ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) – Suspicious packages, with white powder spilling out of at least one of them, caused scares and temporary closures on Monday at Alaska offices of all three of the state’s members of Congress.

The packages were received at the Fairbanks offices of Senator Mark Begich, a Democrat, and Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, and at the Anchorage office of Representative Don Young, a Republican.

Local law enforcement officers responded to each of the sites, said Lieutenant Dave Parker, Anchorage Police Department spokesman. The FBI is leading the inquiry into the incidents, Parker said.

The package sent to Begich’s office was partially opened, said Julie Hasquet, the senator’s press secretary.

“White powder came out as the tape was coming off,” she said.

A staff member had the package contained within a plastic bag, as is her habit, so any loose powder stayed in that bag, Hasquet said.

The staff member was examined at a local hospital and released with no apparent ill effects, Hasquet said.

ANCHORAGE (Reuters) – Two people including the pilot and a teacher were killed and four others injured in a small plane crash near Alaska’s Lower Yukon Valley that had rescuers searching for more than 14 hours, authorities said.

The four survivors were rescued from the wreckage of the Cessna 207 aircraft on Sunday morning in a mountainous area about 150 miles west of Anchorage, said Beth Ipsen, a spokesman for the Alaska State Troopers.

“The survivors were transported to a hospital in Anchorage where they are receiving treatment for their injuries … Hopefully they’ll be okay,” Ipsen told Reuters.

The survivors were being treated at Providence Alaska Medical Center for non-life threatening injuries.

Killed in the crash were pilot Ernest Chase, 66, of Aniak and Julia Walker, 52, of Anvik, the Alaska State Troopers said.

The flight had been originally from McGrath to Anvik, but Chase apparently opted to try to return to McGrath.

He was apparently trying to turn around to go back to McGrath when the plane, a Cessna 207, struck the side of a mountain, the troopers said.

By Yereth Rosen

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters Life!) – Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey will embark next week on an expedition to monitor acidification trends in the Arctic Ocean linked to carbon emissions, the agency said.

The USGS scientists will spend seven weeks on a Coast Guard icebreaker, getting as close to the North Pole as possible to take water samples and test for chemical indicators of acidification, officials said.

Carbon emissions are blamed for altering the chemistry of the world’s oceans by making them more acidic, which makes it more difficult for fish and other sea life to grow and live.

The Arctic Ocean is considered especially vulnerable to acidification because of the cold temperatures and already-low level of calcium saturation, Lisa Robbins, a USGS oceanographer going on the trip, said in an interview.

The research is part of a U.S.-Canada Extended Continental Shelf Survey expedition that started last year to study little-understood areas of the Arctic, the USGS said.

Yet there has been little field data about acidification collected from the Arctic Ocean, compared to marine waters in temperate and tropical zones, Robbins said.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) – Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey will embark next week on an expedition to monitor acidification trends in the Arctic Ocean linked to carbon emissions, the agency said on Wednesday.

The USGS scientists will spend seven weeks on a Coast Guard icebreaker, getting as close to the North Pole as possible to take water samples and test for chemical indicators of acidification, officials said.

Carbon emissions are blamed for altering the chemistry of the world’s oceans by making them more acidic, which makes it more difficult for fish and other sea life to grow and live.

The Arctic Ocean is considered especially vulnerable to acidification because of the cold temperatures and already-low level of calcium saturation, Lisa Robbins, a USGS oceanographer going on the trip, said in an interview.

The research is part of a U.S.-Canada Extended Continental Shelf Survey expedition that started last year to study little-understood areas of the Arctic, the USGS said.

Yet there has been little field data about acidification collected from the Arctic Ocean, compared to marine waters in temperate and tropical zones, Robbins said.

Ocean acidification refers the process by which ocean waters absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, causing chemical changes in the alkaline-acid balance, or pH level, that makes the ocean more acidic.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) – A volcano that has been erupting for several days in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands may be preparing for a more explosive event, scientists said on Wednesday.

Cleveland Volcano, a 5,676-foot peak located on Chuginadak Island, about 940 miles southwest of Anchorage, has been in low-level eruption since the end of July, the Alaska Volcano Observatory said.

“An eruption for us is any time that magma is coming up from the surface in the ground,” said John Power, scientist in charge at the observatory, a joint federal-state operation. “This is very much happening here.”

Chuginadak Island is uninhabited and the volcano has not posed an immediate hazard to anyone or affected air traffic, even though it lies directly in the North America-to-Asia flight corridor used by major airlines, Power said.

But there is a possibility that the extrusion of lava is a precursor to a big explosive event that would send ash into the atmosphere, he said.

