NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-AFSC-127

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

National Marine Fisheries Service

Alaska Fisheries Science Center

April 2002

by

W. M. Marquette

Annotated Bibliography of the Bowhead

Whale, Balaena mysticetus, 1767-1983
NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS

The National Marine Fisheries Service's Alaska Fisheries Science Center

uses the NOAA Technical Memorandum series to issue informal scientific

and technical publications when complete formal review and editorial

processing are not appropriate or feasible. Documents within this series

reflect sound professional work and may be referenced in the formal scientific

and technical literature.

The NMFS-AFSC Technical Memorandum series of the Alaska Fisheries

Science Center continues the NMFS-F/NWC series established in 1970 by

the Northwest Fisheries Center. The new NMFS-NWFSC series will be used

by the Northwest Fisheries Science Center.

This document should be cited as follows:

Marquette, W. M. 2002. Annotated bibliography of the bowhead

whale, Balaena mysticetus, 1767-1983. U.S. Dep. Commer., NOAA

Tech. Memo. NMFS-AFSC-127, 326 p.

 

Reference in this document to trade names does not imply endorsement by

the National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA.
April 2002

NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-AFSC-127

by

W. M. Marquette

National Marine Mammal Laboratory, retired

Annotated Bibliography of the Bowhead

Whale, Balaena mysticetus, 1767-1983

Alaska Fisheries Science Center

7600 Sand Point Way N.E.

Seattle, WA 98115

www.afsc.noaa.gov

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Donald L. Evans, Secretary

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Scott B. Gudes, Acting Under Secretary and Administrator

National Marine Fisheries Service

William T. Hogarth, Assistant Administrator for Fisheries
This document is available to the public through:

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iii 

CONTENTS 

Introduction .................................................................................................................. iii 

Scope .......................................................................................................................... iii 

Acknowledgement ....................................................................................................... v 

Index to Keyword categories ....................................................................................... vi 

Abbreviations used in text ........................................................................................... viii 

References .................................................................................................................. 1 

Index ............................................................................................................................ 325 

Introduction 

 The bowhead whale, Balaena mysticetus, is now an endangered species following an 

intensive commercial fishery for this cetacean for about 300 years, first in the North Atlantic 

Arctic from 1610 to 1910, then in the North Pacific Arctic from 1848 to 1910. The intensive 

annual hunt by hundreds of whaling vessels reduced the estimated residual bowhead 

population in the North Atlantic Ocean to a few hundred animals and that in the North Pacific 

Ocean to one or two thousand. 

 Because of the precarious status of the bowhead, beginning in 1972 the Scientific 

Committee of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) expressed concern about the lack 

of information on the status of the western Arctic bowhead, especially because of the 

continuing annual harvest by Alaskan Eskimos for subsistence and cultural purposes. The 

IWC was specifically concerned by the lack of information on population abundance, on the 

size of and trends in the subsistence harvest, and on the number of whales which were 

struck and lost during the hunt. As part of a research program begun in 1973 by the National 

Marine Mammal Laboratory, an extensive search of the literature was conducted to obtain 

information needed by scientists studying the natural history and historical record of the 

shore-based whaling effort and catch for this endangered species. References on 

commercial whaling also were collected. The results of the literature search are presented 

here as an annotated bibliography of selected references on the bowhead whale covering the 

period of 1767 to 1983. 

Scope 

 The principal objective of this bibliography is to reference early day sources generally not 

familiar to or readily available by the public. The list is not comprehensive because of 

constraints on time, travel and funds. Many of the references cited were written by first-hand 

observers and therefore present original and unique observations on the natural history and 

behavior of bowhead whales. Additionally, references were selected from as broad a range of 

sources as possible to provide a survey of the various disciplines containing information on 

the bowhead. Also, since it was desirable to present a wide range of articles, it was not 

practical to list a complete series for each (e.g., a list of works by each author). Lastly, 

because of the increasing tempo of research conducted by numerous principals beginning in 
iv 

the late 1970s, which was accompanied by a plethora of literature, the bibliography does not 

include articles produced beyond 1983. 

 Because so few publications dealing specifically with the natural history of bowheads 

have been produced in past years, it has been necessary to examine a multitude of articles of 

diverse origins and topics to compile fragments of information useful to the various ongoing 

studies of this cetacean. Some examples of written material containing information on 

bowheads includes letters, diaries, journals, logbooks, school newspapers, newspapers, 

church records, miscellaneous reports, periodicals, books and scientific papers, published 

and unpublished. The subject content in these references ranges from a single statement to a 

general discussion of whales and whaling. The references concentrate primarily on bowhead 

whales and whaling in the western Arctic (Bering, Okhotsk, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas), but 

several from other regions of the Arctic also have been included. 

 This compilation of selected references chronicles the beginning and ending of the 

commercial fishery for bowhead whales in the western Arctic from the early 1840s to about 

1910. This fishery was so intense that in a mere 50 years the bowhead population, estimated 

to originally number between 10,000 to 20,000 whales, was reduced nearly to extinction. 

 This bibliography also provides a collection of references from diverse sources on 

Eskimo whaling for bowhead whales. Important information collected includes data on 

whaling locations, seasons, numbers of crews, whaling gear used, numbers of whales 

captured and for those struck but lost or killed and lost. Also, information was noted on whale 

products obtained and how they were utilized by the natives. 

 Several references pertaining to ethnological studies of Eskimos during the period also 

have been noted. Many references reveal how seriously the natives were impacted, both 

culturally and in their subsistence patterns, by the severe reduction of the bowhead 

population by commercial whaling. Some references may be anecdotal in nature but they 

provide insight into the complicated Eskimo culture during an important time when outsiders 

(whalemen, explorers, missionaries, etc.) began to exert considerable influence upon this 

previously isolated population. Sources of this information may be located and expanded 

upon by exploring those noted in the acknowledgement section of this publication. 

 Information in some references occasionally has been cited verbatim because of the 

uniqueness of content or method of presentation, some of which may require a bit of 

interpretation by the reader. Also, since Eskimos did not have a written language until 

modern times, early day authors used phonetic spelling for native words, a practice that 

resulted in a variety of spellings for the same subjects. Additionally, an anonymous author 

category has been avoided when possible in favor of designating the publisher as the author 

to expedite location of such material. 

 The reader should be aware that numerous colloquial names have been given to 

bowhead whales and caution is required when reading some accounts, especially for 

references to “right whale(s)” or “whale(s)”. The term right whale generally was used by 

whalemen to denote the bowhead because of its abundant oil and baleen, it was relatively 

timid and easy to kill, and it usually floated when dead so it was the right whale to kill. 

 In conclusion, the annotations in this bibliography reflects only that information which the 

articles contain on bowhead whales, they do not necessarily represent a complete summary 

of the reference. To reiterate, the information presented herein includes only that on the 
v 

natural history of bowhead whales and data on the whale fishery by both natives and 

commercial whalers for this species, with emphasis on early day literature. 

Acknowledgements 

 I am deeply grateful to Jeffrey M. Breiwick for his enthusiasm and technical assistance 

with this publication, and to Douglas P. DeMaster for his advice, both of whom have made it 

possible for me to bring this bibliography to fruition. I also wish to thank Roger Pearson who 

gave initial guidance for the format, and to Leola Hietala whose conscientious support in all 

phases of the writing is sincerely appreciated. Thanks also are due to Paul Macy and Sherry 

Pearson (Smrstik), former librarian, National Marine Mammal Laboratory, for providing 

assistance with the Russian literature. Thanks are also due to Gary Duker and staff, 

Publications Unit editors, for their generous support and advice in finalizing this bibliography. 

 I also wish to express my gratitude to the staff of various institutions for the assistance 

given to me. In Seattle, Washington: Pat Cook, librarian, Northwest and Alaska Fisheries 

Science Center Library, and Sonja Kromann, librarian, National Marine Mammal Laboratory, 

Alaska Fisheries Science Center; the libraries and archives sections at the University of 

Washington (Suzallo, Fisheries-Oceanography Library and School of Medicine), and the U.S. 

National Archives and Records Administration. In Edmonds, Washington: Marty Loken and 

Sharon Samples, Northwest and Alaska Publishing Company (now located at Anchorage, 

Alaska). In Juneau, Alaska: James W. Brooks, Regional Office, National Marine Fisheries 

Service; Verda Carey, Alaska State Library. In Fairbanks, Alaska: Marvin Falk, library and 

archive section, University of Alaska. In Barrow, Alaska: Lizbeth Langston, librarian, Naval 

Arctic Research Laboratory (now closed, library at University of Alaska, Fairbanks). 

 Special thanks go to Clifford H. Fiscus, Robert V. Miller, Dale W. Rice, and Allan A. 

Wolman, National Marine Mammal Laboratory, Seattle, Washington, for making publications 

in their private libraries available for my use during the preparation of this bibliography. 

 During the assembly phase of this bibliography several individuals generously provided 

assistance and also are due thanks: T. F. Albert, J. R. Bockstoce, H. W. Braham, J. J. Burns, 

G. Carroll, S. V. Cuccarese, M. E. Dahlheim, R. B. Dronenburg, F. E. Durham, C. D. Evans, 

F. H. Fay, M. A. Fraker, R. M. Gilmore, G. Y. Harry, Jr., G. H. Jarrell, C. J. Keim, I. I. Krupnik, 

J. S. Leatherwood, D. K. Ljungblad, L. F. Lowry, F. A. Milan, E. D. Mitchell, G. Mueller, R. K. 

Nelson, D. J. Rugh, G. A. Seaman, S. Stoker and M. F. Tillman. In the event I neglected to 

include the name(s) of anyone that assisted me in this endeavor, my sincere apologies for 

the oversight. 
vi 

Index to KEYWORD Categories 

ANTHROPOLOGY 

Alaskan Eskimos, nutrition, culture 

ARCHAEOLOGY 

Artifacts (also see Field & Laboratory Techniques: museums, and Whaling: gear). 

BEHAVIOR 

Acoustics, swimming, respiration (or respiratory), breaching, communication, vocalization, hearing, diving, 

maternal, ice breaking, reactions, parasite removal, interaction with whaling boat, pursued, migration – 

home range, movements, timing, patterns, segregated, schooling, sightings, relationship with other species 

(animals) 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Authors of, subject matter, biographical 

DISTRIBUTION 

Former and present – sightings, carcasses, specimens, factors affecting, limiting and changing, differential, 

habitat, oil exploration effects, history – affecting 

ETHNOLOGY 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES 

Age determination 

census – aerial, vessel, counting stations 

devices – tracing, activity recording, acoustics, photography 

experimental techniques 

field recognition – characteristic signs of activity, coloration, scars, voice 

marking and tagging – marks, tags, radio tags 

measurement – data recording, physical and chemical properties 

miscellaneous – specimens collected 

museums – artifacts, baleen, skeletal parts 

GROWTH 

Length, periodic, maximum attained, age 

IDENTITY 

Description 

Nomenclature – common and scientific, names, ingutuk, Eskimo names 

Races or subspecies – genetics, karyotyping 

Taxonomy – classifications, systematics 

MORPHOLOGY (Form and structure without regard to function) 

Measurements – body, parts, estimated weight 

Anatomy – histology, comparative serology, cytomorphology, chromosomes-no., etc. 

Structure – baleen, skeleton, coloration 

NUTRITION 

Food 

Feeding behavior 

Feeding ground 

PATHOLOGY 

Abnormality 

Disease 

Injuries – scars, wounds 

Parasites 

Pollution – effects 

PHYSIOLOGY (functions and vital processes) 

Alimentary – digestion & absorption, blood & lymphatic 

Endocrines 

Excretory 

Integument – skin, glands 

Metabolism and diving 

Muscle 
vii 

Nerve 

Receptors 

Respiratory 

Thermoregulation 

POPULATION 

Abundance & density – status, numbers observed 

Age composition 

Age dynamics 

Recruitment – theory, calculated, calf counts 

Sex ratios – sex of whales caught 

Size composition – calves, young, adult (or small, medium, large) 

Mortality 

 Natural – entrapment in ice, strandings (and utilization by people, etc.) 

 Whaling – struck/lost, killed/lost, stinkers, numbers of whales captured, entrapped in nets 

PREDATORS & COMPETITORS 

Scavenging 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION 

Conservation – Greenpeace, etc. 

Legislation 

Management – quotas for harvest 

Regulation – Acts, Treaties, Governments, Eskimo self-regulation 

Research agencies 

REPRODUCTION 

Anatomy 

Embryology 

Fecundity 

Gestation 

Lactation 

Mating & fertilization 

Maturation 

Parturition 

Periodicity – seasonal and timing 

Sex ratio (see Population) 

Aberrant phenomena 

SKELETAL REMAINS (Also see Archaeology, Field & Laboratory Techniques, Morphology) 

Beachcast 

Utilization (also see: Whaling: utilization) 

WHALING 

History 

Geographical areas: 

 Western Arctic = Bering, Chukchi, Beaufort, Okhotsk, East Siberian, Laptev 

 Eastern Arctic = Atlantic, Barents, Kara 

Gear – boats, floats, weapons, cost, tools 

Native – crews, techniques, costs 

Shore stations 

Catch – statistics on whales caught, oil, baleen products, recorded by Eskimos 

Film, photographs & drawings – whales, equipment 

Utilization – food, houses, implements, fuel, illumination, trade, products (oil, baleen, bones, etc.), arts & 

crafts, alternate food sources 
viii 

Abbreviations used in text 

AACS Army Alaska Communications System 

ADF&G Alaska Department of Fish and Game 

AEWC Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission 

ArCon Advanced Research Consultants 

ARL Arctic Research Laboratory 

AVEC Alaska Village Electric Cooperative 

BLM Bureau of Land Management 

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid 

DNR Department of Natural Resources (Alaska) 

EDF Environmental Defense Fund 

FAO Food and Agriculture Organization (United Nations) 

ICAS Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope 

ICC Inuit Circumpolar Conference 

IWC International Whaling Commission 

MMD Marine Mammal Division 

NARL Naval Arctic Research Laboratory 

NMFS National Marine Fisheries Service 

NMML National Marine Mammal Laboratory 

NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

NSB North Slope Borough 

OCS Outer Continental Shelf 

OCSEAP Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment Program 

RNA Ribonucleic acid 

SDARL Science Director, Arctic Research Laboratory 

TLUI Traditional Land Use Inventory 

USC University of Southern California 

USCGC United States Coast Guard Cutter 
1 

References 

ABBOTT, JEANNE (Anchorage Daily News). 

1978. U.S. bowhead regulations up for review. Tundra Times, Fairbanks, AK, Mar. 15, 

15(11):16. 

Summarizes the imposition of regulations on the Alaskan Eskimo hunt for bowhead whales by the 

International Whaling Commission and the U.S. government. The village allocation during 1978 is: 

Kaktovik, one whale landed or two struck, whichever occurs first; Nuiqsut, 1-2; Barrow, 3-3; 

Wainwright, 2-2; Point Hope, 2-2; Kivalina, 1-2; Gambell, 1-2; Savoonga, 1-2; Wales, zero. Federal 

officials said the Eskimo Whaling Commission was instrumental in helping develop the regulations. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION-management, regulation; WHALING-western Arctic, native. 

ABDELBAKI, Y. Z., W. G. HENK, J. T. HALDIMAN, R. W HENRY, F. K. AL-BAGDADI, and 

D. W. DUFFIELD. 

1980. Morphology of the kidney of the bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) of Alaska. 

(Abstr.) Am. Zool. 20(4):963. 

“The gross, subgross, light and electron microscopic morphology of chunks of kidney from 6 Eskimo 

harvested bowheads is being studied. Preliminary findings show that the bowhead kidney, as that of 

other cetaceans, is highly lobulated. The renicules range from 8.3-14.1 mm in diameter. On the 

other hand, it is different from those of other cetaceans as follows: 1) the renicules are each almost 

completely invested with relatively thick peritoneal coverings with an extensive layer of areolar CT, 2) 

two renal papillae may share one calyx, 3) the intrarenicular sporta muscularis does not contain any 

muscle fibers, and 4) extensive branching large diameter and thin walled veins course along side 

renicular arteries and ureteral branches. This results in complete investment of these structures by 

veins. It is hoped that the significance of these comparative findings will be understood after more 

detailed studies are completed.” (From author's abstract.) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-anatomy. 

ABEGGLEN, CARL E. 

1977. Sea mammals: resources and population. In Melvin L. Merritt and R. Glen Fuller 

(editors), The environment of Amchitka Island, Alaska, p. 493-510. U.S. Energy 

Res. Dev. Admin., Div. Mil. Appl. Available U.S. Dep. Commer., Natl. Tech. Inf. 

Serv., Springfield, VA 22161, as TID-26712. 

Archaeological and historic data on animal populations indicate that the species formerly present 

were the same as those present today. The bowhead whale is extremely rare in the Aleutians. 

Bowheads (p. 505) spend the winter in the loose southern edge of pack ice, which usually extends 

across the central Bering Sea from Kuskokwim Bay to the northern shores of Kamchatka Peninsula. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-Bering Sea, winter. 
2 

ACHICHA, JIMMY No. 1. 

1910. Business letters from two Eskimos. The Nome Daily Nugget, Nome, Alaska. 

December 21, 11(7):4. 

In a letter to a business associate in Nome, the writer, a Point Hope resident, stated “Cape Simpty 

people killed two big whales this fall.” [No other information included on the location, which may be 

Cape Simpson, east of Barrow, since whales were taken during the fall.] 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea, native, catch. 

ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA. 

1981. San Diego workshop on the interaction between man-made noise and vibration 

and Arctic marine wildlife, February 25-29, 1980. Unpub. rep. by Acoust. Soc. 

Am., [Washington, D.C.], for Alaska Eskimo Whaling Comm., Barrow, AK 99723. 84 

p. 

Results of workshop convened at request of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission to assess the 

state of knowledge of the effects of man-made noise and vibration on Arctic marine wildlife, and to 

recommend a research plan to provide the information required for assessing potential 

environmental impacts. Subject groups consisted of Biology and Bioacoustics; Arctic Environment, 

Engineering, and Acoustics; and Conservation Policies and Programs. Biological information on the 

bowhead whale is summarized (p. 6-7), but the frequency range of maximum acoustic sensitivity for 

the species is not known (p. 21). Appendix 2 contains abstracts (11 refer specifically to bowheads) 

of invited and contributed presentations by individuals. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration, acoustics; DISTRIBUTION–present, Bering, Chukchi, Beaufort Seas, sightings; FIELD & 

LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–acoustics; MORPHOLOGY–length at sexual maturity and birth; NUTRITION–food; 

REPRODUCTION–mating, gestation, birth, lactation, reproductive cycle, sexual maturity; WHALING–native, Bering, Chukchi, 

Beaufort Seas. 

ADAMS, JACOB. 

1979. The IWC and bowhead whaling: An Eskimo perspective. Orca 1(1):11-12. 

Adams, a 31-year old Inupiat Eskimo resident of Barrow, Alaska, Chairman of the Alaska Eskimo 

Whaling Commission (AEWC) and a whaling captain, reviews the dilemma facing the Eskimos who 

favor continuation of their subsistence and cultural hunt for the bowhead whale as opposed to 

concerns by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and the United States Government for the 

preservation of the bowhead population. The U.S. proposal at the 1978 meeting of the IWC to limit 

the harvest level at 2% of the population estimate was rejected by the IWC, voting instead to grant 

the Eskimos 18 whales for 1979 (and 2 additional whales for 1978), less than two-thirds of the 

Eskimo declared needs for subsistence. The AEWC subsequently filed an objection to the IWC 

action and for the Fall hunt and for 1979 the Eskimo whalers will ignore the IWC limits and proceed 

as follows: 

1.They will continue to engage in their own research on the bowhead whale; 

2.Hunting methods and subsistence need limits will be established under AEWC management; 

3.The United States regulations implementing the IWC quota will be ignored; and 

4.The jurisdiction of the IWC over bowhead whaling by Alaskan Eskimos will be challenged in court. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–abundance, recruitment; REGULATION & CONSERVATION–management, quotas; WHALING–western 

Arctic, native, crews, catch, utilization. 
3 

ADAMS, MARIE, and RAY DRONENBURG. 

1980. Why not the gray whale? Substitution would affect nutrition, food chain. Arct. 

Coastal Zone Manage. Newsl. 30:9-11. 

Responding to present day pressures by external sources, article temporarily presents the position of 

the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission regarding the substitution of gray whales for bowheads as 

recommended by Storro-Patterson report (1980). Authors state importance of the bowhead whale to 

Eskimo culture, religion and nutrition, and how timing of the migration fits into an intricate annual 

pattern of subsistence for the people. A number of dietary studies exist on the value of bowhead 

whales in the Eskimo diet but no such studies are available at this time for gray whales. Also, all 

available evidence indicates that gray whale products are not generally acceptable to the natives, 

much waste accompanies the harvest of these animals, and hunting of these whales would result in 

an unreliable source of food because of their erratic appearance off whaling villages and would also 

severely disrupt normal subsistence activities. Finally, grays are not hunted by Eskimos unless 

bowhead hunting fails for some reason and hunger dictates a need for meat. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migrating, timing, relationship with gray whales; DISTRIBUTION–Factors affecting; FIELD & LABORATORY 

TECHNIQUES–census; POPULATION–mortality, whaling; WHALING–Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea, native, catch, 

utilization, alternate food sources. 

ADAMS, RALPH T. 

1966. Sailing north for whalebone. Alaska Sportsman 32(7):10-13. 

Describes commercial whaling for bowhead whales in the arctic waters of Alaska and the eastern 

Beaufort Sea during the period 1848 to 1915. The largest catch made by American whaling vessels 

during this period occurred between 1893-1895 when the Narwhal took 69 whales, the Balaena

caught 67, and the Beluga captured 64. Totaling 200 whales with a value of $1,800,000, each whale 

was worth $9,000 on the market. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION–Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea; MORPHOLOGY–measurements, jaws, baleen; NUTRITION–food and feeding; 

WHALING–commercial, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, gear, crews, catch, photographs, utilization. 

AGER, THOMAS. 

1982. Raven's works. In William W. Fitzhugh and Susan A. Kaplan, Inua: spirit world of 

the Bering Sea Eskimos, p. 39-56. Natl. Mus. Nat. Hist., Smithson. Inst. Press, 

Washington, D.C. 

A description of the geology, flora and fauna of Beringia including Eskimo tales recorded by E. W. 

Nelson (1887) that recounted past experiences and events of the area. Tables 13 through 16 

present the land and marine mammals, fish, birds, and edible plants utilized by the Eskimos of the 

Yukon-Kuskowim Delta-Norton Sound Region; the tables list the common name, genus and species, 

and Eskimo name for each. Nelson reported that the bowhead whale, Balaena mysticetus, was 

called arveq by the Eskimo (p. 47). The animal resources available to hunters in western Alaska and 

eastern Siberia and the seasonal food cycle of these resources are presented in figures 19 and 20 

on pages 50-51. “The village of Wales, located at Bering Strait, specializes in hunting large sea 

mammals, often including whales (although none were caught in 1972.)”.(p. 56) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION; WHALING–western Arctic, native, catch, utilization. 
4 

AINLEY, DAVID G., GARY W. PAGE, LISA T. JONES, LYNNE E. STENZEL, and RONALD 

L. LEVALLEY; drawings by HELEN C. STRONG. 

1980. Beached marine birds and mammals of the North American West Coast: A manual 

for their census and identification. U.S.Dep. Inter., Fish Wildl. Serv., Biol. Serv. 

Program, Washington, D.C., FWS/OBS-80/03. 207 p. 

Key to marine mammals, including bowhead (pp. 168, 180, 190). Skull narrow and long, a regular 

semicircular arch; head about one-third of total body length; mouth slit arch-shaped; upper margin of 

lower lip bordered by a smooth curved line, without scallop like outgrowths; no outgrowth on upper 

side of snout, between its tip and the blowhole; average number of baleen plates 330 per side, 

length in the middle of the jaw up to 3.5 m, black in color. Occurs in association with sea ice in the 

Arctic Ocean and Bering Sea. It reaches a maximum length of 21 m. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION–western Arctic Ocean and Bering Sea; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–field recognition; 

MORPHOLOGY–baleen count, measurement. 

AIRAPET'YANTS, E. SH., and A. I. KONSTANTINOV. 

1970. Ekholokatsiya v prirode (Echolocation in animals). Izd.”Nauka,” Leningrad. In 

Russian. (Translated by Isr. Program Sci. Transl., 1973, 309 p., avail. U.S. Dep. 

Commer., Natl. Tech. Inf. Serv., Springfield, VA., as TT72-50012.) 

Reviews existing knowledge of echolocation in animals, including cetaceans (chapters 13-17) and 

pinnipedia (chapter 18). Contains information that the swimming speed of bowheads is 7-8 km/hr. 

(p. 219) and when diving they can stay down for 60 minutes and even longer (p. 221). Sounds 

produced by the bowhead have been recorded by Schevill and Watkins (1962)(p. 235). Also 

contains an extensive bibliography. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

BEHAVIOR–acoustics, diving, swimming; BIBLIOGRAPHY–acoustics; IDENTITY–drawing. 

ALASKA AIRLINES PRIVATE LINE. 

1980. Eskimos look toward alternative food sources. Alaska Airlines Private Line, Bus. 

News 7(7):3. 

Alaska's Bureau of Indian Affairs is providing approximately $90,000 to the Inupiat Community of the 

Arctic Slope (ICAS), the regional Indian Reorganization Act Council, to fund a one year project aimed 

at finding alternative food resources. So far the money has gone to purchase a 40-ft. fishing vessel 

which will be based at Pt. Barrow with crew members from various villages. Goal of the project, 

funded by an Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act grant, is to explore the 

Beaufort and Chukchi Seas for king crab, bottomfish and clams to supplement the bowhead whale. 

The whale has been the mainstay of the Eskimo diet for centuries. Current international agreements 

limit the number of whales which can be slaughtered yearly. (From Alaska Airlines Private Line). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, native, utilization, alternate food sources. 
5 

ALASKA AIRLINES PRIVATE LINE. 

1982. Whales studied. Alaska Airlines Private Line, Bus. News, Dec., [vol. and no. 

omitted], p. 4. 

“The petroleum industry and the state of Alaska have recently released the results of a bowhead 

whale study completed last summer which shows that the western Arctic bowhead population is at 

least 60 percent larger than previously believed. The three-month aerial study conducted by LGL 

Ltd. of Toronto, Canada, estimated a maximum of 3,850 animals, more than 1,500 higher than the 

2,300 listed by the National Marine Fisheries Service. Since bowheads are considered a rare and 

endangered species under both U.S. and international standards, the study directly affects many 

groups who hunt the whales for subsistence and the oil and gas industry, which is interested in 

offshore exploration.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–census, aerial; POPULATION–abundance. 

ALASKA COASTAL MANAGEMENT PROGRAM. 

1981. Cultural resources in the mid-Beaufort Sea region, a report for the North Slope 

Borough's coastal zone management plan, 114 p. North Slope Borough, 

Anchorage, Alaska. 

Report is a continuation of efforts by the North Slope Borough to identify, preserve, and manage the 

historical and cultural resources in the American Arctic. Using the oral data collected by the 

Borough's Commission on History and Culture as a base, former residents accompanied scientists to 

make on-site determinations for as many cultural sites as possible. The first part of the report is an 

article by D. Libbey on cultural resource site identification, and the second part is on cultural 

resource site potential by E. S. Hall Jr. Bowhead whaling sites, catches, whale bones and whaling 

artifacts are located and discussed. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY–artifacts; DISTRIBUTION–former and present; MORPHOLOGY–measurements; REPRODUCTION–calf; 

SKELETAL REMAINS; WHALING–history, western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, native, catch, gear, photographs, utilization. 

ALASKA CONSERVATION REVIEW. 

1977. Bowhead hunting stopped. Alaska Conserv. Rev., Summer 1977, p. 8-9. 

Discusses implications of the United States decision not to object to the International Whaling 

Commission ban on bowhead whaling by Alaskan Eskimos. Article is accompanied by two 

photographs from the files of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game showing (1) an Eskimo boat 

and crew close to a bowhead whale that either has just been shot or is about to be shot by a darting 

or shoulder gun and (2) Eskimos beginning to cut up a landed bowhead whale. Unfortunately, no 

additional information accompanies the photographs. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION–management; WHALING–western Arctic, native, gear, catch, photographs (unidentified). 

ALASKA ESKIMO WHALING COMMISSION. 

1978. Report to the Alaska Eskimo whaling captains by the Alaska Eskimo Whaling 

Commission. Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, Barrow, Alaska. Various 

pagination [23 p.]. Mimeographed. [Unpublished] 

The Commission presents a management plan and self-regulation proposals for bowhead 

subsistence hunting in 1978 in reference to International Whaling Commission resolutions and U.S. 

government regulations. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATIONS & CONSERVATION–Regulation, management; WHALING–western Arctic, natives. 
6 

ALASKA ESKIMO WHALING COMMISSION. 

1981. Report on the fall 1981 bowhead whale hunt. Unpub. rep. by Alaska Eskimo 

Whaling Commn. to the Administrator, Natl. Ocean. Atmos. Admin., Dep. Commer. 

Washington, D.C., December, 5 p. 

This unpublished report, prepared by the AEWC in compliance with the March 26, 1981 Cooperative 

Agreement between NOAA and the AEWC, supplements the report on the spring hunt submitted in 

July 1981. Fourteen whales were landed and 11 struck but lost during the spring hunt. Five strikes 

were available to the three fall whaling villages - three for Kaktovik, one for Nuiqsut, and Barrow had 

one strike remaining from its spring and fall allocation of 10. During the fall hunt Kaktovik used three 

strikes and landed all three whales; one each on September 8, 11 and 22, 1981. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATIONS & CONSERVATION–management, regulation; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, 

native, catch. 

ALASKA FEDERATION OF NATIVES. 

n.d. Native Alaska: Deadline for justice. Alaska Federation of Natives, Anchorage. 16 p. 

Contains two photographs by Howard Rock of bowhead whaling by Eskimos. One photo shows 

whaling crew near boat on ice and dead whale in water alongside ice; second photo shows whalers 

pulling whale up on ice with block and tackle. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, native, catch, gear; PHOTOGRAPHS-dead bowhead, whalers. 

ALASKA FISHERMAN's JOURNAL. 

1977. Eskimos vs. federal marshals? Alaska Fisherman's J., 1(1):19. 

Briefly reviews the dilemma facing Alaskan Eskimos and the United States Government when the 

International Whaling Commission rescinded its outright ban on the native subsistence hunt for 

bowhead whales and decided on December 7 to limit the Eskimos to 12 whales killed or 18 struck. 

In 1976 and 1977 the harvests were 48 and 29, respectively. The IWC and others are concerned 

over the high number of whales that are struck and lost, as in 1976 when 48 were harvested but an 

additional 35 were struck and lost and more were killed and lost. The natives cannot ignore the very 

real concern for the bowhead whale, and the government should not support or enforce quotas 

which are below the Eskimo's nutritional needs unless supported by hard data on the whale stocks. 

Present information on the numbers of bowheads is not sufficiently accurate to justify the present 12 

whale quota. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling, struck and lost, killed and lost; REGULATION & CONSERVATION–management, quotas; 

WHALING–western Arctic, native, catch. 

ALASKA GEOGRAPHIC. 

1978. Alaska whales and whaling. Alaska Geogr., vol. 5, no. 4, 144 p. 

Describes the distribution, behavior and physical characteristics of the 15 major species of whales, 

including the bowhead (p. 63-67), that occur in Alaskan waters. Contains information on the history 

of both commercial and Eskimo whaling for bowhead whales including modern day hunting for this 

species by Alaskan natives. Illustrated profusely with excellent photographs and drawings. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–swimming, diving, migration; DISTRIBUTION–former and present; IDENTITY–description, nomenclature, ingutuk; 

MORPHOLOGY–measurements, body, color, baleen; NUTRITION–food and feeding; POPULATION–abundance, mortality, 

whaling; REPRODUCTION–mating; WHALING–Bering Sea, Okhotsk Sea, Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea, history, commercial, 

native, gear, shore stations, catch, photographs and drawings, utilization. 
7 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1970a. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): The first whale kill of the season at 

Barrow... Alaska 36(8):26. 

A 55-foot bowhead was first whale kill of the season at Barrow, Alaska, in early May. By early May, 

Point Hope whalers were reported to have taken four bowheads. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Native, western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, catch. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1970b. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): “Much muktuk” was the word... Alaska 

36(9):A1. 

“'Much muktuk' was the word flashed along Alaska's arctic coast in early June as Barrow whalers 

harvested 16 whales and Point Hope hunters added eight more to the season's catch.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1974a. Photograph. Alaska 40(4):40-41. 

(Photograph caption). “Success flag flying and red float marking quarry, four skin boats of Luther 

Leavitt's whaling crew tow a 20-ton bowhead whale to Barrow.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crew, gear, catch, photograph. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1974b. Alaska-Yukon Magazine (News items): Gambell. Alaska 40(7):A12. 

Measuring 40 feet, a bowhead whale was taken here on April 26 by Allen Kulukhon, who captained a 

skin boat with a two-man crew. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Bering Sea, native, crews, catch. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1974c. Alaska-Yukon Magazine (News items): Barrow-Biologists spotted 82 bowhead 

whales... Alaska 40(12):A2. 

Biologists flying over the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas in September spotted 82 bowhead whales in a 

single flight. Sighting of more than 40 in a 24-hour period is unusual. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–abundance; DISTRIBUTION–sightings, western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea. 
8 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1975a. These whales are found in Alaska. Alaska 41(2):30-31. 

Brief descriptions of whales found in Alaska, with outline drawings of each. Notes that in 1974, two 

bowheads were taken by Eskimos from Gambell (St. Lawrence Island), Alaska; seven by Point 

Hope crews; one from Wainwright; and six by Eskimo crews from Barrow. A seventh was sighted as 

a dead whale at Barrow but could not be retrieved. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–Mortality, killed and lost; WHALING–western Arctic, Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, natives, whale drawings, catch. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1975b. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): First whales on Alaska's arctic coast... 

Alaska 41(7):22. 

Eskimo whalers killed first bowhead of season at Point Hope, Alaska, on April 23, and another was 

taken a few days later. Whalers at Gambell, St. Lawrence Island, shot two whales in April but lost 

both. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–Mortality, struck and lost; WHALING–western Arctic, Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, natives, catch. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1975c. Photograph. Alaska 41(8):A14. 

A photograph by Mike Dalton of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner with the caption: “Eskimo whalers 

at Barrow had taken 10 of the huge mammals [bowhead whales] by the end of May. Twenty camps 

were set up on the edge of the Arctic ice pack near Barrow. This camp scene was photographed in 

mid-May 2 miles out on the ice from the Naval Arctic Research Laboratory at Barrow.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, gear, photograph. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1975d. The Alaska Sportsman (News items): Better deal for whales. Alaska 41(11):25. 

International Whaling Commission quotas for whales have been reduced by 20% for 1976. Alaskan 

Eskimos, allowed to kill bowheads for subsistence, harvested 10 whales in spring 1975 at Barrow, 4 

at Point Hope; and 1 on St. Lawrence Island. Total catch was 15 compared to 17 for the same 

period in 1974. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, natives, catch. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1976. The Alaska Sportsman (News items): Bowhead whale harvest. Alaska 42(10):37. 

Alaskan Eskimos in spring 1976 harvested 8 bowhead whales at St. Lawrence Island, 12 at Point 

Hope, 3 at Wainwright, and 13 at Barrow for a total of 36. The 1975 kill was 15, and in 1974 it was 

20. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, natives, catch. 
9 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1977a. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Photograph. Alaska 43(6):10. 

(Photograph caption) “A whaleboat purchased from Alaskan Eskimos is maneuvered into the 

Whaling Museum in New Bedford, Massachusetts. It is one of two found on racks in the Arctic and 

purchased for the museum. One of the boats is believed to have come from the steam whaling bark 

Balaena, which went aground and broke up in the Bering Strait in 1901. The boat is on display at 

the museum through September 6 as part of a “Steam Whaling in the Western Arctic” exhibit.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, commercial, native, gear, photograph. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1977b. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Scientists were expected to resume 

counting bowhead and beluga whales. Alaska 43(6):16. 

“Scientists were expected to resume counting bowhead and beluga whales in the Arctic this spring 

as part of a continuing study of the effects of offshore oil development. The project, begun last 

spring by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, counted 1,300 belugas and more 

than 350 bowheads in the spring of 1976.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–census. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1977c. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Natives took more bowhead whales. 

Alaska 43(6):18. 

“Natives took more bowhead whales last season than in any since the hunts were first tallied in 

1850. Hunters along the Arctic and Bering Sea coasts took 48 of the endangered whales. Meat 

from four whales was reported wasted at Barrow, but an official of the National Marine Fisheries 

Service said the spoilage was not deliberate. The official said whalers got too far from shore and 

when they ran into rough weather on the way back, the meat began to spoil even before the whales 

were landed. 

Bowheads have been protected from commercial harvest since 1946 and biologists believe there are 

only about 1,500 to 3,000 left worldwide. Subsistence hunting is all that has been allowed.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–abundance; WHALING–western Arctic, native, catch, utilization. 
10 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1977d. The Alaska Sportsman (News items): Alaska's Eskimo hunters killed 48 bowhead 

whales. Alaska 43(6):71, 73. 

“Alaska's Eskimo hunters killed 48 bowhead whales, an endangered species, during 1976, state and 

federal marine mammal biologists reported last March. It was the largest kill of bowheads in a single 

year by Eskimo hunters since records have been kept, about 1850. 

Bowheads have been protected from commercial whalers since 1947, but the International Whaling 

Commission permits Natives to take bowheads for subsistence. 

However, the meat of four bowheads killed at Barrow last fall spoiled before it could be cut up, 

according to Dr. George Harry of the National Marine Fisheries Service. 

Of the 48 bowheads taken, 23 were killed at Barrow, and marine biologists think that for every whale 

killed by Eskimo hunters, 3 to 5 are struck by harpoons but escape, although not all die. 

An estimated 1,500 to 3,000 bowheads are left worldwide, mostly in the Bering Sea and the Arctic 

Ocean. Bowheads average about 30 feet in length, and weigh about a ton a foot.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–abundance, mortality, struck and lost; WHALING–western Arctic, native, catch, utilization. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1977e. The Alaska Sportsman (News items): Unusually good whale hunting... Alaska 

43(8):16. 

Alaskan Eskimos of Wainwright, Point Hope, Barrow, Gambell and Kivalina had unusually good 

hunting by early June 1977, with 26 bowhead whales killed and retrieved. Another 73 were struck 

but not recovered. Two decades ago the average annual take was about 10 but it is now 23. In 

1976, 48 were taken, highest total since early 1900s. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, struck & lost; WHALING–western Arctic, Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, natives, catch. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1977f. Six bowhead whales in the Arctic. Alaska 43(9):52-53. 

(Photograph caption) “Aerial photograph taken during early May flight over the Beaufort Sea, 17 

miles east of Barrow, Alaska, shows six bowhead whales engaged in mating activity. Aspects of 

reproductive behavior are clearly evident.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR; DISTRIBUTION–Beaufort Sea; REPRODUCTION–mating, photograph. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1977g. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Bowhead whales were sighted...Alaska 

43(10):43-44. 

Bowhead whales were sighted in the Mackenzie River estuary in 1976, first in 5 years, by a survey 

firm. As many as 45 were seen in a single day during August and September. Total sightings were 

almost 90. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION–sightings, Beaufort Sea; POPULATION–abundance, density. 
11 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1977h. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Eskimos: “We will hunt the bowhead 

whale.” Alaska 43(12):34-35. 

A complex political/environmental battle over Eskimo bowhead whale hunting --- forbidden by the 

International Whaling Commission last June --- will continue this month in Tokyo. After several court 

appearances regarding whether the U.S. would or would not object to the ban, the government was 

allowed to remain silent, thus implementing the ban. Eskimo whalers, stunned by the June IWC 

moratorium, formed the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission and announced that the hunt would 

continue. A review of events leading up to the December 6-7 meeting of the IWC in Tokyo is 

presented. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION–regulation, management; WHALING–western Arctic, native. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1978a. Letters, Notes and Comments: Letter to Lael Morgan from Craig Van Note. 

Alaska 44(1):12-13. 

Letter from Craig Van Note, Monitor, to Lael Morgan of Alaska Magazine, inquired whether her 

photograph on p. 11, Alaska, September 1977, showed an Eskimo aiming a rifle or shoulder gun at a 

bowhead whale from the ice edge. Van Note, during testimony on September 8, 1977 before U.S. 

Department of Commerce, cited the photograph as an example of the Eskimo's wasteful hunting. 

Text of Van Note's testimony is included. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION–Monitor; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, weapons. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1978b. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): The International Whaling Commission 

in early December... Alaska 44(2):33. 

The International Whaling Commission in early December 1977 set a yearly quota of 18 bowhead 

whales struck, or 12 landed, for Eskimo hunters in Alaska, after earlier banning bowhead hunting. 

Alaskan Eskimos said 12 whales were half the nutritional need for people of 8 villages, and they 

would not abide by the decision. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION–regulation, legislation; WHALING–utilization, drawings. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1978c. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): The Alaska Eskimo Whaling 

Commission... Alaska 44(3):32. 

The Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission plan for management of bowhead hunting is outlined. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION–regulation, management; WHALING–western Arctic, natives. 
12 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1978d. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): One cup of whale flesh meets 

nutritional needs... Alaska 44(3):32-33. 

Alaska's Cooperative Extension Service reports one cup of whale flesh meets nutritional needs for 1 

day in protein, riboflavin, niacin and iron. One-half cup gives U.S. recommended daily allowance 

(RDA) of iron. A 3-1/2 ounce serving provides 50% of the RDA of riboflavin and 40% of the RDA of 

both protein and niacin. Muktuk, a high energy food, provides some protein, vitamin A, thiamine and 

niacin. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–Utilization, food. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1978e. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Eskimo whalers voted in January to 

abide... Alaska 44(4):24. 

The Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission (AEWC) voted in January to abide by the International 

Whaling Commission quota of 12 whales landed or 18 struck. The AEWC also assigned quotas to 

eight whaling villages. They claim the bowhead population is actually higher than estimate of 

between 680-1300. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–abundance & density; REGULATION & CONSERVATION–regulation, management; WHALING–western 

Arctic, natives. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1978f. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Whaling regulations calling for $100 

license... Alaska 44(5):33-34. 

The U.S. Department of Commerce in March proposed whaling regulations calling for $100 license 

fees for captains and $10,000 fines for violations. Village limits on bowhead whales, matching those 

of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, also were set. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION–regulation, management; WHALING–western Arctic, natives. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1978g. Point Hope Eskimos slice sections off the flipper of a bowhead whale 

(Photograph). Alaska 44(5):45. 

Natives, who prize the flipper as one of the more tasty parts of the whale, cut strips of flipper 

composed of equal amounts of skin and blubber to eat raw. In the barrels are mikiaq, meat from the 

body of the whale fermented in blood. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Western Arctic, native utilization, food. 
13 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1978h. The students who went whaling. Alaska 44(5):A30-A32. 

Five students from Kodiak, Alaska, visited Point Hope whaling camps in spring 1977 and describe 

briefly their experiences and whaling activities observed. The first whale taken this spring at Point 

Hope was a 29-footer, captured by Billy Weber and his crew a couple of days before the students 

arrived there on May 3. Another whale was taken a day after they departed [approximately May 14]. 

Other whaling captains identified were Henry Nashukpuk, Elijah Rock, and Joe Tawksjhea. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling; WHALING–Chukchi sea, native, catch, crews, gear, photographs, utilization. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1978i. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Eskimos of Gambell and Savoonga on 

Saint Lawrence Island took two bowhead whales... Alaska 44(6):34. 

After a late start due to heavy ice conditions and a mid-April storm, the first two whales of the 1978 

season were landed by whalers at Gambell and Savoonga. The whalers also wanted to wait until 

the larger whales reached the island; the migration of younger, smaller whales had passed the 

Bering Sea island in March. Both villages were granted quotas of one whale struck or one landed 

each under village quotas set by the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission and the U.S. Department 

of Commerce. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration, segregation, timing; POPULATION–mortality, whaling; REGULATIONS & CONSERVATION–

management, quotas; WHALING–Bering Sea, native, catch. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1978j. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): By mid-May Eskimo whalers.... Alaska 

44(7):34,36. 

By mid-May Eskimo whalers had taken nine bowhead whales during the first season under an 

International Whaling Commission quota of 12 taken or 18 struck. Barrow whalers, allowed only 

three bowheads under the quota, took four, and an argument developed with National Marine 

Fisheries Service officials over whether the whales were bowheads or what the Eskimo call ingutuq. 

Other villages that successfully landed whales included Gambell (1), Savoonga (1), Point Hope (2), 

and Wainwright (1). Additionally, two whales at Gambell and one at Point Hope were struck and lost. 

At Wainwright, a 2-foot fetus was discovered in the 53-foot, 6-inch female landed there. It was the 

fourth fetus known to have been taken from a pregnant bowhead. Two years ago Barrow whalers 

removed a 7-foot [sic] fetus from a whale and in the late 1960s a 5-inch and a 10-inch fetus were 

found. A census crew at Barrow reported 500 bowheads sighted by May 7, and during the same 

period an Eskimo crew reported an additional 200 whales. Estimates of the bowhead population 

range from 600 to 3,000. The lack of an accurate count is partially responsible for the 

implementation of the quota. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–census; IDENTITY–nomenclature, ingutuq; REPRODUCTION– fetuses; WHALING–

western Arctic, native, catch, photographs. 
14 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1978k. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Specimens from a whale Barrow 

Eskimos call ingutuk were sent to a laboratory... Alaska 44(8):54-55. 

“Specimens from a whale Barrow Eskimos call ingutuk were sent to a laboratory to determine if the 

animal is a different species from the bowhead. Barrow whalers took four whales last spring, one 

over the quota set by the U.S. Department of Commerce, but they claimed two of the whales were 

ingutuk, not bowheads. A statement from the North Slope Borough said the whales were black right 

whales and not covered by the quota.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–specimens; IDENTITY–nomenclature, Eskimo, ingutuk;– POPULATION–mortality, 

whaling; REGULATION & CONSERVATION–management, quotas; WHALING–Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1978l. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Eskimo whalers will be allowed to... 

Alaska 44(9):26. 

The International Whaling Commission in June granted an increase of two bowhead whales to 

Alaskan Eskimo whalers in 1978 and increased the 1979 quota to 18 whales taken or 27 struck. 

Eskimos had requested 37 killed or 45 struck based on scientist's beliefs that 2% harvest of 

estimated population of 2,264 (1,700 were counted in spring migration) would not harm the 

population. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–Abundance & density; REGULATION & CONSERVATION–regulation, management; WHALING–western 

Arctic, native. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1978m. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Nineteenth century whalers in the 

North Pacific and Arctic Oceans... Alaska 44(11):20,22. 

Early whalers in the Arctic Oceans reported three different kinds of black whales, today collectively 

called “right whales”: A large black whale resembling the right whale (Eubalaena glacialis); a “great 

polar (or ice) whale”; and the bowhead (Balaena mysticetus). Early whalers and Eskimos 

recognized the ‘ice whale’ as smaller and distinct from the bowhead and called it Poggy, Inito, Inyuto, 

Inutok, or today's term Ingutuk. Dr. Floyd Durham, reviewing morphological characteristics of the 

Ingutuk and bowhead, concluded the evidence seems overwhelmingly in favor of continuing to 

recognize Balaena mysticetus as a monotypic species. (Reprinted from Northwest and Alaska 

Fisheries Center Monthly Report, May 1978; National Marine Fisheries Service, Seattle, WA). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

IDENTITY–Nomenclature. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1978n. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Barrow whalers... Alaska 44(11):24. 

Eskimo whalers at Barrow, Alaska, planned to begin a fall bowhead hunt to satisfy nutritional needs 

of the community despite a prohibition by the government. Villagers at Nuiqsut and Kaktovik were 

allowed one whale each during the fall hunt because ice conditions in spring prevent them from 

whaling. The National Marine Fisheries Service would not interfere with the banned hunt but would 

turn information on whales killed over to the Justice Department. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION–regulation, management; WHALING–western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, natives. 
15 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1978o. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): In mid-September the state 

postponed... Alaska 44(11):53. 

The State of Alaska in mid-September postponed indefinitely an oil lease sale in the Point 

Thompson-Flaxman Island Area of the North Slope. One of five main reasons was that Eskimos and 

the Greenpeace Foundation opposed the sale for fear oil activity and possible drilling accidents 

would harm wildlife stocks, including bowhead whales. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION–conservation, management, Beaufort Sea. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1978p. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Eskimo whalers at Kaktovik took two 

bowhead whales... Alaska 44(12):22. 

Eskimo whalers at Kaktovik, Alaska, killed two bowhead whales during the fall migration, but winds 

and ice conditions prevented Barrow and Nuiqsut crews from hunting. By early October the total 

was 12 for the year, although the International Whaling Commission had set a quota of 14. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, natives, catch. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1978q. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Photograph. Alaska 44(12):24. 

(Photograph caption) “North Slope School District employees Steve Mello and Stuart Johnson swam 

near a bowhead whale in the Arctic Ocean off Barrow. While the whale wouldn't let them approach 

too close, they got close enough to be tumbled around in the wake of the flukes.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–reaction to humans, photograph. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1979a. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): A planned gravel island for an offshore 

oil well ... Alaska 45(1):65. 

Eskimos of Barrow, Alaska, and villages of Nuiqsut and Kaktovik sued the Exxon Oil Company, the 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Alaska Department of Natural Resources claiming a planned 

gravel island for an offshore oil well near Duck Island in the Beaufort Sea threatens to alter bowhead 

migrations, and the company and agencies had not filed an environmental impact statement. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION–conservation, management, Beaufort Sea. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1979b. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Eskimo whalers lost a round in their 

court battle... Alaska 45(3):27. 

Alaskan Eskimo whalers, who had sought an injunction against a quota of 18 bowhead whales set by 

the International Whaling Commission in 1979, had their challenge dismissed by a federal district 

court judge in January. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION–regulation, management; WHALING–western Arctic, natives. 
16 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1979c. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Bowhead quotas for Alaska's whaling 

villages... Alaska 45(4):36. (From Fairbanks Daily News-Miner) 

Bowhead quotas for Alaska's whaling villages were proposed by the National Marine Fishery [sic] 

Service (NMFS) in January and Eskimo whalers quickly reiterated their vow to ignore the quotas, 

which were a refinement of the 18 whales landed or 27 struck allowed by the International Whaling 

Commission. Village quotas set by the NMFS are: Gambell, 2 landed or 3 struck; Savoonga, 2/3; 

Wales, 1/1; Kivalina, 1/2; Point Hope, 2/3; Wainwright, 2/3; Barrow, 5/7; Kaktovik, 2/3; and Nuiqsut, 

1/3. The NMFS also proposed regulations prohibiting killing a calf or whale with a calf, setting 

license-registration procedures and setting penalties for violators. Eben Hopson, North Slope 

Borough mayor and outspoken critic of the quotas, stated whalers would ignore the quotas and 

regulations, particularly the struck-and-lost provision. He said whalers would stick to their own quota 

of 2% of the known whale population, which, according to various reports, is estimated at less than 

3,000. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–abundance; REGULATION & CONSERVATION–regulation; WHALING–western Arctic, native, photograph. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE, with photographs by BILL BACON. 

1979d. The long wait: Eskimo spring bowhead whaling. Alaska 45(6):6-8. 

Brief article on Eskimo subsistence whaling based upon photographs taken by Bacon over a 30 year 

period. One photograph shows a dead bowhead floating alongside the ice edge preparatory to 

being pulled up on the ice for butchering (no identification of village or year.); another shows two old 

brass shoulder guns; and a photograph of the nulakatuk celebration shows two flags but neither can 

be identified. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–Bering, Chukchi Seas, native, catch (unidentified), gear, photographs. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1979e. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Saint Lawrence Islanders were at sea in 

mid-April searching for the first bowhead whales of the season. Alaska 45(6):26. 

Although no whales had been taken by April 13, the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Polar Sea reported 

seeing bowheads 50 miles south of the island. The vessel with a group of scientists aboard was 

cruising the Bering Sea in an effort to obtain data on the population of bowhead whales. Others were 

working out of Barrow for the same purpose. More accurate figures on the population are needed for 

better management of the Eskimo take of whales, a matter of some disagreement between scientists 

and the hunters. Twelve whales were taken last year under a quota extended to 14 after the season 

began. Barrow whalers were unsuccessful during their fall hunt last year. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration, timing; DISTRIBUTION–sightings; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–census, vessel, stations; 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling; REGULATIONS & CONSERVATION–management, quotas; WHALING–Bering, Chukchi & 

Beaufort Seas, native, catch. 
17 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1979f. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Whalers at Point Hope had taken three 

bowheads by mid-May... Alaska 45(7):22. 

Eskimo whalers at Point Hope, Alaska, had taken three bowheads by mid-May 1979, the only three 

taken on the northwest Alaska coast in the spring hunt to that time. The catch violated the village 

quota of two set by the National Marine Fisheries Service under the Alaska quota of 18 established 

by the International Whaling Commission. The Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, however, 

intends intentionally to ignore the IWC quota and take 2% of the estimated population of about 2,300 

bowheads. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION–regulation, management; WHALING–western Arctic, natives, catch. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1979g. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): By early June Eskimo whalers... Alaska 

45(8):22. 

By early June Eskimo whalers had taken seven bowheads: three at Barrow, one at Wainwright, and 

three at Point Hope. At Barrow, the William Kaleak crew took the first, a 27-footer. Horace 

Ashogeak and Burton Rexford took the other two. One bowhead was taken at Wainwright by two 

crews in combination captained by Fred Ahmoagak and Andrew Ekakh. Hunters at Gambell took a 

gray whale. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, natives, crews, catch, photograph. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1979h. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Commercial whaling would be 

stopped... Alaska 45(9):22,24. 

Alaskan Eskimos did not fill the bowhead quota allowed in spring 1979 because of ice conditions. 

Three were taken at Point Hope and three at Point Barrow. An article is quoted from the Arctic 

Coastal Zone Management Newsletter reporting strange behavior of four bowhead whales taking 

away a probably dead whale, one bowhead even flipping the dead whale into the air with its flippers 

before it was pulled under the water. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR; REGULATION & CONSERVATION–regulation, management; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, natives, 

catch. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1979i. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Eskimo whalers were held to the same 

limit... Alaska 45(10):20. 

The International Whaling Commission, at a meeting in London in July 1979, set a limit of 18 

bowhead whales taken or 26 struck by Alaskan Eskimos for 1980, the same as during 1979. The 

quota is about 1% of the estimated bowhead population while Eskimos wanted 2%. Only nine 

bowheads were taken in the 1979 season. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION–regulation, management; WHALING–western Arctic, natives, catch. 
18 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1979j. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): A petroleum lease sale on 514,000 

acres in the Beaufort Sea. Alaska 45(11):34. 

Under conditions of a petroleum lease sale scheduled for Dec. 11, 1979, drillers on 514,000 acres in 

the Beaufort Sea could operate only between November 1 and March 31, pending outcome of a 

study of bowhead and gray whale migrations. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION–management, Beaufort Sea. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1979k. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Manmade obstacles don't disturb 

whales... Alaska 45(11):36. 

Two scientists brought to Alaska by Sohio-BP Alaska to talk with North Slope villagers about 

concerns over the effects of offshore drilling on bowhead whale migrations reported manmade 

obstacles don't disturb whales from their migration paths. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration; REGULATION & CONSERVATION–conservation, management. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1979l. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Three U. S. scientists boarded a Soviet 

research vessel... Alaska 45(12):38. 

Three U.S. scientists boarded a Soviet research vessel at Saint Lawrence Island in September to 

participate in the first joint research project on bowhead whales. The scientists, representing the 

National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, expected to spend a month 

in the Chukchi Sea aboard the 200-foot research vessel Avangard. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION–sightings, Chukchi Sea; POPULATION–abundance and density. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1979m. Introduction to Alaska 1980: Arctic. Alaska 45(12):I10-I11. 

An old photograph shows a Barrow crew, flying a flag of success, as the crew tows a 20-ton 

bowhead back to the village. A second photograph shows children eating slices of raw bowhead 

whale flipper during the Point Hope Whaling Festival. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crews, photographs, utilization. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1980a. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Whalers from Kaktovik on Barter 

Island... Alaska 46(1):18-19. 

The bowhead whale catch of Alaska Eskimos totaled 12 of 18 allowed under the quota. Crews at 

Kaktovik on Barter Island and at Point Hope exceeded their village quotas, however. Kaktovik crews 

took five in the fall hunt. Fog and wind hampered whalers at Nuiqsut and Barrow. The violation at 

Point Hope was submitted to the legal department of the National Marine Fisheries Service. A 45-

foot male bowhead beached 15 miles east of Barrow but cause of death could not be determined. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, stranding; WHALING–western Arctic, natives, catch. 
19 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1980b. The Six Alaskas: Arctic. Alaska 46(2):28-29. 

Subsistence whaling is still an important part of Eskimo life. Some Eskimos hunt bowheads from 

oar-powered walrus skin boats using harpoons and equipment adapted from ancestral models, 

coordinating their efforts with modern radios. Charles Brower, who came north in days when Barrow 

was a supply point for the Yankee whalers who hunted the bowhead almost to extinction for their 

baleen and oil, stayed to become the town's most famous resident and titled his autobiography “50 

Years Below Zero.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, history, native, gear. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1980c. Alaska-Yukon Magazine: Nome. Alaska 46(3):A14. 

Three American scientists landed here last October after four weeks aboard the Soviet whaling ship 

Avangard observing bowhead whales in the Chukchi and Bering Seas. They followed the icepack 

and whales to as far as 74° north latitude between Wrangel and Herald Islands and took sections of 

blubber from some whales. They hoped to learn if bowheads of the Siberian side were at all different 

from those in American waters. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION–present; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–biopsy; IDENTITY–races. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1980d. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): A federal judge... Alaska 46(4):22. 

(From the Anchorage Daily News) 

“A federal judge has blocked issuance of nearly $500 million in federal and disputed oil lease tracts 

in the Beaufort Sea. U.S. District Court Judge Aubrey Robinson in January said the federal 

government must do more research on the possible impact of Beaufort Sea oil and gas drilling on the 

bowhead whale and on the North Slope Inupiat Eskimos...” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION–regulation, Beaufort Sea. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1980e. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Disagreement over the appropriate 

Eskimo take of bowhead whales... Alaska 46(4):25. (From the Anchorage Times) 

“Disagreement over the appropriate Eskimo take of bowhead whales, an endangered species, may 

lead to a showdown this year, according to a National Marine Fisheries Service enforcement official. 

Proposed NMFS regulations released in January include the quotas set by the International Whaling 

Commission: 18 whales landed or 26 struck, whichever comes first. However, the Eskimo Whaling 

Commission have set a quota of 45 whales. That commission refuses to recognize the authority of 

either the International Whaling Commission or NMFS ... The Eskimo Whaling Commission has 

disputed the data upon which federal quotas have been set and has said there are legitimate needs 

for a higher quota.” 

This year's quotas by village are: Kaktovik (2 landed or 3 strikes), Nuiqsut (1/1), Barrow (5/7), 

Wainwright (2/3), Point Hope (2/3), Kivalina (1/2), Gambell (2/3), Savoonga (2/3), and Wales (1/1). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION–regulation, quota; WHALING–western Arctic, natives. 
20 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1980f. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): The 1980 bowhead whale harvest... 

Alaska 46(5):14,16. (From the Anchorage Times) 

The 1980 bowhead whale harvest should be no more than 2% of the best population estimates, 

according to a resolution adopted by the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission in February. Under 

the quota set in the resolution each village will take no more than is needed for the community. The 

commission also asked the federal government to fund research to improve chances of landing 

whales with hand-held weapons. A bowhead whale study by the Institute of Arctic Biology at the 

University of Alaska was to be completed by April 30 for presentation to the International Whaling 

Commission. The $35,800 contract issued by the Bureau of Indian Affairs calls for six factors to be 

considered: importance of the bowhead in the diet; possible adverse effects of shifts to non-native 

foods; availability and acceptability of nontraditional foods; historical take of bowheads by Eskimos; 

integrative function of the bowhead hunt in the native community; and ecological considerations. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION–management; WHALING–western Arctic, native, gear, utilization. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1980g. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Although the bowhead whale... Alaska 

46(8):23, 64-65. 

Fifteen bowhead whales were taken and 26 struck this spring. Although the statewide quota set by 

the International Whaling Commission had not been violated, its village quota was exceeded at 

Barrow by four whales. The harvest was ordered halted May 29 and National Marine Fisheries 

Service investigative reports on the violations were sent to Washington, D.C. for deliberation. The 

scientific coordinator for the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission stated that “we do not like the idea 

of a quota per village, nor the particular overall quota set by the IWC. The commission has set its 

quota at 48 whales or 2% of the known population and has not exceeded that.” In another village 

quota departure, Shaktoolik got a whale when none was allocated to it, the first time in recent history. 

This catch was attributed to an ice barrier in the Bering Strait that delayed the spring migration. 

Additional village catches were Savoonga, 2; Gambell, 1; Wales 1; Wainwright, 1; and Barrow, 9. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration; REGULATION & CONSERVATION–regulation; WHALING–western Arctic, native, catch, photograph. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1980h. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): A decision on whether to prosecute two 

Barrow whaling crews... Alaska 46(9):69. 

The over-all International Whaling Commission (IWC) quota of bowheads struck and whales taken 

was not exceeded, but natives at Barrow took nine whales rather than the seven assigned. A 

decision on whether to prosecute two whaling crews for taking whales beyond the federal quota 

assigned to their village was expected from the federal government after a July meeting of the IWC. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION–harvest quota; WHALING–western Arctic, native, catch. 
21 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1980i. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): The bowhead whale ... Alaska 

46(11):27. (From Anchorage Daily News) 

The bowhead whale quota for Alaska's Eskimos was reduced by the International Whaling 

Commission in late July. The IWC allocated a 3-year catch quota of 65 bowhead whales struck and 

45 landed, with no more than 17 landed in a single year. The 1980 quota is 36 bowheads struck and 

18 landed. To date the Eskimos have struck 31 and landed 16. New data indicating the bowhead 

herd is declining reportedly prompted the decision for a reduced quota. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION–regulation, harvest quota; WHALING–western Arctic, native, catch. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1981a. Alaska-Yukon Magazine: Barrow. Alaska 47(3):A28-A29. 

Eskimo whalers continue to contest bowhead harvest quotas set by the International Whaling 

Commission and enforced by the United States. Individuals subpoenaed to appear before a grand 

jury convened in November still refuse to appear. The IWC's limit of 18 bowheads taken and 26 

struck in a season was denounced by the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, whose quota allows 

45 bowheads to be taken in a year. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION–management; WHALING–western Arctic, native, gear, photograph. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1981b. Alaska-Yukon Magazine: Photograph. Alaska 47(3):A36. 

(Photograph caption) “Umiaks, the skin boats in which the Eskimos hunt the bowhead whales by 

traditional methods, rest on a rack out of harm's way at Gambell on Saint Lawrence Island. The 

whaling season begins in early spring when the giant mammals follow leads opening between shore 

and pack ice in their annual migration along Alaska's northwest coast. (Chlaus Lotscher)” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Bering Sea, native, gear, photograph. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1981c. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Kudos for Alaska filmmakers! Alaska 

47(4):17. 

The Sea is our Life, produced by Bo Boudart of Anchorage, was one of three Alaskan films to win top 

honors at the Fifth Annual American Film Festival, held in San Francisco. The 16-minute 

documentary [containing footage on bowhead whaling] focuses on North Slope Inupiat opposition to 

the Beaufort Sea oil and gas lease sale. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, native, film. 
22 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1981d. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): We've never been conquered...Alaska 

47(4):20. 

In a class action suit filed in federal court, Inupiat Eskimos on the North Slope asked the court to 

order all revenues from mineral development be held in trust for the Eskimos. They claim sovereign 

jurisdiction over the Beaufort Sea beyond Alaska's three-mile limit and that their searches for 

bowhead and other wildlife will be irreparably damaged by oil development in the area. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION–factors; REGULATION & CONSERVATION–regulation; WHALING–western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, native. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1981e. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): It may not be offshore oil 

development... Alaska 47(4):21. 

“It may not be offshore oil development but the International Whaling Commission that poses the 

greatest threat to traditional Eskimo whaling. Proposed whaling quotas released by biologists in the 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration would bar two of the nine North Slope Native 

villages from hunting bowhead whales by 1983. Nuiqsut would not be allowed to hunt in 1982 or 

1983, while Kivalina would be barred from the hunt in 1983. 

Once the quotas are finalized, the United States is required to enforce them, and this has stirred up 

intense controversy among Alaska's Inupiats who depend on subsistence whaling for food. In the 

opposite camp are environmentalists, who claim even subsistence whaling will wipe out the 

endangered bowhead whales, estimated to number about 2,264.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–abundance; REGULATION & CONSERVATION–management; WHALING–western Arctic, native. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1981f. The rare beauty of baleen. Alaska 47(5):12. 

To artists and craftsmen, the shell-like black or brown baleen is a valued medium for the creation of 

fine decorative items. The baleen plates of the bowhead, numbering up to 600, are the longest of 

any whale species, some reaching 12 feet or more in length. Photographs show residents of 

Gambell gathered around a huge fan of baleen during the butchering of a bowhead whale and some 

of the items made by artisans from baleen. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–museums; MORPHOLOGY–baleen; WHALING–western Arctic, Bering Sea, native, 

catch, utilization, photographs. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1981g. Photograph. Alaska 47(5):34. 

(Photograph caption) “During a whale hunt, Eskimos from the village of Gambell on Saint Lawrence 

Island power their umiaks, walrus- or bearded seal skin-covered boats, with sails. After the whale is 

struck and the need for silence is gone, the hunters switch to outboard motors. (Chlaus Lotscher)” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Bering Sea, native, gear, photograph. 
23 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1981h. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): And in other whaling news... Alaska 

47(7):25. 

North Slope whalers and the federal government signed an agreement that reduced National 

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration management of the whale harvest and shifted responsibility 

to the Eskimos through the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission. The cooperative agreement allows 

whalers to land 17 whales or a total of 32 strikes. It allows whalers to land more than 17 simply by 

paying a “civil assessment” for each whale over the quota, up to a limit of 32 strikes. The extrawhale fee is designed to discourage unnecessary kills and is expected to range between $1,000 and 

$5,000 per bowhead. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION–regulation; WHALING–western Arctic, native. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1981i. The Alaska Sportsman (News items): Two species of cetaceans... Alaska 

47(7):56-57. From Natl. Mar. Fish. Serv. Northwest and Alaska Fish Cent., Monthly 

Rep., Feb. 1981. 

Pre-exploitation population levels have been recently estimated for the western Arctic Ocean stock of 

bowhead whales and the North Pacific Dall's porpoise. 

Pre-exploitation levels were estimated for bowhead whales in response to recommendations of the 

International Whaling Commission Scientific Committee. To estimate the initial (1848) population 

size, the population model was projected forward by computer with a “guessed” initial size and a set 

of reasonable values for the natural mortality rate, maximum net recruitment rate, and lag time (time 

from birth to age at which young become vulnerable to the fishery). The process was repeated with 

revised initial values until the current population size projected by the model was equal to 2,250, the 

best estimate of the current population. Preliminary results suggest that the historical population size 

of the western Arctic bowhead whales ranged from 14,000 to 26,000. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–abundance, model. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1981j. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Concerned that seismic exploration... 

Alaska 47(12):31. 

“Concerned that seismic exploration for oil and gas was threatening the fall migration of bowhead 

whales, Alaska's Commissioner of Natural Resources John Katz ordered a halt to the underwater 

blasting offshore of Kaktovik in the Beaufort Sea. The commissioner's ruling affects only permits 

granted by the state. The department has issued a permit to Energy Analysts Exploration 48, Inc., in 

June; Katz was named DNR commissioner in July. 

Katz said issuance of permits in the future will involve local officials. Kaktovik, a whaling village 75 

miles from the Canadian border, is within the North Slope Borough. Borough officials had feared the 

exploration work, which involves setting off small, underwater explosions and then charting the 

sound waves to make a picture of the rock formations under the sea, would interfere with the whales 

and fall whaling activities. 

“We need to bear the responsibility for the exploration and development activity that we have 

initiated,” said Katz, who is considering opening a DNR office in Barrow.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration; DISTRIBUTION–factors; WHALING–western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, native. 
24 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1981k. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): The International Whaling 

Commission... Alaska 47(12):33. 

“The International Whaling Commission, meeting in Brighton, England, commended Alaska Eskimos 

for their “good will” in observing whale-catch quotas set by the 30-nation commission last year. The 

commission also praised efforts of Alaska's whalers to reduce the number of strikes, which are hits 

that injure but don't kill. Alaska's three-year quota is 45 whales killed and landed and 65 strikes. By 

August of this year Alaska whalers had killed 14 and struck 25 whales, the Anchorage Daily News 

reported.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION–management; WHALING–western Arctic, native, catch. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1982a. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): An organization that represents the 

Eskimo populations... Alaska 48(1):39-40. 

“The Inuit (Eskimo) Circumpolar Conference hopes to define the differences between commercial 

and subsistence whaling and to have that definition accepted by the International Whaling 

Commission. Attempts to impose IWC quotas on Eskimo subsistence whalers have raised strong 

objections from the Eskimo community, which claims that declines in whale populations are related 

primarily to commercial whaling, as opposed to subsistence hunting. The first meeting of the ICC 

was held in 1977 in Barrow. The ICC is concerned with common problems related to whaling, 

subsistence, and oil and gas development.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION–management; WHALING–western Arctic, native. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1982b. Alaska-Yukon Magazine (News items): Anchorage. Alaska 48(5):A13. 

“Anchorage --The Eskimo's subsistence hunting of the bowhead whale could be banned sometime 

next year, the chief executive of the International Whaling Commission said here at the conclusion of 

a week-long conference of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission. The January meeting explored 

more accurate methods of counting the whales, which are the most endangered of the whale 

species. 

Commission secretary Ray Gambell, whose organization represents 35 nations and regulates 

whaling throughout the world, said higher counts of bowhead whales would stop pressure by the 

international scientific community to ban hunting. The world's bowhead population is estimated at 

2,500. The Eskimos say many bowheads are not counted. 

The International Whaling Commission will meet in July on the world status of the bowhead whales, 

and Gambell said he foresees a possible repeat of a previous commission ban on bowhead hunting. 

That ban was reversed at the urging of Inupiat Eskimos and the U.S. government. 

Gambell said the concern is that the species already is doomed. “It's really depressing,” he told the 

Anchorage Daily News. “On the available evidence, the odds are against its [survival].” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–abundance; REGULATION & CONSERVATION–management; WHALING–western Arctic, native. 
25 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1982c. The Alaska Sportsman (News items): Nineteen bowhead whales... Alaska 

48(8):56. 

Nineteen bowhead whales may be killed this year under the agreement signed in March between the 

Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

Under the agreement, the Eskimos will manage their own hunt with technical assistance and 

monitoring by NOAA. Quotas were established for each of the nine whaling villages: Barrow (5), 

Point Hope (3), Savoonga (2), Gambell (2), Wainwright (2), Kaktovik (2), Kivalina (1), Wales (1), and 

Nuiqsut (1). The agreement prohibits the killing of calves or adult whales with calves. In hopes of 

leaving the breeding stock intact, whaling captains are being encouraged to take whales under 39 

feet which are presumably sexually immature. Mature bowheads may reach 50-60 feet in length. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION–regulation; REPRODUCTION–maturity; WHALING–western Arctic, native. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1982d. Alaska-Yukon Magazine (News items): Anchorage. Alaska 48(8):A28. 

“Anchorage--A federal recommendation to lengthen the oil drilling season in the Beaufort Sea to 10 

months has been met with mixed reactions from whalers and members of the oil industry. The 

Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission was disappointed with the recommendation, according to Marie 

Adams, executive director. The commission sought retention of the five-month drilling limit, fearing 

that oil spills or blowouts during the spring and fall months could cause significant harm to whales. 

Although the opinion does require that no drilling be conducted when whales are in the area, the oil 

industry was pleased with the recommendation. “It's about 80% of what we wanted,” said Roger 

Hererra, exploration officer for Sohio Alaska Petroleum Company.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION–factors; REGULATION & CONSERVATION–regulation; WHALING–western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, native. 

ALASKA MAGAZINE. 

1982e. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Six Eskimo whale hunters... Alaska 

48(9):30. 

Six Eskimo whale hunters, tossed into the cold Bering Sea by a 50-foot whale they had harpooned, 

survived the incident without serious injury. The whale escaped and, as it was Savoonga's second 

strike this season, it signaled the end of the village's bowhead whaling season because its quota had 

been used. A week earlier a Savoonga crew had landed the first bowhead--a 44-foot female. In 

1976 a similar accident near Barrow resulted in the death of one hunter. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling, struck and lost; WHALING–western Arctic, Bering Sea, native, catch. 

ALASKA MISSIONARY CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH. 

1979. Letters to the Editor: Whaling. Tundra Times, June 27, 16(25):12. 

A resolution was passed by the Alaska Missionary Conference of the United Methodist Church, in 

session at Anchorage, June 16, 1979, in support of the recommendations of the Alaska (Eskimo) 

Whaling Commission in reference to the subsistence harvesting of bowhead whales. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION–management; WHALING–native, utilization. 
26 

ALASKA NATIVE TIMES. 

1980. Alaska challenge: is the whale hunt over for Eskimos? Alaska Native Times, 

7(6):4-5. 

Article has been edited from the book Alaska Whales and Whaling by Alaska Geographic, and all 

photographs were by courtesy of that publication except where noted. One photograph, however, 

showing a landed whale being cut up by Eskimos, does not contain a source or caption and does not 

appear in the Alaska Geographic issue cited. Three other photographs included in the article are 

credited to Bill Marquette, National Marine Mammal Laboratory, NOAA [Identifying information on 

these are on file at the laboratory located at Seattle, Washington.] 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, native, catch, gear, photographs (one unidentified). 

ALASKA OFFSHORE. 

1982a. New study: Bowhead population greater. Alaska Offshore, Anchorage, AK, 

November, p. 1, 6, 8. 

A new survey commissioned by Sohio Petroleum and nine other oil companies and conducted by 

LGL Limited of Toronto indicates a bowhead population conservatively estimated at 3,842. The 

aerial census was conducted during the summer over open water of the eastern Beaufort Sea at a 

height of 500 to 1,000 feet. In addition to providing new population information, aerial photography 

revealed that the whales could be identified as individuals by distinctive patterns of markings and 

colors, thus providing biologists the potential to learn details of the whales' movement patterns, 

growth and calving intervals between years. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration, swimming; DISTRIBUTION–sightings, summering area; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–

census, aerial, photography, field recognition, measurement; MORPHOLOGY–measurements; POPULATION–abundance. 

ALASKA OFFSHORE. 

1982b. Why whale research? Alaska Offshore, Anchorage, AK, December, p. 2. 

Editorial on Sohio Petroleum Company's interest in financing research to obtain baseline biological 

information on the bowhead whale and its passage through Alaskan waters. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION–conservation. 

ALASKA SPORTSMAN. 

1937. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): To engage in the sport of hunting 

whales... Alaska Sportsman 3(6):21. 

“To engage in the sport of hunting whales, heretofore overlooked by big-game hunters, Joseph Lilly, 

of Des Moines, Iowa, went north late in April with James Allen, Wainwright, Alaska, trader, who has 

killed thirty-two whales from lightweight skin canoes. They will hunt with Eskimos in the ice floes of 

the Arctic.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 
27 

ALASKA SPORTSMAN. 

1938. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): An abundant supply of winter meat... 

Alaska Sportsman 4(4):19. 

“An abundant supply of winter meat is reported to have been taken by natives in Interior and 

Northern Alaska, including caribou from the large migration in the Koryukuk, 700 walrus at King 

Island, 700 on the Diomede Islands, and 400 at St. Lawrence Island. Eskimos in villages along the 

Arctic coast killed 15 whales.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, native, catch. 

ALASKA SPORTSMAN. 

1941. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): A. D. Johnson, of the U.S. Reindeer 

Service... Alaska Sportsman 7(10):21. 

“A. D. Johnson, of the U.S. Reindeer Service, reports from Barrow that after last winter's lean 

months, the Eskimos along the Arctic Coast gave whaling their serious attention and that twentythree whales were taken during the spring season, eight of them at Barrow and fourteen at Point 

Hope. The twenty-third, a drifter that had been bombed at Barrow, drifted ashore at Wainwright 

where the Eskimos worked it up and stored it against the coming winter.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling, killed and lost; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

ALASKA SPORTSMAN. 

1943a. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Eskimo whalers of the Arctic Coast... 

Alaska Sportsman 9(1):19. 

“Eskimo whalers of the Arctic Coast don't try to hang onto a harpooned whale. The moment the 

harpoon is set the harpooner's helper tosses the harpoon line and float overboard. The line is about 

a hundred feet long. The float is an inflated seal-skin. The whalers then follow the float with their 

skin boats, setting more harpoons, if possible, until the whale is exhausted enough for them to 

approach and use the lance. In 1941, Point Hope native whalers made thirteen strikes and landed 

five whales in this manner.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, struck and lost; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, gear. 

ALASKA SPORTSMAN. 

1943b. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): A hunter from Barrow... Alaska 

Sportsman 9(3):18. 

“A hunter from Barrow got one whale during the last season. The hunters of Wainwright got 85 

walrus, and those of Barrow, 117 walrus.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 
28 

ALASKA SPORTSMAN. 

1946. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Photograph. Alaska Sportsman 

12(11):25. 

(Photograph caption) “Recently the British Government has been sponsoring the whale as a means 

of helping relieve the food shortage in Europe, and has set to work to determine the nutritional value 

and palatability of whale meat. To the Eskimos of the American Arctic, the whale has always been a 

highly valued source of food, and the capture of a whale a good reason for rejoicing. The photo 

below shows Barrow Eskimos turning out en masse to help drag a whale onto the beach and butcher 

it. Besides meat the whale yields oil, bone, and baleen.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, native, catch, utilization, photograph. 

ALASKA SPORTSMAN. 

1947a. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Photograph. Alaska Sportsman 

13(3):22. 

(Photograph caption) “After a successful whale hunt comes the gigantic though satisfying task of 

dragging the animal onto the ice and butchering it. Shown in the photo below are two Point Hope 

Eskimos and a small, newly captured whale which is being pulled by its tail onto the shore ice. The 

choicest bits, the flukes of the powerful tail, have already been removed, and a strip of much prized 

muktuk, or blackskin with a layer of blubber, has been cut off the belly.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, photograph. 

ALASKA SPORTSMAN. 

1947b. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Tokpuk. Alaska Sportsman 13(5):24. 

“Tokpuk, the mightiest whale hunter of Barrow, died in March at the age of eighty-three. The aged 

Eskimo had killed more than a hundred whales during his life, three of them during the last season.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, native, crews, catch. 

ALASKA SPORTSMAN. 

1948. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Photograph. Alaska Sportsman 14(1):18. 

(Photograph caption) “It is a glad day for the entire Eskimo village when its hunters return with a 

whale. Everyone shares in the spoils. The photo below shows Eskimos on the beach at Point 

Barrow butchering a freshly killed whale. On the shore are chunks of skin and blubber, which will 

make hundreds of pounds of much relished muktuk. It is interesting to note that the two boats in the 

foreground are not the traditional skin-covered oomiaks, but conventional wooden dories. Outboard 

motors are popular among the Eskimos, who are mechanically skillful.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, native, gear, catch, photograph. 
29 

ALASKA SPORTSMAN 

1949. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Photograph. Alaska Sportsman 

15(10):21. 

(Photograph caption) “Once caught, killed and dragged onto the shore, even a middle-sized whale 

like the one shown below provides tons upon tons of edible meat and blubber. Even its baleen 

strainer is useful in making baskets and tools, and its giant ribs are ready-made rafters for the 

Eskimo's sod igloo.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, native, catch, photograph, utilization. 

ALASKA SPORTSMAN. 

1950. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): There was great joy in Barrow... Alaska 

Sportsman 16(9):21. 

“There was great joy in Barrow last May when the village hunters brought in three whales, enough to 

supply the 500 Barrow Eskimos with meat, oil and blubber for months. The whales, 26, 35 and 59 

feet long, were captured in an open lead in the ice only half a mile from shore...” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY–measurements; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, utilization. 

ALASKA SPORTSMAN. 

1951a. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Point Barrow Eskimos... Alaska 

Sportsman 17(8):28. 

“Point Barrow Eskimos threw a whale of a nelikatuk June 11, a nelikatuk being a traditional 

celebration after a successful whaling season. Barrow hunters took seven whales during the spring 

season.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

ALASKA SPORTSMAN. 

1951b. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Unique as English language 

newspapers go... Alaska Sportsman 17(8):28-29. 

Unique as English language newspapers go is the “Mukluk Telegraph,” published twice monthly in 

Kotzebue. Most of its columns are devoted to “news of the villages,” published exactly as sent by 

Eskimo correspondents. From the June 9, 1951 issue come the following: 

Point Hope - “Sorry we are slow this time, too much whaling. No time to write any how we caught 

four wright [sic] whales. I guess I better mention the names of the captain whales. Daniel Lisbourne, 

Patrick Attungana, Lennie Lane and Sam Rock. There will be a big celebration June 11 to 13, we 

better have some visitors...” 

Little Diomede Island – “... One black whale was seen, also a few white whales. All boats needed for 

spring hunting...” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, native, catch, crews. 
30 

ALASKA SPORTSMAN. 

1953. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Point Barrow Eskimos celebrated... 

Alaska Sportsman 19(11):29. 

“Point Barrow Eskimos celebrated the “best Nalakatuk in years” last June, with the capture of 

eighteen whales to cause rejoicing.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

ALASKA SPORTSMAN. 

1955. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Every summer the Eskimos... Alaska 

Sportsman 21(10):22. 

“Every summer the Eskimos of the far north village of Point Barrow have a big festival to celebrate 

their catch of whales in the spring and early summer. The festival is called a “Nulakatuk.” “The 1955 

Nulakatuk was celebrated after fifteen whales had been taken.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

ALASKA SPORTSMAN. 

1957. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): The treacherous Arctic ice pack... Alaska 

Sportsman 23(9):27. 

Nine whaling crews at Barrow lost their hunting gear last April when the ice, driven by a strong wind, 

began to heave and break up. About 50 men escaped to shore and no lives were lost. (Guy Okakok, 

Barrow correspondent for the Fairbanks News-Miner). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crews, gear. 

ALASKA SPORTSMAN. 

1962. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Mrs. Loraine Burdick of Puyallup, 

Washington, sends this bit of Alaskana... Alaska Sportsman 28(1):39. 

(Copied verbatim from the Boston newspaper, Flag of Our Union, for the week ending Saturday, July 

23, 1853, titled “The following is a description of an Esquimaux bear-trap [taken from Travels in the 

Northwest].). 

Description of a bear-trap consisting of a thick, strong piece of whalebone about four inches broad 

and two feet long, that is bent double and wrapped with pieces of blubber and allowed to freeze. 

When eaten by a bear, the blubber soon loosens and allows the whalebone to spring back to its old 

position, wreaking havoc with the animals intestines and causing its death. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, utilization. 
31 

ALASKA SPORTSMAN. 

1962. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Point Hope. Alaska Sportsman 28(8):38. 

“Point Hope. The village of Point Hope has enjoyed a good whaling season. Five bowhead whales 

were taken before the end of May, compared with only two last year. Allan Rock and his crew, who 

got a 60-ton whale last year, got another this year. This is Rock's second whale and he was able to 

select the best part of the whale, the breast portion which is rich in fine meat and tender muktuk. 

Last year, as is traditional with the first whale, Rock got one of the whale's lips. The lip, however, 

was 22 feet long and weighed three tons.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ETHNOLOGY–whale culture; MORPHOLOGY–measurements; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

ALASKA SPORTSMAN. 

1965a. June in Alaska's history: June 16, 1865. Alaska Sportsman 31(6):29. 

The armed cruiser Shenandoah of the Confederate States Navy, commanded by Lieut. James I. 

Waddell, sailed to the Bering and Chukchi Seas where it pursued and destroyed or captured Yankee 

vessels, most of which were whalers. The Shenandoah cruised for 12 months and captured 38 

Yankee ships, 25 of them after the Civil War was over. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Bering and Chukchi Seas, commercial, drawing. 

ALASKA SPORTSMAN. 

1965b. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): The little Eskimo village of Gambell... 

Alaska Sportsman 31(10):39. 

The little Eskimo village of Gambell on St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea got its first whale in 

four years last spring. The last whale was caught in the spring of 1961. The whale captured this 

spring was taken by John Apangalook. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Bering Sea, native, catch,crews. 

