentorship program. Darcy’s student, Ellowyn Lang, attends Eagle River High School and UAA Middle College, while Sheyna’s student, Charlie Banning, attends Steller High School.

We’re also planning to participate in Anchorage’s Bartlett High School Ocean Technology Day in December. Working with science teacher Samantha Matsuoka and AOOS partners at JOA Surveys and UAF, we’re putting together a series of hands-on demonstrations in and around the school’s swimming pool, giving students an opportunity to explore ocean technology and learn how these tools are used to observe and understand our marine environment.

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Yukon River Chinook are expected to arrive on the Yukon River Delta with average run timing in 2026: The first significant pulse (15% point) is expected by June 12th and 50% of the run is expected to arrive by June 20th. Note that the forecast model used this year is less powerful than the one used in previous years. This change is due to the discontinuation of sea surface temperature and sea ice data products used normally. See Project Status section for more detail and for information on future plans for the project.

Moderate air temperature at the Nome, AK airport during the month of April is generally associated with average run timing (Mundy & Evenson 2011)¹. In 2026, April mean air temperature at the Nome, AK airport (AMATC) was -5.4°C, slightly warmer than the long-term average of -6.6°C (range -17.1°C to 1.3°C).

Figure 1: Scatterplot of median Yukon River Chinook run timing (MDJ) against April mean air temperature at the Nome, AK airport (AMATC). A solid vertical bar at -5.4°C marks the observed value for AMATC in 2026.

Forecast Detail

The forecast model is based on the relationship previously established in Mundy & Evenson (2011)¹ which identified a set of three environmental variables that correlate with the run timing of Yukon River Chinook: April mean air temperature at the Nome, AK airport (1961–2026; AMATC), May mean sea surface temperature (1961–2025; MSSTC) in the nominal marine staging area just off the Yukon River Delta, and the Spring-time proportion of ice cover (1970–2025; PICE), also measured over the nominal marine staging area. The forecast model for 2026 is based only on AMATC due to data availability.

The forecast model is made of three independent sub-models, where each sub-model is a multiple linear regression with a response of either the 15th (FIFDJ), 25th (QDJ), or 50th (MDJ) percentile of cumulative catch-per-unit effort (CPUE) in either commercial or test fisheries located on the delta (1961–2023). Note the time series of CPUE data ends in 2023 due to changes in the operation of the Lower Yukon Test Fishery.

Based upon the historical relationship with CPUE in commercial and test fishery catches on the Yukon River Delta (1961–2023) and AMATC, the predicted dates of three percentiles of CPUE in the Lower Yukon Test Fishery are June 12th (15%), June 15th (25%), and June 20th (50%) (Table 1).

Table 1: Predicted dates (June 12th, 15th, 20th) of three percentiles (15%, 25%, 50%) of cumulative catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) and the associated model formula for each.

Forecast Performance

We quantified the accuracy of the forecast sub-models with a hindcasting approach, using the most recent fifteen years of runs. For each sub-model, we calculated a set of prediction-oriented evaluation criteria (Table 2). All three sub-models (FIFDJ, QDJ, MDJ) perform similarly, with mean absolute prediction errors (MAPE) 3.87–4.40 days. We calculated prediction intervals by multiplying each model’s standard error by 2σ to get prediction interval widths ranging from 5.5–6.1 days which contained the observed run timing 40–53% of the time. Last, we calculated the maximum absolute residual to be 10–12 days and prediction bias to be -4.4 to -2.4 days. A negative value for bias means the model tends to forecast earlier than observed run timing. The forecast’s bias is an area for future forecast improvements.

Table 2: Model performance metrics for the three sub-models that make up the forecast. MAPE: Mean Absolute Prediction Error and its standard deviation. Bias is the mean residual. Max. Residual is the maximum absolute residual.