The dome, if it continues to grow, could plug up the crater, creating pressure that could result in “a fairly sizable explosion that could throw ash up to flight levels,” Power said.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory first reported the eruption a week ago, when satellite images showed that the lava dome on the volcano’s summit was widening.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) – A mysterious orange goo that washed ashore in an Alaska village last week and sparked pollution concerns turns out to be a mass of crustacean eggs or embryos, government scientists said on Monday.

Tests of a sample sent by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation produced the results, officials at a laboratory belonging to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Alaska Fisheries Service Center said.

“We now think these are some sort of small crustacean egg or embryo, with the lipid oil droplet in the middle causing the orange color,” Jeep Rice, a lead scientist at the Juneau laboratory, said in a news release.

“So this is natural. It is not chemical pollution; it is not a man-made substance,” Rice said.

Last week’s appearance of the orange substance in the Alaska village of Kivalina initially baffled villagers and experts.

Residents of the Inupiat Eskimo village on Alaska’s northwest coast said they had never seen anything like it before, and U.S. Coast Guard and Alaska environmental officials examined it and determined that it was not a petroleum product or other known pollutant.

The material is sticky, but becomes a powder when dried, said Julie Speegle, a spokeswoman for NOAA’s Fisheries Service in Alaska.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) – Moose-mating season, just around the corner in Alaska, means crisp fall days, ripe berries on the bushes and, according to a new study, animal behavior that might seem more at home in a rowdy singles bar.

Female moose, or cows, are able to manipulate amorous males into fighting each other, allowing the more desirable bulls to emerge as mates, according to the study, which is based on observations made in Alaska’s Denali National Park.

The cows’ efforts are subtle, so they have long been overshadowed by the belligerent, antler-clashing behavior of bull moose in rutting season, said the study, which published by the academic journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.

“Because we have so much aggression in the big males, it actually masks female choice,” said Terry Bowyer, a biologist at Idaho State University and one of the study’s authors.

Female moose use protest moans to ward off small male suitors, the study points out.

Bowyer and his study partners found they also use those protest moans when approached by some big suitors, setting off fights between large bull moose.

The biologists spent four autumns tracking and observing moose in Denali, listening to grunts and moans and recording behavior, including fights. They concluded that the females actually foment male-male aggression.

By Yereth Rosen

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters Life!) – A U.S. marathon racer braved a sore hip and a close encounter with a caribou to become the first athlete on record to run the 92 miles of the road stretching through Denali National Park.

Bill VonderMehden, 34, a chef who works at one of the park’s lodges, finished the run in a little over 25 hours spanning July 21-22.

Running the entire road — the only one that goes through the park — was an unusual experience, even for someone accustomed to long-distance foot races, he said.

“It’s one thing to do a road race where there are aid stations and people cheering you on,” he said. “Out there, there’s no aid stations. It’s just you and the moose and the bears.”

At one point, he said, he nearly had a head-on confrontation with a caribou, but the animal veered off before the two collided.

Aside from the wild animals and mountain scenery, the only company VonderMehden had for the entire run was a friend on a bicycle.

By Yereth Rosen

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters Life!) – An U.S. marathon racer braved a sore hip and a close encounter with a caribou to become the first athlete on record to run the 92 miles (148 kms) of the road stretching through Denali National Park.

Bill VonderMehden, 34, a chef who works at one of the park’s lodges, finished the run in a little over 25 hours spanning July 21-22.

Running the entire road — the only one that goes through the park — was an unusual experience, even for someone accustomed to long-distance foot races, he said.

“It’s one thing to do a road race where there are aid stations and people cheering you on,” he said. “Out there, there’s no aid stations. It’s just you and the moose and the bears.”

At one point, he said, he nearly had a head-on confrontation with a caribou, but the animal veered off before the two collided.

Aside from the wild animals and mountain scenery, the only company VonderMehden had for the entire run was a friend on a bicycle.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) – An avid marathon racer braved a mostly gravel surface, a sore hip and a close encounter with a caribou to become the first athlete on record to run the entire 92 miles of the road stretching through Denali National Park.

Bill VonderMehden, 34, a chef who works at one of the park’s lodges, made the run in a little over 25 hours spanning July 21-22, realizing an ambition that began when he first came to Denali three years ago and “absolutely fell in love with it,” he said.

Running the entire road — the only one that goes through the park — was an unusual experience, even for someone accustomed to long-distance foot races, he said.

“It’s one thing to do a road race where there are aid stations and people cheering you on,” he said. “Out there, there’s no aid stations. It’s just you and the moose and the bears.”

At one point, he said, he nearly had a head-on confrontation with a caribou, but the animal veered off before the two collided.

Aside from the wild animals and mountain scenery, the only company VonderMehden had for the entire run was a friend on a bicycle.

VonderMehden first tried to run the full length of the park road last year, but had to stop at 72 miles because of an injured ankle. This year, he had similar problems with a hip, but persevered, albeit at a slower pace than he had planned.