ALASKA SPORTSMAN. 

1966. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): By the first of June, Point Hope Eskimo 

whaler crews... Alaska Sportsman 32(8):29. 

“By the first of June, Point Hope Eskimo whaler crews had captured five bowhead whales and 

expected more with favorable ice conditions. Successful whaleboat captains were Patrick 

Attungana, Amos Lane, Seymour Tuzroylke, and Allen Rock.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 
32 

ALASKA SPORTSMAN. 

1967. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): It's a long way from Los Angeles... 

Alaska Sportsman 33(5):4. 

Dr. Floyd Durham, a biologist with the University of Southern California at Los Angeles, is making a 

study of the bowhead whale and Eskimo whaling under a grant from the Arctic Institute of North 

America. In exchange for Norwegian flensing knives, harpoons, and plastic floats to replace more 

primitive equipment, Dr. Durham receives skeletal parts of bowhead whales. To date he has 

amassed over three tons of bones, the largest collection in the country. Durham states Eskimo 

whaling methods are inefficient and at present an average of only one in five of the whales struck are 

recovered. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–museum, skeletal parts; POPULATION–mortality, whaling, struck and lost; 

WHALING–western Arctic, native, gear. 

ALASKA SPORTSMAN. 

1968. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): There is a bountiful supply of muktuk... 

Alaska Sportsman 34(9):45. 

“There is a bountiful supply of muktuk in the villages of Alaska's northwest Arctic coast, but the 

Eskimos of Kotzebue have found that appeasing a hankering for the whale delicacy is costly. 

Caught in Point Hope up the coast, black muktuk is selling for $2.25 a pound in Kotzebue.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, utilization. 

ALASKA SPORTSMAN. 

1969a. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Joash Tukle and his crew of Barrow 

whalers... Alaska Sportsman 35(2):28. 

Joash Tukle and his crew of Barrow whalers recently lost a big whale off the Barrow coast. Tukle's 

boat ran out of gas while towing one of the largest whales taken off Barrow in recent years. The 

crew was stranded in the ice pack for two days before rescue came. And just a few weeks after 

Tukle lost his whale, Nome residents were busy carving up a 27-ton whale that had drifted to shore 

five miles west of the town. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, killed and lost, stranding; WHALING–western Arctic, native, catch, crews, utilization. 

ALASKA SPORTSMAN. 

1969b. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Photograph. Alaska Sportsman 

35(5):36. 

(Photograph caption). “This fearsome fellow was carved by a Point Hope Eskimo from the vertebrae 

of a whalebone. Relying on a buried supply of whalebones, the rare mask material is carved after 

thorough drying. Most of the carving is done by men. Eyes of fresh bone or ivory are inserted, with 

the iris usually made from black baleen of bowhead whales.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

SKELETAL REMAINS; WHALING–western Arctic, native, utilization. 
33 

ALASKA SPORTSMAN. 

1969c. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): “'Quweasukpuktugut' ...”.Alaska 

Sportsman 35(8):14. (From Tundra Times, and Nome Nugget) 

“'Quweasukpuktugut', which means, 'We are very thankful' in Eskimo was the headline used by the 

Tundra Times to report a harvest of seven bowhead whales by Barrow whalers.” Also, an article in 

the Nome Nugget reported that a whale was taken at Gambell on St. Lawrence Island by Stanley 

Oogevaseuk. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Bering and Chukchi Seas, native, crews, catch. 

ALASKANA. 

1971. An Arctic tragedy. Alaskana 1(6):10-12. 

Recounts an incident when 33 whaling vessels were lost to the ice between Icy Cape and Point 

Belcher in 1871. All 1,219 survivors (one man elected to spend the winter there) travelled down the 

coast in small whaling boats to be rescued by seven ships that had waited for them south of the ice. 

The following summer a smaller whaling fleet made its way north and discovered the one sailor on 

the beach waiting for them. Near Point Belcher the bark Minerva was found, still seaworthy, and it 

was brought back to San Francisco. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, commercial, gear, catch. 

ALBERT, THOMAS F. 

1980. Tissue structure studies of the bowhead whale. Arct. Coastal Zone Manage. 

Newsl. 28:15-19. 

Describes a Bureau of Land Management research project with funding provided the University of 

Maryland (T. F. Albert) to obtain basic biological information from bowhead (and to a lesser extent 

gray whales) utilizing animals harvested by Eskimo hunters, including stranded whales. Reports on 

whale 78KK1 taken by Herman Aishanna during the fall of 1978 at Kaktovik, including photographs; 

five bowheads taken at Kaktovik during the fall of 1979, including food items found in their stomachs 

and a nearly intact heart from whale 79KK1; and radiographic study of a gray whale flipper from an 

individual found stranded near Barrow in the fall of 1978. Of particular interest was the finding of a 

healed penetrating injury in bowhead 78KK1 suggesting the animal recovered from a wound possibly 

inflicted by a harpoon or bomb. Includes a flow chart indicating types of tissue samples collected 

from whales and studies conducted by principal investigators located at various institutions. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–age determination, measurements, specimens collected; IDENTITY–subspecies, 

ingutuk; MORPHOLOGY–measurements, anatomy; NUTRITION–food; PATHOLOGY; PHYSIOLOGY; POPULATION–

mortality, natural, whaling, struck and lost; REPRODUCTION; WHALING–Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea, native, catch, crews, 

photographs. 
34 

ALBERT, THOMAS F., GEORGE MIGAKI, HAROLD W. CASEY, and L. MICHAEL PHILO. 

1980. Healed penetrating injury of a bowhead whale. U.S. Natl. Mar. Fish. Serv., Mar. 

Fish. Rev. 42(9-10):92-96. 

A male bowhead whale 10.6 m in length landed at Kaktovik, Barter Island, Alaska, in September 

1978, evidenced a healed, penetrating injury. Although positive proof is lacking, the authors believe 

that a reasonable explanation is that the penetration was due either to a harpoon or a bomb fired 

from a shoulder gun by an Eskimo whaler. The discovery is important because in recent years 

increasing concern has been expressed over the rising number of animals taken or struck and lost 

during the subsistence hunt for bowheads. A detailed histological study of the tissues involved with 

the injury is described. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY–measurements, injury; POPULATION–mortality, whaling, struck and lost; WHALING–western Arctic, 

Beaufort Sea, native, catch. 

ALDRICH, HERBERT L. 

1889. Arctic Alaska and Siberia, or, eight months with the Arctic whalemen. Rand, 

McNally & Co., Chicago and New York, 234 p. 

A popular account of the author's voyage with a whaling ship to the Bering Sea, Pt. Hope, Pt. 

Barrow, and the Chukchi Sea in 1887. Describes whaling gear and whaling techniques of 

commercial whaling vessels and of natives of eastern Siberia and northern Alaska. Also describes 

customs and lives of Eskimos of the area, including hunting, clothing, and storage and use of whale 

meat as food. Includes comments that bowheads are believed to communicate by singing. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–vocalization; WHALING–western Arctic, Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, history, commercial, natives, utilization, catch. 

ALLEN, ARTHUR JAMES. 

1978. A whaler and trader in the Arctic 1895 to 1944. My life with the bowhead. Alaska 

Northwest Publ. Co., Anchorage, Alaska, 213 p. 

Account of commercial and subsistence whaling for bowhead whales based upon personal 

experience. Observations on life in the Arctic aboard whaling vessels and in Eskimo villages. 

Describes native customs and traditions associated with the hunt for bowheads, equipment used, 

time periods hunted, environmental conditions, whale behavior, catches and utilization of whale 

products. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration, when chased; DISTRIBUTION–former; IDENTITY–nomenclature; MORPHOLOGY–measurements; 

PATHOLOGY–injury; REPRODUCTION–calves; WHALING–western Arctic, commercial, native, gear, catch, photographs, 

utilization. 

ALLEN, EDWARD W. 

1947-53. Commercial fisheries of Alaska. 17 p. In: V. Stefansson (editor), Encyclopedia 

Arctica, vol. 3, Zoology, pt. 2, no. 11. Avail. Dartmouth College Library, Hanover, 

NH 03755. Unpubl. manuscr. 

Describes importance of commercial fisheries, including sealing and whaling, to the state of Alaska. 

Includes a brief summary of American whaling fleet operations in the North Pacific and Arctic 

Oceans, with statistics on the fleet, fleet disasters and products obtained, chiefly from bowhead 

whales. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, commercial, history, gear, catch, products. 
35 

ALLEN, EVERETT S. 

1973. Children of the light: the rise and fall of New Bedford whaling and the death of the 

arctic fleet. Little, Brown and Co., Boston, 302 p. 

Very interesting review of whaling based on literature, journals and letters of whalers. Includes 

descriptions of bowhead size, migration, feeding, breathing, swimming. Preparations of Alaska 

Eskimos for hunting, their gear and rituals, and the actual hunt are detailed. Letters from captains 

and whalers provide observations and opinions about bowhead behavior, calving, ice breaking, food, 

seasonal distribution, and other subjects. Commercial whaling gear, techniques, products, cutting 

and rendering flesh are described in detail. The importance of the whaling industry to Hawaiian 

history and development is discussed. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–swimming, respiratory, ice–breaking, migration; DISTRIBUTION–sightings; NUTRITION–food; 

REPRODUCTION–parturition, embryology; WHALING–western Arctic, history, commercial, native, catch, gear, utilization.

ALLEN, GLOVER M. 

1916. The whalebone whales of New England. Mem. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. 8(2):106-

322. 

The bowhead, being an Arctic species, is not certainly known from New England but was common in 

former times as far south as Newfoundland and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Whales recorded as taken 

near Cape Cod., Mass., in 1736 and near Chatham, Mass., in 1843, however, were unusually large 

and yielded exceptional amounts of oil and whalebone, suggesting they may have been stray 

bowheads (p. 134-135). 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION–Former sightings; WHALING–Eastern Arctic (possible catch off New England), commercial, catch. 

ALLEN, GLOVER M. 

1930. The walrus in New England. J. Mammal. 11(2):139-145. 

Occurrence of walrus off New England in historical and colonial days as determined from the 

literature, including fossil remains. It formerly occurred in some numbers in the western Atlantic as 

far south as the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Cape Breton, and Sable Island off southern Nova Scotia, and 

penetrated into the Gulf of Maine, probably following the colder waters that enter this area from the 

north, and form the natural boundary in a general way for a number of other northern animals, 

including among mammals, the white whale, the Northern blackfish, and formerly the bowhead 

whale. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION–former, factors; eastern Arctic, western Atlantic. 

ALLEN, GLOVER M. 

1941. Our rarer mammals. Audubon 43(2):150-160. 

Summary of several rare mammals, including the bowhead (p. 158), with some information on 

biology and events leading to the present status of each. Although all stocks of bowhead were 

severely depleted by commercial whalers, this activity by most nations ceased in 1937 and there is 

encouraging evidence [not presented] that the North Pacific group is once more slowly building up, 

even though Eskimos continue to take a few each year for food. 

EASTERN ARCTIC, WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration; DISTRIBUTION–historical and present; MORPHOLOGY–size; NUTRITION–food; WHALING–eastern 

Arctic, western Arctic, commercial and native. 
36 

ALLEN, GLOVER M. 

1942. Extinct and vanishing mammals of the Western Hemisphere with the marine 

species of all the oceans. Am. Comm. Int. Wild Life Prot., Spec. Publ. 11, 620 p. 

Bowhead (Balaena mysticetus) is reviewed on p. 506-511. The whale is described, three 

populations recognized by whalers in the eastern and western Arctic are listed, and the history of 

whaling for the species is given. Includes some catch statistics and the present status of stocks. 

EASTERN ARCTIC, WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY; DISTRIBUTION; POPULATION–abundance & density; WHALING–eastern Arctic, western Arctic; history, 

drawings (whales), commercial, catch. 

ALLEN, JOEL ASAPH. 

1881. Preliminary list of works and papers relating to the Mammalian Orders Cete and 

Sirenia. Bull. U.S. Geol. Surv. Territ. 6(3), Art. 18. 562 p. + index of authors. 

Washington, D.C. (Reprinted by A.D. Lilly, Hythe, Kent, England, 1977.) 

Annotated bibliography of a history of the species of North American Cete and Sirenia, believed by 

the author to cover nearly everything of importance bearing upon their technical aspects. Few 

papers dealing with their economic and commercial aspects have been included. The titles are 

consecutively numbered and arranged chronologically. Includes about 1,000 published works 1495 

through 1840. Because of illness, an additional 2,000 titles, comprising the most important part from 

the systematic standpoint, was never published (see J.A. Allen, 1908, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 

24:279-280). 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

BIBLIOGRAPHY–general. 

ALLEN, J. A. 

1908. The North Atlantic right whale and its near allies. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 24(Art. 

18):277-329, pl. 19-24. 

Differences in ideas of the classification and identification of the right whale and the bowhead whale 

detailed in quotations and review of literature of the 17th - 20th centuries. 

EASTERN and WESTERN ARCTIC 

IDENTITY–Nomenclature, taxonomy. 

ALLEN, K. RADWAY. 

1980. Conservation and management of whales. Wash. Sea Grant Publ., Univ. Wash. 

Press, Seattle, 107 p. 

Brief history of the whaling industry and its regulation by the International Whaling Commission. 

Concepts and techniques scientists use to study whale populations and how information is used as 

guide for management and conservation is discussed. 

Recent observations on Bering Sea bowhead whales showed that calves sighted constituted only 

about l.3% of the population (p. 80). Unless this figure is a substantial underestimate it implies that 

in this population, which is probably at about 10% of its original level, the pregnancy rate may be 

only about 5%. This is so much lower than rates normally found in baleen whales and suggests that 

in this badly depleted population a reversal of the usual density-dependent effect may have 

occurred. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION–habitat; IDENTITY–taxonomy; NUTRITION–food; POPULATION–estimated abundance; REGULATION & 

CONSERVATION–regulation, management; REPRODUCTION–fecundity; WHALING–history, western Arctic, eastern Arctic. 
37 

ALTMAN, PHILIP L., and DOROTHY S. DITTMER (compilers and editors). 

1972. Biology data book, vol. 1, 2nd ed. Fed. Am. Soc. Exp. Biol., Bethesda, Maryland, 

606 p. 

The physical and chemical properties of whale oil from Balaena mysticetus are given on p. 348 as 

follows: Specific gravity, 0.892; Refractive index, 1.460; Iodine value, 120; and Saponification value, 

195. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–measurement of physical and chemical properties. 

AMERICAN CETACEAN SOCIETY 

1977. Aboriginal Whaling: U.S. dilemma. . Am Cetacean Soc., San Pedro, California, 

Action Lett. July, p. 2. 

“The [International Whaling] Commission adopted a moratorium on the killing of bowhead whales in 

the North Pacific by aboriginal peoples. Bowheads are thought to be the most depleted of the great 

whales, having declined to as little as 10% of the unexploited level. This action means that the U.S. 

will be in violation of IWC regulations unless Alaskan Eskimos end their bowhead harvest. This 

year's kill hit a record high of 26 killed and recovered, one killed and lost, and 77 struck and lost. 

Since 1970, the number of whaling crews, the average annual take, and the percentage struck and 

lost have all increased sharply.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION mortality, whaling killed/lost, struck/lost; REGULATION & CONSERVATION–regulation; WHALING–western 

Arctic, native, catch, crews. 

ANCHORAGE DAILY NEWS. 

1978a. Whalers pass feds' quota. Anchorage Daily News, Anchorage, Alaska, May 5, 

p.1. 

Eskimo whalers at Barrow violated the village quota of three bowhead whales by taking a fourth one 

on Wednesday evening. The last whale was taken by Jonathan Aiken. Jacob Adams, chairman of 

the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, “... said the hunt would continue because only two 

bowhead whales had been taken. He said the other two whales were 'ingutuk', not bowheads.” The 

International Whaling Commission allowed a quota of 12 whales killed or 18 struck for eight whaling 

villages during 1978. The article is accompanied by a photograph showing an Eskimo at Point Hope 

carving into the first bowhead taken in that village this year. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

IDENTITY–nomenclature, Eskimo, ingutuk; POPULATION–mortality, whaling; REGULATION & CONSERVATION–

management, quota; WHALING–Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, photograph. 

ANCHORAGE DAILY NEWS. 

1978b. Editorial: An uncommon whaling hunt. Anchorage Daily News, Anchorage, 

Alaska, May 10, p. 4. 

Editorial on effect of the first catch quota imposed by the International Whaling Commission on the 

hunt for bowhead whales by Alaskan Eskimos. Last year's take of 29 whales was cut to 12 this year 

by the IWC, and the Eskimos are worried that food will run short in the villages. It appears unlikely 

that the Eskimos will even take their full quota during this year's hunt as only nine whales have been 

caught to date. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling; REGULATION & CONSERVATION–management, quota; WHALING–Bering, Chukchi, 

Beaufort Seas, native, catch, utilization. 
38 

ANCHORAGE DAILY NEWS. 

1979. Million spent studying whales produces no new information. Anchorage Daily 

News, Anchorage, Alaska, September 21. 

“A million dollar research effort by the National Marine Fisheries Service has failed to produce any 

important new information about bowhead whales or to increase whale population estimates. A 

major goal of the research was to estimate the number of newborn calves, but though an intensive 

effort was made, only six calves were identified out of a sampling of 170 whales.” Poor weather 

hampered observation of whales and whaling. The International Whaling Commission quota for this 

year is 18 whales or 27 strikes but only seven were landed by the Eskimos during their spring hunt. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–census; POPULATION–abundance, calves; REGULATION & CONSERVATION–

management, quota, WHALING–Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, native, catch. 

ANCHORAGE TIMES. 

1978a. Barrow whalers get their quota. Anchorage Times, Anchorage, Alaska, May 3, p. 

7. 

Whalers from Barrow have taken three bowheads in two days, reaching the quota set for Barrow 

under the newly established quota system. Robert Akin's crew took the first whale Monday. Crews 

led by Harry Brower and Jake Adams, chairman of the [Alaska] Eskimo Whaling Commission, took 

two whales Tuesday. The St. Lawrence Island villages of Savoonga and Gambell were the first to 

report whale kills this year. Each village was entitled to one whale. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling; REGULATION & CONSERVATION–management, quotas; WHALING–Bering Sea, 

Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

ANCHORAGE TIMES. 

1978b. Whale season means hard work for villagers. Anchorage Times, Anchorage, 

Alaska, May 11. 

Photo essay on the landing and cutting up of a 53-1/2 foot long bowhead whale landed at 

Wainwright on May 6. It was the first whale of the season for the village. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY–measurements, length; POPULATION–mortality, whaling; WHALING–Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, 

gear, photographs, utilization. 

ANDERSEN, HARALD T. (editor). 

1969. The biology of marine mammals. Academic Press, New York and London, 511 p. 

Summarizes the general biology of marine mammals including a review of the literature. Subjects 

discussed by chapter are: age determination, hydrodynamics of swimming, deep diving, 

physiological properties of blood, cardiovascular adjustments to diving, temperature regulation, 

nervous system, reproduction, endocrine organs, echolocation and communication. 

EASTERN and WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-communication, swimming; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-age; PHYSIOLOGY-blood, endocrines, 

nerve, thermoregulation; REPRODUCTION. 
39 

ANDERSON, GEORGE. 

1947. A whale is killed. Beaver, Outfit 277(4):18-21. 

Account of the capture and cutting up of a Greenland whale by two crews from Pangnirtung, 

Cumberland Sound, in July, 1946. It measured 36 feet long, 23 feet in girth, and the baleen was 

more than 5 feet in length. Hunting equipment, method of flensing, and tools used are described. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–when shot; MORPHOLOGY–measurements; WHALING–eastern Arctic, native, crews, gear, catch, photographs, 

utilization. 

ANDERSON, RUDOLPH MARTIN. 

1926. Report on the natural history collections of the expedition. In Vilhjalmur 

Stefansson, My life with the Eskimo, p. 436-527. Macmillan Co., New York. (1st 

ed., 1913.) 

Reports the author's journeys, observations, and collections of plants and animals made on the 

Stefansson-Anderson Arctic Expedition of the American Museum of Natural History, 1908-1912. 

Section on the bowhead whale (p. 496-500) lists the historic Eskimo whaling areas of the region, 

whale migrations and whaling seasons, commercial whaling techniques and equipment, behavior of 

whales under pursuit, and a brief history of whaling and catches by white men in the region. The 

author notes the size of a captured bowhead and remarks that the bowhead lacks parasites such as 

barnacles and “lice.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–swimming, diving; DISTRIBUTION–former & present; MORPHOLOGY; PATHOLOGY– parasites; WHALING–

history, western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea, gear, natives, catch. 

ANDERSON, RUDOLPH MARTIN. 

1939. Mammals of the Province of Quebec. Annu. Rep. (1938) Provancher Soc. Nat. 

Hist. Can., p. 50-114. 

The bowhead whale (p. 96) is hardly to be expected in Quebec waters except in Hudson Strait, 

which according to Low (1906:257) was entered by the whalers as early as April, going to Repulse 

Bay and Foxe Channel, and passing eastward of Hudson Strait late in autumn. The right whales 

have no dorsal fin. (Author). 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION–Eastern Arctic, history. 

ANDERSON, RUDOLPH MARTIN. 

1946. Catalogue of Canadian recent mammals. Natl. Mus. Can., Bull. 102, Biol. Ser. 

31, 238 p. 

A distributional list of the different forms of mammals that are known to exist, or to have existed 

within historic time, north of the southern boundaries of the Dominion of Canada, with exception of 

Alaska. Includes a brief description of the range of the bowhead whale in the eastern and western 

Arctic (p. 90-91). Time of migration and route in western Arctic is given. Commercial whaling began 

in Bering Sea and neighboring arctic regions in 1848, reaching Canadian waters around Herschel 

Island, Yukon, in 1888. The bowheads were soon reduced to limited numbers and whaling 

discontinued in the western Arctic about 1912, although Eskimos with old whaling tackle occasionally 

killed a bowhead along the shore for domestic uses for some years afterward. 

EASTERN and WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration; DISTRIBUTION History; WHALING–History, western Arctic, native. 
40 

ANDREWS, CLARENCE L. 

1918. Alaska whaling. Pac. Northwest Quart. 9 (1):3-10. 

A general historical description of commercial whaling in Alaskan waters, including comment (p. 3) 

“In the arctic near Point Barrow the Eskimo kill a smaller whale than the bowhead known to them as 

the ing-ah-took, which is considered by them to be a separate species.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION–history; IDENTITY–Eskimo, ing–ah–took; WHALING–history, western Arctic, commercial, Eskimo. 

ANDREWS, CLARENCE L. 

1939. The Eskimo and his reindeer in Alaska. The Caxton Printers, Ltd., Caldwell, Idaho, 

253 p. 

General account of Eskimo life and activities in Alaska observed first hand by author who was a 

government employee in the School and Reindeer Service. Spring whaling for bowheads along an 

open lead (called flaw whaling) off Wainwright is described. That year (1925 or 1926, text not 

explicit) hunters at Wainwright took two bowheads, two walrus and six polar bears, and at Icy Cape 

one bowhead was landed (p. 139, 148). At Cape Prince of Wales, once one of the greatest whaling 

villages, no whales were taken between 1906 and 1915 (p. 242). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Bering Strait, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, photographs, utilization. 

ANDREWS, CLARENCE L. 

1972. Clarence L. Andrews collection. Collection accession number 72-154, Alaska and 

Polar Regions Dep. Elmer E. Rasmuson Lib., Univ. Alaska, Fairbanks. 

Collection of notebooks and photographs (in boxes number 3, 4 and 6) containing information on 

commercial and native whaling for bowhead whales in Alaskan waters. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-history, western Arctic, commercial, native, catch, photographs. 

ANDREWS, ROY CHAPMAN. 

1911. Shore-whaling: a world industry. Natl. Geogr. Mag. 22(5):411-442. 

A popular account on whales and shore-based whaling. “On the great bowhead, or Greenland right 

whale, which lives in the intensely cold waters of the Arctic Ocean, the blubber is 12 or 14 inches 

thick in some places.” (Author). 

EASTERN & WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY–measurements; WHALING–Commercial, shore stations. 
41 

ANDREWS, ROY C. 

1914. Monographs of the Pacific Cetacea. The California gray whale (Rhachianectes 

glaucus Cope). Its history, habits, external anatomy, osteology and relationship. 

Mem. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. New Ser. 1 (Part 5): 227-287. 

Reviews the knowledge of the gray whale to date including life history, external anatomy, osteology, 

and classification of the species. The discussion on osteology contains numerous comparisons with 

Eubalaena, Balaenoptera, and Megaptera, including a single reference (on page 282) to the 

bowhead: “The presence of a foramen perforating the pelvic rudiment has been recorded by 

Struthers in the case of Balaena mysticetus but it is rare in other cetaceans.” 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

MORPHOLOGY–structure, skeleton. 

ANDREWS, ROY CHAPMAN. 

1916. Whale hunting with gun and camera. D. Appleton & Co., New York and London, 

333 p. 

Popular style description of the author's observations about various species of whales, as well as 

general information from scientific literature and observations of other individuals. Chapter about 

bowhead and right whale (p. 245-257) gives very brief general facts about bowhead biology and 

behavior, whaling customs and techniques of Alaskan Eskimos, and distribution. Appendix includes 

a key to whales and brief scientific descriptions of the species. 

EASTERN & WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR; DISTRIBUTION; WHALING–history, gear, natives. 

ANDREWS, ROY CHAPMAN. 

1954. All about whales. Random House, New York, 148 p. 

Popular style book written for young people. Chapter 9 (p. 90-102) presents general information on 

right and bowhead whales including physical description, baleen length and industrial uses, 

distribution, behavior, feeding and whaling by American whalers and Eskimos. 

EASTERN & WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–general; DISTRIBUTION–eastern and western Arctic; MORPHOLOGY–general; WHALING–commercial and 

native, utilization. 

ANSON, CHARLES LYMAN. 

1949. Arctic man. Alaska Sportsman 15(12):20-23, 28-29. 

Brief biography of Charles D. Brower by a person that assisted in the publication of Brower's book, 

Fifty years below zero. In a letter Brower sent to Anson he stated that four whales had been killed 

that year off Point Barrow [No date given, but possibly was during 1943.]. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 
42 

ANTHONY, H. E. 

1928. Field book of North American mammals. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 

London, 674 p. 

Descriptions of every mammal known north of the Rio Grande, together with brief accounts of their 

geographical ranges, habits, etc. The bowhead (p. 559) is described as “a large whale, 50 to 65 feet 

long, with very large head and highly arched upper jaw; head more than one-third of total length; 

baleen very long, finely fringed. Geographical distribution circumpolar seas.” 

EASTERN & WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION–circumpolar; MORPHOLOGY–general. 

APPLEYARD, GLENN. 

1979. Whales. Naut. Q. No. 3: 18-35. 

Review of the whaling industry and whale species. The depletion of most stocks of whales led to the 

formation of the International Whaling Commission in 1946 which developed self-imposed rules for 

regulation of the industry. It prohibited killing the nearly extinct gray, bowhead and right whales 

except aborigines were permitted to take them for subsistence. Before exploitation there were an 

estimated 10,000 bowhead, but these have been reduced to about 2,000 today. In 1977 a ban was 

declared by the IWC on the killing of bowheads by Eskimos, but this was subsequently modified in 

December of that year when special limits were set for the Eskimos permitting the killing of 12 

bowheads or the striking of 18, whichever came first. Population scientists are now attempting to 

better estimate the size of the world stock of cetaceans. Based on these estimates, many 

cetologists believe that current hunting quotas do not pose an extinction threat to any great whale 

species. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–abundance; REGULATION & CONSERVATION–management; WHALING–western Arctic, native, catch, 

drawing. 

ARCTIC. 

1949. Archaeological work on Cornwallis Island. Arctic 2(3):201. 

Scientists excavating old Eskimo sites in the region of Resolute Bay, Cornwallis Island, in summer 

1948 found several examples of pictographic art, including one showing a whale being harpooned 

from a umiak. Very few examples of pictographic art have been found at Thule sites in Canada or 

Greenland. This one showing a typical Eskimo umiak, with the steersman in the stern, three 

paddlers and the harpooner in the act of hurling a harpoon at a whale is a fine example. The Thule 

people were primarily whale hunters, and from skulls and other evidence the bowhead whale 

appeared to be abundant in their time. Today there are none in the region. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY–eastern Arctic; DISTRIBUTION–former and present; POPULATION–abundance; WHALING–native, 

pictographs. 
43 

ARCTIC BULLETIN. 

1976. Marine research: [U.S.] Department of Commerce. Arctic Bull. 2(8):117-124. 

Describes the Department of Commerce's arctic research responsibilities, including financial 

expenditures to study the bowhead whale and other marine mammals. In 1974 and 1975 biologists 

began assessing the bowhead whale population and the effect of the Eskimo harvest on the 

population. Aerial surveys were conducted over the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas from September 12 

to 25, 1974, to observe the fall distribution of marine mammals. Approximately 12,874 km of 

trackline were flown between the Mackenzie Delta on the east and 174° W. and from the coast north 

to the ice. The expenditure for bowhead research in fiscal 1975 was approximately $35,000 and that 

for fiscal 1976 will exceed three times this amount. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION–present, sightings; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES– census, aerial; POPULATION–mortality, 

whaling; WHALING–Bering, Chukchi, Beaufort Seas, native, gear, catch. 

ARCTIC BULLETIN. 

1977. Marine research: [U.S.] Department of Commerce. Arctic Bull. 2(11):205-209. 

Reviews the Department of Commerce's arctic research for fiscal 1976. Information on the 

distribution and abundance of bowhead whales was obtained by aerial surveys for the population in 

the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas under the Outer Continental Shelf Environmental 

Assessment Program. Aerial surveys were also conducted out of Point Barrow, Alaska, from May 27 

to June 7 and June 17-20. The Eskimo spring harvest of bowhead whales was monitored by the 

Marine Mammal Division from April 22 to June 3, 1976. The Eskimos harvested 8 whales on St. 

Lawrence Island, 12 at Pt. Hope, 3 at Wainwright, and 13 at Barrow for a catch of 36 (preliminary 

figures). Monitoring began in 1974, with 20 whales harvested; there were 15 in 1975. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION–present, sightings; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES– census, aerial; POPULATION–mortality, 

whaling; WHALING–Bering, Chukchi, Beaufort Seas, native, catch. 

ARCTIC BULLETIN. 

1978. Marine research: [U.S.] Department of Commerce. Arctic Bull. 2(15):369-378. 

Reviews the Department of Commerce's arctic research for fiscal 1977. Assessment of the 

bowhead whale population continued by a census station established on the ice at Point Barrow, 

Alaska. From April 23 to June 3, an estimated 840 whales migrated past the station. Aerial surveys 

were conducted from Barrow during late spring and again in the fall. The Eskimos harvested 26 

whales during the spring and at least 3 more were taken in the fall. In the last 4 years the annual 

harvest has varied from about 15 to 48 whales. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION–present, sightings; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–census, ice station, aerial; POPULATION–

mortality, whaling; WHALING–Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, native, catch. 

ARCTIC COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT NEWSLETTER. 

1977a. Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission organized at historic gathering of whaling 

captains in Barrow. Arct. Coastal Zone Manage. Newsl. 6:[3]. 

On August 29, 1977, 72 whaling crew captains from around the Arctic coast met in Barrow to discuss 

the International Whaling Commission subsistence bowhead whaling moratorium and develop 

defensive strategy. They organized the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, and authorized NSB 

[North Slope Borough] Eben Hopson to speak for the commission. The new commission is expected 

to develop any subsistence whaling regulations that may be needed. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION-regulation, Eskimo. 
44 

ARCTIC COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT NEWSLETTER. 

1977b. Whalers face-off opponents in Tokyo for IWC showdown. Arct. Coastal Zone 

Manage. Newsl. 8:1-6. 

Describes special meeting of the International Whaling Commission at Tokyo, Japan in December 

1977 to reconsider the sperm whale quota and the moratorium imposed on Eskimo subsistence 

whaling for bowheads during its annual meeting held this past summer. It was decided to allow a 

quota of 12 bowhead whales landed or 18 struck for 1978. One concern of the opponents was how 

the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission would prevent their crews from taking lactating females with 

calves. “Arnold Brower responded by pointing out that the taking of females with calves was unusual 

because such females customarily traveled together in the 3rd run which usually occurred when the 

ice turned rotten. He said that this run occurred far offshore, and was customarily not hunted by 

Inupiat whalers.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration, timing, segregated, calves; REGULATIONS & CONSERVATION-management, quota. 

ARCTIC COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT NEWSLETTER. 

1978a. Federal whaling regs published. Arct. Coastal Zone Manage. Newsl. 10:11-12. 

Contains published federal regulations on native subsistence whaling for bowhead whales by 

Alaskan Eskimos for 1978, including quotas, prohibited acts and penalties. The quota of 12 whales 

taken or 18 struck is to be distributed as follows: Gambell, 1 landed or 2 struck; Savoonga, 1 (2); 

Wales, 0 (0); Kivalina, 1 (2); Point Hope, 2 (2); Wainwright, 2 (2); Barrow, 3 (3); Nuiqsut, 1 (2); and 

Kaktovik, 1 (2). The remaining strike may be allocated upon consultation with the whalers and any 

unused landing or strike quota for a village may be transferred to another village. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION-management, quota. 

ARCTIC COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT NEWSLETTER. 

1978b. The bowhead: The hunt is on! Arct. Coastal Zone Manage. Newsl. 11:5-6. 

The year 1978 marks the beginning of a self-regulating regime of Eskimo subsistence bowhead 

whaling by the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission (AEWC). A state of Alaska legislative bill 

granting the AEWC a $250,000 bowhead whale study appropriation was signed by Governor Jay 

Hammond on April 20. The state funding for the study will be managed by the Arctic Environmental 

Information and Data Center of the University of Alaska. "Meanwhile, off St. Lawrence Island in the 

Bering Sea, whaling captain Roland Olowa and his crew took the first whale of the year April 16. It 

was a large 40-ton whale that was struck at 7:30 a.m. and beached by 9:30 that same morning near 

the village of Savoonga. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurement, estimated weight; REGULATION & CONSERVATION-bowhead whale study, Alaska State 

funds, regulation, quota; WHALING-Bering Sea, native, catch. 
45 

ARCTIC COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT NEWSLETTER. 

1978c. The bowhead: Villages hit hard as quota prevails, whalers confront NOAA chief. 

Arct. Coastal Zone Manage. Newsl. 12:1-3. 

Brief account of visit by Richard Frank, Director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration (NOAA) to Barrow, Alaska on May 7 to resolve disagreement between NOAA 

representatives and Eskimos over the status of small whales designated as ingutuks by the whalers. 

The dispute arose when Jacob Adams, chairman of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, took a 

so-called ingutuk and thereby exceeded the village quota of three bowhead whales. The Eskimos 

agreed to stop whaling because of the possibility that the ingutuk was a type of bowhead and all 

agreed that the incident was an honest difference of opinion and misunderstanding. By the end of 

May all the whalers had taken a total of 10 bowheads compared to 27 last year and 48 the year 

before. A photograph of a large whale (unidentified) pulled up on the ice in April accompanies the 

article on page 2. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

IDENTITY-Eskimo, ingutuk; MORTALITY-whaling, catch; REGULATION & CONSERVATION-management, quota; 

WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, catch, photograph. 

ARCTIC COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT NEWSLETTER. 

1978d. Elders Conference reveals possible westward shift of bowhead breeding habitat. 

Arct. Coastal Zone Manage. Newsl. 12:3. 

Elders spoke of reports over the past 2 years “... of seeing unusual numbers of bowhead breeding 

and calving in the area between Kaktovik and Herschel Island, far west of their usual breeding 

habitat near Banks Island. They speculate two things could account for this: population growth or 

habitat displacement caused by Canadian Beaufort offshore oil and gas operations.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration, habitat, influences; REPRODUCTION-mating, parturition. 

ARCTIC COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT NEWSLETTER. 

1978e. The bowhead: Weather blocks bowhead hunt. Arct. Coastal Zone Manage. 

Newsl. 15:4. 

Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission Chairman Jacob Adams announced the commission's decision 

to ignore the quota imposed by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) but Barrow whalers 

were prevented from challenging the IWC quota because of wind, fog, and ice conditions. The IWC 

had added another four to the 1978 quota of 12 whales for the year. During fall whaling Kaktovik 

hunters caught two whales, with one struck but lost. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling, struck and lost; REGULATION & CONSERVATION-management, quota; 

WHALING-Beaufort Sea, native, catch. 

ARCTIC COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT NEWSLETTER. 

1979a. The spring whaling season. Arct. Coastal Zone Manage. Newsl. 20:10. 

Only six whales were taken this spring on Alaska's arctic coast, a season hampered by bad weather. 

Three whales were taken at Point Hope by Darrel Frankson, John Oktollik and John Tingnook. At 

Barrow whales were taken by Horace Ahsogeak, William Kaleak and Burton Rexford. In an unusual 

event, Ahsogeak's crew struck and apparently killed a whale, but four other whales came and took it 

away. Spring whaling ended at Barrow on May 29th. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-protective; POPULATION-mortality, whaling, killed but lost; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 
46 

ARCTIC COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT NEWSLETTER. 

1979b. The Beaufort Sea hearings. Arct. Coastal Zone Manage. Newsl. 21:7-18. 

Contains comments made during public hearing during May-June 1979 at Kaktovik, Nuiqsut and 

Barrow on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the Beaufort Sea Federal/ State Oil and 

Gas Lease Sale scheduled for December. One whaling captain reported that bowhead whales travel 

in shallow water, smaller whales often entering areas as shallow as 10 feet. Other whalers 

confirmed that whales often traveled inside the barrier islands in the lease area, especially when 

wind and currents bring pack ice shoreward. Many residents expressed concern over the effects 

that oil and noise pollution would have on bowhead behavior patterns, especially those of feeding 

and traveling close to shore where they are available to whalers in the fall. One Kaktovik resident 

stated that bowheads have been observed feeding all the way from Herschel Island to Kaktovik. 

Another person recalled an incident in 1944 when a Navy ship grounded east of Barrow and dumped 

its cargo of oil overboard to lighten the ship, causing the death of many animals. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration, patterns, Beaufort Sea; NUTRITION-feeding ground; PATHOLOGY-pollution, oil, noise. 

ARCTIC COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT NEWSLETTER 

1980a. Bowhead in Norton Sound raise controversy. Arct. Coastal Zone Manage. 

Newsl. 28:11-12. 

An ice barrier at Bering Strait blocked the northward migration of bowhead whales until May 14 when 

they were first sighted off Point Hope. Meanwhile, at Southwest Cape Savoonga captains Raymond 

Toolie and Ray Gologergen each took a large whale in mid-April. Gambell whalers struck and lost 

two bowheads before Alex Oosevals crew captained by Gordon Ooseveseuk took a whale. This 

whale had been struck years before as bomb fragments, of an old type not used since the 1930s, 

were found encased in scar tissue on the side of the head. Ice blockage of the entire bowhead 

migration resulted in two unusual events: (1) Andrew Sitook of Wales took a whale, the first caught 

there in a decade, and (2) a 33-foot bowhead was taken by Edgar Jackson of Shaktoolik and no one 

could remember a bowhead being taken at that village. Due to this spring's unusual events, local 

officials are concerned and see serious implications for future oil and gas development in the Norton 

Sound area, and the use of inappropriate weapons to take bowheads. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration, schooling; DISTRIBUTION-factors affecting, ice blockage; POPULATION-mortality, whaling, struck and 

lost; REGULATION & CONSERVATION-management, quotas, weapons; WHALING-Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, 

crews, gear. 

ARCTIC COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT NEWSLETTER. 

1980b. Barrow celebrates successful bowhead season. Arct. Coastal Zone Manage. 

Newsl. 30:1-6. 

Thirty-four whaling crews took nine bowhead whales at Barrow during the spring season of 1980. 

Whales were taken by Arnold Brower, Sr. (May 7), Ralph Ahkivgak, Arnold Brower, Harry Brower 

and Pat Tukle (other crews were not named). One whale was taken by Wainwright hunters. The all 

village quota for 1980 was 18 [8 total for Barrow]. Also reports the Alaska Eskimo Whaling 

Commission's viewpoints concerning the status of bowheads and Alaskan Eskimo subsistence 

whaling at current meetings of the International Whaling Commission and the adoption of a threeyear quota of 45 whales, with the provision that no more than 17 can be taken in a single year. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration, delayed by ice barrier; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-census; POPULATION-mortality, 

whaling; REGULATION & CONSERVATION-management, quotas; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews.
47 

ARCTIC DIGEST. 

1978. Alaskan leases may stimulate transport hub. Arct. Dig.10(4):13. 

Alaska Governor Jay Hammond announced that the scheduled Point Thompson (50 miles east of 

Prudhoe Bay, Beaufort Sea) oil lease sale had been postponed. Public hearings revealed almost 

unanimous opposition to the sale at this time. Among those groups known to be against the lease 

sales are people concerned about the effects on bowhead whales which calve in the area. North 

Slope natives who conduct subsistence hunts for the bowhead opposed the sale and are supported 

by legal groups and the environmental Greenpeace organization. The whales may be covered by 

proposals to amend the Endangered Species Act now being considered by the U.S. Congress. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION–Beaufort Sea; REGULATION & CONSERVATION – regulation, conservation; REPRODUCTION–parturition; 

WHALING–western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, native. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1950a. April 29 [Two bowheads caught by Eskimos at Point Barrow, Alaska.] U.S. Dep. 

Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 10:6. 

“Routine work at the laboratory was interrupted in mid-afternoon when word was received that one of 

the whaling camps had a whale. A general exodus in the direction of the camps followed--and only 

Harry remained to hold down the fort. By six o'clock about 300 Eskimos were at the camp with 

approximately 50 dog teams. An acre of ice was occupied by family groups around their sleds or 

around gasoline or oil stoves heating water in preparation for cooking muktuk. 

The whale, a young bowhead not much over 25 feet in length, was drawn out of the water onto the 

ice by means of block and tackle attached to the tail and anchored to the ice. Two triangular holes 

were made in the ice about 18 inches apart and to a depth of 2 feet and then a hole was made under 

this 18-inch by 2-foot section so that a rope could be drawn under it. The pulling is then done by 

hand--many hands. 

Even before the whale was out of the water pieces of muktuk had been cut off. Some of it is eaten 

raw, but most of the Eskimos seem to prefer to cook it when it is fresh. Once out of the water the 

animal was soon flensed and strips of the muktuk were dragged out of the way with hooks and later 

hauled to the village on sleds. 

About 7:30, with the aid of a telescope, some of the Eskimos sighted a flag at another whaling camp 

some distance away. A flag announces the taking of a whale. There was vocal jubilation at the first 

camp.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY–measurements (estimated length); WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, utilization. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1950b. April 30 [Length of second bowhead caught by Eskimos at Point Barrow, Alaska, 

on April 29.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. 

Lab. Newsl. No. 10:6. 

“Rex Rowray, the only ARL representative to visit the second whaling camp last night, came in 7:00 

a.m. today. Natives had worked all night caring for the second whale, which was about 45 ft. long.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY–measurements (estimated length); WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 
48 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1950c. May 1 [Another whale caught by Eskimos at Point Barrow, Alaska]. U.S. Dep. 

Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 11:1. 

“The Eskimos got another whale today and some ARL photographic fans loaded with equipment 

arrived on the scene in the late afternoon in time to see the carcass after it had been flensed. 

Several were daring enough to try eating raw muktuk; the chief requisite for which is a strong pair of 

jaws and a good set of teeth--coupled with an open mind, of course.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1950d. May 8 [Another whale caught by Eskimos at Point Barrow, Alaska.]. U.S. Dep. 

Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 11:3. 

“The Eskimos have another whale. There should be much celebrating in Barrow village about June.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1950e. May 18 [Another whale, a stinker, landed by Eskimos at Point Barrow, Alaska.] 

U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 

11:5. 

“The Eskimos got another whale. This time it was one that had been shot several days ago and 

came up under the ice. It was necessary to blast the ice to get at the whale. Such whales are called 

“stinkers”, an appropriate appellation, we are informed by an ArCon lady who went to the scene to 

take pictures. The muktuk from such “stinkers” is eaten, but the flesh is fed to the dogs. Muktuk 

from a stinker is said to be superior to that from a fresh whale, no doubt because of a softening 

process due to decomposition.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling, struck and lost, stinker; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, utilization. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1950f. June 13 [Barrow village celebrated the catching of whales.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, 

Arctic Res. Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 12:4-5. 

“Barrow village was the scene of a celebration today--celebrating the catching of whales' Festivities 

began in the afternoon, but, with the exception of Wennesland and Nelda Black, visitors from the 

ARL could not attend until after dinner. Blanket tossing was in progress and continued until nearly 

midnight, when the tossing gear was lowered and the dancing mat was put down. Pete was one of 

the six or seven drummers and both Jake and Chester took part in the dancing. Unfortunately, the 

sun was not cooperative and 1:00 a.m. saw most of the camera fans departing, although the 

Eskimos danced for another hour.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, native. 
49 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1950g. June 15 [Barrow villagers held another whale celebration today.]. U.S. Dep. 

Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 12:5. 

“Another whale celebration was held today--a bigger and better one it was reported. ARL visitors 

were conspicuous by their absence, Wennesland being the chief representative, although the 

Wickhams got over for a 20 minute stay. No sun. Several people who remained at camp stayed up, 

watching and hoping that the sun would appear about midnight, the usual time for dancing to begin. 

Still no sun.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, native. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1950h. September 14 [A dead beached whale found near Barrow, Alaska.]. U.S. Dep. 

Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 15:3. 

“A whale about 25 feet long washed ashore near the sled shop today. It probably had been killed 

last spring and trapped under the ice so was very ripe. However, it is being cut up for dog meat.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY–measurements (estimated length); POPULATION–mortality, stranding (utilization). 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1950i. September 25 [Barrow villagers kill a whale]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., 

Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 15:4. 

“The Villagers killed a whale this evening. It was about 10:00 p.m. before they succeeded in getting 

it on the beach so not many attended from ARL. We understand that it was about 30 feet long which 

makes it one of the larger ones taken this year.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY–measurements (estimated length); WHALING–western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, native, catch. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1950j. October 12 [Point Barrow Eskimos killed but lost a whale yesterday.]. U.S. Dep. 

Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 16:3. 

“The Eskimos reported that another whale was killed late yesterday, but was lost owing to the onset 

of darkness before it could be secured and kept afloat.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling, killed/lost; WHALING–western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, native. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1950k. October 13 [A small whale caught late yesterday by Point Barrow whaler.]. U.S. 

Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 

16:3. 

“The Eskimo workmen reported that Ned Nusinginga's whaling crew got a small whale late 

yesterday. It was hauled ashore and all cut up before midnight.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, native, catch, crews. 
50 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1951a. April 19 [Whaling season begins at Point Barrow, Alaska.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, 

Arctic Res. Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 22:4. 

“The Eskimo whaling season is beginning to get underway. With the advent of warm weather, leads 

in the sea ice are beginning to open up and the whales are beginning to run. One whaling crew took 

advantage of the well-packed trail to Rudy's offshore cable station to move an umiak to the open 

water. At the present time, the open water nearest Camp lies about 7 miles offshore, beyond the 

pressure ridge.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1951b. May 3 [Two whales killed by Eskimos.] U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point 

Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 23:1. 

“Yesterday's rumors of a whale kill proved true and a second whale has been thrown in for good 

measure. Jake and Miles didn't make it to work today: it's apparent that they've gone to the whaling 

camps to haul in a load of meat. Neither of the whales was killed near the camp so no [one] has 

gone sightseeing.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1951c. May 6 [Another whale killed and two more struck but lost.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, 

Arctic Res. Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 23:2. 

“Another whale was killed this afternoon. The Eskimos now have three and two more have been 

wounded. The Eskimos still hope to recover the carcasses of the wounded whales as the ocean 

currents shift the ice about.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling, struck and lost; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1951d. May 9 [A dead whale (a stinker) is recovered.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., 

Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 23:2. 

“The Lab is short-handed again. The Eskimo whalers caught a “stinker” last night and Jake and 

Miles failed to put in their appearance. (“Stinker” is the Eskimo's term for a whale which has been 

wounded and recovered by the hunters a number of days after death.) Pete tells us that whale meat 

is now selling for 35 cents a pound in the village, and muktuk--the skin and several inches of the 

attached blubber--is bringing 60 cents a pound.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling, struck and lost, stinker; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, utilization. 
51 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1951e. May 12 [Another whale taken.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point Barrow, 

Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 23:3. 

“The Eskimos brought word today that another whale was killed at 3:00 a.m. Sleds loaded with meat 

are coming in on the trail just off shore from camp.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1951f. May 15 [A whale is killed but lost to moving ice.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. 

Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 23:4. 

“Another whale was killed last night. However, after the animal was hauled up onto the ice, the ice 

broke off and the floe drifted out to sea. The Eskimos made it back to the shore-fast ice in their 

boats, but were forced to let the whale go. They're in hope the floe will ground again farther down 

the coast, making it possible for another crew to get the meat.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling, killed but lost; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1951g. May 16 [Whale lost yesterday is recovered.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., 

Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 23:4. 

“Whale number six-the big one that got away yesterday-was recovered by another crew. The ice 

flow on which it floated to sea, grounded some 20 miles south of the village and the meat is now on 

its way to Barrow by the sledload.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1951h. May 29 [Seventh whale taken.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point Barrow, 

Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 23:6. 

“The seventh whale of the season was taken last night. What a celebration the village will have this 

year.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1951i. June 19 [First Nelakatuk held by villagers.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., 

Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 24:5. 

“ ... Nelakatuk. The entire Camp turned out almost en masse for the celebration. Two ArCon LVT's, 

completely jammed, carried the crowd to the village to witness the festivities, which followed the 

classic pattern: blanket toss, lots of free muktuk, and the native dance in the wee morning hours.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, native. 
52 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1951j. June 21 [Second Nelakatuk held by villagers.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., 

Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 24:6. 

A second Nelakatuk to celebrate a successful whaling season was held at Barrow today. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, native. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1951k. September 28 [Seven crews are whaling.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., 

Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 27:6. 

“Now that duck hunting is becoming passe, the Eskimos are turning to a greater thrill (and greater 

reward) of whale hunting. Some seven crews now are operating from the Point. A number of 

whales were reported sighted far offshore today, but none of the crews made kills.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration; WHALING–western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, native, crews. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1951l. October 5 [A 40-foot whale killed but lost.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., 

Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 28:2. 

“Pete returned from his annual leave today, bringing many a tall tale of the fall whaling season. His 

stories of the whale which surfaced beneath the umiak and gave the boat crew a short, rough ride; of 

the 40-footer, killed after a 2-hour battle, which finally was cut adrift and abandoned when the sea 

became too rough to continue the tow...” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–interaction with whaling boat; POPULATION–mortality, whaling, killed but lost; WHALING–western Arctic, 

Beaufort Sea, native. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1951m. October 28 [A whale was killed late yesterday.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. 

Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 28:5-6. 

“A whaling crew outfitted by Ned Nusunginya, the ArCon labor foreman, made a kill yesterday. 

Three boats were sighted opposite camp, towing a small whale from the Point to the village. The 

animal was beached at the water's edge and later was dragged well out of the water by a tractor.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, native, catch, crews. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1952a. April 20 [No whales taken to date.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point 

Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 34:5. 

“Open water is only about 3 miles or less offshore NW of Barrow. No gulls or ducks have appeared 

yet and, although 3 whaling camps have been established, no whales have been taken to date.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 
53 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1952b. May 19 [No whale catch to date.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point 

Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 35:5. 

“Chester Lampe allows this is a very poor whaling season. No catch yet...” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1952c. May 26 [No open water and no whales off Brower's whaling camp.]. U.S. Dep. 

Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 35:6. 

“An ArCon weaselful of Barrowites drove out to Brower's whaling camp in hopes of coming within 

sight and smell (?) of muktuk. No open water, no whale, but thousands of king eider ducks flying 

overhead.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1952d. July 17 [Eskimo who singlehandly took a whale.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. 

Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 37:7. 

“Bert Carter hired five Eskimo assistants to help with the [archaeological] digging. Included in his 

crew is John Quincy Adams, an older man held in great respect for his hunting ability. John took a 

whale once from an oomiak, singlehanded.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crew. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1952e. September 24 [Eskimos whaling unproductive.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. 

Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 39:6. 

“Eskimos are out whaling this month. Boats out for several days but not one flies the flag to show a 

whale was caught.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, native, catch, crews. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1952f. September 26 [No whales sighted to date.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., 

Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 39:7. 

“Eskimo crews report still no whale sighted.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, native, catch. 
54 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1952g. December 4 [Polar bear kill eases lack of whales during the past season.]. U.S. 

Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 

42:2. 

“Polar bears to the right of us, polar bears to the left of us! Next thing they will be parading down 

main street. If this sort of invasion keeps on, the natives at the village will feel less keenly the lack of 

whales during the past season.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea, native, catch 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1953a. March 30 [A good whaling year predicted.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., 

Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 45:12. 

“Ned Nusinginya declares that the Eskimo hunters are going to get a fine catch of whale this spring. 

He doesn't say how he knows, but he's positive in his statements.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1953b. April 9 [Nusunginya whaling crew out today.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., 

Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 46:4. 

“We hear that Ned Nusunginya and his whaling crew go out today. The Eskimos at ARL are excited 

about the prospects for a good whaling season.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crews 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1953c. April 15 [Two crews set up whaling camps.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., 

Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 46:6. 

“Pete [Sovalik] reported this morning that two crews left the village to set up their whaling camps on 

or near the lead. Pete said they and the others in the Village were greatly excited about the coming 

season and all are hoping for many whales and an abundance of muktuk.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crews. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1953d. April 19 [One whale sighted near Wainwright but none at Barrow yet.]. U.S. Dep. 

Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 46:7. 

“The Eskimo whalers are still at their stations on the ice, but no whales have been spotted yet. A 

report came in that one had been seen near Wainwright, but only for a short time and a kill was not 

made.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native. 
55 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1953e. April 27 [First whale of the season was struck but lost.). U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic 

Res. Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 46:11. 

“The reports on the preparations and constant watching at the whaling camps continue to come in 

each morning as the Eskimo men come to work. Ned Nusinginya makes a trip to the village once or 

twice a day and today brought back word that one crew had shot a whale with a shoulder gun, but 

that the bomb had failed to explode so they lost the first whale struck this season. He reported too 

that Tom Brower had attempted to get a whale with a darting gun--a wooden harpoon-like tool with a 

bomb ingeniously fastened to the tip of it so the contact of a protruding rod with the whale's body 

explodes a small shell, which in turn drives a bomb into the animal where the bomb is supposed to 

explode--but had missed as the whale was a little too far from the ice for Tom to make good his cast. 

However, none of the Eskimos seem to be discouraged by the first miss or two for they believe that if 

there are so many whales in the vicinity this early in the season they will have better luck soon.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling, struck but lost; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crews, gear. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1953f. April 28 [First whale of the season landed.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., 

Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 46:11-12. 

The first whale of the season was killed about a mile straight out from the village. The carcass was 

examined by an ARL scientist for parasitic copepods but the animal proved to be exceptionally clean 

and not a parasite was found. “Afterward Pete informed him that the “whale lice” were hardly ever 

found on the bowhead whale, which this one was, but on the humpback [gray] whales that appear in 

this vicinity later in the season.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration (relationship with other species); PATHOLOGY– parasites; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, 

native, catch. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1953g. April 29 [Two more whales taken.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point 

Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 46:12. 

“We learned at breakfast this morning that a second whale had been killed and all cut up during the 

night. At coffee time, 9:30 A.M., more excitement marked the arrival of word that a third one had 

been taken by Roxy's crew and that the “cutting in” process would begin shortly. The whale had just 

been killed less than an hour earlier and it was tied up to the ice straight out from the AACS station. 

Eventually the whale was pulled up on the ice, and it appeared to be somewhat smaller than the one 

obtained the day before. The one taken yesterday was about thirty-four feet long, this one only 26 

feet long, but a good deal broader in the beam, proportionally than the longer whale.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

IDENTITY–nomenclature (ingutuk?); MORPHOLOGY–measurements; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, 

crews. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1953h. April 30 [Whale number four taken.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point 

Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 46:13. 

Just before midnight the ARL learned that whale number four for this season had been taken by 

Alfred Hopson's crew offshore from the “Duck shooting station.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 
56 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1953i. May 1 [A “stinker” is recovered.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point Barrow, 

Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 47:1. 

“The SDARL concluded the Newsletter for 30 April with an incomplete reference to another whale. 

He, Chester, Chester's twelve-year-old son, and Adam Leavitt rode part way out to the camp in a 

weasel, then proceeded on foot a distance of about a mile to the open lead where Alfred Hopson 

had caught his second whale of the season. Although it was only a little after one o'clock in the 

morning when they arrived at the whaling camp there was enough light by which to take black and 

white pictures and Doc began “shooting” with the Speed Graphic immediately after arriving. The 

whale was already out on the ice and the flukes had been cut off when the ARL group arrived but 

Alfred Hopson delayed further “cutting in” until measurements could be taken. All of the laboratory 

group helped cut up the carcass and both Chester and Adam received a share of the meat and 

muktuk. They arrived back at camp at 0615 and Doc turned in for a few hours sleep. At 1000 he 

returned to the laboratory, just to learn that still another whale, a “stinker”, had been hauled 

alongside the solid ice almost straight out from camp, so Doc and Dorothy Wiggins, Marcella 

Lawson, Mike Dalton, Olive DePrang and Bert Ames hiked through the snow to camp. It was a 

strenuous hike, but not half as hard going out as it was returning at the end of the day! The whale 

had been hit first on the 29th of April but had sunk and only came to the surface this morning. Joe 

Sikvoygak and his crew had sighted it and hauled it ashore, having lost a whale on Tuesday at about 

the place where this one came to the surface. When it was hauled out of the ice -- only after a series 

of comical episodes involving the breaking of the rope tackle and some spills on the ice -- lively 

interest in finding one of the bombs kept all hands working on the animal. One chap was standing 

on top of the carcass when his flensing iron struck too deeply and punctured the body cavity of the 

bloated “stinker”. The whale blew up like an over-inflated tire and a generous quantity of the viscera 

rained down around his head and shoulders! The hilarity that accompanied the “blow-out is rarely 

equaled! 

When the bomb was finally located there was some uncertainty about the marking on it, so Joe and 

Otis Ahkivgak both claim the whale and are still arguing about it.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling, struck and lost, stinker; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, gear, 

utilization. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1953j. May 5 [Total whale catch to date is 12 at Barrow; none caught at Wainwright.]. 

U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 

47:2. 

“Three groups of Eskimos arrived in the Village today by dog team from Wainwright. They came to 

buy whale meat, which is selling for fifty cents a pound. No whales have been caught at Wainwright 

because the leads are all in shallow water. 

The total catch of whales stands at twelve today, the Native Store crew having taking its second 

whale today!” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, utilization. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1953k. May 7 [Whale catch to date totals 14.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point 

Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 47:2. 

“The whaling crews now have a total of fourteen whales.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 
57 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1953l. May 11 [A “stinker” is recovered.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point Barrow, 

Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 47:3. 

“The Eskimos get another whale today but it turned out to be another “stinker”, one which had been 

shot several days ago.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling, struck and lost, stinker; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1953m. May 18 [Some crews stop whaling.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point 

Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab., Newsl. No. 47:5. 

“The whaling crews are beginning to break camp. There have been no whales caught in the past 

week and it would seem that the first of the two annual whaling seasons is behind us.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1953n. May 20 [Three polar bears sighted feeding on a whale carcass.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, 

Arctic Res. Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 47:6. 

“General Van Fleet and Col. Waltz had attempted to hunt a polar bear and from the plane located 

three of them feeding on the carcass of a whale.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling, struck/lost, stranding; PREDATORS & COMPETITORS–scavengers. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1953o. May 28 [Another whale struck but lost; 18 taken to date.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic 

Res. Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 47:7-8. 

“Pete says the whalers shot a whale last evening but were unsuccessful in catching it. Seems they 

did not have any harpoons around so Mr. Whale got away. He'll probably end up a “stinker”. Pete 

didn't seem to mind too much though for they had a very good season so far. Eighteen whales have 

been taken by the Barrow crews.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling, struck/lost; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1953p. May 29 [Whale number 19 is caught.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point 

Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 47:8. 

“Today there was much excitement around the lab again. The Eskimos got another whale. It turned 

out to be a “baby whale” about twenty-five feet long.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY–measurements (estimated length); WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 
58 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1953q. June 9 [Nulakatuk to be held-first in two years.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. 

Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 48:5. 

“This morning ARL received an invitation from the President of the Barrow Village Council, Mr. Eben 

Hopson, to attend the “Nulakatuk”. This is a celebration given after a successful whaling season, 

sponsored by the crews who got the whales. It is most interesting and colorful. This is the first big 

celebration in the last two years, as no whales were caught during the 1952 whaling season.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea, native, catch. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1953r. June 11 [Nulakatuk tonight.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point Barrow, 

Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 48:5. 

“Four of the successful whaling crews will stage the Nulakatuk in the Village tonight. Everyone at 

ARL is invited.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1953s. June 12 [First Nulakatuk held last evening; two more to be held, one on Monday 

and one on Thursday of next week.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point 

Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 48:6. 

“A number of the ARL people went to the Village for the Nulakatuk last evening. It was held on the 

beach ... The Laboratory people have been invited to attend the next two celebrations, one on 

Monday (the 15th], the next on Thursday [the 18th] of next week.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1955a. April 25 [Some whaling crews on the ice.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., 

Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 1:2. 

“From Barrow Village we learn that whaling parties are out on the ice-but no flags hoisted as yet.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1955b. May 6 (Friday.). [Season's first whale landed.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., 

Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 2:3. 

“A pressure ridge is grounded out about two miles and beyond this is an extensive lead. The natives 

have established several whaling camps along it and today they took their first whale, a small 

bowhead, about six miles south of the Village. Horace Ahsogeak is the crew chief of the season's 

first whale.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 
59 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1955c. May 7 (Saturday.). [Whale number two landed.] U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., 

Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 2:3. 

“Pete Sovalik and Chester Lampe were all smiles this morning, because Luther Leavitt brought in 

whale no. 2 of the season.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY 

1955d. May 10 (Tuesday.): [Whales sighted in lead four miles offshore.]. U.S. Dep. 

Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 2:4. 

“A Bush Plane coming in from southwest coastal area reports many whale visible in the lead about 

four miles out, and the Eskimos have already made for that direction.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR– migration; WHALING western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1955e. May 12 (Thursday.). [A whale is struck but lost.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. 

Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 2:4. 

“Word was received today that a third whale was shot today by Fred Ipalook's crew but that it got 

away because the crew did not have enough bombs to finish it off. No doubt this whale will end up 

as a “stinker”--the term used by the local Eskimos to describe a whale which is mortally wounded 

and is found at a later date either at the surface of the ocean or below the ice. In such cases, 

Chester Lampe reports that the muktuk is still good eating but the meat of the stinker is fed to the 

dogs.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling, struck/lost; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, utilization. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1955f. May 13 (Friday.). [Whale number three landed.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. 

Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 2:4. 

“Muktuk tonight! Eli Solomon's crew bagged whale No. 3 today.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1955g. May 14 (Saturday.). [Three more whales landed.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. 

Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 2:5. 

“Lots of muktuk tonight! Eli Solomon brought in No. 4 (his second whale of the season); Dan 

Leavitt's crew killed whale No. 5; and Al Hopson came through with whale No. 6.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 
60 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1955h. May 15 (Sunday.). [Another three whales captured.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. 

Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 2:5. 

“Another field day for the Eskimo Whaling Teams, and much muktuk tonight for the Lab's Eskimo 

assistants. Eli Solomon's crew got whale No. 7 (his third); Luther Leavitt got No. 8 (his second); and 

Wyman Panigeo had to be satisfied with his first whale of this season, whale No. 9.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1955i. May 16 (Monday.). [Tenth whale of season taken.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. 

Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 2:5. 

“The cry of “Muktuk” continues to ring throughout the Village and Camp, when word came through 

that Edward Nukapigak killed whale No. 10.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1955j. May 18 (Wednesday.). [Whale number 11 is taken.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. 

Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 2:6. 

“More muktuk! Al Hopson took possession of whale no. 11 (his second of the season.). However, 

the whale was a “stinker”, having been shot by Al’s crew about May 16 and identified today by the 

bomb which was taken out of the whale in the process of butchering it. The dogs must be fed too; so 

the stinker is hardly any loss at all insofar as the odorous meat is concerned.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling, struck and lost, stinker; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, 

utilization. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1955k. May 19 (Thursday.). [Two stinkers recovered.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., 

Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 2:6. 

“Two stinkers made an appearance. Steve Hopson (brother of Al Hopson) was in charge of the crew 

that got Nos. 12 and 13 today. These two whales were shot by Steve's crew a few days ago and 

were recovered today.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling, struck and lost, stinker; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 
61 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1955l. May 23 (Monday.). [Two more stinkers recovered.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. 

Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 2:7. 

“Good o'l Joshua Sakegak brought the total of whales killed thus far this season to No. 14, even 

though he had to be satisfied with a stinker. And whale No. 15-also a terrible stinker-was recovered 

several miles south of the Village. In fact, the distance to be covered by dog teams was so 

prohibitive that the Eskimos decided to salvage only the “muktuk” and left the rest of the stinker out 

on the ice. The crew responsible for killing this 15th whale is unknown.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling, struck and lost, stinker; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, 

utilization. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1955m. May 31 (Tuesday.). Recap of whales killed during the month of May in the 

vicinity of Point Barrow. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, 

Arctic Res. Lab. Newsl. No. 2:10. 

“RECAP OF WHALES KILLED DURING THE MONTH OF MAY IN THE VICINITY OF POINT 

BARROW” 

 Whale number Crew Chief Date Whale Killed 

 1 Horace Ahsogeak May 6 

 2 Luther Leavitt May 7 

 3 Eli Solomon May 13 

 4 Eli Solomon May 14 

 5 Dan Leavitt May 14 

 6 Al Hopson May 14 

 7 Eli Solomon May 15 

 8 Luther Leavitt May 15 

 9 Wyman Panigeo May 15 

 10 Edward Nukapigak May 16 

 11 Al Hopson May 18 (“stinker”) 

 12 Steve Hopson (Al's brother) May 19 (“stinker”) 

 13 Steve Hopson May 19 (“stinker”) 

 14 Joshua Sakegak May 23 (“stinker”) 

 15 Unknown May 23 (“stinker”).” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling, struck and lost, stinker; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1956a. Monthly Progress Report for May. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point 

Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Monthly Prog. Rep. for May:3. 

“On May 19 a report reached the Laboratory just about noon that a whale had been taken at one of 

the less distant whaling camps, so an attempt was made to secure pictures, specimens of parasites 

and barnacles from the carcass. Most of the staff members, including Chester Lampe and Phil 

Sovalik, drove as far as was deemed prudent then left the two weasels and walked about six miles 

farther out on the ice. The trip was fruitless, for the two whales had been completely cut up by the 

time the party reached the camp. This was the only concerted attempt on the part of the Laboratory 

staff to participate in actual field work during the month.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 
62 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1956b. Monthly Progress Report for June. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point 

Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Monthly Prog. Rep. for June:3. 

“Various members of the staff attended one or more of three nelakatuk celebrations staged during 

the month by the natives of Barrow Village following a successful whaling season. A moderate 

amount of Kodachrome 16mm movie film was exposed for addition to the ARL documentary film 

during these celebrations.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, film. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1957. Ecology of crustaceans. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, 

Arctic Res. Lab. Monthly Prog. Rep. for May:6. 

“Field work was planned with two-fold objective: a) observation of bowhead whaling for general data 

and specifically for gathering parasitic materials, and b) under-ice measurements and collecting at 

the halocline Nuwuk Lake, Point Barrow. The first objective was not achieved. 

Only two beluga were taken before the writer [Dr. John L. Mohr] left and the subsequent destruction 

of most of the whaling fleet by storm action removed the chances of getting bowhead specimens for 

this year.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–relationship with other species; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, gear. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1961. May 6 [First spring whale caught.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point 

Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“The first spring whale was caught directly off Barrow village at 0640 [hrs.]. It was a 26 foot 

bowhead.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY–measurements (estimated length); WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1965. May 5 [First spring whale caught.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point Barrow, 

Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“The Barrow village whaling crews produced the first whale of the spring season today.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1966a. April 15 [Spring whaling begins.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point Barrow, 

Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Whaling season opened today and several whaling parties put out from the village.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crews. 
63 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1966b. April 23 [Five crews whaling.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point Barrow, 

Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Dickerson reported five whaling camps sighted.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crews. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1966c. May 10 [First spring whale caught.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point 

Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“The first whale of the season was caught by Harold Itta's crew.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1966d. May 18 [Two more whales taken.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point 

Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Two more bowhead whales were taken by the Barrow whalers today.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1966e. June 24 [Three whales caught-Nalakatuk tonight.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. 

Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Barrow village nalakatuk was held tonight. Three whales taken so far this season.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1966f. October 7 [First autumn whale taken.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point 

Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“First whale of season brought in by Whitlam Adams.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, native, catch, crews. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1966g. October 11 [Another whale landed.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point 

Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Another whale brought in.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, native, catch. 
64 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1966h. October 13 [Bowhead sighted off ARL.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point 

Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Loralee Lance spotted a small bowhead whale about 20 yards offshore by the camp in the morning.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1966i. October 22 [Five boats unsuccessfully pursue whale.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic 

Res. Lab., Point Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Ice moved away from shore today for a few miles. A whale was seen close to shore at noon-up to 

five boats were dispatched to the scene (no immediate luck).” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea, native, crews. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1966j. October 23 [A small whale caught.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point 

Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“A small whale was brought in today at the village. It was quite small, but very tender and tasty 

according to local source. Taken by a 14-year old boy in Whitlam Adam's boat.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1967. May 22 [No whales captured to date.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Arctic Res. Lab., Point 

Barrow, Alaska, Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“A N.E. wind, necessary to open the leads for the whalers, sprang up today, but lasted only a few 

hours. No whales have yet been taken this season.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

ARNASON, ULFUR. 

1981. Localization of NORs in cetacean karyotypes. Hereditas 95:269-275. 

A silver staining technique was used for locating the nucleolar organizing regions (NORs) in 7 

cetacean species, four odontocetes and three mysticetes. In the introduction to this paper, the 

author stated that the similarity between the 2n=44 odontocete and mysticete karyotypes was 

demonstrated in studies of the fin whale. This species, along with the bottlenose dolphin and the 

pilot whale, exhibited associations between the nomologs of the smallest pair of chromosomes. 

Studies of additional species conforming to the general 2n=44 cetacean karyotype showed that the 

occurrence of associations between the homologs of the smallest pair was ubiquitous. In karyotypes 

not conforming to the general 2n=44 karyotype, associations involving one pair have been observed 

in the sperm and pygmy sperm whales and in the bowhead whale. These species all have 2n=42. 

The sperm and pygmy whale karyotypes differ radically from the general 2n=44 karyotype, whereas 

the bowhead karyotype shows considerable similarities to it. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–karyotypes, nomologs; IDENTITY–genetics. 
65 

ARNASON, ULFUR. 

1982. Southern blot hybridization in cetaceans, using killer whale restriction fragment as 

a probe. Hereditas 97:47-49. 

“...Killer whale [Orcinus orca] DNA [deoxyribonucleic acid] was hybridized to different cetacean 

DNAs according to the Southern blot technique. The DNAs originated from the whitebeak dolphin, 

harbor porpoise, and the belukha, minke and bowhead whales ... Hybridizatin to the bowhead DNA 

was virtually nonexistent.” (From author’s abstact.) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–DNAs; IDENTITY–genetics. 

ARNASON, ULFUR, IAN F. PURDOM, and KEN W. JONES. 

1982. Cetacean molecular hybridization using balenopterid satellite DNA cRNAs as 

probes. Hereditas 97:33-36. 

“RNAs [ribonucleic acid] complementary to two unrelated DNA satellites of the mysticete genus 

Balaenoptera were hybridized to total DNA of several cetacean species. The results showed that 

sequences related to the light (o=1.702/1.703) balenopterid sallite [sic] were not present in the 

odontocete materials investigated. Limited hybridization to bowhead DNA was registered ... In the 

balenopterid karyotypes the heavy satellite (o=1.710/1.711) occurs in terminal C-bands; the same 

general pattern occurred in the bowhead. The results of the molecular hybridization are consistent 

with a monophyletic origin of odontocetes and mysticetes.” (From author’s abstract.) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–karyotypes; IDENTITY–genetics. 

ARNOLD, CHARLES D. 

1980. A Paleoeskimo occupation on southern Banks Island, N.W.T. Arctic 33(3): 400-

426. 

“Archaeological remains found from the Lagoon site, on Banks Island, N.W.T., provide a new 

perspective on the nature of changes that occurred within Paleoeskimo cultures during the first 

millennium B.C. (From author’s abstract.) 

Although rare, walrus and bowhead whales are known to occur in offshore waters of Banks Island. 

Artifacts discovered include two baleen lashings and a scapula of an immature whale. As there is 

nothing in the artifact inventory to indicate that whales were hunted, the author concludes it is likely 

that the remains are those of a drift carcass. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY; DISTRIBUTION–history; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–artifacts; SKELETAL REMAINS–

beachcast; WHALING–history, western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, natives. 
66 

ARON, WILLIAM. 

1981. International whaling management. In Robert W. Schoning and Naomi Krant, 

Science, politics, and fishing: a series of lectures, p. 41-46. Sea Grant College 

Program ORESU-W-81-001, Ore. State Univ., Corvallis, OR 97331. 

Briefly reviews evolution of the International Whaling Commission from an organization focused on 

promoting the advancement of commercial whaling without concern for the status of the various 

whale populations to a conservation orientated one recognizing the importance of intelligent 

biological management of each species and its role in the ecology of the marine environment. 

Includes the difficult problem the United States government faced in the 1970s concerning the 

survival of the bowhead whale and the survival of a human population as well - the Eskimos of the 

Alaskan North Slope community whose cultural tradition depends upon the bowhead whale. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–abundance, mortality, whaling, number landed, struck and lost; REGULATION & CONSERVATION–

management, quotas; WHALING–Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, native, catch, gear, utilization. 

ARSEN’EV, V. A., V. A. ZEMSKII, and I. S. STUDENETSKAYA. 

1973. Morskie mlekopitayushchie (Marine mammals). Pishchevaya Promyshlennost; 

Moscow. 232 p. In Russian. [Seen and annotated by Paul Macy.] 

“Reviews all marine mammals in chapters 1-5, ... B. mysticetus is discussed on p. 27-29. Includes 

brief review of general knowledge on distribution, food, behavior, migration, reproduction, growth and 

development, parasites, and abundance....” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOUR–swimming, respiration; DISTRIBUTION–Bering and Chukchi Seas; GROWTH–development; NUTRITION–food, 

feeding; PATHOLOGY–Parasites; POPULATION–abundance. 

ARUTYUNOV, S. A., I. I. KRUPNIK and M. A. CHLENOV. 

1982. “Kitovaya alleya.” Drevnosti ostrovov proliva Senyavina (“Whalebone alley.” 

Antiquities of the islands in Proliv Senyavina.) Izd. Akad. Nauk SSR, Inst. Ethnogr. 

N.S. Miklukho-Maklai, 174 p. In Russian, with English abstract. 

In 1976 ethnographers in the U.S.S.R. discovered an ancient Eskimo ceremonial site containing 

bowhead whale bones, stone structures and meat caches on the northern shore of Yttygran Island 

off the southeast coast of the Chukchi Peninsula. The monument, named “Whalebone Alley,” 

consisted of whale skulls aligned in a definite geometric pattern and arranged in 15 groups at regular 

intervals of 10m and occasionally at 20m, that the authors surmised as representing a length and 

double length of the traditional umiak and that each skull group represented a whaling crew. 

Additionally, a bit farther inland is a row of mandibles stuck upright into the ground. The authors 

dated the monument to the final Punuk period (ca. 1300 A.D.). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY–skulls, mandibles, ceremonial site; WHALING–history, Bering Sea, native, crews, photographs and 

drawings. 
67 

ARVY, LUCIE. 

1973-74a. Mammary glands, milk and lactation in cetaceans. In G. Pilleri (editor), 

Investigations on Cetacea, 5:157-202. Brain Anat. Inst., Berne, Switzerland. 

Reviews known information on mammary glands and secretions in cetaceans. Glass et al. (1967) is 

included in table 1, containing authors of principal works published on this subject, and on p. 189 

author states “The fatty acids of Balaena mysticetus (Glass et al., 1967) are also well known.”, but 

complete reference was omitted at end of paper. Also, caption to Plate 2, figure 3 reads: “The 

mammary gutterings (fe) on either side of the genital orifice in a Pterobalaena minor groenlandica (= 

Balaena mysticetus), after Eschricht (1849).” 

CIRCUMPOLAR. 

IDENTITY–nomenclature; NUTRITION–food, milk; PHYSIOLOGY–glands, milk; REPRODUCTION–anatomy, lactation. 

ARVY, LUCIE. 

1973-1974b. The kidney, renal parasites and renal secretion in cetaceans. In G. Pilleri 

(editor), Investigations on Cetacea, 5:231-310. Brain Anat. Inst., Berne, Switzerland. 

A detailed study of the cetacean kidney. “The kidneys of adult B. physalus and B. musculus are 

semicircular in outline and their greatest width is approximately at mid-length. Their section is 

triangular. Similar conditions (Fig. 3) were found in the Greenland whale fetus examined by Meek 

(1918).” (p. 237). Figure 3 (on p. 238) is a drawing from Meek showing the kidney of a 41 cm long 

Balaena mysticetus fetus. Table 11 on page 270 shows Filariam crassicaudam as a parasite found 

in the urinary passages of B. mysticetus. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

MORPHOLOGY-anatomy; PATHOLOGY-parasites. 

ARVY, LUCIE. 

1977a. Asymmetry in cetaceans. In G. Pilleri (editor), Investigations on Cetacea, 8:161-

201. Brain Anat. Inst., Berne, Switzerland. 

A review of asymmetry in cetaceans. “As De Luca (1878) observed in the Biscayan right whale, 

there is apparently a slight asymmetry in cetacean ribs with a bias towards the left. The asymmetry 

effects both the length and number of ribs. Differences in the length of the ribs in a Balaena 

mysticetus and in Japanese grey whales are shown in Tables 13 and 14. (p.180). The asymmetry of 

the thymus has been known since Simon(1845) in Balaena mysticetus.” (p. 185). 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

MORPHOLOGY–structure, asymmetry. 

ARVY, LUCIE. 

1977b. Contribution to the knowledge of morphological anomalies in cetacean teeth. In

G. Pilleri (editor), Investigations on Cetacea, 8:245-254. Brain Anat. Inst., Berne, 

Switzerland. 

Reviews dental anomaly in cetaceans. The first systematic French study of the teeth of whalebone 

whales seems to have been made by Rousseau in 1856. Before him E. Geoffroy Saint Hilaire 

(1807) had merely noted the existence, in the lower jaw of a right whale (Balaena mysticetus), of 

tooth germs resembling those of the sperm whale. 

MORPHOLOGY-tooth germs. 
68 

ARVY, LUCIE. 

1977c. La peau, les phaneres et leurs parasites chez les cetaces (Blubber, skin structure 

and their parasites in cetaceans). Vie Milieu, Ser. A, Biol. Mar. 27(2):137-190. In 

French. 

This is a study, in Odontoceti and Mystacoceti, of the skin-structures (epidermis and dermis) and 

adipose tissue (blubber, melon and jaw oils). Eye-lashes and eyebrows, as well as whale bones are 

compared. Cutaneous commensals, parasites or predators (Cyamus, Coronella, Balanus, Pennella, 

etc.) are also compared. The economical importance of skin (for leather) and blubbers (for oils) are 

emphasized. (From author’s abstract in English). 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

MORPHOLOGY–structure; PATHOLOGY–parasites; WHALING–commercial, products, utilization. 

ARVY, LUCIE. 

1979. The abdominal bones of cetaceans. In G. Pilleri (editor), Investigations on 

Cetacea, 10:215-227. Brain Anat. Inst., Berne, Switzerland. 

Author reviews literature on the presence of abdominal or pelvic bones in cetaceans. Table 1 on 

page 221 lists the species for which abdominal bones have been described together with the 

reporting authors. Reinhardt (1846-1848) is shown as reporting on Balaena mysticetus, but 

Reinhardt and Eschricht (1861) is the only reference shown for Reinhardt. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

MORPHOLOGY–structure. 

ARVY, LUCIE. 

1980. Les cetaces du Canada: la baleine a tete d'arc (Balaena mysticetus) et le 

marsouin blanc (Delphinapterus leucas) autemps de Charlevoix et de Maurepas 

(Cetaceans of Canada: the great polar whale (Balaena mysticetus) and the white 

porpoise (Dephinapterus leucas), at the time of Charlevoix and Maurepas. Ann. 

Soc. Sci. Nat. Charente-Marit. 6(7):633-645. In French. 

Contains information on the occurrence of the great polar whale and of the white porpoise during the 

17th and 18th centuries off the coasts of Canada, their behavior and on their parasites. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR; DISTRIBUTION–history; PATHOLOGY–parasites. 

ARVY, LUCIE. 

1982. Phoresies and parasitism in cetaceans: a review. In G. Pilleri (editor), 

Investigations on Cetacea, 14:233-335. Brain Anat. Inst., Berne, Switzerland. 

Reviews the literature on external and internal parasites of cetaceans including Balaena mysticetus

(p. 274 -75, 283, and Table 1.). In this short review no account has been taken of possible 

synonymies, and in most cases the name given to both host and parasite is the one used by the 

observer who discovered them. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

PATHOLOGY–parasites. 
69 

ARVY, L., and G. PILLERI. 

1977. The sternum in Cetacea. In G. Pilleri (editor), Investigations on Cetacea, 8:123-

148. Brain Anat. Inst., Berne, Switzerland. 

A systematic comparison of the cetacean sternum. Previous descriptions of the sternum of the 

bowhead were presented by Eschricht and Reinhardt (1866), Van Beneden and Gervais(1880), 

Slijper (1936), and Nishiwaki and Kasuta (1970). Sternal articular surfaces vary according to species 

with the exception of the whalebone whales (including Balaena mysticetus) where the sternum only 

articulates with the first pair of ribs. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

MORPHOLOGY–structure. 

ASHLEY, CLIFFORD W. 

1938. The Yankee whaler. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, Mass, 156 p., [112] pls. 

(Copyright 1926 and 1938.) 

Briefly reviews the history of whaling in various areas, its development in North America, the life of 

the sailors, and the gear and whaling techniques for different species. The chapter on whales gives 

limited descriptions of biology, behavior, physiology and other aspects of various species. The 

chapter includes the author's opinion that the ability of smooth-bellied whales, including the 

bowhead, to resist pressure at depth is explained principally by the ability to contract their bodies, 

increasing their specific gravity. Other comments about bowheads include physical description, 

feeding behavior and mouth structure, behavior when attacked, and how whalers adjust to take 

advantage of that behavior. 

EASTERN & WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–swimming, diving, respiratory, vocalization; MORPHOLOGY; NUTRITION–feeding behavior; PHYSIOLOGY–

metabolism and diving; WHALING–history. 

ASKINS, CHARLES, COL. 

1982. The giant of the Chukchi Sea. Am. Hunter 10(1):24-25, 52, 60. 

Describes an aerial hunt for trophy polar bears (prior to enactment of the 1972 Marine Mammal 

Protection Act) during the month of April (year not given) over ice of the Chukchi Sea off the coast of 

the Soviet Union. Routinely flying from their base at Kotzebue, Alaska, the hunters flew toward Mys 

Dezhneva (East Cape) until the radar dome there was in sight, then flew to the northwest 

approximately 50 miles offshore looking for bears. On the first day of their hunt, and about one hour 

after turning northwestward from near East Cape, the carcass of a large whale frozen in the ice was 

sighted. It was estimated that 30 or 40 feet of the animal was visible. There were 17 polar bears, 

most sows with cubs, and four boars feeding. On the third day of the hunt they found three more 

whales and two wolves frozen in the ice. The dead whales were not identified. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, strandings (bowheads?); PREDATORS & COMPETITORS–scavenging. 
70 

AUSTRALIAN FISHERIES. 

1978. Canada bans hunting of bowhead whales. Aust. Fish. 37(10):36. 

“To honor Canada's obligation as a member of the International Whaling Commission to implement a 

regulation adopted by the Commission in 1977, with the agreement of the Inuit people of Canada, 

the hunting of bowhead whales in Canadian waters has been prohibited for 1978. As a result the 

moratorium on the hunting of bowhead whales, which previously applied only to commercial whaling, 

has been extended to cover aboriginal subsistence whaling as well. Commercial whaling for 

bowhead whales has been banned in Canada since 1952 but native people have been permitted to 

carry on traditional whaling activities for their own use.” (Fisheries and Environment Canada news 

release.) 

