Learning From Indigenous Ocean Knowledge

 “Blow. Above Peninsula, by the smaller piece of floating ice.”

“Got it. Ready … mark!”

We are standing on a 25-foot block of ice a mile off the coast of Utqiaġvik, Alaska, counting bowhead whales. Three of us are on duty: One is just looking for whales and calling out directions (e.g., “Peninsula” is a feature of the ice edge in front of us); one is using a theodolite, a surveying instrument, to get a precise location (e.g., “Mark!” indicates the precise time that the theodolite was brought to bear on the whale as it surfaced); and the third one is recording data in pencil (because of the temperature) on all-weather paper (no risk of electronic mishap).This was my first job in the Arctic 37 springs ago, and not much has changed in the technique of counting whales. It’s nice to be back with bowhead and beluga whales, king and common eiders, ringed and bearded seals and the whites, blues and browns of sea ice and snow above a dark blue sea.

I am not here for fun, though, or at least not only for that. The North Slope Borough, the county-like government for a Minnesota-sized area of northern Alaska, has been conducting a bowhead whale census occasionally since the early 1980s. At that time, there was much concern about the size of the bowhead population, which was decimated by commercial whaling from 1848 through the early 1900s. But counting whales amid sea ice and fog, in cold and sometimes hazardous conditions, was no simple task, and the population estimates remained low.

The Iñupiat, Alaska Natives living with whales, ice and more in northern Alaska, begged to differ. They had seen a steady increase in the number of whales migrating past each spring. They also had several specific ideas for improving the ways the whales were counted. Fortunately, a few biologists were willing to listen and started incorporating the Iñupiat’s insights into their methods. The result was a more reliable—and considerably higher—population estimate, reducing concern about the bowheads and raising the profile of Indigenous knowledge.

The bowhead population has continued to grow at a few percent per year, a remarkable trend in an animal that can live for 150 years or more and does not start reproducing until age 20 or so. Academically trained scientists have continued to listen to the Iñupiat, confirming what local experts have long known. Bowheads have a good sense of smell, which biologists had long dismissed until they looked more closely. Bowheads also pause their growth when young, essentially losing their baby fat and growing denser bones before their length and girth begin to increase again. The bowhead whale is now one of the best-studied large whales in the world, thanks in large part to the support and cooperation of the Iñupiat and their St. Lawrence Island Yupik cousins farther down the coast in the northern Bering Sea.

On the edges of this success story, however, there are still reasons for concern. The ice I was standing on this spring looked, even to my inexpert eye, vastly different than the thicker, sturdier ice I had encountered in 1988. What further changes are in store, and what those changes mean for bowhead whales and their fellow inhabitants of Arctic and northern waters, remains to be seen. Increased shipping in Arctic waters, especially critical chokepoints such as the Bering Strait, adds another risk from ships running into whales or, far worse for the population and the environment, causing an oil spill. Many bowheads also carry scars from entangling in derelict fishing gear.

Both narratives resonate with Ocean Conservancy’s Arctic & Northern Waters program. Respecting and harnessing the knowledge of the Iñupiat and their counterparts around Alaska and beyond is essential to the understanding needed for effective conservation. Recognizing and acting on emerging threats to the environment is also necessary for preventing problems rather than reacting after potential risks have become actual harm.

Learn more about Ocean Conservancy’s work to keep Arctic and northern waters a place of abundance and cooperation and how you can get involved from wherever you are.

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