Science Mom
LightNews LightNews
thesciencemom.bsky.social
Science Mom
@thesciencemom.bsky.social
1.1K followers 170 following 370 posts
Live in SE Alaska
Science educator
Naturalist
Also known as Jenny Ballif
Posts Replies Media Videos
thesciencemom.bsky.social
The swans are back for the winter at Ward Lake!

Today while I was walking, there was a spontaneous gathering of people watching them. Everyone whispered and moved slowly while sharing in the joy.

It was a lovely moment. #AlaskaSky
Reflections in the water at Ward lake. Two picnic shelters are visible by a shoreline with conifers and low clouds Swans in a fun “bottoms up” pose as they feed Two swans swimming next to shore. Ice is visible among the shallow water with sedges About a dozen people stand or along a trail to watch swans swimming in the lake
November 29, 2025 at 4:23 AM
thesciencemom.bsky.social
Happy Thanksgiving! We picked cranberries this morning and enjoyed a beautiful walk.

Today I’m thankful for nature, family, friends, and the beauty of the Tongass. #AlaskaSky
Light beams thru conifers above a lake where 3 swans swim Two people stand in a muskeg, one holding a handful of bog cranberries A bog cranberry plant growing among brown sedge leaves and sphagnum moss, it has with frosted green leaves and 4 red berries Reflections of trees, mountains, and clouds in a still lake
November 27, 2025 at 8:50 PM
thesciencemom.bsky.social
blue sky over muskeg and late oyster mushrooms growing from alder. sights from Sunday morning botany club yesterday. #AlaskaSky
November 17, 2025 at 2:22 PM
thesciencemom.bsky.social
Bit tricky to see due to clouds, but we caught a few glimpses of the aurora tonight! 🥰
November 12, 2025 at 6:40 AM
thesciencemom.bsky.social
These are amazing! A lot of cliff cover here in KTN but we got a few glimpses.
November 12, 2025 at 6:22 AM
thesciencemom.bsky.social
Enough hail this morning in Ketchikan to pile up and leave little white drifts here and there. Not quite the same as getting snow, but still pretty.
Small white spherical hailstones on a hand and green grass
November 11, 2025 at 10:49 PM
thesciencemom.bsky.social
Had a big tidal swing in #ketchikan this week with a 19.47 ft high tide and -4 low. #AlaskaSky
A photo collage: in the photo on the left, two people hold hands in front of a piling. One of them is standing on a floating dock and the other is standing on a fixed walkway. The Tide is high and the dock and walkway are at almost the same level. In the photo on the right, the same two people are reaching toward each other, but the tide is low. The floating dock is 23 1/2 feet lower than the walkway.
November 8, 2025 at 5:42 AM
thesciencemom.bsky.social
To any other self-employed folks who had health insurance thru the state marketplace, WHAT DO WE DO? 🥺😭

The cheapest option for our family of 5 is $2,854 a month with a $15,000 deductible! #AlaskaSky #ACAtaxcredit
A screenshot of health insurance option for a family of 2 parents and 3 kids on the Alaska state marketplace without the ACA tax credit extension. The premium is $2,854 a month with a $15,000 deductible A screenshot of another health insurance option for a family of 2 parents and 3 kids on the Alaska state marketplace without the ACA tax credit extension. The premium is $3,794 a month with a $4,000 deductible
November 1, 2025 at 4:23 PM
thesciencemom.bsky.social
First snow of the season in Ketchikan! @alaskawx.bsky.social I’m guessing the snowline is between 2,000-2,500 ft

Pretty high up and not a lot, but I’m still happy to see it. 🥰
Snow topped mountains are visible reflected in Ward lake Snow along the ridge and top of deer mountain
October 26, 2025 at 12:52 AM
thesciencemom.bsky.social
Sunday Morning Botany Club highlights: toothed jelly fungus, lunch creek waterfall, and salmon egg slime molds 💜🫟💜

The #Tongass is displaying a fabulous diversity of fungi right now. #AlaskaSky
White toothed jelly fungi grow from the cut end of a log Lunch creek falls: a large wide waterfall Salmon egg slime mold looks like bright orange spheres on semi-transparent stalks
October 20, 2025 at 2:38 PM
thesciencemom.bsky.social
This was perhaps my favorite sign costume: cold water immersion suits + an SOS sign!

Very SE Alaska. 🥰 #AlaskaSky #NoKings
October 18, 2025 at 11:42 PM
thesciencemom.bsky.social
More than 300 gathered for #NoKings today in Ketchikan, Alaska. We held signs, marched, and then had speeches and great music.
October 18, 2025 at 10:24 PM
thesciencemom.bsky.social
Today I found the cutest little mushrooms EVER! They only grow on spruce cones and are like something straight out of a fairy tale.