WESTERN ARCTIC, EASTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION–regulation; WHALING–western and eastern Arctic, commercial, native. 

AUSTRALIAN FISHERIES. 

1979. Worldwide whale catches to be reduced. Aust. Fish. 38(9):25, 27-28. 

A 20% reduction in the worldwide whale catch was made at the July meeting of the International 

Whaling Commission in London. Agreement was reached to reduce the [Eskimo] take to 26 

bowhead whales struck or 18 landed. J. D. Ovington, Australian Commissioner to the IWC meeting, 

had expressed strong concern that the available scientific evidence indicated even this catch could 

further reduce the bowhead whale population and would not be in the long-term interests of the 

Eskimo people and their cultural requirements. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION–management; WHALING–western Arctic, native. 

BAILEY, ALFRED M. 

1928. An unusual migration of the spotted and ribbon seals. J. Mammal. 9(3):250-251. 

A resident of Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, wrote a letter dated August 1, 1927, to the author 

reporting an unusual overland migration of seals after the lagoon they had occupied froze over 

suddenly, blocking their access to the open sea. The writer also stated that “I lost a whale in April on 

account of the young ice.” (p. 250). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling, struck and lost; WHALING–Bering Strait, native, crews. 

BAILEY, ALFRED M. 

1943. The birds of Cape Prince of Whales, Alaska. Proc. Colorado Mus. Nat. Hist. 

18(1):1-113. 

During spring of 1922, the author collected bird and mammal specimens in an area around the 

Eskimo village of Wales. A bowhead whale was sighted in Bering Strait waters on June 4 (p. 54). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration, timing; DISTRIBUTION–present, sighting. 
71 

BAILEY, ALFRED M. 

1948. Birds of Arctic Alaska. Colorado Mus. Nat. Hist., Popular Ser. No. 8, 317 p. 

Author made collections of birds and mammals of Cape Prince of Wales during spring 1922. The 

first bowhead whale of the season was sighted on April 13 (p. 109). There were at least three boats 

at Wales. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration, timing; WHALING–Bering Strait, crews, photographs. 

BAILEY, ALFRED M. 

1971. Field work of a museum naturalist. Denver Mus. Nat. Hist., Mus. Pict. 22, 192 p. 

A narrative account of field work in southeastern Alaska for the U.S. Biological Survey 1919-1921, 

and in Arctic Alaska for the Denver Museum of Natural History 1921-1922. While at the village of 

Cape Prince of Wales during the spring of 1922, the author noted that there were six hunters, each 

with a skin oomiak (boat) and crew, but Arthur Nagorzruk was the only one who had a portable motor 

which he could attach to the end of his skin boat for emergency use. The others had to depend 

upon sailing their crafts when the winds were favorable. The first whale of the season was seen on 

13 April and another on the next day (p. 159). Many white whales were sighted on April 28. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration; WHALING–western Arctic, Bering Strait, native, gear, crews. 

BAILEY, ALFRED M., and RUSSELL W. HENDEE. 

1926. Notes on the mammals of northwestern Alaska. J. Mammal. 7(1):9-28. 

Account of the Colorado Museum of Natural History expedition of 1921 and 1922 to Alaska. Hendee 

worked from their winter base at Wainwright and Bailey departed on 12 March by dogteam to make 

observations at Cape Prince of Wales on Bering Strait. Thirty-three species of mammals are 

described, including a detailed account of whaling for bowheads at Wainwright where three were 

landed and two more were struck but lost during the spring of 1922. One of the bowheads landed 

was called “inito” by the Eskimos and it has long been recognized by them and Yankee whalers alike 

to be a small form of the species. Hendee noted the external differences between the two animals 

which he described in detail, and included information on internal differences that were provided by 

Charles Brower of Barrow and James Allen of Wainwright. The natives at Wales informed Bailey 

that many whales were formerly killed there as they passed through the strait, but the residents are 

no longer successful whalers and the animals are rarely killed there. Figure 7 is a photograph of a 

small bowhead taken off Point Barrow. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

IDENTITY–nomenclature; POPULATION–mortality, struck and lost; WHALING–western Arctic, commercial, native, gear, 

catch, photograph. 

BANDI, HANS-GEORG (translated by Ann E. Keep). 

1969. Eskimo prehistory. Univ. Alaska Press, College, Alaska, distributed by Univ. 

Washington Press, Seattle, 226 p. (First publ. by Gustav Fisher Verlag, Stuttgart, 

Germany, 1964, as Urgeschichte der Eskimo). 

Surveys Eskimo prehistory in Arctic Alaska and Canada. Describes and illustrates whaling 

implements and theorizes about their use. 

EASTERN ARCTIC, WESTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY–anthropology, ethnology; WHALING–eastern Arctic, western Arctic, gear, natives. 
72 

BANFIELD, A. W. F. 

1974. The mammals of Canada. Univ. Toronto Press, Toronto, Canada, 438 p. 

Basic reference to the 196 mammalian species that occur in Canada or did in the past. Includes 

description of the bowhead whale (p. 283-285), giving their distribution, migration, general biology, a 

review of commercial and native whaling, and utilization. The annual catch of Alaskan Eskimos is 10 

to 15 whales per season, but the Canadian catch is much smaller. Pond Inlet and Southampton 

Island are two areas of native whaling in the Canadian Arctic. 

EASTERN & WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–general; DISTRIBUTION–eastern Arctic, western Arctic, history; IDENTITY–description; MORPHOLOGY–

measurements, structure; NUTRITION–food; REPRODUCTION–gestation, mating, parturition, lactation; WHALING–history, 

eastern Arctic, western Arctic, commercial, native, catch, utilization. 

BARBOUR, JOHN A. 

1969. In the wake of the whale. Crowell-Collier Press, Collier-Macmillan Ltd., London, 

102 p. 

Brief description of the bowhead, its size, and former commercial importance. It is now considered 

endangered and an estimated 1,000 exist in the Bering Sea. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-western Arctic; IDENTITY-description; POPULATION-abundance. 

BAUMAN, MARGIE. 

1978. North Slope Borough hosts first elders conference. Tundra Times, May 31, 

15(22):3. 

Ernie Frankson, chairman of the Borough Commission on ancestry and culture, told the reporter that 

the elders discussed the changing migration pattern of bowhead whales to the westward and the 

reasons they believe this is happening are oil spills, an increasing population, and [industrial] 

development 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration, changes; POPULATION-abundance (observed); REGULATIONS & CONSERVATION-conservation, 

industrial development. 

BAYLIS, H. A. 

1923. On Odontobius ceti, Roussel de Vauzeme, a nematode living on the baleen of 

whales. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. Ser. 9, 12:617-623. 

R. de Vauzeme described a number of organisms, including Odontobius ceti, living as parasites or 

commensals on Antarctic whales. The host was clearly the southern right whale (Balaena australis), 

although he gives the determination of his whales incorrectly as B. mysticetus. The author describes 

and presents remarks on the biology of O. ceti. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

PATHOLOGY-parasites. 
73 

BAYLIS, H. A. 

1932. A list of worms parasitic in cetacea. Discovery Rep. 6:393-418. 

A three-section catalogue of the worm parasites of cetacea: (1) A list of parasites; (2) A list of hosts; 

and (3) a bibliography. Balaena mysticetus is host for the following parasites: Lecithodesmus goliath

(found in the liver, p. 397); Phyllobothrium physeteris (found in blubber and skin, p. 399); and 

Bolbosoma porrigens (found in the intestine, p. 406). 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

PATHOLOGY-parasites. 

BEAN, TARLETON H. 

1887. The fishery resources and fishing-grounds of Alaska. In G. B. Goode et al., The 

fisheries and fishing industries of the United States, Sect. III, p. 81-115. Gov. Print. 

Off., Wash. , D. C. 

Contains information on fishing and fishery grounds of Alaska, including notes on gear used and 

importance of other animals to the natives. “On St. Lawrence Island whales supply a large part of the 

food of its people. Their catch of whalebone and walrus ivory is disposed of to traders for rum, rifles, 

and ammunition (p. 102). In the spring of 1880, the Point Hope men sold the bone from five whales 

which they had killed after the vessels left in 1879. The season of 1880 was a remarkable one for all 

concerned in the fishery; the Eskimo were fairly gorged with blackskin and blubber, while every sail 

carried away a heavy cargo of oil, bone, and ivory.” (p 110) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, native, gear, catch, utilization. 

BEAN, TARLETON H. 

1902. A naturalist's adventures. In R. Kersting (editor), The white world, p. 241-266. 

Lewis, Scribner & Co., New York. 

In 1880 the author made a voyage on the schooner Yukon from San Francisco to points along the 

east coast of Siberia and the west coast of Alaska to Wainwright Inlet and return. They arrived at 

Port Providence, Plover Bay, Siberia, on August 11 where “.when whales ran up into this bay the 

village was large and thriving; now it has dwindled to two canoe-loads.” On the cruise they met 

several whaling vessels and the number of bowheads taken by each to date is given. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, native, catch, crews. 

BEDDARD, F. E. 

1900. A book of whales. G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 320 p. 

Reviews knowledge about various species, citing scientific and popular literature. Observations 

about Balaena mysticetus include physiology of muscle, stomach, skeleton, and existence of 

rudimentary teeth. Also briefly reviews morphology, body color, diving behavior, food and feeding 

behavior and maternal behavior. Considers the species B. australis and notes the existence of a 

smaller variety of B. mysticetus, known as “Poggy,” in the Okhotsk Sea. 

EASTERN & WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-maternal, swimming, diving, breeding; IDENTITY; MORPHOLOGY-skeleton; NUTRITION; 

PHYSIOLOGY-alimentary, muscles. 
74 

BEE, JAMES W., and E. RAYMOND HALL. 

1956. Mammals of northern Alaska on the Arctic Slope. Univ. Kansas, Lawrence, Mus. 

Nat. Hist. Misc. Publ. 8, 309 p. 

Account of 42 species of mammals occurring on the Arctic Slope of Alaska. In addition to the 

scientific names, the common and Eskimo names are given. A list of pertinent references precedes 

each species account. A detailed description of the bowhead (Agvik), Balaena mysticetus, includes a 

line drawing of the skull and measurements, records of occurrence, and remarks on the species. 

Authors conclude from measurements presented that Eskimos took principally young whales. The 

bowhead formerly was abundant but its numbers have been greatly reduced. Because the season 

was at least 3 weeks late in the spring of 1952 the Eskimos of Point Barrow, on June 17, had not 

taken a whale. These Eskimos at that time were depending on the meat of whales that were taken at 

Wainwright. (p. 165-167) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY; BEHAVIOR-migration; DISTRIBUTION-former and present; IDENTITY- nomenclature, description; 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; WHALING-western Arctic, native, catch, utilization. 

BEECHEY, FREDERICK WILLIAM. 

1832. Narrative of a voyage to the Pacific and Bering's Strait, to co-operate with the polar 

expeditions: performed in His Majesty's ship Blossom, under the command of 

Captain F. W. Beechey, R. N. in the years 1825, 26, 27, 28. Carey & Lea, 

Philadelphia, Pa., 493 p. (Originally published in 1831 by H. Colburn and R. 

Bentley, London. In 2 vol. (vol. 1, 392 p.; vol. 2, p. 393-742.f)) 

Expedition to Bering Strait and Chukchi Sea with object to meet with Franklin’s second overland 

expedition. He explored the coast as far at 156.5°21' W long., just east of Point Barrow. Pack ice 

and warlike Eskimos forced the party to turn back before they could meet with Franklin. 

Beechey noted number of native boats at various locations, and stated (p. 232) that on August 9, 

1826 they found “... the carcass of a dead whale. It had an Esquimaux harpoon in it, and drag 

attached, made of an inflated sealskin...” [presumably a bowhead]. In describing Icy Cape (p 273) he 

stated “Off here we saw a great many black whales--more than I remember ever to have seen, even 

in Baffin's Bay.” While at Chamisso Island, two native boats from the vicinity of Cape Prince of Wales 

arrived that had a quantity of whalebone, among numerous other items. He gives Ah-ow-look as the 

Eskimo name for whale (bowhead?). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-former, sightings; IDENTITY-Eskimo, Ah-ow-look; POPULATION-mortality, whaling, struck and lost, 

stranded; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, gear, utilization. 

BELL, OLIVE JOSLIN. 

1972. Nagroouk-A matter-of-fact whale hunt. Alaskana 2(3):4. 

Description of the Eskimo hunt for bowhead whales during the spring at Barrow, Alaska. [This is an 

abridged version of an article by Frank North titled “I was their talisman.” See: Alaska Sportsman 

(1940) 6(10):18-20, 22.] 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, gear, catch, photographs, utilization. 
75 

BERGER, CARL. 

1977a. Poor wind conditions plague Point Hope whaling. Tundra Times, Jun 8, 14(23):1, 

9. 

The spring whaling season at Point Hope has been plagued by poor wind conditions and the lack of 

open leads in the sea ice. The first whale of the season, about 36 feet in length, was taken by Billy 

Weber’s crew. The second whale of the season was 48 feet, 5 inches and was caught by Luke 

Koonook, Sr. on May 24. Elijah Rock’s crew struck but lost a whale on the evening of May 26. The 

whaling feast for Point Hope is scheduled for June 10-12. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements, length; POPULATION-mortality, whaling, struck and lost; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, 

catch, crews. 

BERGER, CARL. 

1977b. Whalers pack Kotzebue hearings. Tundra Times, Fairbanks, Alaska, Sep. 21, 

14(38):1, 3. 

A hearing was held by the National Marine Fisheries Service on Sep. 15 to receive testimony in 

response to the International Whaling Commission's ruling to ban the hunting of bowhead whales by 

Eskimo subsistence hunters. Includes information that Billy Weber made one of two successful 

strikes at Point Hope this past spring, and the Luke Koonook Sr. crew caught their first bowhead last 

spring. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

BERING STRAIGHTS. 

1980a. First whale of year landed. Bering Straights, Nome, AK, April 18, 5(7):1,12. 

The first bowhead whale of the year was landed at Southwest Cape on St. Lawrence Island April 15 

at about 4 P.M. by captain Raymond Toolie of Savoonga. The whale was 50 feet long. It was cut up 

and divided equally by the captains and residents of both Savoonga and Gambell. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY–measurements; WHALING–Bering Sea, native, catch, crews, photographs, utilization. 

BERING STRAIGHTS. 

1980b. Wales lands whale! Bering Straights, Nome, AK., 5(11):1. 

Andrew Seetook of Wales took a bowhead whale measuring over 30 feet on May 3rd, 20 to 30 miles 

north of the village. This is the first whale taken by the 67 year-old boat captain. This was the first 

whale taken in Wales since 1970, and only the second since 1934. Also, Gambell landed one whale 

and Savoonga filled its quota of landing two whales this year. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY–measurements; WHALING–Bering Sea and Bering Strait, native, catch, crews, records. 
76 

BERNARDI, S. ROGNON. 

1902. An ultra-fashionable reception and dance of Kingegan Eskimos. The Nome News, 

Nome, Alaska, Sep. 19, 4(65):2. 

Author describes ceremony by Kingegan Eskimos that she attended early in the winter of 1901-1902. 

During 1900 no whales were caught, so no ceremonies were held the previous year. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–Bering Strait, native, catch. 

BERNARDI, SUZANNE ROGNON. 

1912. Whaling with Eskimos of Cape Prince of Wales. Woman teacher of local nativity 

writes of the sport of the sea and attendant weird customs among the aborigines of 

Alaska. Courier-Journal, Louisville, KY, October 20, Sect. 4, p. 1, 12. 

Author describes Eskimo whaling for bowheads at the village of Wales where she taught school in 

the early 1900s. “During 1900 no whales were caught, so silence reigned in the queer old Kozga or 

dancehouse all that winter. Not so the next winter. Eight whales were killed in seven days this year.” 

[1901]. That year the vessel Alexander, in command of Capt. Tilton, struck and killed a large whale in 

the middle of Bering Strait. It was nearly 70 feet long, the baleen was 12 feet long, and five men 

stood abreast in its mouth. After the baleen was removed the carcass was given to the Eskimos. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurement; WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Strait, commercial, native, gear, catch, photographs. 

BERNARDI, SUZANNE R. 

1981. Story of a whale hunt. Alaska 47(8):22-25. 

The author made photo albums for friends one Christmas and, although each are similar, none is 

quite like the others. How many she made is not known, but two exist at the University of Alaska 

Archives [see Lusk, 1959; Bunnell, 1958] and a third, from which this material has been taken, 

belongs to Mrs. Alizabeth McBride of Valdez. The text of this article was taken from her handwritten 

captions beneath each photo. Eleven of those photos are reproduced for this article. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Strait, native, gear, catch, photographs. 

BERNARDI, SUZANNE ROGNON. 

1981. Story of a whale hunt. In Virginia McKinney (compiler and editor), The Alaska 

Journal: a 1981 collection, p. 134-143. Alaska Northwest Publ. Co., Anchorage. 

Essentially the same as an earlier article published in Alaska 47(8):22-25, except this one contains 

20 photographs and a reproduction of page 1, section 4, of the original story as it appeared in the 

Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky, on October 20, 1912. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Strait, native, gear, catch, photographs. 
77 

BERTHOLF, E. P. 

1899. Report of Second Lieut. E. P. Bertholf, R. C. S. In Report of the cruise of the U.S. 

revenue cutter Bear and the overland expedition for the relief of the whalers in the 

Arctic Ocean, from November 27, 1897, to September 13, 1898, p. 18-27, 103-114. 

U.S. Gov. Print. Office, Washington, D.C. (Treas. Dep. Doc. 2101; also 56th Congr., 

2d Sess., House Doc. 511). 

Notes (p. 25) that thirteen whaling stations, owned and run by white men, were located along the 

shore between Point Hope and Cape Seppings, Alaska, during the winter of 1897-98. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-history, western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, commercial, shore stations. 

BERZIN, A. A., and A. A. KUZ'MIN. 

1975. Serye i gladkie kity okhotskogo moria (Gray and right whales of the Okhotsk Sea). 

In Morskie mlekopitaiushchie (Marine mammals), Part 1, p. 30-32. In Russian. Izd. 

Nauk, Kiev. (Transl., by U.S. Dep. Commer., Off. Foreign Fish., Language Serv. 

Div., Washington, D.C., 2 p.) 

Classification of right whales in the Okhotsk Sea was a matter of dispute until A. A. Rovnin (1969) 

clarified this problem. “Rovnin, relying on old data at hand, considered them typical Greenland right 

whales. However, as our observations showed in 1974, significant morphological differences exist 

between right whales of the western areas of the Okhotsk Sea and Greenland right whales. With 

Greenland arctic right whales as with Pacific right whales, the spray from the spout, when observed 

from front and back, disperses at an angle of 35-451⁄2 (Tomilin, 1957 and others, our observations). 

We succeeded in observing right whales in the western Okhotsk Sea many times from various 

distances (the smallest distance was at the ship's side) and at varied angles of approach. These 

observations showed that the spray from the spout of all whales that we came upon without 

exception was emitted practically parallel or at the smallest angle (up to 51⁄2)... The demonstrated 

distinct (in 100% of the instances morphological and also ecological) differences of right whales of 

the Arctic and Okhotsk Seas, until we receive additional morphological data, permit us to say only 

that... (they) obviously belong to another subspecies of polar whales. Judging by the presence of 

whales with relatively small dimensions alongside the grown ones, the whales obviously multiply 

well.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-breathing; DISTRIBUTION-sightings; IDENTITY-races or subspecies; POPULATION-calf sightings. 

BERZIN, A. A., and L. P. VLASOVA. 

1982. Fauna of the Cetacea Cyamidae (Amphipoda) of the world ocean. In G. Pilleri 

(editor), Investigations on Cetacea, 13:149-164. Brain Anat. Inst., Berne, 

Switzerland. 

Reviews the existing literature and original material collected during the last few years of the 

cetacean parasite of the family Cyamidae which, including a new species found in 1980, now 

consists of 6 genera and 22 species. Only one species, Cyamus ceti, has been found to date on 

bowhead whales 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

PATHOLOGY-parasites. 
78 

BILLS, PAUL. 

1980. Alaska. A 20th Century saga north of the Yukon river. Radiant Books, Gospel Publ. 

House, Springfield, Mo., 160 p. 

The author, a missionary, served in Alaskan missions at North Pole, Beaver, Barrow, Nome, and 

Anchorage, for twenty years. He resided at Barrow from 1958 to 1965. His grandfather had resided 

in Connecticut where he served as a whaler. A brief, general description of whaling at Barrow is 

provided (p. 125-128), including a statement that there may be 10 to 30 different whale camps set up 

along the ice off the village during the spring season. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration, swimming; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, crews, gear, utilization. 

BIRD, JAMES E. 

1977. Whales, whaling, dolphins and porpoises. An annotated bibliography. Am. 

Cetacean Soc., San Diego, Calif., Pub. No. ACSSD-1, 85 p. 

Contains nearly 500 references on books, magazine articles, records and tape recordings, and 

audiovisual material. The references are annotated, indicating the reading level, interest level, and a 

brief description of content. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

BIRKET-SMITH, KAJ. 

1933. Geographical notes on the Barren Grounds. Rep. Fifth Thule Exped., 1921-24, vol. 

1, no. 4, 128 p. Gyldendal, Copenhagen. 

A study of the area west of Hudson Bay lying between Churchill, Repulse Bay and Coronation Gulf. 

“The right whale (Balaena mysticetus) (p 84) was formerly hunted as far south as Marble Island, but 

the whaling grounds were later moved to Roe's Welcome. Now the right whale is rare, although in 

the beginning of September 1922 the Eskimos at Repulse Bay succeeded in killing a young male 

(Fig. 29). Here are measurements that may be of interest to zoologists: 

Length from nose to tail-cleft 42' 2" 

Distance from anus to tail-cleft 11' 4" 

Distance from anus to penis-slit 0' 6" 

Penis slit. 1' 0" 

Distance from flipper to tail-cleft 24' 9" 

Length of flipper 6' 0" 

Breadth of flipper 2' 11" 

The colour was black with irregular white patches on the underside. In each jaw were about 275 

baleens of a length of up to 9'.” 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-former and present; MORPHOLOGY-measurements; WHALING-eastern Arctic, native, catch, photograph. 
79 

BIRKET-SMITH, KAJ. 

1959. The Eskimos. 2nd ed. Methuen & Co., Ltd., London, 262 p. (Orig. publ. 1936). 

Anthropological study of Eskimos. Most marine mammals including Balaena mysticetus, avoid firm 

ice and therefore only approach the shore periodically (p. 71). Describes whaling areas, methods 

and gear; but in none of the eastern regions was whaling as important as in northern Alaska where 

up to 20 whales were killed in a single season (p. 100). 

EASTERN ARCTIC, WESTERN ARCTIC 

ANTHROPOLOGY-Eskimos; BEHAVIOR-migration; WHALING-eastern and western Arctic, native, gear, catch, utilization. 

BIXBY, WILLIAM. 

1965. Track of the Bear. David McKay Co., Inc., New York, 390 p. 

Popular account of the history of the northern whaling industry, the search for a Northwest Passage, 

and the activities of the famous vessel Bear from its launching in 1874 to its sinking in 1963. As a 

U.S. Revenue Marine Service ship the Bear patrolled the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, 

frequently administering to the bowhead whaling fleet. Numerous events concerning whaling ships, 

whalers, Eskimos, government employees, school teachers, explorers, villages, etc. are noted, 

providing information such as dates, locations, names of ships and individuals, etc. An appendix 

provides a chronological list of major events during the life of the vessel. 

EASTERN ARCTIC, WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-history, western Arctic, commercial. 

BOCKSTOCE, JOHN. 

1975. Contacts between American whalemen and the Copper Eskimos. Arctic 28(4):298-

299. 

It was generally believed that no contacts between white men and Copper Eskimos occurred before 

about 1902-1908. The author cites several instances, however, strongly indicating that early day 

whaling vessels probably made contact with these Eskimos during the period 1891 to 1905. It was 

noted that Stefansson (1914) described a whaler's harpoon found by the Eskimos in a dead whale 

that was stranded in Coronation Gulf. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-former; POPULATION-mortality, whaling, struck and lost, stranding; WHALING-western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, 

commercial, native. 

BOCKSTOCE, [JOHN] R. 

1976a. Alaskan Eskimo shore whaling: its impact on the bowhead whale, Balaena

mysticetus, of the western Arctic. (Abstr.) In Symposium Proceedings of Scientific 

Consultation on the Conservation and Management of Marine Mammals and Their 

Environment, August 31-September 9, 1976, Bergen, Norway, 2 p. Food Agric. 

Organ. U.N., Rome, Advis. Comm. Mar. Resour. Res., ACMRR/MM/SC/70. 

“The Eskimos of the western Arctic have hunted bowhead whales, Balaena mysticetus, for more 

than 2,000 years. In response to external influences their hunting has evolved through [4] general 

phases: I. Aborigianl phase (to 1885),..., II. Commercial phase (1885-1910)...,III. Subsistence phase 

(1910-1960)...,IV. Recent phase (1960-present).” (From author’s abstract.) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, native, shore stations, crews, gear, catch, utilization. 
80 

BOCKSTOCE, [JOHN] R. 

1976b. Nineteenth Century commercial whaling: its impact on the bowhead whale, 

Balaena mysticetus, of the western Arctic. (Abstr.) In Symposium Proceedings of 

Scientific Consultation on the Conservation and Management of Marine Mammals 

and Their Environment, August 31-September 9, 1976, Bergen, Norway, 1 p. Food 

Agric. Organ. U.N., Rome, Advis. Comm. Mar. Resour. Res., ACMRR/MM/SC/71. 

“A rich and untapped source of information on the bowhead whale of the western Arctic exists in 

whaling logbooks and other records of the industry. There are about 400 extant logbooks spanning 

the history of the fishery (1840-1910) which give information on about 600 seasonal voyages to the 

western Arctic and thus cover about 100,000 days of observation... 

From a preliminary survey of three years-at the beginning , middle and end of the fishery-it is 

estimated that more than 30,000 whales were taken between 1840 and 1910 north of 551⁄2 N in the 

Bering, Chukchi, East Siberian and Beaufort Seas. Of these, approximately 2,000 were taken by 

shore-based Eskimo whalers. 

The New Bedford Whaling Museum proposes to extract all relevant data from the extant logbooks 

and printed sources for this fishery to establish a body of information which will allow estimates of the 

size of the population before, during and after commercial exploitation as well as about its range, 

migratory patterns, possible changes in behaviour due to hunting pressure and other relevant 

topics.” (From author’s abstract.) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-reactions (when hunted), migration; DISTRIBUTION-former, sightings; POPULATION-mortality, whaling; 

WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, E. Siberian Sea, Beaufort Sea, commercial, native, catch. 

BOCKSTOCE, JOHN. 

1976c. Speculations on the increase in bowhead population. Cetacean Times 2(1):8-9. 

Recognizing that any effort to gain an accurate estimate of the number of bowheads alive today 

would require an enormous expenditure of funds, the author relies on useful historical data from 

published and manuscript sources to perceive indications that their numbers have been increasing 

since about 1920. The author does “...not believe that the Eskimos today are putting a deleterious 

pressure on the bowhead population in the Western Arctic.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–abundance, mortality, whaling; WHALING–Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, commercial, native, catch, 

crews, gear. 

BOCKSTOCE, JOHN. 

1976d. On the development of whaling in the Western Thule culture. Folk (Copenhagen) 

18:41-46. 

The development of Eskimo whaling in northwest Alaska and Bering Strait is discussed briefly in 

relation to archaeological discoveries, native technology, human organizations, food resources, 

population, climate, and land forms. Whaling developed in the Bering Strait region about 1,000 years 

before it is known to have been practiced intensively in northwestern Alaska. It was not until about 

A.D. 1,000 that climatological, biological, demographic, technological and organizational factors 

coincided to allow the development of intensive whaling in northwestern Alaska. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY; WHALING-history, natives, western Arctic. 
81 

BOCKSTOCE, JOHN R. 

1977a. An issue of survival: bowhead vs. tradition. Audubon 79(5):142-145. 

Author describes the conflict between the survival of the bowhead whale, an endangered species, 

and the traditional cultural and subsistence practices of the Alaskan Eskimo. Early day commercial 

whaling by Yankee whalers and the effect upon Eskimo subsistence whaling is reviewed, including 

catch statistics. Concludes with the total moratorium imposed by the International Whaling 

Commission in 1977 because of its concern for this relict population and suggestions by the author 

how this conflict may be resolved. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION-management; WHALING-history, western Arctic, commercial, native, gear, catch, 

utilization. 

BOCKSTOCE, JOHN. 

1977b. The Arctic whaling disaster of 1897. Prologue (Journal of the U.S. National 

Archives): 9(1):27-42. (Reprinted in 1978 by Explorers J. 56(1):38-44. Excerpts 

printed in 1978 by Alaska Geogr. 5(4):27-33.) 

Account of four whaling vessels lost to the ice in the vicinity of Point Barrow, Alaska, in 1897; four 

others were frozen in the ice for the winter, and more than 100 men were forced to seek shelter for 

eleven months at Point Barrow. Following the loss of 31 ships in 1871 and 12 ships in 1876, the 

1897 disaster dealt a severe blow to the Arctic bowhead whaling industry. The great steam whalers 

were never to be replaced because, although the price of baleen continued to climb, the catch 

declined faster. Arctic whaling ended 10 years later when the demand for baleen plummeted due to 

introduction of a substitute, spring steel. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, commercial. 

BOCKSTOCE, JOHN. 

1977c. Eskimo whaling in Alaska. Alaska 43(9):4-6. 

Reviews the history of hunting in northwest Alaska for bowheads which probably was developed 

nearly 2,000 years ago on St. Lawrence Island. Commercial whaling by foreigners began in 1848 

and collapsed in 1908. That collapse started the third phase of Eskimo whaling, a return to 

subsistence activity carried on nearly 60 years as the entire stock recovered from a severely reduced 

level. The most recent phase, beginning about 1970, is controversial. Expansion in number of 

Eskimo whaling crews has greatly increased the numbers of whales taken, causing conservationists 

to protest that the whale population cannot withstand the hunting pressure. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-abundance; WHALING-history, western Arctic, natives, crews, catch, photographs. 
82 

BOCKSTOCE, JOHN R. 

1977d. Steam whaling in the Western Arctic. Old Dartmouth Hist. Soc., New Bedford, 

Mass., 127 p. 

Describes commercial hunt for the bowhead whale, Balaena mysticetus, in the Chukchi and Beaufort 

Seas from 1848 to 1910, with emphasis on the period 1880 to 1910 when steam whalers became 

important because of declining numbers of bowhead whales. The inclusion of chapters on The 

Design and Construction Of Steam Whalers by William A. Baker; Ship Biographies by John R. 

Bockstoce; and, A Chronological List of Commercial Wintering Voyages, 1850-1910 by John R. 

Bockstoce and Charles F. Batchelder; and numerous excellent photographs make this a valuable 

reference book for researchers on this subject. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–when hunted, migrations; DISTRIBUTION–former and present; WHALING–History, commercial, vessels, catch, 

photographs, utilization. 

BOCKSTOCE, J. R. 

1977e. Eskimos of northwest Alaska in the early nineteenth century. Edited by T. K. 

Penniman. Univ. Oxford, Pitt Rivers Mus., Monogr. Ser. No. 1, 139 p. 

Catalogue of ethnographic collections made by Captain Frederick Beechey and Lieutenant Edward 

Belcher during the voyage of H. M. S. Blossom in 1826 and 1827 to Bering Strait and beyond. 

Contains excellent photographs and descriptions of artifacts in the collections. Noteworthy are the 

numerous uses made by Eskimos of baleen and bones from bowheads for fishing and hunting 

equipment and for tools and manufacturing implements. Figures of whales or whales’ flukes have 

been incised on bag handles, and possibly drilling bows, representing whales killed. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ANTHROPOLOGY–artifacts, Alaska Eskimos; WHALING–Bering, Chukchi Seas, native, gear, catch (recording of by 

Eskimos), utilization. 

BOCKSTOCE, JOHN. 

1978. History of commercial whaling in Arctic Alaska. Alaska Geogr. 5(4), Alaska whales 

and whaling: 17-25. 

Author briefly traces history of commercial whaling in northwestern Alaska from the appearance of 

whale ships in the Gulf of Alaska in 1835 to the sudden collapse of the industry in 1907. The 

expansion and progress of whaling in relation to specific economic factors, evolution of whaling gear, 

and industrial use of products is outlined. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-history, western Arctic, commercial, gear, catch, utilization. 

BOCKSTOCE, JOHN. 

1979. The Point Barrow refuge station. Am. Neptune 39(1):5-21. (Reprinted in 1979 by 

the Peabody Museum of Salem, Salem, Mass.) 

Historical account of the bowhead whaling industry in the western Arctic, including the establishment 

of a refuge station in August 1889 near Cape Smythe, 11 miles south of Point Barrow. The refuge 

station was sold in 1896 to the Pacific Steam Whaling Company. A year later it was sold to the Cape 

Smythe Whaling and Trading Company and today remains under its ownership as Brower's 

Restaurant-Arctic Alaska's oldest frame building. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-history, western Arctic, commercial. 
83 

BOCKSTOCE, JOHN. 

1980a. A preliminary estimate of the reduction of the Western Arctic bowhead whale 

population by the pelagic whaling industry: 1848-1915. Mar. Fish. Rev. 42(9-10):20-

27. Also unpubl. report prepared for U.S. Mar. Mammal Comm., Washington, D.C., 

Rep. No. MMC-77/08, (1978), 32 p., Processed. Also Int. Whaling Comm., 

SC/30/Doc. 47. Also avail. U.S. Dep. Commer., Natl. Tech. Inf. Serv., Springfield, 

VA., as PB 286 797. 

The report is the first systematic endeavor to estimate the kill of bowhead whales by whaling vessels 

in the western Arctic, 1848-1915. Data from the ‘Whalemen’s Shipping List and Merchants’ 

Transcript’ was augmented and correlated with information from other newspapers, over 500 books, 

magazines, manuscripts, government documents, and logbooks. It is estimated that the 2,609 

whaling cruises identified represent 98% of all whaling cruises to the western Arctic from 1848 to 

1915, and that 19,142 to 21,448 bowheads were killed. Tables present data on average size of 

whales taken, average catch and effort per vessel, estimated number of whales taken by known 

vessels, estimated number of whales killed and struck-and-lost by known vessels, and estimated 

number of whales taken and killed by all whaling vessels. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, struck and lost; WHALING-western Arctic, history, commercial, catch. 

BOCKSTOCE, JOHN. 

1980b. Battle of the bowheads. Nat. Hist. 89(5):52-61. 

Historical review of the Alaskan Eskimo hunt for bowhead whale in the western Arctic, near 

extirpation of this animal by commercial whalers during the last half of the nineteenth century, and 

steps taken in the 1970s by the International Whaling Commission to regulate the Eskimo harvest by 

placing an annual quota on numbers of whales taken. Notes that there were 12 crews whaling at 

Point Hope [no date given, probably in 1978] (p. 53); and that 48 whales were taken in 1976 with 

another 43 known to have been wounded; in 1977, 28 taken and an additional 77 wounded (p. 57). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling, struck and lost, killed and lost; WHALING–history, Bering Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, 

commercial, native, catch, crews, gear, photographs, utilization. 

BOCKSTOCE, J. [John]. 

1981. Man’s exploitation of the western Arctic bowhead. In FAO Advisory Committee on 

Marine Resources Research Working Party on Marine Mammals, Mammals in the 

Seas, Vol. 3, p. 163-170. FAO Fish. Ser. 5, Vol. 3. 

Reviews effects of Alaskan Eskimo and commercial whaling on the population of bowhead whales in 

the western Arctic, noting the near extinction of this whale by 1910, when commercial whaling 

ended; a continuing hunt by natives with a relatively steady and low total number of whaling crews 

until 1965, when the number of crews began to increase. Total catch also began to increase from 

about 15 whales per year between 1910 and 1965 to numbers that caused concern throughout the 

world: 20 whales captured, 3 killed but lost, and at least 28 struck and lost in 1974; 48 captured, 8 

killed but lost, and at least 35 struck and lost in 1976; and with the autumn season still to come in 

1977, 26 whales captured, 2 killed but lost, and 77 struck and lost during the spring season. To 

determine whether the present population of whales can tolerate this level of harvest and unknown 

effects of offshore oil development, it is important to know the present size of the population and its 

size before 1948 [sic, 1848]. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–census, aerial, counting stations, historical vessel records; POPULATION–

abundance; REGULATION & CONSERVATION–management, quotas; WHALING–history, commercial, native, catch, crews. 
84 

BOCKSTOCE, JOHN R., and CHARLES F. BATCHELDER. 

1977. A chronological list of commercial wintering voyages to the Bering Strait region and 

Western Arctic of North America, 1850-1910. Univ. Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, 

Can., Inst. Northern Studies, Musk-Ox No. 20:3-8, + frontispiece. Reprinted by The 

Am. Neptune, 1978, 38(2):81-91. 

“A chronological list of wintering voyages by American whalers to the Bering Strait-Beaufort Sea area 

for the period from 1848 when the western Arctic whaling grounds were first discovered, until 1910 

when the industry collapsed.” (From author’s abstract.) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-history, western Arctic, commercial. 

BOCKSTOCE, JOHN R., and CHARLES F. BATCHELDER. 

1978. A gazetteer of whalers’ place-names for the Bering Strait region and the western 

Arctic. Names, J. Am. Name Soc. 26(3):258-270. 

Lists place-names for locations in the western Arctic (Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas) commonly 

used by commercial whaling vessels in pursuit of the bowhead whale during the period from 1848 to 

1910. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, shore stations. 

BODFISH, HARTSON H., recorded by JOSEPH C. ALLEN. 

1936. Chasing the bowhead. Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, Mass., 281 p. 

Captain Bodfish’s popular-style narrative describes 31 years of whale hunting and experiences, 

mostly north of Bering Strait, including observations on biology and behavior of bowhead whales. 

Includes observations about gear, techniques, catches, and utilization. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-diving, swimming under pursuit, respiratory, migration; DISTRIBUTION; MORPHOLOGY-measurements, 

structure (baleen); NUTRITION-food, feeding behavior; WHALING-western Arctic, history, gear, natives, catch. 

BODFISH, WALDO, as told to J. LESTER MINNER. 

1947. Nine polar bears. Alaska Sportsman 13(9):22-23, 41-42. Reprinted 1960 in the 

Alaska book: story of our northern treasureland, p. 156-158, by J. G. Ferguson 

Publ. Co., Chicago. 

Account of two whaling crews during May 1927 at Wainwright, Alaska. The hunters discovered 35 to 

40 polar bears feeding on a floating whale [probably a bowhead] carcass, and nine men in the party 

killed nine polar bears; the other bears ran off without attacking the hunters. An introductory panel to 

the article described Waldo Bodfish as the son of Captain Hartson H. Bodfish, the well-known Arctic 

whaler whose book, Chasing the Bowhead, was published in 1936. Waldo Bodfish has a whaling 

crew each year at Wainwright and last spring [1947?] his crew killed two whales. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality (whaling?), stranding; PREDATORS & COMPETITION-scavenging; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native 

crews, catch. 
85 

BOERI, DAVID. 

1983. People of the ice whale. E. P. Dutton, Inc., New York, NY. 285 p. 

Author describes Alaskan Eskimos whaling for bowheads at Gambell in 1978 and 1979, and at 

Barrow in 1979 and 1980. In 1978 a total of 18 crews captured one 45-foot long bowhead and 

struck but lost four others (p. 7, 151-155). Hunters at Savoonga took one whale that year (p. 133). 

In 1979 Gambell hunters failed to get a whale, but 30-plus crews at Barrow (p. 214) landed at least 

two and one-half bowheads and struck but lost nine and one-half whales (author considered a 

stinker as one-half of a whale, p. 217). In 1980 the author reported that at least 10 crews at Barrow 

captured two whales and struck but lost one (p. 226, 230). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY–length; POPULATION–mortality, whaling, struck and lost, stinkers; WHALING–native, catch, gear, utilization. 

BOGOJAVLENSKY, SERGEI. 

1969. Imaangmiut Eskimo careers: skinboats in Bering Strait. Ph.D. Thesis, Harvard 

Univ., Cambridge, Mass., 250 p. [Unpublished] 

Author's dissertation research among the King and Little Diomede Islanders between November 

1966 and July 1968 provides considerable detail about Eskimo kinship, crews and factions, hunting, 

economy and ceremonies as they relate to everyday living for these people. A whale [species not 

stated, presumably a bowhead] was captured by Little Diomede Island hunters in the late 1930s, an 

occasion that was followed by elaborate ritual observances (p. 225). The high jump, using old 

boatskins as a kind of trampoline, is used at Little Diomede as part of the celebration (p. 244). As to 

the number of crews, there have not been more than eight captains on each of the islands in the past 

30 years (p. 206) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Strait, native, crews, gear, catch. 

BOGOSLOVSKAYA, L. S., and L. M. VOTROGOV. 

1981. Russian title. (Mass winterings of birds and whales in ice lanes in the Bering Sea). 

Priroda (Mosc.) 1:42-43. (In Russ.) (Transl. Available as Int. Whaling Comm. Doc. 

SC/33/02, 3 p.) 

An area of open water exists all winter off the coast of the Chukchi Peninsula that is an important 

wintering area for an abundance of wildlife. Because of its location opposite the ancient Eskimo 

village of Sireniki, it has been named Sireni-kovskaya. A small population of bowhead whales is 

present throughout the winter and calves the size of two walrus have been observed here in early 

April. In spring the bowheads gradually migrate northward through mid-June. In 1980, about 30 

bowheads first appeared off Sireniki on 12 April and the majority of these were calves. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; DISTRIBUTION-wintering area; REPRODUCTION-periodicity, calves. 
86 

BOGOSLOVSKAYA, L. S., L. M. VOTROGOV, and I. I. KRUPNIK. 

1981. Bowhead whale off the Chukotka: migrations and aboriginal whaling. Rep. Int. 

Whaling Comm. SC/33/PS-16, 44 p. (unpublished). 

An historical review of whaling (mainly bowhead and gray whales) by Eskimos of the Chukotsk 

Peninsula, USSR. Former and present whaling villages are given, together with information on 

approximate number of boat crews in each and capture estimates derived from sparse data on the 

annual catch of whales by each village. Migrations are discussed with opinion that part of bowhead 

population enters the western Chukchi Sea for the summer. 

Reasons for the apparent cessation of bowhead whaling in the area during the 1940s and 1950s are 

not discussed. The paper concludes with a proposal to the Scientific Committee of the International 

Whaling Commission that Soviet Eskimos be permitted to begin taking two to three bowheads 

annually for the purpose of conserving cultural traditions. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY; BEHAVIOR-Breaching, resting, migration; DISTRIBUTION-former and present; IDENTITY-ingutuk; 

REPRODUCTION-periodicity of calving; WHALING-history, western Arctic, eastern USSR, natives, catch, crews. 

BOLAU, HEINRICH. 

1895. Die geographische verbreitung der wichtigsten wale des Stillen Ozeans. (The 

geographical distribution of the great whales of the Pacific Ocean). Abh. Naturwiss. 

Vet. Hamburg 3(5), 22 p., plus 1 map. (In Ger.). (Transl. by P. McGuire, 1976, 

available Natl. Mar. Mammal Lab., Alaska Fish. Sci. Cent., Natl. Mar. Fish. Serv., 

NOAA, 7600 Sand Point Way N.E., Seattle, WA 98115.). 

Drawing on the literature, author briefly describes the great whales, including the Polar or Greenland 

whale (American bowhead) Balaena mysticetus, and its circumpolar distribution. From specimens 

observed by others, he believes bowheads in the Okhotsk and Bering Sea are of the same 

population. In support of his opinion he cites Van Beneden and Gervais (1865-1878:10, p. 8 in 

transl.) as stating that a Danish Captain Sodring from Petropavlovsk observed two bowheads, near 

other baleen whales, opposite the east coast of Kamchatka below 531⁄2' N., thus they were below the 

southern limit of these whales. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

BEHAVIOR–migration, range; IDENTITY–description, nomenclature, taxonomy; MORPHOLOGY–measurements; 

NUTRITION–food; WHALING–eastern Arctic, western Arctic, commercial. 

BOWER, WARD T. 

1925. Alaska fishery and fur-seal industries in 1923. Rep. U.S. Comm. Fish., 1924, 

append. 3, p.47-140. (Doc. 973.) 

Detailed annual reports and statistics on the fishery and fur-seal industries by district in Alaska. “The 

North Pacific Sea Products Co., at Akutan, was the only firm engaged in the whaling industry of 

Alaska in 1923. It employed 120 whites and 28 natives. The investment, covering value of plant, 

vessels, wages, and other operating charges, was $472,998. Whaling was carried on in the North 

Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea, and the catch was 2 bowheads, 151 finbacks, 155 humpbacks, 29 

sulphur bottoms, 16 sperm, 1 right, and 1 sei whale. Products consisted of 655,250 gallons of oil, 

valued at $317,417; 2,313,980 pounds of fertilizer, valued at $59,660; 3,280 pounds of whalebone, 

valued at $2,604; and 130,000 pounds of pickled whale meat, valued at $9,000. 

The United States Whaling Co. discontinued operations at Port Armstrong, and transferred its 

activities to the South Pacific Ocean in the region of New Zealand.” (p.108) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Sea, commercial, shore stations, catch. 
87 

BOWER, WARD T., and HENRY D. ALLER. 

1915. Alaska fisheries and fur industries in 1914. Rep. U.S. Comm. Fish., 1914, append. 

9, 89 p. (Doc. 819.) 

Detailed annual reports and statistics on the fishery and fur industries by district in Alaska. “In 1914 

the offshore whaling fleet consisted of four vessels that caught a total of 24 bowheads. The number 

of whales and corresponding yield of whalebone by vessel was: Herman, 6 (10,000 pounds); 

Jeanette, 3 (2,461); Polar Bear, 10 (17,000); and the Belvedere, 5 (8,000). The Karluk, for years 

identified with the San Francisco whaling fleet, went north with the Stefansson Arctic expedition in 

the spring of 1913. Although official advices have not as yet been received, it appears that this 

steamer was crushed in the ice near Herald Island, 80 miles from Wrangel Island, Alaska, in 

December, 1913, or in January, 1914. The bark Gay Head, which left San Francisco in October, 

1913, on a voyage to southern whaling grounds, worked northward into Alaskan waters in the spring 

of 1914. While cruising along that coast the vessel stranded in heavy weather on June 27, 1914 at 

Chignik Bay and became a total loss. The steamers Beluga, Bowhead, Narwhal and Thrasher did 

not engage in whaling this year, but were laid up in Oakland Creek” (p. 58-62). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, catch, gear. 

BOWER, WARD T., and HENRY D. ALLER. 

1917. Alaska fisheries and fur industries in 1916. Rep. U.S. Comm. Fish., 1916, append. 

2, 118 p (Doc. 838.) 

Detailed annual reports and statistics on the fishery and fur industries by district in Alaska. “Shore 

stations: The whaling industry in Alaska is represented chiefly by the operations of two 

companies-The United States Whaling Co., at Port Armstrong, and the North Pacific Sea Products 

Co., at Akutan. Whales taken in shore operations in 1916 were: 1 bowhead, 161 finbacks, 121 

humpbacks, 64 sulphur-bottoms, 20 sperm, 1 right, and 21 sei whales, a total of 389. Offshore 

whaling fleet: The steamer Herman, of 229 net tons, was converted into a motor-power vessel and 

was chartered to Capt. L.A. Pedersen, who sailed her from San Francisco early in 1916 on a trading 

trip to Siberian waters, from which she returned in November. Incidentally, some whaling was done, 

netting a small quantity of oil and bone. The auxiliary whaling schooner Belvedere (400 tons net) 

sailed from Seattle in the spring of 1916 on a similar voyage to northern waters and returned to the 

same port in the fall with a small cargo of whale and walrus products. This vessel had heretofore 

been listed as a steamer.” (p. 73-74). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, shore stations, catch, gear. 

BOWER, WARD T., and HENRY D. ALLER. 

1918. Alaska fisheries and fur industries in 1917. Rep. U.S. Comm. Fish., 1917, append. 

2, 123 p. (Doc 847.) 

Detailed annual reports and statistics on the fishery and fur industries by district in Alaska. The 

United States Whaling Co., at Port Armstrong, and the North Pacific Sea Products Co., at Akutan, 

continued as the principal operators in the whaling industry. Whales taken in shore operations in 

1917 were: 2 bowheads, 153 finbacks, 44 humpbacks, 138 sulphur-bottom, 51 sperm, 9 beluga and 

26 others, a total of 423. (p. 51-52). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, shore stations, catch, gear. 
88 

BOWER, WARD T., and HARRY CLIFFORD FASSETT. 

1914. Fishery industries. Rep. U.S. Comm. Fish., 1913, append. 2, p. 37-139. (Doc. 797.) 

Detailed annual reports and statistics on the fisheries by district in Alaska. “Operations of the San 

Francisco fleet in northern waters during 1913 amounted to comparatively little. The steamer 

Belvedere (339 tons) left March 11, 1913, on a whaling voyage to the Arctic. This vessel was frozen 

in near Griffen Point, and will be forced to winter in the north. The power schooner Elvira (60 tons) 

cleared from San Francisco May 26, on a cruise to the Arctic. On account of unfavorable conditions, 

this vessel was also seized in the ice, and late in September capsized and became a total loss. So 

far as known at present, no whales were killed this season, either by the Belvedere or Elvira. The 

Eskimos succeeded in getting four bowheads near Point Barrow.” (p. 132). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, native, catch, gear. 

BOYD, WILLIAM L. 

1972. Jarvis and the Alaskan Reindeer Caper. Arctic 25(2):75-82. 

In 1897 several whaling vessels were trapped in the arctic by ice and the seamen were forced to 

spend the winter there. The whalers sought help from the nearest point of civilization which was the 

village of Utkiavik and Charles D. Brower’s whaling station located a bit north of Cape Smythe. 

During the winter of 1897-1898, in response to an apparent crisis, Lieutenant David H. Jarvis of the 

U.S. Revenue Cutter Bear, leading a three-man relief party, successfully drove a herd of reindeer 

800 miles from Cape Nome to Point Barrow to provide the whalers with an emergency food supply. 

During April and May, Brower and the natives carried out whaling, and the additional meat helped to 

relieve food shortages for all. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea, commercial, native, utilization. 

BRAHAM, HOWARD W., WILLMAN M. MARQUETTE, TERESA W. BRAY and J. 

STEPHEN LEATHERWOOD. 

1980. The bowhead whale: whaling and biological research. Mar. Fish. Rev. 42(9-10):1-

96. 

Seventeen articles present recent scientific information, most from original research conducted since 

1973, on the natural history and historical catch of bowhead whales by Eskimos and commercial 

whalers in the western Arctic. One article discusses the Spitsbergen bowhead stock. 

WESTERN ARCTIC, EASTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-diving, group size, ice-breaking, migration, respiration, vocalization; DISTRIBUTION-history, former, present; 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-acoustics, census, devices, specimens; IDENTITY-ingutuk; 

MORPHOLOGY-anatomy, fetuses, calves; NUTRITION-food, feeding, growth; PATHOLOGY-injuries, scars; 

PHYSIOLOGY-excretory; POPULATION-abundance, mortality, trends, recruitment; REPRODUCTION-fetuses, neonates, 

mating, periodicity; WHALING-history, commercial, native, catch, utilization 
89 

BRAUND, STEPHEN R. 

1981. The skin boats of St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. M.A. Thesis, Univ. Alaska, 

Fairbanks, 221 p. (unpublished) 

Detailed account of the construction, maintenance, and use of the angyapik (often loosely termed an 

umiak) by the Eskimos of St. Lawrence Island. Today’s walrus hide covered open boat is the product 

of major changes which reflect the influence of early day commercial whalers and traders. Although 

Gambell residents had approximately 28 usable skin boats plus three usable frames without skin 

covers in 1973, most are used for hunting walrus and a smaller number is used for bowhead 

whaling. The use of these boats for whaling is described (p. 101-102); in 1973 14 crews actively 

whaled at Gambell (p. 110, 112). Citing Ellanna (1980), author reports Gambell had 18 whaling 

crews in 1974 and 19 in 1976, and that Savoonga had a minimum of 3 crews [presumably for both 

years]; and in 1980 Ellanna (personal communication) identified 22 active crews at Gambell and 8 at 

Savoonga (p. 112). An historical account of early day commercial whaling and its influence upon St. 

Lawrence Islanders is recounted (p. 153-180). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Sea, commercial, native, gear, photographs, utilization. 

BREIWICK, JEFFREY M., EDWARD D. MITCHELL, and DOUGLAS G. CHAPMAN. 

1980. Estimated initial population size of the Bering Sea stock of bowhead whale, 

Balaena mysticetus: an iterative method. Fish. Bull., U.S. 78(4):843-853. 

Initial stock sizes of bowhead whales in the western Arctic (Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas) were 

calculated iteratively for the period 1848-1978. Estimates of initial stock size ranged between 14,000 

and 26,000 whales. It appears likely that stock size between 1910 and 1978 was probably < 10% of 

the initial stock level. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION –initial abundance, calculated. 

BREIWICK, J.M. and E.D. MITCHELL. 

1983. Estimated initial population size of the Bering Sea stock of bowhead whales 

(Balaena mysticetus) from logbook and other catch data. In Tillman, Michael F. and 

Gregory P. Donovan, (Editors), Historical whaling records, p. 147-151. Rep. Int. 

Whaling Comm., Spec. Issue 5, Paper SC/33/PS7. 

Initial population estimates for the Bering Sea stock of bowhead whales were made using the 

method of Breiwick et al. (1980) and pelagic and shore-based catch data. The range of resulting 

population estimates is from 8,000 to 18,000 bowheads. Results suggest that the maximum net 

recruitment rate may be ≤ 0.03 and that the initial population size was probably nearer the upper 

range of estimates obtained. (From author's abstract.). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION –initial abundance, calculated. 

BROOKS, JAMES W. 

1979. Status of marine mammal stocks in Alaska. Proc. Alaska Sci. Conf. 29:59-69. 

A summary of the more significant aspects of the status and associated problems of marine mammal 

stocks in Alaska. Subjects briefly reviewed for the bowhead whale are distribution and migration, 

general biology, management problems, and current research. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; DISTRIBUTION-present; POPULATION-abundance, mortality, whaling, struck and lost; REGULATION 

& CONSERVATION-management, regulation; REPRODUCTION-fecundity, gestation, mating, parturition; WHALING-western 

Arctic, native, catch. 
90 

BROOKS, JAMES W., JAMES C. BARTONEK, DAVID R. KLEIN, DAVID L. SPENCER, 

and AVERILL S. THAYER. 

1971. Environmental influences of oil and gas development in the Arctic Slope and 

Beaufort Sea. U.S. Dep. Int., Fish Wildl. Serv., Bur. Sports Fish. Wildl., Resource 

Pub. 96, 24 p. 

The Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife and the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, charged with 

assembling all available information and with conducting field studies to keep apace of rapid 

developments and their ecological implications, present results of their initial studies in this report on 

the Arctic Slope and Beaufort Sea. “Bowhead whales, belugas, and harbor seals are present during 

the summer and fall, but migrate to the Bering Sea in winter.” Productivity rises sharply during the 

summer when ice-free areas develop and light intensities rise. Thus, suckling bowhead whale 

calves are able to double their length while their mothers feed on zooplankton during a single 

summer in the Beaufort Sea. (p. 18-19). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION–Beaufort Sea; GROWTH–summer period; NUTRITION–feeding ground, zooplankton. 

BROWER, CHARLES DAVID [DeWITT] 

1863-1899 [1937]. The northernmost American: an autobiography. Vol. 1, Part 1:1-201; 

Vol. 1 Part 2:202-435, Vol. 1, Part 3:436-542; Vol. 2, Part 1:543-696; Vol. 2, Part. 

2:697-895; Vol. 3, 70 p. (Unpublished) Available Baker Library, Dartmouth College, 

Hanover, N.H. Condensed and published as: Brower, C.D. 1942. Fifty years below 

zero. Dodd, Mead and Co., New York, N.Y., 310 p. 

This manuscript was typed by Brower at his home located at Cape Smythe (Barrow Post Office), 

Alaska, and installments were sent two or three times a year to V. Stefansson. Contains 

considerable information on whaling for bowhead whales in the Arctic, commercially and by Eskimos, 

by means of vessels and shore-based whaling sites, during the period 1885-1937. Author describes 

the commercially valuable bowhead, including a small one called. “inyouto” which many people 

thought to be a separate species; the behavior and timing of migrating whales; and data on the 

length of whales taken and/or the length of baleen obtained from those killed. Includes much 

information on the transition of Eskimo whaling culture and techniques from traditional ways to 

methods and equipment introduced by the commercial whalers. This is the most complete record 

available on the numbers of crews whaling annually during the period as shore-based whalers, 

commercial and native, at Barrow and on the numbers of whales captured or struck and lost by 

them. Also presents some information on bowhead whales taken by Siberian Eskimos during 1886. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; IDENTITY-nomenclature, Eskimo, inyouto; MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-mortality, 

whaling, struck/lost, killed/lost; REPRODUCTION-fetus; WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea, 

commercial, native, shore-stations, crews, catch, utilization. 
91 

BROWER, CHARLES D. 

1886-1937. Diary [of Charles D. Brower]. (Available Baker Library, Dartmouth College, 

Hanover, N.H.). (Unpublished) 

Brower’s diary contains much valuable if laconic information on the shore-based whaling for 

bowheads at Barrow, Alaska, during the period 1886-1931. Although some of this information is 

included in the author's manuscript “The northernmost American: an autobiography”, his “Diary” 

presents much information on whaling that either compliments or is in addition to data found in the 

former. Contains data on whaling seasons, whales caught during spring and autumn hunts, animal 

size designated as small or large, length or pounds of baleen collected is frequently noted, and 

names of successful crew leaders are given. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; MORPHOLOGY-measurements (small or large size), structure (baleen); POPULATION-mortality, 

whaling (struck/lost, killed/lost); WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea, commercial, native, shore-stations, 

catch, crews, utilization. 

BROWER, CHARLES D., in collaboration with PHILIP J. FARRELLY and LYMAN 

ANSON. 

1960. Fifty years below zero. A lifetime of adventure in the far north. Dodd, Mead & Co., 

New York, 310 p. (Originally published 1942.) 

Account of Brower's experiences as a whaler and trader, mainly at Barrow, Alaska, and vicinity, from 

1884 through 1940 [Brower died on February 11, 1945.]. Contains considerable information on 

commercial and native whaling for bowhead whales in the Arctic, including data on whaling methods, 

crews, numbers caught and whales struck but lost. Because Brower was famous for his intimate 

knowledge of the Arctic and its inhabitants, and because he never failed to give assistance when 

needed, visitors to the region made it a point to visit him and these occasions were duly noted by this 

most northerly American citizen. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; POPULATION-mortality, whaling; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea, commercial, 

native, shore stations, catch, crews, utilization. 

BROWER, RONALD. 

1979. Cultural uses of Alaska marine mammals. (An edited version of the transcript of 

Brower's presentation.). Proc. Alaska Sci. Conf. 29:71-73. 

Comments by a resident of Barrow, Alaska, on past and present status of marine mammals of the 

Arctic utilized by Eskimos for subsistence, and recent changes in the environment and wildlife status 

due to oil exploration and other new activities in the area. The bowhead whale supplies most of the 

Eskimos nutritional needs over the winter period, and new uses for baleen are being studied. 

Traditional whaling is growing due to an increasing native population and the numbers of crews, 

which averaged 26 every season during the 1930s up to the 1960s, has increased to about 48, of 

which approximately 30 are in Barrow. The only change in traditional whaling has been the use of 

1850s model whaling guns that were used by the New England whalers during the 1800s and the 

use of orange colored floats that are easier to use than the traditional seal floats. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, native, crews, gear, utilization. 
92 

BROWN, ROBERT. 

1868. Notes on the history and geographical relations of the Pinnipedia frequenting the 

Spitzbergen and Greenland Seas. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1868:405-440. 

Contents include physiological remarks on the habits and instincts of seals in general, notes on the 

species of Pinnipedia, and the commercial importance of the seal fisheries. In discussing the habits 

and food of walrus, the author states (p. 429-30) “...whenever it was killed near where a whale's 

carcass had been let adrift its stomach was invariably found crammed full of the krang or flesh of that 

cetacean.” 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

PREDATORS & COMPETITORS-scavenger. 

BROWN, S. G. 

1975. Twenty-sixth meeting of the International Whaling Commission, 1974. Polar Rec. 

17(109):402-403. 

A brief summary of activities during the IWC meet held June 24-28, 1974 in London. It was reported 

that 37 bowhead whales were taken by American Eskimos during 1973. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, native, catch. 

BROWN, VINSON. 

1976. Sea mammals and reptiles of the Pacific coast. Macmillan Pub. Co., Inc., New 

York, 265 p. 

Contains brief descriptions of sea mammals and reptiles using imaginary actions and events around 

a framework or skeleton of facts for some of the more interesting, important, or well-known species. 

The bowhead (a drawing on p. 225) is briefly described (p. 226-227) with information of a general 

type usually found in the popular literature. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR; DISTRIBUTION; IDENTITY. 

BRUEMMER, FRED. 

1971. Whalers of the North. Beaver 302(3):44-55. 

Brief historical review of commercial whaling for bowheads in the eastern and western Arctic. 

Contains general description of the bowhead whale, the value of its products, and catch data, 

including two whales taken in the eastern Arctic by Eskimos. One, a half-grown individual, was taken 

at Pangnirtung Fiord in 1946: the other, a large animal, was taken by a Jens Munk Island resident in 

1965. 

EASTERN ARCTIC, WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-history; IDENTITY-description; MORPHOLOGY-structure; NUTRITION-food; POPULATION-abundance; 

SKELETAL REMAINS; WHALING-eastern Arctic, western Arctic, commercial, native, catch, utilization, photographs. 
93 

BRUEMMER, FRED. 

1977. Life on a cold rock. Nat. Hist. 86(3):54-65. 

Popular account describing the living conditions and activities of Eskimos on Little Diomede Island in 

the Bering Strait. They have seven umiaks, four 30-foot long and three 18-foot long, and the author 

describes their construction and use (p. 63). The islanders mainly hunt walrus and seals. “Whales 

pass, but they are rarely pursued. By tradition and inclination Diomeders are primarily walrus 

hunters.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Strait, native, gear. 

BRUEMMER, FRED. 

1979. Monopoly games sea birds play. Nat. Hist. 88(3):69-75. 

Article on the sea birds about Prince Leopold Island in Barrow Strait, west of Lancaster Sound. In 

late July 1819, William Edward Parry, commanding H.M.S.’s Hecla and Griper, sailed into the area 

and was amazed by the wildlife wealth of the region. Among the wildlife, “white whales were 

swimming about the ships in great numbers, narwhal were very numerous, and on August 1 they 

saw 82 bowhead whales.” 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-relationship other species; DISTRIBUTION-former; POPULATION-abundance. 

BRUEMMER, FRED. 

1980. ‘Herschel! The big town.’ Beaver 311(3):26-35. 

Article describes the rise and fall of the bowhead whaling industry in the western Arctic from the 

discovery of “a great many black whales (bowheads)” by Beechey along the Alaskan coast to 

Herschel Island in the eastern Beaufort Sea. Author details significant events for Herschel Island 

from 1888 when Joseph Tuckfield traveled there from Barrow and discovered whales in the Beaufort 

Sea “thick as bees”; through 1908-1909 when not a single ship wintered at Herschel; and finally to 

today when only one family now lives there. Catch data for several whaling vessels are given. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

IDENTITY-description, nomenclature; MORPHOLOGY-structure; POPULATION-abundance; WHALING-western Arctic 

Beaufort Sea, commercial, catch, gear, utilization, photographs, drawings. 

BUICE, BETTY. 

1947. When the ice cake broke away. Alaska Sportsman 13(4):16-17, 46-47. 

Account by a U.S. Weather Bureau employee of bowhead whaling at Barrow, Alaska, during spring 

1945. Eighty-year-old Tokput’s crew shot the first whale of the season, a 30-foot long animal. It was 

lost, however, when the ice it had been pulled up on broke away and everyone was forced to run for 

safe ice. The janitor for the weather station had a crew and they caught two whales. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurement; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crews, catch, photographs. 
94 

BULLEN, FRANK T. 

1899. The cruise of the “Cachalot” round the world after sperm whales. D. Appleton & 

Co., N.Y. 379 p. (Other editions: Smith, Elder & Co., London, 1901; 2nd ed., D. 

Appleton and Co., 1923; Paperback ed., Dover Publ. Inc., N.Y., 1962). 

Although primarily a popular account from a seaman’s viewpoint of a sailing cruise for sperm whales 

in the South Pacific, the book includes interesting observations about bowheads in the Okhotsk Sea 

(p. 191-205). Describes bowhead, spouting activities, whaling chase and behavior when harpooned, 

processing of oil and whalebone aboard ship, and behavior of a bowhead under attack by killer 

whales. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-respiratory, relations with other species, diving; PREDATORS & COMPETITORS-killer whale; WHALING-western 

Arctic, Okhotsk Sea, gear, catch, utilization. 

BULLEN, FRANK T. 

1904. Denizens of the deep. Fleming H. Revell Co., N.Y., 430 p. 

Popular style book describing knowledge about various fish, mammals, and birds, including the 

author's observations' while aboard whaling ships. Chapter on bowhead (p. 39-56) presents general 

information about food and feeding behavior; parasites; personal observations of predation by killer 

whales (Orca), swordfish (Xiphias), and thresher shark (Alopecias vulges); and behavior in removing 

parasites and in ice-breaking. 

BEHAVIOR-ice-breaking, general; NUTRITION-food, feeding behavior; PATHOLOGY-parasites; PREDATORS & 

COMPETITORS-killer whale, swordfish, thresher shark. 

BUNNELL, CHARLES. 

1958. Charles Bunnell collection of Bernardi. Album, accession number 58-1026, Alaska 

and Polar Regions Dep., Elmer E. Rasmuson Libr., Univ. Alaska, Fairbanks. 

Album titled “story of a whale hunt” contains pen sketches by Mrs. S. R. Bernardi and photographs 

with captions describing bowhead whaling by Eskimos at Wales, Alaska. No background information 

accompanied the album when C. Bunnell donated it to the library in 1958, but it apparently was 

prepared by S. R. Bernardi, who was a U.S. Government school teacher at Cape Prince of Wales at 

about 1902. (Also see Lusk collection of Bernardi, accession number 59-875, Univ. Alaska, and S. R. 

Bernardi, Alaska 47(8):22-25 for additional information). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-history, native, gear, catch, photographs and drawings. 
95 

BURCH, ERNEST S., JR. 

1966. Authority, aid, and affection: the structure of Eskimo kin relationships. Ph.D. 

thesis, Univ. Chicago, Chicago, Ill., 336 p. [Copy avail. at Naval Arctic Research 

Laboratory, Barrow, AK.] 

Describes relationships of the “Kiwaliinarmiut” (“Kivalina People”) among themselves and with other 

Eskimos in that region of Alaska. “The village of Kivalina was established when a school was built at 

its present location in 1905. Kivalina is not a whaling village, most of the whale migration passing 

too far out at sea to permit hunting from the village. Consequently, anyone from Kivalina who wishes 

to hunt whales usually goes to Point Hope for the purpose. In the spring they moved to the coast, 

where they hunted seals, and sometimes set up a whaling station at the so-called ‘Cape Seppings’, 

some distance northwest along the coast from the site of the modern village, continuing this until the 

sea ice departed in late June. By the winter of 1897-98, however, there were thirteen whaling 

stations strung out along the coast between Point Hope and Cape Seppings (Van Stone, 1962:23), 

some of them being well within the Kivalina area, and these stations were owned and run by white 

men.” (p. 34-38). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration, timing; WHALING–Chukchi Sea, commercial, native, shore stations. 

BURCH, ERNEST S., JR. 

1980. Traditional Eskimo societies in Northwest Alaska. In Y. Kotani and W. B. Workman 

(editors), Alaska native culture and history, Senri Ethnol. Studies No.4, p. 253-304. 

Natl. Mus. Ethnol., Suita, Osaka, Japan. 

A reconstruction of the general 19th century social and demographic structures of the Inupik-Eskimospeaking population of Northwest Alaska. Based upon personal interviews with 74 individuals 

between 1960 and 1976, supplemented by information extracted from literary and archival sources. 

This material was analyzed separately for three different time periods, 1816-1842, 1848-1854, and 

1880-1889, and the author replaces the Nunamiut/Tariurmiut dichotomy with societies. The yearly 

subsistence cycle, including whaling where applicable, is noted for all societies of Northwest Alaska. 

This paper is significant because the ethnographic record presented contains important data for a 

reconstruction of bowhead whaling effort by the Inupiat during the time period of this study. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-historical, western Arctic, native. 

BURCH, ERNEST S., JR. 

1981. The traditional Eskimo hunters of Point Hope, Alaska: 1800-1875. North Slope 

Borough [Barrow, Alaska]. 89 p. 

Author reconstructs the annual subsistence cycle of Point Hope area hunters based upon personal 

research, oral sources and the literature. Includes general information on bowhead whaling “...by 

eight-man crews, of which there may have been as many as 20 as late as mid-century.” In addition 

to a spring season, whaling was also conducted in the fall, mostly north of the Point, but the hunt 

was apparently abandoned, at least as a regular enterprise, by about 1860 due to reduction of the 

whale population by the American whaling fleet after discovery of the whales north of Bering Strait in 

1848 (p. 23-24). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration, timing, patterns; WHALING–Chukchi Sea, commercial, native, crews, photographs, utilization. 
96 

BURDICK, LORAINE. 

1956. He jumps in the skin. Alaska Sportsman 22(2):26-27, 38-40. 

Brief, general description of spring bowhead whaling activity at Barrow, Alaska, including the 

celebration called Nalakatuk after the season ends. There can be no Nalakatuk unless at least one 

whale is caught. Illustrated with eleven photographs, two of a dead bowhead. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, native, gear, catch, photographs, utilization. 

BURGESS, STEPHEN. 

1972. Marine mammal phenology in western St. Lawrence Island waters. (Abstr.) Proc. 

Alaska Sci. Conf. 23:49. 

Author's observations made while on St. Lawrence Island during 1970-1972 indicates that bowhead 

whales, Balaena mysticetus, accompanied by beluga whales, Delphinapterus leucas, are present in 

these waters as they travel south in the month of December and again north during April and May. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration, other species. 

BURGESS, STEPHEN M. 

1974. The St. Lawrence islanders of Northwest Cape: Patterns of resource utilization. 

Ph.D. Thesis, Univ. Alaska, Fairbanks, 289 p. (Unpublished.) 

“For the spring hunt of 1972 boats [from Gambell] were on the water for 9 days between April 11 and 

May 1, when the single whale for the season was taken west of the Cape. The number of boats 

hunting varied from 3 to 12 (all 16 boats were out only on one day) (p. 115) for a total of 70 boat trips 

for the hunt which averaged 9 hours for each of the days out. Crews varied from about 5 to 7 men. 

From one boat about 30 whales were sighted and from all boats 3 whales were struck before a male 

was killed. The whale measured 17 feet 5 inches (about 5.2 m) across the fluke and appeared about 

45 feet (13.5 m) long. This whale was divided equally with the community of Savoonga which had 

divided the whale taken at the SW Cape several weeks earlier with Gambell. That whale was 

estimated at 35 feet in length.” (p.155-156). No whales were taken at Gambell in 1970 (p. 218). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-sightings; MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-mortality, struck and lost; WHALING-western 

Arctic, Bering Sea, native, crews, gear, catch, utilization. 

BURKHER, PAULINE CHASTAIN. 

1944. From the whale's mouth. Alaska Sportsman 10(2):14-15, 24. 

Describes baleen baskets made from whalebone, or baleen, obtained from bowhead whales. There 

are 300 or more of these baleen plates in two rows in the whale's mouth in graduated lengths of one 

to 12 feet. The basket makers choose the five or six foot strips of baleen as the most suitable for 

baskets. After completion the baskets are sterilized in a formaldehyde solution. The average annual 

catch of bowheads at Barrow is three or four whales When an ankahvik (bowhead) is sighted by the 

whalers, they may strike him with from one to a dozen bombs-which cost as much as ten dollars 

each. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

IDENTITY-nomenclature; MORPHOLOGY-structure; WHALING-western Arctic, native, catch, gear, utilization. 
97 

BURNS, JOHN J. 

1981. Overview of marine mammals in the Beaufort Sea. (Abstr.) In Acoustical Society of 

America. 1981. San Diego workshop on the interaction between man-made noise 

and vibration and Arctic marine wildlife, February 25-29, 1980, p. 58. Unpub. rep. by 

Acoust. Soc. Am., [Washington D.C.], for Alaska Eskimo Whaling Comm., Barrow, 

AK 99723. 

Marine mammals utilizing the Beaufort Sea are categorized as year-around residents (ringed and 

bearded seals, polar bears); regular summer occupants (above species plus bowhead, beluga, killer, 

and gray whales, harbor porpoises, walruses and ribbon and spotted seals); and infrequent residents 

(Steller sea lion, narwhal, hooded and harp seals, and species presumed to occasionally occur in the 

western Beaufort Sea include humpback, fin, sei, minke and sperm whales.) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-relations with other species; DISTRIBUTION-Beaufort Sea. 

BURNS, JOHN J., and JAMES E. MORROW. 

1973. The Alaskan Arctic marine mammals and fisheries. Fifth Int. Congr. Arctic oil and 

gas: problems and possibilities, Le Harve, May 2-5, 1973, 22 p. 

Concerned with the problems and possibilities of oil and gas development on fishes and mammals in 

the Chukchi Sea and nearshore areas off the coast of Alaska. “Beluga and bowhead whales both 

occur in association with pack ice. Bowhead whales, as indicated by Tomilin (1957) are strictly 

confined to the floating ice region. Both belugas and bowheads are seasonally migratory, occupying 

Bering Sea in winter, deeply penetrating the pack ice in spring, when it is unstable and disintegrating. 

During summer and early fall, bowhead whales occur along the edge of the polar pack ice. Beluga 

whales commonly frequent near shore areas except when they are excluded by landfast ice. Based 

on our experiences, bowheads occur most commonly away from shore, except during the spring 

(and to a lesser extent, fall) migrations when they follow extensive leads in the ice which pass close 

to prominent land-heads such as Point Hope and Point Barrow. 

Oil and gas development in the north would probably have little direct effect on bowhead whales. 

Belugas, on the other hand could be directly affected through disturbance in the bays, estuaries and 

river mouths which they frequent during the summer...” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration, interaction with beluga, ice; PATHOLOGY-pollution, oil & gas development. 

BURNS, J. J., L. H. SHAPIRO, and F. H. FAY. 

1977. The relationships of marine mammal distributions, densities, and activities to sea 

ice conditions. In Environmental assessment of the Alaska continental shelf, annual 

reports of principal investigators for the year ending March 1977, Vol. 1, Receptorsmammals, p. 503-554. U.S. Dep. Commer., Natl. Oceanic Atmos. Admin., Environ. 

Res. Lab., Boulder, Colo. 

Presents tentative conclusions on study of ice dynamics and its relationship to habitats of marine 

mammals in the Bering and Chukchi Seas. During the winter-spring season several marine 

mammals, including some bowhead whales, evidently winter in the southern edge of the Bering Sea 

ice in a zone described as the “front” (p. 530). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–winter range; DISTRIBUTION–factors affecting, ice coverage. 
98 

BURNS, JOHN. J., LEWIS H. SHAPIRO, and FRANCIS. H. FAY. 

1981. Ice as marine mammal habitat in the Bering Sea. In Donald W. Hood and John A. 

Calder (eds.). The eastern Bering Sea shelf: oceanography and resources, Vol. 2, 

p. 781-797. Univ. Wash. Press, Seattle. 

Summarizes annually recurring features of the ice sheet in the Bering Sea and different ice habitats 

used by eight species of marine mammals, including the bowhead whale, Balaena mysticetus . 

Benefits of ice to bowheads are not clear, and other topics discussed include winter habitat, 

adaptations to ice, ice breaking, winter feeding, spring and autumn migrations, reproduction, 

association with belugas, and occupation of open waters of the northern Chukchi and Beaufort Seas 

during summer and early autumn (p. 781, 788, 791-794). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–ice breaking, respiration, migration timing and pattern, relationship with belugas; DISTRIBUTION–factors 

affecting, habitat; MORPHOLOGY–head; NUTRITION–feeding; REPRODUCTION–mating, parturition; WHALING–Bering 

Sea, native, gear, photograph. 

BURNS, J. J., F. H. Fay, and L. SHAPIRO. 

1978. Marine mammal distribution in relation to ice conditions in the Bering, Chukchi, and 

Beaufort Seas. (Abstr.) Proc. Alaska Sci. Conf. 27:178. 

Studies are directed toward an understanding of (1) habitat requirements, (2) the dynamic processes 

operating to produce those habitats, and (3) the spatial and temporal distribution of critical habitats. 

The ice associated marine mammals of this vast region include the polar bear, walrus, ringed, 

bearded, ribbon, and spotted seals; and bowhead and belukha whales. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-ice, migration; DISTRIBUTION-factors affecting. 

BURNS, WALTER NOBLE. 

1919. A year with a whaler. Macmillan Co., New York, 250 p., 16 pls. (Copyright, 1913, 

by Outing Publ. Co., N.Y.). 

Popular narrative of the author’s adventures as a seaman on a whaling ship in the Bering and 

Chukchi Seas. Describes whaling and processing of whales aboard ship as well as the daily lives of 

whalers. Of bowheads, gives their physical features, behavior (feeding and after harpooning), 

description of baleen, food, breaching, and predation by killer whales. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-swimming, breaching; NUTRITION-food, feeding behavior; PREDATORS & COMPETITORS-killer whales; 

WHALING-history, western Arctic, Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, commercial, gear, utilization, photographs and drawings. 

BUTWIN, DAVID. 

1971. Top of the world. Saturday Rev., July 31, p. 35-36. 

Barrow, Alaska, as viewed by a tourist. “Village whalers claimed an even dozen kills, and the 

following day, June 22, most of Barrow would be down on the shore to celebrate the catch.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, utilization (baleen). 
99 

CALDWELL, MELBA C., and DAVID K. CALDWELL. 

1966. Epimeletic (care-giving) behavior in cetacea. In K. S. Norris (editor), Whales, 

dolphins and porpoises, p. 755-789. Univ. Calif. Press, Berkeley. 

A historical review of observations on epimeletic behavior in cetaceans including an annotated 

review by species. Care-giving incidents reported for Balaena mysticetus are given (p. 779-780). 

“The Eskimos at Point Barrow, Alaska, reported an instance of maternal behavior to a field 

representative of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Dale W. Rice, personal communication, 1962). 

In the fall of 1961 they killed a baby bowhead and attached a line to the flukes, preparatory to 

hauling it out onto the ice. At this point the mother appeared and pushed the infant away. The 

mother was struck with a dart gun, but both mother and dead young disappeared and were not seen 

again.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-maternal; POPULATION-calf, whaling mortality, killed and lost, struck and lost; WHALING-western Arctic, native, 

gear. 

CALL, SAMUEL. 

1897-1898. Call collection of photographs. U.S. Navy Arct. Res. Lab., Barrow, Alaska. 

“The collection of photographic negatives and lantern slides made by Dr. Samuel Call in 1897-1898 

on the Overland Relief Expedition to Point Barrow were sent to Dr. Ernest N. Patty at the University 

of Alaska on April 15 as a gift from Mr. and Mrs. Fred Booth. Through the courtesy of the latter, ARL 

[Arctic Res. Lab] now has an excellent set of prints of these valuable, historical photographs, all 

catalogued.” (ARL Monthly Prog. Rep. April, 1957, p. 5.) Photographs of bowhead whalers 

[Commercial and native], boats, ships, and shore whaling stations at Cape Prince of Wales and Point 

Barrow. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-history, western Arctic, commercial, native, gear, catch, photographs. 

CAMERON, AUSTIN W. 

1951. Greenland right whale recorded in Gaspe County, Quebec. Natl. Mus. Can. Bull. 

123:116-119. 

A fragmentary whale skull which subsequently proved to be that of Balaena mysticetus was 

unearthed at Ste. Anne des Monts, Gaspe County, Quebec, in May 1949. The following 

measurements were obtained: 

Greatest width of skull 268 cm 

Greatest width of articular surface of zygomatic process 79 

Diameter of foramen magnum (transverse) 12.1 

Diameter of foramen magnum (ant.-post.) 14.1 

Length of occipital condyle 27 

Width of occipital condyle 18 

“The above measurements along with a number of photographs were forwarded to Dr. Remington 

Kellogg, Curator of Mammals, United States National Museum, Washington, D.C., who identified the 

skull as that of Balaena mysticetus Linnaeus.” This discovery is significant because it extends the 

known range of this species in the Atlantic region some 1,200 miles to the south of its previously 

known range. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-former; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-museum, skull; MORPHOLOGY-measurements, skull, 

drawing, photographs. 
100 

CARIBOU NEWS. 

1977a. Point Hope takes first bowhead whale. Caribou News, Kotzebue, Alaska, May 9, 

1(1):2. 

“Captain Billy Weber of Point Hope and his crew landed the first bowhead whale of the season in the 

open water off Point Hope on Sunday, April 30. The whale was 29 feet long.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

CARIBOU NEWS. 

1977b. Swan’s crew captures whale. Caribou News, Kotzebue Alaska, May 24, 1(2):8. 

“Captain Clinton Swan’s crew captured Kivalina’s first whale in 5 years-a 33 foot bowhead-on 

Monday, May 9, at about 2:00 p.m. The whale was taken in a lead about 2-1/2 or 3 miles out and 

about 6 miles north of town. It was struck by Victor Swan.” “This is the first whale to offer itself to 

Kivalina hunters since 1972. Three other Kivalina crews are hoping to have similar luck. They are 

captained by Oran Knox, Daniel Norton, and Oscar Swan.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

CARIBOU NEWS. 

1977c. Luke Koonook takes 48-foot bowhead. Caribou News, Kotzebue, Alaska, June 8, 

1(3):2. 

“POINT HOPE, ALASKA: The oars pointed skyward last week in Point Hope from the umiak of 

Captain Luke Koonook, Sr. after his crew successfully landed a bowhead whale measuring 

forty-eight feet, five inches in the early evening of May 24th. His son Henry made the strike with his 

harpoon gun from the edge of the lead and the whale was towed up on the ice several hours later. 

The butchering began in the early morning hours and continued throughout the following days, with 

assistance coming from several other crews. This was the second whale taken this season, which 

has been plagued by poor wind conditions and the lack of open leads in the ice. The first whale for 

the Koonooks. Earlier in the month a bowhead whale measuring approximately thirty–six feet was 

successfully taken by Captain Billy Weber and his crew. A third strike was made on the evening of 

May 26th by Rex Allen Rock, son of Captain Elijah Rock, but the whale did not re-surface and has 

not been found up to this time. A south wind the following evening closed the lead and the crews 

broke camp and returned to the village to await improved weather conditions.” “The whaling feast for 

Point Hope this year is scheduled for June 10, 11 and 12.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurement; POPULATION-mortality, whaling, struck & lost; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, 

native, catch, crews. 

CARIBOU NEWS. 

1977d. Bowhead whale hunting studied. Caribou News, Kotzebue, Alaska, July 1, 1(5):1. 

The National Marine Fisheries Service held an informal meeting in Washington, D.C., two weeks ago 

to discuss the regulation of hunting bowhead whales by Alaskan Eskimos because of concern by 

various environmental groups about the survival of the bowheads. Attention focused on the Barrow 

hunters in attendance “because of the large number of whales caught in Barrow in recent years. 

During the 1977 season, Barrow hunters took 19 whales, while Wainwright, Saint Lawrence Island, 

and Point Hope hunters each took two, and Kivalina took one. The total take in 1977 was 26.” A 

hearing will probably be held in Kotzebue this summer for input from other local hunters. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION-conservation; WHALING-western Arctic, native, catch. 
101 

CARIBOU NEWS. 

1977e. International Whaling Commission’ s deletion of native exemption for bowhead 

whaling: excerpts from the DEIS. Caribou News, Kotzebue, Alaska, Sep. 13, 1(9):6-

7. 

A presentation of selected key items in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement [produced by the 

National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. 

Department of Commerce] concerning the banning by the IWC of bowhead whaling by Alaskan 

Eskimos. Contains data [reproduced] on the number of crews whaling at various villages during the 

spring from 1971-1976; numbers of whales struck and lost and killed and recovered at Point Hope 

for various years during the period 1915-1962; and the number of whales landed, struck and lost, 

and killed but lost in the Alaskan Eskimo fishery from 1973 through 1977. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling, struck & lost, killed & lost; WHALING-western Arctic, native, catch, crews. 

