Happy Mother’s Day everyone! We can’t think of a better photo to share today than this grizzly and her cub spending time together in Katmai National Park in Alaska.

Photo: Andrew Sentipal

It’s not every day you get a close up look at a black bear and it’s meal. This excellent photo was taken by Bert Van Mackelenberg in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve in Alaska.

Sometimes a photo just screams “wow.” Here a Humpback Whale shows us how to be the center of attention in Kenai Fjords National Park in Alaska.

Photo: Ashley Lindley

The Iliamna Volcano photographed from the northeast above Tuxedni Bay in Lake Clark National Park and Preserve.

Photo: National Park Service

This week, the Alaska Volcano Observatory celebrates 25 years of monitoring and studying Alaska volcanoes. These efforts have improved global understanding of how volcanoes work and how to live safely with volcanic eruptions.  

The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) is a joint program of the United States Geological Survey (USGS - a bureau of the Department of the Interior)), the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAFGI), and the State of Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys (ADGGS).

Photo: Augustine Volcano, March 27, 2006 by Cyrus Read

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced that the Buffalo Zoo, in Buffalo, New York is the planned destination, for the near future, for an orphaned polar bear cub found near Point Lay, Alaska, on March 12. The three-to-four month-old male, named Kali (pronounced cully - the Inupiat name for Point Lay), is currently receiving care at the Alaska Zoo but is expected to be safely transported to the Buffalo Zoo sometime this spring, pending final approvals and the health of the cub.

Kali will be introduced to the Buffalo Zoo’s female polar bear cub, born on November 27, 2012. She is being hand-raised by the Zoo’s veterinary and keeper staff due to inadequate care by the cub’s mother, Anana. The orphaned cub’s planned journey from Point Lay to Buffalo is the product of collaboration among the Alaska Zoo, the Buffalo Zoo, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and the AZA’s Polar Bear Species Survival Plan® management group.

To read more, click here: 

Ever wonder what it would be like driving through Denali National Park with the Northern Lights dancing overhead? While this is no substitute for seeing it in person, we thought we’d share this stunning image taken this winter.

Photo: National Park Service

A Sun Dog is a ring of light that is sometimes visible around the sun . This happens because light is refracted through ice crystals in the atmosphere. We look for them throughout the winter months in Denali National Park.

Photo: National Park Service

At 13.2 million acres which is bigger than the country of Switzerland, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve stretches from one of the tallest peaks in North America, Mount St. Elias (18,008) to the ocean. Yet within this wild landscape, people have been living off the land for centuries and still do today. The park is a rugged yet inviting place to experience your own adventure.

Photo: National Park Service

Keith Ramos took this stellar photo of the Arora Borealis over the Nowitna River in the Nowitna National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. This photo was submitted to the 2012 National Wildlife Refuge Association photo contest. To see more entries, click here.