Project Status

As mentioned above, this year’s forecast uses a reduced model due to the discontinuation of the data products associated with the MSSTC and PICE variables used in the full model. MSSTC is derived from NCEP-NCAR Reanalysis 1 which has been discontinued and replaced by CORe as of March, 2026. PICE is derived from Near-Real-Time DMSP SSMIS Daily Polar Gridded Sea Ice Concentrations, Version 1 which has been replaced by an AMSR2-based product as part of the National Snow and Ice Data Center’s replacement of its SSMIS-based products. Attempts were made to evaluate the replacement data products but initial results show more work is needed to integrate them into the forecast.

The loss of these two data products is significant but isn’t the only change affecting this project. Since 2024, the Lower Yukon Test Fishery hasn’t operated sites specifically for Chinook. This means the CPUE data series used in both the full and reduced models ends in 2023 and forecast models are no longer being fit to the most recent previous runs. These two changes indicate a new modeling approach is likely needed in order to produce a useful forecast product.

Therefore, we plan to put the project on hold for the foreseeable future and this will be the final forecast for the project in its current form. We’ve already reached out to agency and academic partners and plan to update our AOOS project page with any future updates on project status.

More Information

See the project website for more background on the project. For more information about how the forecast was produced, see https://github.com/yukon-forecasting/2026-forecast. For more information on the forecast model and the underlying biological hypothesis this forecast is based on, see Mundy & Evenson (2011)¹.

Acknowledgements

Prepared by Bryce Mecum (brycemecum@gmail.com). Web page support by Alice Bailey (bailey@aoos.org) and Alaska Ocean Observing System. Yukon Chinook in-season salmon data and management agency coordination by Fred West (fred.west@alaska.gov). Financial and material support provided by the Alaska Ocean Observing System, NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, and the Alaska Department of Fish & Game.

References

[1] Phillip R. Mundy, Danielle F. Evenson, Environmental controls of phenology of high-latitude Chinook salmon populations of the Yukon River, North America, with application to fishery management, ICES Journal of Marine Science, Volume 68, Issue 6, July 2011, Pages 1155–1164, https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsr080

Read more about the Yukon River Chinook Run Timing project here. 

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The map was developed to improve access to historic coastal surveying and water level reference information for researchers, coastal managers, surveyors, and community stakeholders. The project included planning, design, development, and implementation of the map for integration with the AWLW website.

This tool helps support broader coastal hazards, water level, and geodetic efforts across Alaska by making historic benchmark information more discoverable and easier to access.

Link to the Historic Tidal Benchmark Map: https://awlw.aoos.org/historic-alaskan-tidal-station-bench-mark-sheets/

CONTACT: Taylor Borgfeldt, borgfeldt@aoos.org

The purpose of this map is to display and offer further context of historic tidal stations across Alaska.

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Opening Friday, May 15, the exhibit highlights the North Pacific Research Board’s (NPRB) Arctic Program alongside a range of Arctic-focused research and community science initiatives, including several funded or led by AOOS. It is designed to showcase both scientific discovery and the growing role of communities in observing and understanding rapid environmental change in the Arctic.

AOOS partners deployed a Sofar wave buoy in Cape Lisburne as part of the Backyard Buoys program. Photo by Michael Tuzroyluk Jr.

Brendan Smith, Communications and Outreach Director at NPRB, worked with the Anchorage Museum to develop the exhibit. “It is by far the largest outreach initiative that we [NPRB] have embarked on. It’s also the most public-facing,” he said.

The exhibit spans the museum’s entire first-floor rotating gallery space and is organized around three core themes: Arctic food web dynamics, community involvement in science, and the evolution of science communication, along with a large-scale installation focused on ship-based research.

Smith said the goal was to move beyond a single program even though the Arctic Program was a huge multi-year, highly integrated research program. Rather, the emphasis was to highlight the interconnected nature of Arctic research, and give visitors a broader view of the region’s rapidly changing marine ecosystem.

Smith worked with AOOS’s Thomas Farrugia to highlight how algal bloom monitoring and broader ecosystem research intersect, underscoring the importance of integrated environmental observation.

The AOOS-supported Backyard Buoys program is featured as one example of community members participating in ocean observing in their own “backyard,” along with other community-led initiatives across the state.