CARIBOU NEWS. 

1977f. Bowhead whale hearings. Caribou News, Kotzebue, Alaska, Oct. 5, 1(10):4–5. 

During hearings held in Kotzebue on September 15 and 16 by the U.S. Department of Commerce, 

National Marine Fisheries Service, concerning bowhead whaling by Alaskan Eskimos, the testimony 

by northwest Alaska Eskimos was unanimous in favor of Eskimo whaling and the culture on which it 

depends. “Meanwhile, the villagers of Kaktovik, on Barter Island, took the first whale of the fall 

hunting season, under the supervision of the newly formed Eskimo Whaling commission. The EWC 

was formed at a meeting of whaling captains from all whaling villages from Barter Island to St. 

Lawrence Island, gathered at Barrow on August 31. Using traditional subsistence techniques, the 

Kaktovik crew hauled a 44-foot bowhead ashore to provide winter subsistence.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; REGULATION & CONSERVATION-regulation; WHALING-Western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, 

native catch. 

CARIBOU NEWS. 

1977g. Cousteau supports whalers. Plans Arctic Study in Spring. Caribou News, Nov. 

19, 1(13):1. 

Jacques Cousteau met on October 28 with Barrow and St. Lawrence Island whalers to discuss plans 

for four Arctic expeditions and studies of the bowhead whale. Among those attending were whaling 

captains Roger Siluk and Abraham Kaningok of Gambell. “In discussions with the whaling captains, 

he learned that whale strikes at one point near St. Lawrence Island trigger flight reactions in whales 

as far as 30 miles away; and that there are complex color differences among bowheads which 

determine which ones the whalers will strike.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-reaction to strikes, communication (?); FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-field recognition, coloration; 

WHALING-Bering Sea, native, crews. 
102 

CARLSON, GERALD F. 

1966. Two on the rocks. David McKay Co., Inc., New York, 193 p. 

Author and wife were school teachers at the village of Ingaluk, Little Diomede Island, 1953–1954. 

Hunting for various species is discussed on p. 151-171, seals and walrus being the principal animals 

harvested. The Diomeders are not whalers by inclination and, although they go through a lot of 

preparation for the hunt, they haven’t taken a live whale in years (p. 158). Several years before the 

Carlson’s arrival an unsuccessful attempt was made to take a sleeping whale (bowhead?) with a 

shoulder gun. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, native, gear, catch. 

CARNAHAN, JOHN W. 

1979a. Cross Island: a link between the past and the future. Arct. Coastal Zone Manage. 

Newsl. 22:11–14. 

Cross Island is the central focus of a subsistence zone for Eskimo activities such as whaling, fishing, 

and bird hunting, the core of Inupiat culture. Testimony from Inupiat residents recorded in The 

Beaufort Sea Traditional Land Use Inventory, an oral history project by the North Slope Borough, 

documents the value and previous use of the area as a center for subsistence whaling. Contains 

data on whales killed, year taken, crews and crew members. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements (baleen); WHALING-western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, native, catch, crews, utilization. 

CARNAHAN, JOHN. 

1979b. Cross Island: Inupiat cultural continuum. North Slope Borough, Anchorage. 43 p. 

Documents use of Cross Island for generations by North Slope Eskimos for hunting, trapping and 

bowhead whaling. Oral reports record bowheads captured there in 1921 (1 whale, p. 31); 1922 (1 

whale, p. 26,32); 1927 (1 whale, p. 26-27); 1927 or 1928 (1 whale, baleen was 11 feet long, p. 27); 

and 1938 (1 whale, p. 28). It was also noted that Taaqpak, a famous whaler of the area, made a 

mark on his umiaq every time a whale was caught, and that he also added a tattoo mark on his 

cheek for each whale. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–Beaufort Sea, native, catch, crews, photographs, records. 

CARNAHAN, JOHN. 

1980a. Inupiats take their history into their own hands. Alaska J., 10(2):17-23. 

The North Slope Borough, Barrow, Alaska, undertakes program to identify and document elements 

of Inupiat culture and subsistence as an aid in preserving their traditional lifestyle. Contains four 

photographs of early-day whaling by Ernest Leffingwell and one by F. C. Dakin. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, native, historical, catch, crews, photographs, utilization. 
103 

CARNAHAN, JOHN W. 

1980b. Nominating maritime–subsistence sites to the National Register. Arct. Coastal 

Zone Manage. Newsl. No. 26:19-22. 

Describes problems associated with nominating islands in the Beaufort Sea with a history of 

continuous subsistence by the Inupiat of Alaska's North Slope. “Unlike the eastward migration in 

spring, during which the bowhead follow open leads in the pack ice, usually far from shore, the fall 

(westward) migration carries them much closer to land. Cross Island, the outermost of the barrier 

islands, has long been a favored fall whaling camp of the Inupiat. Here, Taaqpak, a locally renowned 

whaler, made his annual camp. He hunted whales with amazing success from before 1920 until the 

mid 1940s. (Traditional Land Use Inventory, NSB)” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration, movements, timing; WHALING-Beaufort Sea, native, catch, crew, utilization. 

CETACEAN TIMES. 

1975. The bowhead: part 1. Cetacean Times 1(6):59-63. 

Contains notes of remarks made by some participants at the National Whale Symposium held at 

Bloomington, Indiana. Includes brief discussions on Alaskan Eskimo whaling for bowheads 

conducted in an uncontrolled and wasteful manner; present status of the stock, including the 

question of whether there may be more than one subspecies; dispersion of the whales between 

Pacific and Atlantic arctic waters; and a brief general description of the whale itself. 

EASTERN ARCTIC, WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; IDENTITY-description; MORPHOLOGY-structure; POPULATION-abundance, recruitment, mortality, 

whaling (struck/lost); REGULATION & CONSERVATION-management, regulation; WHALING-eastern Arctic, western Arctic, 

native, catch, drawings. 

CETACEAN TIMES. 

1976. The bowhead: part 2. Cetacean Times 2(1):1-16. 

Second and final part of article which attempts to summarize and analyze the problems associated 

with an existing controversy over the status of the bowhead, Balaena mysticetus. Contains notes on 

subjects discussed by participants at the Marine Mammal Biology and Conservation Conference in 

Santa Cruz, California, held in December 1975. Includes a discussion of numerous elements of the 

subsistence hunt for bowheads by natives; the effect of the hunt on the population, such as numbers 

killed, struck and lost, estimates of abundance, recruitment, size and maturity of animals killed; 

effects of the environment on survival of bowheads; and legislation concerning the regulation and 

management of the stocks remaining today. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-factors effecting; GROWTH-rate (estimated); MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-abundance, 

recruitment, mortality, whaling (struck/lost); REGULATION & CONSERVATION- regulation; WHALING-western Arctic, native, 

catch. 

CHAMBERLAIN, F. M., and JOHN N. COBB. 

1912. Statistics of the fisheries of Alaska for 1911. Rep. U.S. Comm. Fish., 1911, p. 29-

65. (Doc. 766.) 

Detailed annual reports and statistics on the fisheries by district in Alaska. Although the number of 

bowheads taken is not given, the table on p. 36 shows 2,767 pounds of whalebone valued at $7,014 

as a product of the Arctic District. (This baleen most likely was obtained from bowhead whales by 

shore stations). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, shore-stations, catch. 
104 

CHAMBERLAIN, FRED M., and WARD T. BOWER. 

1913. Fishery industries. Rep. U.S. Comm. Fish., 1912, p. 18-73. (Doc. 780.) 

Detailed annual reports and statistics on the fisheries by district in Alaska. “Operations of the San 

Francisco fleet in northern waters during 1912 were not of an extensive or satisfactory nature. The 

steamer Belvedere (339 tons), which sailed north in the spring of 1911 and wintered in the Arctic, 

arrived November 1 with 900 barrels of oil and 32,800 pounds of whalebone, also a shipment of furs. 

The schooner Alice Stofen (17 tons) cleared on a whaling voyage May 16, but had not returned up to 

the end of the year. The power schooner Elvira (60 tons) arrived November 7 from a cruise in 

northern waters, during which 12 bowhead whales were captured that produced 17,544 pounds of 

bone. The Herman, Karluk, Jeanette, Beluga, Bowhead, Narwhal, and the Thrasher did not sail this 

year. (p. 69). Whalebone was produced in the shore-station whaling operations in western and Arctic 

Alaska to the extent of 11,317 pounds, valued at $18,012. This whalebone is from the right or 

bowhead whale and is much more valuable than the ordinary baleen of commerce. The price, 

however, has been low this year.” (p. 70-71). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, shore-stations, gear, catch. 

CHAMBERS, JOHN R. 

1970. Arctic bush mission. Superior Publ. Co., Seattle, Washington, 174 p. 

The experiences of a missionary bush pilot in Arctic Alaska, with his home base at Barrow, during 

1958 to 1965. In the spring of 1960, 18 crews caught 14 whales, the first landed there in six seasons 

(p. 96-99). Book contains 197 photographs, including whaling scenes during 1960; one shows 

Vincent Nageak by small whale he captured, and another is of a larger but unidentified whale, 

perhaps 50 feet long. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crews, gear, catch, utilization, photographs. 

CHANCE, NORMAN A. 

1966. The Eskimo of north Alaska. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., New York, 107 p. 

An ethnographic study of Eskimos living in Barrow, Kaktovik, and Wainwright, Alaska, during 1958, 

1961 and 1962. Social, cultural, and economic standards of the pre-contact, early post-contact, and 

recent times are described and changes resulting from contact with white people and products of the 

modern world are discussed. Commercial whaling for bowheads and the importance of this whale to 

whites and Eskimos is briefly reviewed. By 1867, whaling vessels were common along the north 

Alaska coast and rifles, ammunition, and other products were being traded for baleen and labor. 

Traditional whaling customs of the Eskimos are described, including changes brought about by the 

arrival of the commercial whalers. Whaling was such a profitable activity for a time that several 

Eskimos entered into business for themselves. “In 1908 the explorer Stefansson found a few 

Eskimos at Point Barrow maintaining as many as five or six boat crews and paying equal wages with 

whites.” (p. 14). After collapse of the baleen market in the early 1900's, Eskimos still relied on the 

whale for subsistence and prestige needs, but the costs for ammunition and other supplies 

effectively limited the number of boat crews hunting each spring, and the number of boats today is 

governed by one's ability to raise the $300-400 necessary to outfit a boat (p. 38). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, native, gear, crews, drawing, utilization. 
105 

CHAPELLE, HOWARD I. 

1964. Arctic skin boats. In Adney, Edwin Tappan and Howard I. Chapelle, The bark 

canoes and skin boats of North America, p. 174-211. Smithson. Inst., Bull. 230, 

Wash., D.C. 

Describes types and varieties of skin boats made by the Eskimos of Arctic North America. Includes 

photographs of umiaks (skin boats) at St. Lawrence Island, 1930; Cape Prince of Wales, 1936; and 

four on racks in front of the village on Little Diomede Island, July 30, 1936. Also included is a 

drawing (Fig. 171, p. 187) of an umiak of the model used by Eskimos in offshore whaling at Point 

Barrow and vicinity. All photographs by Henry B. Collins. 

EASTERN ARCTIC, WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–native, gear, photographs. 

CHEEVER, HENRY T. (Ed. by W. SCORESBY). 

1850. The whaleman’s adventures in the southern ocean: as gathered by the Rev. Henry 

T. Cheever, on the homeward cruise of the “Commodore Preble.” Sampson Low 

and David Bogue, London, 304 p. 

Narrative and notes by Rev. Cheever during a whaling voyage to the South Seas and Pacific Ocean 

and edited by Scoresby. Observations of bowhead whales included behavior when undisturbed, 

feeding and pursued; food and use of baleen as a filter: physical description including color of the 

skin; abundance, reproduction; predators; also some interesting remarks about the effects of whaling 

upon survival of the population (p. 47-100). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–Respiration, maternal; DISTRIBUTION–former, Chukchi Sea; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–age 

determination (baleen ridges); MORPHOLOGY–measurements, structures; NUTRITION–food and feeding; PREDATORS & 

COMPETITORS–killer whales, sword– fish and thrashers; REPRODUCTION–gestation, parturition, periodicity; WHALING–

Bering and Chukchi Seas, commercial, techniques, products. 

CHIPMAN, KENNETH G., and JOHN R. COX. 

1924. Geographical notes on the Arctic coast of Canada. Rep. Can. Arctic Exped. 

1913-18, vol. 11: Geology and Geography, Pt. B: 1B–57B, King's Printer, Ottawa. 

Traveling north from Nome in July 1913 in the vessels Alaska and Mary Sachs, they were forced to 

overwinter at Collinson Point, on the north coast of Alaska, owing to unusual ice conditions that 

summer. In 1914 their work was confined to the mainland coast from Darnley Bay on the west to 

Bathurst Inlet on the east in Coronation Gulf and includes Eskimo names for numerous locations, 

including Akuvillik (“Place where a whale carcass was found.”) (p. 38B) and Nuyugyuk: a small 

sandspit on the west side of Langton where there are a number of whale skulls [species not given in 

either case] (p. 42B). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION–carcass, skulls; POPULATION–mortality (unknown cause); SKELETON REMAINS–beachcast, skulls. 

CLARK, A. HOWARD. 

1887. The American whale-fishery, 1877–1886. Science (Supplement) 9(217):321–324. 

A brief discussion of the whaling industry and a report of the numbers of vessels involved in each 

and the products obtained for the period 1877 through 1886. During this time the value of whale oil 

averaged $0.45–0.50 per gallon, and whale–bone $2.41 per pound. About three–fourths of the 

whale–oil and nearly all the whalebone landed by American whaling vessels is taken by the North 

Pacific fleet, cruising north of Bering Strait and in the Okhotsk Sea. 

EASTERN ARCTIC, WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration; DISTRIBUTION–former; WHALING–eastern Arctic, western Arctic, commercial, catch, utilization. 
106 

COBB, JOHN N. 

1906. The commercial fisheries of Alaska in 1905. Rep. U.S. Comm. Fish., 1905, 46 p. 

(Doc. 603.) 

Detailed annual reports and statistics on the fisheries by district in Alaska. Contains a brief 

description of bowhead whaling by Alaskan Eskimos including some data on the historical catch. “In 

1891 they took from 10 to 15 whales, while in 1892-a very poor season, owing to the large quantities 

of ice on the eastern shore at the time the whales were passing north––about 15,000 pounds of 

whalebone were secured. In 1880 it is estimated that natives put up 5,000 gallons of whale oil, 

valued at $500. During the period from 1883 to 1889, both inclusive, the Alaska Commercial 

Company shipped 33 packages of whalebone from Alaska. The weight and value of the packages 

are not given. In 1882, 166 barrels and in 1889, 13 barrels of whale oil were shipped from Alaska by 

the same company. In 1905, 8,057 pounds of bone, valued at $51,197, were taken. All of the bone 

secured by the natives is sold to the whaling vessels, and it is very probable that large quantities so 

obtained in barter are reported at the home port as part of the catch of the vessel.” (p.36–38). A final 

entry in the table on p. 42 indicates that a whale’s head and skull (weight 1,850 pounds, value 

$1,500) was shipped from Arctic Alaska as a natural history specimen, but no further information is 

given. 

BEHAVIOR–migration; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–museum specimen; WHALING–western Arctic, commercial, 

native, catch. 

COBB, JOHN N., and HOWARD M. KUTCHIN. 

1907. The fisheries of Alaska in 1906. Rep. U.S. Comm. Fish., 1906, 70 p. (Doc. 618.) 

Detailed annual reports and statistics on the fisheries by district in Alaska. A table showing the 

products of the Alaska fisheries in 1906 indicates that 8,854 pounds of whalebone valued at $42,232 

($4.77 per pound) was obtained from the Arctic Alaska district in 1906. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, commercial, native, catch. 

COCKE, ALBERT K. 

1974. Dr. Samuel J. Call. Alaska J. 4(3):181–188. 

Biography of Dr. Call’s service and experiences in Alaska. During the winter of 1897–98, he was a 

member of the overland expedition for the relief of whalers in the Arctic Ocean led by Lieut. David H. 

Jarvis of the U.S. Revenue Marine Service. Dr. Call was an accomplished photographer and during 

his travels he took a great many pictures of Eskimos, whaling vessels and their crews, shipmates, 

and scenes in native villages. Some of his photographs are in the University of Alaska Archives and 

others are in the Alaska Historical Library. Several of his prints showing bowhead whaling scenes 

(commercial and native) are in the library of the Naval Arctic Research Laboratory (see Samuel Call, 

1897–1898). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, commercial, native, photographs. 
107 

COLLINS, HENRY B., JR. 

1933. Archeological investigations at Point Barrow Alaska. In Explorations and field work 

of the Smithsonian Institution in 1932, p. 45–48. Smithson. Inst. Publ. 3213. 

Brief review of Mr. J. A. Ford’s excavations at sites of Birnirk age around Point Barrow in 1932. 

Contains three photographs of bowhead taken at Point Barrow in the fall of 1931 (see J. A. Ford, 

1959): “Fig. 46.–Eskimos cutting up bowhead whale killed at Point Barrow; Fig. 47.–James A. Ford 

hauling whale skull from Point Barrow to Barrow; Fig. 48.–Hauling whale jaw to Barrow with sled and 

dog team.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY; WHALING–western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, native, catch, photographs. 

COLLINS, HENRY B., JR. 

1937a. Archeological excavations at Bering Strait. In Explorations and field-work of the 

Smithsonian Institution in 1936, p. 63–68. Smithson. Inst. Publ. 3407. 

Description of excavations at Kurigitavik, at Cape Prince of Wales, the only Thule site thus far known 

in Alaska. On p. 67 is a photograph of a dead whale which beached near Wales and is captioned as 

follows: “Fig. 61.–A dead whale which has drifted ashore near Wales provides meat for the entire 

village. The Eskimos are particularly fond of the black outer skin, or “muktuk.” [Author’s reference to 

“black outer skin, or muktuk” strongly suggests that this small whale was a bowhead.] 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY; POPULATION–mortality, stranding, photograph. 

COLLINS, HENRY B., JR. 

1937b. Archeology of St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. Smithson. Misc. Collect. 96(1), 431 p. 

Smithson. Publ. 3411. 

Detailed description of excavations and findings made under auspices of the Smithsonian Institution 

in 1930 and 1931, and discussion of relationship of Old Bering Sea culture to Punuk, Birnirk, Thule, 

Dorset, Kachemak Bay and modern Eskimo cultures. “The fact that 10 whaling harpoon heads were 

found at Seklowaghyaget and the old section of Gambell, the two sites where the least amount of 

excavating was done, whereas only two heads and three fragments were found at Miyowagh and 

Levoghiyoq, shows conclusively that it is only in relatively recent times that whaling has become an 

important occupation with the St. Lawrence Eskimos. The few specimens from Miyowagh and 

Levoghiyoq (four of them bearing Punuk decoration and one plain) show that whaling had begun to 

be practiced to a slight extent in Punuk times; on the other hand, the absence not only of whaling 

harpoon heads, but also of whale bones, at the Hillside site, would seem to indicate that the Old 

Bering Sea Eskimos had not hunted the whale at all. The baleen at the Hillside site might have been 

obtained from animals that had drifted ashore after having been killed by killer whales.” (p. 217) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY; PREDATORS & COMPETITORS–killer whales; WHALING– history, western Arctic, native, gear. 
108 

COLLINS, HENRY B., JR. 

1939. Exploring frozen fragments of American history. On the trail of early Eskimo 

colonists who made a 55–mile crossing from the Old World to the New. Natl. Geogr. 

75(5):633–656. 

Popular account of an archaeological expedition to Cape Prince of Wales in 1936. One morning a 

young bowhead whale was found about 12 miles down the coast. Five umiaks towed the whale to 

the village where it was cut up completely and the meat distributed to the residents. “In years past 

the Wales Eskimos were famous whalers. But in 1915 most of the expert whalers died in an 

influenza epidemic and whaling disappeared at Wales.” (p. 651). (Also see H. B. Collins, 1937, fig. 

61.) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY–whalebones, baleen; POPULATION–mortality, stranding (utilized by natives). 

COLLINS, HENRY B., JR. 

1951. Old Bering Sea and Punuk Cultures. In V. Stefansson (editor), Encyclopedia 

Arctica, Vol. 8, Pap. 36, 16 p. (Available at the Stefansson Collection, Baker 

Library, Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H. Copy at Naval Arctic Research 

Laboratory, Barrow, Alaska). (Unpublished) 

One of five articles prepared for V. Stefansson's Encyclopedia Arctica which was never published. 

“Like their present–day descendants, the Old Bering Sea Eskimos were a strictly maritime people, 

depending entirely on the resources of the sea for their livelihood. Although the bones and baleen of 

bowhead whales were used in many ways and the meat and blubber probably eaten, these animals 

do not seem to have been actively hunted by the Old Bering Sea People, for only one whaling 

harpoon head has been found in contrast to the many that turn up at all Punuk and later sites. The 

earlier Eskimos may have obtained their whales by salvaging those that drifted ashore dead, the 

victims of killer whales (p. 5).” Whale bones were utilized by the Eskimos to make their houses, picks 

and mattocks: baleen was used for such items as pails and for toboggans to haul meat and blubber. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY; PREDATORS & COMPETITORS–killer whales; WHALING–western Arctic, Bering Sea, native, gear, 

utilization. 

COOK, JOHN A. 

1926. Pursuing the whale. A quarter–century of whaling in the Arctic. Houghton Mifflin 

Co., Boston, 344 p. 

Narrative of whaling voyages to the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas for bowhead whales during 

the years 1890–1906. Cook owned and commanded the vessel Bowhead from 1897 to 1906. It 

made one more trip to the Arctic in 1907 under Captain James A. Tilton before Cook sold it in 

January 1908 because substitutes were rapidly replacing baleen in the market and because of his 

wife's ill health. Contains considerable information on bowhead whaling and how baleen and oil were 

handled aboard ship. Describes catches made, difficulties endured by overwintering whalers at 

Herschel Island, and value of Eskimo assistants. Contacts and relations with Siberian and American 

Eskimos are described, including some information on native shore–based whaling methods, 

equipment, and catches. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–swimming, migration; DISTRIBUTION–history, former; POPULATION–abundance and density, mortality, 

struck/lost; REPRODUCTION–calves; WHALING–western Arctic, gear, catch, commercial, native, photographs, utilization. 
109 

COOK, JOHN A., and SAMSON S. PEDERSON. 

1937. “Thar she blows.” Experiences of many voyages chasing whales in the Arctic. 

Chapman and Grimes, Boston. 314 p. 

Presents essentially the same information as published earlier (1926) by John A. Cook in “Pursuing 

the whale. A quarter–century of whaling in the Arctic.” Some additional descriptive information and 

photographs complement details provided in the earlier book. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–swimming, migration; DISTRIBUTION–history; POPULATION–abundance and density, mortality, struck and lost; 

REPRODUCTION–calves; WHALING–western Arctic, native, commercial, gear, catch, photographs, utilization. 

COTLOW, LEWIS. 

1971. The twilight of the primitive. MacMillan Co., New York, 257 p. 

Describes the acculturation of primitive peoples in Africa, South America, the Arctic, in Australia and 

Oceania, and questions some of the accepted “solutions” that are intended to save the remaining 

traditional societies from extinction. Information of interest on Alaskan Eskimos and bowhead 

whaling (p. 75–105) includes the capture of four whales at Barrow during the period the author was 

there, and a report by resident Pete Sovalik that they had taken nine whales in all the previous year 

(p. 97.). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

COUSTEAU, JACQUES–YVES. 

1981. The ocean. Natl. Geogr. 160(6):780–791. 

Briefly discusses how the sea can help mankind survive. Includes a photograph (p. 786–787) of 

polar bears feeding on a dead bowhead whale [no location or date given]. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

PREDATORS & COMPETITORS–scavenging (polar bears); POPULATION–mortality (cause unknown). 

COWLEY, SUSAN. 

1974. Whaling and whalers. A living remembrance. Americana, 1(6):16–19. 

Describes the private collection of Barbara Johnson, New Jersey, which is the largest whaling 

collection in the United States and includes 11,000 books, whaling gear, paintings, log books, letters, 

manuscripts, ship models, whalebone artifacts, and scrimshaw. “The collection includes a 200,000 

card file, with information on almost every known whale ship and sailor, and a 15,000 picture file of 

existing scrimshaw pieces.” 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

WHALING–commercial, gear, records, log books, manuscripts, letters, photographs, paintings. 
110 

CRAD, JOSEPH. (pseudonym used by Edward Clarence Trelawney–Ansell) . 

1939. Trailing through Siberia. The Travel Book Club, London, 270 p. 

Author describes his experiences in Alaska, including a trip to Siberia along the coast of the Chukchi 

Sea. While he was visiting a village located about 20 miles east of Cape Jakan, the Eskimos landed 

a medium sized whale while hunting on the ice during the late spring/early summer of 1900. When 

leads open in all directions in the weakening ice, the great whales, usually bowheads, come 

swimming and feeding along these channels. A description of “floor” whaling by the natives follows. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–swimming, feeding; DISTRIBUTION– Chukchi Sea, coast of Siberia; WHALING–history, western Arctic, gear, 

natives, catch. 

CRANTZ, DAVID. 

1767. The history of Greenland: containing a description of the country, and its 

inhabitants: and particularly, a relation of the mission, carried on for above these 

thirty years by the Unitas Fratrum, at New Herrnhuth and Lichtenfels, in that 

country. Printed for the Brethren's Society for the Furtherance of the Gospel among 

the Heathen, and sold by J. Dodsley...(etc.), London. In 2 vols.: 405 p., 498 p. 

Translated from the High–Dutch. 

Book II contains descriptions of fishes and mammals (chapters 2–4). Chapter 2 mentions food of the 

Greenland whale. Chapter 3 includes a description, based on writing of other observers, of the 

Greenland whale, its size, respiratory behavior, baleen, mouth, feeding and feeding areas, and 

extent and catches of the whaling fleet. In addition, the whaling procedures, gear, reaction of the 

whales to pursuit and harpooning, processing the captured whale, and whaling by natives is 

described. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–swimming, respiratory; MORPHOLOGY–measurements, structure; NUTRITION–food, feeding behavior; 

WHALING–history, eastern Arctic, gear, natives, catch. 

CUMMINGS, WILLIAM C. 

1981. Bioacoustic considerations. (Abstr.) In Acoustical Society of America. 1981. San 

Diego workshop on the interaction between man–made noise and vibration and 

Arctic marine wildlife, February 25–29, 1980, p. 63. Unpub. rep. by Acoust. Soc. 

Am., [Washington, D.C.], for Alaska Eskimo Whaling Comm., Barrow, AK 99723. 

Discusses considerations regarding bioacoustics of marine wildlife of the Arctic. A description is 

given of the known physical features of sounds from bowhead, gray, and beluga whales, ringed and 

bearded seals, and the walrus. 

EASTERN ARCTIC and WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–vocalization; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES– acoustics. 
111 

CUMMINGS, WILLIAM C., WILLIAM T. ELLISON, and D. V. HOLLIDAY. 

1981. Near shore ambient noise off the North Slope of Alaska. (Abstr.) J. Acoust. Soc. 

Am., Suppl. 1, 70 (Fall): S84–S85. (abstr. MM11.) 

Ambient noise measurements (10 Hz to 10 KHz) were made at a number of locations off the North 

Slope of Alaska in 1980. "Measurements were made to establish baseline ambient noise levels in 

areas typical of the spring habitats of the bearded and ringed seals as well as the spring and fall 

migration paths of the bowhead and beluga whales.” (From author’s abstract.) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration, vocalization; DISTRIBUTION–Chukchi and Beaufort Seas; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–

acoustics. 

CUMMINGS, WILLIAM C., D. VAN HOLLIDAY, and WILLIAM T. ELLISON. 

1981. Measurements of man–made underwater noise off North Slope, Alaska. (Abstr.) J. 

Acoust. Soc. Am., Supple 1, 70 (Fall): S82–S83. (abstr. MM1.) 

Recordings were made in winter, spring, and fall of man–made underwater noise to provide an 

acoustical base for studies of its effect on marine life [including bowhead whales] in the region. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–acoustics. 

DAHLHEIM, MARILYN. 

1981. Comments on bowhead acoustics. (Abstr.) In Acoustical Society of America. 1981. 

San Diego workshop on the interaction between man–made noise and vibration and 

Arctic marine wildlife, February 25–29, 1980, p. 64. Unpub. rep. by Acoust. Soc. 

Am. [Washington, D.C.], for Alaska Eskimo Whaling Comm., Barrow, AK 99723. 

The National Marine Mammal Laboratory, Seattle, Washington, conducted studies on the sounds 

produced by the bowhead whale, Balaena mysticetus. Data during 1978 and 1979 also included 

behavior of this whale in the presence of research vehicles during aerial and vessel surveys. (From 

author's abstract.) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–vocalization, reactions to vessels and aircraft; DISTRIBUTION–early spring, Bering Sea; FIELD & 

LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–census, acoustics. 

DAILEY, MURRAY D., and ROBERT L. BROWNELL, JR. 

1972. A checklist of marine mammal parasites. In S. H. Ridgway (editor), Mammals of the 

sea, biology and medicine, p. 528–589. Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Ill. 

A comprehensive checklist with references of reported parasites from marine mammals throughout 

the world. The following have been reported found in the Greenland right or bowhead whale: 

Trematoda, Lecithodesmus goliath and Ogmogaster pilcatus; Cestoda, Phyllobothrium delphini; 

Acanthocephala, Bolbosoma balaenae; and Nematoda, Crassicauda crassicauda. [p. 557] 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

PATHOLOGY–parasites. 
112 

DAVIDSON, ART. 

No date. Eskimo hunting of bowhead whales. Rural Alaska Community Action Program, 

Anchorage, Alaska, in cooperation with Community Enterprise Development 

Corporation and the John Muir Institute for Environmental Studies, 37 p. 

A review of existing information on the relation of Eskimos and bowhead whales in the 1970’s that 

seeks to answer four important questions: 1) What is the regulatory status of bowhead whales, 2) 

what is the extent of native use of bowhead whales, 3) what impact does Eskimo whaling have upon 

the present population of bowhead whales, and 4) what options are there for preserving bowhead 

whales and traditional Eskimo hunting of these whales? Contains information on whaling stating that 

Eskimos from seven whaling villages annually take between 15 and 25 bowheads. It is likely that the 

Russian Eskimos take about as many whales as Alaskan Eskimos. In Barrow in 1972 there were 27 

whaling crews of eight to ten men each. The number of boats [crews] today is governed by a 

potential crew’s ability to raise the $300 to $400 necessary to outfit a boat. On May 11, 1972, at the 

Senate Ocean Mammal hearing, Nome, Alaska, Martha Aiken stated that eleven whales have been 

killed to date at Barrow. Report includes comments by ten individuals and the Friends of the Earth 

who are recognized as having considerable professional knowledge of bowhead whales and Eskimo 

whaling. Report concludes with research needed to help in setting guidelines for continued native 

use of bowhead whales. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION–conservation; WHALING–western Arctic, native, catch, crews, utilization, photographs, 

drawing. 

DAVIS, C. H. (editor). 

1876. Narrative of the North Polar Expedition, U. S. Ship Polaris, Captain Charles Francis 

Hall commanding. U. S. Gov. Print. Off., Washington, D.C., 696 p. 

Narrative was prepared from papers and journals of an expedition under Capt. C. F. Hall in the 

eastern Arctic to Davis Strait and Baffin Bay areas. Notes that one of the purposes of the expedition 

was the probability of discovering new whaling grounds. Capt. Hall reported in a letter in 1871 that a 

bay off Barrow Strait at lat. 73°43'N, long. 83°W, abounded in Balaena mysticetus. “So abundant are 

the whales that the natives sometimes kill, in their rude way, as many as five large ones in a few 

days.” (p. 40). Capt. Hall was convinced the new bay would be as valuable to whalers as 

Cumberland Sound where the whale fishery had gradually diminished. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION–former; WHALING–eastern Arctic, natives, catch. 

DAVIS, NEIL. 

1978. Alaska Science Forum: What came before plastic? Bowhead Baleen! Tundra 

Times, Fairbanks, AK, July 12, 15(28):4. 

Briefly describes bowhead baleen and its use by the whale in capturing its food, including a drawing 

showing a cross section of the mouth and how baleen filters food from the water. The long, tough 

fibers forming the baleen plates were so strong that they were once used for many applications now 

taken over by fiberglass or plastics. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

NUTRITION–feeding; WHALING–western Arctic, commercial, utilization, baleen. 
113 

DAVIS, ROLPH A., KERWIN J. FINLEY, and W. JOHN RICHARDSON. 

1980. The present status and future management of Arctic marine mammals in Canada. 

Prepared for Science Advisory Board Northwest Territories, Yellowknife, N.W.T., by 

LGL Ltd., Environ. Res. Assoc., Toronto, Canada, 93 p. Avail. from Dep. Info., Gov. 

Northwest Territories, Yellowknife, N.W.T. X1A 2L9. 

Reviews the available information on marine mammals in the Canadian Arctic with respect to the 

future management of these species. The amount of information presented for each species 

correlates with what is known about each and is supported by important references. Contains 

sections on primary production processes, limits to secondary production, important food chains 

involving marine mammals, information required for management, species accounts for 10 species, 

concepts of sustainable yield, summary of gaps in management information, conclusions and 

recommendations, and literature cited. Contains a discussion of bowheads in the eastern and 

western Arctic, including food, feeding and food chains (p. 14, figs. 5, 7, 8), distribution, status and 

size of populations, population structure and dynamics, and harvest and utilization (p. 37–39.). 

WESTERN ARCTIC, EASTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration, diving; DISTRIBUTION–history; NUTRITION–food, feeding; POPULATION–abundance; 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION–regulation, management; REPRODUCTION–mating, parturition; WHALING–western 

Arctic, eastern Arctic, commercial, native, catch, utilization. 

DAVIS, WILLIAM M. 

1874. Nimrod of the sea; or, the American whaleman. Harper & Brothers, Pubs., New 

York. 403 p. (Republished in 1972 by the Christopher Publ. House, North Quincy, 

Mass., with addition of a foreword and an Appendix E, 405 p.). 

Combining personal experiences recorded in his well-detailed journal and the adventures of others 

the author presents a quarter century of whaling during the 17th century (p. 14, 17). The final two 

chapters (23 and 24) and Appendix A describe right and bowhead whales and hunting methods 

employed to take them. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–swimming; DISTRIBUTION–former; NUTRITION–food, feeding behavior; WHALING–western Arctic, commercial, 

gear, drawings. 

DeARMOND, ROBERT N. 

1937. War's end in Bering Sea. Alaska Sportsman 3(7):11, 36–38, 40–42. (Reprinted 

1981 in V. McKinney (compiler and editor), The Alaska Journal, a 1981 collection, p. 

80–83.) 

Account of the capture and destruction of Yankee whaling vessels by the Confederate ship 

Shenandoah in 1865. The Shenandoah cruised for 13 months and covered 58,000 miles. Although 

she neither took a life nor lost one, she captured 38 Yankee ships; 25 of them after the Civil War was 

over. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–history, western Arctic, commercial. 
114 

DECHASEAUX, COLETTE. 

1961. Cetacea. In Jean Piveteau, Traite de paleontologie, Tome 6, vol. 1:831–886. 

Masson et Cie, Paris. (In French.) Transl. by Sharon Masingale. 

A systematic review of cetacea. Figure 11 [p. 842] contains a drawing of the pelvis and posterior limb 

of Balaena mysticetus from Vialleton [1933]. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

IDENTITY–taxonomy; MORPHOLOGY–structure. 

DELYAMURE, S. L. 

1955. Gel'mintofauna morskikh mlekopitayushchikh v svete ikh ekologii i filogenii 

(Helminthofauna of marine mammals (ecology and phylogeny)). Izd. Akad. Nauk 

SSSR, Moscow, 517 p. (In Russian.) (Transl. by Israel Program. Sci. Transl., 1968, 

522 p., available U.S. Dep. Commer., Natl. Tech. Inf. Serv., Springfield, VA, as 

TT67–51202.). 

As a result of the research work of Soviet and other authors, 168 species of helminths that parasitize 

pinnipeds and cetaceans have been described. These comprise 42 trematode, 41 cestode, 65 

nematode, and 20 acanthocephalan species. Subjects covered include taxonomy, discovery, 

anatomy and morphometry, development, hosts and organs affected. Appendices contain tables on 

distribution of helminths according to hosts and lists those from seals and whales of Soviet waters. 

Parasites found in bowhead whales are Lecithodesmus qoliath (p. 29), Phyllobothrium dephini (p. 

194), Crassicauda crassicauda (p. 306), and Bolbosoma balaenae (p. 328). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

PATHOLOGY–parasites. 

DELYAMURE, S. L. 

1961. O neobkhodimosti vsestoronne i sistematicheski issledovat' parazitov 

promyslovykh morskikh mlekopitaiushchikh (The necessity for a thorough and 

systematic investigation of commercial sea mammal parasites). Tr. Soveshch. 

Ikhtiol. Kom. Akad. Nauk SSSR 12:39–55. (In Russian.) (Transl. by Joint Publ. Res. 

Serv., 1963, 18 p., available U.S. Dep. Commer., Natl. Tech. Inf. Serv., Springfield, 

VA, as OTS:63–21211.) 

Briefly reviews information on parasites from about 600 publications covering 174 known species of 

helminths. A table six pages long lists the parasite, host, localization (where found in host), and 

geographic location where found. Helminths found in bowheads include Lecitodesmus goliath (p. 

45), and Phyllobothrium delphini (p. 47). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

PATHOLOGY–parasites. 
115 

DeSMET, W. M. A. 

1977. The regions of the cetacean vertebral column. In R. J. Harrison (editor), Functional 

anatomy of marine mammals, Vol. 3, p. 59–80. Academic Press, London, New 

York, San Francisco. 

Table I (p. 63) presents data about the skeleton of a right whale, B. mysticetus, in the collection of 

the Institut Royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique. The seven cervical vertebrae of B. mysticetus

form a fused mass. The author also gives a formula for describing cervical vertebrae of three 

cetaceans, including B. mysticetus. 

GENERAL 

MORPHOLOGY–structure, skeleton. 

DEWHURST, HENRY WILLIAM. 

1834. The natural history of the Order Cetacea, and the oceanic inhabitants of the Arctic 

regions. Publ. by the author, London, 331 p. 

A compilation of knowledge on the natural history of marine inhabitants of the Arctic regions, based 

upon the author's own observations on a cruise to “...the Greenland and adjacent seas in the year 

1824, as principal surgeon of the ship Neptune of London...”, and upon a review of the significant 

literature up until that time. The species account for Balaena mysticetus (p. 15–41) and information 

on Arctic whaling and the whaling industry is mostly derived from the works of W. Scoresby. Also 

contains accounts of invertebrates, fish, and sea serpents. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR; DISTRIBUTION–eastern Arctic; GROWTH; IDENTITY– description, names; MORPHOLOGY–measurements; 

NUTRITION–food, feeding; PREDATION & COMPETITORS; REPRODUCTION; WHALING– eastern Arctic, commercial, 

catch, gear, drawings, utilization. 

DIVOKY, GEORGE JOSEPH. 

1972. The pelagic birds and mammals of the Chukchi Sea in fall. M.S. Thesis, Michigan 

State Univ., East Lansing, 97 p. (Unpublished.) 

Observations of pelagic birds and mammals were made in the eastern Chukchi Sea between 

September 22 and October 17, 1970 aboard the U.S. Coast Guard vessel Glacier. Single whales 

tentatively identified as bowheads (Balaena mysticetus) were observed on September 24 at 71°08'N, 

158°55'W and on October 1 at 70°34'N, 163°16'W. Both individuals were next to the pack ice. No 

gray whales (Eschrichtius gibbosus) were observed in the fall of 1970, but a group of five to eight 

killer whales (Orcinus orca) was observed in a lead in the ice at 70°05'N, 168°53'W on October 8. In 

1971, while aboard the Glacier en route from Long Beach, California, to Barrow, Alaska, the author 

observed a single gray whale in the Bering Strait on August 13 and a group of five on August 14 ten 

miles north of Cape Lisburne. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION–sightings, Balaena mysticetus, Eschrichtius gibbosus, Orcinus orca. 
116 

DOHL, THOMAS. 

1981. Bowhead whale survey needs and methods. (Abstr.) In Acoustical Society of 

America. 1981. San Diego workshop on the interaction between man–made noise 

and vibration and Arctic marine wildlife, February 25–29, 1980, p. 65–66. Unpub. 

rep. by Acoust. Soc. Am. [Washington, D.C.], for Alaska Eskimo Whaling Comm., 

Barrow, AK 99723. 

Author lists important biological and aircraft considerations that should be observed for making aerial 

surveys for bowhead whales in the Beaufort Sea. (From author's abstract.) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–census, aerial. 

DOUTHIT, JIM. 

1969. The whalers. Alaska Sportsman 35(4):14–15, 43–44. 

Brief popular description of bowhead whaling by Alaskan Eskimos, including the capture and landing 

of a whale, but location and date are not given. One photograph caption describing Eddie Hopson as 

a leader of a whaling crew suggests that this event occurred at Barrow. Author states muktuk has the 

flavor of jungle–ripened coconut tinged with the vaguest aroma of fish. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration, breathing, when shot; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, gear, catch, crews, 

photographs, utilization. 

DRAL, A. D. G. 

1977. On the retinal anatomy of Cetacea (mainly Tursiops truncatus). In R. J. Harrison 

(editor), Functional anatomy of marine mammals, Vol. 3, p. 81–134. Academic 

Press, London, New York, San Francisco. 

Reviews knowledge from literature about retinal anatomy of Cetacea. Reference is made several 

times to work of Ritter (1864). Ritter’s findings from histological studies of B. mysticetus are 

compared to research of others with other species. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

PHYSIOLOGY–receptors. 

DREWANCE, GEORGE. 

1941. The Bear went to the rescue. Alaska Sportsman 7(11):16–18, 20–24. 

Account of American whaling vessels caught in the western Arctic ice over the winter of 1897–98, 

and the rescue effort put in operation by the U.S. Revenue Cutter Bear commanded by Captain 

Francis Tuttle. An overland relief party led by Lieutenant Jarvis drove a herd of reindeer from the 

Seward Peninsula to Barrow to provide food for the stranded whalers. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–history, western Arctic, commercial, photographs. 
117 

DRIGGS, JOHN B. 

1908. Natives capture nearly 70 bears. (Letter to the Nome Daily Nugget.) The Nome 

Daily Nugget, Nome, Alaska, April 21, 8(95):1. 

In a communication to the Nome newspaper, J. B. Driggs stated “The annual whaling season will 

begin the latter part of April, when twenty-two whaling crews will move out on the ice to watch for 

bowheads. Most of the canoes are not well manned.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration, timing; WHALING–Chukchi Sea, native, crews. 

DUNBAR, M. J. 

1953. Arctic and subarctic marine ecology: immediate problems. Arctic 6(2):75–90. 

Plankton production and biology, benthonic and littoral fauna, and fishes and marine animals of the 

arctic present problems to the fisheries and Eskimos of the area. Diagram (p. 85) illustrates the 

biological cycle in the arctic and subarctic marine zones. The Greenland whale or bowhead was 

brought to the verge of extinction by European commercial whalers. “The Eskimo, by themselves 

and uninfluenced by Europeans, had struck a natural balance between themselves and their sea 

mammal resources. They were themselves part of an established ecological system. Since the 

almost complete extinction of the bowhead before the First World War, it has been given protection, 

and there are signs now that the population has been very slowly increasing...” 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

NUTRITION–food; POPULATION–abundance; REGULATION & CONSERVATION–management; WHALING–eastern Arctic, 

commercial, native. 

DURHAM, FLOYD E. 

1966a. The biology of the bowhead whale. Two–year progress report working copy for 

the Arctic Institute of North America. Rep. prepared for Arctic Inst. North Am., 

subcontract ONR–376, 57 p. (Available from Naval Arctic Res. Lab., Barrow, 

Alaska.). (Unpublished.) 

Discusses the anatomy of bowhead whales taken by Alaskan Eskimos for subsistence during 1961 

through 1966, and gray whales taken during that period by both Eskimo whalers and a commercial 

whaling station at Richmond, California, from 1964 to 1967. Subjects discussed were: parasites, 

disease and deformities, predation, mouth, throat grooves, stomach and contents, blowhole, larynx, 

eye, ear, skeleton, body regions, pelvic bones, reproductive systems, and the urinary bladder. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–museums, specimens; MORPHOLOGY–anatomy; NUTRITION–food and feeding; 

PATHOLOGY–disease; parasites; POPULATION–mortality, whaling, strandings; PREDATORS & COMPETITORS; 

REPRODUCTION–anatomy; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea, native, catch. 

DURHAM, FLOYD E. 

1966b. Body regions in the bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) in light of adaptive 

changes in the axial skeleton. Paper submitted to the Forty-sixth Ann. Meet. Am. 

Soc. Mammal., June 12-16, 1966, Calif. State College at Long Beach. 

Body regions, sharply defined in land mammals, are less distinct in marine mammals; author 

describes differences that exist between the two. (From author's abstract.) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY–skeleton. 
118 

DURHAM, FLOYD E. 

1969. A new approach to correlating the age of the bowhead whale with the structure of 

the baleen plates. (Abstr.) Western Society of Naturalists, Fiftieth Ann. Meet., 

Abstracts of symposium and contributed papers, p. 26 (Held in Los Angeles, 

California, Dec., 27-30, 1969.) Abstracts available from California State Polytechnic 

College, San Luis Obispo. 

Author describes measuring transverse sculpturing on the baleen plates of bowhead whales with a 

modified machinist’s micrometer to determine age. He reports that his “...speculation on age derived 

from baleen agrees with my size classes of immature whales and with my meager reproductive data 

derived from measuring the size of testes and counting scars on ovaries.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–age determination, baleen, device. 

DURHAM, FLOYD E. 

1972a. Greenland or bowhead whale. In Alice Seed (compiler), Baleen whales in eastern 

North Pacific and Arctic waters, p. 10–14. Pac. Search, Seattle, Wash. 

Describes the bowhead whale; its adaptations to the Arctic environment since Miocene geologic 

time; migration; food and feeding; reproduction; behavior; whaling and its products useful to Eskimos 

and industry, predators, and disease. Includes a discussion of the effects on bowheads of drift ice 

cycles in the Arctic. From 1600 to 1910 there were five known drift ice advances at about 60 year 

intervals with subcycles also interspersed within the major cycles. These drift ice cycles had a direct 

effect upon the capture of bowheads by Eskimos and commercial whalers. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

BEHAVIOR–reactions, migration, ice–breaking; DISTRIBUTION–circumpolar, factors affecting; IDENTITY–description; 

MORPHOLOGY–measurements, structure; NUTRITION–food and feeding; PATHOLOGY–parasites; POPULATION–

abundance; PREDATORS & COMPETITORS–killer whales, sharks; REPRODUCTION–parturition, periodicity; WHALING–

circumpolar, history, commercial, native, utilization. 

DURHAM, FLOYD E. 

1972b. History of bowhead whaling. In Alice Seed (compiler), Baleen whales in eastern 

North Pacific and Arctic waters, p. 5–9. Pac. Search, Seattle, Wash. 

History of whaling for bowheads by Eskimos and commercial interests is briefly reviewed. Fully 

mature whales, the target of all commercial whalers, yielded as much as 30 tons of oil and 10–12 

foot long baleen weighing about 2,000 pounds. When petroleum began to replace whale oil in the 

1860s, the lowered demand and price for whale oil only accelerated the whaler's search for baleen 

and the rest of the carcass was discarded. Thus about 10 tons of meat, or about 20% of the total 

weight of the whale, and some 20 tons of blubber, or about 40% of the total weight, were wasted by 

the commercial whalers to obtain about one ton of baleen which amounted to about 2% of the total 

weight of a large whale. Bowhead whaling ended soon after the discovery of plastics around 1908. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

WHALING–circumpolar, commercial, native, catch, utilization. 
119 

DURHAM, FLOYD E. 

1972c. Eskimo effort in bowhead whaling at Pt. Barrow, Alaska. Univ. Southern Calif., 

Los Angeles. (Available Arctic Inst. North Am., Univ. Calgary, 2500 Univ. Dr. N.W., 

Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 1N4, Rep. ONR–367, 19 p.). (Unpublished). 

A critique contrasting historical and present day whaling methods used by Eskimos at Point Barrow, 

Alaska, to take bowhead whales. Contains information on numbers of crews, equipment used, 

whales caught and their utilization, method for estimating the weight of whales and thus their value 

for subsistence, and the cost to a captain required in order to support a whaling crew for about 6 

weeks. Also discusses subsistence needs of the Eskimos and how the bowhead presently relates to 

this need. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crews, gear, catch, utilization. 

DURHAM, FLOYD E. 

1972d. Biology of the bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus L.) in the western Arctic. 

Unpubl. ms., 93 p. plus 15 tables and 69 figures. Avail. From Dep. Biology, 

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90007. 

Detailed account describing biology of the bowhead whale based upon data obtained from field 

research examining animals caught by Alaskan Eskimos, primarily at Barrow from 1961 to 1972, and 

information gleaned from the literature. The text is accompanied by numerous illustrations 

(unorganized) and tables containing a considerable amount of morphological information on a 

species about which little was known at the time. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–swimming, respiratory, hearing; DISTRIBUTION–former, present, circumpolar; FIELD & LABORATORY 

TECHNIQUES–age determination, field recognition, measurement, specimens, museums; GROWTH–length, weight; 

IDENTITY–races; MORPHOLOGY–measurements, structure; NUTRITION–food; PATHOLOGY–injuries, scars, parasites; 

PHYSIOLOGY–integument; POPULATION–recruitment, sex ratio, size, mortality, whaling; REPRODUCTION–fecundity, 

gestation, mating, parturition; WHALING–Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, native, catch, photographs. 

DURHAM, FLOYD E. 

1972e. Variation and the ingutuk problem in the bowhead whale. Unpubl. manuscr., 16 

p. Univ. Southern Calif., Los Angeles, 90007. (Copy avail. Natl. Mar. Mammal Lab., 

Natl. Mar. Fish. Serv., NOAA, 7600 Sand Point Way N.E., Bldg. 4, Seattle, WA 

98115.) 

Alaskan Eskimo whalers contend that a whale known to them as ingutuk is a species different from 

the well-known bowhead, citing several morphological features as proof. After reviewing the 

literature, interviews with Eskimo whalers, and studying his own field observations, author concludes 

the evidence indicates we should continue to recognize Balaena mysticetus as a monotypic species. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

IDENTITY–nomenclature, ingutuk; MORPHOLOGY–anatomy, comparative; WHALING–circumpolar, commercial, native, 

catch. 
120 

DURHAM, FLOYD E. 

1973a. Ancient and current methods of taking the bowhead whale. Univ. Alaska, 

Anchorage, Alaska Sea Grant Rep. 73–9, 15 p. Excerpts of this paper reprinted as 

“An historical perspective on Eskimo whaling and the bowhead controversy” by 

ORCA (1979), 1(1):5–6. 

Briefly describes the various hunting techniques used by whalers on the Arctic coast from pre–

historic times to the present. Citing accounts by several explorers, historians, geographers and 

whalers, author notes regional variations in Eskimo techniques for taking bowheads. In a personal 

communication to the author, Dr. T. Poulter stated that in 1968 twenty Eskimo boats were out 

hunting under sail, from St. Lawrence Island. Experience and methods used by Yankee whalers 

during the 1800s are reviewed and the effect of the industry upon Eskimo whaling is discussed, 

including a comparison of whaling techniques. International whaling codes are discussed, noting that 

they fail to recognize that modern whaling by Alaskan Eskimos includes the use of whaling guns and 

bombs originally introduced by the Yankee whalers, a practice bearing little resemblance to 

aboriginal whaling described in the whaling codes. Author concludes by recommending Eskimos 

return to the old Eskimo technique of killing whales and to practice conservation to preserve the 

bowhead stock for future generations. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION–regulation; WHALING–history, western Arctic, commercial, native, crews, gear, 

utilization. 

DURHAM, FLOYD E. 

1973b. U.S. to continue bowhead whale research. BioScience 23(8):491. 

“The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has taken steps to ensure continuation of 

ongoing research on bowhead whales. A contract has been signed with the University of California 

and Floyd Durham, who has worked with bowhead whales and the Eskimo people in the Alaskan 

Arctic for the past decade. During this time, Durham has studied the biology of the bowhead whale 

including reproduction, food habits, and size, in addition to gathering data on the number of whales 

taken by the Eskimos. The bowhead is on the Endangered Species List and is protected by the 

Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, but the Eskimos are permitted to take the mammals for 

subsistence and for handicraft work. Data obtained by Durham have been made available to the 

Federal government and to the International Whaling Commission, and the flow of information will 

continue under the new arrangement.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY–measurements; NUTRITION–food; REPRODUCTION; WHALING–western Arctic, native, catch. 
121 

DURHAM, FLOYD E. 

1973c. Census and spring migration studies on the bowhead whale in western Arctic in 

1973. Rep. by Allan Hancock Found., Univ. Southern Calif., Los Angeles, for Natl. 

Mar. Fish. Serv. [Mar. Mammal Div.], Seattle, Wash. (Available Natl. Mar. Mammal 

Lab., Natl. Mar. Fish. Serv., NOAA, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115.) 

(Unpublished.) 

Report of bowhead whaling and catch by Alaskan Eskimos during spring 1973. These field studies, 

funded by the Marine Mammal Division of the NMFS, culminated annual excursions made by the 

author to the Arctic since 1961 to study the bowhead. Although the reported catch for the spring 

season is incomplete, this report is the first in a series produced annually since then by the MMD 

(now the National Marine Mammal Laboratory) on the harvest of bowhead whales by Alaskan 

Eskimos. Subjects discussed includes the author's itinerary, a catalog of whales killed, an inventory 

of specimens provided to NMML, whale measurement records, a summary of whale measurements, 

crews and their equipment, spring catch of bowheads, a census of migrating bowheads, copies of 

letters mailed by the author to obtain information on bowhead whales, and a discussion of whale 

losses during the season. The catch of whales by village was: Barrow (15), Wainwright (3), and Point 

Hope (5). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–specimens collected; MORPHOLOGY–measurements; 

POPULATION–abundance; REPRODUCTION–newborn calf; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crews, catch, 

utilization. 

DURHAM, FLOYD E. 

1973d. Eskimo fact and fiction about the bowhead whale. Pacific Search 7(4):8-10. 

Reprinted in edited form by Whalewatcher (1981), 15(4):3-5. 

Article briefly recounts some of the Alaskan Eskimo’s beliefs concerning the bowhead whale. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ANTHROPOLOGY–Alaskan Eskimos; PREDATORS & COMPETITORS–killer whale; REPRODUCTION–parturition, Eskimo 

belief; WHALING–native, catch, photograph. 

DURHAM, FLOYD E. 

1979a. The catch of bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) by Eskimos, with emphasis 

on the western Arctic. Nat. Hist. Mus. Los Angel. Cty., Contrib. Sci. 314, 14 p. 

Conditions favorable for shore-based whaling by Alaskan Eskimos are described. Catch statistics are 

presented for the villages of Barrow, 1852-1973; Point Hope, 1879-1973; and Wainwright, 1922-

1973. Although the annual catch for these three villages averaged 12.5 whales per year, that for 

several minor stations active from 1961 to 1973 averaged only 2 whales per year. (From author's 

abstract.) 

EASTERN ARCTIC, WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration; DISTRIBUTION–former and present; WHALING–eastern Arctic, western Arctic, native, catch. 
122 

DURHAM, FLOYD E. 

1979b. Recent trends in bowhead whaling by Eskimos in the western Arctic with 

emphasis on utilization. Center for Environ. Educ., Washington, D.C., 53 p. 

(Unpublished.) 

Compares past and modern day equipment and techniques used by Eskimos to take bowhead 

whales. Subjects discussed include: equipment employed to take whales, the fate of struck and lost 

whales, sex and size data on whales caught, exploitation of newborn calves and cows, futility of 

taking very large whales, utilization, changing food preferences of Eskimos, and trends in 

regulations. Contains data on several whales killed by Eskimos. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration; MORPHOLOGY–measurements; PATHOLOGY–wounds; POPULATION–sex ratios; REGULATIONS 

AND CONSERVATION–regulation; REPRODUCTION–calves; WHALING–western Arctic, native, crews, gear, catch, 

utilization. 

DURHAM, FLOYD E. 

1979c. Modern aboriginal-subsistence living. Whalewatcher 13(2):8-9. 

Author believes all commercial and native whaling must be reduced and managed to protect the 

remaining stocks of great whales. He especially deplores the continuing “aboriginal-subsistence” 

hunt for the endangered bowhead whale in Alaska by Eskimos using “traditional” weapons, which in 

fact are semi-modern guns that fire bombs. Author observed the butchering of two bowheads in 

spring 1961 but location not given. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–commercial, natives, catch, gear. 

DURHAM, FLOYD E. 

1980. External morphology of bowhead fetuses and calves. Mar. Fish. Rev. 42(9-10):74-

80. 

During a 13-year period 1961-73, the author collected specimens and measurements from several 

fetal, neonatal and juvenile bowhead whales in Alaska. Although the number of specimens collected 

is not large, the information reported is the first descriptive material on early development of the 

species. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

GROWTH–sub–adults; MORPHOLOGY–measurements; REPRODUCTION–fetuses, neonatals, calves; WHALING–Chukchi 

Sea, Beaufort Sea, native catch, photographs. 

EIDE, ARTHUR HANSIN. 

1952. Drums of Diomede. The transformation of the Alaska Eskimo. House–Warren 

Publ., Hollywood, Calif., 242 p. 

Account of the author's experiences as a U.S. Government teacher on Little Diomede Island. One 

photograph caption states that the oomiaks are readied for whaling and another shows eleven boats 

under sail returning to the village. “During the next six months they killed 500 seals, 125 walrus, 7 

white whale (beluga), 7 polar bears, and 3 bow–headed whales, each between 50 and 70 feet long 

and weighing around 140,000 pounds apiece. Enough meat to last them two full years.” (p. 170.). 

[Dates could not be determined from the text but the Eskimo, published in 1917 (vol. 1, no. 9, p. 7), 

stated that “...two whales were caught on Little Diomede and one on Big Diomede.” The available 

data therefore suggests that the three bowheads reported by Eide were probably taken in 1917.] 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY–measurements (estimated lengths); WHALING–western Arctic, Bering Strait, native, crews, catch. 
123 

EISENBERG, MICKEY S., and THOMAS R. BENDER. 

1978. Botulism in Alaska. Alaska, Aug., 44(8):64-65. 

Article by two medical doctors describes botulism, its cause, foods it is frequently found in (including 

whale meat), symptoms of illness, and that it frequently ends in death. Thus far, all reported cases in 

Alaska have involved natives, and in all instances the illness has been associated with eating 

uncooked subsistence foods. At the head of the article is a photograph of a bowhead whale being 

butchered at Barrow (only identification provided is the photographer, Dr. J. Kenneth Fleshman.) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–Chukchi Sea, natives, catch (unidentified), photograph, utilization (sickness). 

EISLER, DAVID C. 

1978. Subsistence activities in the proposed Bering Land Bridge National Reserve. 

Anthropology and Historic Preservation Cooperative Park Studies Unit, Univ. 

Alaska, Fairbanks. 123 p. rep. Available from U.S. Dep. Inter., Nat. Park Serv., 

Anchorage, Alaska. (Unpublished.) 

Detailed account of subsistence activities conducted by Eskimos from the villages of Shishmaref, 

Brevig Mission, Teller, Deering, and Wales, Alaska. Near Shishmaref, “Seukat (“a point of land”) was 

a site where beluga were driven on the Serpentine River. The bones are still to be seen at this site. It 

is also reported that a black whale was driven onto this spot.” (p. 16). At Wales, “Whaling activities 

[for bowhead whales] declined in the 1960’s but made a partial comeback in the early ‘70’s. Today, 

although the men have not caught a whale in several years, a few crews go out every year in the 

search. In 1977, one whale was shot, but it could not be retrieved. A whale catch today is very highly 

valued. However, costs of outfitting a crew and boat are high, the amount of time spent in the search 

is great, there are hazards, and the whales are less frequently seen than in the past.”(p. 98). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-abundance, mortality, whaling, struck but lost; WHALING–western Arctic, native, catch, crews, utilization. 

ESKIMO. 

1916a. Eskimo news. Eskimo 1(1):6. 

“Warren Adloot of Wales, who has been the regular Mission interpreter at Wales for years, and the 

official interpreter of the “Bear,” is now the great big “Oomalik” at Wales. He killed the first whale 

caught there in ten years. Warren furnished enough fresh meat to feed every family at Wales for a 

month, and gave away most of the bone.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, native, catch, crews, utilization. 

ESKIMO. 

1916b. Schools and teachers. Eskimo 1(2):8. 

“Mr. and Mrs. Dupertius who have been assigned to the school at St. Lawrence Island will certainly 

have their hands full. In addition to the school work there is a cooperative store that is run for the 

benefit of the natives. This store has been financially successful during the past few years, and the 

natives have recently purchased two powerful gasoline motors with the surplus funds to be used in 

their whaling operations.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Bering Sea, native, gear. 
124 

ESKIMO. 

1917a. Ayoukytookty says. Eskimo 1(7):4. 

“It is reported that there has been a great shortage of whales [species not stated] all along the coast 

this year, in other words there is “a crying need for blubber.”” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–abundance. 

ESKIMO. 

1917b. Eskimo news [Little and Big Diomede Islands]. Eskimo 1(9):7. 

“It is reported that two whales were caught on Little Diomede and one on Big Diomede.” [Species not 

stated] 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Bering Strait, native, catch. 

ESKIMO. 

1917c. Hunting and trapping. [News items]. Eskimo 1(10):7. 

“Kivalina: 2 whales [species not stated]. Point Hope: 1 whale [species not stated] is reported from 

that place...” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

ESKIMO. 

1917d. Schools and teachers [News items]: Gambell. Eskimo 1(12):8. 

“The meat supply was low at this place last year, says Mr. John Dupertuis in his annual report, 

because many people were sick and the well ones had to remain home nursing the sick instead of 

hunting. Many deaths occurred. Three whales [species not noted] were caught and proved a 

Godsend to the people.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Bering Sea, native, catch. 

ESKIMO. 

1917e. Whaling. Eskimo 2(1):12. 

“Many whales were sighted off Wainwright this year, but none were captured by the natives because 

the small ice prevented the canoes from approaching close enough. Three canoes whaled steadily 

for several weeks. Two whales were shot and lost, the sea–monsters sinking under the ice before 

the men could reach them. Mr. Earl Forest’s annual report tells of large whales rising at the small 

holes in the ice and raising the surrounding masses with their bulk. The ice would crack and rise in 

small hillocks and the huge creatures would suddenly be revealed.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–breathing, breaking ice; POPULATION–mortality, struck and lost; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, gear, 

crews, catch. 
125 

ESKIMO. 

1918. Point Hope and Prince of Wales. Eskimo 2(8):5. 

Five whales were taken at Point Hope. The first whale in 2 years was caught at Prince of Wales, but 

the hunters were not able to land it because the ice came in and carried it away. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, killed but lost; WHALING–western Arctic, native, catch. 

ESKIMO. 

1936. Whale. Eskimo 3(4):7. 

“The scarcity of the whale in the opening years of the 20th century, is shown by the statement in 

“The Eskimo” of September 1916, that Warren Adeooat of Wales...killed the first whale caught there 

in ten years. “The Eskimo Bulletin,” published at Wales in 1902, gives the kill of the year before at 

eight whales.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Bering Strait, native, catch, crews. 

ESKIMO. 

1937. Kivalina. Eskimo 4(1):7. 

Four whales were killed at Point Hope during the spring of 1936. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

ESKIMO. 

1938. Notes from the reindeer ranges. Eskimo 5(3):7. 

“Wainwright says: “Four whales [species not stated] killed last spring [1938] and something like 

fifteen Oogoorook. Oogoorook hunting bad last spring, we usually get about 50, but was bad hunting 

last spring.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

ESKIMO. 

1941. Wainwright. Eskimo 8(1):5. 

“The Wainwright Eskimo is a hunter man, during 1939–40 the catch of the village was 7 walrus, 10 

wolves, and 16 cubs; 275 fox.” Since no whale catch was mentioned, apparently no bowheads were 

captured during the spring of 1940 [assuming the time period reported on extended from the winter 

of 1939 through the summer of 1940, when walrus would be taken]. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

ESKIMO. 

1943. Point Hope. Eskimo 10(2,3):2. 

Reverend Gordon writes that the spring whaling was short of hunters, owing to the war draft. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native. 
126 

ESKIMO. 

1975. Photographs. Eskimo, New Ser. 9:18–19.

Contains two photographs showing remains of a bowhead whale killed in 1971 at Hall Beach by S. 

Amimiarjuk. (Also see photograph in Mitchell and Reeves, 1981, p. 649). 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–eastern Arctic, native, catch, crews, photographs. 

ESKIMO BULLETIN. 

1893. Local items [News items]: two whales. Eskimo Bull. 1(1):1. [Cape Prince of Wales, 

Alaska.] 

In this hand printed news pamphlet issued in May by W. T. Lopp, editor and publisher, under the 

heading “Local items” he succinctly reported “Two whales.” [The apparent meaning is that two 

bowhead whales were taken by local Eskimos this spring.] 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Bering Strait, native, catch. 

ESKIMO BULLETIN. 

1895. Locals [News items]: no whales. Eskimo Bull. 2(1):4. 

This news pamphlet issued in June simply stated “No whales.” [The apparent meaning is that no 

bowhead whales were caught by Cape Prince of Wales this spring.] 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Bering Strait, native, catch. 

ESKIMO BULLETIN. 

1897. Chief Kokituk’s death. Eskimo Bull. 3 (July):1, 3–4. 

On the night of January 2, 1897 at Cape Prince of Wales, Chief Kokituk was shot and stabbed to 

death by two brothers. Kokituk, a young man about 28 years old, “...had always been a successful 

trader and hunter, having killed one whale, and more white bears than any other native here.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Bering Strait, native, catch, crews. 

ESKIMO BULLETIN. 

1897. Locals [News items]: Several whales were seen, but none captured. Eskimo Bull. 3 

(July):2–3. 

This news pamphlet issued in July simply stated “Several whales were seen, but none captured.” 

[The apparent meaning is that no bowhead whales were caught by Cape Prince of Wales hunters 

this spring.] Included in several news items concerning whaling vessel activities is this: “Capt. 

Williams took advantage of a south wind and went to Pt. Hope before coaling. He reports that out of 

thirty-two whales caught there, only two were big ones.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Bering Strait, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 
127 

ESKIMO BULLETIN. 

1898. Locals [News items]: Two whales–calves. Eskimo Bull. 4 (July): 2,4. 

Brief mention is made (p. 2) of “two whales–calves” for Cape Prince of Wales. [The apparent 

meaning is that two young bowhead whales were caught by local whalers this spring.] A news item 

concerning Point Hope (p. 4) states: “Two small whales are the catch of 70 canoes and whale–

boats.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Bering Strait, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

EVERITT, ROBERT D., and BRUCE D. KROGMAN. 

1979. Sexual behavior of bowhead whales observed off the north coast of Alaska. Arctic 

32(3):277–280. 

During aerial surveys conducted off the north coast of Alaska from April 30 to June 30, 1976, six 

bowhead whales were observed on May 8 engaging in sexual behavior. Their activities are reported 

and illustrated with a drawing and photograph. These observations help support previous 

conclusions that bowheads may mate during the spring migration. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration; REPRODUCTION–mating, photograph. 

FAIRBANKS DAILY NEWS–MINER. 

1970. Photographs. Fairbanks Daily News–Miner, Fairbanks, Alaska, May 28, p. 6. 

(Photograph caption) “BARROW SPRING–Springtime in Barrow does not mean ice cream for these 

village youngsters, but also it is the time for the whaling season. Eleven bowhead whales have been 

taken at Barrow up to now with some measuring 70 feet long and weighing 70 tons. Bottom photo 

shows meat butchered and ready for storage in underground freezer pits.” (Wien Consolidated 

Airlines photos by Frank Whaley) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY–measurements (estimated length); WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, photograph. 

FAIRBANKS DAILY NEWS-MINER. 

1978a. One crew defies whaling order. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Fairbanks, Alaska, 

May 8, p. 1 and 2. 

During spring bowhead whaling at Barrow in 1978, a dispute arose between native hunters and U.S. 

government agents over whether two of the four whales captured to date were bowheads or right 

whales that were not subject to the quota (the quota for Barrow was three bowheads, thus they had 

exceeded the village quota by one whale.). The chairman of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission 

requested the 20-plus crews on the ice to come ashore to avoid a confrontation with federal agents 

and all complied except one. It was also noted that Wainwright had taken the first of two whales 

allotted to it. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION–management, quotas; POPULATION–mortality, whaling, struck and lost; WHALING–

Chukchi Sea, natives, catch, crews. 
128 

FAIRBANKS DAILY NEWS-MINER. 

1978b. Editorial: Peace in Barrow. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Fairbanks, Alaska, May 

9, p. 4. 

Describes event when Barrow natives exceeded the first ever quota allotted to Alaskan whaling 

villages and the whalers claimed only two of the four they had taken were bowheads. The claim was 

not allowed by authorities who then stated it was an honest dispute and no prosecution would follow. 

As of yesterday, a total of nine whales had been taken, Wales, Kivalina and Wainwright were the 

only villages still entitled to hunt. Wainwright had only taken one of two whales it was allowed, and 

Barrow hunters stopped whaling after taking four whales and striking but losing a fifth. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

IDENTITY–Nomenclature, ingutuk; POPULATION–mortality, whaling, struck and lost; REGULATION & CONSERVATION–

Quota; WHALING–Chukchi Sea, natives, catch. 

FAIRBANKS DAILY NEWS-MINER. 

1978c. Photograph caption: Cutting up a whale. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Fairbanks, 

Alaska, May 9, p. 2. 

“Eskimos from the village of Wainwright mark up this 53-foot long bowhead whale for cutting. The 

whale, the ninth taken by Eskimos this season, was killed early Saturday [May 6th] in the Arctic 

Ocean near Wainwright.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-mortality, whaling; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, catch, photograph. 

FAIRBANKS DAILY NEWS-MINER. 

1978d. Whale studied to determine its species. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Fairbanks, 

Alaska, May 10, p. 2. 

Specimens from one of the disputed whales taken at Barrow this spring have been sent to a 

laboratory to confirm that the animal is a bowhead whale; the Eskimos claim the whale is an ingutuk, 

a species other than a bowhead. Two of the four whales taken by Barrow hunters this spring are 

claimed by them to be of this type. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

IDENTITY–nomenclature, ingutuk; POPULATION–mortality, whaling; REGULATION & CONSERVATION–quota; WHALING–

Chukchi Sea, natives, catch. 
129 

FAO ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON MARINE RESOURCES RESEARCH. WORKING 

PARTY ON MARINE MAMMALS. 

1978. Mammals in the seas. Volume 1. Report of the FAO Advisory Committee on 

Marine Resources Research. Working Party on Marine Mammals. FAO Fish. Ser.5, 

vol. 1, 264 p. 

A comprehensive review of the status of marine mammal species and populations, their roll in 

marine ecosystems, effects of human activities on marine mammals, and vice versa, conservation 

and management, research and recommendations. Although no worthwhile estimates of stock sizes 

are available, the bowhead whale (p. 58–59) population is thought to be far below an estimate of 

5,000 made in the 1960s. The absence of an increase in sightings in recent years may be due to 

inadequate sightings effort and/or to the suppression of any increase in abundance, at least in some 

areas, by continuing catches by Eskimos under the IWC’s “aboriginal clause.” An average of 30 to 40 

bowheads per year has been taken by eight Eskimo communities in northwestern Alaska. This 

landed catch is less than the total catch. Estimates of the ratio of whales struck and lost to those 

landed range from 1:1 to 1:4. Since an unknown proportion of animals struck but lost may die of their 

wounds, it is not possible to estimate the total kill. An additional source of concern about the effects 

of the Alaskan Eskimo fishery on the bowhead population is the fact that, since 1970, there has been 

a significant increase in the number of whaling crews. One bowhead was taken in 1975 in the 

eastern Canadian Arctic, and effort in that area also appears to be increasing. One or two bowheads 

are also taken annually by Siberian natives. A need to redefine aboriginal fishery and subsistence is 

discussed on p. 171–172. 

EASTERN ARCTIC, WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–abundance, mortality, struck and lost; WHALING–eastern Arctic, western Arctic, native, catch. 

FAO ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON MARINE RESOURCES RESEARCH. WORKING 

PARTY ON MARINE MAMMALS. 

1981. Mammals in the seas. Volume 3, general papers and large cetaceans. FAO Fish. 

Ser. 5, vol. 3, 504 p. 

Contains 14 general papers covering management objectives and modelling techniques, followed by 

24 papers on large cetaceans that discuss the status of various species, techniques for population 

assessment, management, exploitation, and growth and energy budgets. Three of the papers (J. 

Bockstoce, p. 163–170; W.M.A. DeSmet, p. 301–309; K. R. Martin, p. 369–373) provide information 

on bowhead whaling, fossil remains, and museum collections of vessel logbooks and whalemens’ 

journals as a source of data on whale species and whaling. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

ARCHAEOLOGY–paleontology; DISTRIBUTION–history; POPULATION– mortality; WHALING–history, eastern Arctic, 

western Arctic, commercial, native, catch. 
130 

FAY, F. H. 

1975. Mammals and birds. In D. W. Hood and Y. Takenouti (editors), Bering Sea 

oceanography: an update 1972–1974, Results of a seminar and workshop on 

Bering Sea oceanography under auspices of the U.S.–Japan Program, Office Int. 

Programs Natl. Sci. Found.–Sci. Council of Japan, p. 133–138. Univ. Alaska, 

Fairbanks, Inst. Mar. Sci. Rep. 75–2. 

Mentions that the Marine Mammal Division, National Marine Fisheries Service, recently began 

investigations of the bowhead population and its utilization by Eskimos of northern Alaska. Effort is 

centered in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. The population is believed to be about 1,000 whales 

and to be increasing steadily. Acoustic and aerial remote sensing are being used for population 

assessment, and more efficient harvest methods for Eskimos are being investigated. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–census, tracking; POPULATION– abundance & density; REGULATION & 

CONSERVATION–management. 

FEDOSEEV, G. A. 

1966. Aerovizual’nye nablyudeniya za morskimi mlekopitayushchimi v Beringovom i 

chukotskom moryakh (Aerial observations on marine mammals in the Bering and 

Chukchi Seas). In: K. I. Panin (ed.), Nastayashchii tom izvestiĭ TINRO 

posvyashcheĭ rezul’tatam issledovaniĭ morskikh mlekopitayushchikh (Soviet 

research on marine mammals in the Far East), Izv. Tikhookean Nauchn.-issled. 

Inst. Rybn. Khoz. Okeanogr. 58:173-177. In Russian. (Transl. By U.S. Joint Publ. 

Res. Serv., 1966, p. 98-102, avail. Transl. Program, Natl. Mar. Fish. Serv., 

Washington, D.C.) 

During the time period September 28 to December 17, 1960, flights were conducted over coastal 

waters from Kresta Bay in the Gulf of Anadyr to the mouth of the Kolyma River in the Eastern 

Siberian Sea, and in waters surrounding Wrangel and Herald Islands, to count walrus and other 

marine mammals. Seven bowhead whales were identified: two on September 29 at 73-74°50' N lat. 

and 175-177° E long.; three on October 10 at 70-71° N lat. and 177-180° E long.; and one at 73° N 

lat. and 175° W long., and one at 72-73° N lat. and 173-174° W long. on October 12. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MIGRATION–sightings; DISTRIBUTION–Chukchi Sea; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–census, aerial, field 

recognition. 

FEDOSEEV, G. A. 

1982. Aerial sightings to bowhead whales distribution and their numbers in the Chukchi 

and east Siberian Seas. Unpubl. Manuscr., 5 p. + 1 fig. Izv. Tikhookean. Nauchnoissled. Inst. Rybn. Khoz. Okeanogr. (TINRO), Nagaevskaya 51, Magadan 685013, 

U.S.S.R. (Submitted to the Scientific Committee, International Whaling Commission, 

Cambridge, England, in June 1982 as Document SC/34/PS23.) 

Reports sightings of bowhead whales recorded during aerial surveys for walruses and seals off the 

Chukotka Peninsula between 1960 and 1980. Author combines these sightings and information from 

the literature to derive a migration pattern for the animals in this area, the influence of ice conditions 

on their distribution, and an estimate for the total number of bowheads in this region of the U.S.S.R. 

at about 3,500 animals. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration, timing, pattern; DISTRIBUTION–sightings, factors affecting; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–

census, aerial; POPULATION–abundance. 
131 

FEDOSEEV, G. A., and V. N. GOL’TSEV. 

1975. Novye dannye po raspredeleniyu; i chislennosti morskikh mlekopitayushchikh v 

beringovom i chukotskom moryakh. (New data on the distribution and abundance of 

marine mammals in the Bering and Chukchi Seas.) In: Morskie Mlekopitayushchie. 

[A collection of articles containing materials from the 6-th All-Union Conf. On Mar. 

Mammals, October 1975.] Part 2, p. 144. Izd. Naukova Dumka, Kiev. In Russian. 

(Transl. By Leda Sagan. Avail. Alaska Fish. Science Cent., Natl. Mar. Mammal 

Lab., Natl. Mar. Fish. Serv., NOAA, 7600 Sand Point Way N.E., Seattle, WA 

98115.) (Abstr. Only.). 

During aerial surveys of 1970-1974, and a Soviet-American joint expedition aboard the Alpha Helix in 

1973, bowhead whales were repeatedly encountered during the first one-half of October amid cakeice in coastal waters near Cape Vankarem (About 60 animals), at Cape Schmidt (23 animals), and 

near the village of Neshkan on the Idlidlya Island (about 60 animals). The bowhead whales are 

gradually increasing in abundance. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION–sightings, Bering and Chukchi Seas; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–census, aerial, vessel; 

POPULATION–abundance, numbers observed. 

FEJES, CLAIRE. 

1966. People of the Noatak. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 368 p. 

Popular narrative about the people of two Eskimo villages, Noatak and Point Hope. Bowhead 

whaling in past years at Point Hope is briefly reviewed, including an incident in 1950 (p. 80) when the 

native store shipped to Seattle by the annual supply ship 40 drums of whale and seal oil for the 

manufacture of candles and soap; however, such shipments proved unprofitable and were 

discontinued. During spring 1960 four bowheads were captured, and two were landed in 1961. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–history, western Arctic, native, gear, crews, catch, drawings, utilization. 

FERGUSON, ROBERT. 

1938. Arctic harpooner. A voyage on the schooner Abbie Bradford 1878–1879. Univ. 

Penn. Press, Philadelphia, 216 p. (Edited by Leslie Dalrymple Stair). 

A whaling voyage to Hudson Bay on the schooner Abbie Bradford that lasted 16 months. The whaler 

sailed from New Bedford on May 8, 1878 and returned on August 31, 1879 after wintering–over at 

Marble Island. Captured a bowhead that all officers said was the largest right whale that they had 

ever seen––about 95 feet long, considerably longer than the ship (waterline length of 87.4 feet, p. 3)! 

The whale yielded 130 barrels oil and 2,900 pounds of bone (baleen). 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION–former; MORPHOLOGY–total length; WHALING– history, eastern Arctic, Hudson Bay, gear, catch, 

utilization. 

FETCHER, E. S., Jr. 

1939. The water balance in marine mammals. Q. Rev. Biol. 14(4):451–459. 

A compilation of data on the problem of the maintenance of the water balance in marine mammals, 

including the analysis of whole blood for bowheads as reported by A. B. Macallum in 1926. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

PHYSIOLOGY–blood. 
132 

FISCUS, CLIFFORD H., and WILLMAN M. MARQUETTE. 

1975. National Marine Fisheries Service field studies relating to bowhead whale harvest 

in Alaska, 1974. NWFC Processed Rep., 23 p. Natl. Mar. Mammal Lab., Natl. Mar. 

Fish. Serv., NOAA, 7600 Sand Point Way N.E., Seattle, WA 98115. 

Results of subsistence whaling for bowhead whales, Balaena mysticetus, by Alaskan Eskimos during 

1974. Six villages whaled during the spring season and three during the autumn. Twenty whales 

were landed, three were killed but lost, and an additional 28 were struck and lost. Includes review of 

regulations governing the take of bowheads by aborigines, accounts of whaling activities for each 

village and discussions on whaling methods, whaling effort, utilization of the animal products, 

migration, and other species sighted and taken by the hunters. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration; MORPHOLOGY–measurements; POPULATION–abundance, mortality (whaling, struck/lost, 

killed/lost); REGULATION & CONSERVATION–regulation; WHALING–western Arctic, native, crews, catch, utilization, 

photographs. 

FITZHUGH, WILLIAM W., and SUSAN A. KAPLAN. 

1982. Inua: spirit world of the Bering Sea Eskimo. Natl. Mus. Nat. Hist., Smithson. Inst. 

Press, Washington, D.C., 295 p. 

Publication was prepared in conjunction with an exhibit of selected items (from a total of 10,000) in 

the Edward William Nelson Eskimo ethnology collection of the National Museum of Natural History. 

Excellent photographs present a visual ethnography of the Bering Sea Eskimo and the text places 

their life in a regional and chronological framework. The contents are divided into sections on the 

land, the animals, life in the village, the spiritual life, their neighbors, and changes in the past 

hundred years. Contains information and numerous photographs illustrating the importance of the 

bowhead whale to the Eskimo culture and the many uses made of its products. (p. 224–232). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY–artifacts; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES– museum; WHALING–western Arctic, native, gear, 

photographs, utilization. 

FLOWER, WILLIAM HENRY. 

1864. Notes on the skeletons of whales in the principal museums of Holland and 

Belgium, with descriptions of two species apparently new to science. Proc. Zool. 

Soc. Lond. 1864:384–420. 

Discussion of cetacean skeletal parts describing the specific and generic characters of these 

animals, including the classification and nomenclature employed for the various species. Skeletons 

of Balaena mysticetus are in the collections at the Museum of Royal College of Surgeons at London 

(47'F), Royal Museum of Natural History at Brussels (50'), and the Royal Museum at Leyden (skull 

only of young). Author states that the skeleton at Brussels is the only one to be seen at present in 

any museum in Europe, except at Copenhagen [institute not given]. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–museums; MORPHOLOGY–structure. 
133 

FLOWER, WILLIAM HENRY, and RICHARD LYDEKKER. 

1891. An introduction to the study of marine mammals living and extinct. Adam and 

Charles Black, London, 763 p. 

Reviews knowledge of mammals to date and is based largely upon the article “Mammalia,” together 

with 40 shorter articles, written by Flower for the ninth edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica. The 

Greenland, or more properly Arctic Right Whale (Balaena mysticetus), is described (p. 236–240) 

largely based upon the works of Eschricht and Reinhardt (1866), and Scammon (1874). Of interest is 

a drawing by Robert Gray showing the external form of the animal with a hump along the dorsal 

ridge of the peduncle. A drawing showing the inner and outer aspects of a right tympanic bone of an 

immature animal is also presented. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

DISTRIBUTION–history; IDENTITY–classification; MORPHOLOGY–structure. 

FOOTE, DON CHARLES. 

1964a. American whalemen in northwestern Arctic Alaska. Arctic Anthropol. 2(2):16–20. 

(Also read before the Symp. on the Arctic and Sub-Arctic, Sec. H, Am. Assoc. Adv. 

Sci., Dec. 29, 1964, Montreal, Can.). 

Brief review of the early history of American whaling north of the Bering Strait discusses some 

aspects of contact between Arctic Alaskan Eskimos and whalemen from 1819 to 1880. Trading 

schooners were reported in the region as early as 1820 and, in the long run, the most important 

agent of change in Arctic Alaska may not have been the American whalemen but the sailors of these 

small, elusive schooners. In 1848, at least three whalers drifted or sailed through Bering Strait into 

the Arctic Ocean where they found numerous whales. Until 1854 apparently few ships sailed any 

distance north of Bering Strait, but in that year at least five whalers reached Point Barrow. From 

1848 to 1885 the whalers probably killed upward to 10,000 whales in the region from Anadyr Gulf to 

Point Barrow; of these probably more than half were bowheads. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ANTHROPOLOGY–Alaskan and Siberian Eskimos; WHALING–western Arctic, commercial, native, catch, gear, utilization. 

FOOTE, DON CHARLES. 

