Observations on Shorefast Ice Dynamics in Arctic Alaska and the Responses of the Iñupiat Hunting Community

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Although shorefast sea ice forms a platform that facilitates travel, camping, and hunting by Iñupiat subsistence hunters and fishers in the western Arctic, the nearshore sea-ice zone remains an unforgiving and dynamic environment. Traditional hunters constantly hone site-specific experiences and skills with which to optimize the reward-to-risk ratio inherent in operating from this coastal ice. Nearshore ice conditions nevertheless can change suddenly, endangering even the most experienced subsistence hunters. This study examines two (of several) 20th-century events, 40 years apart, in which shorefast ice failed, threatening Iñupiat whale hunters with loss of confidence, livelihood, and life. These events differed in character. In one event, the shorefast ice was "crushed" by moving ice floes. In the other, the shorefast ice broke free of land. Our examination focuses on the relationship of subsistence hunters to the ice, the environmental causes of ice failures, the evolving technology for predicting ice behavior, and the longer-term implications of global change for this system. The complexity of geophysical processes underlying coastal ice behavior makes ice failures unpredictable. Thus, hunters must assume and manage risk. The variable and uncertain environment to which whale hunters are accustomed has produced an inherent flexibility that has helped them adapt to new conditions and will continue to do so in the future.Key words: Iñupiat, sea ice, safety, breakup, calving, shorefast ice, hunting, technology, whaling, Barrow RÉSUMÉ. Bien que la banquise côtière constitue une plate-forme qui permet aux Iñupiat de l'Arctique de l'Ouest de se déplacer et de camper lorsqu'ils pratiquent la chasse et la pêche de subsistance, la zone de banquise proche du littoral reste un milieu dynamique qui ne pardonne pas. Les chasseurs traditionnels améliorent constamment les habiletés et l'expérience reliées à des sites particuliers, qui leur permettent d'optimiser le rapport récompense-risque inhérent au fait de travailler depuis la glace côtière. Les conditions de cette dernière peuvent toutefois changer brusquement, mettant en danger même les chasseurs de subsistance les plus chevronnés. Cette étude se penche sur deux (parmi plusieurs) épisodes survenus au XX e siècle, à 40 ans d'écart, durant lesquels la banquise côtière s'est rompue, ébranlant la confiance des baleiniers Iñupiat et menaçant leur moyen de subsistance ainsi que leur vie. Ces événements étaient de nature différente. Dans l'un, la glace côtière avait été «écrasée» par des floes en dérive. Dans l'autre, la banquise côtière s'était détachée de la terre ferme. Notre étude se concentre sur le rapport entre les chasseurs de subsistance et la glace, les causes environnementales de la fragilisation de la glace, la technologie mise au point actuellement qui permettrait de prédire le comportement de la glace, et les implications à long terme du changement climatique pour ce système. La complexité des processus géophysiques sous-jacents au comportement de la ...

Pacific walruses, indigenous hunters, and climate change: Bridging scientific and indigenous knowledge

“…The hunters' breadth of sea-ice knowledge is not less remarkable than that for walruses, and hunters' sea-ice terminologies also exceed the lexicon used by scientists (George et al, 2004;Nelson, 1969;Nichols et al, 2004;Oozeva et al, 2004). This attention to detail and hunters' localized perspective contrast strongly with the scientists' usual focus on larger-scale phenomena.…”

“…It may most naturally come from cooperation over specific matters of high mutual concerns•for example, the ongoing shifts in walrus habitats due to sea ice and climate change, or the increased safety risks due to earlier ice break-ups and unstable winter ice cover. Such collaboration of two types of knowledge, from hunters and scientists, has already been sought in the studies of shore-fast ice dynamics, ice formation, sea-ice and weather observations (George et al, 2004;Nichols et al, 2004;Krupnik, 2002;Norton, 2002). In matching hunters' knowledge and scientists' perspectives, both sides will have to integrate the different temporal and spatial resolutions of their respective records.…”

Indigenous Knowledge and Sea Ice Science: What Can We Learn from Indigenous Ice Users?

“…Let us consider two examples to illustrate this point. Multiyear sea ice (piqaluyak being an Inupiaq equivalent) helps ensure the stability of landfast ice (see Chapter 9 by Druckenmiller et al this volume) and provides a preferred source of freshwater to hunting crews on the ice and elders in the village (Nelson 1969;George et al 2004). Over the past two decades, access to multiyear ice in some Arctic locations, such as coastal Alaska, has become more difficult due to changes in Arctic ice circulation and dramatic loss of multiyear ice (Maslanik et al 2007).…”

Seasonal evolution of melt ponds on Arctic sea ice

“…The dynamic and thermodynamic processes of landfast ice differ from drifting ice due to the effects of shallow bathymetry [Rheimnitz et al, 1978;Mahoney et al, 2007], tides, and nearshore currents [George et al, 2004;Petrich et al, 2012b], a fixed orientation to the sun, and perhaps most importantly, warm air and dust from nearby land . Furthermore, snow on landfast ice differs compositionally due to: (1) earlier freezeup of landfast ice, which allows more time for snow accumulation and snow metamorphosis, (2) its fixed alignment to the dominant wind direction, affecting snow redistribution, and (3) the relatively larger amount of ice deformation on a per area basis due to the concentrated compression of ice nearshore, which also affects snow redistribution.…”