DOCSLIB.ORG

1987 Progress Report Pacific Walrus Harvest, Health and Welfare Study at Diomede, Alaska

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
1987 Progress Report Pacific Walrus Harvest, Health and Welfare Study at Diomede, Alaska 1987 PROGRESS REPORT PACIFIC WALRUS HARVEST, HEALTH AND WELFARE STUDY AT DIOMEDE, ALASKA By Susan A. Steinacher U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Marine Mammal Project 1011 E. Tudor Anchorage, Alaska 99503 ; Table of Contents. i Acknowledge~ents - . i i Abstract iii Introduction . i v Study Area 2 · t1ethods. 4 Orientation. 4 Housing and Food 4 Hunter Is r1ee ti ng 5 Harvest Data 5 Tooth Collection 5 Conta~ination Samples. 6 Results and Discussion 6 Housing and Food 6 Hunter 1 s tleeti ng 6 Nu~bers and Sex of Walrus Harvested. 7 Han Hours of Effort. 7 Weather, Ice and Hunting Patterns. 8 Tooth Collection .9 Other ttarine l"lammals Harvested 9 Contamination Samples. 9 Skin Boats 9 Tables .11 - 16 Literature Cited • 1 7 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I ar.1 not sure that the people of Di or.1ede realize hm>~ r.1uch more they have given me than just the answers to the questions I must ask for. the Fish and Hildlife Service. They have taken me into their hor.1es, graciously fed me their foods and patiently showed me and taught me the \'lays of their 1 ife. They have allowed me to feel a part of a culture very different from r.1y own, but even more importantly, they have he 1 ped r.1e to see ho\'1 a 1 ike we a 11 are. To everyone on Dionede, thank you. i i ABSTRACT During the 1987 spring walrus harvest, approximately 44 DioMede hunters expended 3,628.5 man hours in harvesting 334 walrus in 2~ hunting days between May 20 and July 1. Of these 344 walruses, 43 {12.8%) were males, 259 (77.5%) were females and 32 (9.8%) were calves. In addition, hunters harvested 16 bearded seals, three ringed seals, two polar bears and one sea lion. No ribbon seals, spotted seals or whales ~rere taken during the oonitoring progran. No data was collected on the number of seabirds or waterfotll harvested. A total of 72 pairs of teeth from adult \·lalruses were purchased fror.1 hunters; 15 {20.8%) were from ma 1es and 57 ( 79. 2%) \'iere from fema 1es. r~ore single teeth from adult female walruses "'ere also purchased. As part of a contaminant monitoring study samples of liver, blubber, kidney, muscle and rib were collected from one adult r.1ale walrus. Six crews hunted this year; four crews hunted exclusively from skin boats, one crew began the season using an aluminum boat but later switched to a skin boat, and one crew hunted exclusively from an aluminum boat. In the first half of the hunting season oost crews hunted to the south, southeast and southwest of Little Diomede Island, generally within a radius of 15 miles. Later in the season hunters also travelled north and east, "'ith a few crews travelling as far as 60 miles fror.1 the island. iii INTRODUCTION The U.S. Fish and \-lildlife Service (Service) conducted its eighth consecutive Pacific walrus harvest monitoring program at the Eskimo village of Diomede, Alaska, from 13 11ay to 8 July 1987. Currently, monitoring village harvests and purchasing specimens from hunters is the most effective method for determining harvest mortality and collecting biological data necessary for evaluating the health and welfare of the Pacific walrus. Data \·rere collected on the number, sex, age and location of \'lalrus harvested. Information related to the hunting effort made by the hunters was also recorded, regarftless of whether the hunt was successful or not. Pairs of lower canine teeth from adult walruses were purchased from boat captains. Tissue samples \rere collected from one male walrus as part of a contaminant monitoring program. A daily journal of activities was kept. Hunter participation in this program is totally voluntary. lvithout exception, every boat captain collected specimens for sale, and all boat captains and hunters congenially provided the necessary information. iv STUDY AREA Little Dior.