1964b. Observations of the bowhead whale at Point Hope, Alaska. Unpubl. Manuscr., 

73 pp. plus 5 p. biblio. McGill Univ., Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Copy on file at Natl. 

Mar. Fish. Serv., Natl. Mar. Mammal Lab., Seattle, WA. 

Author lived and studied as a human geographer from autumn 1959 to autumn 1962 at Point Hope, 

Alaska. During that period he took part in spring hunts for bowhead whales and recorded his 

observations of these animals including their migration behavior, daily and hourly counts, 

classification by size including ingutuks and calves, and hunting statistics such as animals struck and 

lost, killed but lost, and killed and recovered. In the spring of 1960 seven whales were struck and lost 

while four were captured; in spring 1961 one whale was struck and lost, one was killed but lost, and 

two were captured; and in spring 1962 one whale was struck and lost and three were captured. On 

May 24, 1961 a large lactating cow was killed and recovered but a small calf struck and killed 45-

minutes earlier sank and was lost. The author reports that “Interviews provided only one reference 

to a full-grown foetus found in a whale killed at Point Hope about 1900.” On pages 51-73 the author, 

using interviews with Eskimos, personal observations and the literature, reviews the ingutuk problem. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ANTHROPOLOGY–Alaskan Eskimos; BEHAVIOR–swimming, breeching, reactions, respiration; FIELD & LABORATORY 

TECHNIQUES–census, shore station, field recognition; IDENTITY–nomenclature, Eskimo; POPULATION–Abundance, 

sightings, size, recruitment, calf counts, mortality, numbers captured, struck and lost; REPRODUCTION–mating; WHALING–

Chukchi Sea, history, natives, catch, crews, gear, photographs. 
134 

FOOTE, DON CHARLES. 

1964c. Changing resource utilization by Eskimos in northwestern Arctic Alaska, 1850-

1962. Read before the section on the Arctic and Sub-Arctic VII International 

Congress for the Science of Anthropology and Ethnology, August 5, 1964, Moscow, 

U.S.S.R. 

This study compares author’s theoretical calculations of food resources required by Eskimos groups 

in the 1850s to those needed a hundred years later (field observations at Point Hope from 1959-

1962). Discussing food items collected, he states that the people of Point Hope often took 15 to 20 

Greenland whales in one season. He concludes that the Eskimos of present day Point Hope and 

Noatak use far fewer natural resources than did their ancestors in 1850. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–Chukchi Sea, natives, catch, utilization. 

FOOTE, DON CHARLES. 

1965a. Whaling in the Beaufort Sea. Unpubl. Prepared for the Northern Service 

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, January 11, 1965, 4 p. 

Briefly reviews historical importance of bowhead whaling by native and commercial whalers 

extending from the Bering Sea to the Beaufort Sea, where the eastward limit of Eskimo whaling was 

probably around Dolphin and Union Strait. In the summer of 1889, seven steamers from the whaling 

fleet sailed to Hershel Island for the first time and subsequently hunted these waters until 1914. The 

value of the bowhead whale was stated by Scammon (1874:52), who reported that a 60-foot whale 

might give 8,000 gallons of oil and 3,500 pounds of baleen, and that in the late 19th century such a 

whale would be worth nearly $20,000. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration; DISTRIBUTION–Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas; IDENTITY–Eskimos names, Ingotok; 

POPULATION–abundance; WHALING–history, commercial, native, utilization. 

FOOTE, DON CHARLES. 

1965b. Exploration and resource utilization in northwestern Arctic Alaska before 1855. 

Ph.D. Thesis, McGill Univ., Montreal, Can., 400 p. 

Contains extensive information derived from the literature on visits of Europeans and Americans to 

the region before 1855. Drawing upon this information, population estimates are made for three 

groups of Eskimos living in the area, the Tigeragmuit, Naupaktomuit and the Noatagmuit. Knowledge 

of Eskimo seasonal activities, diet, caloric needs and the nutritional value of animals and plants is 

combined with the estimated number of people and their dogs to construct a theoretical kill of wildlife. 

Regarding bowhead whales: total 104 calories obtained from a whale averages 10,090 (Table 19, p. 

273); a possible estimated caloric need for bowhead products in the Eskimo diet is estimated at 35% 

in winter and 5% in summer (Table 24, p. 286); the possible annual kill of bowheads in 1850 was 

estimated to be 11 animals (Table 27, p. 290, and evidence indicating that this is a reasonable 

estimate is discussed on p. 299–300); and, in appendix B, the caloric value for various portions of 

the bowhead carcass is presented (p. 350). Contains 235 bibliographic references. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ANTHROPOLOGY –Alaskan Eskimos; WHALING–western Arctic, natives, catch, utilization. 
135 

FOOTE, DON CHARLES. 

1966a. ...Of whales and whalers. In Maja van Steensel (editor), People of light and dark, 

p. 29–33. Queen’s Printer, Ottawa. 

Contains a brief description of size and habitat of the bowhead, historic hunting techniques of 

Alaskan Eskimos, and history of the development and decline of whaling in Alaska waters. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, history, natives, catch statistics, utilization. 

FOOTE, D. C., and H. A. WILLIAMSON. 

1966b. A human geographical study. In Norman J. Wilimovsky and John N. Wolfe 

(editors), Environment of the Cape Thompson region, Alaska, Chapt. 36, p. 1041–

1107. U.S. Atomic Energy Comm., Washington, D.C. 

From 1850 to 1885 American whalemen caused important changes in the Eskimo way of life. After 

1885 a new pattern of Eskimo life began when Americans settled on the land as whalers, traders, 

missionaries, and government officials. Four Eskimo groups centered at Point Hope, Kivalina, and 

Noatak, Alaska, were studied during the period May 29, 1959 to August 31, 1962. At Pt. Hope there 

are 10 to 13 bowhead whaling crews. In 1960 whaling began April 6 and ended June 2; 4 bowheads 

and 19 white whales were killed. The 1961 season lasted from April 8 until June 2; 2 bowheads and 

8 white whales were landed. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration, relationship with other species; WHALING–history, western Arctic, commercial and native, shore 

stations, catch, crews, photographs, utilization (food) . 

FORBES, ALLAN. Edited by RALPH M. EASTMAN and K. G. ROGERS. 

1955. Whaleships and whaling scenes as portrayed by Benjamin Russell. Second 

Bank-State Street Trust Co., Boston, Mass., 79 p. 

One (number 39) of a series of historical brochures showing for the first time in one volume all of 

Russell’s paintings. “Russell spent four years at sea in one of his father's whalers, and this 

experience, with that gained along the waterfront of New Bedford, fitted him to paint with care and 

expert knowledge the vessels which were associated with New Bedford and whaling.” Contains color 

reproductions of paintings accompanied by information on ship's captains, private signals (flags) of 

the whaling vessels, vessels, dates of voyages, whaling scenes, songs, and a few whaling statistics. 

A Greenland 10 Kroner bill which features a bowhead whale is reproduced on p. 18. Several 

interesting photographs with comments provide information on early day whalers and vessels that 

add to the value and usefulness of this publication. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

WHALING–history, eastern and western Arctic, commercial, gear, paintings, photographs. 
136 

FORD, JAMES A. 

1959. Eskimo prehistory in the vicinity of Point Barrow, Alaska, with an appendix, 

skeleton remains from the vicinity of Point Barrow, Alaska, by T. D. Stewart. Am. 

Mus. Nat. Hist., Anthropol. Pap. 47, pt. 1, 272 p. 

Archaeological research by the author in 1931–1932, again in 1953, and by others to 1956 in the 

vicinity of Point Barrow for the Smithsonian Institution is described. In the fall of 1931 the author 

joined a boat crew that killed a bowhead whale east of Point Barrow. As Ford's portion of the kill, the 

Eskimos detached the skull and hauled it in to the beach. In the summer of 1932 this skull was 

shipped to Seattle on the sailing schooner Holmes and is now on display at the U.S. National 

Museum (p. 13; also, see H. B. Collins, 1933, for photographs). 

In 1932, spring whaling at Barrow began on May 2 and Ford joined Dave and Bobby Brower's boat 

crew. They spent six weeks camping at various places along the shifting leads 5 to 10 miles from 

shore. Although they saw many whales, they did not kill one. Only two whales were taken at Barrow 

that spring (p. 15). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–museums; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, Beaufort 

Sea, native, catch, crews. 

FORREST, ELIZABETH CHABOT. 

1937. Daylight moon. Frederick A. Stokes Co., New York, N.Y., 340 p. 

Author and husband were U.S. Government teachers who succeeded the Van Valins at Wainwright, 

Alaska, during 1915–1917. A whale was taken by James Angashuk’s crew in the spring of 1916. The 

baleen was eight feet long (p. 205–206). The names of two other whaling captains were given (p. 

212), Adam Neakok and Kotook. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY–measurements (baleen); WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crews, catch. 

FRAKER, M. A. 

1977. The 1976 white whale monitoring program, Mackenzie estuary, N.W.T. Prepared 

for Imperial Oil Ltd. Calgary, by F. F. Slaney and Co., Ltd., Vancouver, Canada. 73 

p. 

Imperial Oil Limited conducts oil exploration activities in Canadian waters of the eastern Beaufort 

Sea and has supported studies of white whales, Delphinapterus leucas, for the past five years 

[1972–1976]. In 1976 for the first time in the five years of study, bowhead whales, Balaena

mysticetus, were observed in the Mackenzie Estuary and the species is briefly discussed (p. 60–70). 

Subjects discussed include background information on the bowhead, status of the North Pacific 

bowhead population, population size, movements, food and feeding behavior, reproduction, and 

human utilization. Appendix 6 (p. 2–3) contains a transcript of a tape–recorded interview with a 

village elder, Tom Elanik of Aklavik, who relates an account of a bowhead whale taken in the vicinity 

of Niakunak (West Whitefish Station) when he was a young lad. [In a personal communication to W. 

M. Marquette, Fraker suggested this bowhead may have been captured in about 1918.] 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration; DISTRIBUTION–sightings; NUTRITION–food and feeding; POPULATION–abundance (former); 

REPRODUCTION; WHALING–western Arctic, eastern Beaufort Sea, native, catch. 
137 

FRAKER, MARK A. 

1981. Responses of bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) to activities related to 

offshore oil and gas exploration. (Abstr.) J. Acoust. Soc. Am., Suppl. 1, 70 

(Fall):S83. (abstr. MM2.) 

Behavior of bowhead whales in the vicinity of offshore oil and gas exploration activities in the eastern 

Beaufort Sea was studied during August 1980. Surfacing, breathing pattern, and inter-animal 

distances were examined. (From author's abstract.) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-reactions to man–made objects, noise; DISTRIBUTION– Beaufort Sea, sightings; FIELD & LABORATORY 

TECHNIQUES-acoustics. 

FRAKER, MARK A. 

1982. Distribution, numbers and productivity of the western Arctic stock of whales 

(Balaena mysticetus) in the eastern Beaufort Sea and Amundsen Gulf, summer 

1981. (Abstract). Proc. Alaska Sci. Conf. 33:38. 

A census of the western Arctic stock of bowhead whales on its summer range in the Canadian 

Beaufort Sea was conducted in 1981. 

"The number of bowheads within the study area was estimated to be between 2,983 to 3,824, 

considerably greater than the previously accepted estimate of 2,264. Calves were estimated to 

comprise about 3.5% of the population, but this is probably well below the actual proportion. Known–

scale vertical photographs were successful in allowing accurate measurement estimates of whales. 

The study also revealed that a large proportion of the population carries distinctive marks that permit 

individual recognition.” (From author's abstract.) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–field recognition, coloration, scars, photographs; POPULATION–abundance, 

recruitment. 

FRAKER, MARK A., DAVID E. SERGEANT, and WYB HOEK. 

1978. Bowhead and white whales in the southern Beaufort Sea. Beaufort Sea Proj., Dep. 

Fish Environ., Sidney, B.C., Tech. Rep. 4, 114 p. 

Study of the biology and distribution of bowhead and white whales in the eastern Beaufort Sea and 

an assessment of the possible effects of oil and gas exploration on the whales. Information on the 

natural history of these whales is reviewed and presented with field data obtained in the area 

between 1972 and 1976. Bowhead subjects discussed include migration, distribution, population 

status, biology and harvest. Concerns and possible effects of current oil and gas explorations in the 

region are discussed, recognizing that little data has been obtained to date studying the basic whale 

behavior and biology in relation to the activities of offshore exploration. Data on sightings and 

strandings in the area are presented in the appendices. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration; DISTRIBUTION–former, present, oil exploration effects; NUTRITION– food and feeding; 

POPULATION–abundance, mortality; SKELETAL REMAINS–beachcast; WHALING–western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, 

commercial, catch. 
138 

FRANCIS, GEORGE. 

1977. Some Kotzebue news from George Francis. Caribou News, Kotzebue, Alaska, 

June 22, 1(4):5. 

The new museum in Kotzebue was opened to the public for viewing of its collection of Alaskan 

animals and Arctic people in natural settings, including Arctic whale hunting. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–museums; WHALING–western Arctic, native. 

FRANKSON, DAVID. 

1963. From Ketchikan to Barrow [News items]: Point Hope, May 16. Alaska Sportsman 

29(9):4. (From Fairbanks Daily News–Miner). 

The whaling crews are all out on the ice and have taken three whales so far. On April 29th Nicholas 

Hank found a bowhead under the ice that had been dead about four days and salvaged all the 

muktuk and blubber. On May 11th Mark Kumievauk’s [sic] crew and Laurie Kingik’s crew each 

caught one bowhead. The whales are large sized and the whole carcasses were saved. About five or 

six whales were shot and escaped because the wind was blowing. About 20 to 25 belugas and a few 

oogruks and seals have also been killed by the whalers. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, struck and lost; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

FRANKSON, DAVID. 

1969. (Title unknown). Fairbanks Daily News–Miner, June 2. 

Citing F. E. Durham (1979:22–23), David Frankson reported “We at Pt. Hope has bad lucks, we lost 

about 18 whales and caught only two.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling, struck and lost; WHALING– Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

FRANKSON, DAVID. 

1970. Point Hope. Fairbanks Daily News–Miner, Fairbanks, Alaska, May 11. 

Whaling began at Point Hope on April 20th and three whales were captured during that week, one 

after it had been dead a few days. In addition, one whale was killed but could not be recovered 

because of wind and ice. At least ten whales were shot at but not taken, and two dead whales were 

sighted from an airplane far out from shore. One polar bear and many belugas have also been killed 

this spring. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, struck and lost; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

FRANKSON, DAVID. 

1973. From Ketchikan to Barrow [News items]: Point Hope. Alaska 39(2):79. (From 

Fairbanks Daily News–Miner) 

“Last Sunday morning November 15th slush ice drifted in the south beach and in the afternoon three 

crew whalers that caught a whale last spring feasted in Tigara Hall each with the tail of the whale 

they caught––everyone have full stomachs with muktuk and whale meat.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ETHNOLOGY–culture; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 
139 

FRANKSON, DAVID. 

1974. From Ketchikan to Barrow [News items]: Today Bill Weber and his crew. Alaska 

40(8):24. (From Fairbanks Daily News–Miner) 

Two bowhead whales taken in the spring of 1974 at Point Hope, Alaska, were lost when ice closed 

the lead and buried them. Most of Billy Weber’s whale was saved but Amos Lane’s was lost. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, killed and lost; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, utilization. 

FRASER, F. C. 

1949. Some letters of William Scoresby Junior. Polar Rec. 5(37–38):306–308. 

A bound volume of letters in the library of the British Museum (Natural History) contains eight letters 

written by William Scoresby, Junior between 1809 and 1819. Figure 1 is Scoresby's drawing of a 

Greenland Right Whale. In the letter dated December 4, 1809, to E. Home, he comments on the 

speed of the whale when harpooned as being about 8 or 9 m.p.h. (not more). In a letter of August 8, 

1810, Scoresby describes a whale calf 17 feet long which he had dissected on the deck of his 

vessel. In the letter of November 19, 1811 Scoresby relates to a skull of a Greenland whale calf 

which he sent to Home. The letter dated December 4, 1812 acknowledges the receipt of a copy of 

Home's (1813) paper dealing with the ear of this whale. A letter dated August 30, 1813 contains 

Scoresby's comments on the weather associated with the lack of success of the whaling, although 

his ship the Esk took 15 large whales producing 190 tons of oil. The cargo of this voyage he says 

was valued at 11,000 pounds sterling. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–swimming; GROWTH; MORPHOLOGY; REPRODUCTION-calves; WHALING–catch, commercial, drawing, gear. 

FRASER, F. C. 

1977. Royal fishes: The importance of the dolphin. In R. J. Harrison (editor), Functional 

anatomy of marine mammals, Vol. 3, p. 1–44. Academic Press, London, New York, 

San Francisco. 

The interest in whales and whaling, the presence of whalebone along roadways and its use as 

monuments, as well as the use of the words “whalebone” and “whale” in names of inns and places in 

17th century England are expressions of the fully active Greenland whale fishery emanating from the 

Thames and parts of eastern England at the time. Refers to some early publications that describe 

the Greenland whale and the fishery (p. 26–29). 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–history, eastern Arctic, commercial, utilization. 

FRASER, F. C., and P. E. PURVIS. 

1954. Hearing in cetaceans. Bull. Br. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) Zool. 2(5):103–113. 

In describing the functioning of the cetacean ossicles, the authors state (p. 111) that “The smooth 

curved surfaces of the facets tend to slip over one another in one or both directions when the 

oscillation is transverse or longitudinal to the processus gracilis. This factor must be of great 

importance in the exclusion of extraneous vibrations. In this last connection it is necessary to 

examine the hypothesis of Lillie and Kellogg (v. supra) [1910,1938] in more detail and as a 

preliminary it will be useful to recall Beauregard's (1894) conclusions on the subject. 

“The tympanic bulla cannot be regarded as an apparatus for resonance as has been asserted by 

various anatomists and physiologists (Hunter, Home, Esser, etc.).”“ 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

MORPHOLOGY–anatomy; PHYSIOLOGY–receptors (hearing). 
140 

FRASER, F. C., and P. E. PURVIS. 

1960. Hearing in cetaceans. Evolution of the accessory air sacs and the structure and 

function of the outer and middle ear in recent cetaceans. Bull. Br. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) 

Zool. 7(1), 140 p. 

Detailed discussion on the hearing structures and their functions based upon the examination of 

specimens, results of experiments, and supported by the evidence of existing literature. Authors 

conclude that the configuration of the ventral aspect of the cetacean skull, which is associated with 

the development of air spaces, provides a fairly reliable guide to the systematic arrangement of the 

Order Cetacea. Further conclusions are preceded by one stating that the Mysticeti as a whole are 

more primitive than the Odontoceti. Includes the available information on Balaena mysticetus. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

MORPHOLOGY–anatomy; PHYSIOLOGY–receptors (hearing). 

FRAZER, J. F. D. 

1976. Herd structure and behaviour in cetaceans. Mammal Rev. 6(1):55–59. 

Brief review of herding in cetaceans and behavior as it relates to individuals, groups, species and 

vessels. Citing other authors (Scoresby, 1820; Southwell, 1898), in days when the bowhead was 

abundant in the Spitsbergen and other Arctic areas, whalers merely had to anchor in one spot till 

they had taken their fill. At one time the species migrated in schools of hundreds, while the 

migrations today only show a few dozen at a time. It is known that the largest whales spend the 

summer farther south (away from the ice–edge) than the females, and the nursery whales are farther 

north again, while the same individuals may be found in one locality for nearly a decade. Males and 

females use different, but roughly parallel migratory routes. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

BEHAVIOR–migration, separation of sexes and within habitat; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–field recognition; 

POPULATION–abundance; WHALING–eastern Arctic, western Arctic, commercial. 

FREUCHEN, PETER. 

1935. Field notes and biological observations. In Magnus Degerbol and Peter Freuchen, 

Mammals, part 2, p. 68–278. Rep. Fifth Thule Exped. 1921–24, v. 2, no. 4–5. 

Gyldendal, Copenhagen. 

The distribution of Balaena mysticetus in Hudson Bay and vicinity, Eastern Arctic, and whaling by 

commercial whalers and natives is described. One whale was taken by the Eskimos at Repulse Bay 

in 1922, and another was caught there Sep. 9, 1923. The latter one was 20 feet long and died at the 

first harpoon. Several sightings of bowheads during 1922–1923 were recorded, including a cow–calf 

pair seen on July 23, 1923. Author relates an incident, confirmed by residents at Pond Inlet, when 

some Eskimos killed a bowhead with rifle fire. The animal, apparently chased by killer whales, 

surfaced in a crack in thick ice where it evidently became stuck. Hunters fired repeatedly at the 

immobile whale until it died. (p. 270–275). 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–when hunted; DISTRIBUTION–former, sightings, NUTRITION–food and feeding; POPULATION–mortality; 

PREDATORS & COMPETITORS–killer whales; REPRODUCTION–calf; WHALING– history, eastern Arctic, commercial, 

native, gear, catch. 
141 

FREUCHEN, PETER. 

1938. Arctic adventure: my life in the frozen North. Halycon House, New York, 467 p. 

(Orig. publ. 1935, by Farrar & Rinehart, New York.) 

Account of the author's experiences in northern Greenland from 1906–1925. Hunting for marine 

mammals by Eskimos is described. Whaling vessels still hunting for bowhead whales in the area; in 

summer of 1911 author informed Captain Adam of the Morning of Dundee that he had found a dead 

whale with his harpoon in it during the last summer (p. 156). Author hunted bowheads with the 

natives at Repulse Bay during the summer of 1923 and assisted in the capture of two whales (p. 

420). Entrapment of narwhals by ice accompanied by the mass killing of these animals by natives is 

recorded. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION–history; MORTALITY–killed/lost; WHALING– history, eastern Arctic, shore whaling stations, native, catch. 

FREUCHEN, PETER, and FINN SALOMONSEN. 

1958. The arctic year. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 438 p. 

Account of the Arctic, its boundaries, inhabitants and history. Describes how man, animals and 

plants exist under arctic conditions, from the months of January through December. Marine 

mammals of the region are discussed, including information on the bowhead whale such as 

distribution and migration (p. 56, 179, 219, 319, 345); food and feeding (p. 106, 259, 275); predation 

(p. 345); mating (p. 219); and whaling (p. 106–107, 345). In the eastern Arctic, the Eskimo 

inhabitants of Atangmik attempted to kill a bowhead in March of 1956 by firing hundreds of rounds of 

shot into its body, but they did not succeed. Badly wounded, the whale sought the open sea and 

disappeared. It reappeared about a month later at Napassok where the natives pursued and killed it 

with rifle shots. In 1955, 19 bowheads were taken by the Eskimos at Point Barrow (p. 107). 

WESTERN ARCTIC, EASTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; DISTRIBUTION-eastern Arctic; NUTRITION-food and feeding; POPULATION-abundance, mortality; 

PREDATORS & COMPETITORS-killer whale; REPRODUCTION-mating; WHALING-eastern Arctic, western Arctic, 

commercial, native, gear, catch. 

FRIEND. 

1853. (News item). The Friend, a monthly journal devoted to temperance, seamen, 

marine and general intelligence. Vol. 10. Honolulu, Hawaii. 

[The Siberian Eskimos at the village of Uelen captured one bowhead whale during 1851. Copy seen 

by J. R. Bockstoce.] 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 
142 

FROST, KATHRYN J., and LLOYD F. LOWRY. 

1981. Feeding and trophic relationships of bowhead whales and other vertebrate 

consumers in the Beaufort Sea. Alaska Dep. Fish & Game, Fairbanks, 99701, 

Contract No. 80–ABC–00160 with Natl. Mar. Fish. Serv., Natl. Mar. Mam. Lab., 

Seattle, WA 98115. Final Rep. dated April 1, 106 p. plus 3 appendices. 

[Unpublished.]. 

Authors conducted a study on the feeding and trophic relationships of bowhead whales in the 

Beaufort Sea. Field work funded by the NMML was conducted in the vicinity of Beaufort Lagoon from 

September 4–19, 1980, and additional work (funded by OCSEAP) was carried out near Pingok 

Island from August 20 through September 1, 1980. Their results incorporated an extensive literature 

search and analyses of stomach content data from bowheads, ringed seals, and arctic cod, collected 

over the past 6 years by the ADF&G and the NMML. 

Dominant prey of bowheads are euphausiids, principally Thysanoessa raschii, and calanoid 

copepods, primarily of the genus Calanus. The authors discount the presumed importance of benthic 

organisms in the bowhead diet. Most feeding apparently occurs on the feeding grounds during 

summer, while little occurs during winter and the spring migration. Estimates of consumption rates 

were generated for the major consumers. 

Available information suggests that competition and food limitation are very real possibilities among 

the major vertebrate consumers in the Beaufort Sea. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION–habitat; NUTRITION-food; feeding behavior; PREDATORS & COMPETITORS–food competition among 

vertebrate consumers; WHALING–western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, native, catch. 

GALLAGHER, H. [HUGH] G. [GREGORY]. 

1974. Etok: a story of Eskimo power. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York. 269 p. 

Biography of Charles Edwardsen, Jr.–Etok is his Eskimo name–of Barrow, Alaska, describing his 

interest in Eskimo rights and his efforts on behalf of his people to obtain passage by the United 

States Congress of the Alaska Native Land Claims Settlement Act of 1971. Edwardsen describes 

bowhead whaling at Barrow (p. 31–39) providing a native's evaluation of the traditional hunt and why 

it is so important to the Eskimo people and their culture. Etok has wounded two, but does not yet 

have a whale to his credit. In a discussion of the “1961 duck war”, an undated Tundra Times article 

by Guy Okakok is cited (p. 109) as stating “The people will need the ducks now because whalers 

didn't get whales this spring.” [This information, however, is incorrect as other reliable sources report 

that four bowhead whales were taken at Barrow in the spring of 1961.] 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration; MORPHOLOGY–length, weight (estimates?); POPULATION–abundance (observed), mortality, struck 

and lost; WHALING-Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, native, crews, gear, utilization. 

GAMO, MASAO. 

1980. The band structure and acculturation among the Eskimos of Nelson Island, 

Southwestern Alaska. In Y. Kotani and W. B. Workman (editors), Alaska native 

culture and history, Senri Ethnol. Studies No.4, p. 157–167. Natl. Mus. Ethnol., 

Suita, Osaka, Japan. 

A brief description of the band structure and acculturation among the Eskimos on Nelson Island, 

including brief remarks concerning the villages of Point Hope and Anaktuvuk Pass. In 1962, 12 

whaling crews were formed at Point Hope (p. 165.). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crews. 
143 

GEIST, OTTO WM. 

1937. The spy in the igloo. Alaska Sportsman 3(12)8–9, 22. 

Account of whale hunting ceremonies and customs practiced by Eskimos on St. Lawrence Island as 

observed by the author. He joined a whaling crew in the spring and they struck two large whales 

which were lost when they went under the heavy pack ice with all the gear. [The year, not stated in 

the article, was determined to be 1928 by consulting Geist and Rainey, 1936, and Keim, 1969]. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, struck and lost; WHALING–western Arctic, Bering Sea, native. 

GEIST, OTTO WILLIAM, and FROELICH G. RAINEY. 

1936. Archaeological excavations at Kukulik, St. Lawrence Island, Alaska; preliminary 

report. Univ. Alaska, Fairbanks, Univ. Alaska Misc. Publ. 2, (U.S. Public Works 

Admin. Proj. No. 417), 391 p. 

O. W. Geist conducted archaeological research on St. Lawrence Island from 1926–35. Describes 

artifacts associated with bowhead whaling, including explanations how whale bones used in 

construction of dwellings and equipment, and utilization of baleen for a variety of purposes. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY; WHALING–western Arctic, Bering Sea, native, gear, photography & drawings, utilization. 

GELLER, M. KH. 

1957. Ob okhrane morskikh promyslovykh sverei Chukotki (Conservation of maritime 

game of Chukot). In Okhrana priorody i zapovednoe delo v SSSR (Conservation of 

natural resources and the establishment of reserves in the USSR). Akad. Nauk 

SSSR, Komissiya po Okhrane Prirody, Byull. 2:98–117. In Russian. (Transl. by Isr. 

Program Sci. Transl., 1960, p. 98–107; avail. U.S. Dep. Commer., Natl. Tech. Inf. 

Serv., Springfield, VA, as OTS 60–51170). 

When we were at Naukan during the summer of 1954, the natives reported they catch whale calves 

weighing up to 10 tons. They avoid hunting humpback and gray whales because to do so from small 

boats is dangerous. B. A. Zenkovich (1938) records that the natives mostly hunt bowheads and take 

up to ten per year. The instructor of the Chukot Okrug Executive Committee, M. Baiko, informed us 

that many whales usually enter the vicinity of Mechigmen Bay. The methods for hunting them, 

however, is most primitive. The hunt is conducted by four to five whale boats, each with a crew of 

five to six men. The hunters pursue a whale all day, shooting at it all the while. Although up to 1,000 

cartridges may be used on a whale, it would often escape. Since they are generally unable to take 

large whales, they usually catch young ones weighing 4–5 tons. Many wounded whales escape but 

perish at sea beyond recovery by the hunters. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION; POPULATION–mortality, whaling (struck and lost); WHALING–western Arctic, Bering Strait, native, gear, 

catch, crews. 
144 

GERACI, J. R., and MARK C. KEYES. 

1970. Veterinary medicine in the conservation and management of marine mammal 

resources. J. Am. Vet. Med. Assoc. 157(11):1970–1974. 

Population of the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas stock of Balaena mysticetus (cited from Red 

Data Book) is estimated at 1,000 animals. Scientists are now able, within certain limits, to maintain 

marine mammal populations at levels at which their future is much less threatened, concurrently 

providing a means of livelihood for the hunters. Through their unique training, veterinarians can 

provide valuable service to the conservationist and resource manager of marine mammals. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION–Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas; POPULATION–abundance, REGULATION & CONSERVATION–

conservation, management. 

GERACI, J. R., and D. J. ST. AUBIN. 

1982. Study of the effects of oil on cetaceans. Univ. Guelph, Guelph, Ont., final report, 

272 p. (Avail. from U.S. Dep. Interior, Bur. Land Manage., Washington, D.C.). 

(Unpublished). 

Studies on the effects of petroleum on cetaceans included detection, avoidance, effects on skin, 

measurement of phospholipid synthesis, effects of inhalation of vapors, ingestion, baleen fouling and 

on structural properties of baleen. Baleen samples from bowheads were not obtained in time for 

testing. The authors observed (p. 266) hydroxyapatite crystals in right whale samples but other 

reports indicate that the baleen of the bowhead lacks calcium salts (Pautard, 1963). The study found 

that for fin, gray and right whales, prolonged exposure to petroleum substances did not seem to have 

any dramatic effects on the integrity of baleen plates. However, exposure to petroleum causes some 

leaching of trace elements, particularly from the fibers, and may also remove lipids from both the 

matrix and the fibers of baleen, but how the loss of these components might affect the plates was not 

determined. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

MORPHOLOGY–baleen; PATHOLOGY–pollution, effects. 

GILBERT, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 

1967. The confederate raider Shenandoah. In Morgan B. Sherwood (editor), Alaska and 

its history, p. 188–207. Univ. Washington Press, Seattle, Wash. (Reprinted from J. 

West, Apr. 1965, 4:169–182). 

The confederate warship Shenandoah cruised into the North Pacific in the last days of the Civil War, 

raiding the whaling fleet, destroying ships, and capturing prisoners. This article summarizes the 

raider’s journeys from literature review and historic records. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–history, western Arctic, commercial, gear. 

GILLILAND, JERRY. 

1978. Letter to J. Michael Holloway, Subsistence Department Rural Cap, Anchorage, 

Alaska. Tundra Times, April 5, 15(14):5. 

The writer, Special Assistant to the Secretary [U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs] 

describes the objectives of a study to determine the effects of the whaling quota, recently imposed 

by the International Whaling Commission on Alaskan whaling villages, on the diet of these people. 

The results of the study will be presented at the June meeting of the IWC in June in London. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ANTHROPOLOGY–Eskimos, nutrition; REGULATIONS & CONSERVATION–regulation; WHALING–western Arctic, native, 

utilization. 
145 

GLASS, R. L., HEIDI A. TROOLIN, and ROBERT JENNESS. 

1967. Comparative biochemical studies of milks–IV. Constituent fatty acids of milk fats. 

Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 22:415–425. 

Fatty acid analyses of milk fats of 57 species representing 11 orders of mammals are 

presented...Milk fat from the three orders of marine mammals [including Cetacea: Balaena 

mysticetus] that were studied contained high concentrations of C16:1 and poly-unsaturated acids 

with 20 or more carbons. (From author's abstract.) 

GENERAL 

PHYSIOLOGY–integument, glands (milk). 

GLOVER, RICHARD. 

1982. Arctic profiles: Moses Norton (ca. late 1720s–1773). Arctic 35(3):440–441. 

Moses Norton was commander of Prince of Wales’ Fort, at Churchill, for the Hudson’ s Bay 

Company, from 1762 until his death in 1773. “On his northward voyages Norton had doubtless seen 

bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) and in 1765 he persuaded his employers to start a whaling 

business at Churchill. The result was disastrous. A century later bowheads were profitably hunted 

around Southampton Island, but Norton ordered his whalers to stay south of Marble Island. There 

only four whales were caught in 7 years, and in 1772 the Company cancelled this enterprise after 

losing over 20,000 pounds sterling.” 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–eastern Arctic, commercial, shore station, catch. 

GODSELL, PHILIP H. 

No date. The “Blond” Eskimos and the “created want.”. In Ernest F. Gates (compiler and 

curator of the Jib–boom Club, New London, Conn.), Journal of whaling voyage of 

ship Mentor of New London, Capt. William M. Baker, kept by James A. Rogers, 3 p. 

Reynolds Printing, New Bedford, Mass. (Reprinted from Natural History, and book 

Arctic Trader and other writings–1938; Forest and outdoors, Aug. 1938, 34:231–

234, 254.) 

Account of impact of American whalers headquartered at Herschel Island on Mackenzie delta 

Eskimos and subsequently the Copper Eskimos to the east during the late 1800s and early 1900s. At 

the time, a large bowhead whale, which would provide around a ton of whalebone, was worth 

approximately $10,000 and vessel catches often ran as high as 50 and more for a two–year cruise. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, eastern Beaufort Sea, commercial, catch. 

GOLD, JOY P. 

1982. Sources of information on whales, dolphins, porpoises and whaling. Natl. Mus. Nat. 

Hist., Smithson. Inst., Washington, D.C., 42 p. 

A list of selected references divided into several categories as follows: technical, popular, whaling, 

bibliographies, and sources of additional information. No index of any type is provided, but several of 

the publications concern the bowhead whale. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

BIBLIOGRAPHY–technical, popular, whaling. 
146 

GRANT, CAMPBELL. 

1969. Captain Scammon of Scammon Lagoon. Pac. Discovery 22(5):1–10. 

Biographical sketch of Charles Melville Scammon. “For nearly 2 years Captain Scammon appears to 

have been on a standby basis with the Revenue Service as he again went whaling in 1862–63 as 

master of the William C. Nye. The summer cruise was to the Okhotsk Sea for bowhead whales and 

was notably unsuccessful. Only three whales were taken and the 4th mate and two seamen were 

killed by whales.” (p. 4.) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–western Arctic, Okhotsk Sea, commercial, catch. 

GRAY, J. E. 

1864a. Note on the bonnet of the right whale. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1864:170–171. 

Mr. Holdsworth presented to the British Museum a specimen which had been received from an 

American whaler, as “the bonnet of Balaena mysticetus, obtained at the Sandwich Islands.” This 

individual and Dr. Gray concluded that it was a natural growth previously observed on Balaena

antarctica and Balaena antipodarum. The author stated “I believe that a prominence of the kind is to 

be observed in all the species of the genus Balaena, although I have never seen them described as 

hard and horny...” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY–structure. 

GRAY, J. E. 

1864b. Notice of the atlas and other cervical vertebrae of a right whale in the Museum of 

Sydney, New South Wales. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1864:587–594. 

Author examined photographs sent to him by the director of the Museum of Sydney of several 

unidentified cetacean bones. Some cervical vertebrae were judged to belong to Balaena but 

comparison with those of the Greenland specimen of Balaena mysticetus in the Museum of the 

Royal College of Surgeons collection revealed that it was not the same species. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–museums, skeletal parts. 

GREEN, PAUL, aided by ABBE ABBOTT. 

1959. I am Eskimo – Aknik my name. Alaska–Northwest Publ. Co., Juneau, Alaska, 86 p. 

Reprinted serially in Alaska Sportsman, Nov. 1958–Aug. 1959. 

An autobiography in the simple language of the author, an Eskimo who lived his early life at Kivalina 

and Point Hope, includes descriptions of bowhead whaling at Point Hope, timing of migration, 

construction and use of gear, the cutting up and division of whales among the villages, storage of 

meat in underground ice cellars, utilization of whale products, and the importance of the whale in 

Eskimo life. Also identifies locations and personnel of two commercial whaling stations operated by 

non–natives in the early 1900s near Point Hope. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration, timing; WHALING–Chukchi Sea commercial shore stations, native, crews, gear, utilization. 
147 

GREENE, CHARLES R. 

1981. Underwater noise from oil industry activities in the Beaufort Sea. (Abstr.) J. Acoust. 

Soc. Am., Suppl. 1, 70 (Fall):S84. (abstr. MM10.) 

Noises from oil industry activities in the Canadian Beaufort Sea were recorded during the summers 

of 1980 and 1981 while bowhead whales in the area were observed and their behavior noted. (From 

author's abstract.) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–acoustics, reactions; DISTRIBUTION–Canadian Beaufort Sea, sightings; FIELD & LABORATORY 

TECHNIQUES–acoustics. 

GROOM, HARRY. 

1963. In quest of the great bow–head whale. Anchorage Daily News, September 21, 

Alaska Living and TV Week: 2–8. 

Account of a hunt for bowhead whales at Barrow, Alaska, in spring 1963. Twenty–one crews were on 

the ice, spread out along 20 miles of lead about 7 miles offshore. Author accompanied Jimmie Arey's 

crew when they pursued a large cow with a calf. Only one of four bombs fired struck the big female 

but it misfired and the animal escaped. In 1963 it cost about $1,000 to support a crew for the season, 

and the following prices prevailed for equipment: shoulder or darting gun, $200; bomb, $10; and 

harpoon, $12. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling, struck and lost; REPRODUCTION–calf; WHALING–western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, 

crews, gear, photographs. 

GUNN, WADE W. 

1973. Bibliography of the Naval Arctic Research Laboratory. Arctic Instit. No. Am. Tech. 

Pap. No. 24, 176 p. 

A bibliography of writings resulting from work conducted at, or assisted by, the Naval Arctic 

Research Laboratory at Barrow, Alaska. It contains 2,426 entries dating from 1948 to 1972. (From 

author's abstract.) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
148 

HADLEY, JACK. 

1915. Whaling off the Alaskan coast; from the journal of Jack Hadley of Point Barrow, 

Alaska. Bull. Am. Geogr. Soc. 47(12):905-921. 

Account describing whaling for bowheads in the western Arctic by whaling vessels and in the vicinity 

of Point Barrow and Herschel Island by shore stations manned by Eskimos and white men during the 

late 19th and 20th Centuries. In 1888, Joe Tuckfield travelled in his boat to Key Point, about 30 miles 

east of Herschel Island, where he caught one small whale. The following spring he made a quick trip 

to Point Barrow with the information that he had seen hundreds of whales near Herschel Island 

during the previous fall. This news encouraged whale vessels to sail to the eastern Beaufort Sea for 

the first time in 1889. In 1892 and 1893, the greatest season on record, over 300,000 pounds of 

whalebone were secured and the price dropped from $5 a pound to $2 a pound. Fall whaling was 

first tried at Point Barrow in 1907. About 20 boats, 8 owned by the station and the remainder by the 

natives, were actively whaling. At least one whale was caught on Oct. 15, 1911 as indicated by the 

caption for Figure 9. Two whales were captured during spring whaling in 1912, one on May 8 and 

one on May 20, as indicated in the captions for Figures 3 and 4. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; DISTRIBUTION-former; IDENTITY-nomenclature; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, Beaufort 

Sea, commercial, native, shore stations, catch, crews, photographs. 

HALEY, NELSON COLE. 

1951. Whale hunt. The Travel Book Club, London, 319 p. (Orig. pub. 1950.) 

Narrative of a sperm whaling voyage by the author in the ship Charles W. Morgan from 1849 to 

1853. Haley’s description of polar whales (p. 14-16) was lifted from the body of the original text in 

order to furnish an introduction to the prey of whalemen as they saw the animals. Although 

bowheads were not hunted during his voyage of 1849-1853, the author did hunt them on later 

cruises to the arctic and his physical description stems from personal observations. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

IDENTITY-common name; MORPHOLOGY-structure; NUTRITION-food, feeding behavior; WHALING-western Arctic, 

commercial, catch. 

HALL, DANIEL WESTON. 

1861. Arctic rovings: or, the adventures of a New Bedford boy on sea and land. Pub. by 

Abel Tompkins, Boston, 171 p. (Reprinted by William R. Scott, Inc., N.Y., 1968, and 

edited by Jerome Beatty, Jr., 144 p.). 

Author signed on as sailor aboard the whaler Condor at the age of 15 years for a cruise to the 

Okhotsk Sea. During a second cruise to the Okhotsk Sea he and another youth deserted ship 

because of ill treatment by the captain and they spent the winter living in a Siberian village before 

being rescued the following summer. Brief description of whaling practices and of species hunted, 

including the bowhead. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-when hunted; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-brief descriptions species hunted; 

DISTRIBUTION-Okhotsk Sea; WHALING-history, western Arctic, commercial, catch. 
149 

HALL, E. RAYMOND, and KEITH R. KELSON. 

1959. The mammals of North America. The Ronald Press, New York, N.Y., 2 vols., 1083 

p. 2nd Ed., authored only by E. R. Hall, was printed in 1981 by John Wiley & Sons, 

New York, N.Y., 1181 p. 

A key to North American mammals, including Balaena mysticetus. Presents very brief description of 

the species, general distribution, mates in late summer; have one young after gestation period of 

about 9-1/2 months; and food consists of crustaceans, mollusks, and plankton. Total length to 65 

feet, length of skull is approximately 40 percent of total length of animal and has about 360 plates of 

baleen, the central ones being the longest (up to 12 feet long.) (p. 840.) Second edition is even more 

brief, lacking much of the above information. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

DISTRIBUTION-world; IDENTITY-nomenclature; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-museums, skeletal part; 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements, structure; NUTRITION-food; REPRODUCTION-gestation, mating. 

HALL, EDWIN S., JR. 

1981. Cultural resource site potential. In Cultural resources in the mid-Beaufort Sea 

region, a report for the North Slope Borough’s coastal zone management plan, p. 4-

86. Alaska Coastal Manage. Program, Anchorage, Alaska. 

Primarily a survey of the known cultural resources of the mid-Beaufort Sea coast through 

ethnoarchaeological studies wherein archaeological data are illuminated by the recollection of 

individuals who inhabited and created the historic sites. Faunal remains including whale bones and 

whaling artifacts were located and identified at several locations on Pingok and Thetis Islands and 

Niglik, an early day trading center near the mouth of the Colville River. Numerous references to 

researchers and literature on the area are presented in Table 5 and in the bibliography at the end of 

the paper. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY-artifacts; SKELETAL REMAINS; WHALING-history, western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, native, gear, 

photographs. 

HALL, J. D. 

1981. Monitoring bowhead whales in the Beaufort Sea. (Abstr.) In Acoustical Society of 

America. 1981. San Diego workshop on the interaction between man-made noise 

and vibration and Arctic marine wildlife, February 25-29, 1980, p. 66. Unpub. rep. by 

Acoust. Soc. Am., [Washington, D.C.], for Alaska Eskimo Whaling Comm., Barrow, 

AK 99723. 

A proposal by Global Marine Services, Inc. to develop a bowhead whale monitoring system for the 

Beaufort Sea OCS lease area using trained beluga whales, Delphinapterus leucas, to detect the 

presence of bowheads through use of the belugas' sonar and hearing. “Upon detection, the belugas, 

with a telemetry and cine-acoustic package and cues to swim close by, ... would ... photograph and 

record the bowhead whales.” (From author's abstract.) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-Beaufort Sea; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-census, acoustics, activity recording with telemetry 

and cine-acoustics. 
150 

HAMLET, O. C. 

1906. Letter from captain O. C. Hamlet to the Secretary of the Treasury, September 11, 

1906. Historical files of the Public Affairs Div., U.S. Coast Guard, Washington, D.C. 

[Cited by D. L. Noble and T. R. Strobridge, 1977, p. 10.]. 

Reported that a dead whale was sighted near the village of Point Barrow. The Thetis “steamed out to 

get the carcass as food for the natives and returned with it and grounded it off the village.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality (whaling?), utilization (by natives). 

HAMMOND, KATHERINE A. GREEN. 

1980. Fisheries management under the Fishery Conservation and Management Act, the 

Marine Mammal Protection Act, and the Endangered Species Act. Prepared for the 

U.S. Marine Mammal Commission, Washington, D.C. 52 p. and appendices A-K 

(various pagination). (Avail. U.S. Dep. Commer., Springfield, VA. 22161, Natl. Tech. 

Inf. Serv. Publ. PB 80-180-599.) 

The report recommends steps to take to ensure that fishery management plans developed in the 

future are ecologically sound and fully consistent with the Acts the author examined [see title]. 

On page H-7, a list titled “Descriptive information for Marine Mammals in the U.S. Fishery 

Conservation Zone” presents the following information on Balaena mysticetus: 

Distribution: Arctic, Chukchi, Bering, Beaufort Seas. 

Councils: NP (North Pacific). 

Food items: Copepods, amphipods. 

Relative abundance: Endangered. 

References: 3, 4, 13, 18 [listed on p. H-17, H-18]. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-Chukchi, Bering, Beaufort Seas; NUTRITION-food; POPULATION-abundance. 

HAMPTON, N. E. 

1967. Covering an oomiak for whaling. Alaska Sportsman 33(1):47-48. 

Author describes preparation of ooguruk (bearded seal) skins and how they are sewn together and 

attached to the wooden frame of the Eskimo oomiak (boat) prior to the bowhead whaling season at 

Barrow, Alaska. The hides of five or six large ooguruk, or from seven to nine if they are smaller, are 

selected. The oomiaks around Barrow are usually about 20 feet long, although some are 30 feet 

long, and six feet wide across the center. “This year [1966] three beautifully covered oomiaks were 

brought back to the village of Barrow bearing the colorful whale flags of their proud owners, Harold 

Itta, Donald Nusinginya and Bert Okakok. Only when a whaling crew has successfully captured a 

whale may these flags be flown by the captain of the whaling crew.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crews, gear, catch. 
151 

HANNA, G. DALLAS. 

1920. Mammals of the St. Matthew Islands, Bering Sea. J. Mammal. 1 (3):118-122 . 

Results of a 6-day survey in July 1916 for the Biological Survey of the Department of Agriculture with 

notes on 11 species, including the bowhead whale, Balaena mysticetus. “The bones of this species 

are exceedingly abundant on all beaches. A pair of mandibles 19 feet long were found in the center 

of the long north shore beach and vertebrae by the hundreds were observed; some were far back 

from the high tide mark, half buried in the tundra, and others showed fresh and white among the drift 

logs. Two skeletons lay bleaching on the south shore abreast of Pinnacle Island.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-former, present; SKELETAL REMAINS-beachcast. 

HANSEN, DONALD J. 

1982. An oil sensitivity and vulnerability index on marine mammals occurring in Alaska. 

(Abstract). Proc. Alaska Sci. Conf. 33:41. 

“Potential effects of oil spills on marine mammals were compared using 14 sensitivity factors and 7 

vulnerability factors related to species morphology, physiology, behavior, trophic relations, population 

size, distribution, and reproductive rate. The sensitivity-vulnerability indeces [sic] represent an effort 

to compare between marine mammal species the risks of individual and substantial population 

interaction (vulnerability) with oil spills and compare the significance of the interaction (sensitivity) in 

causing harm to individual animals and its significance to the population. The analysis indicates sea 

otter are at greatest risk of significant adverse impacts from oil spills occurring in Alaska waters. Fur 

seal were ranked most vulnerable to oil spill contact while bowhead whales were rated the most 

sensitive populations.” (From author’s abstract) 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

PATHOLOGY-pollution, petroleum. 

HANSON, W. C., H. E. PALMER, and B. I. GRIFFIN. 

1966. Radioactivity in northern Alaskan Eskimos and their foods, summer 1962. In

Norman J. Wilimovsky and John N. Wolfe (eds.), Environment of the Cape 

Thompson region, Alaska, Chapt. 41, p. 1151-1164. U.S. Atomic Energy Comm., 

Washington, D.C. 

As part of a study of radionuclide concentrations in arctic ecosystems in 1962, the authors discuss 

the food habits of Alaskan Eskimos. Table 2 shows whales [species undesignated but bowhead and 

belukha usually eaten] comprised 2 percent of the total diet of adult Eskimos at Kotzebue, less than 

0.1 at coastal villages, 1.3 at Pt. Barrow, 1.5 at Little Diomede, 3.4 at Pt. Hope, with a mean of 1.6 

percent. Data from Table 3 shows average weekly food consumption, including whales, of adult 

Eskimos of various ethnic groups by season in grams and calories. Seal or whale oil was consumed 

by about 90% of the adult natives as a supplement to dried meat. Cesium-137 was not detected in 

several samples of whale flesh. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ANTHROPOLOGY; PATHOLOGY-pollution; WHALING-western Arctic, natives, utilization. 
152 

HARGRAVES, DARROLL. 

1972. Eskimo food hunt. Alaska 38(10):36-37, 54-55. 

The author, a school teacher in the village of Kivalina, accompanied local Eskimos on a one-day 

hunting and fishing trip. He described Oscar Swan’s fishing trap as being “... covered with wire 

screen, while the funnel, or entrance, was made of baleen, the material found in the “sieve” of 

bowhead whales.” (Photograph number 4, p. 37.) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, utilization (baleen). 

HARINGTON, C. R. 

1966. Extralimital occurrences of walruses in the Canadian Arctic. J. Mammal. 47(3):506-

513. 

A gap exists between the grouped records of occurrences for walruses in the eastern and western 

Arctic. The core for this gap is the solid ice which remains throughout the year in Queen Maud Gulf, 

Victoria Strait, M'Clintock Channel, Viscount Melville Sound and M'Clure Strait. “White whales 

(Delphinapterus leucas), narwhals (Monodon monoceros) and bowhead whales (Balaena

mysticetus) are also separated by this area.” (p. 512) 

EASTERN ARCTIC, WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-factors limiting. 

HARRISON, RICHARD J. 

1969. Reproduction and reproductive organs. In Harald T. Andersen (ed.), The biology of 

marine mammals, Chapt. 8, p. 253-348. Academic Press, New York and London. 

Literature review summarizes information about reproduction of marine mammals, including 

Greenland right whale. Mating occurs in early spring and the young are born in December after a 10-

month gestation. The young are about 4 m long at birth and lactation lasts about a year. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

REPRODUCTION-anatomy, embryology, mating and fertilization, gestation, lactation, parturition. 

HARRISON, R. J. (ed.). 

1977. Functional anatomy of marine mammals. Vol. 3. Academic Press, London, New 

York, San Francisco. 428 p. 

Consists of papers by several authors on the anatomy of marine mammals, three of which include 

information on the bowhead. See W. M. A. DeSmet (p. 59-80), A.D.G. Dral (p. 81-134), and F. C. 

Fraser (p. 1-44). 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

MORPHOLOGY-anatomy. 
153 

HARRISON, RICHARD J., and JUDITH E. KING. 

1965. Marine mammals. Hutchinson Univ. Library, London, Gt. Britain, 192 p. 

Describes the appearances of marine mammals, their classification, distribution, and some aspects 

of their anatomical and physiological adaptations to life in the sea. Balaena mysticetus, once 

abundant, is thought to be increasing again in Hudson Bay and the Bering Sea. Included in its 

description is information that adults are large, often over 50 feet in length; the blubber is the thickest 

of almost all whales; more than 300 plates of baleen present on each side of the mouth, the longest 

(central) reaching 15 feet in the largest individuals, and over a ton of baleen can be obtained from a 

large animal (p. 22, 53-54.). 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

DISTRIBUTION-history; GROWTH-physical maturity; IDENTITY-taxonomy; MORPHOLOGY-measurements, structure; 

PHYSIOLOGY- integument, respiratory, cardiovascular, alimentary, excretory, hearing and sound production, nerve; 

POPULATION-abundance. 

HARRY, GEORGE Y., JR. 

1973a. Aboriginal whaling in the United States. National Marine Mammal Laboratory, 

Northwest and Alaska Fisheries Center, National Marine Fisheries service, NOAA, 

7600 Sand Point Way N.E., Seattle, WA 98115. (Submitted to the Scientific 

Committee, International Whaling Commission, Cambridge, England, in June 1973 

as document SC/25/23.) (Unpublished) 

A brief historical review of bowhead whaling by commercial interests and coastal Eskimos in arctic 

and sub-arctic waters. Data are lacking on populations, but recent observations suggest that the 

Canadian bowhead stock is slowly recovering and the Bering Sea population is estimated to number 

between 1,000 and 3,000 animals. Alaskan Eskimos whaling for bowheads is discussed, including 

equipment used, seasons hunted, numbers of whales caught annually at Barrow, Point Hope and 

Wainwright since 1850, utilization of whale products, importance of bowheads to the Eskimos, and 

problems associated with the killing of this endangered species by natives. Also discusses the 

hunting of beluga and gray whales by Eskimos including annual catch data for the two species and 

their importance to the hunters for subsistence. Briefly acknowledges killing of bowheads and gray 

whales by the USSR, but little data is presented. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

BEHAVIOR-migration; DISTRIBUTION-former and present; IDENTITY-description; MORPHOLOGY-measurements; 

POPULATION-abundance; WHALING-history, circumpolar, commercial, native, catch (bowhead, beluga, gray), utilization. 

HARRY, GEORGE Y., JR. 

1973b. Field notes on a trip to Alaska in April 1973. Unpubl. Rep., U.S. Dep. Commer., 

Natl. Oceanic Atmos. Admin., Natl. Mar. Fish. Serv., Northwest Alaska Fish. Cent., 

Natl. Mar. Mam. Lab., Seattle, WA, 91 p. 

Author, Director of the Marine Mammal Laboratory (now the National Marine Mammal Laboratory), 

made a field trip to Alaska during April 16-27, 1973, with the primary purpose of collecting 

information on the subsistence hunt for bowhead whales by the Eskimos. The trip included visits to 

the whaling villages of Barrow and Point Hope where the author, accompanied by Dr. Floyd E. 

Durham, conducted interviews with several people that were recorded in notes and on tape. People 

in Kotzebue were also interviewed who provided information on whaling at Kivalina and Point Lay. 

The report contains much valuable information on bowhead whaling, both past and present, by 

Alaskan Eskimos. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling, struck and lost; WHALING-Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, history, commercial, native, 

catch, crews, gear, utilization. 
154 

HARRY, GEORGE Y., JR. 

1982. Marine mammal research. In Rae R. Mitsuoka, Roger E. Pearson, Laura J. 

Rutledge, and Samuel Waterman (editors), Fifty years of commitment: 1931-81, the 

Northwest and Alaska Fisheries Center, p. 63-80. U.S. Dep. Commer., Natl. 

Oceanic Atmos. Admin., Nat'l. Mar. Fish. Serv., NOAA Tech. Memo. NMFS F/NWC34. 

An historical account up to the present of the U.S. government administration and management of 

the northern fur seal and other marine mammals and personnel involved in all activities, including 

events leading to establishment of the present day National Marine Mammal Laboratory. Research 

on bowhead whales began in 1973 and continues today (p. 74-75) . 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION-management, research. 

HARVEY, NANCY. 

1978. John Denver film on Alaska seems sound, some drawbacks. Tundra Times, March 

15, 15(11):10. 

John Denver’s “Alaska: The American Child,” includes footage on the Eskimo hunt for bowhead 

whales including the endless waiting, the pursuit, the landing and butchering, and then the festival 

that follows. The whaling scenes at Point Hope were filmed two and one-half years ago. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Bering and Chukchi Seas, native, catch, crews, film, gear, utilization. 

HEALY, M. A. 

1887. Report of the cruise of the revenue marine steamer Corwin in the Arctic Ocean in 

the year 1885. U.S. Gov. Print. Off., Washington, D.C., 102 p. 

Account of annual cruise of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service vessel to patrol the Bering and Chukchi 

Seas. “A large number of whales had been taken by the natives on the Siberian coast during the 

season, while on the Alaskan coast scarcely a whale had been seen.” (p. 15.). “The whaling fleet 

during the past year consisted of forty-two vessels, thirty-three of which visited Bering Sea and Arctic 

Ocean. The catch of the season by vessels of the New Bedford fleet is one hundred and twenty-two 

bowhead and twenty-three right whales, and that of the San Francisco fleet is one hundred bowhead 

and twelve right whales. This makes a total catch (not including the Amethyst) [which had not yet 

arrived back in San Francisco] of two hundred and fifty-seven whales, which compares very 

favorably with the work of previous seasons, and is more evenly distributed than has heretofore been 

the case.” (p. 19). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, native, gear, catch. 
155 

HEALY, M. A. 

1889. Report of the cruise of the Revenue Marine Steamer Corwin in the Arctic Ocean in 

the year 1884. U.S. Gov. Print. Off., Washington, D.C., 128 p. 

Describes (p. 24) the migration pattern of bowhead whales, keeping close to ice pack as they move 

up the Asian side in the Bering Sea and Strait, across to the American shore in the Arctic and then 

northward and eastward. Notes a whaling station had been established eight miles from Pt. Barrow, 

and mentions the need for a whaling relief station because numbers of whalers have been lost in the 

vicinity (33 vessels in 1871, 13 in 1876, one in 1882, one in 1883). Includes names of various 

whaling vessels seen (photos of some), photos of whaling station at Pt. Barrow and of a native 

house of whalebone. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; DISTRIBUTION; WHALING-history, western Arctic, shore stations, photographs (stations, vessels). 

HEIZER, ROBERT F. 

1943. Aconite poison whaling in Asia and America an Aleutian transfer to the New World. 

Smithson. Inst., Bur. Am. Ethnol. Bull. 133, Anthropol. Pap. 24:415-468. 

Discusses the use of aconite poison whaling by natives of the northern Bering Sea region that 

“...may add another item to the steadily mounting number of cultural elements and complexes which 

can be demonstrated to have entered the New World from Asia via the Aleutian Island chain.” (p. 

453). Contains information on whaling practices of the Bering Sea natives, residents of Japan and 

the Greenland Eskimo. Of particular interest is a discussion of Thiercelin (1866) and the experiments 

conducted by him using strychnine and curare as a means of hunting the large cetaceans. 

WESTERN ARCTIC, EASTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-reaction to poison; IDENTITY-nomenclature; WHALING-western Arctic, eastern Arctic, Bering Sea, north Atlantic 

Ocean, commercial, native, gear, catch, drawings. 

HEIZER, ROBERT F. 

1944. Artifact transport by migratory animals and other means. Am. Antiq. 9(4):395-400. 

A brief summary of the literature recounts transport of artifacts by whales [although species not 

specified, includes bowheads], seals, fish, and migrating land mammals. Figure 32 contains 

drawings of two Eskimo harpoon points recovered from the bodies of dead [bowhead] whales taken 

in the sea of Spitsbergen and in Davis' Strait [reported by Wm. Scoresby, 1820, v. 1:8; and O. T. 

Mason, 1902:264.] Author proposes that this specialized method of transmission of portable material 

culture forms, a process of “diffusion” which has been, until recently, little emphasized, might be 

called “thero-portation,” or “migratory animal artifact portation.” 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

ARCHAEOLOGY-harpoons; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-museums; POPULATION-mortality, struck and lost; 

WHALING-circumpolar, commercial, native, gear. 
156 

HEIZER, ROBERT F. 

1967. Early day whale hunting with poison. Alaska Sportsman 33(7):19-20. 

Cites Thiercelin (1866) that on August 1, 1864, in the Okhotsk Sea, a polar whale (Balaena

mysticetus) was struck by a bomb lance containing a poison and died within a few minutes of being 

wounded. “On July 2, 1865, at East Cape, Bering Sea, a polar whale already held with two ordinary 

line harpoons died ten minutes after being shot with a poison bomb lance. Three days later, in the 

same location, a polar whale received two poison bomb lances and died 18 minutes later in 

convulsions.” Although tests indicated that poison bombs effectively killed various species of whales, 

the technique was never widely accepted by the whalers. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-former; PATHOLOGY-poison; POPULATION-mortality (whaling); WHALING-western Arctic, Okhotsk and 

Bering Seas, commercial, catch, gear. 

HEIZER, ROBERT F. 

1968a. A bibliography of aboriginal whaling. J. Soc. Bibliogr. Nat. Hist. 4(Pt. 7):344-362. 

Contains 233 references dealing with the techniques of hunting whales, rituals or myths about 

whales, and whale-hunting equipment used by primitive peoples. The term “primitive” as used here 

means “...preliterate, non-Europeanised peoples who hunted whales by methods developed or 

learned prior to the diffusion of commercial ship whaling which seems to have been devised by the 

Basques about A.D. 1100 through the stimulus of contacts with the Normans of the French Atlantic 

coast. The Eskimos of the Bering strait region have hunted whales for at least two thousand years. 

This is the oldest archaeologically documented whale-hunting, but whether these people were the 

originators of whale-hunting we do not know.” Contains numerous references concerning bowhead 

whaling. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

BIBLIOGRAPHY-whaling by primitive peoples. 

HEIZER, ROBERT F. 

1968b. Migratory animals as dispersal agents of cultural materials. Science 161;914-915. 

Migratory animals that have been hunted by aboriginal people may survive attacks and the projectile 

weapons which remain embedded in their bodies may later be recovered by other hunters. The 

author cautions that “ ... such exotic artifacts can be mistakenly attributed to cultural contact between 

distant human groups unless archaeologists are aware of this special kind of diffusion process.” 

(From author’s abstract.) 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

ARCHAEOLOGY-artifacts; WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, native, gear. 

HELLER, CHRISTINE A. 

1966. Meat consumption at three northern Eskimo villages. In Norman J. Wilimovsky and 

John N. Wolfe (eds.), Environment of the Cape Thompson region, Alaska, Chapt. 

37, p. 1109-1111. U.S. Atomic Energy Comm., Washington, D.C. 

At Pt. Hope, Alaska, the major portion of meat protein eaten by Eskimos was from sea mammals, 

particularly seal, ugruk (bearded seal), and bowhead whale. On a year-round basis at the village 

level of living, average daily meat consumption per person at Pt. Hope was about 438 g, at Noatak 

approximately 429 g, and at Shungnak about 573 g. Fresh baleen whale meat has 25.8 g of protein 

for 100 g of meat, edible portion. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ANTHROPOLOGY; WHALING-western Arctic, natives, utilization. 
157 

HELMERICKS, CONSTANCE, and HARMON HELMERICKS. 

1948. Our summer with the Eskimos. Little, Brown and Co., Boston, Mass., 239 p. 

The authors traveled down the Colville River and along the Arctic coast in 1945. They observed (p. 

206) that no whales were killed at Pt. Barrow in summer 1945 and that 4-6 are needed annually to 

support the more than 600 natives and their dogs. They also noted (p.208) that the extreme 

shallowness of water many miles off Beechey Point makes whaling impracticable there. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, native, catch, utilization. 

HENDERSON, DAVID A. 

1972. Men & Whales at Scammon’s Lagoon. Dawson’s Book Shop, Los Angeles, Calif., 

313 p. 

Detailed historical account of gray whaling which began as secondary to the capture of bowhead, 

right, and sperm whales in the Pacific Ocean. Contains comments on bowhead whaling, whaling 

grounds, and whaling vessel cruises, including numerous references and data sources. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-former; WHALING-history, western Arctic, commercial, catch. 

HERBERT, WALLY. 

1976. Eskimos. Collins, Publ., Franklin Watts, Inc., Glasgow, London, Toronto, New York, 

128 p. 

General description of Eskimos and their culture, including the hunting of bowhead whales and other 

marine mammals. Contains photographs of a whaling umiak, Eskimos pulling a bowhead up on the 

ice for butchering, and the celebration marking the end of the whaling season. 

WESTERN ARCTIC, EASTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, eastern Arctic, native, photographs. 

HERMAN, PAMELA. 

1978a. “There is little doubt that the subsistence life style of these Arctic communities is 

being severely threatened at this time. Tundra Times, Fairbanks, AK, May 31, 

15(22):3. 

A brief summary of a report on the effects of this year’s quota on whale hunting upon communities 

on St. Lawrence Island and the arctic coast produced by [W.] Jack Peterson, sociologist at the 

University of Alaska-Anchorage for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. “Peterson and his assistants 

conducted extensive interviews of families in the whaling villages to determine how much whale 

meat the villagers usually eat and what alternative sources of animal protein exist to make up the 

deficit which will result from the 12 whale quota. This whaling season, only 9 whales were actually 

taken.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION-management; WHALING-western Arctic, native, catch, utilization. 
158 

HERMAN, PAMELA. 

1978b. Whalers go to London. Tundra Times, Fairbanks, AK, June 14, 15(24):1. 

Eight whalers and at least three attorneys for the whalers will attend a crucial meeting of the 

International Whaling Commission in London, England, during the last week of June. The Eskimos 

want to bring three points before the IWC: 1) Based on data collected during a whale count, they 

believe the IWC should simply do away with the quota; 2) the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission 

continues to object to the jurisdiction of the IWC over subsistence whaling and feels that it should be 

separated from regulation of commercial whaling; and 3) if it cannot be lifted before the fall hunt the 

AEWC believes the quota should be amended from 18 struck and 12 landed, to a minimum of 22 to 

26 whales. This is based upon a count of 1,726 animals before June 1 and an estimate that the 

population numbers 2,264 whales. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-abundance, recruitment; REGULATION & CONSERVATION-management, regulation; WHALING-western 

Arctic, native. 

HERMAN, PAMELA. 

1978c. Slope villages grow unhappy with Beaufort. Tundra Times, Fairbanks, AK, June 

14, 15(24):6, 12. 

Residents of North Slope villages oppose further oil development until protection is provided the 

endangered bowhead whale. Environmental organizations in Alaska have also objected to the 

proposed oil and gas lease sale in the Beaufort Sea, and have requested that the entire Beaufort 

Sea area be designated a National Marine Sanctuary. “Whales avoid noise. The bowhead whale 

migration route passes through the proposed Beaufort lease area. The area is one of their essential 

feeding grounds. Hunting is restricted in order to preserve this arguably endangered species.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-reaction to noise, migration; DISTRIBUTION-factors affecting, oil exploration; NUTRITION-feeding ground; 

WHALING-western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, native. 

HERMAN, PAMELA. 

1978d. Slope natives oppose arctic oil lease sale. Tundra Times, Fairbanks, AK, July 26, 

15(30):1, 6, 12. 

Eskimos and environmentalists presented a united front in Fairbanks, Alaska, against oil exploration 

at Point Thompson on Alaska’s north coast at the first of four hearings on the State’s proposed oillease sale. Among other concerns, some residents stated that “Marine mammals, particularly 

bowhead whales, use the offshore channels in the area and are so sensitive to noise and water 

pollution that hunters fear they would desert the area under development even without a catastrophic 

oil spill.” Additionally, “At the Conference of Elders held in Barrow in May, older hunters told of 

changes in the migration routes and calving areas of bowhead whales following the onset of drilling 

activities in the Mackenzie River Delta north of Canada.” Subsequent hearings will be held at 

Barrow, Nuiqsut, and Kaktovik. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-reaction to noise, migration; DISTRIBUTION-Beaufort Sea, factors affecting, calving areas changed, oil 

exploration; PATHOLOGY-pollution. 
159 

HESS, BILL. 

1982. Whale counters watch rare bowhead calving. Tundra Times, June 9, 19(23):1, 6. 

Observers counting migratory bowhead whales off Barrow, Alaska, apparently witnessed a rare 

bowhead calving. “Shortly afterward, the new whale assumes a slightly diagonal position across the 

larger whale’s tail, which then swims off with the calf in tow.” The International Whaling Commission 

for 1982 “...allowed Alaskan subsistence whale hunters 19 strikes this year, and of which a 

devastatingly low six have yielded whales.” The National Marine Fisheries Service has estimated the 

bowhead population to be a minimum of 2,300 whales. As of May 29, whale counters had apparently 

counted 2,328 animals and, when the final figures have been tabulated, it is possible the total 

population will exceed the earlier estimate. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-maternal; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-census, counting stations; REGULATION & 

CONSERVATION-management, quota; POPULATION-abundance; REPRODUCTION-parturition; WHALING-Bering Sea, 

Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

HJORT, JOHAN, and JOHAN T. RUUD. 

1929. Whaling and fishing in the North Atlantic. Rapp. P.-V. Reun. Cons. Int. Explor. Mer 

56:1-123. 

A discussion of problems of the fishing and whaling industries in the North Atlantic which are mainly 

connected with the distribution and habits of the species of fish and whales of economic importance 

that are found along the slope of the continental shelf. Chapter 1 is on the area west of Greenland, 

chapter 2 is on the area east of Greenland, and chapter 3 is a discussion of general conclusions 

which follow from a comparison of the two areas. Water currents and temperature, ice, plankton, fish 

and whales are briefly discussed in relation to one another. Bowhead whale distribution, catches, 

food and habitat are briefly discussed (p. 13-14, 75-76, 79, 82, 102). The authors cite Scoresby 

(1820) for much of the data on bowhead distribution, food and feeding. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration, relation to other species; DISTRIBUTION-former, factors; NUTRITION-food and feeding; 

WHALING-eastern Arctic, commercial, catch. 

HOEK, W. 

1978. Results of reconnaissance surveys, 1972-1976. In M. A. Fraker, D. E. Sergeant 

and W. Hoek. Bowhead and white whales in the southern Beaufort Sea, p. 97-101. 

Beaufort Sea Proj., Dep. Fish. Environ., Sidney, B.C., Tech. Rep. 4. 

Dates and locations of bowhead and white whale observations, including strandings, are listed. 

Observations include various remarks such as numbers of whales seen, orientation, tags seen, 

calves, and lengths of individual animals. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-movements; DISTRIBUTION-sightings; MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-mortality; 

REPRODUCTION-calves; SKELETAL REMAINS-beachcast. 

HOHMAN, ELMO PAUL. 

1928. The American whaleman. A study of life and labor in the whaling industry. 

Longmans, Green and Co., New York, 355 p. 

General review of the whaling industry with emphasis on the economics of the business. Information 

on bowhead whales, whaling and its products is briefly mentioned sporadically in the text but greater 

emphasis is placed on right whaling. 

EASTERN ARCTIC, WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-when hunted; DISTRIBUTION-history; IDENTITY-description; NUTRITION-food and feeding; WHALING-history, 

western Arctic, eastern Arctic, commercial, gear, catch, utilization, drawings. 
160 

HOHN, E. O. 

1955. Birds and mammals observed on a cruise in Amundsen Gulf, N.W.T., July 29thAugust 16th, 1953. Can. Field-Nat. 69(2):41-44. 

Narrative of a journey made in 1953 on motor schooners North Star and Reindeer from Sach’s 

Harbor on Banks Island to Tuktoyaktuk on the mainland. Extensive ice floes south and southeast of 

Banks Island forced them to make a roundabout journey lasting nearly three weeks as far east as 

Holman Island, and included stops at various points on Victoria Island and mainland shores of 

Amundsen Gulf. While traveling from Sach’s Harbor to a position west of Cape Lampton, Banks 

Island, on 29 July, they passed two bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) traveling along the floe 

edge. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-swimming; DISTRIBUTION-sightings; eastern Beaufort Sea. 

HOHN, E. OTTO. 

1970. Field notes on mammals of the Chesterfield Inlet district of Keewatin. Arctic 

23(1):49-51. 

Notes on mammals observed during a visit to Chesterfield, Promise Island, Baker Lake, and Rankin 

Inlet in 1967. Bony remains of the bowhead whale, Balaena mysticetus, quite old, were seen at Cape 

Silumiut. The Eskimo name for this whale is arvik. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-former; IDENTITY-nomenclature (Eskimo); SKELETAL REMAINS-beachcast. 

HOLLENBECK, CLIFF. 

1977. Agvik! Agvik! Hunting bowhead whales at Barrow in the centuries-old Eskimo 

fashion. Alaskafest, April, p. 20-25. 

Author spent three weeks with a whaling crew on the ice at Barrow, Alaska, and briefly describes the 

capture, cutting-up and distribution of whale parts. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

IDENTITY-nomenclature, Eskimo; WHALING-western Arctic, native, catch, crew, gear, utilization, photographs. 

HOLLOWAY, C. W. 

1970. Threatened vertebrates in northern circumpolar regions. In W. A. Fuller and P. G. 

Kevan (eds.), Productivity and conservation in northern circumpolar lands, p. 175-

192. Int. Union. Conserv. Nat. and Nat. Resour., Morges, Switz., Proc. of Conf., 

Edmonton, Alberta, Oct. 15-17, 1969, IUCN Publ. New Ser. No. 16. 

This list of vertebrates whose survival is in danger includes the Greenland right whale, B. mysticetus, 

as seriously depleted, having been brought to the verge of extinction by whaling up to the end of the 

19th Century. The species probably is increasing in the Bering-Chukchi- Beaufort Sea area and in 

eastern Canadian arctic. The former stock was estimated to be 1,000 whales. Subsistence whaling 

by aborigines is permitted, but the whale has been protected by whaling nations since 1946. 

EASTERN ARCTIC, WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION; POPULATION-abundance; REGULATION & CONSERVATION-regulation. 
161 

HOLLOWAY, J. MICHAEL, M.D. 

1978. Letter to Jerry Gilliland, Special Assistant to the Secretary, Department of Interior, 

Anchorage, Alaska. Tundra Times, March 29, 15(13):2,8. 

The writer, a physician with the Public Health Service for five years in Alaska, expresses concern 

over a nutritional study in whaling villages to be done jointly by Interior, Public Health Service and the 

National Marine Fisheries Service. His criticism centers on a draft questionnaire (dated March 4, 

1978) as developed by Jack Peterson of the University of Alaska that he considers to be quite 

meaningless in terms of medically valid nutritional data. The study is critical to the nutritional welfare 

of the natives since he believes “...that probably 75 percent of protein intake and significant amounts 

of iron, vitamins, and other nutrients still come from locally acquired foods”, and because of the 

current crises involving caribou and bowhead whales. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ANTHROPOLOGY-Eskimos, nutrition; REGULATION & CONSERVATION-regulation; WHALING-western Arctic, native, 

utilization. 

HOLMES, LEWIS. 

1857. The Arctic whaleman; or, winter in the Arctic Ocean: being a narrative of the wreck 

of the whale ship Citizen, of New Bedford, in the Arctic Ocean, Lat. 681⁄210'N, Long. 

1801⁄2W., Sept. 25, 1852, commanded by Thomas Howes Norton, of Edgartown, 

and the subsequent sufferings of her officers and crew during nine months among 

the natives. Together with a brief history of whaling. Wentworth and Company, 

Boston, 296 p. 

Account of a whaling cruise to the Bering and Chukchi Seas; information on whales (species not 

stated) caught, including one dead whale found at sea 10 miles off Plover Bay and whales struck but 

lost; the loss of the ship on the Siberian coast near a native village about 250 miles west of East 

Cape; and the customs and activities of the natives as observed by the survivor’s stay during a 9-

month period there. Whaling by the natives is described (p. 117-118). In early spring of 1853 they 

traveled down the coast to East Cape (Uelen) to increase their prospects for a rescue. While at 

Uelen the natives found and salvaged a dead whale (species not stated) for food (p. 182). The 

second part of the book gives a general history and details on whaling and whale species, including 

only a brief account on the bowhead (p. 256). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality (catch, struck and lost), stranding; WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, commercial, 

native, gear, catch, utilization. 

HOLMES, BOB. 

1964. Englishman is amazed at Barrow’s remoteness. Tundra Times, February 3, 2(9):8. 

The objective of author’s trip was to make a study of the Eskimo culture. He accompanied Al Hopson 

and crew on a walrus hunt [date not given -1963?] during which a large black whale surfaced and 

was fired upon by everybody. The whale either sank or swam away, possibly to die, because it was 

not seen again by the hunters. Since the crew was hunting walrus, it is doubtful that whaling guns 

were carried and the whale most likely was shot with rifles. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling, struck and lost; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, crews, gear. 
162 

HOOPER, C. L. 

1881. Report of the cruise of the U.S. Revenue-Steamer Corwin in the Arctic Ocean, by 

Captain C. L. Hooper, U.S.R.M. November 1, 1880. U.S. Gov. Print. Off., 

Washington, D.C., 71 p. (Treasury Doc. No. 118.) (Also avail. in facsimile reprod., 

1964, The Shorey Book Store, Seattle, WA 98104.) 

Report on the cruise of the Corwin to the Arctic in 1880. Hooper noted that five whales had been 

taken by the Point Hope hunters since the whaling vessels were there last year, and that most of the 

bone had been sold to whalers early this June (p. 27). “During the afternoon of the 26th, we spoke 

several whalers, and had the satisfaction of seeing two of them, the steam-whaler “Mary and Helen,” 

and the bark “Hunter,” each take a whale; the latter an unusually large one, which, it was said, would 

yield one hundred and fifty barrels of oil. The present season has been one of the most remarkable 

on record, not only as regards the number of whales taken, but also as regards their size. They are 

said to average twenty per cent larger than usual. It is possible that there may be some connection 

between this and the fact that the whaling business on the Greenland coast was almost a failure last 

year, owing to the scarcity of whales. It is stated that only thirteen whales were taken by the entire 

Greenland fleet last year. I think the subject one worthy of investigation.” (p. 41). A brief account of 

bowhead whaling, division of the whale products and their utilization is also presented. In a personal 

communication from Hooper to William Windom, June 14, 1881 (U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, 

Alaska File, R.G. 26, National Archives, Washington, D.C.) he noted that the natives on St. 

Lawrence Island had taken a whale during the spring season. (p. 98). 

WESTERN ARCTIC, EASTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-size; WHALING-western Arctic, eastern Arctic, commercial, native, catch, gear, utilization. 

HOOPER, C. L. 

1884. Report of the cruise of the U.S. revenue steamer Thomas Corwin, in the Arctic 

Ocean, 1881. Gov. Print. Off., Washington, D.C., 146 p. (U.S. Senate Exec. Doc. 

no. 204, 48th Congress, first session.). 

Narrative of 1881 cruise to search for the Jeanette and two other whaling vessels which were lost in 

the Arctic ice in 1879. Contains observations on natives, coastal features, sea conditions, vegetation 

and wildlife. While attempting to approach Wrangel Island on August 2, they saw two bowheads in 

the vicinity of 70°15' N lat., 178°21' W long. (p. 54). A skeleton of a bowhead was found on a 

sandbar at the mouth of a river on the island (p. 67). Plate No. 3 (facing p. 106) shows a “Flint Spearhead, found in the blubber of a whale, taken near Herald Island by the bark HELEN MAR, in 1880.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-sightings, skeleton; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-museum, artifact; SKELETAL 

REMAINS-beachcast; WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, native, utilization. 

HOWE, JAMES, and MARTIN DISKIN. 

1980. NOVA’s “Umealit: The whale hunters” wins high praise. Arct. Coastal Zone 

Manage. Newsl. 27:8-10. 

Discusses the making and public reaction to the NOVA film depicting an authentic Alaskan viewpoint 

on the current bowhead whaling controversy. States (p. 8) that three bowhead whales were taken in 

April 1979 at Point Hope. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, film. 
163 

HOWELL, A. BRAZIER. 

1930. Aquatic mammals: their adaptations to life in the water. Charles C. Thomas, 

Springfield, Ill., 338 p. (Reprinted in 1970 by Dover Publ., Inc., New York). 

Discusses the comparative anatomy of aquatic mammals and their adaptations to the aquatic 

environment, based on analysis of studies by many investigators. Most descriptions apply to 

Mysticeti and Balaena, but states (p. 87)... “the plates [baleen] are of fine texture and may reach a 

length of more than 12 feet (bowhead), the ends folding upon themselves at the bottom of the oral 

cavity, but because of their excessive elasticity, they at once spring straight when the mouth is 

opened and pressure upon the blade tips is released.” On p. 258 he quotes Kukenthal (1893) as 

making “...the remarkable statement that in Balaena mysticetus the metacarpus of digit I is not really 

a part of the pollex but represents a prepollex, in spite of the fact that in Eubalaena the same detail is 

provided with two phalanges.” 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

MORPHOLOGY-structure. 

HOYT, ERICH. 

1981. The whale called killer. Elsevier-Dutton Publ. Co., Inc., New York, N.Y., 226 p. 

Contains considerable information on the killer whale, Orcinus orca, including behavior, feeding 

habits, sleeping, mating, hearing and communication, and its interactions with man. Citing Tomilin 

(1957) and Bullen (1948) the author includes Balaena mysticetus among the prey of killer whales (p. 

164). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

PREDATORS & COMPETITORS-killer whale. 

HUGHES, CHARLES C. 

1965. “The Eskimos” from The Peoples of Siberia. Univ. Alaska, Fairbanks, Anthropol. 

Pap. 12(1):1-13. (Transl. of G. A. Menovshchikov, Eskimosy, In M. G. Levin and L. 

P. Potov (editors), Narody Sibiri [The Peoples of Siberia], p. 934-949, Akad. Nauk. 

SSSR, Instit. Ethnogr., Moscow, 1956. In Russian.). 

Describes the Siberian Eskimos of the Chukotski Peninsula from Bering Strait on the north to Zaliv 

Kresta [Cross Bay] on the west, as well as on Wrangell Island, with a listing of the most prominent 

settlements. Whaling was a significant part of these marine mammal hunters’ lives. It remained an 

important aspect of their culture even after the decline of the whale population due to intensive 

hunting by the Americans when the Eskimos were forced to concentrate on walrus and seals for 

food. Also describes formation of hunting crews, rules for division of game, importance of modern 

weapons and trade. Discusses establishment of Soviet administration in the area in 1923, 

reconstruction of the economy, and the formation of organized hunting and trading. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, native, gear, crews, utilization. 
164 

HUGHES, CHARLES CAMPBELL and JANE MURPHY HUGHES. 

1960. An Eskimo village in the modern world. Cornell Univ. Press, Univ. Cornell, Ithaca, 

N.Y., 419 p. 

Ethnological study of Eskimos residing in village of Gambell on St. Lawrence Island during 1940-

1955. Describes migration of bowhead whales and aspects of Eskimo whaling for these animals 

during the spring, including time hunted, equipment used, methods of capturing, catch, utilization of 

whale products, crews and expenses of fielding a crew. Gambell whalers caught five bowheads in 

1940, an unspecified number in 1953, and two in May 1955, one of which was a 60-ton animal (p. 

114, 139-140). Although the bowhead, Balaena mysticetus, has probably always been the species 

most hunted (p. 111), the only other type of whale regularly hunted is the gray or “summer” whale, 

Rhachianectes glaucus [Eschrichtius robustus] (p. 111). One gray was taken in 1953 and one in 

1954 (p. 140.). Only occasionally is a gray whale killed in the summer (p. 129). Whaling apparently 

had been bad during 1940 to 1955 because, although five had been taken during the spring of 1955, 

a very unusual event, it was reported that “...for several years no whales have come near the island”, 

[evidently because of adverse weather and ice conditions]. The number of crews whaling 1940-1955 

was only reported once when 11 boats were out during 1955 (p. 82). Although the village of 

Savoonga was established in 1917, whaling was nonexistent there during the study period (p. 146). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Sea, native, crews, gear, catch, utilization. 

HUNT, WILLIAM R. 

1975. Arctic Passage; the turbulent history of the land and people of the Bering Sea 

1697-1975. Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 395 p. 

Account of the Bering Sea frontier describing its exploration and the exploitation of its rich store of 

natural resources, including the bowhead whale. A brief account of this cetacean includes a physical 

description, its behavior when swimming, feeding and when attacked by man and killer whales. 

Whaling and the value of the fishery is chronicled through the destruction of much of the whaling 

fleet in 1865 by the Shenandoah in the Arctic and the sinking of stone-laden whaling vessels off 

Confederate ports in an effort to blockade the ports (p. 117-158). At Gambell in 1921, the Eskimos 

had 20 good whale boats, two motor boats, and numerous skin boats (p. 308). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-swimming, respiration, feeding, when attacked; IDENTITY-description; NUTRITION-feeding; 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling; PREDATORS & COMPETITORS-killer whale; WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, 

catch, utilization. 

HUNT, WILLIAM R., and CLAUS-M. NASKE. 

