Polar Bear Evolution Tracked Climate Change. An analysis of newly sequenced polar bear genomes is providing important clues about the species' evolution, suggesting that climate change and genetic exchange with brown bears helped create the polar bear as we know it today. Science Daily 

 Rise in 'Cool Water' Cruise Passengers. A record number of European passengers are booking cruises to the Arctic regions, the Norwegian fjords and the British Isles, new data shows. A total of 1.49 million cruise passengers are expected this year in the Northern European region, up 16% from 1.28 million last year. The number of passengers cruising the Arctic region, including Iceland, is expected to rise by 37%. Cruises to the Norwegian fjords are likely to see a 29% increase in passengers. Travel Weekly 

 Coast Guard to Conduct Its First Ever Oil Spill Test in Arctic. With Royal Dutch Shell possibly on the eve of exploring for oil off Alaska's Arctic coasts -- and other companies waiting in the wings -- the U.S. Coast Guard plans its first ever oil spill response drill in the fragile region next week. The exercise will be part of the agency's effort to beef up its presence in the largely untouched Arctic Ocean, as ship traffic rises due in part to increased industrial interests in potential undersea riches. The guardian of the nation's high seas recently stationed two MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters and associated personnel in Barrow, a city of 4,200 where polar bears saunter ashore in search of food and Eskimo whalers in small boats kill bowhead whales as large as semi-trucks. Alaska Dispatch 

Mars: Scientists Turn to Arctic to Research Red Planet. A team of scientists are back for their 16th summer in the High Arctic, using Devon Island's Haughton Crater, in Canada's eastern Arctic territory of Nunavut, as a stand-in for Mars. "It's bleak and it's beautiful and it just takes you to Mars as soon as you go there," said Pascal Lee, a planetary scientist with the Mars Institute and director of NASA's Haughton-Mars Project. The uninhabited island, located east of Resolute and south of Grise Fiord, is a rocky polar desert marked by an ancient rock impact -- a terrain similar to that of the red planet. Alaska Dispatch 

Kotzebue Fishery Starts Strong. Fishermen in the Kotzebue Sound region may well feel like Christmas came in July this summer. Mainly because the commercial salmon fishery in the area has been producing above-average returns thus far. The Kotzebue Sound fishery opened last week with several 8-hour windows for harvest chum salmon. Officials with the Alaska Department of Fish & Game expect more than 250,000 chum to be collected during the harvest, which was created when Great Pacific Seafood notified the state it planned to purchase salmon from the Kotzebue Sound in 2012. One thing is for certain, fishermen in the Kotzebue region aren't complaining. "Compared to last year, we doing really well," said Sally McClellan, a retired school teacher who has fished in the area for more than two decades. "It has been a very healthy start to the season." The Arctic Sounder

Bristol Bay Brings Home More Than Half of Alaska's Sockeyes. The red salmon catch at Bristol Bay is on its way to 20 million fish and will very likely go higher, due to a strong run of more than 30 million fish. The reds were still surging into the region's five big rivers and should serve to boost the harvest beyond the forecast of nearly 22 million fish. With all the salmon fisheries going on every summer all across Alaska, you might wonder why so much attention is focused on Bristol Bay? The answer can be summed up in two words: sockeye salmon. Bristol Bay's rivers are home to the largest red salmon runs in the world. Arctic Sounder

 Watching Government: Arctic Resource Contradictions. Arctic offshore oil and gas resources extend beyond North America, experts reminded their audience at a July 12 forum at the Woodrow Wilson Center for Research. They noted that Russia, Norway, Greenland, and Iceland also see potential and challenges beneath their far northern waters. "There's a lot going on here, but there's also a lot of hype," observed Charles Emmerson, a senior research fellow in the energy, environment, and development program at Chatham House in London. "It's a lot more complicated and uncertain than many people say." He said that in talking about Arctic oil and gas development, it's important to remember there's not one Arctic, but many. Oil and Gas Journal