The exhibit also highlights major Arctic research platforms, including a scaled down recreation of the R/V Sikuliaq, which supported sampling for the Arctic Program alongside NOAA and University of Alaska Fairbanks cruises. Homeported in Seward, Sikuliaq helps connect visitors to offshore science. “We wanted to show the kind of science being done on these cruises and give a glimpse of what it’s like to be a scientist,” Smith said.

An IFCB sampling seawater from the flow-through system of the R/V Tiglax in June 2025. Photo by Thomas Farrugia.

NPRB worked with a host of researchers from the Arctic Program including Kate Stafford from Oregon State University and University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers Seth Danielson, Hank Statscewich, and Sarah Mincks. They all worked collaboratively to demonstrate how sound, ocean, and sediment data are collected and processed in real time.

The team created animations using data from AOOS-supported autonomous underwater vehicles, or gliders, and conductivity, temperature, and depth (CTD) instruments. A glider is on display in the exhibit, along with a video from the AOOS-funded benthic tripod at the Chukchi Sea Ecosystem Observatory and a small mooring mock-up.

The exhibit reflects collaboration among NPRB, the Anchorage Museum, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, AOOS, and other research and community partners. Smith said the museum played a central role in shaping the final product.

“While NPRB is the funder, all the hard work, orchestration, and execution was done by the museum,” he said. “They really took the time to listen, get the science right, and accurately represent the people they’re showcasing.”

The exhibit will be on display for one year, with additional programming, events, and educational activities planned throughout its run. Museum hours are 10:00 am to 6:00 pm daily.

NPRB press release

Anchorage Museum website

CONTACT: Brendan Smith, brendan.smith@nprb.org

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The Whale Glider was deployed in Resurrection Bay in 2025 for testing. Photo by Seth Danielson.

Three autonomous underwater gliders are currently collecting data as part of the Gulf of Alaska Ecosystem Observatory, documenting the region’s spring transition and the start of the 2026 productivity season.

Shackleton reached the observatory station on April 5 after departing Resurrection Bay on March 24. Early measurements indicated the onset of a phytoplankton bloom by April 11, followed by a high-intensity bloom from April 18–21, marking the beginning of seasonal productivity on the Gulf of Alaska shelf. The glider is equipped to measure temperature, salinity, oxygen, light, backscatter, and chlorophyll-a fluorescence.

Blinky was deployed on April 20 and exited Resurrection Bay on April 24, continuing along the Seward Line. In addition tostandard hydrographic sensors, it carries a 200 kHz active acoustics fish finder and a plankton shadowgraph camera, providing additional insight into biological activity in the water column.

Real-time data for Shackleton (Glider 191) and Blinky (Glider 1151) are visualized on the AOOS Ocean Data Explorer portal. These gliders are observing a transition from colder, fresher nearshore waters to warmer, saltier offshore conditions.

On April 29, a third glider, Turbo, was deployed as part of the NGA Long Term Ecological Research program. It will collect microstructure turbulence data to help scientists better understand vertical nitrate fluxes that support primary productivity in the Gulf of Alaska.

A fourth platform, the Whale Glider, is expected to be deployed in the Chukchi Sea later this summer.

AOOS supports the fleet of gliders through a partnership with oceanographers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences.

Learn more about the glider program page on AOOS’s website.

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AOOS provided appetizers, and the evening offered valuable opportunities for coordination ahead of the upcoming field season. Sponsors included Marine Exchange of Alaska, JOA Surveys, and Tetra Tech Inc.

Presenters:

Sheyna Wisdom, AOOS Overview
wisdom@aoos.org

Joshua Jones, Partnership for Ocean Sounds Research and Monitoring
j8jones@ucsd.edu

Kay McMonigal, ACTION Convergence Research Cruise 2026
ktmcmonigal@alaska.edu

Seth Danielson, 2026 Field Activities
sldanielson@alaska.edu

Russ Hopcroft, NGA LTER Summary
rrhopcroft@alaska.edu

David Allen, IARPC Field Operations Community of Practice
david.allen@noaa.gov

Thomas Farrugia, IFCB Overview
farrugia@aoos.org

Heather Tabisola, EcoFOCI Spring Mooring Cruise
heather.tabisola@noaa.gov

Sue Moore, DBO-C30 July 2026
moore4@uw.edu

Irina Trukhanova, Pacific Walrus Research Expeditions 2023-2026
irina_trukhanova@fws.gov

Hannah Myers, Long-term killer whale monitoring program in Prince William Sound and Kenai Fjords
hannah.myers@alaska.edu

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By Alice Bailey

The morning after Ex-Typhoon Halong hit Western Alaska, I texted my friend Sarah Brown in Quinhagak to see if she was okay. 