~ede Island is located in the center of the Bering Straits, 41.6 km west of the Alaskan mainland and 45 km east of the Sovie·t Union mainland. The Chukchi Sea is to the north and the Bering Sea to the South. The island is 3.75 km east of the Soviet Union's Big Diomede Island with' the international dateline running North-South bet\·~een the two islands. The island is approximately 3 km in length, 1.5 km in width, steep-sided all around and flat on top. The village of Diomede is located on the \'lest side of the island at the water's edge. The population ef Diomede is approximately 160. There is an elementary and a high school, a village owned and operated store, one city office and one Native Corporation office, a small health clinic, a Catholic church, a small community hall, and approximately 35 hor.~es. There is electricity, but no indoor plumbing. During the \'linter, when the pack ice is solidly frozen, there is daily plane service. For more than half the year travel is by boat to the mainland or on the once-weekly mail helicopter. There is a tremendous reliance on the marine resource as ·a food supply and many of the traditional means of gathering, preparing and storing foods are still practiced. t1en hunt seals from the shoreline and on moving ice through the winter. In the open leads of early spring, beluga 1·1hales are sonetimes taken. In later spring, as the ice breaks up, walruses, bearded seals and other seals are hunted in skin boats. This is usually follm·1ed by gray whale hunting. In the summer the younger men maneuvere long handled nets to catch auklets in flight, and climb precipitous sea cliffs freehanded and with ropes collecting murre eggs. Younger children use slingshots and traps to hunt auklets, and collect their eggs amongst the boulders. In the fall young men hunt geese and cranes as they r.1igrate south. The wor.~en are busy year-round preparing the variey of game brought home by the hunters. t1eat is cut, dried, frozen or aged. t1eat and organ parts from marine mammals are eaten or used for some purpose. Blubber is fleshed from the seal and walrus hides and rendered into oil for eating and preserving foods in. Seal skins are soaked, dried and scrapped to be used for sewing hunting bags, sheaths, hunting pants, mittens, slippers and articles for sale. Walrus skins are carefully split and later sewn together by the women for the hunter's skin boats. In the su~er the women are often gone for nany hours picking 1·1i1 d growing plants from around the island to be eaten fresh or stored in seal oil for later use. There are only b1o full-time paid postions on Dior.~ede, \'lith a fe\'1 other part-tir.Je and seasonal positions available. 11ost families have at least one ivory carver, sometimes nore. Homen have also taken up carving. Ivory forms the basis for the village's economy. Carvings are traded for groceries, fuel oil, kerosene and Blazo (most cooking is done on Coleman stoves). Electric bills are paid for with carvings, and money is raised for entertainment (such as holiday feasts) through the sale of carvings traded for bingo cards. 1 To give an example of the cost of living on Diomede the following grocery and store item costs are provided: Flour $6.95 10 pounds Sugar 7.1 0 10 pounds Crisco 4.29 3 pound can Cornflakes 3.05 18 ounces box Orange juice 3.95 46 ounce can Tang 16.40 5 pound can Evaporated mild .95 13 ounce can Fresh milk not available tlotor gas $2.88 one gallon Stove oil 77.50 50 gallons Blazo 5.25 1 gallon Kerosene 5.15 1 gallon Remington 30-06 Springfield 180 grain core-lockt soft points $15.95 box Federal 270 ~vi nchester 150 grain soft-point hi -shock 19.52 box Remington 7mm Remington 175 grain core-lokt soft-point 17.25 box (If stor~ runs out special order costs approximately $10.00 additional) 2 t<1ETHODS Orientation Prior to departure to the villages, a 5 day orientation was conducted by the Service to a acquaint monitors with the objectives of the spring walrus harvest monitoring program to be conducted in Gambell, Savoonga, Nome, Hales and Little Diomede. Training included reviewing literature on walrus biology, past jurisdiction of walrus harvest management by the State of Alaska and the Service, the l·farine Mammal Protection Act, la\·IS pertaining to marine mamals, data collection objectives and techniques, housing and contract administration,•and discussions concerning life in a village. Housing and Food A small apartment with cooking facilities in the Inalik tJative Corporation building was leased from the Corporation for$ 30.00 per day. This price included electicity and water tokens. Storage space was nade available in another room at no charge. No laboratory space was need~d this year. Groceries ~rere purchased in advance and shipped to the village in addition to setting up an account for $400 worth of groceries at