Strobilurus occidentalis, aka spruce cone mushroom or spruce conesprout.
6 tiny pale mushrooms are visible growing out of a Sitka spruce cone, which is laying in green moss
October 12, 2025 at 3:20 AM
thesciencemom.bsky.social
Do you pick bog cranberries and lingonberries before or after the first frost?

Haven’t had a frost here yet, but I found a great berry spot while enjoying the morning sunshine and they were too delicious to pass up!
A hand holds dozens of small red berries (bog cranberry and lingonberries) Trees are reflected in the still waters of frog pond.
October 9, 2025 at 5:41 AM
thesciencemom.bsky.social
Highlight #2:

Mosaics of moss and lichens
Tiny fungi
Sculpted shore pines reflected in water
Reindeer lichen grows among brown and red sphagnum moss Tiny Moss bell mushrooms grow at the base of a tree A shore line with mostly bare trunk and branches and needles just near the top grows at an angle over a pool of water in a muskeg on a cloudy day. Tree covered mountains are visible in the background.
October 6, 2025 at 8:54 PM
thesciencemom.bsky.social
Sunday botany walk highlight #1:

Bog cranberries!

🌱They shine like ruby jewels in the muskeg.
🌱Crisp texture and wonderful flavor.
🌱A delightful ratio of plant to fruit.

If our blueberry bush adopted the same ratio, it would make berries the size of beach balls.
3 bog cranberries (Vaccinium oxycoccos) lay among orange and red sphagnum moss and grass. The small green leaves of the cranberries are barely visible among the moss. A close up photo of a red cranberry against a backdrop of moss. The thin stem and green leaves lead diagonally to the right side of the photo.
October 6, 2025 at 8:49 PM
thesciencemom.bsky.social
That’s Apricot jelly! Super fun fungi to see.
October 6, 2025 at 7:18 PM
thesciencemom.bsky.social
Went out first thing this morning to try fishing from shore. Didn’t catch any fish, but a whale came by! Tossed the rod in the car and ran/watched along the highway for 20 minutes. What a great way to start the day 🥰

#AlaskaSky
October 3, 2025 at 8:43 PM
thesciencemom.bsky.social
Today’s Sunday morning botany hike was magical. #AlaskaSky #Tongass
A small orange mushroom grows among green moss A blue blueberry with red leaves is surrounded by evergreen heather. A view of blue sky, blue ocean channels, and green islands. Hemlock branches frame the view on either side
September 29, 2025 at 1:14 AM
thesciencemom.bsky.social
To those who say SE Alaska doesn’t have fall colors, I present tomorrow’s weather forecast.

#AlaskaSky
#Autumn
A screenshot of the Windy app weather forecast for Ketchikan showing wind speed gusts increasing from 23 mph (yellow) to 57 mph (red).
September 26, 2025 at 1:26 AM
thesciencemom.bsky.social
Salal and red huckleberry turned out to be a fabulous combo in tonight’s muffin experiment. #AlaskaSky
Dark blue-black Salal berries hang in a line from fuzzy red stems Muffins with red and dark purple berries Red huckleberries are abundant among the leaves and branches of a bush
September 15, 2025 at 4:20 AM
thesciencemom.bsky.social
Found solace and sore feet on a 13 mile hike in the #Tongass last weekend. So grateful to be able to spend a full day exploring the alpine.
Sunlight beams through mist in a spruce hemlock forest with an understory of blueberries and rusty menziesia The shadow of Deer mountain falls on the top of clouds that blanket the valleys and inlets of Revillagigedo and Gravina islands The wildflower broad-leaved gentian waits for the sun to shine before unfurling its blue petals. Deer cabbage leaves glow orange red in the early morning light, surrounded by evergreen heather and mountain hemlock
September 11, 2025 at 6:05 PM
thesciencemom.bsky.social
The picture makes it look closer than we were because the whale is fairly close to shore and we’re behind it a ways. We were over 100 yds away- here’s the video I took when the picture was taken. This is zoomed in 7x.
August 22, 2025 at 12:35 PM
thesciencemom.bsky.social
Seeing a humpback bubble feed = a great day on the water 🥰 If you’re in Ketchikan this summer, join us for a tour at www.outtoseaexpeditions.com

#AlaskaSky #Ketchikan
The mouth of a humpback is visible above the water. 9 people watch from a black inflatable zodiac boat more than 100 yds behind the whale. Tree covered mountains are visible in the distance
August 22, 2025 at 3:41 AM
thesciencemom.bsky.social
Watch how this bubblenet drifts with the current, and then Phoenix comes right up thru the middle. He is so skilled at single bubblenet feeding!
#AlaskaSky #Ketchikan #OurTownsFavoriteWhale
July 27, 2025 at 2:13 AM