“We were up ‘til five a.m. Water was around my house. Scary,” she said. “All the fish racks are gone at the boat harbor. Mine floated in one piece toward my niece’s house.”

The following Saturday, I got a Facebook message that read, “Hey Alice, we need volunteers if you’d like to come join us in beachcombing for prehistoric treasures.” It was from Rick Knecht, an archeologist who was on the ground in Quinhagak assessing the damage to a long-term archaeology project there. 

Like many Alaskans, I wished I could do more than donate to relief funds. When I got Rick’s message, I immediately booked a ticket and headed west.

Salmon Surveys

Sarah Brown checks her fish rack in 2023. The structure completely floated away when Ex-Typhoon Halong hit Quinhagak in 2025. Photo by Alice Bailey.

I first visited the Bering Sea community of Quinhagak in 2009 when I worked for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game conducting post-season subsistence fishing surveys throughout communities in the Kuskokwim River drainage.  

Asking about fish harvests is deeply personal—what’s in someone’s freezer and on their drying racks is the city equivalent of asking for a winter’s worth of Costco shopping lists. I was amazed at how accurately people, especially the women who cut the fish, recalled how many of the different species of salmon and whitefish, as well as blackfish, burbot, and pike, they needed to feed their families for a year. 

Even though I wasn’t enforcing anything, merely accounting for the communities’ food needs, not everyone was thrilled to see someone working for an agency. I especially appreciated those who invited me inside, and shared some dry fish and tea. And I cherish the time I spent with Elders. In those instances, the survey quickly went by the wayside and I just sat and listened to their stories—as one should do when an Elder speaks.

It took two months of traveling village to village to complete the surveys. I settled into the rhythm of each place, often collecting an entourage of kids and dogs. 

One frigid October day in Quinhagak, I went to the house of someone named Sarah Brown. She let me in. 

“Your hands are cold,” she said. I tried to play it off like I was fine, but there’s no fooling Sarah. 

“Where are you staying?” she asked.

In 2017, Sarah Brown held a small ulu that is now part of the Nunalleq museum collection. Photo courtesy of Nunalleq.

“The school,” I said.

“What are you eating for dinner?”

“Probably ramen.”

“You come back here to eat.” 

I tried to decline, not wanting to impose, but she insisted.

Sarah fed me every evening that week, and many other times in the last 16 years. She is a busy person, always doing whatever subsistence activity is in season—berry picking, gathering other plants from the tundra and beach, and preparing birds, fish, and whatever else her boys caught. We share an interest in cooking; it was easy to become friends. 

I returned the next year with the same job. I don’t know what she said in Yup’ik on the VHF radio, but the next thing I knew I was flying down the street on her 4-wheeler, visiting households on my list. Once I was done, we got to the real work of the day—gathering wild food and cooking dinner. 

Photography and Archaeology

In 2011, I began spending summers in Bethel as the Kuskokwim River Salmon Management Working Group coordinator. In the evenings, I explored Bethel with my medium-format film camera. 

The midsummer sun, best around 10:30 p.m., cast a light that transformed buildings and the trappings of everyday life into gorgeous sculptures. I captured these fleeting moments of light and shadow with film, then spent the winters back in Fairbanks making the images into etchings though a process called copperplate photogravure. 

I continued to visit Sarah, carrying camera equipment with me instead of my aluminum survey clipboard. She has always been patient with my picture taking. I have developed a sense of when it’s time to stop and start helping. 

