SAVOONGAScience and TEK

Arctic Imperative SummitRESOURCES

- George Noongwook –

Beaufort Sea

Chukchi Sea

Bering Sea Girdwood

Savoonga

RUSSIA

ALASKA

EXTREMES

• Longest lived mammal (~ 150 yr)• Late age at sexual maturity (~20 yr)• Low body temperature (~92 F)• Longest baleen (~16 ft)• Thickest blubber (35”)• Best tasting

Spring time

Fall time

Traditional Knowledge of the Bowhead Whale (Balaena mysticetus) around Saint Lawrence Island, Alaska

1.Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission / Native Village of Savoonga

2.Private Consultant – Eagle River

3.North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management - Barrow, AK

TEK bowhead whale surveys indicated:

• 2 migratory routes recognized• Changes in abundance and distribution• Timing / direction of migrations• Identified migratory “staging area”• Identified several local feeding area• Increasing numbers of “ingutuks” or sub-adults

Staging AreaMigrations

December/January

April/May

April/May

feeding, mating

feeding

Staging area in

May/June

Savoonga

Pugughileq

Gambell

Kiyalighaq

Northeast Cape

80 kilometers/50 miles

B e r i n g S e a

Saint Lawrence Island

Chukotka, Russia

Ecological Change

Impact/ Response

Mediator

e.g. politics, regulation, inertia

e.g. economic/social system, personal

choice, culture

e.g. climate

Mechanism Connecting Change to Impact

Angyaq

The Native people of Savoonga forever rely on marine mammals for food and domestic needs.

We will continue this tradition.

Hauling up a whale

Subsistence camp

Birds &Eggs 4%Reindeer

2%

Marine Mammals

88%

Moose0% Non-Salmon

Fish 4%Other Land

Mammals 0%

Plants &Berries 1%

Salmon1%

Savoonga Savoonga: 2005-2006 Percent total subsistence harvest

Zero days/wk0.0%

1 day/wk5%

2 days/wk2.1%

3 days/wk11.3%

4 days/wk14.9%

5 days/wk19.1%6 days/wk

5.0%

7 days/wk42.6%

2005-2006 Number of days per week use subsistence harvested foods, SavoongaSavoonga: 2005-2006 # days per week, subsistence food use

Satellite-tagged bowhead locations and MODIS sea ice imagesMarch 2009

The Tribe has regulated the taking of marine mammals in a respectful & non-wasteful manner (Consistent with MMPA, Constitution, and By-laws of the Native Village of Savoonga 1934)

Survival depends upon community cooperation and sharing the marine mammal harvest

All of our harvests!

Environmental• Loss of marine mammal habitat

• Less availability of marine subsistence resources

• Subsistence resources less accessible – less predictable

• Longer travel in open seas – increase cost / increase risk

• Health of marine resources

• Disease

• Changing ecosystem: “new” animals / competition

CONCERNS/THREATS

Industrial• Oil spills

• Ship strikes

• Acoustic disturbance / deflection

• Entanglement / marine trash

• Hazards to maritime subsistence activities

CONCERNS/THREATS

Environmental• Fall whaling (1990)

OPPORTUNITY

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Gambell

Savoonga

Ju

lian

da

teWhale harvest

OPPORTUNITY Industrial

• Direct communication with transiting vessels

• Training / education

• Mitigation measures

• Monitoring / other science opportunities

• Local employment

• Involvement in policy-making

• Tribal government representation

Acknowledgements• Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, Captains / Crews• Barrow Whaling Captains Association• Savoonga Whaling Captains Association• North Slope Borough, Wildlife Department• Mayor’s Office, North Slope Borough• University of Washington• Colorado State University• NOAA / National Marine Fisheries Service• Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game• Univ. of Alaska Fairbanks – Marine Advisory Program• Texas A&M University• BP and Conoco-Phillips

Igamsiqanaghalek!