the village store. Hunters f-feeti ng Prior to the start of hunting; a meeting for all hunters \•tas announced on the television, posted at the store and Post Office, and discussed personally w.ith individuals. It was sponsored jointly with the village's Eskimo Walrus Commission (EWC) representative. The meeting objectives included; discussing the anti-walrus hunting campaign being launched by severa·l anir.1a.l-rights groups, and the political ramifi~ations of the upcoming reauthorization of the 1-fari ne f1ammal Protection Act U·U1PA) by Congress, presenting reports attesting to the size and health of the walrus herd; and reviewing the details of specimens and hunt-related information being collected this year.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Russian-American Long-Term Census of the Arctic:RUSALCA: Pacific-Arctic Research NEEDS
    Russian-American Long-term Census of the Arctic:RUSALCA: Pacific-Arctic Research NEEDS Time Series Measurements @ Regional & Fine Scales Sea Ice Extent & Thickness Wind Direction & Speed Currents & Productivity Flux measurements Biodiversity Change integrated with Marine mammal research * IPY Flagship Projects? Ice edge bio-physics (PAG) Pan-Arctic beluga tagging (GINR) The Pacific Region of the Arctic Shows Amplified Response to Global Change HOW DO RUSSIA AND THE USA, THE GATEKEEPERS OF THE PACIFIC GATEWAY TO THE ARCTIC, MOVE FORWARD TOGETHER? RUSALCA GOALS: 1. Take observations Where Arctic Sea Ice reduction is a Maximum 2. Monitor Fresh Water and Nutrient Fluxes and Transport Pathways Through the Pacific Gateway. 3. Monitor Ecosystem Indicators of Climate Change. 4. Improve Russian-U.S. Arctic Climate Science Relations 5. Explore the unknown Arctic Pacific Gateway GOAL 1 (Sea Ice Thinning Observations) GOAL 2: Fresh Water Fluxes- ?? pathways IncreasedIncreased FreshFresh WaterWater FlowFlow FromFrom thethe ArcticArctic toto thethe NorthNorth AtlanticAtlantic WhatWhat areare thethe pathwayspathways ofof freshfresh waterwater flowflow acrossacross thethe PacificPacific GatewayGateway ?? Bering Strait Measuring the Pacific Input to the Arctic via the Bering Strait Why? What? Who? Little Diomede Island, Bering Strait Gateway Flux Measurements via Long- term Moorings in Bering Strait From 1990 to 2005 T, S and velocity at 9m above bottom A1 = western Channel A2 = eastern Channel A3 = combination of A1/2 A3’ (up north) A4 = Alaskan Coastal Current Not all moorings are deployed all years! Sea Surface Temperature 26th August 2004, from MODIS/Aqua level 1 courtesy of Ocean Color Data Processing Archive, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, thanks to Mike Schmidt Grey arrow marks the Diomede Islands (Little and Big Diomede).
    [Show full text]
  • Download Itinerary
    SHOKALSKIY | WRANGEL ISLAND: ACROSS THE TOP OF THE WORLD TRIP CODE ACHEATW DEPARTURE 02/08/2021 DURATION 15 Days LOCATIONS Not Available INTRODUCTION Undertake this incredible expedition across the Arctic Circle. Experience the beauty of the pristine Wrangel and Herald islands, a magnificent section of the North-East Siberian Coastline that few witness. Explore the incredible wilderness opportunities of the Bering Strait where a treasure trove of Arctic biodiversity and Eskimo history await. ITINERARY DAY 1: Anadyr All expedition members will arrive in Anadyr; depending on your time of arrival you may have the opportunity to explore Anadyr, before getting to know your fellow voyagers and expedition team on board the Spirit of Enderby. We will depart when everybody is on board. DAY 2: Anadyrskiy Bay At sea today, there will be some briefings and lectures it is also a chance for some ‘birding’ cetacean watching and settling into ship life. Late this afternoon we plan to Zodiac cruise some spectacular bird cliffs in Preobrazheniya Bay. Copyright Chimu Adventures. All rights reserved 2020. Chimu Adventures PTY LTD SHOKALSKIY | WRANGEL ISLAND: ACROSS THE TOP OF THE WORLD TRIP CODE ACHEATW DAY 3: Yttygran and Gilmimyl Hot Springs DEPARTURE Yttygran Island is home to the monumental ancient aboriginal site known as Whale Bone Alley, where whale bones stretch along the beach for 02/08/2021 nearly half a kilometre. There are many meat pits used for storage and other remains of a busy DURATION whaling camp that united several aboriginal villages at a time. In one location, immense Bowhead Whale jawbones and ribs are placed 15 Days together in a stunning arch formation.