During the summer of 2013, Sarah and I drove a 4-wheeler down the beach to a large hole in the tundra. A few years prior, the local village corporation reached out to Rick Knecht, who is an archeologist known for collaborating with Indigenous communities. Due to accelerating coastal erosion, artifacts from an ancient house site were being exposed, and the village wanted to learn more about them before they washed away.

Alice Bailey volunteering at the Nunalleq archeology site in Quinhagak in 2017.

The site was named Nunalleq—“the Old Village” in Yup’ik. Sarah and I walked up the wooden stairs to where a group of people were digging. She had been there before, as the community was very much part of the project. 

Sarah introduced me to Rick, who was examining a 400-year-old wood ulu handle. He also showed me woven grass, an ivory earring, numerous spears, and dozens of other objects they had dug up that day. I was surprised at how well the permafrost preserved them, but also how closely they mirrored modern Quinhagak designs. As an artist, I appreciated how everyday objects became art pieces through perfect craftsmanship and symbolism. 

I was shocked when Rick said I was welcome to help dig, especially since I had no archaeology training. He showed me how to gently scrape layers of dirt with a trowel and catalogue the artifacts. I was hooked. 

From then on, every visit to Sarah included volunteering at the dig site and later at the local museum that the village corporation, Qanirtuuq (Q-Corp), built to house the artifacts.

I very much appreciated Rick’s even-keel and down-to-earth personality, as well as his unwavering respect for the community.

Once I was digging and discovered an intact kayak paddle. My childlike curiosity, and affinity for kayaking, took over and I quickly extracted it and waved it in the air to show Rick.

“Look!” 

As soon as I uttered those words I realized that I was supposed to have left it “in situ” so it could be photographed and plotted. 

“Oh no! I’ll put it back,” I stammered. 

“It doesn’t quite work like that,” Rick laughed.

In October of 2025, Quinhagak Elder John Smith held a similar kayak paddle that was exposed by Ex-typhoon Halong. John told Rick and I that he recalled carving the same design with his grandfather, the blade approximately the width of his hand.

Nalaquq and AOOS

AOOS partnered with Nalaquq, LLC, which integrates Yup’ik knowledge to monitor local salmon runs. Photo courtesy of Nalaquq, LLC.

During a visit to Quinhagak in 2023, I learned how Q-Corp was creating its own science subsidiary, drawing on lessons from years of working with archaeologists like Rick. Named for the Yup’ik phrase meaning “we found it,” the mission of Nalaquq, LLC, is to ensure that research is a shared effort between Indigenous communities by blending local knowledge with technical expertise. 

At the time, I was nearly a year into my new role as Director of Outreach at the Alaska Ocean Observing System. AOOS was gathering information on the needs of coastal communities in preparation for a call for proposals for funding from the Biden Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. 

I had seen Sean Gleason training locals to use drones as part of remote sensing projects, so I asked Rick to introduce me. Sean, who works for Q-Corp and is faculty at Hampden-Sydney College, told me that they had been experimenting with using drones to observe salmon runs on local clearwater rivers. They wanted to empower locals with the skills to monitor these species since aerial surveys conducted by ADFG were not consistent. 

Sean had been mentoring Yup’ik teen Bryan Jones to program automatic flight paths, pilot aircraft, and produce high-resolution maps highlighting erosion. They needed funding to compensate local technical experts to continue collecting data on their lands. 

“When Bryan flies the drone, about 30 people gather around to watch,” Sean said. “It inspires other people and engages them in the research.” 

Sean encouraged me to speak with Q-Corp CEO Warren Jones to uncover other information needs. Warren was supposed to fly to Bethel that day, so I had 15 minutes to give my spiel while he drove the van from the dump to the office. I explained what AOOS is and does, and that we wanted to hear more about the community’s observing needs. 

Warren launched into a story about a boat with seven people that was lost in Kuskokwim Bay a few years prior. He leads Quinhagak’s search and rescue team, and said they didn’t find a trace of the boaters, which is something that still haunts the community. He said that better understanding of tides, waves, and currents could have aided the rescuers, and that they needed a low-tech, low-bandwidth way to access the data.

Patrick Jones deploys a Sofar Spotter buoy that will send wave data to the Backyard Buoys smartphone app. Photo by Sean Gleason.

