“In wildness lies the hope of the world.”

— John Muir.

How to do justice to the presence of wild Alaskan creatures?  Perhaps if we list them, and if each is read slowly, pausing to invoke our imagination or memory, perhaps then, we might begin to touch the magnitude of how these creatures animate and vivify this great land. Check out our Podcasts for a deeper dive into the stories of Wild Alaska.

Marine Mammals

Blue Whale. Humpback Whale. Gray Whale. Minke Whale. Bowhead Whale. Fin whale. Sei whale. Beluga whale. Sperm whale. Orca. Dall’s porpoise. Striped dolphin. Pacific white-sided dolphin. Short-finned pilot whale. Harbor porpoise. Walrus.  Northern fur seal.  Steller’s sea lion. Elephant seal.  Spotted seal.  Harbor seal.  Bearded seal.  Sea otter.  

Land Mammals

Polar bear.  Brown bear.  Black bear.  Gray wolf.  Moose.  Elk.  Sitka deer.  Caribou.  Bison.  Mountain goat.   Call sheep.  MuskoxArctic fox.  Red fox.  Coyote.  Lynx.  Cougar.  Wolverine.  Fisher.  Marten.  Mink.  Weasel.  Raccoon.  Shrew(s).  Big brown bat. Little brown bat.  Silver-haired bat.  Snowshoe hare.  Tundra hare.  Alaska marmot.  Hoary marmot.  Woodchuck.  Arctic ground squirrel.  Northern flying squirrel.  Porcupine.  Beaver.  Bushy-tailed woodrat.  Deer mouse.  Lemming.  Muskrat.  Vole(s).

Birds of Alaska

Bald eagle, Sandhill crane.  Common crane.  Canada goose.  Snow goose.  Brant.  Trumpeter swan.  Tundra swan.  Mallard.  Northern pintail. Common eider.  Harlequin duck.  Surf scoter.  Bufflehead.  Common goldeneye.  Ruddy duck.  Merganser(s). Northern goshawk.  Red-tailed hawk.  Cooper’s hawk.  Sharp-shinned hawk. Osprey.  Raven.  American crow.  Northwestern crow.  Steller’s jay.  Canada jay.  Black-billed magpie.  Peregrine falcon.  Gyrfalcon.  American kestrel.  Eurasian kestrel.  Merlin.  Belted Kingfisher.  Great horned owl.  Snowy owl.  Northern hawk owl.  Barred owl.  Northern pygmy-owl.  Western screech-owl.  Great blue heron.  Great egret.  Snowy Egret.  Brown pelican.  American white pelican.  Red-faced cormorant.  Pelagic cormorant. Brandt’s cormorant.  Magnificent frigatebird.  Northern fulmar.  Storm petrel.  Cooks petrel.  Great shearwater.  Sooty shearwater.  Manx shearwater.   Black-footed albatross.  Common loon.  Red-throated loon.  Pacific loon.  Tufted puffin.  Horned puffin.  Auklet(s).  Pigeon guillemot.  Marbled murrelet.  Parasitic jaeger.  Long-tailed jaeger.  Sandpiper(s).  Curlew(s).  Godwit(s).  Snipe(s).  Greater yellowlegs.  Phalarope(s).  Plover(s).  Killdeer.  Black Oystercatcher.  Western grebe.  American coot. Northern gannet.  Red-footed booby.  Brown booby.  Swallow(s).  Chickadee(s).  Red-breasted nuthatch.  Brown creeper.  Pacific wren.  Golden-crowned kinglet.  Warbler(s).  Varied thrush.  Swainson’s thrush.  Cedar waxwing. Pine grosbeak.  Pine siskin.  Snow bunting. Sparrow(s).  Warbler(s).