    [Show full text]
  • THE PACIFIC WALRUS by KARL W
    332 Oryx THE PACIFIC WALRUS By KARL W. KENYON During recent years there have been repeated reports of extravagant exploitation of the walrus by Eskimos and these have been strengthened by aerial observation of many headless carcasses on beaches of the Bering Sea. So in 1958 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service decided upon an inquiry into the Pacific Walrus, and its hunting and utilization by Eskimo in the Bering Sea region. Biologists from the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game co- operated in the work. Studies were conducted on St. Lawrence Island by Dr. Francis H. Fay and Mr. Averill Thayer, on Little Diomede Island by the late Mr. Stanley S. Fredericksen and the author, and on Round Island of the Walrus Islands in Bristol Bay, by Dr. Fay, Mr. James W. Brooks and the author. Dr. John L. Buckley of the Fish and Wildlife Service counted walruses on the ice of the northern Bering Sea from the air. The Eskimo hunters freely gave us their co-operation and good will, and this alone made the study possible. The economic incentive to exploit pinnipeds for oil and hides decreased after the chaotic slaughter of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries when many species were seriously depleted. During the present century those which have continued to yield valuable products, such as elephant seals (Mirounga) and fur seals (Callorhinus and Arctocephalus), have been conserved. The Pacific walrus occupies a unique position in that the demand for its ivory, both carved and unworked, or raw, has increased in recent years, whereas measures introduced for conservation of the walrus have not yet been effective.
    [Show full text]
  • Breeding Biology of the Horned Puffin on St. Lawrence Island, Bering Sea, with Zoogeographical Notes on the North Pacific Puffins I
    Pacific Science (1973), Vol. 27, No.2, p. 99-119 Printed in Great Britain Breeding Biology of the Horned Puffin on St. Lawrence Island, Bering Sea, with Zoogeographical Notes on the North Pacific Puffins I SPENCER G. SEALY' THE HORNED PUFFIN (Fratercula corniculata) is one of six species ofalcids which regularly nest on Sevuokuk Mountain, 3 km east of Gambell on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska (Fig. 1). During the summers of 1966 and 1967, I conducted on this island a study of the breeding ecology of three of these species, the Parakeet Auklet (Cyc/orrf?ynchuspsittacula), Crested Auklet (Aethia cristatella), and Least Auklet (A. pusilla) (see Sealy, 1968). During these summers some ob­ servations on the breeding biology of the Horn­ ed Puffin were obtained and are reported here. The only life history study ofthis species which spans the entire breeding season is that of Swartz (1966) in the Cape Thompson region, Alaska, some 560 km north of St. Lawrence Island (Fig. 2). Numerous studies of the biology of the con­ generic Common Puffin (Fratercula arctica) of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans are available (e.g., Lockley, 1953; Be1opol'skii, 1957; Uspen­ ski, 1958; Myrberget, 1959, 1961, 1962; Kartas­ chew, 1960; Nettleship, 1972; and others) and some of these will be utilized here for compara­ tive purposes. When available, comparative ob­ servations on the breeding biology of the other Pacific puffins, the Rhinoceros Auklet (Ceror­ hinca monocerata), which is actually a puffin (Storer, 1945), and the Tufted Puffin (Lunda cirrhata) will also be included. DISTRIBUTION The breeding distribution of the Horned Puffin has been mapped recently by Udvardy (1963: 105).