1979. A baseline study of historic ice conditions in the Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, and 

Bering Strait. In Environmental Assessment of the Alaska continental Shelf, Final 

Reports of Principal Investigators, Vol. 1, p. 122-534. Outer Cont. Shelf Environ. 

Assess. Program, Boulder, Colo. 

Authors examined records of navigation between 1872-1970 by seamen aboard whaling, trading, 

and government vessels that provided data and observations on natural weather phenomena. 

Information from logbooks of these vessels and particularly from shore observations of the Point 

Barrow, Alaska, station of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service from 1891-1896, provide data on 

bowhead whale catches by several whaling vessels and shore-based whaling catches by two 

commercial companies based at Barrow and by native residents of the village. Catches of other 

species (gray whale, walrus, polar bear) are also noted. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-swimming, migration; DISTRIBUTION-history; MORPHOLOGY-measurements of baleen; MORTALITY-whaling 

(struck and lost); WHALING-history, Bering Strait, Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea, commercial, native, crews, shore stations, 

catch. 
165 

HUNT, WILLIAM R., CLAUS-M. NASKE and ANDREA R. C. HELMS. 

1978. Bering Strait, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas: Historical ice movements, 1865-present. 

(Abstr.). Proc. Alaska Sci. Conf. 27, vol. 1:171-172; vol. 2:195-200. 

Data on historical ice movements in the Bering Strait, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas were obtained 

from whaling logbooks, commercial vessel reports, and U.S. Coast Guard records. Additionally, 

marine mammal, shore ice and shore erosion observations are noted, including names of whaling 

vessels and dates when whales [bowheads] were sighted, captured, and struck and lost. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-sightings; POPULATION-mortality, whaling (struck and lost); WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, catch. 

HUNTER, JOHN. 

1787. Observations on the structure and oeconomy of whales. Philos. Trans. Roy. Soc. 

London 77, Pt. 1:371-450; reprinted by G. Pilleri (ed.), 1981, Investigations on 

Cetacea, 12 (supplement). 

Overview of general knowledge of cetacean anatomy at that time is described. Author states the 

Balaena mysticetus, or large (70 or 80 feet in length, p. 374) Whalebone Whale and others he 

names, were examined by him. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-anatomy. 

HUNTER, JOHN. 

1981. Observations on the structure and oeconomy of whales. In G. Pilleri (editor), 

Investigations on cetacea, 12 (Suppl.). Brain Anat. Inst., Berne, Switzerland. 

Facsimile reprint of Philos. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond., 1787, vol. 77, Part 1, p. 371-

450, pls. 16-23. 

A major study presenting a state of the art review on cetacean anatomy as known at that time by a 

distinguished medical surgeon who was recognized by England as the founder of scientific surgery. 

States that the Balaena mysticetus, or “large whalebone whale”, which is 70 or 80 feet long, was 

believed to be the largest of the large whales (p. 374.). In describing whalebone, author states the 

head he examined was 19 feet long and that some plates of baleen are 14 or 15 feet long and 12 or 

15 inches broad (p. 401.). The location of the skull he examined was not given, but at the time it 

probably was the Museum of the College of Surgeons, London. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-museum; IDENTITY-nomenclature; MORPHOLOGY-anatomy, measurements. 

INTERNATIONAL WHALING COMMISSION. 

1980. Report of the Workshop on Humane Killing Techniques for Whales. Int. Whaling 

Comm., Cambridge, England, Nov. 10-14, Processed Rep., 18 p. [Unpublished] 

Review of current whaling methods and technology employed, followed by the physiology of killing 

and possible use of new methods and developments. The group believed that the methods used by 

aborigines to kill whales would likely result in slow deaths by bleeding. It recommends that 

improvements in the techniques used should be examined as a matter of urgency and suggests that 

this might best be done in the context of the IWC ad hoc Working Group on Management Principles 

for Subsistence Whaling to be held in July 1981. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION-management; WHALING-worldwide, commercial, native, gear. 
166 

IRRIGO, CLARENCE. 

1963. Foreign fishing vessels, zookeeper but no whales, bears at Gambell. Tundra 

Times, June 17, 1(18):6. 

“No whales were taken this spring. A boat struck one but lost it with ropes and sealskin floats. The 

bomb did not go off. Few whales were sighted. Weather was the main factor in not taking and 

hunting of whales. Weather always seems to be bad when whales are running.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-abundance, sightings, mortality, whaling, struck and lost; WHALING-Bering Sea, native, catch, gear. 

ITTA, BRENDA. 

1979. Whale quota hits Eskimo food supply. Tundra Times, January 5, 16(1):3. 

The quota on 1978 bowhead whaling has curtailed both the winter supply of food and the sharing of 

it within the community according to officials in Barrow. The shortage of whale meat is compounded 

by a shortage of caribou in the area. The International Whaling Commission ruled that only 12 

whales could be taken during the year 1978. This was later revised to 14. The Eskimos limited the 

spring hunt to 10 whales and stopped whaling three weeks earlier than usual. However, the fall 

hunting was poor and not enough whales were taken to even meet the quota. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ANTHROPOLOGY-Eskimos, nutrition, culture; REGULATION & CONSERVATION-regulation; WHALING-Bering, Chukchi and 

Beaufort Seas, native, catch, utilization. 

IVASHIN, M. V. 

1974. Soviets participate in International Conference on Whaling. Rybn. Khoz. 

1974(12):75-77. In Russian. (International Economic Relations Transl. on USSR 

Trade and Serv., JPRS 63869, No. 812. Jan. 14, 1975). 

Report on the 26th session of the International Whaling Commission giving the world catch of 

cetaceans during 1973, including 37 Greenland and 178 Pacific gray whales caught by the local 

population of the north. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, natives, catch. 

IVASHIN, M. V., and V. N. MINEEV. 

1978. O sostoyanii zapasov serykh kitov (The state of the gray whale stock). Rybn. Khoz. 

1978(3):15-17. In Russian. (Transl. by S. Pearson, Natl. Oceanic Atmos. Admin., 

Natl. Mar. Fish. Serv., Northwest and Alaska Fish. Center, Natl. Mar. Mammal Lab., 

Seattle, Wash.) 

Although primarily a review of the condition of the gray whale stock of the North Pacific Ocean and 

Soviet Far Eastern waters, the article also mentions that Alaskan natives lose several times the 

number of bowhead whales that are taken. For example, in 1977 26 bowheads were taken, two were 

killed and lost while being towed, and 77 wounded with harpoons went out to sea and were lost. A 

table shows the catch of bowhead whales at the Soviet’s Chukot Peninsula in 1948-1977 and notes 

the catches of fin and humpback whales during several years. In addition, the catch of bowhead 

whales there was: 1972-1, 1973-2, 1974-3, and 1975-2. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling (struck and lost); WHALING-western Arctic, natives, catch. 
167 

IVASHIN, M. V., L. A. POPOV, and A. S. TSAPKO. 

1972. Morskie mlekopitayushchie (spravochnik) [Marine Mammals (handbook)]. Izd. 

“Pishch. Prom.-st'”, Moscow. 303 p. In Russian. (Transl., 1973, 244 p., by Transl. 

Bur., Dep. Sec. State Can., avail. Fish Res. Board Can., Arctic Biol. Sta., Ste. Anne 

de Bellevue, Quebec, Transl. Ser. 2783.) 

The book describes marine mammals of the world from order to species. Part I covers the biology of 

Pinnipedia, Cetacea, and the sea otter. Part II is a review of hunting and processing of commercial 

species, principally in Russia. A very brief handbook-type description of the Greenland [bowhead] 

whale on p. 112 includes size, color, morphology, distribution, and habitat. The bowhead of the North 

Atlantic is covered on p. 146 and that of the North Pacific is on p. 164. The catch of bowhead 

whales by natives of the Chukot Peninsula (U.S.S.R.) is no more than 10 in the best years, and the 

annual catch by Alaskan natives in the region of Point Barrow is 5-8. 

EASTERN ARCTIC, WESTERN ARCTIC 

IDENTITY; MORPHOLOGY; DISTRIBUTION; WHALING-eastern Arctic, western Arctic, natives, catch. 

JACKSON, SHELDON. 

1894. [Third annual] Report on introduction of domesticated reindeer into Alaska. [U.S.] 

Gov. Print. Off., Washington, D.C., 187 p. 

The third annual report by Sheldon Jackson, D.D., U.S. general agent of education in Alaska, to the 

Commissioner of Education, on the introduction of domesticated reindeer into Alaska from Siberia to 

provide the Eskimos with a source of food, clothing, and transportation because their natural food 

supply of bowhead whales and walruses had been greatly reduced by American whaling vessels, 

and dogs require large amounts of food. 

In a report for the village of Cape Prince of Wales by R. M. Thornton and W. T. Lopp to Dr. S. 

Jackson (p. 127-129), they stated “It is a well known fact that the number of [bowhead] whales in 

these waters has been very much diminished by the energetic pursuit of American whalers, and that 

those which remain have become more wary, and are every year going off further and further from 

the haunts of men. The natives tell us that the whale was one of their chief sources of food in times 

past, and the large number of whalebones you see scattered about the village corroborates their 

testimony. But in the season of 1889 they secured only 3 small calves; in 1890, none; and in 1891, 

only 1, not much larger than a well grown beluga.” 

Walrus hunting during the past year was poor because the season virtually lasted only three days 

and only 109 were killed to provide the Eskimos with food and skins for their umiaks. There are 51 

umiaks in the village and each umiak requires an average of at least 4 walrus hides to cover it. 

Other game reported killed during the past year included 19 polar bears, 5 white foxes, 3 red foxes, 1 

mink, and about 45 ptarmigan. Not a single Arctic bear has been seen for years. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration, swimming; POPULATION-abundance; SKELETON REMAINS-around village; WHALING-Bering Strait, 

native, catch, gear (boats), utilization. 
168 

JACKSON, SHELDON. 

1895. [Fourth annual] Report on the introduction of domestic reindeer into Alaska, with 

maps and illustrations, 1894. [U.S.] 53d Congr., 3rd Sess., Sen. Ex. Doc. No. 92, 

Gov. Print. Off., Washington, D.C., 100 p. 

Account of author’s continuing efforts to obtain domestic reindeer from Siberia to provide food, 

clothing and transportation for Alaskan Eskimos. 

At Point Barrow there are two shore whaling stations in charge of white men (p. 16). “During the 

spring [1894] the Cape Smythe Whaling Company (Brower, Gordon, Liebes & Co.) took three large, 

one medium-sized, and some small whales, making 7,700 pounds of marketable bone. Mr. Kelly, of 

the Pacific Steam Whaling Company, secured 11,000 pounds of bone. The captain (M. A. Healy, 

U.S. Revenue Cutter Bear) took on board about 19,000 pounds of whalebone for the two companies, 

which he will take to Unalaska, from whence it can be shipped to San Francisco.” (p. 48). A 

photograph facing page 82 shows a [bowhead] whale on the ice at Point Barrow. 

On August 24, 1894, the Bear anchored off St. Lawrence Island where “Captain Warren and the 

Leary Brothers, who had spent the winter at the whaling station on the island were received on board 

the ship.” (p. 51). 

“At Point Hope is an Episcopal mission and school and two shore whaling stations.” (p. 17). 

On June 29, 1894, the Bear departed Plover Bay for St. Lawrence Island, but stopped at Eutoxia’s 

village [no additional information given]. “Before reaching Eutoxia’s village we passed seven or eight 

native boats filled with men. They had evidently sighted a whale.” (p. 41). 

Also contains information on whaling vessels. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling, catch; WHALING-Bering and Chukchi Seas, commercial, native, shore stations, crews, 

gear, catch, photograph, vessels. 

JACKSON, SHELDON. 

1896a. [Fifth annual] Report on introduction of domestic reindeer into Alaska, with maps 

and illustrations, 1895. [U.S.] 54th Congr., 1st. Sess., Sen. Doc. No. 111, Gov. 

Print. Off., Washington, D.C., 136 p. 

Report of author’s continuing efforts to obtain domestic reindeer from Siberia to provide food, 

clothing, and transportation for Alaskan Eskimos. 

On June 29, 1894, the Bear stopped off the Chukchi village of Indian Point and almost the entire 

population came onboard. Jackson reported that “Prominent among them was Koharri, the most 

influential native in that region. He has a little frame house, filled from floor to ceiling with tobacco, 

flour, and looking glasses, which he has obtained from the whalers, and from which he supplies the 

country for miles around. This man has been known to have as much as $75,000 worth of 

whalebone in his storehouse at one time. He does a business of probably $100,000 a year.” (p. 33). 

Last winter [1894-1895] three whalers spent the winter on St. Lawrence Island. (p. 96). Also contains 

information on whaling vessels encountered. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Bering and Chukchi Seas, commercial, shore stations, native, vessels. 
169 

JACKSON, SHELDON. 

1896b. The Arctic cruise of the United States Revenue Cutter “Bear”. Natl. Geogr. Mag. 

7(1):27-31. 

Brief popular account of services rendered annually by the Bear in the western Arctic with details of 

the 1895 cruise. At Indian Point, Siberia, the principal native of the village is Koharri, a noted trader 

all along the coast. He has a little frame whale-house filled with trade goods obtained from the 

whalers, and he has been known to have as much as $75,000 worth of whalebone in his storeroom 

at one time. Various stops made by the Bear during the entire cruise are noted, including information 

that on August 8 they caught up with the whaling fleet at anchor near Icy Cape, at the southern edge 

of the great Arctic ice pack, where they had been waiting 19 days for the ice to open. After the Bear

lay there for 14 days longer waiting to get farther north, the captain gave up all expectation of getting 

to Barrow and sailed southward on August 22. Plate IV of the article titled “Scene at Point Barrow in 

April” is a photograph of a young bowhead whale pulled up on the ice for cutting up. No information 

is provided with the photograph or in the article as to when the whale was taken, but it probably was 

not landed in 1895, as the Bear did not reach Barrow that year because of the ice. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, native, catch, photograph, utilization. 

JACKSON, SHELDON. 

1897. [Sixth annual] Report on introduction of domestic reindeer into Alaska, with 

illustrations, 1896. [U.S.] Gov. Print. Off., Washington, D.C., 144 p. 

Describes author’s continuing efforts to obtain domestic reindeer from Siberia to provide food, 

clothing, and transportation for Alaskan Eskimos. 

During his annual cruise aboard the U.S. Revenue Cutter Bear, Jackson reported on the heavy ice 

conditions encountered during the summer of 1896. He reported several boat loads of natives came 

out to the ship at South Head, St. Lawrence Bay, and to the north of the point (p. 22). Jackson also 

stated (p. 32) that the government had ordered the refuge station at Point Barrow closed and the 

building and supplies sold to the Pacific Steam Whaling Company. John W. Kelly, manager of the 

whaling station and who had been in the Arctic region for 11 years, boarded the Bear to return south. 

Some information on the behavior of bowhead whales during migration past Point Barrow and Point 

Hope is presented on pages 32 to 33, and 131. Also contains information on whaling vessels 

encountered. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration, responses to pursuit; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, commercial, native, shore stations, utilization, vessels. 

JACKSON, SHELDON. 

1898a. [Seventh annual] Report on introduction of domestic reindeer into Alaska, with 

illustrations, 1897. [U.S.] Congr., 2nd Sess., Sen. Doc. No. 30, Gov. Print. Off., 

Washington, D.C., 124 p. 

Describes author’s continuing efforts to obtain domestic reindeer from Siberia to provide food, 

clothing, and transportation for Alaskan Eskimos. 

Jackson hired John W. Kelly, former manager of the Pacific Steam Whaling Company at Barrow, to 

establish a reindeer purchasing station in Siberia. The station was established at Port Lutke, St. 

Lawrence Bay, on July 13, 1897 (p. 91). Here 14 canoes and 210 natives were employed to unload 

their supplies for the station (p. 81.). 

Also contains information on several whaling vessels active in the Arctic this season. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Chukchi Sea, commercial, shore station, native, gear (vessels, umiaks). 
170 

JACKSON, SHELDON. 

1898b. [Eighth annual] Report on introduction of domestic reindeer into Alaska, with 

maps and illustrations, 1898. [U.S.] 55th Congr., 3d Sess., Sen. Doc. No. 34, Gov. 

Print. Off., Washington, D.C., 149 p. 

In addition to describing the on-going efforts by the author to obtain reindeer from Siberia to provide 

food, clothing, and transportation for Alaskan Eskimos, considerable information is also included 

relative to the government relief expedition for shipwrecked whalers at Point Barrow. Information 

reported includes fact that no whales were taken at Point Hope during the 1898 season (p. 85, 102); 

there are two whaling stations at Point Hope in charge of white men: the Liebes and Company, 

managed by Rustan Nelson and assistants Charles Sandbourne and George F. Tilden, and a 

second run by Captain Peter Bayne and Henry Koenig (commonly known as Cooper) (p. 100-101); 

some insight on whaling by St. Lawrence Island natives provided by missionary V. C. Gambell who 

was stationed there (p. 141-144); and also considerable information on whaling vessels active in the 

area during 1898. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Bering and Chukchi Seas, commercial, shore stations, native, gear, techniques, catch, utilization. 

JACKSON, SHELDON. 

1900. Ninth annual report on introduction of domestic reindeer into Alaska, with maps 

and illustrations, 1899. [U.S.] Gov. Print. Off., Washington, D.C., 261 p. 

Describes author’s continuing efforts to obtain domestic reindeer from Siberia to provide food, 

clothing, and transportation for Alaskan Eskimos. 

At Gambell, St. Lawrence Island, on November 9, 1898 the carcass of a whale [bowhead?] killed 

probably many months ago in the whaling season beached about five miles from the village. “Nearly 

decomposed as it was, the carcass was welcomed by the people as a great find.” (p. 231). 

Ceremonies participated in by Chief Assoone and ten other heads of families, which took place in 

February, March and April, suggest that 11 crews actively whaled here during the spring of 1899. (p. 

191, 210). The hunters struck but lost one whale on April 6; one was found dead in the ice and the 

bone secured; and a small bowhead, which Akulky had struck the day before and was nearly dead 

when found, was taken on May 10. Additionally, two whales floated ashore but the bone had been 

removed [no date given] (page 38, 243, 247). Some additional details on spring whaling is contained 

in a log of activities recorded by W. F. Doty, missionary teacher at Gambell from August 14, 1898 to 

July 12, 1899 (p. 224-256). 

The catch of bowhead whales by Siberian Eskimos as of May 19 was reported for the following 

villages: Indian Point (1 whale), East Cape (1), South Head (1), St. Lawrence Bay (1), and Plover 

Bay (1). At Plover Bay there were at least five native crews whaling. 

Also contains information on several whaling vessels active in the area in 1899, including statement 

that only four whales had been taken by the whaling fleet as of June 20 (p. 38). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling, struck and lost, strandings; WHALING-Bering Sea, commercial, native, catch, crews, gear, 

utilization. 
171 

JACKSON, SHELDON. 

1901. Tenth annual report on introduction of domestic reindeer into Alaska, with maps 

and illustrations, 1900. [U.S.] Gov. Print. Off., Washington, D.C., 169 p. 

Describes author’s continuing efforts to obtain domestic reindeer from Siberia to provide food, 

clothing, and transportation for Alaskan Eskimos. 

No whales were taken at Gambell during the spring whaling season of 1900 (p. 118). Four whales 

were sighted and chased on May 1, but without success (p. 127). Contains some information on 

whaling vessels active in the area during the year 1900. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Bering Sea, commercial, native, catch. 

JACKSON, SHELDON. 

1902. Eleventh annual report on introduction of domestic reindeer into Alaska, with maps 

and illustrations, 1901. [U.S.] 57th Congr., 1st Sess., Sen. Doc. No. 98, Gov. Print. 

Off., Washington, D.C., 218 p. 

Describes author’s continuing efforts to obtain domestic reindeer from Siberia to provide food, 

clothing, and transportation for Alaskan Eskimos. 

Dr. P. H. J. Lerrigo, superintendent of the reindeer station at Gambell for the period July 1, 1900 to 

June 23, 1901, noted in his daily journal that on April 22, 1901 the whaleboats were launched and on 

April 23 ten whaleboats were hunting (p. 119). On May 9 Kowarra captured a whale (p. 120). On 

May 23 Kowarra took his second whale of the season, and Aguchky took one on May 26 (p. 121), 

giving the village a total of three whales for the season. Also contains some information on whaling 

vessels active in the area during 1901. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Bering Sea, commercial, native, catch, crews. 

JACKSON, SHELDON. 

1903. Twelfth annual report on introduction of domestic reindeer into Alaska, with maps 

and illustrations, 1902. [U.S.] Gov. Print. Off., Washington, D.C., 144 p. 

Describes author’s continuing efforts to obtain domestic reindeer from Siberia to provide food, 

clothing, and transportation for Alaskan Eskimos. 

Dr. Edgar O. Campbell, superintendent of the reindeer station at Gambell for the period Sept. 1, 

1901 to June 10, 1902, failed to state in his reports whether or not any whales were taken there in 

the spring. He did mention, however, that “...Mr. Thomas Lopez, in charge of the whaling crew which 

spent the winter here. Mr. Lopez is known as John Thomas among whalemen.” (p. 74). Personnel at 

the commercial whaling station included at least two other people: Tom George, colored, a sort of 

first mate at the station, and Frank Dolberg (p. 85). On May 24 Tom George departed the village on 

the whaling vessel Alexander, on which he signed on as a boat steerer. (p. 85). Also contains some 

information on whaling vessels active in the area during 1902. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Bering Sea, commercial, shore station, native, gear (vessel). 
172 

JACKSON, SHELDON. 

1904. Thirteenth annual report on introduction of domestic reindeer into Alaska, with map 

and illustrations, 1903. [U.S.] 58th Congr., 2d Sess., Sen. Doc. No. 210, Gov. Print. 

Off., Washington, D.C., 192 p. 

Describes author’s continuing efforts to obtain domestic reindeer from Siberia to provide food, 

clothing, and transportation for Alaskan Eskimos. 

The only items of interest regarding bowhead whaling in this report are as follows: Tokpuk, a 

reindeer herder at Barrow, has a frame house here and quite a number of natives trapping and 

whaling for him. In a few years he will be the big “umalik” in this district. Panigeo, also a herder, is his 

son. (p. 58). At Gambell, it was reported that “There being no whale caught here last year 

[presumably 1902], there was little material for the manufacture of liquor...” (p. 68). Also at Gambell, 

John Thomas Lopez, a whaleman, overwintered here (p. 69). Contains some information on whaling 

vessels active in the area in 1903. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Bering and Chukchi Seas, commercial, native, shore station, catch. 

JACKSON, SHELDON. 

1905. Fourteenth annual report on introduction of domestic reindeer into Alaska, with 

maps and illustrations, 1904. [U.S.] 58th Congr., 3d Sess., Sen. Doc No. 61, Gov. 

Print. Off., Washington, D.C., 137 p. 

Describes author’s continuing efforts to obtain domestic reindeer from Siberia to provide food, 

clothing, and transportation for Alaskan Eskimos. 

Contains some information concerning bowhead whaling at two villages. At Gambell (p. 89), Dr. 

Campbell, the missionary there, was asked to weigh a bundle of whalebone for a native which he 

found to weigh 14 pounds [if a bowhead was taken there in 1904 he does not specifically state]. 

“They have a custom here that the man who gets a whale shall give grown people on the beach 

when the whale is landed one or more slabs of bone, the value of which may range from $2.50 (for a 

small slab) to $450 (being the market price of 10 large slabs of whalebone).” (p. 90). At Point Hope 

(p. 111-113) W. T. Lopp, Superintendent of reindeer and schools in northwest Alaska, arranged with 

Henry Konig, better known as “Cooper”, to have materials for the new school building landed at the 

site selected near the whaling stations. He employed George Marlen, carpenter, A. J. Allen and 

Joseph Frairo as his assistants, to erect the building. [Presumably these men were whalemen 

connected with the shore stations there]. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Bering and Chukchi Seas, commercial, shore stations, native, catch (baleen), trade. 

JACKSON, SHELDON. 

1906. Facts about Alaska: Its people, villages, missions, schools. Women’s Board of 

Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church, New York, 58 p. (Orig. publ. 1903). 

General information on Alaskan villages and people. “During the spring of this year (1901) the village 

of Wales fitted out, for hunting walrus, 16 umiaks (skin-covered boats), manned by 144 people. They 

secured 8 small whales [species not stated], 75 walrus were killed.” (p. 55). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Strait, native, gear, catch, crews. 
173 

JACKSON, SHELDON. 

1908. Sixteenth annual report on introduction of domestic reindeer into Alaska, 1906. 

[U.S.] 60th Congr., 1st Sess., Sen. Doc. No. 501, Gov. Print. Off., Washington, 

D.C., 93 p. 

Describes author’s continuing efforts to obtain domestic reindeer from Siberia to provide food, 

clothing, and transportation for Alaskan Eskimos. 

Two comments by Rev. S. R. Spriggs, missionary at Barrow, provide interesting information on 

bowhead whaling at Barrow. To illustrate the trade value of certain items, Rev. Spriggs stated that 

“last fall a man sold a good canoe for a sack of sugar, sugar being a scarce commodity. The sugar 

originally cost about $6 and a canoe costs $50. Mr. Brower values their canoes at about $75 each.” 

(p. 53). Regarding whaling by the local Eskimos, Spriggs noted that “all natives but two are 

dependent on white men for rations or they work on capital and materials furnished by whites. The 

two mentioned that are free from debt are running whaling crews on their own credit.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, crews, gear. 

 

JACOBSON, PAT. 

1977. Kodiak students observe ancient Eskimo whaling arts. Tundra Times, July 6, 

14(27):6. Reprinted from the Kadiak Times. Also reprinted by Alaska, May 1978, 

44(5):A30-A32. 

School teacher Pat Jackson and five students were guests at Point Hope during the whaling season. 

One whale was taken “...a couple of days before we got there...” [the students arrived at Point Hope 

on May 3.] Five whaling crews were hosts for the visitors: Joe Tokshea [sic], Billy Weber, Elijah 

Rock, Henry Nashookpuk, and Herbert Kinnevak [sic]. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

JARDINE, WILLIAM. 

1837. The natural history of the ordinary Cetacea or whales. W. H. Lizars, Edinburgh 

(The Naturalist’s Library, Mammalia, Vol. VI, On the ordinary Cetacea or whales). 

264 p. 

Covers the natural history of all Cetaceans, with a general section on comparative anatomy and 

chapters about 17 genera of whales. Chapter on the Greenland whale (p. 76-93) describes general 

knowledge about the species as taken from literature of other authors. Coverage includes general 

description, bones, hearing, swimming, breaching, respiration, diving, food and feeding, gestation, 

lactation, maturation, maternal behavior, distribution, and history of whaling and description of 

techniques in the eastern Arctic (N. Atlantic). 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-swimming, diving, respiratory, breaching, hearing, maternal; DISTRIBUTION; MORPHOLOGY-anatomy; 

NUTRITION-food and feeding; REPRODUCTION-gestation, lactation, maturation; WHALING-eastern Arctic, commercial. 
174 

JARVIS, D. H. 

1899. Report of First Lieut. D. H. Jarvis. In Report of the cruise of the U.S. revenue cutter 

Bear and the overland expedition for the relief of the whalers in the Arctic Ocean, 

from November 27, 1897, to September 13, 1898, p. 25-103. U.S. Gov. Print. Off., 

Washington, D.C. (Treas. Dep. Doc. 2101; also 56th Congr., 2d Sess., House Doc. 

511). 

Mentions that whaling commences at Point Barrow in mid-April, and very briefly describes how 

native whaling is conducted. The catch by both commercial whaling vessels and Eskimos at Barrow 

in the 1898 season was 42 whales. Photographs show Eskimos on the ice with whaleboats in April 

and June. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-history, western Arctic, commercial, natives, catch, crews, photographs. 

JEFFREY, MICHAEL I., and PAM HERMAN. 

1978. Eskimo whalers will ignore IWC. Tundra Times, July 5, 15(27):1, 3-4. 

Disagreeing with a recommendation by the International Whaling Commission Technical Committee 

for a quota of 24 whales during 1979, the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission delegation walked out 

of the London meeting. So far this year 10 whales have been landed and five struck and lost. The 

whaling captains reported that in four of the five whales struck but lost, they believed that the whales 

escaped without serious injury as the bombs failed to explode. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling, struck but lost; REGULATION & CONSERVATION-management, quota; WHALING-Bering, 

Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas, native, catch, gear, utilization. 

JENNESS, D. 

1923. The life of the Copper Eskimos. King’s Printer, Ottawa, 277 p. (Canadian Arctic 

Expedition 1913-18, Rep. v. 12: The Copper Eskimos (pt. A)). 

The expedition established a base at Bernard harbor near Cape Krusenstern in August 1914, to 

study the Copper Eskimos of the area. A search of Banks Island revealed only one deserted village 

site of 30 houses at the head of the sand spit which forms Cape Kellett. The houses were built of sod 

around a framework of whale bones (p. 46). Whales are very common between the mainland and 

Banks Island, and they have always been hunted by the Cape Bathurst natives. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-history; WHALING-western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, natives, utilization. 
175 

JENNESS, DIAMOND. 

1957. Dawn in Arctic Alaska. Univ. Minn. Press, Minneapolis, 222 p. 

Popular account, based on author’s diary, of his first experiences with Alaskan Eskimos on the north 

coast between Barrow and Demarcation Point while a member of the Canadian Arctic expedition of 

1913-1918 led by V. Stefansson (also known as the Stefansson or Stefansson-Anderson expedition). 

The carcasses of two whales beached near Cape Halkett provided them and their dogs with food 

and the necessary oil, as well as serving as an attraction for fur-bearers they trapped (p. 59, 83, 89-

90). Jenness described the black whale skin (muktuk) as “...tasting like licorice with the consistency 

and springiness of pure rubber.” In describing bowhead whaling the author [incorrectly] stated (p. 

126) that “By 1914 the Alaskan Eskimos had completely abandoned whale hunting except at Point 

Barrow and Point Hope, where a few men still staked their fortunes on it, more from tradition than 

from real necessity.” He reported the capture of one whale at the very beginning of the season at 

Barrow in the spring of 1914 (p. 127), but the lead closed and did not reopen until the whale 

migration had passed. The Eskimos at Barrow whaled for three or four weeks in the spring, and in 

good years they often captured three and even more whales. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, strandings; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea, native, catch, utilization. 

JENNESS, DIAMOND. 

1962. Eskimo Administration: 1. Alaska. Arctic Inst. No. Am. Tech. Pap. No. 10, 64 p. 

Examines U.S. educational, health, and economic programs and policies for Alaskan Eskimos from 

1867 to 1960. By 1914 the fleets of commercial whalers were gone from the Arctic Ocean following a 

decline in numbers of whales and walrus. “Steel-manufacturers and fashion experts had promoted a 

change in women’s “whalebone” corsets, which so depressed the value of baleen that by 1913 only 

one whaling vessel survived to enter the Arctic Ocean, where it was frozen in until the following 

summer. The Eskimos of Point Hope and Point Barrow, who in previous centuries had gained most 

of their livelihood from whaling, set up one shore station in the spring of 1914, but failed to capture a 

single whale [this contradicts the statement made in his book Dawn in Arctic Alaska (1957), where 

he reports (p. 126-127) that one whale was taken at Barrow]. Most of their hunters indeed had 

already abandoned whaling and were seeking a livelihood in another direction.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, commercial, native, catch. 

JENNESS, DIAMOND. 

1964. Eskimo administration: II. Canada. Arctic Inst. No. Am. Tech. Pap. No. 14, 186 p. 

Discusses the impact of the whaling industry on the Eskimos and their lifestyle. Commercial whaling 

in the eastern Arctic included both vessels and shore-stations and many Eskimos were hired to aid in 

the capture of whales. In the western Arctic commercial whaling in the Beaufort Sea (p. 13-14) 

began in 1888, and continued until about 1906 when the price of baleen dropped and the pursuit of 

the bowhead ceased to be profitable. In 1888 an estimated 2,000 Eskimos were inhabiting the 

coastline from the Alaska-Canada boundary to Baillie Island, and the impact of the whaling industry 

on their lifestyle is detailed. By the time bowhead whaling ceased and the whalers departed, the 

Eskimos no longer possessed their ancient skills for whaling and thus ceased to hunt the bowhead. 

The Eskimos then began to base their economy on hunting for white whales and fur-bearers. By 

1930 the population of Eskimos in the area had fallen to about 200. 

EASTERN & WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-eastern and western Arctic, commercial, native. 
176 

JENNESS, DIAMOND. 

1965. Eskimo administration: III. Labrador. Arctic Inst. No. Am. Tech. Pap. No. 16. 94 p. 

Discusses the Eskimos of Newfoundland and Labrador from 1771 to 1962. Basic to their existence 

was the seal, walrus, even whales, not the smaller species only but the mighty bowhead itself. “In the 

nineteenth century the whale fishery was important enough for the Moravians to send out on their 

mission vessel a skilled harpooner from Denmark. For a number of years the capture of from 3 to 5 

whales, and the findings of several more dead, upon the coast is reported each season, but after 

1830 there is very seldom any mention of their having been taken or found.” 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling, stranded; WHALING-eastern Arctic, commercial, native, catch, utilization. 

JENNESS, DIAMOND. 

1967. Eskimo administration: IV. Greenland. Arctic Inst. No. Am. Tech. Pap. No. 19, 176 

p. 

A major study of the administrative and economic history of Greenland from 1721 to 1964. Presents 

historical information on whaling off the coast of Greenland. Author cites Rink (1877, p. 129-130) as 

estimating around 1870 that “The animals killed (by the Greenlanders) amount to about 89,000 

seals, 700 white whales and narwhals, 2 or 3 large whales, besides one or two carcasses of the 

same. Large whales such as the Greenland or right whale naturally carried far greater quantities of 

meat and oil than seals; but by 1870 those monsters, always comparatively scarce, had been so 

depleted on the eastern side of Davis Strait and Baffin Bay, that neither Greenlanders nor Europeans 

troubled to hunt them (Rink, 1877, p. 346).” 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-abundance, mortality, strandings; WHALING-eastern Arctic, history, commercial, native, catch. 

JOHNSON, C. ALAN. 

1961. Letters from our readers: Letter from C. Alan Johnson to the editor. Alaska 

Sportsman 27(12):3-4. 

Author describes his part in the spring whale hunt at Point Hope when Allen Rock took a large whale 

last May. Although he had been on Roy Vincent’s crew for a few days, he was not present when 

either crew struck whales. Four powered oomiaks towed the huge whale killed by Allen Rock to a 

point where [ice] conditions were better for cutting it up. He was with them six miles out on the ice 

one day, however, when the ice broke up and twelve crews had to run for the safety of the shore. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

JOHNSON, DENNIS. 

1977. Controls jeopardize prosperous whaling. Anchorage Times, Anchorage, AK., June 

3, p. 1-2. 

A bountiful kill of bowhead whales this spring is tainted by Eskimo concern that possible controls 

imposed on the hunt by the federal government could jeopardize future whaling. Citing the NMFS in 

Seattle author states that 26 whales ranging from 20 to 55 feet have been killed and retrieved this 

spring. Another whale was killed but lost, and an additional 73 whales were struck and lost. In 

Kivalina, a crew led by Clinton Swan took the village’s second whale in a decade. It was reported 

that two whales were landed by Gambell and Savoonga crews on St. Lawrence Island. In Barrow, 

Simeon Patkopak, who has gotten a whale every year since 1968, so far hasn't killed a whale this 

spring. In 1975, Patkopak killed a 55-foot bowhead. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION-management; WHALING-western Arctic, native, crews, gear, catch, utilization. 
177 

JOHNSON, MARION FISCHEL and WILLIAM F. GUSEY. 

1982. The bowhead whale: Life history and issues. Ecolibrium 11(4):1-9. 

A review largely based upon recent literature describing the life history of the bowhead whale and 

issues concerning this endangered species of importance to the Eskimos, the U.S. Government, the 

International Whaling Commission, scientists, conservationists and the petroleum industry. The 

issues are the threat of extinction of the bowhead whale, Eskimo culture and subsistence, oil and 

gas exploration and exploitation, and international agreements. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

BEHAVIOR-respiration, communication, diving, migration; DISTRIBUTION-present; MORPHOLOGY-measurements; 

NUTRITION-food, feeding; POPULATION-abundance; REGULATION & CONSERVATION-management, regulation; 

REPRODUCTION-gestation, mating; WHALING-circumpolar, history, commercial, native, catch, photographs, utilization. 

JOHNSON, MURRAY L. 

1974. Mammals. In C. A. Wright (ed.), Biochemical and immunological taxonomy of 

animals, Chapt. 1, p. 1-87. Academic Press, London. 

Contains a collection of data provided by biochemistry and immunology with the purpose of showing 

application of these data to the science of taxonomy of mammals. Figure 4a-i (p. 34-42) shows the 

relative electrophoretic mobilities of major mammalian hemoglobins, including results from two 

specimens of Balaena mysticetus (p. 41) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

IDENTITY-taxonomy; PHYSIOLOGY-blood. 

JOHNSON, MURRAY L., CLIFFORD H. FISCUS, BURTON T. OSTENSON, and MYRON L. 

BARBOUR. 

1966. Marine Mammals. In Norman J. Wilimovsky and John N. Wolfe (eds.), Environment 

of the Cape Thompson region, Alaska, Chapt. 33, p. 877-924. U.S. Atomic Energy 

Comm., Washington, D.C. 

A study of marine mammals was made in the Cape Thompson, Alaska, area, primarily in the villages 

of Kivalina and Pt. Hope, in 1959-1961. The report includes data from literature, as well as 

observations by the authors, about various species, including bowhead whale. Discussed are 

distribution of bowhead, hunting areas and methods, utilization by Eskimos, migration time and 

patterns. A correlation of migratory patterns is found for time of appearance of bowhead and the 

arrival of certain sea birds. Only one whale was captured at Pt. Hope in 1959, four in 1960, and two 

in 1961. Total yearly kill in Alaskan waters probably never exceeds 30-40, including those killed and 

lost. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration in relation to other animals; DISTRIBUTION; NUTRITION-food; POPULATION; WHALING-western 

Arctic, natives, catch, gear, utilization. 

JONES, J. KNOX, JR., DILFORD C. CARTER, HUGH H. GENOWAYS, ROBERT S. 

HOFFMANN, and DALE W. RICE. 

1982. Revised checklist of North American mammals north of Mexico, 1982. Occas. Pap. 

Mus. Tex. Tech Univ. 80, 22 p. 

Faunal checklist of all species of Recent mammals (a few of which now may be extinct) in North 

America and adjacent waters occurring to the north of Mexico as recognized in the published 

literature through March of 1982. Balaena mysticetus is listed on page 17. 

EASTERN ARCTIC, WESTERN ARCTIC 

IDENTITY-taxonomy. 
178 

JONES, WILLIAM B. 

1927. The argonauts of Siberia (the diary of a prospector). Dorrance & Co., Philadelphia, 

165 p. 

Popular account of prospecting and trading activities during 1902-1906, on Diomede Islands and the 

eastern part of Chukotsk Peninsula, containing information on life and activities of the Eskimos. 

Author reports Eskimos landed two bowheads at John Howland Bay in 1902 (p. 151), one at Marcus 

Bay in 1903 (p. 157), and one at Little Diomede Island in 1905 (p. 29). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, native, catch. 

JORDAN, RICHARD H. 

1980. Preliminary results from archaeological investigations on Avayalik Island, extreme 

Northern Labrador. Arctic 33(3):607-627. 

Report on archaeological investigations on Avayalik Island near the tip of the Labrador Peninsula 

concerning the Early to Middle Dorset period. Faunal analysis of nearly 1,700 mammalian remains 

indicates an extremely heavy reliance on walrus. Large whale remains are represented by only two 

bones and a number of large baleen strands and probably result from occasional scavenging of 

whale carcasses rather than active hunting. The author concludes there is not sufficient faunal or 

technological evidence to suggest that large whales such as the bowhead were actively hunted. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY; DISTRIBUTION-history; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-artifacts; WHALING-history, eastern 

Arctic, natives, utilization. 

KAPEL, FINN OUTZEN. 

1979. Exploitation of large whales in West Greenland in the Twentieth Century. Rep. Int. 

Whaling Comm. 29:197-214. 

Briefly reviews history of exploitation of large whales in Greenland by Eskimos and European 

whaling activities. During the first decades of the 20th century the bowhead had become scarce and 

had completely lost its importance to the Greenlanders. “Rink (1877, p. 122) stated “During a long 

period it (the whale fishery) has averaged one 'fish' each season. In the 20th century only one or two 

catches of bowheads have been reported (p. 197).” One bowhead was reported seen at an offshore 

oil-drilling site in West Greenland (Mobil, 65°31'N, 54°45'W) during the period July 3-August 31, 

1977 (p. 210). 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-at offshore oil-drilling site; WHALING-eastern Arctic, commercial, native, catch, utilization. 

KAPLAN, SUSAN A. 

1980. Neo-Eskimo occupations of the northern Labrador coast. Arctic 33(3):646-658. 

Archaeological and historical information are examined in a discussion of changing subsistence 

practices and settlement patterns for Labrador Neo-Eskimos from the Thule period through the 19th 

century. (From author’s abstract.) 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY; WHALING-history, eastern Arctic, natives, utilization. 
179 

KASUYA, TOSHIO. 

1972. The current state of the whale population and problems of management. Kogai 

Kenkyu (Pollution Studies), 2(2):17-25. (In Japanese, English translation available 

at Natl. Mar. Mam. Lab., Seattle, Washington 98115). 

Briefly reviews the biology of whales and history of whaling, including status of population for the 

following large whales: right, polar, gray, humpback, blue, fin, sei, smaller sei and sperm. 

“Approximately 1,000 polar whales are said to be in the Arctic Circle on the Bering Sea side. 

Population recovery on the Atlantic side is not progressing. In Alaska, it is reported that several to 

some dozen polar whales are caught by Eskimos each year, and more than an equivalent number of 

whale carcasses are washed away. The necessity for urgent countermeasures was pointed out at 

the 23rd IWC meeting.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-western Arctic; IDENTITY-common name; POPULATION-abundance, mortality; WHALING-western Arctic, 

natives, catch. 

KAVEOLOOK, HAROLD. 

1977. Kaktovik on Barter Island: A brief history of Kaktovik and its schools. Prepared for 

the Education Hearings, First Inuit Circumpolar Conference, June 13-17, Barrow, 

Alaska. 22 p. (Unpublished) 

An ancient Eskimo village had existed at one time on Barter Island, and whale bones in the area 

indicated that the people were whalers. Tom Gordon moved from Barrow to Barter Island to establish 

a trading post there in 1919. “There was no whaling activity until 1964, when the first whale was 

caught. The whaling is restricted to fall time only. No whales ever were sighted in the spring by any 

hunter.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-Beaufort Sea; WHALING-history, native, catch. 

KAWAMURA, AKITO. 

1980. A review of food of Balaenopterid whales. Sci. Rep. Whales Res. Inst. 32:155-197. 

Briefly reviews the food of bowheads as previously presented by other authors. In the eastern Arctic, 

Calanus finmarchicus and euphausiids comprised the main diet of bowheads; in the western Arctic, 

Thysanoessa raschii made up 90.3% of the total volume of food consumed by two female bowheads 

caught near Point Barrow, Alaska. In the Franklin Bay region of the eastern Beaufort Sea, it has 

been suggested that the most probable food items consumed are Calanus hyperboreus, 

Parathemisto libellula, Thysanoessa inermis and T. raschii. 

WESTERN ARCTIC, EASTERN ARCTIC 

NUTRITION-food, feeding behavior. 

KEENE, DONALD. 

1981. Aerial survey consideration for the bowhead whales in the Beaufort Sea. (Abstr.) In

Acoustical Society of America. 1981. San Diego workshop on the interaction 

between man-made noise and vibration and Arctic marine wildlife, February 25-29, 

1980, p. 67. Unpubl.rep. by Acoust. Soc. Am. [Washington, D.C.], for Alaska 

Eskimo Whaling Comm., Barrow, AK 99723. 

Survey strategies are suggested to obtain information on bowhead whales habitat in spite of ice 

coverage and reduced visibility. (From author’s abstract.) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-census, aerial. 
180 

KEIM, CHARLES J. 

1969. Aghvook, white Eskimo. Univ. Alaska Press, College, Alaska, 313 p. 

A biography of Otto Geist, an untrained archaeologist and ethnologist who collected and recorded 

his studies in Alaska for thirty years, by the author, a personal friend of Geist. During his studies on 

St. Lawrence Island, Geist lived and hunted with the Eskimos who bestowed upon him the name 

“aghvook” or “whale.” Describes whaling for bowheads by the islanders, including methods, 

equipment, crews, catches, utilization, and ceremonies. In the spring of 1880, Ungalak caught a 

large whale, landing it in the vicinity of the second point from Gambell (p. 120). Otiyohok, the best 

hunter on the island, took a large whale in the spring of 1929 (p. 175.). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAELOGY-artifacts; WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Sea, native, crews, gear, catch, utilization, photographs. 

KEIM, CHARLES J., and WILLIAM W. BACON III. 

1963. Weapons for the whale eaters. Alaska Sportsman 29(11):24-25, 38. 

Darting and shoulder guns, first introduced by Yankee whalers in the Arctic whaling industry over 

100 hundred years ago, are still used today in the subsistence hunt for bowhead whales by Alaskan 

Eskimos. The present day supplier of these weapons and the bombs they fire is: R. W. Meininger, 

owner of the Naval Company, Doylestown, Pennsylvania. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, native, gear, photographs. 

KEITHAHN, EDWARD L. 

1963. Eskimo adventure. Superior Publ. Co., Seattle, WA., 170 p. 

Author, a school teacher at Shishmaref, Alaska, from 1923-1925, learned that a whale had recently 

[1923?] drifted ashore, near the village and the baleen was sold in Nome for $2,500. (p. 46) Skeletal 

whale bone was sometimes used to make runners for ice skates. (p. 65) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, stranding; SKELETON REMAINS–utilization; WHALING–Chukchi Sea, native, catch (stranding), 

baleen. 

KELLOGG, REMINGTON. 

1931. Whaling statistics for the Pacific coast of North America. J. Mammal. 12(1):73-77. 

The total number of whales landed commercially during the period 1919 to 1929 for the Pacific coast 

of North America is presented on an annual and geographical basis in one table. In 1923, two 

bowheads and one right whale were taken in the Alaskan area. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, catch. 

KELLY, JOHN W. 

1910. Bowhead whaling. The Nome Daily Nugget, Nome, Alaska, Sep. 23, 10(229):3. 

Brief description of bowhead whaling in the Western Arctic by commercial sailing and steam vessels. 

Whales average 100 barrels of oil and 1,000 pounds of bone,. Larger bowheads that yielded 250 

barrels of oil and 4,000 pounds of bone have been caught, but within the last 40 years only two of 

these have been taken, one in 1904 by the Belvedere, Captain Geo. F. Tilton, and the other in 1908 

by the Jeanette, Captain Frank Long. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling; WHALING–Western Arctic, commercial, catch, gear, utilization, products (oil, baleen). 
181 

KENYON, KARL W. 

1958. Walrus and other marine mammal studies at Little Diomede Island, Alaska, May 11 

to June 14, 1958. U.S. Bur. Sport Fish & Wildl., typewritten report, 112 p., 18 figs. 

(Available from U.S. Dep. Commer., NOAA, NMFS, Natl. Mar. Mam. Lab., 7600 

Sand Point Way N.E., Seattle, Wash. 98115). (Unpublished) 

Describes hunting methods, effort, catch and utilization of marine mammals for subsistence by 

residents of Ignaluk, Little Diomede Island. Cetaceans are of minor importance for subsistence and 

comparatively few whales are taken; none were taken during the 1958 study period. The bowhead is 

more rarely taken (p. 82). A hand harpoon with an explosive tip or bomb was carried during boat 

hunting trips. On June 14, 1958 several “black” whales were reported seen at a distance. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; IDENTITY-nomenclature, black whale; WHALING-western Arctic, native, gear, catch. 

KILLITOKTI. 

1963. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): Barrow, June 5. Alaska Sportsman 

29(9):4. (From Fairbanks Daily News-Miner) 

A whale taken yesterday, estimated to be 60 tons, is the biggest taken at Barrow for several years. 

William Leavitt’s crew and Sam Taalak’s crew each fired a bomb into it. This is the second whale this 

spring for Barrow. Neokok’s crew took a little gray whale a couple of weeks ago. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

KING, ANGELA. 

1975. Whales and the whaling industry. Long Range Planning, The Friends of the Earth, 

London, 8(2):89-94. 

Brief review of the history of whaling, including the politics of whaling in recent times. The 60 ft. 

Greenland Right (Bowhead) whales were particularly valuable for their whalebone, which was used 

for many kinds of fashionable clothing, such as bodices, bonnets and bustles. Each whale yielded 

about 1.5 tons of whale bone at 2240 pounds a ton and 25 tons of oil. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-eastern Arctic; WHALING-history, utilization. 

KINNEEVEAUK, HERBERT. 

1949-1976. [Personal record book.] Point Hope, Alaska. (Unpublished). 

This resident of Point Hope, Alaska, annually recorded the names of whaling captains and dates that 

they killed bowhead whales during each year’s spring whaling season from 1949 through 1976, 

when Mr. Kinneeveauk generously permitted me to copy the entire record. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 
182 

KLEINENBERG, S. E., and T. I. MAKAROVA (editors) 

1955. Kitoboinyi promysel Sovetskogo Soyuza (The whaling industry of the Soviet 

Union). Izd. “Rybnogo Khozyaistva”,. Moscow. 118 p. In Russian. (Transl. by Israel 

Program Sci. Transl., 1968 avail. Natl. Mar. Fish. Serv., Office Int. Relations, 

Washington, D.C.) 

Consists of chapters on commercial whaling by various authors. Very little specifically about the 

bowhead whale, but details the history of whaling and the modern whaling industry of the U.S.S.R., 

has a chapter about whale migrations and whaling in the Soviet Far East, and includes technological 

articles about whale flesh and oil. A table of Soviet whaling in the North Pacific, 1932-1954, lists 

catch of 8 Pacific right whales. See also Zenkovich (1955a, 1955b). 

EASTERN ARCTIC, WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-history, eastern Arctic, western Arctic, commercial, catch. 

KLENGENBERG, CHRISTIAN. 

1932. Klengenberg of the Arctic, an autobiography. Jonathan Cape, London, 360 p. 

Edited by Tom MacInnes. 

Klengenberg, a Dane who was originally named Christian Klengenberg Jorgensen, was the first 

white trader in the Coronation Gulf-Victoria Island region. His report on finding blond and blue-eyed 

Eskimos on Victoria Island initiated Vilhjalmur Stefansson’s interest in these people. Klengenberg 

first arrived in the Arctic as a cook and steward on a trading vessel in 1893. He subsequently whaled 

for bowheads on whaling ships, tried “floor” whaling at Point Hope and Barrow, and turned to trading 

when the market for baleen failed. At Point Hope he caught three bowheads in 1894 and three in 

1896 (p. 97-108, 137.). At Barrow he reported that six whales were taken during the spring of 1900 

(p. 165-168.), remarked that there was almost a complete failure of “flaw” whaling there in the spring 

of 1902 (p. 175), and claimed that he did some profitable whaling there in 1904 but failed to state 

how many whales he took (p. 195.). Klengenberg claimed that he began the practice of whaling at 

Barrow during the autumn in 1906 and that it had never been done before neither by whites nor 

Eskimos (p. 241.). [Note: Charles Brower also claims to have instituted autumn whaling at Barrow.]. 

Klengenberg took two whales and three more were killed by the dozen other boats that went out that 

season (p. 242.). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; NUTRITION-food, feeding; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea, commercial, native, 

shore-stations, crews, gear, catch, utilization, photographs. 

KLIMA, MILAN. 

1978. Comparison of early development of sternum and clavicle in striped dolphin and in 

humpback whale. Sci. Rep. Whales Res. Inst. 30:253-269. 

The morphogenesis of the sternum and the clavicle in whales was studied for the first time. The 

mode of development of these structures shows considerable differences between the toothed 

whales (Odontoceti) and the whalebone whales (Mysticeti). The toothed whales are, in this case, 

similar to all other mammals but the whalebone whales differ in mode of development. The 

significance of these findings are discussed. At present nothing is known about the morphogenesis 

of the sternum in whales. Although a few cetacean embryos have been studied, all of them were too 

large to find out anything about the mode of the development of the sternum. Even the smallest of 

them, an embryo of Balaena mysticetus (p. 254) of about 10 cm length, studied by Eschricht and 

Reinhardt (1849), and an embryo of Balaenoptera acutorostrata of 10.5 cm studied by De Burlet 

(1917), had finished the morphogenesis of the sternum, that already had the typical form and 

location as is seen in adult animals. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-museum; MORPHOLOGY-skeleton; REPRODUCTION-embryos. 
183 

KLINEBURGER, CHRIS. 

1962. Trophy walrus. Alaska Sportsman 28:14-18. 

During a hunt in late May for walrus north of St. Lawrence Island, “A large gray whale appeared, 

blew and dived not five hundred yards offshore. The Eskimos paid no attention, as they value only 

the bullhead or black whale.” Author describes the preparation and use of split female walrus hides 

for covering the wooden frames of oomiaks. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

IDENTITY-nomenclature; WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Sea, gear, utilization. 

KLINOWSKA, M. 

1980. A world review of the Cetacea. Prepared for the Convention on International Trade 

in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), Nat. Conserv. Couns., 

London, 390 p. 

A summary of the data on each species in support of the listing of all cetacea on the Appendices of 

the Convention. Each species account, including Balaena mysticetus (p. 1-11), presents data on 

taxonomy, biology, trade, protection status, information on similar species, comments from country of 

origin, additional remarks, and references. Also includes a map for each genus showing the world 

distribution of each species. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

BEHAVIOR-interaction, maternal; DISTRIBUTION-circumpolar; GROWTH; IDENTITY-nomenclature, taxonomy; 

NUTRITION-food; POPULATION-abundance; REGULATION & CONSERVATION-regulation; REPRODUCTION-fecundity, 

lactation, maturation, periodicity; WHALING-eastern Arctic, western Arctic, native, catch, utilization. 

KLINOWSKA, M., and E. GERSLUND. 

1983. The cetacea of West Greenland – Progress report on stage 1 and proposal for 

stage 2. Anatomy Department, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England CB2 

3DY. (Submitted to the Scientific Committee, International Whaling Commission, 

Cambridge, England, in June 1983 as document SC/35/RP4.) 

Four of the nine Daybooks of the Royal Greenland Trade for the northern area were read in full to 

obtain natural history and whaling information on bowhead whales. The Daybooks were for the year 

1800-1801 at Godhavn, Arveprinsens Eiland, Ritenbenk, and Vester Eiland. The data extracted are 

related to the presentation of the same material by Eschricht and Reinhardt (1866). Much useful 

information is presented on the natural history of and whaling for bowheads, including whaling effort 

and animals struck and lost. Information is also presented on catches of white whales, narwhals, 

polar bears, various seals, and an unidentified animal reported only as kiksuk. A very useful 

compilation of terminology encountered in the Daybooks is listed and described in Table 12. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration; DISTRIBUTION–former; MORPHOLOGY–measurements; POPULATION–mortality (whaling); 

REPRODUCTION–parturition; WHALING–eastern Arctic, commercial, shore–stations, catch. 
184 

KOTANI, YOSHINOBU, and WILLIAM B. WORKMAN (editors). 

1980. Alaska native culture and history. Senri Ethnol. Studies No.4, 321 p. Natl. Mus. 

Ethnol., Suita, Osaka, Japan. (Papers presented at the Second Internatl. Sym. 

August 1978, Osaka.) 

Thirteen papers (including an introduction to the subject of the symposium) by Japanese and North 

American authors on ethnological studies of Alaskan natives. Three of the papers (M. Gamo, p. 157-

167; E. S. Burch Jr., p. 253-304; and R. Worl, p. 305-320) contain pertinent information on bowhead 

whaling by Eskimos. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ETHNOLOGY-history; WHALING-western Arctic, history, native. 

KOUTSKY, KATHRYN. 

1981. Early days on Norton Sound and Bering Strait: an overview of historic sites in the 

BSNC Region. Vol. 2: the Wales area. Anthropol. and Historic Preserv. Coop. Park 

Studies Unit, Univ. Alaska, Fairbanks. Occas. pap. No. 29, 65 p., Append., Selected 

biblio., 29 p. 

A brief history and listing (in 8 volumes) of the native historic sites in the Bering Strait and Norton 

Sound regions that summarizes information on settlements gathered from both memory culture and 

written documentation. The report is divided into eight volumes: Shishmaref, Wales, Port 

Clarence/Kauwerak, Nome/Fish River/ Golovin, Koyuk, Shaktoolik, Unalakleet, and St. 

Michael/Stebbins. Early day photographs and captions provide general information on bowhead 

whaling and the cutting up of the carcasses by the hunters at Wales, but no specific data on the 

number or dates of whales landed is provided. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Bering strait, native, gear, catch, photographs. 

KRAUS, SCOTT D. 

1981. Preliminary notes on the occurrence of the north Atlantic right whale, Eubalaena

glacialis, in the Bay of Fundy. Rep. Int. Whaling Comm. SC/33/PS-19:15 p. 

(Unpublished). 

Information obtained on the north Atlantic right whale as a result of aerial and shipboard surveys to 

determine the distribution and abundance of cetaceans in the lower Bay of Fundy, Canada, and the 

Eastport, Maine, region. On page 8 he cites Davis and Koski (1980), as reporting birth rates as low 

as 2.2% from surveys of B. mysticetus in the eastern Canadian Arctic. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-census, aerial, vessel; POPULATION-abundance, size composition; 

REPRODUCTION-fecundity. 
185 

KRISTOF, EMORY 

1973. The last U.S. whale hunters. Natl. Geogr. Mag. 143(3):346-353 plus cover 

photograph. 

Account of a whale hunt by Eskimos at Barrow, Alaska [no year given, presumably in spring 1972]. 

Describes the wait, pursuit, killing, and butchering of bowheads and the equipment used. Twenty-six 

crews took at least eight whales during the season, one of which was lost to the ice when only half 

butchered. The seventh whale of the season was 24 feet long. The author was a member of captain 

Wyman Panigeo’s crew during 17 days of the season. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-when hunted; MORPHOLOGY-measurements; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, 

photographs. 

KROGMAN, BRUCE. 

1981a. Bowhead whale biological studies. (Abstr.) In Acoustical Society of America. 

1981. San Diego workshop on the interaction between man-made noise and 

vibration and Arctic marine wildlife, February 25-29, 1980, p. 59-60. Unpub. rep. by 

Acoust. Soc. Am. [Washington, D.C.], for Alaska Eskimo Whaling Comm., Barrow, 

AK 99723. 

“Methods of improving accuracy and precision of population estimates are discussed, particularly 

with respect to changing environmental conditions. Computer simulation of the effects of data loss is 

one example of precision ascribed to estimates.” Also of interest are comparisons of field sound 

recordings of the bowhead whale, beluga, and bearded seal, and ambient noise levels of the ice 

covered Arctic seas and the more noisy, ice-free Pacific Ocean. (From author’s abstract.) 

EASTERN AND WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-historical; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-acoustics; POPULATION-abundance; 

WHALING-commercial, eastern and western Arctic. 

KROGMAN, BRUCE. 

1981b. Acoustic censusing. (Abstr.) In Acoustic Society of America. 1981. San Diego 

workshop on the interaction between man-made noise and vibration and Arctic 

marine wildlife, February 25-29, 1980, p. 67. Unpub. rep. by Acoust. Soc. Am., 

[Washington, D.C.], for Alaska Eskimo Whaling Comm., Barrow, AK 99723. 

An experiment was conducted during May 15-24, 1979, at Point Barrow, Alaska, using a passive 

sonar device off the ice edge to determine if migrating bowhead whales could be acoustically 

censused. “From this work it was demonstrated that (1) not all bowheads vocalize, as some whales 

were seen but not heard; (2) some whales passed by NMFS [National Marine Fisheries Service] 

observers and were not counted, as they were acoustically followed by the observers without having 

been seen.” (From author’s abstract.) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration, acoustical; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-census, acoustics. 

KULOWIYI, JOHN. 

1963. Savoonga busy walrus hunting. Tundra Times, June 17, 1(18):6. 

About 20 crews with skin boats hunted walrus at Savoonga and about 20 were shot from May 3-9. 

Gambell whalers lost two bowhead whales this spring. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling, struck and lost; WHALING-Bering Sea, native, catch, crews. 
186 

KUYT, ERNIE. 

1974. Bowhead whales in the Beaufort Sea. Blue Jay 32(2):117-118. 

During aerial surveys for sea ducks in May and June of 1972 and 1973, flights followed the major ice 

leads in the southern part of the Beaufort Sea. Two or three bowheads were seen on June 8, 1972 in 

deep water between Baillie Island and Banks Island (approx. 71°N., 127°W.). Between three and five 

bowheads together were sighted on September 13, 1973, halfway between Herschel Island and 

Roland Bay (approx. 69°30'N., 139°W.). “Inhabitants of Herschel Island told me earlier on September 

13 that several bowheads had been in the area, one of which had torn up a seal net in Pauline Cove. 

The hunters indicated they intended to hunt bowhead and for that purpose some beluga hunting 

equipment had been modified. Other than whale hunting at Herschel Island, I know of no other 

bowhead hunting taking place in the Canadian Western Arctic.” A stranded bowhead was found 

about 22 miles northeast of Tuktoyaktuk on August 27, 1973. Upon close examination the whale was 

found to be 54 feet in length with baleen 7 feet long at about two-thirds of the way toward the angle 

of the jaw. About 100 glaucous gulls were concentrated at the carcass but no mammal tracks were 

observed, indicative perhaps of a recent stranding. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-sightings, E. Beaufort Sea; MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-mortality, stranding, 

photographs; PREDATORS & COMPETITORS-scavengers, glaucous gulls. 

KUZ’MIN, A. A., and A. A. BERZIN. 

1975. Raspredelenie i sovremennoe sostoianie chislennosti gladkikh i serykh kitov v 

dal’nevostochnykh moriakh (Distribution and current numbers of right and gray 

whales in the Far-East Seas.) In: Papers of the All-Union Conference, Vladivostok, 

October 1975. Biologicheskie resursy morei dal’nego vostoka (Biological Resources 

of the Far-East Seas). Ichthyol. Comm. Min. Fish. USSR, Pac. Ocean Res. Inst. 

Fish. Oceanogr. [TINRO]. In Russian. (Transl. Aval. Natl. Mar. Fish. Serv., Off. Int. 

Fish., Lang. Serv. Branch, Washington, D.C., 2 p.). 

In 1974 a cruise was conducted in the Okhotsk, Bering and Chukchi Seas from August to October in 

a joint American-Soviet research program on gray and right whales. 

“During the searches, it was confirmed that in the Okhotsk Sea...the main concentrations of 

Greenland right whales were located near the Shantar Islands (Ul’banskii and Tugur Gulfs – 35 

whales) and Pacific right whales further northeast than the Kashevarov Shoal (4-50 whales). Whales 

of various ages were found in the “Ul-banskii” and “Tugur” concentrations. The body dimensions of 

the young whales were half the length of the grown ones. Two young whales five to six meters long 

were found. These data from the cruise of the medium trawler Vitiaz’ (Rovnin 1969) show that births 

of Greenland right whales, living in the Okhotsk Sea, occur from the beginning of May to the middle 

of July. 

Right whales were found again on October 13 in the Bering Straits (two whales) and in the southern 

part of the Chukchi Sea (three whales). All the whales are found in areas with a surface salinity of 

less that 30 %.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION–Okhotsk, Bering and Chukchi Seas; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–census, vessel; 

POPULATION–abundance, size composition; REPRODUCTION–parturition. 
187 

LAEVASTU, TAIVO, and HERBERT A. LARKINS. 

1981. Marine fisheries ecosystems. Its quantitative evaluation and management. Fishing 

News Books, Ltd., Farnham, England, 159 p. 

A summary of research and ecosystem simulation accomplished at the Northwest and Alaska 

Fisheries Center during the last 4 years with the objective of producing a picture of the total marine 

ecosystem for the purpose of better management of the fisheries. The consumption of biota by 

marine mammals in the Bering Sea is presented in Chapter 12 (p. 109-116). Table 13 includes the 

information that the average weight of bowhead whales is 35 tons, 3,000 are estimated to be in the 

North Pacific, and maximum and minimum number of animals and months in the Bering Sea are 

2,500 (3 months) and 200 (8). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

NUTRITION-food; POPULATION-abundance; REGULATION & CONSERVATION-management. 

LANTIS, MARGARET. 

1938. The Alaskan whale cult and its affinities. Am. Anthropol. 40(3):438-464. 

Ritual aspects of whale hunting in the western Arctic by Alaskan natives is described. Contains 

considerable information on practices associated with hunting bowhead whales. Citing Woolfe (in R. 

P. Porter, 1890, v. 8:141) a whale was caught at Point Hope in 1885 (p. 454). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, native, gear, catch. 

LANTIS, MARGARET. 

1940. Note on the Alaskan whale cult and its affinities. Am. Anthropol. (new series) 

42(2):366-368. 

Contains omissions from author’s 1938 paper on this subject plus the addition of some new material. 

“North of the Aleutians, up the west coast of Alaska between the Alaska Peninsula and Seward 

Peninsula, the beluga was hunted in some places, but large whales were not hunted. On Nunivak 

Island, half-way up this stretch of coast, not even the beluga was regularly hunted by modern 

Eskimos, although they were glad whenever they could catch a small whale of any variety in their 

seal-nets.” (p. 367) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Sea, native. 
188 

LARSEN, HELGE, and FROELICH RAINEY. 

1948. Ipiutak and the Arctic whale hunting culture. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Anthropol. Pap. 

42, 276 p. 

Report on excavations at Point Hope, Alaska, for study of the Ipiutak culture. Concludes that Ipiutak 

is the oldest known Eskimo culture, dating to the first or second century A.D. Contains detailed 

description of the two types of Eskimo culture in northern Alaska; the Nunatarmiut or inland Eskimos, 

and the Tikerarmiut or Point Hope Eskimos (the Arctic whale hunting culture). Describes marine 

mammal hunting, including bowhead whaling (p. 27-30), at Point Hope. In 1940, the spring season 

was unusually advanced and the whales arrived nearly a month early. Nine crews succeeded in 

striking 13 whales, of which only 5 were landed. “The season of 1940 was considered very 

successful, although the native narratives record the killing of more whales during the last century. It 

is said that many generations ago bowhead whales passed Point Hope in the fall during their 

southward migration, as well as in the spring, and that at that time there were two whale hunting 

seasons each year. This situation exists at Point Barrow at the present time.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-museums, artifacts; POPULATION-mortality, whaling; 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, utilization. 

LARSEN, THOR. 

1976. Observations of animal life in Svalbard in 1974. Norsk Polarinst. Arbok 1974:211-

220. 

Observations on birds and mammals in Svalbard were collected from 21 expeditions and persons 

during 1974. “Parts of skin and blubber, two whalebones and a few bones from a stranded specimen 

(of Balaena mysticetus) were found on Mistakodden in August (D.B.). One baleen measured 3.40 

metres, indicating that it must have been a big male.” (p. 214.) 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-carcass; MORPHOLOGY-measurements (baleen); POPULATION-mortality, stranding. 

LAWRENCE, MARY CHIPMAN (ed. by Stanton Garner). 

1966. The captain’s best mate: the journal of Mary Chipman Lawrence on the whaler 

Addison 1856-1860. Brown Univ. Press, Providence, Rhode Island, 311 p. 

The journal is an account of seven whaling cruises made by the Addison during the period 1856-

1860, including one (second) cruise to the Gulf of Alaska and Bristol Bay, and two (fourth and sixth) 

cruises to the Arctic Ocean. Daily entries made by Mary Lawrence, wife of Captain Samuel 

Lawrence, report whaling locations and events such as whale sightings, boat lowerings, strikes, 

losses, numbers of whales captured, and amounts of oil and baleen obtained. Numerous other 

vessels sighted and their catches to date were also recorded. Frequent accounts of the weather and 

sea conditions reveal difficulties encountered by whalers during the hunt for bowheads in the Arctic. 

Maps at the beginning of each cruise indicate the general course followed by the Addison. 

Appendices provide information on the oil and baleen obtained during the voyage, crew list, list of 

slops and trade items carried on the vessel, list of identifiable members of the Lawrence and 

Chipman families mentioned in the journal, a glossary of whaling and nautical terms, and a glossary 

of obscure geographical terms. Notes provide additional relevant information for the purpose of 

placing this single whaling voyage in the larger context of the busy Pacific Ocean of the 1850s. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-behavior, migration; DISTRIBUTION-sightings; POPULATION-mortality, whaling, struck/lost, killed/lost; 

WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, history. 
189 

LEET, ROBERT EDWARD. 

1974. American whalers in the western Arctic 1879-1914. M. A. Thesis, Univ. San 

Francisco, Calif. 141 p. (Unpublished.) 

Historical review of commercial whaling for bowheads in the Bering, Okhotsk, Chukchi and Beaufort 

Seas based upon an extensive survey of the literature, including unpublished manuscripts, journals, 

logbooks, and various records in archives. Emphasis is placed upon describing the vessels and 

experiences of their seamen in the Arctic along with noteworthy events; scant information is provided 

on whaling effort and numbers of whales caught. The catch in 1892 for the Grampus and Mary D. 

Hume, after a 2 year voyage, was 38 whales whose bone sold for a half million dollars (p. 49.). 

Competition existed between vessels and shore based companies over catching whales which were 

becoming scarce during the 1890s. A. H. McGregor, captain of the Karluk in 1897, stated “In 1898 at 

Point Barrow alone they struck over 400 whales, only 25 of which were secured. In my time I have 

seen 14 ships with their boats lowered and all fast to whales and not one of them lost.” William 

Macomber, captain of the Thrasher, supported McGregor saying the bowhead was gradually 

exterminated and the whaling stations were the culprits (p. 115.). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-history; POPULATION-abundance, mortality (struck and lost); WHALING-western Arctic, Bering, Okhotsk, 

Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas, commercial, gear, shore stations, catch, utilization. 

LENTFER , JACK W. 

1972. Polar bear--sea ice relationships. In Stephen Herrero (editor), Bears -their biology 

and management, p. 165-171. Int. Union Conserv. Nature Nat. Resources, IUCN 

Publ. New Ser. 23 (Proc. 2nd Int. Conf. on Bear Res. and Manage., Univ. Calgary, 

Alberta, Can., Nov. 6-9, 1970). 

Polar bear occurrence and patterns of movement discussed as related to occurrence and 

movements of the various types of sea ice, with emphasis on observations made off the west and 

north coast of Alaska. Several things attract polar bears to shore fast ice. One is beach carrion which 

includes carcasses of walrus Odobenus rosmarus, bowhead whales Balaena mysticetus, beluga 

whales Delphinapterus leucas, ringed seals Pusa hispida and bearded seals Erignathus barbatus. 

(page 168). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

PREDATORS & COMPETITORS-polar bears (scavengers). 

LENTFER, JACK W. 

1980. Polar bear biology. Acoustical Soc. Amer., San Diego workshop on the interaction 

between man-made noise and vibration and Arctic marine wildlife, February 25-29, 

1980. A report and recommendations, p. 61-62. 

“Polar bears feed primarily on ringed seals, secondly on bearded seals. Hooded and harp seals are 

preyed upon in some locations, and walrus, bowhead, and seals are consumed in the form of 

carrion.” 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

PREDATORS & COMPETITORS–scavenging. 
190 

LENTFER, JACK W. 

1981. Polar bear biology. (Abstr.) In Acoustical Society of America. 1981. San Diego 

workshop on the interaction between man-made noise and vibration and Arctic 

marine wildlife, February 25-29, 1980, p. 61-62. Unpub. rep. by Acoust. Soc. Am., 

[Washington, D.C.], for Alaska Eskimo Whaling Comm., Barrow, AK 99723. 

Review of knowledge about the biology and distribution of polar bears. “Polar bears feed primarily on 

ringed seals, secondly on bearded seals. Hooded and harp seals are preyed upon in some locations, 

and walrus, bowhead, and seals are consumed in the form of carrion.” 

WESTERN AND EASTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality (miscellaneous); PREDATORS & COMPETITION-scavenging. 

LEUNG, YUK M. 

1965. A collection of whale-lice (Cyamidae:Amphipoda). Bull. South. Calif. Acad. Sci. 64 

(Pt.3):132-143. 

An inventory of the collection housed at the Allan Hancock Foundation of the University of Southern 

California which consists of about 9000 specimens from all parts of the world. Specimen number 

CCE 4, Cyamus ceti, was collected from the bowhead whale, Balaena mysticetus, May 11, 1961 at 

Point Barrow, Alaska, by F. E. Durham. [p. 136] . 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

PATHOLOGY-parasites. 

LEUNG, YUK-MAAN. 

1967. An illustrated key to the species of whale-lice (Amphipoda, Cyamidae), 

ectoparasites of cetacea, with a guide to the literature. Crustaceana 12 (Pt. 3):279-

291. 

Whale-lice (Amphipoda:Cyamidae) infest both whale-bone whales and toothed whales. The family is 

composed of five recognized genera with 16 species, excluding two unnamed species from 

Berardius bairdii. A table of cyamids and their hosts is included, which is based on the literature 

together with unpublished information. An illustrated key to the species is presented, as is a guide to 

the literature and a list of references. The bowhead whale, Balaena mysticetus, is host to the whalelouse Cyamus ceti. [p. 281] 

GENERAL 

PATHOLOGY-parasites. 

LEUNG, YUK M. 

1976. Life cycle of Cyamus scammoni (Amphipoda: Cyamidae), ectoparasite of gray 

whale, with a remark on the associated species. Sci. Rep. Whales Res. Inst. 

28:153-160. 

A study based on a series of Cyamus scammoni and the associated species, C. ceti and C. kessleri, 

collected from gray whales, Eschrichtius robustus. The whale-louse, ectoparasite of mysticetes and 

odontocetes, has been known ever since Oniscus ceti of the bowhead or Greenland whale was 

recorded by Linnaeus in 1758. Dr. F. E. Durham reported that he found C. ceti but neither C. 

scammoni nor C. kessleri on the bowhead. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

PATHOLOGY-parasites. 
191 

LIBBEY, DAVID. 

1981. Cultural resource site identification. In Cultural resources in the mid-Beaufort Sea 

region, a report for the North Slope Borough’s coastal zone management plan, p. 2-

28. Alaska Coastal Manage. Program, Anchorage, Alaska. 

Author visited the mid-Beaufort Sea region in the company of a number of former residents and 

made on site determinations of house and ice cellar locations in places where signs of such 

structures no longer exist. The purpose was to bring the oral testimony previously given for The 

Traditional Land Use Inventory for the mid-Beaufort Sea, 1980 (TLUI, 1980) into much sharper 

perspective. Previous interviews that contained incidents of bowhead whales landed by former 

residents during the period 1921-1973 (TLUI, 1980) are repeated and related to the sites where they 

occurred. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY-artifacts; DISTRIBUTION-former and present; MORPHOLOGY-measurements; REPRODUCTION-calf; 

SKELETAL REMAINS; WHALING-history, western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, native, catch, photographs, utilization. 

LILLJEBORG, W. 

1866. Synopsis of the cretaceous mammalia of Scandinavia (Sweden and Norway). In W. 

H. Flower (ed.), Recent memoirs of the cetacea, p. 219-309. Roy. Soc., London. 

Author journeyed to the Zoological Museums of Lund, Copenhagen, Christiania, and Bergen to 

investigate the collections of cetacean skeletons in order to prepare this monograph, a complete 

review of the cetaceans belonging to the Scandinavian Fauna. All available information on the 

systematics and morphology of Balaena mysticetus is reviewed (p. 302-308), drawing largely upon 

W. Scoresby’s detailed description of the bowhead whale, its behavior, reproduction, food, and the 

whale-fishery for this species (p. 249, 251, 283, 294, 299, 300, and 302-308). 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-respiration, diving, maternal; DISTRIBUTION-former; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-museums; 

IDENTITY-description, nomenclature, taxonomy; MORPHOLOGY-measurements, structure; NUTRITION-food; 

REPRODUCTION-mating, fetus, parturition, maturation; SKELETAL REMAINS; WHALING-history, eastern Arctic, 

commercial, catch. 

LINDSAY, GEORGE E. 

1957. Eskimo whaling at Point Barrow. Zoonooz 30(12):3-6. 

An account of bowhead whaling by Eskimos at Point Barrow, Alaska, in the spring of 1953, with five 

photographs by the author. The pursuit, landing, and cutting-in of a bowhead that weighed 30 tons is 

described. One bomb from a darting gun that was thrown from the edge of the ice killed the whale. A 

second bomb was fired from a shoulder gun by another hunter but it missed the whale. In a good 

year, when the inshore leads open right, 20 whales can be taken by Barrow Eskimos. In 1953, so 

many whales were taken (number not stated) that even the hardy Eskimos could not have 

undergone all of the celebrations tradition demanded, so only three separate Nelekatuks were 

sponsored by groups of three or four crews. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, native, gear, catch, photographs, utilization. 
192 

LINDSAY, GEORGE E. 

1967. Gray whales. Pac. Discovery 20(4):18-25. 

Popular account describing the migration, hunting, and census taking of gray whales. “In the Arctic 

the gray whales became the prey of Eskimos, who used much the same techniques as the Indians, 

but in addition they also harpooned them from the ice when they came up in narrow leads to breathe. 

This continues today, although bowhead whales are more commonly taken, and an explosive bomb 

which kills the whale is fired from a shoulder gun. The whales are dragged up onto the ice, the whole 

village hauling on the ropes, and cut up and sledded back to land. I have seen this exciting hunt at 

Point Barrow, and participated in the nelakatuk ceremony which celebrates a successful season. 

Siberian Eskimos catch about 50 gray whales around Kamchatka each summer.” Includes 

photograph of a bowhead being cut up on the ice by Eskimos at Point Barrow, Alaska. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, native, catch, photograph. 

LINDSAY, GEORGE E. 

1968. The Eskimo whalers of Point Barrow. Pac. Discovery 21(2):11-15. 

An account of the capture of a 30-ton bowhead whale by Eskimos at Point Barrow, Alaska. Includes 

a brief review of traditional whaling methods compared with how it is now done in modern times. An 

Eskimo house 1,000 years old, which author and co-workers thawed and excavated at Birnirk, near 

Point Barrow, contained all of the kinds of Stone-Age whale implements which were used until the 

turn of this century. Author also provides a brief description of the bowhead or great polar whale and 

lists several products that were formerly made from the baleen. Author states that the numbers of 

bowheads are gradually increasing but it seems probable that in a few years Eskimo whaling will be 

another one of the lost arts. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

IDENTITY-nomenclature, common name; MORPHOLOGY-size (estimate); POPULATION-abundance; WHALING-western 

Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crews, gear, catch, photographs, utilization. 

LIPTON, BARBARA. 

1977. Yankee woman on an Arctic whaler, 1849. Alaska J. 7(1):50-55. 

Account of a three-year whaling voyage by ship Tiger, commanded by William E. Brewster, which 

sailed from Stonington, Connecticut June 29, 1848. The ship whaled in the Bering and Chukchi Seas 

in 1849 and arrived home May 7, 1851. It was a successful voyage and they returned with 41 barrels 

of sperm oil; 2,629 barrels of whale oil; 21,000 pounds of whalebone; and had previously sent home 

17,000 pounds of whalebone. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, commercial, catch, sketches. 

LIVERSIDGE, DOUGLAS. 

1963. The whale killers. Rand McNally & Co., Chicago, Ill., 192 p. 

Brief, general account of whaling during the present and last century when whaling first became an 

industry. Disasters for the whaling fleet in the western Arctic recounted on pages 138 to 164, 

including destruction of vessels by the Confederate cruiser Shenandoah, and losses resulting from 

storms to ships trapped in the ice. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

WHALING-western Arctic, Bering and Chukchi Seas, commercial, vessels. 
193 

LJUNGBLAD, DONALD. 

1981. Bowhead aerial surveys. (Abstr.) In San Diego workshop on the interaction 

between man-made noise and vibration and Arctic marine wildlife, February 25-29, 

1980, p. 68. Unpub. rep. by Acoust. Soc. Am., [Washington, D.C.], for Alaska 

Eskimo Whaling Comm., Barrow, AK 99723. 

Under aegis of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), aerial surveys were conducted in and about 

a Beaufort Sea oil lease area on the North Slope of Alaska to learn what impact development here 

may have on endangered whales, “...specifically on the bowhead. The results of these surveys 

confirmed that the bowhead whale does pass near and, in one case, inside the oil lease area during 

the fall migration.” (From author’s abstract.) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; DISTRIBUTION-Beaufort Sea; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-census, aerial. 

LOKEN, MARTY. 

1977a. 1977--last year for bowhead-whale hunting? Alaska 43(9):11. 

The number of bowhead whales taken by Alaskan Eskimos was insignificant before 1970 but 

climbed to an average of 29 per year from 1970 to 1975. The U.S. delegation to the IWC asked 

Eskimo leaders to reduce the harvest in 1976, but a record 48 whales were killed and another 35 

were struck and lost. Killing techniques and crews are wasteful. As a result, the IWC approved a 

moratorium on bowhead killing in 1977. The moratorium will create problems for Eskimo culture. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling, struck and lost; REGULATIONS & CONSERVATION-management; WHALING-western 

Arctic, natives, catch. 

LOKEN, MARTY. 

1977b. Eskimos: “We will hunt the bowhead whale.” Alaska 43(12):34-35. 

Eskimos objected to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) global moratorium on bowhead 

whaling. Their efforts to challenge any moratorium included formation of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling 

Commission and threats to continue hunting regardless of restrictions. Events leading up to a 

meeting of the IWC in December 1977 to hear Eskimo arguments are recapitulated. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION-regulation, management; WHALING-western Arctic, natives, catch. 

LOPEZ, BARRY. 

1977. An Alaskan tragedy. Harper’s Mag. 255(1528):30-33. 

Describes acculturation of Alaskan Eskimos, particularly the residents of Barrow, during the 1970s 

and how their lifestyle, including hunting, has been affected. According to an unnamed source this 

writer reports that “...last year [1976] forty whaling crews may have wounded and lost as many as 

four whales for everyone they killed and brought in. In addition, many of the forty-eight killed were 

too large to get ashore and use efficiently, so that much of the meat-intended for food-was wasted.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling (struck and lost); WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea, native, catch, 

crews, utilization. 
194 

LOPEZ, BARRY. 

1982. A faint light on the Northern Edge. North Am. Rev., March, p. 13-21. 

Primarily a critical comparison of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 and the requirements 

for subsistence hunting for walrus and other animals by Eskimos. Author notes that the hunting of 

bowhead whales is more strictly monitored [than walrus hunting] by both the Alaska Eskimo Whaling 

Commission and federal representatives in accord with the provisions on an agreement between the 

U.S. and the International Whaling Commission. Baleen and bones of bowheads were observed and 

noted by the author. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION-management; SKELETAL REMAINS; WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Sea, native. 

LORD-JENKINS, LINDA. 

1981. Barrow celebrates whale catch with blanket toss. Tundra Times, June 24, 

18(25):1,8-9. 

Describes celebration by villagers following the capture of four whales by whaling crews during the 

spring at Barrow, Alaska. The successful crews were those of Roxie Oyagak, Ronald Coats, Al 

Hopson, Sr., and David Brower. This year, all villages took only 15 whales. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling; WHALING-Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, photographs, utilization. 

LORD-JENKINS, LINDA. 

1982a. Brower opposes drilling until more research is done on effects. Tundra Times, 

January 13, 19(2):1, 6, 13. 

North Slope Borough Mayor Eugene Brower and other officials of the Borough voice their concerns 

for the safety of the endangered bowhead whale if leases are granted for winter oil exploration 

drilling in the Beaufort Sea. States (incorrectly) that Kaktovik whalers caught and beached four 

whales during the [1981] fall season (p. 6). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration, mating; DISTRIBUTION-oil exploration effects; PATHOLOGY-pollution, oil products; 

MORTALITY-whaling; WHALING-Beaufort Sea, native, catch. 

LORD-JENKINS, LINDA. 

1982b. Whalers, scientists, IWC to cooperate in census. Tundra Times, February 3, 

19(5):1, 8, 13. 

Account of the First Conference on the Biology of the Bowhead Whale sponsored by the Alaska 

Eskimo Whaling Commission and held during the last week of January in Anchorage, Alaska. During 

a discussion on the biology of the bowhead whale Arnold Brower, Sr., a long-time whaler of Barrow, 

stated “...that he and other whalers have observed bowheads traveling under “new ice”, ice that is 

less than three-feet thick, and forcing the ice up so that the whales can get breathing space. Arnold 

Brower, Sr. and Jim Allen Aveoganna of Wainwright said the bowheads migrate in three schools - an 

early school which is not very large and contains small whales, the middle school which is the largest 

of the groups of whales, and the last school which is made up of large whales and calves.” Brower 

also stated that the ability to distinguish between male and female bowheads “...is an art which is 

fast becoming lost with the passage of the older whalers. Brower said he can tell the difference and 

pointed to a few other whalers at the table who could but he said some of the younger whalers were 

unable to differentiate.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration, timing, patterns, segregated, ice breaking; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-field recognition, 

sex. 
195 

LORD-JENKINS, LINDA. 

