Trails to the whale: reflections of change and choice on an Iñupiat icescape at Barrow, Alaska

Abstract

Shorefast ice, present along Alaska's Arctic coastline from late fall through early summer, provides a platform for subsistence hunting by coastal indigenous communities. At Barrow, Alaska, Iñupiat hunters build trails each spring across the shorefast ice to connect the community to the adjacent lead where they hunt migrating bowhead whales. Building on efforts initiated by Alaska's North Slope Borough and in collaboration with the Barrow Whaling Captains Association, a systematic ice trail mapping and surveying project was developed in spring 2008. Using electromagnetic induction sounding, ice thickness surveys were completed along trails just prior to whaling. Semi-directed interviews with hunters addressed the impact of ice conditions on the hunt, choice of trail and hunting locations, and safety concerns. Four years of results (2008–2011) have shown that (1) tracking of local ice conditions along ice trails reveals the interannual variability of the shorefast ice thickness distribution, (2) documenting trail building and hunting strategies provides a baseline for how the community copes with variability, and (3) developing information resources for the community facilitates interaction with hunters and maintains project relevance to environmental challenges facing the community.

Acknowledgements

This research was made possible with the cooperation and support of the Barrow whaling community. We would like to thank the North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management, Barrow Arctic Science Consortium, Barrow Whaling Captains Association, and Allison Gaylord and the Barrow Area Information Database. This publication builds on data collected as part of the Seasonal Ice Zone Observing Network with financial support from the National Science Foundation (OPP-0632398). The Oil Spill Recovery Institute and the Cooperative Institute for Arctic Research (Project CIPY-34) with funds from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (cooperative agreement NA17RJ1224 with the University of Alaska) provided financial support for data analysis and further research. Lastly, we wish to thank the three autonomous reviewers for their critical and thorough comments.