    [Show full text]
  • December 2018 Trends
    FROM THE COMMISSIONER Wrapping up four years of putting Alaska workers fi rst It has been the privilege of my • Merged two divisions and aggressively pursued life to serve as the commis- administrative effi ciencies that led to more grants sioner of Labor and Workforce for training Alaskans Development for the last four years in Gov. Bill Walker’s ad- • Contributed to the biggest year-to-year decrease ministration. I was honored to in proposed workers’ compensation rates in 40 do a job every day that aligns years through tireless efforts to increase effi ciency with my core values: ensure and lower medical costs in our workers’ compen- safety and health protections sation system for workers, advocate livable • Delivered major plans, including the Alaska LNG wages for families, and pro- Project Gasline Workforce Plan, the Alaska Ap- vide training opportunities that HEIDI DRYGAS prenticeship Plan, and the addendum to the equip Alaskans for jobs right Commissioner Alaska CTE Plan here in Alaska. • Passed AO 286 to ensure law-abiding state con- I cannot thank our department tractors are not outbid by unscrupulous bidders staff enough for their dedication to our mission and for who cut costs by deliberately or repeatedly depriv- their hard work these past four years despite challeng- ing employees of basic rights ing fi scal conditions. From division directors to frontline staff, I could not be prouder of what we’ve achieved • Eliminated subminimum wage for workers with together. disabilities These past few weeks, I’ve paused to refl ect and ap- These are just a few of our many accomplishments preciate the remarkable change for good the depart- since we took offi ce, and we made this signifi cant ment has delivered on behalf of Alaska’s workers: progress despite a 38 percent cut to our unrestricted general fund budget.
    [Show full text]
  • Siberian Coast & Polar Bears of Wrangel Island, Russia
    Siberian Coast & Polar Bears of Wrangel Island, Russia Aboard the Spirit of Enderby July 24–August 6, 2013 Tuesday / Wednesday July 23 / July 24 – Anadyr, Russia Arrival Over several days, North American trip participants slowly began to arrive in Nome, Alaska for our charter flights to Anadyr, Russia. Participants from other parts of the world made their way to Anadyr through Moscow. Altogether, passengers included passport holders from 11 countries. Many people had flown into Nome several days early, rented cars, and driven the local roads in search of accessible musk oxen in the meadows near town, Pacific and red-throated loons in small tundra ponds, and gulls, ducks and shorebirds along the coast. On July 23, most of our group consolidated their luggage in our Nome hotel lobby and had it loaded on a truck to be taken to our charter airline hangar, while we followed in a bus with our camera gear. Thick fog was drifting along the coast and, when we reached the hanger, we were informed the Nome Airport was closed to inbound air traffic. That posed no real problem for us because our small airplanes were already at the hangar in Nome, on stand-by and readily available, and, since the fog was intermittent, it seemed certain we would have almost no problem departing to Russia. A breakfast buffet was arranged in the hangar and we were regaled by local Nome personality Richard Beneville—who also organized our land-based transportation—with his tales of moving to Nome following his life as a theater actor in New York City and anecdotes of his decades-long life in hardscrabble Nome.
    [Show full text]
  • Report of Survey and Inventory Activities, Walrus Studies
    ll'tl-LKl"l'-'llul'\ L.r-rt1,..Lr-. I <; E SECTILI'• Al.if <; G JlJM:AlJ ALASKA DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME J UN E A U, AL AS KA STATE OF ALASKA William A. Egan, Governor DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME James W. Brooks, Commissioner DIVISION OF GAME Frank Jones, Director RE P 0 RT 0 F S uRV E Y & I NV E NT 0 RY AC T I VI T I ES WALRUS STUDIES by John J. Burns Volume I Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Project W-17-3, Job 8.0 and Project W-17-4, Job 8.0 (1st half) Persons are free to use material in these reports for educational or informational purposes. However, since most reports treat only part of continuing studies, persons intending to use this material in scientific publications should obtain prior permission from the Department of Fish and Game. In all cases tentative conclusions should be identified as such in quotation, and due credit would be appreciated. (Printed January, 197J) SURVEY-INVENTORY PROGRESS REPORT State: Alaska Cooperators: Alexander Akeya, Savoonga; Rae Baxter, Alaska Department of Fish and Game; Carl Grauvogel, Alaska Department of Fish and Game; Edward Muktoyuk, Alaska Department of Fish and Game; Robert Pegau, Alaska Department of Fish and Game; and Vernon Slwooko, Gambell Project Nos • : W-17-3 & Project Title: Marine Mammal S&I W-17-4 Job No.: Job Title: Walrus Studies Period Covered: July l, 1970 to December 31, 1971. SUMMARY The 1971 harvest of walruses in Alaska was 1915 animals. Of these, 1592 (83%) were bulls, 254 (13%) cows and 69 (4%) calves of either sex.
