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"Global Climate Change continues to be disputed and questioned, but changes in a variety of worldwide habitats proves that changes are occurring, and in some areas, at unprecedented rates. Both people and wildlife are affected by these changes, and as you'll see in this months article - the regions likely to be impacted the most are the coldest and most unforgiving climates. "
— Woodchuck
Native observations of change in the marine environment of the Bering Strait region
By Caleb Pungowiyi
 Since
the late 1970s, Alaska Natives in communities along the coast of the
northern Bering and Chukchi Seas have noticed substantial changes
in the ocean and the animals that live there. While we are used to
changes from year-to-year in weather, hunting conditions, ice patterns,
and animal populations, the past two decades have seen clear trends
in many environmental factors. If these trends continue, we can expect
major, perhaps irreversible, impacts to our communities.
Beginning in the late 1970s, the patterns of wind, temperature, ice,
and currents in the northern Bering and Chukchi Seas have changed.
The winds are stronger, commonly 15-25 mph, and there are fewer calm
days. The wind may shift in direction, but remains strong for long
periods. In spring, the winds change the distribution of the sea ice
and combine with warm temperatures to speed up the melting of ice
and snow. When the ice melts or moves away early, many marine mammals
go with it, taking them too far away to hunt.
From mid-July to September, there has been more wind from the south,
making for a wetter season. With less sea ice and more open water,
fall storms have become more destructive to the coastline. Erosion
has increased in many areas, including the locations of some villages,
such as Shishmaref and Kivalina, threatening houses and perhaps the
entire community. Wave action has changed some sandy beaches into
rocky ones, as the sand washes away. There have been no new sandy
beaches, but there are many new rocky ones.
 The
south shore of St. Lawrence Island has also been affected a great
deal by erosion in recent years. Some shallow spits that used to be
above water are now underwater, due perhaps to a combination of higher
water and erosion. The storms and high waves—up to 30 feet—also
change the sea bed near shore. After storms, kelp and other bottom-dwelling
plants and animals such as clams can be found washed up on the beach.
These disturbances to the bottom affect shallow feeders such as eiders.
Precipitation patterns have also changed. In the last two years, there
has been little snow in fall and most of the winter, but substantial
snowfall in late winter and early spring. In the winter of 1998–99,
the weather was cold so that the ice was thick, but there was no snow.
The lack of snow makes it difficult for polar bears and ringed seals
to make dens for giving birth or, in the case of male polar bears,
to seek protection from the weather. The lack of ringed seal dens
may affect the numbers and condition of polar bears, which prey on
ringed seals and often seek out the dens. Hungry polar bears may be
more likely to approach villages and encounter people.
Other marine mammals have been affected to greater or lesser degrees
by the changes in sea ice, wind, and temperature. The physical condition
of walrus was generally poor in 1996–98, as the animals were
skinny and their productivity was low. One cause was the reduced sea
ice, which forced the walrus to swim farther between feeding areas
in relatively shallow water and resting areas on the distant ice.
This is the pattern for females and young in summer, and when the
ice retreated far to the north in the Chukchi Sea, the animals suffered.
Males typically haul out on land, and may have eaten most of the food
near the haulouts, forcing them to go farther in search of clams.
Due to wave action and sedimentation, the productivity of the sea
bed may have declined, too, making it harder for walrus to find food.
In the spring of 1999, however, the walrus were in good condition
following a cold winter with good ice formation in the Bering Sea.
When the winter ice forms late and is too thin, walrus cannot haul
out and rest the way they need to, and they will be in poor condition
the following spring.
 Most
seals seem to be doing fairly well. Hunters have been having more
success hunting bearded seals lately. The seals are in good condition,
and it may be that there are more of them or that they are concentrated
in hunting areas for some reason. Spotted seals, on the other hand,
seem to have declined from the late 1960s/early 1970s to the present.
In 1996 and 1997, in which spring break-up came early, there were
more strandings of baby ringed seals on the beach. These weanlings
were probably left on their own too early. The mothers train their
young on the shorefast ice where they den, but if the ice melts, the
seals must abandon their dens early. Ringed seals seem to need more
time to train their young, and are greatly affected if spring is early.
There are fewer seals in the Nome area these days, perhaps as a result
of less shore ice for ringed seal dens.
There is no record of this type of extended change. In the 1880s,
during the time of the Great Famine in western Alaska, there were
very cold winters for a long period. The main factor in the famine
was the decimation of walrus and whale populations due to the commercial
harvest by Yankee whalers, but lots of ice and the long, cold winters
did not make things easier.
As we think about the future and where these trends may lead us, we
wonder what alternatives are available to Native villages in Alaska
and elsewhere in the Arctic. If marine mammal populations are no longer
available or accessible to our communities, what can replace them?
In the Great Famine, there were no alternatives to the food provided
by hunting and fishing. Today, there are stores with food and other
resources that can be harvested. A gradual change might give us time
to adjust, but a sudden shift might catch us unprepared and cause
great hardship. As managers, we need to think about the overall effects
on marine mammals and other resources. Some may adjust, but others
will not. The polar bear and walrus are likely to be the most affected.
With these thoughts in mind, we need to consider the potential emergencies
facing villages that depend so heavily on marine mammals. How can
we prepare ourselves, and how much can be done to prevent hardship?
Our ancestors taught us that the Arctic environment is not constant,
and that some years are harder than others. But they also taught us
that hard years are followed by times of greater abundance and celebration.
As we have found with other aspects of our culture's ancestral wisdom,
modern changes, not of our doing, make us wonder when the good years
will return.
This article was adapted from an article written by Caleb Pungowiyi.
The full article and links for additional information is available
on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website at:
http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/essay_pungowiyi.html
The author, Caleb Pungowiyi is Special Advisor on Native Affairs
for the Marine Mammal Commission, P.O. Box 217, Kotzebue, AK 99752,
USA
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