AOOS ultimately funded two of their projects.

In the summer of 2024, Sean and his team completed the first phase of Nalaquq’s salmon monitoring project using drones. In August of that year, I traveled to Quinhagak with other AOOS staff. We discussed the salmon projects and enjoyed some freshly caught sockeye over a campfire on a gravel bar. 

Coincidentally, the whole search and rescue team was training in the “Red Building” where we were staying. We asked Warren if they might want to hear about the Backyard Buoys project, and before long we were talking with the whole group. They pointed out three places in Kuskokwim Bay commonly used by boaters for traveling and harvesting seals, salmon, and halibut.

In June, Nalaquq successfully deployed three yellow buoys the size of a basketball at these locations. All summer, people could check wave conditions from their phones. Warren and Patrick brought the buoys back to shore in September before the weather turned too dangerous for boating, and will redeploy them in the spring. 

After the Typhoon

Only a few tarps and some ancient house boards remain of the Nunalleq archeology site after Ex-Typhoon Halong. Photo by Alice Bailey.

I landed in Quinhagak around 3 p.m. on October 20, 2025, about a week after Ex-Typhoon Halong had ravaged the region. The town itself was relatively intact compared to communities like Kipnuk and Kwigillingok. The worst flooding occurred near the river, where many people—including Sarah—lost smokehouses and faced other storm damage. Floodwaters reached the inside of a handful of houses, and those residents were concerned about black mold. 

Rick met me at the plane and told me to gear up for the beach. Winter was closing in, with a few snowflakes in the air and a steady wind picking up. He was eager to search for any artifacts washed ashore before the ground froze and made them impossible to recover.

We drove the 4-wheeler to where the road ends at the Bering Sea. The first obvious sign of the storm was the exposed fiber optic cable. We turned to the south and I gasped when I saw the beach. 

I couldn’t believe how different it looked from a year ago—like the ocean had swallowed the land. In places, up to 60 feet were gone. What used to be solid tundra was now sand, torn-up chunks of peat, and ancient gray clay. Even navigating the four-wheeler over broken tundra was tough.

We drove a mile or so, stopping to scan the sand for artifacts—mostly pieces of wood—looking for anything “worked” or carved. In just a couple of hours, we found plenty, including a small wooden doll whose eyes hadn’t seen people in 500 years. Sarah arrived and immediately found a six-fingered hand, maybe from a mask. 

The next day Rick and I were out for seven hours in wind and snow—no one else was crazy enough to be out there. We worked our way to the old dig site, now mostly gone, which was heartbreaking to see. On the way back to town, we had a strong feeling that we needed to stop and look one more time. I looked down, and there in the sand was an incredible carved eye, possibly from a wolf figurine. 

We added these treasures to the hundreds recovered by Quinhagak residents in the days immediately after the storm. All were soaked in fresh water to remove the ocean’s salt, before the usual bath in Polyethylene glycol to keep the ancient wood from drying out and crumbling.

Holding a small mask in her hand, with half a snow goggle, spear shafts, and the base of a bowl resting on her lap—Yup’ik artifacts uncovered and displaced by Ex-Typhoon Halong. Photo by Alice Bailey.

As usual, I was mesmerized by the faces and designs carved centuries ago, and it was confounding that these objects were as intact as they were after being extracted from the earth by the remnants of a typhoon, carried out to sea, and deposited miles away. One mask, perhaps the best in the entire collection, was in perfect condition—and eerily looks like the young Jimmy Jones, who found it at low tide when he was looking for firewood.

So what next? Intense storms like Halong will likely become more frequent, said Rick Thoman, who is a climate expert at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. “While every fall will not bring a Halong type storm to Kuskokwim Bay, with continued warming a stormier future is likely.”

As a visitor from Fairbanks, I marvel that wooden artifacts, buried beneath an ancient Yup’ik house burned in an attack around 1650, could lie undisturbed for centuries and then survive a wild ride on stormy seas before washing up miles down the beach. Seeing these messengers from the past, I don’t doubt that the people of Quinhagak can weather whatever comes their way.

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