    [Show full text]
  • Friendship Flight #1 ALASKA Lilstorical LIBRARY
    Friendship Flight #1 ALASKA lilSTORICAL LIBRARY Governor Steve Cowper Nome, Alaska to Provideniya, U.S.S.R. June 13, 1988 r---------i 1~~!I!~~~I~I~I!i~~!'P Friendship Flight Governor Steve Cowper . ~ . " . ,'. .; . : .....; .' ',".,. ',' . ': .' ..~,...-, .. .' ~ Flight Schedule Alaska Friendship I Aircraft: 740 AS All Passenger: 80 passengers Captains: Steve Day, Captain in Charge; Terry Smith, Co-pilot Depart Anchorage: 7:50 a.m. June 13, 1988 Arrive Nome: 9:15 a.m. June 13, 1988 Depart Nome: 10:15 a.m. June 14, 1988 Arrive USSR: 8:00 a.m. June 14, 1988 Depart USSR: 8:00 p.m. June 14, 1988 Arrive Nome: 11:45 p.m. June 14, 1988 Depart Nome: 12:45 a.m. June 14, 1988 Arrive Anchorage: 2:05 a.m. June 14, 1988 Ptovidetuya Itinerary June 14, 1988 8:00 - 9:00 a.m. Arrival. Welcome and drive from airport to Provideniya. Division into groups with identified leaders. 9:00- 12:00 p.m. Groups of 20 tour musuem, leather factory, port and kindergarten. 12:00 - 2:00 p.m. Lunch, visit stores. 2:00- 5:00 p.m. Afternoon sessions (similar to morning tours with addition of industry and interests specific groups meeting). National concert/Native dance troupe (Siberian and Alaskan performers). 5:00 -7:00 p.m. Official banquet: toasts, gift and letter exchanges, personal greetings. 7:00 p.m. Return to airplane and board for Nome. Ibge2 Messagefrom Governor Steve Cowper Forty years ago, a barrier fell across the harshest environments. That they have been Bering Strait, closing a bridge between divided these past 40 years by international continents that had stretched for many tensions half a world removed from their own thousands of years.
    [Show full text]
  • The Arctic Ahead Conservation and Management in Arctic Alaska Milo Burcham
    2016 April The Arctic Ahead Conservation and Management in Arctic Alaska Milo Burcham Produced in collaboration with Ocean Conservancy works with people around the world to protect the ocean from today’s greatest global challenges. Working together, we create science- based solutions for a healthy ocean and the wildlife and communities that depend on it. Ocean Conservancy The Arctic Ahead: Conservation and Management in Arctic Alaska | 2 Suggested citation: Hartsig, A. 2016. The Arctic Ahead: Conservation and Management in Arctic Alaska. Ocean Conservancy, Washington, D.C., 94 p. Ocean Conservancy The Arctic Ahead: Conservation and Management in Arctic Alaska | 3 Introduction Bob Wick (BLM) Introduction In recent years, Arctic wildlife and Arctic peoples such as Point Thomson near the border of the have faced rapid and dramatic environmental Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In 2015, oil and changes related to global climate change. While gas companies proposed development plans for the region has always experienced fluctuations, prospects in federal waters in the Beaufort Sea³ and the changes taking place now are happening at announced the first production from leases in the an unprecedented pace and scale. The Arctic is federal National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A).⁴ recognized as one of the fastest-warming regions on Hundreds of oil and gas leases in the Chukchi Sea⁵ the globe. Air and sea temperatures are rising, tundra remain on the books, even if oil companies have no fires are occurring more frequently, ocean waters immediate plans to explore in that region. In addition are becoming more acidic, seasonal sea ice cover to oil and gas activities, vessel traffic in the Arctic is is diminishing, permafrost is thawing and coastal increasing⁶ as ships take advantage of increasingly erosion is increasing.