1982c. ICAS, AEWC clash on whaling authority. Tundra Times, April 21, 19(16):1,20. 

Billie Neakok, president of the Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope and Eugene Brower, chairman 

of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, disagree over which agency has jurisdiction over 

whaling matters. The last paragraph of the article states that the first whale of the season was taken 

April 19 at Savoonga, a 44-foot female. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-sex; REGULATION & CONSERVATION-regulation, Eskimo; 

WHALING-Bering Sea, native, catch. 

LOURIE, KAE S. 

1982. The Eskimo Walrus Commission 1981-82 walrus data collection program. 

Processed rep., 233 p. Eskimo Walrus Comm., Nome, Alaska. (Available State of 

Alaska [Subsistence Div., Alaska Dep. Fish and Game, Juneau.]). [Unpublished] 

Detailed report on the walrus hunt for five Alaskan communities: Mekoryuk, Gambell, Savoonga, 

Nome/King Islands, Wales and Little Diomede. Subjects discussed for each include 1981-82 

summer, fall, and winter retrieved walrus harvests; spring 1982 harvest totals; sunk to retrieved 

harvest ratios; total estimated kill; hunting directions, distances, and trip hours; factors affecting 

hunting; hunting success rates; harvest distribution; and walrus utilization. The number of crews in 

each community and equipment used is detailed. Retrieved harvests of other marine mammals and 

birds includes two bowhead whales at Gambell and one at Savoonga (during the period April 16 - 

June 8), one gray whale at Wales (during the period June 7 - July 16), and one gray and one 

belukha at Little Diomede (during the period May 6 - June 24) (p. 227). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Western Arctic, Bering Sea, Bering Strait, native, catch. 

LOW, A. P. 

1906. Report on the Dominion Government Expedition to Hudson Bay and the Arctic 

Islands on board the D.G.S. Neptune, 1903-1904. Canada, Gov. Print. Bur., Ottawa, 

Can., 355 p. 

Narrative of an expedition to patrol Hudson and Baffin Bays and adjacent Arctic waters. Also 

presents a historical summary of explorations in the area, geographical descriptions, Eskimos and 

their manner of living, and geology. Chapter on whaling (p. 248-282) includes the history of whaling 

for Greenland whale in the area and discussion of whale distribution, food, description and 

morphology, baleen, swimming, blubber, respiratory behavior, whaling ships and techniques, and 

catch statistics. Lists other species of common and important whales, porpoises, seals, and walrus. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-swimming, respiratory; DISTRIBUTION; IDENTITY-description; MORPHOLOGY-measurements; 

NUTRITION-food; WHALING-history, eastern Arctic, gear, catch. 
196 

LOWENSTEIN, TOM. 

1981. Some aspects of sea ice subsistence hunting in Point Hope, Alaska. A report for 

the North Slope Borough’s Coastal Zone Management Plan. North Slope Borough, 

Anchorage, Alaska. 83 p. 

Continuously inhabited for over 1,000 years, Point Hope residents have developed patterns of sea 

and sea ice subsistence hunting that are based in antiquity but some have been modified by the use 

of modern equipment. Hunting practices are discussed according to four general periods: 1) The precontact period up to about 1880; 2) a transitional period from about 1900 to 1940-50; 3) the 

beginnings of super-change, roughly 1965 onwards; and 4) contemporary super-change, 1975-1980. 

Author provides interesting historical and present-day information on bowhead whaling methods and 

the importance of cultural practices associated with the hunt. Contains a map of the coastal area 

used by the hunters during various subsistence activities and gives names of locations (in English 

and Inupiat) frequented. A few catches of bowheads are mentioned but times taken are generalized. 

Bowheads migrate past Point Hope in three principle stages and Eskimo names for individuals 

comprising each are described, including the much sought after ingutuk. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration, relation other species; DISTRIBUTION-history; IDENTITY-nomenclature; WHALING-history, western 

Arctic, native, gear, catch, photographs, utilization. 

LOWRY, LLOYD F. 

1982. Documentation and assessment of marine mammal-fishery interactions in the 

Bering Sea. Trans. 47th North Am. Wildl. Conf., p. 300-311. 

Discusses the nature and extent of interactions between marine mammals and fisheries as two 

major types: 1) Direct or operational, and 2) Indirect or biological. Conceptual assessments of 

probable interactions based upon available data resulted in six categories of species, with total rank 

values ranging from 13 (highest probability of significant interaction) to 8 (lowest probability of 

interaction). Using ranked values based on characteristics of feeding and population status, the 

bowhead whale ranked 8. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

NUTRITION-food (Bering Sea); POPULATION-status. 

LUBBOCK, BASIL. 

1937. The Arctic whalers. Brown, Son & Ferguson, Ltd., Nautical Publ., Glasgow, 

Scotland, 483 p. (Reprinted 1955, 1968) . 

Record of whaling by commercial vessels in eastern Arctic from early 17th century through early 20th 

century by season. Contains information on the Greenland whale, whaling fleets, beginning of shorebased whaling, and effects of these activities on the population. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; DISTRIBUTION; MORPHOLOGY-measurements, structure; POPULATION-mortality; 

WHALING-history, eastern Arctic, gear, shore stations, catch. 
197 

LUSK, GERTRUDE. 

1959. Lusk collection of Bernardi. Album, accession number 59-875, Alaska and Polar 

Regions Dep., Elmer E. Rasmuson Libr., Univ. Alaska, Fairbanks. 

Album titled “Story of a whale hunt” contains pen sketches by Mrs. S. R. Bernardi and photographs 

with captions describing bowhead whaling by Eskimos at Wales, Alaska. No background information 

accompanied the album when Lusk donated it to the library in 1959, but it apparently was prepared 

by Mrs. S. R. Bernardi, who was a U.S. Government school teacher at Cape Prince of Wales at 

about 1902. [Also see Charles Bunnell collection of Bernardi, accession number 58-1026, Univ. 

Alaska, and S. R. Bernardi, Alaska 47(8):22-25 for additional information.] 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, history, native, gear, catch, photographs and drawings. 

LUTKEN, C. F. 

1873. Bidrag til kundskab om arterne af slaegten Cyamus Latr. eller hvallusene 

(Contribution to the knowledge of the species of the genus Cyamus Latr. or whale 

lice). Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskabs Skrifter Ser. 5, Naturv. Math. 

Afd. 10(3):231-284. (Transl. from Danish, Fish. Res. Board Can., Transl. Ser. 642, 

1966). 

A historical review and a proposed classification of the ectoparasites of the genus Cyamus found on 

cetaceans, including Balaena mysticetus. Due to confusion over whether the Oniscus ceti of Linne 

was truly the species living on the bowhead, the author proposed that in the future it be called C. 

mysticeti (p. 53). Drawings of parasites by the author in the publication are not included in the 

translation. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-museums; IDENTITY-taxonomy; PATHOLOGY-parasites. 

LUTKEN, C. F. 

1893. Andet tillaeg til “Bidrag til kundskab om arterne af slaegten Cyamus Latr. eller 

hvallusene” (Second appendix to “Contribution to the knowledge of the species of 

the genus Cyamus Latr., or whale lice.”) Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes 

Selskabs Skrifter Ser. 6, 69(7):421-434. (Transl. from Danish, Fish. Res. Board 

Can., Transl. Ser. 565, 1965.) 

Recognizing that the knowledge scientists had about the various species of cetaceans was often 

fragmentary and incomplete, the author suggests that further knowledge about their skin parasites 

might be useful in identifying whales. He states that “The cyamids occur only on certain whales...and 

the individual Cyamus species, as a rule if not always, are connected to definite whale genera and 

species.” The author then attempts to separate and identify various species, mainly the baleen 

whales, using the available information on each, including descriptions by scientists and nonscientists, their distribution and migration, and ectoparasites found or reported found on their bodies. 

Includes various names by which the whales were commonly known in the 17th and 18th centuries. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

DISTRIBUTION-former; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-museums; IDENTITY-nomenclature, taxonomy; 

PATHOLOGY-parasites. 
198 

MACGINITIE, G. E. 

1955. Distribution and ecology of the marine invertebrates of Point Barrow, Alaska. 

Smithson. Misc. ColI. 128(9), 201 p. (Publ. 4221.) 

Study conducted during 1948-1950 with a summary of previous investigations by scientists based at 

the Arctic Research Laboratory. Includes short notes on some fishes and mammals of the area. “The 

whales (mainly bowhead) are of first importance as a source of food for the Eskimos, several being 

taken in the spring of each year and the flesh stored underground in cellars, where it remains edible 

for three or four years. They feed on euphausiids (“krill” of the whalers) mysids, pteropods, and 

copepods of which there is an unlimited supply. To an Eskimo the most delectable food is whale 

muktuk, which consists of whale skin with about an inch of the underlying blubber. After freezing, the 

muktuk is cut into small squares and eaten raw. It has a nutty flavor and is really quite good. (p. 186). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

NUTRITION-food; WHALING-western Arctic; Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea, native, catch, utilization. 

MACINTOSH, N. A. [NEIL ALISON]. 

1946. The natural history of whalebone whales. Biol. Rev. 21(2):60-74. Reprinted in 

Smithson. Inst. Annu. Rep. 1946, Pub. No. 3871:235-264. 

Paper describes the natural history of the Mystacoeti, or whalebone [baleen] whales, including 

Balaenidae, the right whales; Balaenopteridae, the rorquals; and Rachianectidae, the gray whale. 

Subjects discussed include: distribution and migration of the separate species; food; breeding, 

growth and age; populations and the effect of whaling industry; and future investigations. Regarding 

catches of Balaena mysticetus, “The International Whaling Statistics (1930, 1931) record that at 

Spitzbergen a specimen was taken in 1911, and that in the northeast Pacific two were taken in 1923 

and 25 in 1924. According to Clarke (1944) it [the population] is increasing in the Beaufort Sea 

(Canadian Arctic) and schools are occasionally reported.” 

EASTERN ARCTIC, WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; DISTRIBUTION-former and present; IDENTITY-description, taxonomy; 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; WHALING-eastern Arctic, western Arctic, commercial (and native?), catch. 

MACINTOSH, N. A. [NEIL ALISON]. 

1965. The stocks of whales. Fishing News (Books) Ltd., London, 232 p. 

A historical review of the whaling industry, with the main topic being the population dynamics of 

whales. Discusses the distribution, biology, whaling, and the management of whale stocks. 

Information on the bowhead (derived from the literature) includes classification, brief physical 

description, food, exploitation, whale oil and baleen uses in industry, and protection following near 

extermination. Author states that the bowhead, once plentiful, has remained a rare species though 

hardly molested in the last 50 years or more (p. 159), but recent sightings have been more frequent 

and there are some grounds for optimism (p. 164). 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

BEHAVIOR-migration; DISTRIBUTION-former, present; IDENTITY-description, taxonomy; MORPHOLOGY-measurements; 

NUTRITION-food; POPULATION-abundance; REGULATION & CONSERVATION-regulation; WHALING-history, eastern 

Arctic, western Arctic, commercial, catch, utilization, drawing. 
199 

MAHER, WILLIAM J. 

1960. Recent records of the California grey whale (Eschrichtius glaucus) along the north 

coast of Alaska. Arctic 13(4):257-265. 

Discusses the migration, known summer range, and take of gray whales by Alaskan Eskimos from 

1953-1959. Bowheads migrate along the lead and reach Barrow in mid-April. The gray whales move 

along the same route and reach Wainwright and Barrow the latter part of June and early July. By this 

time the shorefast ice is rotten and the Eskimos have ended their spring whaling for bowheads. 

Whaling vessels captured both bowhead and gray whales on the same voyages. Townsend (1928) 

plotted the positions of bowheads killed (5,114) by many vessels, but did not plot the gray whale 

catches (557). The shoulder and darting guns used by the Eskimos to take bowheads are not used 

to take grays, instead they use rifles. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, native, gear, catch. 

MAHER, WILLIAM J. and NORMAN J. WILIMOVSKY. 

1963. Annual catch of bowhead whales by Eskimos at Point Barrow, Alaska, 1928-1960. 

J. Mammal. 44(1):16-20. 

The number of bowhead whales taken yearly from 1928 to 1960 is reported. Since 1954 the dates of 

capture and length of each whale is given; 88 percent were less than 40 feet long, therefore 

presumably sub-adult, and one was a recently born calf. (From author’s abstract.) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-calves; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, 

Beaufort Sea, native, catch. 

MALM, A. W. 

1883. Skelettdelar af hval, insamlade under expeditionen med Vega 1878-1880 (Whale 

bones collected during the Vega Expedition, 1878-1880). Svenska 

vetenskapsakademien. Handlingar. Bihang, 1883, 8(4), 114 p. 

Fossil skeletons of 26 (including one new) species of whales found on the Chukotsk Peninsula and 

Bering Island. Includes Balaena mysticetus forma pitlekajensis, type locality, Pitlek, northeastern 

Siberia. (p. 37) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY-fossils; IDENTITY-taxonomy. 
200 

MANNING, T. H. 

1943. Notes on the coastal district of the eastern Barren Grounds and Melville Peninsula 

from Igloolik to Cape Fullerton. Can. Geogr. J. 26(2):84-105. 

Describes early explorations, physiography, ice conditions, and Eskimos of the area, including notes 

on mammals viewed in their relation to the Eskimo. “Greenland whales were once numerous at 

Repulse Bay and in Roes Welcome and Middleton (1743) records seeing a large number in Wager 

Inlet. Roes Welcome, during the last half of the nineteenth century, was a favourite haunt of the 

whalers, especially Americans, who often wintered at Fullerton Harbour and had a look-out station at 

Whale Point. They also hunted and occasionally wintered, at Repulse Bay. Some probably went well 

up the west side of Foxe Basin, certainly they visited Lyon Inlet, though I know of no record of 

whalers reaching Igloolik. One whale was killed and secured by the Eskimos at Lyon Inlet in 1940. 

As far as I know, the last one killed previous to that was a very small one in 1923 (Freuchen, 1935, 

p. 274). Richardson (1825, p. 336) says that “the Hudson’s Bay Company once carried on the whale 

fishery in the Welcome, but not finding it profitable, they have abandoned it many years.” This 

presumably refers to the last part of the eighteenth century, and may have resulted from the 

numbers of whales seen by the expeditions of Middleton, and of Moor and Smith.” (p. 105). 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-former, sightings; WHALING-eastern Arctic, commercial, native, catch. 

MANNING, T. H. 

1956. Narrative of a second Defence Research Board expedition to Banks Island, with 

notes on the country and its history. Arctic 9 (1-2):3-77. 

Describes archaeology, topographic and geological features of Banks Island, notes on birds and 

mammals, and documents exploration of the island from its discovery by Beechey and Parry in 1820 

to work of the Burton Island, Northwind and Labrador in 1954. Visits by American whaling vessels to 

Banks Island (p. 23) are noted. “Whales were frequently taken between Nelson Head and Cape 

Kellett, and also, when ice permitted, on the west coast of Banks Island.” Stefansson recorded 

Eskimo ruins at Cape Kellett but the village is eroding away and eight whalebone houses, including 

two above a cliff presumably where a good look-out could be kept for whales, were found and 

described. Figures 17-21 illustrate a selection of 348 artifacts (including numerous harpoon heads) 

obtained from the Thule houses excavated in 1952-53 (National Museum of Canada catalogue 

numbers 1 X-C6112 to 6120, 6195 to 6303, and OLRQl-1-244). Whalebone was commonly used for 

the larger objects. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY-artifacts; DISTRIBUTION-former; WHALING-western Arctic, eastern Beaufort Sea, commercial, native, 

gear, utilization. 
201 

MANNING, T. H. and A. H. MacPHERSON. 

1958. The mammals of Banks Island. Arctic Inst. No. Am. Tech. Pap. No.2, 74 p. 

Account of field observations made in 1951, 1952, and 1953, presenting taxonomic studies of the 

species observed. “The Eskimos who occupied Banks Island some 500 years ago undoubtedly 

hunted the Bowhead, the bones of which are plentiful in their house ruins on the south coast. At one 

group of houses about seven miles north of Nelson Head we saw four skulls built into the walls. On 

August 17, 1851 several [Bowhead] Whales were observed from the Investigator going westward 

between Prince of Wales Strait and Cape Lambton, and on September 19 two others were seen 

near Colquhoun Point also travelling westward (Armstrong, 1857, pp. 381, 443). Between 1888 and 

1912, the Bowhead was hunted commercially in the southern Beaufort Sea and in the western 

entrance to Amundsen Gulf and its numbers severely reduced (Anderson, 1946, p. 91). During this 

period, according to Pedersen (1953), many whales were taken between Nelson Head and Cape 

Kellett, as well as on the west coast of Banks Island when ice conditions would permit. Anderson 

(1913, p. 498) says that in August whales usually seemed to be going south along the west side of 

Banks Island and west between Banks Island and Cape Parry, although they were often seen in 

Franklin Bay until September. Since the end of commercial whaling, Bowheads have probably 

become slightly more numerous. In 1914 Stefansson (1921, p. 285) found a carcass washed ashore 

ten to twelve miles southeast of Mary Sachs. On August 25, 1949 Porsild (1950) saw a large 

Bowhead in Amundsen Gulf while he was flying from De Salis Bay to Walker Bay. In 1951 three or 

four Bowheads were seen together from the Cancolim about 80 miles north-northwest of 

Tuktoyaktuk. The Banks Island Eskimos usually see a few at the floe near Sachs Harbour in late 

spring or early summer. In 1953 they saw three on July 4, two on July 19, and two off Cape Lambton 

on July 29 (Hohn, 1953).” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migrating; DISTRIBUTION-history, sightings; POPULATION-abundance, mortality, stranding; WHALING-western 

Arctic, eastern Beaufort Sea, commercial, native, utilization. 

MARGOLIS, L. 

1954. List of the parasites recorded from sea mammals caught off the west coast of 

North America. J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 11(3):267-283. 

A parasite-host and host-parasite list compiled from the literature up to July 15, 1953 with complete 

references of the ecto- and endo-parasites recorded from marine mammals of the North American 

west coast. Balaena mysticetus (p. 275, 278) is included as the host for Cyamus ceti Linnaeus, 

1754; synonym Cyamus mysticeti (Lutken, 1870; Dall, 1872). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

PATHOLOGY-parasites. 
202 

MARGOLIS, LEO. 

1955. Notes on the morphology, taxonomy and synonymy of several species of whalelice (Cyamidae: Amphipoda). J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 12(1):121-133. 

Detailed examination of the genera comprising the Family Cyamidae. “Twenty-eight specimens (5 

adults of each sex and 18 juveniles [of Cyamus ceta] were obtained from the Copenhagen Museum. 

They had been collected from the bowhead whale Balaena mysticetus, of the eastern Arctic during 

the years 1840 (?) to 1889 and had all been examined by C. F. Lutken. According to Lutken (1873) 

and Stephensen (1942) this species, the type of the genus Cyamus, occurs only on the bowhead 

whale, an inhabitant of Arctic regions only. Lutken reviewed the literature on this species and 

replaced Linne’s trivial name, ceti, by mysticeti since ceti had been used for a variety of species. 

However, the original ceti was that species which is found on the bowhead whale and must remain 

as a valid name. Dall (1872) described this species, which he believed to be new, as Cyamus

mysticeti. The host was the bowhead whale caught in the Bering Strait. Lutken (1887) found these 

specimens to be identical with his mysticeti (i.e., ceti) of the eastern Arctic.” 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

PATHOLOGY-parasites. 

MARGOLIS, L., and M. D. DAILEY. 

1972. Revised annotated list of parasites from sea mammals caught off the west coast of 

North America. U.S. Dep. Commer., NOAA Tech. Rep., NMFS SSRF-647, 23 p. 

Parasite-host and host-parasite lists, with supporting references, of the ecto- and endo-parasites 

recorded from marine mammals of the North American west coast are provided. The bowhead 

(Balaena mysticetus) and gray (Eschrichtius gibbosus) whales are listed as hosts of Cyamus ceti (p. 

13). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

PATHOLOGY-parasites. 

MARGOLIS, LEO and GORDON C. PIKE. 

1955. Some helminth parasites of Canadian Pacific whales. J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 

12(1):97-120. 

Helminth parasites recorded from cetaceans caught off the British Columbia coast are discussed, 

including notes on host and geographical distribution. “Ten mature specimens of Lecithodesmus

goliath were collected from the bile ducts along the posterior margin of the liver of a fin whale, 

Balaenoptera physalus. This is the first Pacific record of L. goliath and the only report of a liver fluke 

in the fin whale. The parasite was previously known from Balaenoptera acutorostrata, B. borealis and 

Balaena mysticetus in northwestern European seas (p. 98).” “Specimens of a tapeworm cyst in the 

blubber of a sperm whale were first mentioned by Bennett (1837). He recorded finding numerous 

cysts of a species of cysticercus in the sperm whale, but failed to describe them. Diesing (1850), 

having misinterpreted Bennett’s statement regarding the host, named the parasite Cysticercus

Balaena mysticeti Bennett. Diesing (1863) later corrected his error and renamed the parasite 

Cysticercus physeteris Bennett.” (p. 107). 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

PATHOLOGY-parasites. 
203 

MARKHAM, ALBERT HASTINGS. 

1874. A whaling cruise to Baffin’s Bay and the Gulf of Boothia. And an account of the 

rescue of the crew of the “Polaris”. Sampson Low, Marston, Low, and Searle, 

London, 319 p. Second ed. publ. 1875, 307 p. 

Journal of vessel Arctic on whaling cruise from Dundee, Scotland, to Baffin’s Bay area, from May 3 

to September 18, 1873. Gives detailed account of bowhead whaling and daily record of 

environmental conditions. On page 293 Appendix A provides details of bowheads captured including 

date, location, sex, length of whalebone, weight of whalebone, tons of oil, approximate value, and 

notes two of the females taken were accompanied by suckers (calves). Also taken were 19 

narwhals, 20 seals, and 12 bears, one of which (a cub) was brought back alive. A total of 28 

bowheads was captured (15 males and 13 females). The largest whale taken was a female with 

baleen 11 feet 9 inches long. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-when pursued, migration; DISTRIBUTION-former; MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-mortality 

(struck and lost), calves; WHALING-eastern Arctic, commercial, gear, catch, utilization, drawings. 

MARSH, MILLARD C. and JOHN N. COBB. 

1908. The fisheries of Alaska in 1907. Rep. U.S. Comm. Fish., 1907, 64 p. (DOC. 632.) 

Detailed annual reports and statistics on the fisheries by district in Alaska. “After an absence of over 

two years, nearly all of the Arctic Ocean whaling fleet, with headquarters in San Francisco, returned 

late in the fall with the biggest catch in years. The 8 vessels of the fleet caught about 82 whales, 

which, at the high prices prevailing for whalebone, will net the owners a handsome profit. Each 

vessel reported whales very abundant this year. As this fleet has its headquarters in California, 

nothing relating to it appears in the statistical tables of this report. This year the natives at whaling 

stations east of Point Barrow captured 9 whales, an exceedingly good catch. The products secured 

by the natives appear in the statistical tables.” (p. 60-61). The table of products from Alaska shows 

6,797 pounds of whalebone valued at $32,585 from the Western district of Alaska (p. 10) and 18,880 

pounds of whalebone valued at $81,655 from Arctic Alaska (p. 12). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, native, catch. 
204 

MARSH, MILLARD C. and JOHN N. COBB. 

1909. The fisheries of Alaska in 1908. Rep. U.S. Comm. Fish., 1908, 78 p. (Doc. 645.) 

Detailed annual reports and statistics on the fisheries by district in Alaska. Baleen is also called 

finners, or gill bones, by commercial whalers. “A considerable quantity of whalebone is secured each 

season in the Arctic by shore parties of whites and natives, who kill the whales in the narrow 

channels between the ice. The whites save only the whalebone, but the natives eat the flesh in 

addition to saving the bone. This year over 53,000 pounds of whalebone came from these sources. 

The fleet whaling in the Arctic Ocean and having its headquarters in San Francisco was composed 

this year of 8 steamers and 2 sailing schooners. Several of the vessels wintered in the Arctic, the 

steamer Karluk some miles to the eastward of Point Barrow. The ice is reported to have been the 

worst in years, and owing to this the fleet did not deem it prudent to go to the eastward of the point, 

all of the whaling being done to the westward, where more open water was to be found. Before the 

fleet managed to get through Bering Strait into the Arctic the steamer Wm. Bayliss was wrecked and 

became a total loss in Anadir Bay, Siberia. The remaining seven steamers all returned to their home 

port in November, having secured 26 whales in all, which netted 39,500 pounds of whalebone. No 

reports have been received as yet as to the success of the schooners. The quantity brought back in 

1907 was 114,500 pounds, but this represented two season’s work (none of the data in this 

paragraph appears in the statistical tables of the report). Owing to the large stock of whalebone at 

present on hand and the very slight demand for it, the owners of the Arctic fleet are reported to have 

agreed not to send the fleet north in 1908 [sic, no doubt meant 1909], thus giving the holders of the 

goods a chance to dispose of the present surplus (p. 70-71).” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, native, catch, shore stations. 

MARSH, MILLARD C. and JOHN N. COBB. 

1910. The fisheries of Alaska in 1909. Rep. U.S. Comm. Fish., 1909, 58 p. (DOC. 730.) 

Detailed annual reports and statistics on the fisheries by district in Alaska. “There are shore whaling 

stations along the Arctic shores of Alaska at Point Hope, Cape Lisburne, Icy Cape, and Point 

Barrow. There are but few white men at these stations, Eskimos composing the most part of the boat 

crews. Whales are hunted in the open leads in the ocean offshore from the stations. As a rule, only 

the bone is saved, although the natives use a considerable quantity of the blubber and meat as food. 

The bone shipped out is shown in the statistical tables (p. 10: 21,970 pounds of whalebone or baleen 

valued at $82,042). The latest reports from these stations are that Point Barrow secured 11 whales 

and Point Hope 13 whales, a decrease of 12 from last year, while at Icy Cape, where 10 or 12 

whales were killed in 1908, only 400 pounds of poor bone was secured this year. The fleet 

comprised the steamer Herman (290 tons), the steamer Jeanette (240 tons), the steamer Karluk

(221 tons), which will spend the winter of 1909-10 in the North; and the schooner Rosie H. (69 tons), 

which spent the winter of 1908-9 in the North, and was still there when this report closed although an 

unconfirmed report had been received to the effect that she was ashore near Flaxman Island. The 

data relating to this fleet do not appear in the statistical tables of this report, as the headquarters are 

in San Francisco (p. 54).” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, native, catch, shore stations. 
205 

MARSH, MILLARD C. and JOHN N. COBB. 

1911. The fisheries of Alaska in 1910. Rep. U.S. Comm. Fish. 1910, 72 p. (Doc. 746.). 

Detailed annual reports and statistics on the fisheries by district in Alaska. “There are a number of 

shore whaling stations along the Arctic shores of Alaska, at Cape Smythe, Point Hope, and Point 

Barrow. At Cape Smythe there are about 19 boats whaling, at Point Hope about 22, and at Point 

Barrow about 36 boats. The crews average about 8 men to a boat and the darting gun is quite 

generally used. The season lasts about 2 months, and comprises a part of April, all of May, and a 

part of June. The bone shipped out from these stations appears in the statistical tables (p. 11: 2,334 

pounds of whalebone or baleen valued at $5,057). 

Owing to the glut in the whalebone market, but few of the Arctic fleet operated this year. The fleet 

comprised the following: steamer Herman (229 net tons), steamer Karluk (247 net tons), brigantine 

Jeanette (217 net tons), schooner Rosie H. (69 net tons) which went north in 1908, gasoline 

schooner Confianza (84 net tons), and the schooner Lettitia (233 net tons). The gasoline schooner 

Olga (43 net tons) sailed north in 1908 and was wrecked in the Arctic late in 1909, the news not 

coming out until this year. While whales were plentiful they were excessively shy and hard to 

approach. The fleet secured 27 whales, the Karluk alone taking 21, which however, represents two 

seasons’ work on the part of the Karluk, she having spent the winter of 1909-10 in the north (p. 53).” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-when hunted, migration; POPULATION-abundance; WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, native, catch, crews, 

gear, shore stations. 

MARSTON, MUKTUK [MARVIN R.]. 

1969. Men of the tundra: Eskimos at war. October House Inc., New York, 227 p. 

An autobiography describing author’s role in organizing the Territorial Guard in the western one-half 

of Alaska during World War II. 

Upon visiting the village of Ikpek on or about December 31, 1942, he noted that a whale (species not 

stated) had been discovered frozen in the ice a few miles offshore and now everyone in the village 

had a plentiful supply of meat (p. 105, 141-2). Contains photographs (f.p. 104, number 22; f.p. 168, 

number 1-3) related to bowhead whaling at Point Hope, including statement that one crew took two 

whales, but no information on date of capture. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, stranding; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, photographs, utilization. 

MASON, OTIS TUFTON. 

1900. Aboriginal American harpoons: a study in ethnic distribution and invention. U.S. 

Natl. Mus. Ann. Rep. 1900, p. 189-304. 

Discussion of harpoons and their uses among aborigines of the world. Arctic harpoons are discussed 

on p. 236-303. “A broad, flat harpoon head (Cat. No. 34069, U.S.N.M.) of walrus ivory (tokang), 

taken from a large Balaena mysticetus caught in Cumberland Sound in 1878, is shown in fig. 57.” 

[Drawing, p. 264; this specimen was collected by Ludwig Kumlein.] 

EASTERN ARCTIC, WESTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY-artifacts; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-museums; WHALING-eastern Arctic, western Arctic, 

native, gear. 
206 

MATHIASSEN, THERKEL. 

1928. Material culture of the Iglulik Eskimos. Gyldendal, Copenhagen. Rep. Fifth Thule 

Exped. 1921-24. v. 6., no. 1, 242 p. 

Anthropological study of the Iglulik Eskimos of Canada, eastern Arctic. “Big whales are only hunted 

occasionally (p. 52). In the summer of 1922 two bowhead whales were caught, one at Repulse Bay 

and one at Ponds Inlet; these, however, were exceptional. There are no special weapons for 

whaling, the walrus and narwhal harpoons being used.” 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION; WHALING-eastern Arctic, native, gear, catch. 

MAYOKOK, ROBERT. 

1950. We caught a whale. Alaska Sportsman 16(7):10-13. 

An account of a whale hunt at Wales, Alaska, when, as a youth, the author went out with his father’s 

crew for the first time. Several crews whaled at Wales that year. A whale killed by another crew died 

after being struck with only one bomb. After the whale had been pulled up on the ice for butchering, 

the wind suddenly shifted to the south and the sea ice began drifting in. The lines attached to the 

whale broke and the breaking, grinding ice buried the whale completely and carried it away. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Strait, native, gear, crews, catch, photographs. 

MAYOKOK, ROBERT. 

1955. Troubles with civilization. Alaska Sportsman 21(9):16-20, 27-32. 

This is the second of two chapters of “My life as an Eskimo” by the author. In 1923 he sailed north on 

the Nanuk, a trading and whaling vessel owned by Captain Petersen. The ship stopped at Point 

Hope and “...bought several hundred pounds of baleen, just taken out of the whale’s mouth.” After 

stopping at Herschel Island, they sailed for Wrangel Island to do some whaling but fled the area 

upon sighting a vessel the captain mistook for a Russian patrol boat. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea, commercial, native, catch. 

MAYOKOK, ROBERT. 

1970. Eskimo life. Nugget Press, Nome, 21 p. (Revised ed., orig. publ. 1951). 

Brief description (p. 13-14) of Eskimo whaling for bowheads at Wales, Alaska. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Strait, native. 

MAYOKOK, ROBERT. 

1977. The Alaskan Eskimo. Nugget Press, Nome, 11 p. (Pamphlet) . 

The author, a native of Wales, Alaska, briefly describes bowhead whaling as conducted by the 

hunters of his village. “By mid-April everything is ready...and before long the whales come, the 

smaller whale comes first, and it is this one the Eskimo wants.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Strait, native. 
207 

McCARTNEY, ALLEN P. 

1979. Thule Eskimo culture: an anthropological retrospective. Archaeolog. Surv. Can., 

Natl. Mus. of Man, Mercury Ser. Pap. No. 88, 586 p. 

Proceedings of a symposium on Thule archaeology and related studies held at the 10th annual 

meeting of the Canadian Archaeological Association in Ottawa during May, 1977, where 31 papers 

were presented. “These papers focus on the last thousand years of Neo-Eskimo cultural evolution in 

Alaska, Canada, and Greenland.” (From author’s abstrarct.) 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY ; DISTRIBUTION; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-museums; POPULATION-mortality; 

WHALING-eastern Arctic, native, gear, catch, utilization. 

McCARTNEY, ALLEN P. 

1980. The nature of Thule Eskimo whale use. Arctic 33(3):517-541. 

“Archaeologists for the past half century have considered bowhead whaling to be an important and 

integral part of Thule Eskimo subsistence. This position has come into question recently. Arguments 

are set forth favoring the predominant archaeological view that bowheads were hunted and 

extensively used during the period A.D. 1000-1300 in much of the Canadian Arctic.” (From author’s 

abstract.) 

The author states no other Canadian Arctic animal matches the bowhead’s potential contribution to 

food, fuel, tool and weapon materials, household implements, transportation and shelter. Citing 

Banfield (1974) and Scoresby (1820), he states bowhead whales are slow swimmers at 2-4 knots, 

feed near the surface, often can be approached while sleeping on the surface, congregate in gams 

of several hundred animals during migration, tend to be timid and thus more easily approached than 

other baleen whales, are remarkable floaters when killed, and have large mouth bones and sheets of 

baleen. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY; BEHAVIOR-migration, swimming; DISTRIBUTION-history; FIELD & LABORATORY 

TECHNIQUES-artifacts; NUTRITION-feeding behavior; WHALING-history, eastern Arctic, natives, utilization. 

McFARLAND, W. L., M. S. JACOBS, and P. J. MORGANE. 

1979. Blood supply to the brain of the dolphin, Tursiops truncatus, with comparative 

observations on special aspects of the cerebrovascular supply of other vertebrates. 

Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 3 , Suppl. 1:1-93. 

A comprehensive series of studies was made on the cerebral vascular supply of the dolphin and 

comparisons made to that of many other animals, aquatic, semi-aquatic and terrestrial. The 

extradural arterial internal ophthalmic rete, surrounding the optic nerve, was described in the 

bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) by Camper (1820) and by Knox (1838). (p 2.). 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-anatomy; PHYSIOLOGY-blood. 
208 

McGHEE, ROBERT. 

1974. Beluga hunters. An archaeological reconstruction of the history and culture of the 

Mackenzie Delta Kittegaryumiut. Mem. Univ. Newfoundland, Newfoundland Soc. 

Econ. Studies No. 13, 124 p. 

Account of archaeological work conducted during the summers of 1969 and 1970 at Kittigazuit. 

Contains review and description of 19th century Mackenzie Eskimo history and culture which, 

although admittedly sketchy and incomplete, is the first such description attempted and serves as a 

background for interpretation of archaeological evidence collected. Presents a historical review of the 

Eskimos, explorers and events of the region, including some information on bowhead whaling and 

catch by the local residents (e.g., Richardson, 1851; MacFarlane, 1908; Stefansson, 1919.). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-historical; WHALING-western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, commercial, native, gear, catch. 

MCKINLAY, WILLIAM LAIRD. 

1976. Karluk: The great untold story of Arctic exploration. St. Martin’s Press, Inc., New 

York, N.Y. 10010. 170 p.

A 20-year old whaling ship, the Karluk (the Aleutian word for fish) (p. 10-11), was purchased by V. 

Stefansson as the lead ship for his Arctic expedition of 1913-18; it soon became trapped in the ice 

near Point Barrow and drifted for months until it was crushed and sank on January 11, 1914 (p. 68) 

near Wrangel Island. The survivors made it to the island where they were rescued Sept. 7, 1914 

The author reported a small island east of Wrangel Island was named Skeleton Island because of a 

whale skeleton there (p. 113) and also noted the finding of a whale skeleton with whalebone (p. 

149), but no location was given. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

SKELETAL REMAINS–Chukchi Sea, Wrangel Island; WHALING–gear, vessel. 

McVAY, SCOTT. 

1973. Stalking the Arctic whale. Am. Sci. 61(1):24-37. 

Describes field trip to northwest coast of Alaska in 1971 to photograph and record vocalizations of 

bowheads during the spring migration. Reviews the literature and presents an excerpt from Aldrich 

(1889) describing the voice of this cetacean. Presents a description of the bowhead and other Arctic 

whales, observations of bowhead behavior and migration, the sighting of an albino bowhead, 

estimates of the size of the population, data on a few of the largest whales captured by Scoresby 

and Alaskan Eskimos, Eskimo whaling expenses, the utilization and value to the Eskimos of whale 

products, and reports that in May 1970 the Barrow whalers took 15 bowheads. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration, vocalization, relationship other species; IDENTITY-description, albino; 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-abundance, mortality, whaling; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, 

native, catch, crews, drawings and photographs, utilization. 
209 

MEAD, JAMES G. 

1979. An analysis of cetacean strandings along the eastern coast the United States. In J. 

B. Geraci and D. J. St. Aubin, Biology of marine mammals: insights through 

strandings, p. 54-68. Report prepared for U.S. Mar. Mam. Comm., Washington, 

D.C., Rep. No. MMC-77/13. Also avail. Natl. Tech. Inf. Serv., Springfield, Va. 22161, 

as PB 293890. 

A total of 1,078 records of stranded cetaceans from the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States 

failed to record the stranding of a single Balaena mysticetus in the area. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-history; POPULATION-mortality, strandings. 

MEEK, ALEXANDER. 

1918. The reproductive organs of cetacea. J. Anat. 52:186-210. 

A 41 cm female fetus of the Greenland whale, presented to the Natural History Society of Newcastle 

in 1835 by T. R. Batsom and preserved in the Hancock Museum, was dissected and examined by 

Meek (p. 208). His report on the female organs is the first for this species according to Meek. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-museum; MORPHOLOGY-anatomy; REPRODUCTION-fetus. 

MENAGER, FRANCIS M. 

1962. The kingdom of the seal. Loyola. Univ. Press, Loyola Univ., Chicago, Ill., 203 p. 

Experiences of a Jesuit missionary among the Eskimos of western Alaska. In late May 1937, he flew 

to Little Diomede Island for a visit with Father Tom Cunningham, who had started his missionary 

work there in October 1936. Father Cunningham related to him that a few days earlier he had 

accompanied a crew of about a dozen men on a successful hunt for a huge black (arravok) whale. 

They pursued it in a 40-foot skinboat equipped with a four-inch harpoon gun on the prow. After killing 

the whale it was towed ashore for butchering. Siberian Eskimos from nearby Big Diomede Island 

were invited to participate in a feast of celebration that lasted for almost three days (p. 193-201.). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

IDENTITY-nomenclature; WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Strait, native, crew, gear, catch, utilization. 

MENOVSHCHIKOV, G. A. 

1964. The Eskimos. In M. G. Levin and L. P. Potapov (editors), The peoples of Siberia 

(Narody Sibiri), p. 836-850. Russian Acad. Sci., Moscow, 1956. English transl. from 

Russian by Scripta Technica, Inc., Univ. Chicago, Chicago, Ill. 

Describes the sea mammal culture of the Asiatic Eskimos who call themselves Yugyt, Yupigyt 

(“people, real people”), which are related to the coastal Chukchi. “After the mass extermination of 

whales by American whalers during the second half of the 19th century, whale hunting had declined, 

although it was still very important to the coastal people. One whale supplied an entire village with 

meat and blubber for a whole year, and yielded a great deal of valuable salable goods (whale-barb, 

blubber).” (p. 839-840). With the acquisition of new firearms and whaleboats obtained in trade with 

the Americans, they now concentrated on hunting walrus and seal instead of the almost vanished 

whales. Illustrated with drawings and photographs of tools, weapons, and boats used for hunting, 

including a photograph (p. 844) of a young bowhead killed by hunters and being prepared for cutting 

up on the shore. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, native, crews, gear, catch, photograph, utilization. 
210 

MEYER, CHARLES R. 

1976. Whaling and the art of scrimshaw. Henry Z. Walck, Inc., division of David McKay 

Co., Inc., New York, N.Y., 271 p. 

A blending of encyclopedic reference book and tales of adventure, illustrated with photographs of 

whaling and the art of scrimshaw. Citing G. B. Goode (1887), “The whalebone workers of the United 

States recognize five varieties of bone: (1) Arctic, from the bowhead or Polar whale; this is the 

largest bone, and is used principally in the manufacture of whips and dress bone; (2) Northwest, 

which is the heaviest bone, and is used for whips and canes; (3) South Sea, which is fine and short, 

used for whips and dress bone; (4) Humpback, short and black, specially suitable for corsets; (5) 

Finback, short and coarse, used for corsets.” (p. 78). “The records of an otherwise unidentified 

Captain G. B. Borden inform us that he once picked up a bowhead whale, whose death by (sic) [was] 

caused by “killers (most probably the orca, genus Orcinus, or killer whale), which he was able to take 

alongside, cut-in and boil-out in a total of 21 hours, securing 140 barrels of oil.” (p. 131). “In [see 

page 301] the spring [actually summer, as vessels rarely arrived there before July] the Point Hope 

men sold the bone from five whales which they killed after the vessels left in 1879.” (p. 174, 178). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

PREDATORS & COMPETITORS-killer whale; WHALING-western Arctic; commercial, native, gear, catch, utilization, 

photographs. 

MILAN, FREDERICK A. 

1964. The acculturation of the contemporary Eskimo of Wainwright, Alaska. Univ. Alaska, 

Fairbanks, Anthropol. Pap. 11(2):1-108. 

Results of a 10-week study in 1955 to evaluate the mode of life of the Eskimo residents of 

Wainwright, Alaska. Contains information on early day commercial and native whaling in the area, 

present day (1955) whaling by natives, and brief generalized natural histories (some inaccuracies) 

on marine mammals found there. Three crews hunted bowheads during the spring of 1955 when one 

whale was taken and one was struck but lost (p. 35). The season began 21 April and ended early in 

June (p. 30). Discussing the use of bowheads for food, the author states that whale meat is enjoyed 

by the Eskimos but is comparatively rare (p. 28). Many years whaling is carried on without success; 

in fact, in 1955 the first whale in three seasons was finally caught (p. 30). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality (whaling); WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crews, gear, catch, utilization. 

MILAN, FREDERICK A. 

1968. The indomitable Eskimo: Master of a frozen world. In Vanishing peoples of the 

earth, p. 132-151. Natl. Geogr. Soc., Washington, D.C. 

A brief description of Eskimo life in the Arctic based upon author's annual visits to Wainwright, 

Alaska, since 1955. Walrus and seal hunting, fishing and whaling are described. The Spring Whale 

Festival-Naluqataq-takes place only at the end of a successful season and the author attended his 

first one in Wainwright in June of 1955 after Weir Negovanna caught a bowhead whale that spring. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crew, catch, photographs. 
211 

MILLER, RICHARD S. 

1955. A survey of the mammals of Bylot Island, Northwest Territories. Arctic 8(3):167-

176. 

The 1954 Bylot Island expedition was organized to survey the flora and fauna, and to study certain 

ecological problems. Mammal species reported were actually observed by members of the 

expedition, or were identified by Eskimos, and include the Tununermiut names for each. The 

bowhead (Akbilk) whale, Balaena mysticetus, was intensively hunted by whalers in waters off the 

east coast of Bylot Island following Parry's voyage to Possession Bay in 1819. Now, seldom more 

than a few whales are seen each year off Button Point and only occasionally do they enter Pond Inlet 

and Navy Board Inlet. Whale skeletons are fairly numerous along the beaches of Pond Inlet, Eclipse 

Sound and Navy Board Inlet, and are sometimes found on raised beaches as much as 2 miles inland 

and 200 feet above the present shore. The Eskimos have no stories to account for these skeletons. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-former, sightings; IDENTITY-nomenclature (Eskimo); POPULATION-abundance; SKELETAL 

REMAINS-beachcast. 

MINNER, J. LESTER. 

1948. Muktuk. Alaska Sportsman 14(12):16-19. 

Account of the capture of a bowhead whale about 75 feet long at Wainwright, Alaska, in 1946 [year 

of capture, not stated in article, was established by data provided by F. A. Milan, Univ. Alaska, 

Fairbanks, pers. commun., on April 19, 1977 to W. Marquette]. At least six crews were actively 

whaling at Wainwright this year. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-length (estimated); WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, photographs. 

MINNER, J. LESTER. 

1953. Old man of the ice floes. Alaska Sportsman 19(3):18-21, 38-39. 

Brief popular account on the natural history of the walrus and techniques employed by the Eskimos 

to hunt this animal they call the old man of the ice floes. Author states that the killer whale, a dreaded 

enemy of the walrus, also “...will attach himself to the lip of a great bowhead whale many times his 

size and drown the monster.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

PREDATORS & COMPETITORS-killer whales. 

MINNER, J. LESTER. 

1954. Old man of the ice floes. Country Life. August 5, 116:416-418. 

Essentially the same article with the same title as published in 1953 in the Alaska Sportsman 

19(3):18-21, 38-39, but with different photographs (walrus hunting). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

PREDATORS & COMPETITORS-killer whales. 
212 

MITCHELL, E. D., and R. R. REEVES. 

1980a. Overview of aboriginal and subsistence whale fisheries, and analysis of the 

Alaskan bowhead problem. Int. Whaling Comm. 32nd annual meeting, Cambridge, 

England. Document SC/32/PS-22. 28 p. [Unpublished] 

An essay that attempts to: (1) describe the context in which the bowhead problem developed; (2) 

propose definitions of some key terms associated with all whaling; and (3) offer a set of scientifically 

and socially acceptable alternatives for subsistence that would at once reduce from present levels 

the biological risk of extinction to the bowhead, and allow for the preservation of a whaling tradition in 

Alaska. Recognizing that although the bowhead hunt should be stopped for biological reasons, it will 

probably continue because of subsistence and traditional cultural considerations, the authors 

maintain that it is both desirable and feasible that the take of bowheads be reduced and an 

alternative species such as the gray whale should be substituted to satisfy these requirements of the 

Alaskan Eskimos. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION-management; WHALING-western Arctic, history, native, catch, utilization. 

MITCHELL, EDWARD, and RANDALL R. REEVES. 

1980b. The Alaska bowhead problem: a commentary. Arctic 33(4):686-723. 

Authors believe that continued hunting “... of bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) by Alaskan 

Eskimos constitutes a risk of unknown magnitude to this last concentrated remnant of a once 

abundant, widely distributed species ... We trace the origins of the bowhead problem, define the 

terms necessary for a rigorous discussion of “aboriginal” and “subsistence” whale fisheries, examine 

the biological, nutritional, and social dimensions of the Alaska whale hunt, and assess the 

relationship between the presnt-day whale hunting methods and traditional values ... If bowhead 

whaling is to be continued in order to satisful “cultural needs,” then we believe that only one 

bowhead whale at each village with a long tradition of whaling can be justified.” (From author’s 

abstract.) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-former and present; POPULATION-abundance, age composition; REGULATION & 

CONSERVATION-regulation, management; WHALING-history, western Arctic, Bering, Chukchi, Beaufort Seas, U.S.S.R., 

native, shore stations, catch, photographs, utilization. 

MITCHELL, EDWARD D. and RANDALL R. REEVES. 

1982. Factors affecting abundance of bowhead whales Balaena mysticetus in the eastern 

Arctic of North America, 1915-1980. Biol. Conserv. 22:59-78. 

Although commercial whaling for bowheads ended in this region about 1915, whaling by native 

people continued until recently and may have inhibited bowhead population increase. Natural 

mortality resulting from ice entrapment and predation by Orcinus orca can be documented. Table 1 

contains all known attempts to kill and killings of bowheads from 1919-1976. The bowhead's 

apparent failure to recover in the eastern Arctic may be due to a combination of continued low-level 

hunting, habitat instability, and predation. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-former and present; POPULATION-status, mortality; PREDATORS & COMPETITORS-Orcinus orca;

WHALING-eastern Arctic, commercial, native, gear, catch, photographs. 
213 

MOGG, WILLIAM. 

1964. The arctic wintering of HMS Hecla and Fury in Prince Regent Inlet, 1824-25. Polar 

Rec. 12(76):11-28. 

Mogg served in the Royal Navy on arctic expeditions aboard Hecla in 1821-22 and Fury during 1824-

25 in the search for a Northwest Passage. His journals noted they passed several whales [probably 

bowhead] on Sept. 13, 1824. During the period Sept. 22-24 he reported several whales were seen 

as they made for Prince Regent Inlet. After overwintering at Port Bowen, crews hauled two boats 

with harpoons, lines and provisions over ice, during the period July 1-5, 1825, to a station three miles 

from the ships to begin whaling. On July 13 a third whaleboat left for the whaling station at Port 

Jackson. The next morning one of the boats returned to report one whale [presumably bowhead] 

killed and the crew were cutting blubber for boiling down. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-sightings; WHALING-eastern Arctic, commercial, catch, shore station. 

MOHR, J. L. 

1969. Marine biology. Arctic 22(3):265-282. 

Discusses past research in marine biology carried out from the Naval Arctic Research Laboratory 

and suggests additional studies that would contribute to the state of the knowledge. Regarding 

plankton, there has been no sampling in the leads in April and May when bowhead whales are 

hunted while apparently feeding. F. E. Durham has some bowhead gut material indicating that they 

do feed (most whales apparently disgorge when harpooned), but almost nothing is known of the 

plankton which is their food (p. 266). Various aspects of the biology of bowhead whales are under 

study by Durham (p. 274), who has observed more than 30 butcherings during visits to whaling 

villages. Observations have been made on changes in Eskimo whaling that could make for retrieval 

of a significantly larger proportion of whales killed. Development of Eskimo ethics of conservation 

while introducing more effective whaling methods may be a significant benefit that biologists of the 

laboratory can bring (p. 279). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-when hunted; NUTRITION-food, feeding; MORPHOLOGY-structure; POPULATION-mortality, whaling; 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION-conservation; Eskimos; WHALING-western Arctic, native, gear, catch. 

MOORE, W. ROBERT. 

1956. Alaska, the big land. Natl. Geogr. Mag. 109(6):776-807. 

Popular account of author's visit to several Alaskan villages during 1955. “I just missed the end of 

Barrow’s whaling season and was too late for nalukatuk, the feast dance to celebrate the catch of 17 

large bowhead whales.” (p. 793). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 
214 

MORGAN, LAEL. 

1973. “Ocean mammals are to us what the buffalo was to the Plains Indian.” Natl. Geogr. 

143(3):354-355. 

With these words, David Stone, accompanied by dozens of other natives who traveled to Nome, 

Alaska, in May 1972 to testify at a U.S. Senate committee hearing on the Marine Mammal Protection 

Act, pleaded for the Eskimo's traditional rights to hunt the bowhead whale and other marine 

mammals. Dr. G. Carleton Ray stated “It looks very much as if the bowhead is increasing in 

numbers. The Eskimos certainly do not pose a danger to these animals.” Point Hope produced 4,000 

pounds of muktuk for sale at $2 per pound to other Eskimo villages last season (1971) Stone 

testified. Morgan briefly relates her experience as a member of a whaling crew. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-abundance; WHALING-western Arctic, native, catch, crews, utilization. 

MORGAN, LAEL. 

1974a. The villages are all alive and well, thank you. Alaska 40(8):33-39. 

Contains information on Alaskan villages visited in 1974 by the author. Whalers at Kivalina took only 

one bowhead a year from 1970 to 1973 and last year (1973) they didn't get any, although one was 

killed but lost to the ice. Milton Swan, a long-time captain, reported “The first year I went out, 1958, 

there was only one skin boat in this village. Now there are five.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, killed and lost; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

MORGAN, LAEL. 

1974b. We got a whale! Alaska 40(9):33-38. 

Account of bowhead whaling at Barrow, Alaska, during spring 1974. Author served as a cook for a 

brief period with Simeon Patkotak’s crew, a captain who had gotten a whale every year since 1968 

and last year had taken two. This year his crew killed a large whale that became trapped under the 

ice and was later recovered as a stinker. They also struck but lost a 30-foot female that was pursued 

and killed by Percy Nusunginya’s crew two days later. Nusunginya’s crew also recovered a 51-foot 

male stinker that they had killed but lost two days earlier. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-mortality, struck and lost, killed but lost; WHALING-western Arctic, native, 

catch, crews, photographs. 

MORGAN, LAEL. 

1974c. A powerful spring in the Arctic. Alaska 40(10):33-39, 54-55. 

Account of author’s visit during spring 1974 to the villages of Nuiqsut, Wainwright, Point Hope, 

Anaktuvuk Pass and Kaktovik. At Wainwright, Rossman Peatoak had gotten the first and only whale 

of the year, a 53-foot animal. The ice moved in, however, and much of the whale meat was lost. 

Seven whales were taken at Point Hope this spring. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; WHALING-western Arctic, native, catch, crews, utilization. 
215 

MORGAN, LAEL. 

1974d. And the land provides: Alaskan natives in a year of transition. Doubleday & 

Company, Inc., Garden City, New York, 325 p. 

An account, based upon experiences gained while living among the natives of six Arctic villages for 

twelve months in 1972, of the transition of Alaskan natives from a subsistence to a money economy. 

At Point Hope she joined the crew of Bernard Nash for spring whaling which began on April 13 (p. 

45-97). Author describes activities, weather and ice conditions during the time she was in the village, 

including information nearly a dozen crews were on the ice that year, bowheads struck but lost, and 

whales landed. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-mortality, whaling, struck and lost; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, 

native, gear, catch, crews, photographs, utilization. 

MORGAN, LAEL. 

1975. Rock, the artist. Alaska J. 5(1):25-31. 

Brief biography of Howard Rock from Point Hope, Alaska. Although his father, Sam Rock (Weyahok), 

and his brothers were famous whalers who all took bowhead whales, Howard never did. Instead, 

Howard became a famous Eskimo artist. Among his best known paintings were two about bowhead 

whaling, “Whale Hunt” and “Arctic Whale.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, native, crews, paintings. 

MORGAN, LAEL. 

1976. Eskimos stand cool under the big glass eye of fame. Alaska 42(1):46-48. 

Describes events associated with making a children’s film in northwest Alaska during the summer of 

1975. Contains statement “The Point Hopers had gotten only four small whales this season [spring 

1975] as compared to seven or eight in good years.” (p. 48). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

MORGAN, LAEL. 

1977a. A new look at subsistence whaling. Alaska 43(9):8-10. 

Reviews kills of bowhead whales by Alaskan Eskimos in 1976-1977 and discusses some of the 

problems of changing social structures in relation to whaling. The Eskimos agree that more selfregulation in subsistence hunting is necessary, but they believe a better census of the whale 

population is required. Eleven whales were killed at Point Barrow during the fall of 1976, one of 

which was lost and four (or six) rotted in the process of being towed; 13 were taken in spring 1976. 

Thirty-four Eskimo crews hunted in Alaska waters in spring 1977. The spring harvest was 19 

bowheads at Barrow, two at Point Hope (1976 was 12), Kivalina-one (1976-none), Gambell 2 (1976-

1), Wainwright 2 (1976-3), Savoonga-none (1976-7). Total kill during spring and fall was 47 whales. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling, killed but lost; REGULATION & CONSERVATION-management; WHALING-western Arctic, 

native, catch, crews, utilization. 
216 

MORGAN, LAEL. 

1977b. How to build a whale boat. Alaska 43(9):12. 

Brief description on the construction of an Eskimo skin-covered boat for whaling. The skins of six 

large oogruks (bearded seals) are used and, with care, the boat will last one hunting season. Skins 

can be rescued for a second year, but must be removed and treated before the second season. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, native, gear, photographs. 

MORGAN, LAEL. 

1977c. Gambell-a walrus economy. Alaska 43(10):22-25, 90. 

Account of walrus hunting at Gambell, Alaska, in mid-May. Roger Silook reported seeing a fine 

bowhead whale, but he did not have hunting gear in his boat to take it. (p. 25). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; DISTRIBUTION-sighting. 

MORGAN, LAEL. 

1977d. “Now everybody cares.” Tundra Times, Dec. 28, 14(52):5. 

Eskimo whaling for bowhead whales was a little understood subject at the Second Conference of the 

Biology of the Marine Mammal held at San Diego early in December. One speaker explained the 

marine mammal is the focal point of Circumpolar People, it is not just an abstract symbol of a cult. 

Although they are small in number, Eskimos are a majority of people occupying a vast area and feel 

they have a significant role to play in decisions that are made regarding whaling. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION-conservation; WHALING-western Arctic, native. 

MORGAN, LAEL. 

1978. Letters, notes and comments: (Letter to Craig Van Note in reply to questions about 

Eskimo’s wasteful hunting of bowhead). Alaska 44(1)12-13. 

The writer agrees that a bomb gun shown in a photograph was an inefficient device, but does not 

agree that Alaskan Eskimos are engaged in “massive kills” of bowhead whales, that the bowhead 

population is decreasing, or that the Eskimos are not conservative. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-abundance & density; REGULATION & CONSERVATION-conservation; WHALING-western Arctic, natives, 

catch, gear. 

MORGAN, LAEL. 

1979. Let the Eskimos hunt. Newsweek, May 21, p. 19. 

Brief account of traditional bowhead whaling by Alaskan Eskimos and their desire to continue taking 

more whales annually than allowed by the International Whaling Commission since 1978. The 

natives formed their own Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission to champion their interests and 

pledged to limit their kill to no more than 2% of the known number of bowheads, which is estimated 

by a new census to be 2,264. This is well over the IWC quota, which was 12 bowheads landed for 

1978 and 18 landed for 1979. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-census; POPULATION-abundance; REGULATION & 

CONSERVATION-management; WHALING-western Arctic, native, catch. 
217 

MORGAN, LAEL. 

1981. The politics of whaling. Alaska 47(5):8-11. 

Recounting of regulation difficulties between Alaskan Eskimos, U.S. government, and the 

International Whaling Commission since 1977. The main article is accompanied by two smaller items 

[apparently also prepared by L. Morgan] titled: “The whaling tradition” and “How good is our whaling 

research?” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-abundance; REGULATION & CONSERVATION-legislation, management, regulation; WHALING-western 

Arctic, native, catch, utilization, photographs. 

MORRISON, PETER. 

1962. Body temperatures in some Australian mammals. III. Cetacea (Megaptera). Biol. 

Bull. 123(1):154-169. 

A series of 250 body temperatures were made on 20 humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae, 

from the east coast of Australia. Table 7 on p. 165 contains data from Scoresby (1820) giving the 

blood temperature of bowhead as 38.8 C. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

PHYSIOLOGY-blood. 

MUKLUK TELEGRAPH. 

1950a. Village news: Point Hope. Mukluk Telegraph, Kotzebue, Alaska, June 1, 1(1):1. 

The people at Point Hope have caught only two whales to date. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

MUKLUK TELEGRAPH. 

1950b. News of the villages: Point Hope. Mukluk Telegraph, June 15, 1(2):1. 

“The annual Whale Dance or Nuligathuk was held Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The captains 

of the successful whaling crews were Sam Rock and Peter Kugnnrok.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crews, catch. 

MUKLUK TELEGRAPH. 

1950c. News of the villages: Wales. Mukluk Telegraph, Kotzebue, Alaska, September 

16, 1(7):1. 

Hunters at the village of Wales have seven oomiaks (boats). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, native, gear, crews. 
218 

MUKLUK TELEGRAPH. 

1950d. News of the villages: Gambell. Mukluk Telegraph, Kotzebue, Alaska, September 

16, 1(7):2. 

Charles Slwooko and John Apangalook reported that one bowhead whale was taken at Gambell in 

April. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Sea, native, catch. 

MUKLUK TELEGRAPH. 

1951a. News of the villages: Point Hope. Mukluk Telegraph, Kotzebue, Alaska, April 28, 

2(3):3. 

“We get only one whale so far. Patrick Attunganna is captain of successful whaling crew. They 

caught the whale last Saturday night. Other people in his crew are: Moses Milek, Roy Vincent, 

Joseph Toksuk, Henry Attunganna, Beatrice Vincent, Kitty Kewuavok, Raymond Holley, and Telia 

Attunganna.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

MUKLUK TELEGRAPH. 

1951b. News from the villages: Point Hope. Mukluk Telegraph, Kotzebue, Alaska, June 

9, 3(2):4. 

Four whales were taken at Point Hope. The successful captains were Daniel Lisbourne, Patrick 

Attunganna, Lennie Lane, and Sam Rock. There will be a big celebration from June 11-13. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crews, catch. 

MUKLUK TELEGRAPH. 

1951c. News from the villages: Point Lay. Mukluk Telegraph, Kotzebue, Alaska, June 9, 

3(2):6. 

“There are only 65 people in our village. Delicious news we had this month is which Warren and 

Edgar had brought from Point Hope last week some muktuk which we haven't tasted for long time, 

ever since our good friend Fred Forslund leave us, a great whaler in the beginning of the Point Lay 

situation.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crew. 
219 

MUKLUK TELEGRAPH. 

1951d. News from the villages: Kivalina. Mukluk Telegraph, Kotzebue, Alaska, July 26, 

3(3):10. 

Gene Joiner landed his airplane at Kivalina and informed the residents that he had seen a whale 

[apparently a stranding]. “We ring the bell and everybody gather and get oomiats ready. Then we 

remember it is Sunday so we wait. Then we all move down to whale. It is five miles down beach. 

Joiner cut off part of flippers and take them. We are very happy for blubber part, our village has not 

had whale for more than 10 years.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, stranding; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, utilization. 

MULLER, JOHANNA. 

1954. Observations on the orbital region of the skull of the Mystacoceti. Zool. Meded. 

32(23):279-290. 

Some features of the orbit of Mystacoceti and the variability and systematic importance of these 

peculiarities have been examined. In Balaena mysticetus(Fig. 3d, p. 286), “The external walls of the 

optic tube are formed anteriorly by the frontal, and mesially-posteriorly by a narrow rim of the frontal 

and by the alisphenoid. In shape the alisphenoid resembles an anvil: greatest diameter of the visible 

portion is about 36 cm, of which 20 cm constitute the length of the strong lateral processus, which 

extends laterally along the anterior border of the parietal (p. 287). On the basis of the shape and 

arrangement of the bones of the orbit, particularly that of the alisphenoid, it is possible to distinguish 

three definite species, namely Balaena mysticetus, Balaena glacialis, and Balaena australis (p. 288). 

Uniformity in the shape of the alisphenoid, within any one species, is so obvious that any specimen 

can be identified from this feature alone.” (p. 289) 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

IDENTITY-classification; MORPHOLOGY-structure. 

MUNGER, JAMES F. 

1852. Two years in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans and China, being a journal of every day 

life on board ship, interesting information in regard to the inhabitants of different 

countries, and the exciting events peculiar to a whaling voyage. J. R. Howlett, 

Printer, Vernon (New York), 79 p. Reprinted in 1967 by Ye Galleon Press, Fairfield, 

Wash. 

Journal of a whaling cruise on the ship St. George from September 3, 1850 to about April 13, 1852, 

when he shipped on board the Annie Bucknam for passage to New York. Describes whaling for 

bowhead (polar) whales in the Bering and Chukchi Seas, including brief discussion of whaling by 

Chukchi natives. A cow and a calf were captured on July 31, 1851 in the Chukchi Sea at lat 68°12'N, 

long 172°41'W (p. 33). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

IDENTITY-nomenclature; REPRODUCTION-calf; WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, commercial, native, 

gear, catch, utilization. 
220 

MURDOCH, JOHN. 

1885. Mammals. In P. H. Ray, Report of the International Polar Expedition to Point 

Barrow, Alaska, in response to the resolution of the House of Representatives of 

December 11, 1884. U.S. House Rep., 48th Congr., 2d Sess., Executive Doc. 44, 

Part 4, p. 92-103. 

Information, much of it hearsay from the natives, on the mammals in the vicinity of Point Barrow, 

Alaska. Native whaling for the polar whale or bowhead (A'k'bwuk) is briefly described. About 20 

umiaks, each carrying a crew of from 8 to 10 men, are fitted out for whaling from the two villages in 

the area. “Only three [whales] were killed in the two seasons we were there [1882 and 1883]. Capt. 

L. C. Owen, however, informs me that one season ten whales were taken by the boats of the two 

villages. The stripped carcass of a female which drifted ashore September 1, 1882, was found to 

contain a foetus about three feet long.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

IDENTITY-common name, Eskimo; REPRODUCTION-fetus; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crews, gear, 

catch, utilization. 

MURDOCH JOHN. 

1891. Whale-catching at Point Barrow. Pop. Sci. Mon. 38:830-836. 

The spring ice conditions and bowhead whaling by Eskimos at Barrow, Alaska, in 1882 are 

described. Information on the formation of crews including details of gear preparation and use of this 

equipment during the taking of whales are discussed. About eight or ten boats from each village 

make up the usual fleet. After a whale has been killed and towed to the ice-edge it is cut up and 

divided among the villagers, a long established custom, universal among the Eskimos, no matter 

who killed it; but at Barrow, the whalebone must be equally divided among all the boats that were in 

sight when the whale was killed. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crews, catch, gear, utilization. 

MURDOCH, JOHN. 

1892. Ethnological results of the Point Barrow Expedition. In J. W. Powell, 9th Annu. Rep. 

Bur. Ethnology, 1887-1888. U.S. Gov't. Print. Off., 441 p. 

An account of the Eskimos of Alaska including descriptions of their culture and natural resources of 

the region. Firearms first became available to the Eskimos when whalers began to go there in 1854 

(p. 193). Bowhead whaling by the Eskimos in 1882 and 1883 is described. “Success in this appears 

to be variable. In 1882 only one small whale was secured, and in 1883 one full grown one, though 

several were struck and lost each season. The veteran whaling master, Capt. L. C. Owen, informs 

me that one season the boats of these two villages captured ten. The season of 1885 was very 

successful. The natives of the two villages are reported to have taken twenty-eight whales. Capt. E. 

E. Smith, however, informs me that only seven of these were full grown.” (p. 276). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, gear, catch, utilization. 
221 

MURIE, OLAUS J. 

1936. Notes on the mammals of St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. In Otto William Geist and 

Froelich G. Rainey, Archaeological excavations at Kukulik, St. Lawrence Island, 

Alaska; preliminary report, p. 335-346. Univ. Alaska, Fairbanks, Univ. Alaska Misc. 

Publ. 2. 

Bowheads furnish the “choicest hunting.” Bowheads with 8-12 foot baleen are not uncommon, but 

the Eskimo tell of securing a whale which had 14-foot baleen. Skeletal material of this species is 

encountered in the Kukulik midden, although not as frequently as that of the finback whale. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY; MORPHOLOGY-measurements, baleen; WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Sea, gear, native, techniques, 

photographs and drawings (equipment), utilization. 

MURIE, OLAUS J. and VICTOR B. SCHEFFER. 

1959. Fauna of the Aleutian Islands and Alaska Peninsula with notes on invertebrates 

and fishes collected in the Aleutians, 1936-38. U.S. Dep. Interior, Fish and Wildl. 

Serv., No. Am. Fauna No. 61, 406 p. 

A two part report based on a biological survey of most of the Aleutian Islands and the Alaska 

Peninsula in 1936 and 1938. Part 1 by O. J. Murie describes the geography and geology, climate, 

environment and biotic distribution, vegetation, birds and mammals. Information presented on the 

bowhead was as follows: 

“Balaena mysticetus: Bowhead whale 

Aleut (Umnak?):Ugamaxcax' (Jochelson) 

Essentially, this is an Arctic whale that came into Bering Sea and visited the Kuril and Aleutian 

Islands, but it has become rare in the Aleutians. We obtained no certain records of it during our 

visits.” (p. 333) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-former, present; IDENTITY-nomenclature, Aleut. 

MYERS, NORMAN. 

1975. The whaling controversy. Am. Sci. 63(4):448-455. 

Author discusses the controversy between conservationists who wish to stop whaling and the 

countries that continue to take whales for commercial purposes and suggests that communication 

between these parties may be the solution to the problem. Noting that stock figures are estimates 

only, derived form an uncertain data base, Table 1 gives the original stock for four species of right 

whales world-wide as 300,000 but present stocks of only 4,000 or fewer. Includes remarks that this 

stock was commercially extinct by 1900: now protected, recovering very slowly in some areas, hardly 

at all in others. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

POPULATION-abundance; REGULATION & CONSERVATION-conservation; WHALING-history, eastern Arctic, western 

Arctic. 

NAKASHIMA, LESLIE. 

1977a. This is my town: Barrow. Alaska 43(7):54-56, 81-84. 

Brief review of history and present Eskimo village of Barrow, Alaska, with discussion of present-day 

whaling for bowheads and its cultural importance. Mentions number of crews and cost to maintain, 

methods, gear and importance of subsistence foods to natives. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, native, crews, gear, utilization. 
222 

NAKASHIMA, LESLIE. 

1977b. Fall whaling in Barrow. Alaska 43(9):97. 

Bowhead whaling during the autumn at Barrow, Alaska, is described and compared with spring 

whaling. During the 1976 fall season eleven bowheads were caught. Unfortunately, much of the 

meat had spoiled from being in the water a long time, or was inedible because of the black powder 

from bombs. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-boat motors; WHALING-western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, native, gear, catch, photograph, utilization. 

NASU, KEIJI. 

1960. Oceanographic investigation in the Chukchii Sea during the summer of 1958. Sci. 

Rep. Whales Res. Inst. 15:143-157. 

During the period August 16-20, 1958, nineteen stations were occupied in the southern Chukchi Sea 

to obtain oceanographic data. Additionally, sightings of large whales were recorded, and these 

included two right whales observed at approximately 68° 30' N lat. and 172° W long. (Fig. 11). 

Figure 11 also shows a sighting of two right whales northeast of St. Lawrence Island at about 63° 40' 

N lat. and 168° W long., but this is not mentioned in the text. The author fails to specify whether 

these sightings were of Balaena glacialis or B. mysticetus.

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration; DISTRIBUTION–sightings, Chukchi Sea, Bering Sea; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–

census, vessel. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1967a. October 6 [First whale of the year is captured.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic 

Res. Lab., Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

[Note: The name of the laboratory was officially changed, effective September 1, 1967, to Naval 

Arctic Research Laboratory.] 

“The first whale of the year was captured last night by Luther Leavitt and his crew. Should cause joy 

in the village as none were taken during the spring season. 38 feet long.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; WHALING-western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1967b. October 8 [Second whale taken is a large one.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic 

Res. Lab., Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Today the second whale of the season and of the year was beached after being captured and killed 

last night. This monster, 56 feet long, was taken by Al Hopson's crew with Joe Tukle, harpooner.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; WHALING-western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, native, catch, crews. 
223 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1967c. October 11 [Third whale taken.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., Barrow, 

Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“A third whale was taken today by the village men. This one by the crew of Benjamin Itta-it was the 

smallest so far-only 34 feet.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; WHALING-western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1968a. May 1 [First spring whale taken.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., 

Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“The first whale of the spring season was taken today by Donald Nusinginya crew. Three were taken 

last fall, but none in the spring of 1967.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1968b. May 2 [Second whale captured.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., 

Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Ronald Coates’ crew got the second whale of the season today.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1968c. May 3 [Third whale captured, whaler injured.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. 

Lab., Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“A third whale was taken today at Barrow. This one by Luther Leavitt’s crew after a rather serious 

accident. A bomb exploded in the whale gun causing lacerations of the arms and legs of both Luther 

and his brother David Leavitt and severing David’s femoral artery. The Wien flight today was held at 

the strip until David could be treated and brought ... from the hospital in the village. He was flown 

down to Anchorage to the native hospital there and surgery was performed.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1968d. May 4 [Fourth whale of season landed, another was killed but lost.]. U.S. Dep. 

Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Two more whales taken today, both by Harold Itta crew. However, the second one was blown away 

by the wind after only the flippers were removed.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling (killed/lost); WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 
224 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1968e. May 6 [Fifth whale landed.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., Barrow, 

Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Fifth whale taken today. Allen Kaleak’s crew.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1968f. May 7 [A sixth whale landed.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., Barrow, 

Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“A sixth whale was taken today. This one by Joash Tukle.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1968g. May 8 [A seventh whale landed]. U. S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., 

Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“The seventh whale of the season was taken today by Alfred Leavitt.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1968h. May 9 [A fifty foot whale landed.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., 

Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Nate Olemann took the eighth whale for the village today. About 50 feet. Most have been much 

smaller.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements (estimated length); WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1968i. May 27 [A sixty foot whale taken.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., 

Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Simeon Patkotak took a whale today-the ninth this year. About 60 feet. Ice closed in and sank it. 

Vincent Nageak got a beluga.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-relationship (beluga); MORPHOLOGY-measurements; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, 

crews. 
225 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1968j. May 30 [Sixty foot whale recovered from under ice.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic 

Res. Lab., Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“After blowing a hole in the ice, Simeon Patkotak’s whale was pulled up, butchered, and the meat 

and blubber were hauled in to the village by sled.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1968k. June 14 [First Nalakatuk held today.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., 

Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Nalakatuk held today in village for celebration of whales caught by crews of Harold Itta, Luther 

Leavitt, and Simeon Patkotak.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1968l. June 17 [Second Nalakatuk held tonight.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. 

Lab., Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Second Nalakatuk of the season tonight to celebrate whales caught by Nate Olemann, Joash Tukle, 

and Allen Kaleak.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1968m. June 20 [Third Nalakatuk held.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., Barrow, 

Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Third Nalakatuk of season, sponsored by Alfred Leavitt's crew.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1968n. June 21 [Fourth Nalakatuk held.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., 

Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Fourth Nalakatuk in Barrow by boat crews of Donald Nusinginga and Ronald Coates.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 
226 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1968o. October 31 [Whaling crew fails to return.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. 

Lab., Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Search for Joash Tukle and three whose skin whaling boat failed to return after catching a whale.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling (killed/lost); WHALING-western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1968p. November 1 [Lost whaling crew located.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., 

Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Coast Guard C-130 #1452 arrived, departed on search for whalers, found whalers about 30 miles 

out at 048° from Barrow, and departed.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, native, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1969a. April 25 [Whaling season begins with capture of two whales.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, 

Naval Arctic Res. Lab., Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“The whaling season has started. Two were taken today by the crews of Warren Matumeak and 

Thomas Panningoona. Both small, maybe 35 feet.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1969b. April 27 [Two more whales taken.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., 

Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Two more whales taken today by the crews of David Brower and Joe Panigeo. Small.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements, estimated; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1969c. April 28 [Fifth whale landed.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., Barrow, 

Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Bert Okakok’s crew got the fifth whale of the season.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 
227 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1969d. May 2 [Sixth whale landed.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., Barrow, 

Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Alfred Leavitt's crew took the sixth whale of the season today.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1969e. May 5 [Seventh whale landed.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., Barrow, 

Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Tom Brower’s crew took the seventh whale of the season.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1970a. May 6 [First bowhead whale of the season landed.). U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic 

Res. Lab., Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“The first bowhead whale of the season was taken today by Wyman Panigeo' s crew. It was 24 feet 

long.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1970b. May 8 [Two whales landed.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., Barrow, 

Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Two whales were taken today. Allen Kaleak’s crew took a 32 footer and Simeon Patkotak’s was 22 

feet.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1970c. May 9 [Fourth whale landed.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., Barrow, 

Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“The fourth whale was taken today -22 feet by Alfred Leavitt.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 
228 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1970d. May 10 [Two more whales taken.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., 

Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Two more whales taken today. Numbers 5 and 6. 43 feet by Wyman Panigeo and 33'8" by Winfred 

Ahvakana.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1970e. May 11 [Seventh whale landed.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., 

Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“The seventh whale taken today by Joe Sikvayugak’s crew. 28-1⁄2'.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1970f. May 12 [Eighth whale landed and a whaler injured.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic 

Res. Lab., Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Eighth whale taken today - 28 1⁄2' by David Brower. At the whaling camp today NARL’s Merle 

Solomon was injured by a bomb when it exploded lacerating his right leg and requiring numerous 

stitches. He will be off work several days.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1970g. May 18 [One whale landed, another shot but lost.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic 

Res. Lab., Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“The ninth whale of the season was taken today by Donald Nusunginya’s crew. 33 1⁄2'. Another was 

shot but lost.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-mortality, whaling (struck and lost); WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, 

native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1970h. May 19 [Two more whales taken.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., 

Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“The tenth and eleventh whales of the season were taken today by crews of Bert Okakok and 

Whitlam Adams. Both about 32 feet long.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 
229 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1970i. May 20 [Barrow’s twelfth whale landed.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., 

Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Barrow’s twelfth whale was taken today by Harold Itta’s crew. 26 feet.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1970j. May 22 [A stinker whale recovered.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., 

Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“The thirteenth whale was butchered today. It was a 24' stinker, killed by Solomon/Leavitt's crew on 

May 18 and recovered today. (Merle Solomon/Alfred Leavitt)” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-mortality, whaling, stinker; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, 

catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1970k. May 25 [Whale number 14, a stinker, landed.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. 

Lab., Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“The fourteenth whale, butchered today, was another stinker, shot earlier by Thomas Panningoona’s 

crew, 28 feet.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-mortality, whaling, stinker; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, 

catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1970l. May 27 [Fifteenth whale of season landed.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. 

Lab., Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“The fifteenth whale of the season was taken today or yesterday by Joe Panigeo’s crew.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1970m. May 31 [Point Hope catch this spring is 8 whales.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic 

Res. Lab., Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“At Point Hope this spring 8 whales were taken. The largest was 42'4", taken by Billy Weber on May 

4. The season lasted from April 22 to May 23.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 
230 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1970n. June 15 [First Nalakatuk held today.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., 

Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“The first Nalakatuk was held today by Wyman Panigeo.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, native, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1970o. June 22 [Last Nalakatuk of season held.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. 

Lab., Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“The season’s last Nalakatuk was held in the Village.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, native. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1971a. April 20 [Whaling season begins.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., 

Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Whaling season has started here. Lots of camps on a lead about a mile out from the Village.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1971b. May 4 [Wainwright: five whales struck but lost.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic 

Res. Lab., Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Whale season is starting to show results. In Wainwright five have been reported shot but all sank 

and were lost.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling, struck and lost; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1971c. May 6 [First two whales of season taken at Barrow.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval 

Arctic Res. Lab., Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“First two whales of the season were taken today off Barrow. The first by Robert Aiken, a 29' female 

and the second by Alfred Leavitt, size and sex unknown.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-sex; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 
231 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1971d. May 7 [Third whale of season landed.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., 

Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“A third whale was taken today - a 27 foot male by Thomas Itta’s crew.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-sex; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1971e. May 8 [A fourth whale taken but lost as crews flee ice break-up.]. U.S. Dep. 

Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., Barrow Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“A fourth whale was taken today, this one by Robert Aiken's crew, but was lost later when the ice 

began to break up. The crews in the area rapidly departed and no loss of life was reported tho some 

of their equipment had to be abandoned.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling, killed but lost; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crews, gear. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1971f. May 11 [Fifth whale taken is a stinker.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., 

Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“The fifth whale of the season taken today by Whitlam Adams was a stinker (40'-45') containing a 

bomb of Allen Kaleak’s crew, and probably shot about May 5. It was caught in the ice and blasted 

out with explosives by Kenneth Toovak (NARL) who says that, tho’ the muktuk will still be O.K., the 

meat is no good for human consumption and there aren't many dogs left in the Village to feed it to. 

He says it won’t do for wolves as it gives them diarrhea. Wonder how they found that out.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-mortality, whaling, struck and lost, stinker; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi 

Sea, native, catch, crews, utilization. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1971g. May 12 [Sixth bowhead of season landed.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. 

Lab., Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Another bowhead taken today - the sixth. A male about 25' by Merle Solomon’s crew.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-sex; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1971h. May 19 [Another bowhead landed.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., 

Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Another bowhead taken today. A 24 1⁄2' male by Alfred Leavitt’s crew.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-sex; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 
232 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1971i. May 21 [Two more bowheads taken.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., 

Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Two more bowheads were taken today - the 8th and 9th this season. Roxy Oyagak got a 28 foot 

male and Joe Panigeo got a 25 foot whale, no sex given.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-sex; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1971j. May 24 [Tenth whale landed.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., Barrow, 

Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Luther Leavitt’s crew took the 10th whale of the season today. It was a 25 footer.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1971k. May 26 [Eleventh whale landed.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., 

Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Simeon Patkotak’s crew got the eleventh whale today. No information available.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1971l. June 1 [A successful 1971 whaling season for three villages included capture of a 

cow-calf pair at Wainwright.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., Barrow, 

Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“The Barrow whale harvest this spring was slightly smaller than last spring’s take, 15 last spring and 

11 this spring as noted in the log. At Wainwright Peter Tagrook took a 51'2" female and Steven 

Ungarook got her baby, a 14'8" female. The mother was said to have been shot on May 20 but was 

not taken till May 28, the same day as the little one. Information from Point Hope is sketchy, but 

indicates that there were five total. Two in April by Joseph Frankson and Amos Lane, and three in 

May - 2 by Semour Tuzroyluk and one by David Frankson. All bowheads.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-sex, mortality, whaling, struck and lost; REPRODUCTION-calf; 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1971m. September 22 [First whale of the fall season taken.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval 

Arctic Res. Lab., Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“The first whale of the fall season was taken today by Tom Brower’s crew. It was a 30 foot male.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-sex; WHALING-western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, native, catch, crew. 
233 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1971n. September 26 [Second whale landed.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., 

Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“The second whale of the season was taken today by Thomas Napageak’s crew - a big 52' male.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-sex; WHALING-western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1972a. April 24 [Whaling camps on ice and ready to begin season.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, 

Naval Arctic Res. Lab., Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Whaling camps are set up on the ice, but there is a strong wind which may move the ice out with 

them.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1972b. April 25 [First whale of spring season taken.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. 

Lab., Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Nate Neakok took the first whale of the season today, 30' male.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-sex; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1972c. May 21 [Successful whaling season continues.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic 

Res. Lab., Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Out at whale camps today the whalers are shooting lots of ducks.....The whale catch has been good 

this year. The whole list will be entered at the end of the season.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1972d. June 11 [Three villages have successful whaling season during spring of 1972.]. 

U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. 

Log. 

“See next page for spring whale harvest. Last one of the season taken today after a gap of 3 weeks. 

Spring whale harvest for 1972: 

 Name Length Sex Date 

1. Nate Neakok 30' M 4-26-72 

2. Arnold Brower, Sr. 30' F 4-27-72 

3. Robert Aiken 30' F 4-28-72 

4. Simeon Patkotak 35 F 4-28-72 

5. Thomas Panningoona 30' F 4-28-72 

6. Allen Kaleak small M 5-3-72 

7. Alfred Leavitt 27 1⁄2' F 5-5-72 

8. Thomas Brower 46-47' M 5-5-72 
234 

9. Allen Kaleak small M 5-6-72 

10. Ralph Aveoganna 35' F 5-6-72 

11. Harold Itta 25'-26' M 5-7-72 

12. Thomas Brower 30' M 5-11-72 

13. Percy Nusunginya 25'-30' F 5-11-72 

14. Percy Nusunginya 51' F 5-21-72 

15. Thomas Napageak 60' ? 6-11-72 

All sizes approximate except #7 which was measured. Point Hope whalers took 14 - the largest 57' - 

and Wainwright got 2.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-sex; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1972e. October 6 [First whale of autumn season taken.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic 

Res. Lab., Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Thomas Napageak took a 40' ± female whale last night.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements (estimated length); POPULATION-sex; WHALING-western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, native, 

catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1972f. October 7 [Second whale killed.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., Barrow, 

Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Second whale of season taken by Thomas Brower. About 50 feet.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements (estimated length); WHALING-western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1972g. October 13 [Stinker whale sighted from air.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. 

Lab., Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“NARL flight. Stinker seen on this flight just north of the monument, 25-30 feet long.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements, estimated; POPULATION-mortality, whaling, struck/lost, stranding. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1972h. 9 November [Summary of whales killed in autumn 1972.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval 

Arctic Res. Lab., Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“The last whale camps came off the ice today. This is the reported harvest for the fall season: 

1. Thomas Napageak M 35' October 5 

2. Thomas Brower M 40' ± October 6 

3. Joash Tukle F 20' October 19 

4. Joe Panigeo M 25-30' October 21 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-sex; WHALING-western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, native, catch, crews. 
235 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1973a. April 21 [Whales sighted off Point Lay.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., 

Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“NARL flight to Wainwright and Point Lay and return. Aikins [pilot] reports seeing two whales, one 

very large, about 20 miles off Pt. Lay, a polar bear, a crippled fox, and a freshly killed seal about 18 

miles out. The ice off Pt. Lay is breaking in leads perpendicular to the shoreline. Whales were seen 

in one of the leads. 

