Science & Environment

The novelty of seeing a jumbo squid in Unalaska is not wearing off: a second one washed ashore Monday night.

David Tonon of the U.S. Coast Guard was excited to check it out — he’s never seen anything like it.

“I’ve seen little squid, squid we use for bait, squid at aquariums, and when I was diving in the Caribbean,” Tonon said. “But nothing that big. The thing had to weigh 50 pounds or so, probably more.”

Cleveland Volcano has produced a new batch of lava, prompting scientists to raise the volcano’s alert level to an intermediate “watch.”

Over the last few weeks, satellite images have shown the lava grow from a small mound deep in Cleveland’s crater to a wide dome spanning nearly 150 feet.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory hasn’t detected any seismic activity near the volcano, which sits about 50 miles west of Nikolski in the Islands of the Four Mountains. But scientists have observed elevated surface temperatures.

A seafood processing plant in Unalaska is on the hook for $3.2 million for breaking air pollution regulations.

The settlement reached Thursday with the Environmental Protection Agency comes eight years after employees at Westward Seafoods turned off air pollution controls and falsified records to cover their tracks.

For most people, the last day on the job before retiring is a celebration. But Michael Cox capped off his career at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with a scathing letter to agency head Scott Pruitt.

Since 1987, Cox has worked for the EPA. Most recently he served as climate advisor for Region 10 — which covers Alaska, Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

He was planning on retiring — but not like this. He says he wants the agency to be successful.

Several small earthquakes shook the area around Bogoslof Volcano on Saturday, prompting scientists to raise its alert level to an intermediate “watch.”

Bogoslof hasn’t erupted in over a month, but officials with the Alaska Volcano Observatory say seismic activity over the weekend has increased the likelihood of another explosion.

Before going quiet last month, the eastern Aleutian volcano had erupted 37 times since mid-December.