    [Show full text]
  • Across the Top of the World
    EXPEDITION DOSSIER 22ND JULY – 5TH AUGUST 2019 ACROSS THE TOP OF THE WORLD TO WRANGEL AND HERALD ISLANDS © J Ross TO WRANGEL AND ACROSS THE TOP OF THE WORLD HERALD ISLANDS This unique expedition crosses the Arctic Circle and includes the isolated and pristine Wrangel and Herald Islands and a significant section of the wild North Eastern Siberian coastline. It is a journey only made possible in recent years by the thawing in the politics of the region and the retreat of summer pack ice in the Chukchi Sea. The very small distance between Russia and the USA along this border area was known as the Ice Curtain, behind which then and now lies one of the last great undiscovered wilderness areas in the world. The voyage journeys through the narrow Bering Strait, which separates Russia from the United States of America, and then travels west along the Chukotka coastline before crossing the De Long Strait to Wrangel Island. There we will spend four to five days under the guidance of local rangers on the nature reserve. Untouched by glaciers during the last ice age, this island is a treasure trove of Arctic biodiversity and is perhaps best known for the multitude of Polar Bears that breed here. We hope to catch many glimpses of this beautiful animal. The island also boasts the world’s largest population of Pacific Walrus and lies near major feeding grounds for the Gray Whales that migrate thousands of kilometres north from their breeding grounds in Baja, Mexico. Reindeer, Musk Ox and Snow Geese can normally be seen further inland.
    [Show full text]
  • Trophics, and Historical Status of the Pacific Walrus
    MODERN POPULATIONS, MIGRATIONS, DEMOGRAPHY, TROPHICS, AND HISTORICAL STATUS OF THE PACIFIC WALRUS by Francis H. Fay with Brendan P. Kelly, Pauline H. Gehnrich, John L. Sease, and A. Anne Hoover Institute of Marine Science University of Alaska Final Report Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment Program Research Unit 611 September 1984 231 TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Page ABSTRACT. .237 LIST OF TABLES. c .239 LIST OF FIGURES . .243 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . ● . ● . ● . ● . 245 I. INTRODUCTION. ● ● . .246 A. General Nature and Scope of Study . 246 1. Population Dynamics . 246 2. Distribution and Movements . 246 3. Feeding. .247 4. Response to Disturbance . 247 B. Relevance to Problems of Petroleum Development . 248 c. Objectives. .248 II. STUDY AREA. .250 111. SOURCES, METHODS, AND RATIONALE OF DATA COLLECTION . 250 A. History of the Population . 250 B. Distribution and Composition . 251 c. Feeding Habits. .255 D. Effects of Disturbance . 256 IV. RESULTS . .256 A. Historical Review . 256 1. The Russian Expansion Period, 1648-1867 . 258 2. The Yankee Whaler Period, 1848-1914 . 261 233 TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) Section w 3. From Depletion to Partial Recovery, 1900-1935 . 265 4. The Soviet Exploitation Period, 1931-1962 . 268 5. The Protective Period, 1952-1982 . 275 B. Distribution and Composition . 304 1. Monthly Distribution . 304 2. Time of Mating . .311 3. Location of the Breeding Areas . 312 4. Time and Place of Birth . 316 5. Sex/Age Composition . 318 c. Feeding Habits. .325 1. Winter, Southeastern Bering Sea . 325 2. Winter, Southwestern Bering Sea . 330 3. Spring, Eastern Bering Sea . 330 4. Summer , Chukchi Sea . .337 5. Amount Eaten in Relation to Age, Sex, Season .
    [Show full text]
  • Can You Really See Russia from Alaska? Well, Yes
    Can You Really See Russia From Alaska? Well, yes. But not in the way you would think. THE DIOMEDE ISLANDS A A D Located in the center of the Bering Straight C S N and separated by the International Date Line, A Big Diomede t C igh tra g S two tiny islands show how close Russia and rin Be Alaska truly are. A thick fog typically blankets the islands. However, on a clear day, one can 2 stand on the shore of Little Diomede and see RSSA .5 Little Diomede mi Russian territory in the horizon. During the ht A ig a K months of January through June, you can even r t S S A L walk to Big Diomede accross the frozen head- g A n i r waters. But, it’s not as though one can see e B into the heart of Russia. Big Diomede is home ht traig to a lone weather station, and the land beyond Bering S holds a massive, desolate expanse known as the Chukotka autonomous district. ska Gulf of Ala A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE S This map may look more familiar to you than the map shown to the left. That’s because we are accus- tomed to maps centered on the prime meridian, a line of longi- tude running through London. At a quick glance, Russia and Alaska appear to be far apart. However, we know this isn’t the case. The Russia-Alaska map is centered on the Bering Straight. This pro- jection makes it easier for us to 55 miles 110 discern distances on a part of the The narrowest stretch along the Bering Straight, The number of Alaskan residents living on Little globe we don’t normally look at.
    [Show full text]