McVay at Pt. Lay reports they have already seen 20 bowhead and filmed 14. They have seen at 

least 2 polar bear and about 40 beluga. Their project also includes underwater sound recordings of 

these mammals.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration, sightings, relationship other species; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-devices (acoustics), 

photography. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1973b. April 25 [Whale census conducted.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., 

Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Other flight out of Pt. Hope today was Geo. Harry (NMFS) who has been there with Durham, USC 

[University of Southern California], on a whale census project. 

A phone call from Scott McVay (EDF [Environmental Defense Fund]) informed us that his group is 

filming at Cape Lisburne instead of Pt. Lay. The lead closed at Pt. Lay. They have obtained some 

good footage. Saw one large whale leap out of the water 7 times and managed to film 4 of the 

leaps.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-breaching, migration; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-census, aerial, photography. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1973c. April 28 [Whaling season begins.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., 

Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“The whaling crews from Barrow started moving out on the ice last night. Bruce Ehranhoft will be on 

Merle Solomon’s crew this year. Both are NARL employees. Merle is a native Eskimo and has a 

crew every year.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY 

1973d. May 7 [Three whales taken-first of the season.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic 

Res. Lab., Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Three whales were taken today-the first of the season. William Kaleak’s crew took a 27 foot male, Al 

Hopson’s took a male, and Percy Nusunginya’s a female. Sizes on the latter two are not yet 

available. A list will be entered in the log at the end of the season. Luther Leavitt’s crew shot one but 

lost it.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-sex, mortality (whaling, struck/lost); WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, 

native, catch, crews. 
236 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1973e. May 12 [Two more whales landed.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., 

Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Two more whales taken today by Simeon Patkotak and Sam Taalok.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1973f. June 8 [Whaling season ends.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., Barrow, 

Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“The ocean ice is getting very soft with deep puddles on the surface. The whale camps closed up 

shop today and all came in.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crews. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1973g. June 22 [List of whales taken at Barrow this spring.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval 

Arctic Res. Lab., Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Season’s first Nalakatuk today. Whales taken at Barrow this spring, as received from Dr. Floyd 

Durham (USC): 

May 7 Mary Jane Kaleak M 27' 

May 7 Al Hopson M 29' ± 

May 7 Percy Nusinginga F 31' ± 

May 12 Sam Taalak F 29' ± 

May 12 David Brower M 30' (Stinker, butchered May 16.) 

May 13 Simeon Patkotak M 25' ± 

May 23 Ronald Coates F 28' 

May 24 Simeon Patkotak F 29' 

May 24 Arnold Brower M 24' ± 

May 24 Percy Nusinginga M 24' ± 

May 25 Thomas Itta F 32' ± 

May 26 Joe Panigeo M 28' ± 

May 27 Robert Brower F 27' ± 

June 6 Joe Panigeo F 50' 

June 6 Luther Leavitt M 15' (calf) 

At Wainwright: 

May 19 Frederick Ahmaogak F 25' ± 

May 20 Rossman Peetook F 24' ±” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-sex, calf; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 
237 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1973h. June 25 [Second Nalakatuk held today.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., 

Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Season’s second Nalakatuk today.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY. 

1973i. June 26 [Third Nalakatuk held today.]. U.S. Dep. Navy, Naval Arctic Res. Lab., 

Barrow, Alaska, Naval Arctic Res. Lab. Log. 

“Third and last Nalakatuk today.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native. 

NAVAL ARCTIC RESEARCH LABORATORY STAFF. 

1972. Eskimo whaling at Barrow, Alaska. Naval Arctic Res. Lab., Barrow, Alaska, Dec. 

12, 24 p. (unpublished) 

Contains information and data on bowhead and gray whaling by Eskimos at Barrow, Alaska, from 

1961 through 1972. Information was obtained by means of a prepared questionnaire, interviews, and 

from the daily log maintained by the NARL. Also presents information on Eskimo whaling customs 

and practices, color patterns of bowheads, catches of narwhal and belukha, terms used by various 

villagers to describe bowhead whales and how bowheads are butchered and distributed to the 

captain and crew, and identifying marks Barrow captains use on their bombs to establish possession 

of captured whales. Compilation of the information in this report was instigated by Dr. Floyd Durham. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-when hunted, bowhead and grays, migration; IDENTITY-Eskimo description, nomenclature, coloration; 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-sex; REGULATION & CONSERVATION-regulation by Eskimos; 

REPRODUCTION-fetus; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea, native, catch (also belukha, gray, narwhal), 

crews, gear, utilization. 

NELSON, E. W. 

1883. Birds of Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean. In U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, 1883, 

Cruise of the Revenue-Steamer Corwin in Alaska and the N.W. Arctic Ocean in 

1881, p. 55-118. Gov. Print. Off., Washington, D.C. 

Observations made during cruise of the Corwin in 1881 in the Bering and Chukchi Seas during which 

several stops were made at villages in Alaska and Siberia, plus his observations made during a four 

year residence at St. Michaels, Alaska. In the species account for the Red Phalarope, Phalaropus

fulicarius (p. 91), he states “To the whalers in this region they are known with the next species [the 

Northern Phalarope, Lobipes hyperboreus] as “bowhead birds”, from their habit of feeding upon 

minute animaleulae which afford the right whale or bowhead its food. Hence a community of 

interests attracts these pigmies and the largest cetacean of the North to prey upon the same fare. A 

logical conclusion follows, based upon experience, by which the whalers predict the presence of 

whales wherever this elegant bird is to be found in great numbers.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-relationship (with other species: birds); NUTRITION-food; PREDATORS & COMPETITORS-birds; 

WHALING-western Arctic, commercial. 
238 

NELSON, EDWARD WILLIAM. 

1899. The Eskimo about Bering Strait. U.S. Bur. Am. Ethnol., Eighteenth Ann. Rep. (in 

two parts), Part 1, p. 3-518. Govt. Print. Off., Washington, D.C. Reprinted 1983 by 

Smithson. Inst. Press, Washington, D.C. 

First detailed ethnographic work on natives of the western Alaska regions. Contains information on 

Eskimo culture, including implements used for whaling, utilization of whale products, and the 

significance of bowhead whales in Eskimo’s culture, religion and mythology. When author visited 

Point Barrow in 1881, it had become easy for the natives to obtain breech loading guns and 

ammunition from the whalers (p. 119). Numerous implements used for whaling were collected, 

described, and illustrated. It was reported that the natives at Plover Bay, Siberia, had a bomb gun 

which they had obtained from some whaler and they killed whales with it [also see Nelson and True, 

1887:292.]. The people at Point Barrow were also reported to have used a whaling gun for some 

time (p. 165-166.). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-museums, artifacts; WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, native, 

gear, utilization, illustrated. 

NELSON, EDWARD W. 

1918. Wild animals of North America. Natl. Geogr. Soc., Washington, D.C., p. 385-612. 

Species accounts for the mammals of North America, including four whales: Orcinus orca, 

Delphinapterus leucas, Physeter macrocephalus, and Balaena mysticetus. Contains a general 

description of the bowhead, its distribution, food, reproduction, commercial and native whaling, and 

utilization of its baleen and oil in industry (p. 469). 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

BEHAVIOR-migration; DISTRIBUTION-present; IDENTITY-nomenclature; MORPHOLOGY-size; NUTRITION-food; 

POPULATION-abundance; REPRODUCTION-calves, lactation; WHALING-eastern Arctic, western Arctic, commercial, native, 

gear, drawing. 

NELSON, E. W., and F. W. TRUE. 

1887. Mammals of northern Alaska. In Edward W. Nelson, Report upon natural history 

collections made in Alaska between the years 1877 and 1881, edited by Henry W. 

Henshaw, Part 2, p. 227-293. Arctic Ser. Publ. 3, The Signal Serv., U.S. Army, Gov. 

Print. Off., Washington, D.C. 

Account of the species and field-notes obtained during the author’s explorations in Alaska. Describes 

in general terms the distribution of the bowhead (Eskimo = A-gho-vuk), its food, commercial and 

native whaling, and catch. Contains information that 10-12 years ago [ca. 1870?] some whaling 

vessels wintered in Plover Bay, Siberia, and the natives obtained and learned the use of bomb-guns. 

The next winter they secured several whales (p. 292). Author believed that bowheads passed from 

western to eastern Arctic and back. In support of this belief was the instance of a harpoon bearing an 

English stamp which was taken from a whale captured by the Eskimo in Kotzebue Sound in the fall 

of 1880. Nelson apparently obtained the harpoon and showed it to every whaling captain they met 

during the summer, “...and without exception, they were emphatic in the statement that no such iron 

was ever used by any vessel in this part of the Arctic Ocean, but it was a common pattern with the 

English whalers on the Greenland coast.” “Another fact, which is in direct confirmation of the idea 

that whales pass from Bering Sea to the Greenland coast and back, is that a year when whales are 

scarce in the Greenland seas they are numerous about Bering Straits, and vice versa.” (p. 292-293). 

WESTERN ARCTIC, EASTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; DISTRIBUTION-former; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-museums, artifact; 

IDENTITY-nomenclature; NUTRITION-food; WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, commercial, native, catch, 

gear. 
239 

NELSON, RICHARD K. 

1965. North Alaskan Eskimo exploitation of the sea ice environment. Arctic Aeromedical 

Laboratory, Fort Wainwright, Alaska. (Copy at Naval Arctic Res. Lab., Barrow, 

Alaska.) (Unpublished manuscr.) 

Describes how Eskimos have learned to exploit sea ice in their subsistence hunt for marine 

mammals, birds and fish. The hunt for bowheads at three major whaling villages during the period 

1964 to 1965 is described. Autumn whaling is done at Wainwright, Barrow, and Barter Island. During 

the autumn hunt of 1964 the Wainwright whalers were not successful, although a whale was struck 

with a bomb and lost. At Barrow in the autumn of 1964 there were ten whales taken, and three more 

were landed during the following spring. Two whales were taken in the spring of 1965 at Wainwright. 

At Point Hope there were eleven crews whaling during the spring of 1965. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ANTHROPOLOGY-Alaskan Eskimos; BEHAVIOR-migration, respiration; POPULATION-mortality, whaling, struck and lost; 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea, native, catch, crews, gear, photographs, utilization. 

NELSON, RICHARD K. 

1969. Hunters of the northern ice. Univ. Chicago Press, Chicago, Ill., 429 p. 

An excellent treatise, encyclopedic in content, on sea ice and how Eskimos have learned to utilize it 

for hunting and travel. The author lived and learned to hunt with the residents of Wainwright, Point 

Hope, and Barrow from 1964 to 1966. Contains information on how Eskimos hunt bowhead whales 

and some data on animals caught. At Barrow, 10 whales were taken in the autumn of 1964 and three 

were landed during spring 1965. At Wainwright, one whale was killed in the spring of 1966. In 1965 

there were 11 crews whaling at Point Hope. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ANTHROPOLOGY-Alaskan Eskimos; BEHAVIOR-respiration, migration; IDENTITY-nomenclature; WHALING-western Arctic, 

Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, gear, photographs (boats), utilization. 

NELSON, RICHARD K. 

1981. Harvest of the sea: coastal subsistence in modern Wainwright. North Slope 

Borough Coastal Management Program, Barrow, Alaska. 126 p. 

A summary account of the subsistence lifestyle and culture of Eskimos residing at Wainwright, 

Alaska, concentrating mainly on the present and past twenty years although frequent reference is 

made to earlier times. The annual cycle of subsistence and animals hunted is detailed, including 

considerable information on bowhead whales and whaling methods. The report is based on several 

periods of study carried out between 1964 and 1981 while the author resided in the village and 

participated actively in the full range of subsistence-related activities. Contains information about 

bowhead whales (primarily presenting the Eskimo viewpoint) and whaling, including specific 

information about various hunts, events, and catches. Unfortunately, the author chose to omit 

specific data on when they were taken and by which crew. Three photographs included in the text (p. 

87, 94 and 96) also lack identifying information on whales caught. Report provides valuable insights 

on factors that have affected the intensity of bowhead whaling by Wainwright hunters since the 

1960s. Also describes other summer whales encountered off Wainwright and reasons why Eskimos 

did or did not hunt them. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-diving, swimming, respiratory, maternal, pursued, interaction with boats, migration, patterns, timing, relationship 

with other species; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-field recognition of whale age and sex; IDENTITY-Eskimo names 

for different types of bowheads, ingutuk; POPULATION-mortality, struck and lost, number whales caught; REGULATION & 

CONSERVATION-management, regulation, effects on whaling; REPRODUCTION-parturition, a birth observed by an Eskimo; 

WHALING-native, history, crews, gear, catch, photographs, utilization, other whale species hunted (beluga, gray, minke?, 

finback?). 
240 

NEMOTO, TAKAHISA. 

1959. Food of baleen whales with reference to whale movements. Sci. Rep. Whales 

Res. Inst. 14:149-290. 

Discusses the feeding apparatus, food, time of feeding and associated whale movements using data 

and samples collected aboard vessels in the North Pacific and Antarctic waters. Lacking data on the 

Greenland whale for study, the author considers them synonymous with the right whale (p. 162), and 

cites statements by other authors (p. 211, 213-215) regarding food and feeding; for distribution in the 

Arctic Sea he cites Nikulin (1946) as stating 12 Greenland whales were observed from 1937 to 1943 

(p. 227); and Townsend (1935) as reporting the locations of catches of Greenland whales during the 

19th century in the shallower marginal waters of the Okhotsk, Bering, and Arctic Seas (p. 231). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTIONS–Okhotsk, Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas; NUTRITION–food, feeding behavior; WHALING-Okhotsk, 

Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, commercial, history, catch. 

NEMOTO, TAKAHISA. 

1970. Feeding pattern of baleen whales in the ocean. In: Steele, J. H. (ed.), 1970, 

Marine food chains, p. 241-252. Univ. Calif. Press, Berkeley, Calif. Reprinted in 

1972 in Collected Reprints 1970, vol. 9, contrib. No. 256, p. 370-381, The Ocean 

Res. Inst., Univ. Tokyo, Nakano, Tokyo, Japan. Also reprinted in Cobb, J. Stanley 

and Marilyn M. Harlin (eds.), 1976, Marine ecology: Selected readings, p. 130-141. 

Univ. Park Press, Baltimore [Md.]. 

Describes feeding patterns of 11 baleen whales (including the Greenland right whale) belonging to 

three families and six genera. Subjects discussed are: Feeding apparatus, food species and 

selection of food, feeding types, diurnal and seasonal variations, grazing and predation, and food 

chains through baleen whales. The Greenland right whales, employing a skimming type of feeding, 

feed on copepods and amphipods (p. 135, 1976 reprint). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

NUTRITION–food, feeding behavior. 

NIENADELOOK, CHARLES. 

1908. Interesting letter written by Eskimo. The Nome Daily Nugget, Nome Alaska, May 

30, 8(129):3. 

Letter from a resident on Little Diomede Island relating how a native from there, Mr. Adnalouk, 

attempted to walk across the ice to Wales, Alaska, but had to return because of open water. He 

became lost during a storm, on his return trip and after 15 days on the ice he emerged at Escape 

[presumably East Cape, U.S.S.R.]. It was reported that “Escape natives caught 12 whales last fall.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–Bering Strait, native, catch. 
241 

NIKULIN, P. G. 

1946. O raspredelenii kitoobraznykh v moryakh, omyvayushchikh Chukotskiy Poluostrov 

(Distribution of cetaceans in seas surrounding the Chukchi Peninsula). Izv. 

Tikhookean. Nauchno-issled. Inst. Rybn. Khoz. Okeanogr. (TINRO) 22:255-257. In 

Russian. (Transl. By U. S. Naval Oceanogr. Off., Washington, D.C., 1969, 3 p.) 

Whales were observed in coastal waters of the Chukchi Peninsula by the author (1937-1941) and by 

the captains of whaling vessels (1942-1943). Numbers of whales sighted, recorded only by month, 

year and location, include Greenland whales in July 1937, Bering Strait mys Serdtse-Kamen’, 1; 

June 1938, Metkulen, Bering Strait, 6; July 1938, Metkulen, Bering Strait, 1; April 1939, Bering Strait, 

three; and May 1939, Bering Strait, 1. No sightings were reported for 1940-1943. The observations 

indicate that Greenland whales migrate north through Bering Strait during April-July during the period 

1937-1939. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration, timing, relationship with other species; DISTRIBUTION–sightings, Bering and Chukchi Seas. 

NISHIWAKI, MASAHARU. 

1966. Distribution and migration of marine mammals in the North Pacific area. 11th Pac. 

Sci. Congr. Symp. No. 4, Aug. 24, 49 p. 

Briefly reviews distribution and migration of marine mammals in the North Pacific area, including 

bowhead whales (p. 2, 14-16). Author suggests that all bowheads may not migrate north every year 

based upon information provided him by a Japanese whaling gunner with 50 years experience. The 

gunner, S. Izui, reported sighting more than 10 whales, all over 10m in length, south of St. Lawrence 

Island in 1954 [date and location not stated], and as a result of their discussion the author concluded 

they were bowheads. “But it was an unusual occurrence of the bowhead, because bowheads have 

not been seen by the crews of whaling or salmon and crab boats in the waters around the Alutian 

[sic] Islands in recent years.” In 1960, 15 bowheads were caught by Eskimos at Point Barrow, but at 

Point Hope only a few are caught. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration, timing, pattern; DISTRIBUTION–Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, sightings; 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling, size; WHALING–Chukchi Sea, native catch. 

NISHIWAKI, MASAHARU. 

1972. General biology. In: S. H. Ridgway, Mammals of the sea, biology and medicine, 

Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Ill. Chap. 1, p. 3-204. 

Describes the taxonomic classification, morphology and general biology of marine mammals (except 

the sea otter, which is discussed in Chapter 2), including Balaena mysticetus (p. 9-10), also known 

as the great polar whale, Arctic right whale, and the bowhead. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

DISTRIBUTION–Arctic Sea; IDENTITY–nomenclature; MORPHOLOGY–measurements, structure, coloration; POPULATION–

abundance; REPRODUCTION–mating, parturition, drawing. 
242 

NISHIWAKI, MASAHARU. 

1974. Status of marine mammals in the Bering Sea. In: D. W. Hood and E. J. Kelly 

(eds.), Oceanography of the Bering Sea with emphasis on renewable resources, 

Internatl. Sympo. for Bering Sea Study, Jan. 31-Feb. 4, 1972, Hakodate, Japan, 

Chap. 13, p. 279-281. Occas. Publ. No. 2, Inst. Mar. Sci., Univ. Alaska, Fairbanks. 

In response to a question “what is the present status of the Greenland whale?,” the author replied: 

“The Greenland right whale (Balaena mysticetus) is now hunted mainly by the Eskimos at the rate of 

perhaps 10 individuals per year typically, but annual catches sometimes number as high as 38 or 40 

kills. One very young animal of unknown origin was found to have migrated as far as Osaka Bay 

[Japan]. It is possible that the Greenland whale population may be very slowly in the process of 

recovery, although unrestricted slaughter by the Eskimos may be a significant deterrent.”

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration, extra–limital; POPULATION–abundance, mortality, whaling; WHALING–Bering, Chukchi, Beaufort 

Seas, native, catch. 

NISHIWAKI, MASAHARU. 

1982. The mandible of bowhead in Kathmandu. Sci. Rep. Whales Res. Inst. 34: 49-57. 

A pair of unidentified mandibular bones about 5 m in length were unexpectedly discovered by the 

author at the National Museum of Nepal, Kathmandu. Following comparison of these bones with a 

mandibular specimen of a bowhead whale in Taiji Whale Museum and those of Pacific right whales 

in Tokyo University of Fisheries and National Science Museum, Tokyo, it was concluded that the 

bones were those of Balaena mysticetus and the whale must have been about 16 m in body length. 

It is not known how the bones happened to be at the National Museum of Nepal. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-museums, skeletal parts, photographs; MORPHOLOGY-measurements. 

NISHIWAKI, MASAHARU, and TOSHIO KASUYA. 

1970. A Greenland right whale caught at Osaka Bay. Sci. Rep. Whales Res. Inst. 22:45-

62 + 6 plates. 

Morphological study of a young male bowhead whale, 6.4m in length and estimated to be one year 

and six months of age, that was captured alive in a fishermen’s net at Osaka Bay, Japan (33° 28' N) 

[135° E] on June 23, 1969. The animal was towed to the fishing port of Hamadera but died of 

undetermined causes 20 hours later. The authors observed a triangular scar on the upper left side of 

the body that they believed was caused by an Eskimo bomb lance, and three parallel lines of half 

headed scars that may have been caused by an outboard engine on the hunter’s boat. The whale 

could not be examined internally because of decomposition. The skeleton is now on exhibit at the 

Taiji Whale Museum. An experienced whaleman who had come from Taiji to flense the animal called 

it “Isozemi,” a rare kind of whale that he had seen once before on the beach of Taiji just after World 

War II, but it was smaller than the present one and had darker, shorter baleen plates. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration, extra–limital; DISTRIBUTION–specimens; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–specimen, 

museum, skeleton; MORPHOLOGY–measurements, skeleton; PATHOLOGY–injuries, scars, parasites; POPULATION–

mortality, struck and lost; WHALING–Bering Sea, native, gear. 
243 

NOAA NEWS. 

1979. Frank proposes worldwide commercial whaling ban. NOAA News (U.S. Dep. 

Commerce), June 29, 4(12):3. 

U.S. Commissioner to the Int. Whaling Comm., Richard A. Frank, stated that the United States will 

propose and vigorously support an indefinite moratorium on all commercial whaling when the IWC 

meets in London, July 9-13. In addition, he stated that the U.S. will support a resolution which will 

allow the Alaskan Aleuts [sic] to undertake limited subsistence hunting of bowhead whales. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION-regulations, management; WHALING-western Arctic, native. 

NOAA NEWS. 

1980. Frank leads fight for whaling restrictions. NOAA News (U.S. Dep. Commerce), 

Aug. 25, 5(16):1-2. 

Richard A. Frank, U.S. Commissioner to the IWC’s 1980 meeting in Brighton, England, reported that 

the U.S. will be responsible for regulation of the subsistence hunt of bowheads by Alaskan Eskimos. 

The IWC agreed to set a 3-year quota of 45 landed or 65 struck, whichever comes first. The highest 

take in any year would be limited to 17 whales landed. The 3-year regulation period provides for 

partial domestic management and gives the United States substantial flexibility in protecting the 

bowhead, while accommodating cultural and subsistence needs of the Eskimo. He said the United 

States will start to allocate the quota over the 3-year period from 1981 to 1983, and to set other 

rules, such as whale sizes. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION-regulation, management; WHALING-western Arctic, native, catch. 

NOBLE, DENNIS L. and TRUMAN R. STROBRIDGE. 

1977. The Arctic adventures of the Thetis. Arctic 30(1):3-12. 

Account of the vessel Thetis and its service with the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, 

and the U.S. Coast Guard on many voyages to the Arctic. On the 1906 Arctic cruise it took 3 weeks 

for the vessel to travel through ice from Cape Lisburne to Point Barrow. There, beset in the ice, were 

five whaling ships and 12 miles away and also stuck in the ice was the Norwegian exploring ship 

Goja. “Meanwhile, a sharp-eyed cutterman had spotted a dead whale nearby. The Thetis promptly 

steamed out to get the carcass as food for the natives and returned with it and grounded it off the 

village (Hamlet, 1906).” [Also see: Hottel, n.d.]. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, commercial, utilization. 

NOBLE, DENNIS L. and TRUMAN R. STROBRIDGE. 

1979. The Thetis in Alaskan waters. Alaska J. 9(1):51-57. 

The Thetis, sister ship of the Bear, was one of several U.S. Revenue Cutter Service vessels that 

performed numerous services for Yankee whalers in the western Arctic. She served in Alaskan 

waters during the period from 1887 to June 3, 1916 when she was decommissioned and sold. In 

1899 she joined the Bear in establishing a refuge station for whalers at Cape Smythe. Afterwards 

she sailed eastward as far as Herschel Island and there discovered a safe winter anchorage, which 

was named Pauline Cove for commander Stockton's wife. In 1906 the Thetis went to the aid of five 

whaling vessels stuck in the ice off Point Barrow. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, commercial (vessels). 
244 

NOME DAILY NEWS. 

1900. Big catch of whales. Twenty-three [sic] lbs. bone at Barrow. Nome Daily News, 

Nome, Alaska, August 27, v. 1 (53):1. 

“The revenue cutter Bear arrived at 10:20 last night from a trip north as far as Point Barrow. First 

Lieut. Bertholf, of the Bear, says that ... the whale catch has been good and 23,000 pounds of 

whalebone are now stored at Point Barrow.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–Chukchi Sea, shore station, catch. 

NOME NEWS. 

1902a. Caught eight whales. The Nome News, Nome, Alaska, July 2, 4(42):1. 

“The natives this season at Cape Prince of Wales caught eight whales. Last year they did not catch 

any. They were very lucky this year, and are correspondingly happy.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–Bering Strait, native catch. 

NOME NEWS. 

1902b. He gouged the natives. How a trader took Siberians down line. Nome News, 

Nome, Alaska, July 8, 4(44):4. 

Nome authorities are investigating the victimizing here of two Plover Bay natives by a trader. The 

principal trade items involved were, according to the trader, 160 pounds of whalebone valued at $4 a 

pound for a total of $640, and a Russian boat made of iron. The two natives stoutly claim they gave 

the trader 500 pounds of whalebone worth $2,522, and the boat, badly dented, rust eaten and 

unseaworthy, was practically worthless. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–Bering Sea, native, catch, utilization. 

NOME NEWS. 

1903. News from the Cape. The Nome News, Nome, Alaska, May 19, 5(39):2. 

Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, May 4-“ The first whale of the season was sighted on April 26. Bering 

Straits have been clear of ice for a week past.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration, timing; DISTRIBUTION–Factors affecting, ice coverage. 

NOME DAILY NUGGET. 

1908a. Eskimo lost. Native taken out to sea on ice. The Nome Daily Nugget, Nome, 

Alaska, March 5, 8(55):1. 

A native attempting to cross the ice between Little Diomede Island and the cape carrying mail and 

school papers disappeared. A Wales native then traveled to Little Diomede January 19 and returned 

February 22 with the first news from there since October. “At the Little Diomede they have shot 12 

bear and got one dead whale with a 6-foot bone. It was a floater.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, floating at sea; WHALING–Bering Strait, native, utilization. 
245 

NOME DAILY NUGGET. 

1908b. Several natives burned to death near Point Hope. The Nome Daily Nugget, 

Nome, Alaska, March 12, 8(61):1. 

Accompanying news of February 4, 1908, that an igloo at Jabbertown burned to the ground killing 

five people, was information that “Captain Thompson of the schooner Silver Wave, and Mr. Knutson 

of Kotzebue, were here as guests of Jim Allen’s whaling station.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–Chukchi Sea, commercial, shore station. 

NOME DAILY NUGGET. 

1908c. Bowhead brings bone. The Nome Daily Nugget, Nome, Alaska, June 22, 

8(148):1. 

“The whaler Bowhead arrived yesterday afternoon with 1,435 pounds of whalebone, 300 pounds of 

ivory and 15 polar bear skins. Captain Tilton reports that he was within one and one-half miles of the 

whaler Bayliss when the latter went down.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling; WHALING–Bering and Chukchi Seas, commercial, vessel, catch, baleen. 

NOME DAILY NUGGET. 

1908d. Two whalers at Teller. The Nome Daily Nugget, Nome, Alaska, June 26, 

8(152):1. 

“The Corwin reports that the whalers Jeannette and Thrasher are now in Port Clarence Bay. The 

Jeanette had two polar bears and $20,000 worth of whalebone, which the Corwin brought to Nome. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling, captured; WHALING–commercial, catch, baleen. 

NOME DAILY NUGGET. 

1908e. Jeannette gets biggest whale on record. The Nome Daily Nugget, Nome, Alaska, 

June 29, 8(154):4. 

“The whaler Jeannette, Captain Long, caught during the present season what many believe to be the 

largest whale on record. The head bones of the great brute...weighted 3,500 pounds. She has 12 

foot 8 inch bone.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY–measurements, baleen, length, weight; POPULATION–mortality, whaling, captured; WHALING-Western 

Arctic, commercial, vessel, catch. 

NOME DAILY NUGGET. 

1908f. Native beach combers strike rich pay. The Nome Daily Nugget, Nome, Alaska, 

July 15, 8(168):1. 

A large whale with baleen worth several thousand dollars washed up on the beach near Teller a few 

days ago. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, stranding. 
246 

NOME DAILY NUGGET. 

1908g. Polar bear attacks ship. The Nome Daily Nugget, Nome, Alaska, July 27, 

8(178):1. 

A large polar bear, attempting to climb a board the schooner Sophia Johnson, was shot and killed by 

Captain Baber when the vessel was within 20 miles of Nome. The trader was returning from Anadir 

[U.S.S.R.] and brought back a variety of cargo items, including 100 pounds of whalebone. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality; WHALING–Bering Sea, native, catch, baleen. 

NOME DAILY NUGGET. 

1908h. Brought gold and whalebone. The Nome Daily Nugget, Nome, Alaska, Aug. 3, 

8(184):1. 

“The steamer Corwin, which arrived in the roadstead yesterday, brought down a large quantity of 

whalebone from Point Blossom and a small quantity of gold dust from Candle Creek.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality; WHALING–Chukchi Sea, commercial, native, catch, baleen. 

NOME DAILY NUGGET. 

1908i. Schooner encounters ice in Arctic Ocean. The Nome Daily Nugget, Nome, 

Alaska, Aug. 14, 8(194):1. 

The schooner Sophia Johnson arrived this morning from Cape Serge and East Cape, Siberia, with a 

valuable trade cargo that included one 1,000 pounds of whalebone. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality; WHALING–Chukchi Sea, commercial, native, catch, baleen. 

NOME DAILY NUGGET. 

1908j. Has eleven polar bear skins. The Nome Daily Nugget, Nome, Alaska, Aug. 28, 

8(206):4. 

“The trading schooner Sophia Johnson, Captain Thomas P. Quinn, arrived last evening from Siberia 

with 100 pounds of whalebone, 600 pounds of ivory, 450 hair seal skins, 38 martin, 40 pair of native 

boots and eleven polar bear skins.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality; WHALING–Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, baleen. 

NOME DAILY NUGGET. 

1910a. Hard luck story from the Diomedes. The Nome Daily Nugget, Nome, Alaska, July 

7, 10(160):3. 

This spring the Diomede Islanders shot twice and killed a large bowhead that sank and eluded them. 

After four days an East Cape native found the whale and claimed it, keeping all of the valuable 

baleen except for one slab given each Diomeder that assisted him. The baleen was worth over 

$10,000. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling; WHALING–Bering Strait, native, gear, catch. 
247 

NOME DAILY NUGGET. 

1910b. Thrilling record of events in Arctic. The Nome Daily Nugget, Nome, Alaska, Aug. 

20, 10(199):4,3. 

Mr. And Mrs. C. W. Hawkesworth, school teachers from Barrow, now on their way south, stated that 

the natives there captured 16 whales this spring. “One rich native who has four crews working for 

him captured five out of the 16.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling; WHALING–Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

NOME DAILY NUGGET. 

1910c. Adrift 43 days on an ice pack in Arctic Ocean. The Nome Daily Nugget, Nome, 

Alaska, Sep. 2, 10(210):4. 

J. Hadley, employed by H. Liebes and Company whaling station at Barrow, Alaska, killed a whale on 

April 23 but had to abandon the baleen after a storm set them adrift on the pack ice for 43 days. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling; WHALING–Chukchi Sea, commercial, catch, crews, shore station. 

NOME DAILY NUGGET. 

1910d. Hazel is sold for $2,200. The Nome Daily Nugget, Nome, Alaska, Oct. 3, 

10(239):4. 

A Plover Bay, Siberia, native who owns a trading post purchased the Hazel for use in his business. 

The new owner, Charles Newvhakhah, is known to have $3,000 worth of whalebone stored at his 

trading post. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling; WHALING–Bering Sea, native, products (baleen). 

NOME DAILY NUGGET. 

1911a. Interesting item gleaned from local custom report. The Nome Daily Nugget, 

Nome, Alaska, Jan. 20, 11(31):3. 

Among articles reported by the local custom office for the year 1910 was 60,465 pounds of 

whalebone valued at $158,532. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling; WHALING–Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea, commercial, native, utilization, 

products (baleen). 

NOME DAILY NUGGET. 

1911b. Native chief brings news from Diomedes. The Nome Daily Nugget, Nome, 

Alaska, April 4, 11(84):3. 

Okboak, the native chief of Cape Prince of Wales, arrived in Nome with the news that “Hawks, the 

white school teacher on the Diomedes, is very sick, according to report, and is not expected to live 

until spring.” He also reported that but one whale was captured at East Cape last fall. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling; WHALING–Bering Strait, native, catch, crew. 
248 

NOME DAILY NUGGET. 

1911c. Eskimos are prosperous up towards Point Barrow. The Nome Daily Nugget, 

Nome, Alaska, August 18, 11(206):1. 

Captain Ballinger of the revenue cutter Bear reported “The catch of whale so far this season is one at 

Point Barrow, two at Icy Cape, with a dead one that floated in there and a small whale at Point 

Hope.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–mortality, whaling, stinker; WHALING–Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

NOME DAILY NUGGET. 

1911d. Extracts from log schooner Redfield. The Nome Daily Nugget, Nome, August 25, 

11(212):4. 

The schooner Redfield, commanded by James McKenna, stopped at Cape Prince of Wales on 

August 19, 1911, to deliver freight. Dr. Thompson came aboard and he and the captain arranged for 

30 natives and 3 canoes to land the cargo. A storm came up that night; the Redfield was blown 

ashore and wrecked. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–Bering Strait, natives, gear. 

NOME DAILY NUGGET. 

1912a. Whale fishing almost dead. The Nome Daily Nugget, Nome, Alaska, September 

13, 12(240):1. 

“While 24,900 pounds of whale bone came here last year, according to the reports in the local 

customs office, the amount to come this year will be practically nothing. The value of last year’s bone 

was $64,772. The price now is about one dollar per pound and this accounts for the fact that so few 

ships are engaged this year in the waters north of this place.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, commercial, catch, baleen, value. 

NOME DAILY NUGGET. 

1912b. Brings 400 fox skins. The Nome Daily Nugget, Nome, Alaska, Sep. 17, 

12(243):4. 

Paul Davidovisc, who runs a trading station at Icy Cape and also is the mail carrier from Point 

Barrow, reports that nine whales have been caught at Point Hope and thirteen at Point Barrow. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, commercial, native, catch. 
249 

NOME DAILY NUGGET. 

1912c. Thousands of pounds whale bone held. The Nome Daily Nugget, Nome, Alaska, 

September 18, 12(244):1. 

“Probably 30,000 pounds of whale bone found around this coast is being held by its owners because 

of the fall in its price, according to Dr. H. R. Marsh who has arrived here from Point Barrow. 

Whaling up there is now practically suspended and only two whaling vessels are in the seas north of 

here this year. 

Dr. Marsh has been the missionary at Point Barrow since 1897, and is now leaving the country...” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, commercial, catch, baleen, vessels. 

NOME DAILY NUGGET. 

1913. Bohannon off for journey. The Nome Daily Nugget, Nome, Alaska, January 20, 

13(40):4. 

“W. L. Bohannon, manager in Alaska for the Bering Sea Company left this morning for a three 

months’ trip to the far north to look after the interests of his company’s whaling and trading stations. 

These stations are located at Kivalina, Point Hope, Icy Cape and Point Barrow.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING–Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, commercial, shore stations. 

NORMAN, J. R., and F. C. FRASER. 

1949. Giant fishes, whales and dolphins. Putnam, London, 376 p. 

Chapter IX, written by F. C. Fraser, covers right whales, with the Greenland right whale (Balaena

mysticetus) discussed on p. 205-211. Almost all the details were taken from Scoresby (1820). 

Discussed are measurements, description, distribution, food, reproduction, whaling, gear, and 

utilization. In addition, differences between the Greenland right whale and the black right whale (B. 

glacialis, B. australis, etc.) are noted. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION; IDENTITY-description; MORPHOLOGY-measurements; NUTRITION-food; REPRODUCTION-gestation; 

WHALING-history, eastern Arctic, commercial, gear, utilization, drawings (whales). 

NORTH, DICK. 

1978. The lost patrol. Alaska Northwest Publ. Co., Anchorage, Alaska, 138 p. 

Account of a Royal North-west Mounted police patrol that perished while traversing the wilderness 

between Fort McPherson and Dawson City, Yukon Territory, Canada. Contains historical information 

on the use of Herschel Island by American whaling ships beginning in 1889 and continuing through 

December 1910. Notes visits to the island by various whaling ships, including some data on 

bowheads captured. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-history, western Arctic, eastern Beaufort Sea, commercial, catch. 
250 

NORTH, FRANK. 

1940. I was their talisman. Alaska Sportsman 6(10):18-20, 22. 

Describes spring whaling at Barrow by Eskimos (year not given). In the latter part of April 10 crews in 

all went out on the ice to whale. Author served as a crew member on a crew that took three whales 

that spring. No fewer than 17 whales were landed during the season and at least two large whales 

escaped after being shot by hunters. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-mortality, struck and lost; WHALING-western Arctic, 

Chukchi Sea, native, crews, gear, catch, photographs, utilization. 

NORTHERN LIGHTS. 

1961. [News item.] Northern Lights [School newspaper, Point Hope, Alaska, April or 

May], 1(8)[7]. Copy in: U.S. Dep. Inter., Bur. Indian Affairs, Juneau Area Off., Ed. 

Proj., RG 75, Box 298, Fed. Archives, Seattle, WA 

“On April 14th, they start going down whaling. Some crews catch some belugas. David Frankson’s 

crew got the first beluga April 19th.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration, timing, relationship with other species; WHALING–Chukchi Sea, native, crews. 

NUSUNGINYA, DONALD. 

1945. Whales once again. Arctic Cub. Barrow, Alaska. Reprinted by Ukpiagvik's, April 18, 

2(29):15, as Remember When --. 

“On April fourteenth a whale was seen by a man who was out hunting seals. 

At first he was not sure, but finally it came to the open water where he could see it plainly---.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration, timing. 

OKAKOK, GUY. 

1960. Guy Okakok. Alaska Sportsman 26(8):23. 

Okakok requests pilots not to fly along the lead because noise from the aircraft scares the whales. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-reaction to aircraft noise. 

OKAKOK, GUY. 

1961a. The Bush Circuit (News items): Barrow. Alaska Sportsman 27(7):20. 

On April 10 a hunter named Aungaksanna saw the first whale of the season. Author reported 

whalers were ready to go out on the ice on April 12 but that the lead had not opened as yet. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native. 
251 

OKAKOK, GUY. 

1961b. The Bush Circuit (News items): Barrow. Alaska Sportsman 27(8):34. 

Author reported that on May 11 Vincent Nageak took a whale and Joe Sikvaujungak’s crew fired 

three bombs but did not take a whale. On May 12 Ned Nusunginya’s crew caught an ingutok-a small 

whale. On May 22 two bombs were fired by the Donald Nusunginya crew but the whale either sank 

or went under the ice. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

IDENTITY-nomenclature; POPULATION-mortality, struck but lost; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crews, 

catch, gear. 

OKAKOK, GUY. 

1961c. The Bush Circuit (News items): Barrow. Alaska Sportsman 27(9):32. 

All but one or two crews stopped whaling at Barrow on June 8. Only two whales were taken this 

spring, one by Vincent Nageak and the other by Ned Nusunginya. Two whales are not enough to 

distribute to all the people at Barrow. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crews, catch, utilization. 

OKAKOK, GUY. 

1962. The Bush Circuit (News items): Point Barrow. Alaska Sportsman 28(8):37-38. 

Bruce Nukapigak reported that one of their crew members shot a whale but the bomb misfired and 

the animal disappeared. About eleven boats were chasing whales when a warning call from shore 

[regarding unsafe ice conditions] prompted all hunters to seek safety ashore. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, struck and lost; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crews, gear. 

OKAKOK, GUY. 

1963a. Letters, notes and comments: Barrow. Alaska Sportsman 29(8):4. (From Tundra 

Times) 

Barrow whalers met and established regulations for registering their whaling gear, division of whales 

landed, and conduct of people during butchering of whales. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION-native; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, gear, utilization. 

OKAKOK, GUY. 

1963b. Barrow News: Whaling regulations made; adult education booms. Tundra Times, 

May 6, 1(15):8. 

The whale hunters of Barrow had a meeting to decide the whaling regulations for the hunt this 

spring. It was decided that each umiak owner would register his identification mark with the city 

council and place his mark on his whaling gear, especially on bombs and darting guns. It was also 

decided how the captured whales will be divided up among the crews and villagers. Finally, it was 

also decided they would urge pilots not to fly up or down the leads in front of the crews but stay 

landward of the crews so as not to frighten the whales away. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migrating, swimming, reaction to aircraft; REGULATION & CONSERVATION-native; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, 

native, crews, gear, utilization. 
252 

OKAKOK, GUY. 

1963c. Barrow has no crops, needs ducks. Tundra Times, June 3, 1(17):3. 

Article expresses opinion that Eskimos need ducks for subsistence and therefore they should not be 

restricted by United States government regulations to the contrary. Author states “The people will 

need the ducks now because whalers didn’t get whales this spring.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

OKAKOK, GUY. 

1963e. Guest Arctic survival article: Whaling means drama, tradition, and daring to 

coastal Eskimos. Tundra Times, August 19, 1(22):4. 

Author describes the traditional spring hunt for bowhead whales at Barrow, including the 

preparations, the watch, the chase, the capture of a whale and the celebration that follows. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, gear. 

OKAKOK, GUY. 

1964a. Bear hunters are active at Barrow. Tundra Times, May 4, 2(15):7. 

“Barrow whalers are out now,...six canoes are out, four or five more getting ready to shove out. But 

each canoe won't be able to handle average crew...about seven or eight men. The reason is, a lot of 

them are working. According to Nick Nageak,...he said if he could only have four or five men with 

him, that is enough.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, crews. 

OKAKOK, GUY. 

1964b. Joash Tuklee's crew kills first whale at farthest north point. Tundra Times, June 

8, 2(17):8. 

At Barrow, Joash Tuklee’s crew shot a whale on May 12. “Two men will go up to Canada and show 

the hunters there how to handle the whaling gear. These men probably will be leaving in July or 

August. We do not know where they will be stationed, probably in Bailey Island where whales comes 

through this island. Their names are Luther Leavitt and Abraham Kippi...an harpooner.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea, native, catch, crews, gear 

OKAKOK, GUY. 

1964c. Open water late in coming to farthest north region. Tundra Times, June 22, 

2(18):3. 

“The whalers said last week that there is no water nearby or nowheres. Boats are out yet and 

standby... Its kind of strange this spring...” 

“I was young, about six years of age, when our Arctic ice remained solid like it is now... And around 

in July, after the inshore [ice] left, whales start coming through the leads. Then hunters began to 

chase them whales with their canoes. They caught whales that month to push them along through 

winter.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration, delayed, ice; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, utilization. 
253 

OKAKOK, GUY. 

1972. Barrow correspondent reports five whales caught at Barrow. Tundra Times, 

November 1, 9(43):5. 

Whalers at Barrow took five whales during October, 1972. The first one was taken by Thomas 

Napageak, the second by Stanley Brower, the third by Joash Tuklee, the fourth by Joseph Panigeo, 

and the fifth by Edward Nukapigak. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, native, crews, catch. 

OKAKOK, GUY. 

1973a. Our Barrow correspondent hears new village gets whale. Tundra Times, October 

3, 10(40):7. 

“And yesterday Mr. Max Adams, Eskimo residence of Barrow, said that Thomas Napageak caught a 

whale. This means that this whale can last them all winter long as the group there in new village [of 

Nuiqsut] are less than 100.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling, catch; WHALING-Beaufort Sea, native, catch, crews, utilization. 

OKAKOK, GUY. 

1973b. Struck whale throws Kaktukvik whaling crew into water. Tundra Times, October 

10, 10(41):4. 

Three whales were caught at Kaktukvik this fall by Archie Brower (2) and Herman Aisanna. 

Aisanna’s whale was reported to be larger than the two caught by Brower. Herman’s boat was 

overturned by the whale after it was struck but nearby crews rescued all of the hunters. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling, catch; WHALING-Beaufort Sea, native, catch, crews. 

OKAKOK, GUY. 

1973c. ‘Singpiration’ at Barrow village - people from Kotzebue, Point Hope to share 

program. Tundra Times, November 7, 10(45):9. 

Billy P. Solomon of Barrow caught a whale, his first one. Three whales were caught at Kaktukvik this 

fall and they will have a celebration this coming week. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling, catch; WHALING-Beaufort Sea, native, catch, crews. 

OKAKOK, GUY. 

1974a. Barrow news. Tundra Times, May 15, 11(20):7. 

“Heard that two whales were caught by Pt. Hope whalers. Lost the other and save part of the other 

whale, which is Mr. Weber's whale. Sorry to hear it, but couldn't do no ways, when the ice is piling 

and crushing. That happens lots of time even in Barrow.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling, killed but lost; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 
254 

OKAKOK, GUY. 

1974b. Barrow news. Tundra Times, May 22, 11(21):10. 

Reports that at Barrow whales were taken by Roxy Oyagok on April 30 and Robert Aiken on May 4. 

Two other crews each struck but lost a whale during that same week. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling, catch, struck and lost; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

OKAKOK, GUY. 

1974c. Barrow news. Tundra Times, July 10, 11(28):8. 

Following the end of whaling at Barrow the first Nalukatak was held in Browerville on Tuesday. The 

last Nalukatak will be held in the Barrow area on Friday by three successful captains: Robert Aiken, 

Roxy Oyagak and Simeon Patkotak. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling; WHALING-Chukchi Sea native, catch, crews. ' 

OKAKOK, GUY. 

1974d. At Alyeska camps -Eskimo group finds friends. Tundra Times, October 2, 

11(40):11. 

States that two whales were taken so far this autumn at Barter Island. The first, a medium sized 

whale, was caught by Herman Rexford and Isaac Ahkootchook. The second whale was captured by 

Archie Brower. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling; WHALING-Beaufort Sea, native, catch, crews. 

OKAKOK, GUY. 

1975a. Smoke arouses man. Bowhead whales go by. Tundra Times, April 30, 12(18):6. 

“Heard yesterday that the whales are passing by now and two first canoes went out to the lead. Mr. 

Harry K. Brower and Mr. William K. Kaleak, both are Eskimos, real residence of Barrow. There are 

others yet who will go out soon.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration, timing; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, crews. 

OKAKOK, GUY. 

1975b. Barrow News: Don't Know How Many. Tundra Times, Fairbanks, AK, April 23, 

12(17):3. 

“Season for whaling is now in again this spring. Canoe owners in Barrow are now getting ready to go 

out for whaling. The owners used to replace the canoe cover every year, but they are shortage of 

oogrooks. They said the ice is not as rough as it was last year 1974. This year is even better. But 

they do not know how many canoes will be going out. Used to be over 20 canoes each year.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crews, gear. 
255 

OKAKOK, Guy. 

1975c. Barrow News: First Whale. Tundra Times, Fairbanks, AK, May 21, 12(21):3. 

Two whales were recently taken at Barrow, a small one by Joash Ivik Tuklee and one by Ben 

Kakeanak. The portions of whales most preferred by old people are the heart and kidney. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, utilization. 

OKAKOK, GUY. 

1975d. Barrow News: Fairbanks. Tundra Times, Fairbanks, AK, May 28, 12(22):7. 

Six bowhead whales have been taken to date by Barrow whalers. The first was taken by Joash Ivik 

Tuklee, the second by Ben Itta, the third by Harry K. Brower, the fourth by Alfred U. Leavitt, the fifth 

by Arnold Brower, and the sixth by Simeon Patkutak. Vincent Nageak reported that the whale taken 

by S. Patkutak was a big one. He also stated that the ice where the whaling camps are located is 

nice and smooth and the lead is only one mile out from shore. The article concludes with a 

description of the Nalukatuk, a feast that always follows a successful whaling season. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, utilization. 

OKHTOKIYUK, CALEB. 

1978. Writer tells of whaling at fifteen. Tundra Times, Oct. 25, 15(43):10. Orig. publ. 

Spring 1973 in THEATA Mag., Univ. Alaska, Fairbanks. 

Author gives first-hand description of bowhead whaling at Gambell, Alaska. A bowhead was struck 

but lost because the harpoon broke due to a defective weld. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-swimming, under pursuit; POPULATION-mortality, whaling, struck and lost; WHALING-Bering Sea, native, crews, 

gear. 

OMURA, HIDEO. 

1971. A comparison of the size of vertebrae among some species of the baleen whales 

with special reference to whale movements. Sci. Rep. Whales Res. Inst. 23:61-69. 

Lengths of skull and vertebrae in seven species of baleen whales are compared. Since the 

Greenland right and gray whale specimens were very small and young, (presumed ages about 1.36 

and between 1 and 2 years, respectively), these two are treated separately from the other species. 

The young Greenland right whale was caught at Osaka Bay, Japan, and was 6.4 m in length. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-extralimital; MORPHOLOGY-structure; POPULATION-size (young), mortality. 
256 

OSBORNE, ALICE, and GEORGE OSBORNE. 

1963. When it's whaling time at Barrow. Alaska Sportsman 29(11):25-29. 

A photographic report of the butchering and celebration (Nalukatak) following a successful whale 

hunt at Barrow, Alaska. One of the largest whales taken at Barrow in recent years, a 49-foot long 

female, was taken on May 28, 1963 by William Leavitt’s crew. His crew struck the whale first but a 

second crew finished the job. The cow had a calf with her when she was killed but it soon left the 

area. One village elder remarked that it had been so long since a large whale was taken that the 

crews had forgotten how to handle it. The head should be removed first, he said, then the body could 

be lifted onto the ice. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-sex; REPRODUCTION-calf; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, 

crews, catch, gear, photographs, utilization. 

OSTERMANN, H. [B. S.] 

1952. The Alaskan Eskimos as described in the posthumous notes of Dr. Knud 

Rasmussen. Rep. Fifth Thule Exped. 1921-24, vol. 10, No.3. [In Danish.] (Transl. by 

W. E. Calvert, 292 p., avail. AMS Press, N.Y.) 

Dr. Rasmussen, after spending three years in northern Canada, went across northern Alaska in 

1924. His observations include describing Alaskan Eskimo whaling techniques and customs, and 

some catches in 1924. At Barrow (p. 22), three whales had been caught when he arrived on May 23, 

and two more were taken a few days later. As of June 5th, no whales had been taken at Wainwright, 

but one had been captured at Icy Cape by June 8th. (p. 27.) At Point Lay Rasmussen reported a 

resident named Torina owned a new whaleboat which had cost him $1,000 the previous summer, as 

well as a skin boat and two jolly boats. (p. 44) Point Hope whalers caught 15 whales this year, and it 

was noted that they used sledges of baleen called unigssat to transport whale meat. (p. 47, 121.) 

The author stated that a Charles Jensen, an authorized Danish whaler, lived at Cape Thompson on 

his visit there on July 31. (p. 50) [Jensen operated a commercial whaling station here?] 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY; BEHAVIOR-swimming, when pursued; ETHNOLOGY; POPULATION-mortality, whaling; 

WHALING-Chukchi Sea, commercial, shore station, native, catch, crews, utilization. 

OVIOK, MORRIS. 

1982. Village Report: Point Hope. Tundra Times, June 9, 19(23):10. 

[Wainwright] –“Fred Ahmoagak's crew landed Wainwright's first whale of the spring for the second 

year in a row. The whale was 63 feet long. Whalers were still on the ice as of the third week of May 

hoping to land their second whale and complete their quota.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; REGULATION & CONSERVATION-management, quota; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, 

catch, crews. 

PACIFIC COMMERCIAL ADVERTISER. 

1872. (News item). Pac. Commer. Advert., November 23. 

[It was reported that four bowhead whales were taken by the whalers at Icy Cape, Alaska, during 

1872. Copy seen by J. R. Bockstoce.] 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, commercial, native, catch. 
257 

PACIFIC FISHERMAN. 

1914a. Deep sea whaling. Pac. Fisherman Yearbook 12(1):81. 

Owing to the continued low prices received for oil and bone, the whaling fleet in 1913 comprised but 

three vessels-the S.S. Gayhead, S.S. Belvedere, and power schooner Elvira - and of these the 

Gayhead sperm whaled and the latter two outfitted mainly for trading in the Arctic. The Elvira

became frozen in the ice near Pt. Barrow and was destroyed. All crewmen escaped and found 

refuge aboard the Belvedere, which was frozen in nearby. Neither vessel secured any whales. 

“The various shore stations in Arctic Alaska met with almost total failure this year, but 4 whales being 

secured, and all of these were killed by Takput, a native of Point Barrow. These whales yielded 

about 2,000 pounds of bone.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, native, catch, crews. 

PACIFIC FISHERMAN. 

1914b. Oil and fertilizer: Arctic whalers return; San Francisco whaler has good season. 

Pac. Fisherman 12(12):24. 

“H. Liebes & Co’s whaler Jeanette arrived from the Arctic Oct. 4 with 2,400 pounds of whalebone, 

2,000 fox skins and 4,500 hair seal skins. Since Nov. 1 two whalers have returned from the Arctic 

grounds. The S.S. Herman, Capt. C. T. Pederson, arrived at San Francisco on Nov. 6 and reported 

having taken six whales. On Nov. 3 the S.S. Belvedere, Capt. S. F. Cottle, arrived at Seattle, after 

having spent a year and a half in the Arctic and reported a catch of five whales. Both steamers went 

north primarily for trading purposes.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, catch. 

PACIFIC FISHERMAN. 

1915a. Whaler Belvedere reaches Nome. Pac. Fisherman 13(10):31. 

“The wooden steam whaler Belvedere, which left Seattle March 17 last on an expedition to Siberian 

waters to hunt walrus, polar bears and whales and which, as already reported, lost four of her crew 

from a capsized boat early last June, arrived at Nome, Alaska, from the north on Sept. 25. She 

narrowly escaped being crushed in the Arctic ice, which all reports agree is usually heavy for this 

season of the year.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, commercial. 

PACIFIC FISHERMAN. 

1915b. Whaling: Deep sea whaling. Pac. Fisherman Yearbook, p. 108. 

During 1914, four vessels visited the Arctic mainly for trading purposes, but incidentally caught 22 

whales, the Jeanette obtaining 3, the Herman 6, the Polar Bear 8, and the Belvedere 5 whales. The 

bone amounted to 32,894-1⁄2 pounds. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, catch. 
258 

PACIFIC FISHERMAN. 

1920. Oil and fertilizer: whaler brings valuable cargo. Pac. Fisherman 18(12):54. 

Cargo valued at more than $200,000 was brought to San Francisco by the Herman, one of a fleet of 

whalers operated by H. Liebes and Co., furriers, November 9. Whale oil, salt fish and whalebone and 

furs comprised the cargo. In the whaling expedition there was but one mishap. A giant bowhead, 

harpooned by members of a boat in charge of 16-year-old Theodore Pederson, showed fight and 

upset the boat, throwing the hunters into the water. A rescue party saved all lives. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-when struck; WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, catch. 

PACKARD, WINTHROP. 

1903. The young ice whalers. Houghton, Mifflin and Co., Boston and New York, 397 p. 

Popular account for youths of whaling for bowheads in the Bering and Chukchi Seas onboard the 

bark Bowhead, including description of how hunted, whale's normal behavior and its reactions to 

pursuit. Orca attacks on humpback and bowhead whales are recorded (p. 44, 109). During spring 

migration the bowheads pass coastal villages in three waves (p. 196), and hunting by Eskimos is 

described. States that previous to 1885 “...a small black whale was taken in the Bering and Arctic 

Seas which was easily killed and yielded good blubber but the whalebone was small (p. 197). Also 

gone were the old 100-ton gray-backs which were monster bowheads.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-respiratory, swimming, migration; IDENTITY-name; MORPHOLOGY; NUTRITION-food; PREDATORS & 

COMPETITORS-killer whales; WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, commercial, native, gear, catch, 

utilization. 

PALMER, L. J. 

1941. Animal and plant resources of Alaska. U.S. Fish. Wildl. Serv., Fish. Leafl. 176, 12 

p. 

Under early American occupation, whaling in Alaskan waters, particularly in the Arctic, reached 

enormous proportions because whale oil and whalebone were in great demand. Supply of whales 

became greatly depleted and the bowhead was nearly eliminated. Former and present administration 

of wildlife in Alaska is discussed. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION-state and federal; WHALING-western Arctic, Alaskan waters. 
259 

PARKER, T. JEFFERY and WILLIAM A. HASWELL (revised by C. FORSTER-COOPER). 

1949. A text book of zoology. Volume 2, 6th edition. Macmillan and Co., Ltd., London, 

758 p. 

“The mystacoeti or “Whalebone” whales appeared later in time, the modern families not being known 

until the close of the Miocene, and the sub-order has none of the primitive characters shown by 

many of the Toothed whales. All teeth have been entirely lost except for a non-functional set in the 

embryo, and their place has been taken by the characteristic whalebone; the mandibular rami are 

strongly arched and are not united by a symphysis; the sternum has become reduced to a single 

bone, and the ribs articulate with the vertebrae by the tuberculum only. The skull is symmetrical and 

the external nasal opening is double. 

The group is classified in three families: The Cetotheriidae, a Miocene evolution in which the 

compression of the skull had not proceeded as far as in the later forms; the Balaenopteridae (“Fin 

whales”, e.g., Balaena mysticetus, the Greenland Whale; Neobalaena marginata, the “Pigmy Whale”; 

and the Balaenopteridae (Balaenoptera, the “Rorquals”; Megaptera, the “Humpback”; Rachianectes, 

the “Grey Whale,” etc.). 

In the Whalebone Whales only one pair of ribs articulates with the sternum, and none articulates with 

the body of the vertebra, but only with the transverse processes.” (p. 583-585). Figure 539 shows 

section through middle line of united cervical vertebrae of Balaena mysticetus. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

IDENTITY-classification; MORPHOLOGY-anatomy. 

PATTEN, DONALD R. 

1978. The great whales, their status and future. In John R. Schmidhauser and George O. 

Totten III (eds.), The whaling issue in U.S.-Japan relations, Chapt. 15, p. 229-256. 

Westview Press, Boulder, Colo. 

A brief review of the history of whaling and the present status of the great whale populations is 

examined individually. The bowhead, Balaena mysticetus, was originally distributed circumpolar in 

the Arctic, with three or four distinct stocks that totaled 10,000; estimates of the current total 

population range from the high hundreds to 4,000. The western Arctic stock is estimated to be from 

the high hundreds to perhaps 1,000-2,000, and the stock is thought to be increasing. Bowheads in 

the Canadian Arctic, estimated to be in the low hundreds, may be recovering slightly as evidenced 

by increased sightings in recent years. Bowhead populations in the European and Asiatic Arctic 

sectors are thought to be very low, if they have not been extirpated. Although now protected from 

commercial exploitation, they are still hunted by Eskimos in the western Arctic where the annual kill 

has increased significantly in recent years. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

POPULATION-abundance; WHALING-history, western Arctic, eastern Arctic, commercial, native, catch. 

PATTY, STANTON H. 

1965. Eskimo whale hunt. Seattle Times, Seattle, Wash., May 30, p. 1, 29; May 31, p. 1; 

June 1, p. 4; June 2, p. 10; June 3, p. 14; June 4, p. 4; June 6, p. 37. 

Stanton H. Patty, staff reporter, spent a week with the Eskimos on the ice of the Chukchi Sea near 

the village of Point Hope and he wrote a day-by-day report of bowhead whaling activities observed 

while hunting with Amos Lane’s crew. The open lead was 4 miles out from the shore and at least four 

crews were whaling. The first whale of the season, a 30-footer, was taken by John Oktollik and a 

second one, a 45-footer, was taken by Patrick Attunganna. Additionally, one whale was struck but 

lost by Andrew Frankson's crew. It was struck with a darting gun and harpoon. The first bomb fired 

and exploded inside the whale but a second bomb misfired and the whale escaped. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-mortality, whaling, struck and lost; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, 

native, crews, gear, catch, photographs. 
260 

PEACOCK, JAMES. 

1971. Eskimo whale hunt. Alaska 37(11):33-35. 

Brief description of Eskimo hunt for bowhead whales with photographs showing gear used, boat with 

victory flag, pulling dead whale up on ice and cutting up the carcass. No specific data is given on the 

small bowhead landed. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, native, gear, catch, photographs, utilization. 

PEDERSEN, THEODORE. 

1944. Call all hands. Alaska Sportsman 10(4):12-13, 26-30. 

As a youth not yet in his teens the author signed on in 1916 as cabin boy on the Herman, an Arctic 

whaling and trading vessel. He served on the vessel for five years and believed that their final 

whaling cruise (in 1921) was the last such voyage in the western Arctic. Author describes the 

bowhead whale, its migration, vision, hearing, and its behavior when swimming, breathing and 

feeding. Whaling equipment and techniques used to pursue, kill and cut up whales and processing of 

their products aboard ship are described in detail. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-respiration, diving, hearing, vision, migration; IDENTITY-description; MORPHOLOGY-measurements; 

NUTRITION-food and feeding; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, commercial, catch, photographs, utilization. 

PERRY, SANDY (Compiler). 

1977. A history of the Alaskan native as published in the headlines of the Nome Nugget 

from 1901 to 1976. Compiled for the Carrie M. McLain Memorial Museum and the 

Kegoyah Kozga Library. Alaska Div. State Libr. and Mus., Juneau, AK., 55 p. 

Contains the headlines published in the Nome Nugget newspaper from 1901 to 1976 which use the 

word “native” or “Eskimo”. Several headlines provide information and dates concerning whaling and 

the capture of whales at various coastal villages of Alaska. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Alaska, whaling, native, catch. 

PETERSON, N. MERLE. 

1978. Ecology of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: selected references. Arctic Land Use 

Research Program, Dep. Indian and Northern Affairs, Ottawa. Vol. 5, p. 1791-2277. 

Detailed annotations on the main findings of publications on the ecology of the Canadian Arctic 

Archipelago with the information indexed by subject categories and by geographic coordinates. 

Contains index for volumes one through five. 

WESTERN ARCTIC, EASTERN ARCTIC 

BIBLIOGRAPHY-Arctic ecology. 
261 

PETERSON, N. MERLE. 

1980a. Ecology of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: selected references. Indian and 

Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa. Volume 6, p. 2278-2732. 

Detailed annotations on the main findings of unpublished reports between 1948 and 1979 on the 

ecology of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago with information indexed by subject categories and by 

geographic coordinates. 

WESTERN ARCTIC, EASTERN ARCTIC 

BIBLIOGRAPHY-Arctic ecology. 

PETERSON, N. MERLE. 

1980b. Ecology of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: selected references. Indian and 

Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa. Volume 7, p. 2733-3181. 

Detailed annotations on the main findings of publications between 1961 and 1978 on the ecology of 

the Canadian Arctic Archipelago with information indexed by subject categories and by geographic 

coordinates. Contains index for volumes six and seven. 

WESTERN ARCTIC, EASTERN ARCTIC 

BIBLIOGRAPHY-Arctic ecology. 

PETERSON, N. MERLE. 

1980c. Ecology of the Canadian Archipelago: selected references. Indian and Northern 

Affairs Canada, Ottawa. Volume 8, p. 3182-3665. 

Detailed annotations on the main findings of publications between 1965 and 1979 on the ecology of 

the Canadian Arctic Archipelago with information indexed by subject categories and geographical 

coordinates. Contains index for volumes six through eight. 

WESTERN ARCTIC, EASTERN ARCTIC 

BIBLIOGRAPHY-Arctic ecology. 

PETERSON, N. MERLE. 

1981. Ecology of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: selected references. Indian and 

Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa. Volume 9, p. 3666-4143. 

Detailed annotations on the main findings of publications between 1965 and 1980 on the ecology of 

the Canadian Arctic Archipelago with information indexed by subject categories and by geographic 

coordinates. Contains index for volumes six through nine. 

WESTERN ARCTIC, EASTERN ARCTIC 

BIBLIOGRAPHY-Arctic ecology. 
262 

PETROFF, IVAN. 

1884. Report on the population, industries, and resources of Alaska. In U.S. Census, 

10th census (1880), vol. 8, 189 p. Reprinted in 1900 with minor changes and 

without maps or plates in: Compilation of narratives of explorations in Alaska, p. 55-

281, U.S. Congr. Sen. Comm. Mil. Aff., Sen. Rep. 1023. Gov. Print. Off., 

Washington, D.C. 

Contains information concerning commercial and native whaling for bowhead whales at that time. 

Natives living in the villages of Cape Prince of Wales and the Diomedes are active hunters and 

whalers; between Point Hope and Point Barrow the Eskimos depend upon reindeer, seal, and walrus 

for their subsistence; and from Point Barrow eastward the inhabitants are expert whalers. Whales 

are found in all sections of the Arctic, the bowhead is the most common; the California gray and the 

fin-back are much more rare, in fact, they are seen only occasionally here and there; and the white 

whale, or grampus (beluga), although confined to no particular section of the Arctic, is more 

numerous near streams. The total number of Eskimos living in the Arctic is given as 3,094 (p. 2-4). In 

a historical sketch of Alaska, the author reports “Some of the whalers learned that in 1841 fifty ships 

from New Bedford and Boston had been in the vicinity (Bering Sea), and that they had succeeded in 

capturing from ten to fifteen whales each.” Russian efforts to keep American whalers out of the area 

and off the Aleutian Islands, where they landed to tryout blubber, were largely unsuccessful. Efforts 

by the Russian-American Company, together with some ship-owners in Finland, to enter the whaling 

industry was short-lived; three ships were built and outfitted for whaling during 1851-1854 and 

caught some whales. The cruise of the Suomi in the Okhotsk Sea in 1852-53 resulted in a catch of 

1,500 barrels of oil and 21,400 pounds of whalebone valued at 88,000 rubles; the Turko, whaling in 

the Okhotsk and Bering Sea during 1852-53, had a catch of only 150 barrels of oil and 650 pounds 

of whalebone; the Aian (and a few more ships built soon after) were outfitted but sold as soon as 

they returned from their whaling voyages (p. 117-118). Ethnological notes on the Eskimo are 

presented in pages 124-146. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ETHNOLOGY; WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, native, catch, gear, utilization. 

PETROFF, IVAN. 

1898. Report on the population, industries, and resources of Alaska. In David Starr 

Jordan, Seal and salmon fisheries and general resources of Alaska, (4 vols.) vol. 4, 

p. 167-450. Gov. Print. Off., Washington, D.C. (From the report in the 10th census 

[1884].). 

Essentially the same as the author's original report in 1884, except for additional data on the 

American whaling fleet for 1880. “The vessels engaged in the business on the Alaskan Coast in 

1880 were 36 sailing craft and 4 steamers. Their catch consisted of 35,000 pounds of whalebone, 

15,000 pounds of ivory, and 21,000 barrels of oil. The value of the bone alone was $850,000; that of 

the oil $280,000, while the ivory brought $9,000, making a total of $1,139,000, or an average of 

$28,475 per vessel -certainly a remarkable showing of the profits accruing from this industry.” (p. 

279). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, catch. 
263 

PETTYJOHN [F. S.] 

1974. And one volunteered. Alaskana 4 (3):1-4. 

Quoting from Fred Tilton’s diary author recounts Tilton’s heroic feat when in 1897-1898 he traveled 

overland from Barrow, Alaska, to southern Alaska and by boat to San Francisco, California, to deliver 

news of the disaster that the whaling fleet was frozen in near Barrow and all seamen aboard were 

stranded there. Article includes the names and approximate locations of some commercial shorebased whaling stations in and near Point Hope, Alaska, providing significant information on that 

industry. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, commercial, shore stations. 

PIDGIN, CHARLES F., and BERT FESLER. 

1891. Fish and Fisheries.--Marine mammalia. Census Bull. 123, 18 p. U.S. Dep. Interior, 

Census Office, Washington, D.C. 

Report lists whaling vessels and shore stations, home ports, whaling grounds, and products from all 

whales landed in 1889. Whale products from 121 bowheads are reported. Although right (13.98%) 

and bowhead (15.51%) whales were but 29.49% of the total number of whales caught, they yielded 

70% of the total value of whale products. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-whaling grounds; WHALING-western and eastern Arctic, commercial, catch, products, shore stations. 

PILLERI, G. and L. ARVY. 

1981. The precursors in cetology from Guillaume Rondelet to John Anderson. In G. Pilleri 

(ed.), Investigations on Cetacea, 12, 258 p. Brain Anat. Inst., Berne, Switzerland. 

Contains 41 brief biographies of past European scientists (1507-1900) instrumental in the 

development of cetological research. Each bibliography includes portraits of the scientists, extracts 

and figures from their work, and a number of unpublished or unusual documents. An extensive 

bibliography lists the principal works for each scientist and source material for preparing the 

biographies. Contains several references to studies made on Balaena mysticetus, including subject 

matter, titles of publications and authors. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

PIVORUNAS, AUGUST. 

1979. The feeding mechanisms of baleen whales. Am. Sci. 67(4):432-440. 

Account describing the baleen or whalebone whales, their feeding apparatus, food and feeding 

methods, and the evolution of a scheme of general classification for these cetaceans. Contains 

several drawings and two photographs illustrating the feeding apparatus, and 38 references on 

source material for the article. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

IDENTITY-classification; MORPHOLOGY-structure, mouth; NUTRITION-food, feeding behavior. 
264 

POINT HOPE NEWS. 

1967. (Title unknown.) Point Hope News, June. 

Citing F. E. Durham (1979:14), this village newspaper reported “The whaling crews wouldn’t take any 

chance losing the whale [an 8 m (26-foot)] whale...and all the [6] bombs exploded.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, gear. 

POOLE, DOROTHY COTTLE. 

1971. Vineyard whalemen in the Arctic. Dukes Cty. Intell. 13(1):1-25. 

Brief account of bowhead whaling vessel activities in the western Arctic and whale catches by a few 

of the ships and shore stations. A letter dated August 19, 1889 from G. B. Borden, who was in 

charge of the Refuge Station at Barrow, to Frederick Swift, an agent in New Bedford, contained 

information on shore-based whaling in the Arctic. On July 26 a man called Joe [Tuckfield] left Barrow 

in an open boat for the Mackenzie River. On the 9th inst. [August] he returned with information of a 

great number of whales there. He struck several but saved only one head. Borden also reported that 

“On the way up in the Bear we were several days at Point Hope. The natives there had taken eleven, 

mostly small, whales. Mr. Baine 7, mostly large. Arriving here we found the natives had taken twentytwo, mostly small. The Ina’s gang three, and Mr. Leavitt trader for the P.S.W. Co. [Pacific Steam 

Whaling Company] also three, all six quite large, while the Co’s whaling gang got their time 

quarreling over the whales they were going to kill.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea, commercial, native, shore stations, catch, photographs. 

POOLE, DOROTHY COTTLE. 

1978. Vineyard sampler. Dukes Cty. Hist. Soc., Edgartown, Mass. 153 p. 

Selected topics that illustrate events, places, and experiences of the residents of Martha’s Vineyard 

for the past 350 years. Several bowhead whalers resided here and some of their experiences in the 

arctic are recounted. Contains some information on whaling vessels and catches. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, Okhotsk Sea, Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea, catch, photographs. 

POOR, HENRY VARNUM. 

1945. An artist sees Alaska. Viking Press, New York, N.Y., 279 p. 

The author accompanied Marston on the Schooner Ada for a tour of Alaskan villages from Nome to 

Barrow during the summer of 1943. Upon approaching Wainwright on July 26 the author noted 

“...three or four big and little boats came-out to meet them. Here was Jim Allen, captain of the 

Guard.” (p. 258). Upon visiting Barrow about July 28-29, Poor stated that “There was now an acute 

meat shortage as the weather had been continually bad that the skin boats had not been able to go 

out for whale or walrus when they had passed with the spring breakup of the ice.” (p. 270). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, gear, catch, related information. 
265 

PORSILD, A. E. 

1945. Mammals of the Mackenzie Delta. Can. Field-Nat. 59(1):4-22. 

Notes on mammals, including seals and whales, based largely on field notes made during author’s 

residence in the area from April 1927 to February 1928, and from October 1931 to October 1935. 

Author”s complete entry for the bowhead whale on p. 21 is as follows: 

“Balaena mysticetus Linnaeus; 

BOWHEAD OR GREENLAND WHALE; 

Eskimo: Aqveq. 

The bowhead whale was formerly of great importance when the high prices commanded by whale 

“bone” brought large fleets of whaling ships to the Beaufort Sea. The last whaling ships, according to 

Anderson (1913), visited the region in 1912. 

“During my residence in the Mackenzie delta, bowhead whales were occasionally reported seen from 

Herschel Island and from schooners travelling east along the Arctic coast. But since these 

schooners rarely venture far out to sea and because the whales are now of no importance to present 

day Eskimo, little is known of the present status of this interesting species.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-eastern Beaufort Sea; IDENTITY-nomenclature, Eskimo; WHALING-western Arctic, eastern Beaufort Sea, 

commercial, native, utilization. 

PORSILD, A. E. 

1950. A biological exploration of Banks and Victoria Islands. Arctic 3(1):45-54. (Reprinted 

from the Arctic Circular 3 (1950):2-9.). 

Account of aerial and ground surveys of the islands in 1949 with general descriptions of the terrain, 

plants, animals and weather. The summer of 1949 was late and the break-up occurred almost 3 

weeks later than normal. When flying across Amundsen Gulf on August 25, they saw a large 

bowhead whale. [According to Manning and MacPherson, 1958, this sighting was made on a flight 

from DeSalis Bay to Walker Bay]. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-sighting. 

POULTER, THOMAS C. 

1966. Recording the underwater signals of seals in the Arctic. Stanford Res. Inst., Menlo 

Park, Calif., Final Rep. on Phase II, Subcontract ONR-371, March 22 - May 6, 1966, 

prepared for Arctic Inst. North Am., p. I-8 to I-18. [Unpublished] 

Recorded sounds included those made by a bowhead whale as it was hit by an explosive projectile 

of Eskimo whalers, and subsequent signals. See Poulter (1968) for analysis of signals. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-vocalization; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-acoustic devices; POPULATION-mortality, whaling, struck 

and lost; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, gear. 
266 

POULTER L. THOMAS C. 

1968. Marine mammals. In Thomas A. Sebeok (ed.), Animal communication, Chapt. 17, 

p. 405-465. Indiana Univ. Press, Bloomington, Ind. 

Echolocation and communication signals of the genus Balaena consist of clicks, pulses, and moans 

in many combinations. The author made more than 70,000 feet of magnetic tape recordings of 

bowhead whales on their migration past Pt. Barrow during March, April, and May of 1966. One 

recording was made at the same time Eskimo whalers shot a bowhead whale. Frequency range of 

the sonagram used to record bowhead signals was 20 to 20,000 Hz, and number of sonagrams are 

shown in a figure. Signals start at any frequency from less than 50 to nearly 1,000 Hz. Loud, lowest 

frequency signals had very loud series of narrow-frequency-range clicks (about six per second) 

associated with them, with a frequency above that of the main signal. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-vocalization; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES- acoustic devices; WHALING-western Arctic, natives, gear. 

POWERS, ALFRED. 

1965. Animals of the Arctic in action and adventure. David McKay Co., New York, 272 p. 

Contains sketches of the arctic and its animals, including whaling for bowheads. Descriptive 

information on the bowhead is mainly taken from William Scoresby. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

IDENTITY-description; WHALING-western Arctic, commercial. 

PREBLE, EDWARD A. 

1908. A biological investigation of the Athabaska-Mackenzie region. U.S. Dep. Agric., 

Bur. Biol. Survey, No. Am. Fauna No. 27, 574 p. 

The results of surveys made for the U.S. Biological Survey, April-August 1901 and May 1903-August 

1904. Contains information on previous explorations of the region, physical geography and 

climatology, and mammals, birds, reptiles and batrachians, fishes, and trees and shrubs found there. 

Contains a brief discussion of the Greenland whale including its distribution in the straits of the large 

islands to the eastward and in the eastern Beaufort Sea, and the commercial whaling fleet that overwintered in the area. The greatest catch of bowhead whales in the Arctic was made in 1893 (citing 

Russell, 1898), when the Narwhal took 64, the Balaena 62, and others from 9 to 40 each. In a letter 

that Sgt. F. J. Fitzgerald of the Northwest Mounted Police on Herschel Island sent to the author, he 

stated that the largest catch of bowhead was made about 1897, when one vessel took 69 whales 

and two others of the fleet took over 60 each. In 1904 the Narwhal departed Herschel Island with the 

products of 18 whales taken during the three preceding seasons, and during that year the largest 

take by one vessel was 9 captured by the Jeanette. MacFarlane (1905) was cited as stating “...that 

each season the Eskimo who frequented Fort Anderson usually succeeded in killing one large whale, 

though seldom more.” (p. 126-127) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-former; WHALING-western Arctic, eastern Beaufort Sea, commercial, native, catch. 
267 

PREBLE, EDWARD A. and W. L. McATEE. 

1923. A biological survey of the Pribilof Islands, Alaska. Part 1: Birds and mammals. U.S. 

Dep. Agric., Bur. Biol. Survey, No. Am. Fauna No. 46, 128 p. 

A two-part report on the natural history of the Pribilof Islands; part 2 is on insects. Accounts of 

cetaceans in the area are limited primarily to strandings on the islands. Regarding Balaena

mysticetus the authors report as follows: 

“In a number of instances whales have drifted ashore on the Pribilofs, and in some cases they have 

been identified. St. Paul has apparently received the larger share, a natural result of its longer and 

more easily observed coast line. Hahn collected notes from the St. Paul Island log detailing some of 

these occurrences. On January 1, 1890, a large right whale was discovered at East Landing, St. 

Paul. The head was gone; the body was more than 60 feet long. Another carcass came ashore at 

Zoltoi, near the village, on August 31 of the same year. From the same source Hahn learned that 

other whales (species not stated) were stranded as follows: October 18, 1886, a whale 56 feet long, 

bearing a harpoon, drifted into English Bay. Others were recorded as coming ashore on September 

13, 1892; March 27, 1903; and August 9, 1906. 

Dr. Frederick W. True, himself a student of this group, examined the bones of a number of 

individuals of this species, and made measurements of the right mandible of one found on the beach 

north of Lukanin (1899, p. 352). He mentions also a bowhead whale which came ashore on St. 

George in 1889, from which the natives secured about 1,500 pounds of whalebone. The remains of 

others found by True near East Landing and at Zoltoi were probably those of individuals above 

mentioned, records of which were found by Hahn. 

Scammon says (1874, p. 68): “The last seen of them in high latitudes, by whalemen, is on their 

return from the Arctic Ocean, when they are found in the vicinity of St. Paul’s Island, Behring Sea, in 

the month of October, and these are usually very large.”” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-former; MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-mortality, strandings, whaling, struck and lost; 

SKELETAL REMAINS-beachcast, utilization (baleen). 

PRICE, EMMETT W. 

1932. The trematode parasites of marine mammals. Proc. U.S. Natl. Mus. 81:1-68. 

First comprehensive paper on the trematodes of marine mammals. Lecithodesmus goliath, from liver 

of Balaena mysticetus is described (p. 12). Parasite was originally named Distomum goliath by van 

Beneden (1858). 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

PATHOLOGY-parasites. 

PURVES, P. E. 

1955. The wax plug in the external auditory meatus of the Mysticeti. Discovery Rep. 

27:293-302. 

Author states (p. 295) that T. Buchanan (1828) discovered in the meatus of Balaena mysticetus an 

“unctuous cerumen of a greyish blue colour.” 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-wax ear plug. 
268 

RABOT, CHARLES. 

1914. The whale fisheries of the world. Smithson. Inst. Ann. Rep. 1913, p. 481-489. 

(Transl. from La Nature, Paris, Sept. 14, 1912.) 

Contains a review of the world commercial whale stock, noting a revival of the whale fishery after a 

long period of decadence. The Arctic right or Greenland whale has become very rare and is not 

regularly hunted except in Davis and Lancaster Straits, in Hudson Bay, and on the northwest coast 

of North America about Point Barrow. In 1910 the vessels from Dundee took only 17 whales, and in 

1908 and 1909 about 15. No statistics are available on the fishery on the northwest coast of America 

where the whales appear more numerous, but data now on hand indicate that the results in 1909 

and 1910 were excellent. In 1910, one vessel took 15 whales and a second reported a cargo of 

whalebone worth $130,000. In 1911 a Greenland whale was taken off the northwest point of 

Spitsbergen, in 80° N lat. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

DISTRIBUTION-present; IDENTITY-nomenclature; POPULATION-abundance; WHALING-eastern and western Arctic, 

commercial, catch. 

RAINEY, FROELICH. 

1940. Eskimo method of capturing bowhead whales. J. Mammal. 21(3):362. 

The author, living at Tigara (Point Hope, Alaska) since January 1940, joined the bowhead whaling 

crew of Unigluh as a paddler during the spring hunt. In a letter dated April 19, he stated they had 

been chasing whales for seven days now. “We have killed three [most of one was lost due to moving 

ice]. There are scores of them, all bowhead, the number is simply unbelievable. We have seen at 

least 20 every day.” In accidents with weapons, one Eskimo was injured and died when a bomb 

exploded in the barrel of his shoulder gun; another was injured in the leg in a similar accident; and 

later two darting guns exploded but hurt no one. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; POPULATION-abundance, mortality, whaling (killed but lost); WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, 

native, catch, crews, gear. 

RAINEY, FROELICH G. 

1947. The whale hunters of Tigara. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., Anthropol. Pap. 41, Pt. 2, p. 229-

283. 

Account of the Tigara people at Point Hope, Alaska, describing the social structure of the village, and 

the day to day life of the Eskimos including hunting, trapping, fishing, ceremonies, games and trading 

journeys. The author visited the village for a few months yearly while working as an archaeologist, 

then in 1940 he and his wife resided there for the better part of the year to obtain a more thorough 

knowledge of their culture, past and present. He served as a member of a whaling crew and received 

some tons of whale meat in payment. Contains detailed information on the boat captain, or umelik, 

and customs associated with bowhead whaling. The 10 to 15 crews from the Tigara village are 

scattered for 2 or 3 miles along the edge of the water, on the south shore, as far as 1 or 2 miles out 

from land. Practices followed when hunting, killing and dividing whales is described. The ingutuk 

(young ones) are preferred by the Eskimo. The village elders reported that sometimes as many as 

15 to 18 whales were killed during spring seasons of the past. “These were so numerous that 

hunters pursued only the young ones (ingutuk) and merely threw ice at the older and larger whales 

to drive them away. Today, three or four whales taken in the same period represent a very 

successful season.” (p. 261). “Many generations ago, it is said, bowhead whales also passed by the 

Point in the fall, when they migrated southward. At that time there were two whale hunting seasons 

each year, as at Point Barrow during the present time.” (p. 263). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; DISTRIBUTION-former; IDENTITY-nomenclature; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, commercial 

(shore-station), native, catch, crews, utilization. 
269 

RASMUSSEN, KNUD. 

1952. The Alaskan Eskimos as described in the posthumous notes of Dr. Knud 

Rasmussen, by H. Ostermann. Edited after the latter’s death with the assistance of 

E. Holtved. Translated from the Danish by W. E. Calvert. Rep. Fifth Thule Exped. 

1921-24, v. 10, no. 3, 292 p. Gyldendal, Copenhagen. Reprinted 1976 by AMS 

Press, Inc., New York. 

Rasmussen’s visits in 1924 to Alaskan Eskimo villages at Point Barrow, Wainwright, Icy Cape, Point 

Lay, Point Hope, Kotzebue, Nome, Little Diomede and King Island, and at East Cape (Uelen, also 

known as Whalen) on the Chukotsk Peninsula, U.S.S.R. Notes on customs, hunting activities, etc. 

described for each settlement visited, including information on whaling for bowheads. As many as 22 

whales might be taken in a single spring season at Point Barrow (p. 21). During spring 1924 three 

whales had been caught when Rasmussen arrived (in May) at Point Barrow, and two more a few 

days later (p. 22). No bowheads were landed at Wainwright this spring, but one was taken at Icy 

Cape (p. 27), apparently none were landed at Point Lay (p. 44), and 15 were taken at Point Hope (p. 

47). At Point Lay one wealthy Eskimo owned a new whaleboat which had cost him $1,000 the 

previous summer (p. 44). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ANTHROPOLOGY-Alaska, