The Last Bowhead Census
The Last Bowhead Census
"Unfortunately, the 2019 survey is likely the 'last' ice-based census, maybe ever," Craig George wrote in an email. "It’s just so darn unpredictable and expensive that we’ll likely move to other methods to estimate bowhead abundance."
In the 1970s the International Whaling Commission was going to shut down the harvest of Bowheads by indigenous groups, including the Inupiat, due to uncertainty about how many were left. A young Geoff Carroll, a biologist in the North Slope Borough Wildlife Department (shown in these photos, albeit not so young anymore), realized that the Bowheads could be counted as they migrated past Point Barrow from the Chukchi to Beaufort Seas.
Geoff, Craig George, and colleagues began counting every year, with the frequency of the counts decreasing in later years. Their methods were low-tech - the stood on the ice in shifts, watching for whales and counting them as they swam past. They were able to show a steadily growing Bowhead population, and the IWC agreed not to ban traditional whaling by the Inupiat.
"It’s a great story and worth telling," Craig continued, "and the story has a happy ending - so far. No telling what the arctic will be like in 50 years."
It's getting dangerous to be out on the sea ice. It's much less stable than it used to be, and it breaks up much earlier than it used to. The 2019 survey ended with no one getting hurt. "I should be ecstatic but sure wish the conditions had been better," Craig wrote. "the perches fell apart on us towards the end of the season... [then] the leads opened up over 50 miles wide which moved whales far offshore (I think)."
Geoff and Craig co-managed the census for over 30 years, with far more than their share of harrowing tales from the ice. "He's my best friend," Geoff said, adding "he saved my life." He was probably referring to an incident in the 80s when Craig shot a polar bear after Geoff broke his shotgun over its nose.
These photos, taken in just two afternoons, cover two lifetimes spent on the ice. It's a story of indigenous rights, traditions, science, climate change, and friendship. They haven't been published anywhere.