Ron Wyden, Lisa Murkowski Read for Energy Partnership. Sens. Ron Wyden and Lisa Murkowski drew applause as they shook hands onstage Thursday - an early step in a partnership that could steer U.S. energy policy in unpredictable ways. "My friend, I extend my hand because we're going to work together," Murkowski told the Oregon Democrat, who's set to become chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Politico

  

More Fragments of Woolly Mammoths Found in Alaska. A find here and a find there is one thing. Put all those finds together and a picture starts to take shape. Such has been the case with evidence of creatures that once made their home on the southern Kenai Peninsula. The 2011 radiocarbon dating of two remains - an ankle bone and a tusk - indicated woolly mammoths roamed the area between 60,000-25,000 years ago. More pieces have surfaced and have been dated since then, thanks to the effort to gather these pieces together by local author and historian Janet Klein and Soldotna geologist Dick Reger. Anchorage Daily News

 

[Alaska] Oil Taxes Top Session Agenda, but Some GOP Lawmakers Say It's Time to Look at Social Issues. Republicans are looking to capitalize on their new found control of the Alaska Legislature, taking on oil taxes and raising social issues dear to more conservative members. This month's elections helped dismantle the bipartisan coalition that has ruled the Senate since 2007 and resulted in Republicans controlling both legislative chambers - and holding the governor's office - for the first time since 2006. Anchorage Daily News

 

Shell Departs Arctic Until 2013. Shell Oil's drill rigs have departed the Arctic as of Nov. 7, with at least one of them headed for winter berthing in Unalaska, company representatives said last week. The Noble Discoverer, which was drilling the initial part of an exploratory well in the Chukchi Sea, headed south at the end of October as planned. The Kulluk, however, was delayed in its departure by rough weather. A story published in Popular Mechanics highlighted some of the challenges the Kulluk faced as it tried to demobilize from the Arctic. Helicopter transportation of crew from the rig was hampered by the weather, as was the refueling operation. The Arctic Sounder 

 

Oil Spill Response Workshop Convenes in Barrow. As a new era of oil exploration opens up in the Arctic, a New Hampshire research center has been initiating a dialogue about Alaska's oil spill restoration potential. The series of four workshops - beginning in 2010 in Anchorage - held its most recent meeting in Barrow this weekend, led by the University of New Hampshire Coastal Response Research Center. The Arctic Sounder

  

Source of Increasing Mercury Levels in Arctic a Bit of a Surprise. A recent study shows more mercury is entering the Arctic Ocean - from a surprising source. Researchers from Harvard University were able to pinpoint higher levels of mercury deposited into the ocean at the top of the world, mostly from three major Russian rivers. Previously, most researchers thought mercury eventually found its way into the ocean through the atmosphere as a result of coal combustion. Alaska Dispatch

 

Canada, Norway, Arctic Parliamentarians Want Russian Indigenous Org. Back at Arctic Council: "Our government supports the promotion of basic values - freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law," says Aglukkaq. Ministers from Canada and Norway, along with Arctic Parliamentarians, want the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and Far East (RAIPON) back at the Arctic Council. Canadian officials will continue to monitor what happens to the RAIPON, says Nunavut MP Leona Aglukkaq, also the federal minister responsible for the Arctic Council. That comment follows a recent move by Russia's ministry of Justice to suspend the operations of RAIPON, a move that came under fire at a meeting of the Arctic Council this past week in Haparanda, Sweden. Nunatsiaq Online

 

Strict Rules Await Travelers with Walrus Ivory, Baleen. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service CITES certificate. Don't leave home without it. Not if you're traveling overseas with art or jewelry made from walrus ivory and want to bring it back to America. Diane Kaplan of Anchorage found that out last month when she and her husband returned from a trip to Turkey via O'Hare Airport in Chicago. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

 

Rare White Humpback Whale Caught on Film off Arctic Coast. This just in: a rare white humpback whale was spotted off the coast of the Arctic archipelago Svalbard, according to the Daily Mail. Even though they're tempting, hold off on those Moby Dick quips. Melville's infamous scourge of Captain Ahab was a sperm whale. The all-white humpback whale was spotted by 32-year-old Dan Fisher, originally (and fittingly enough) from North Wales, while he was out on a boat crossing from mainland Norway toward the Norwegian islands that make up Svalbard. Fisher was able to capture pictures of the great white whale as well as a video. Alaska Dispatch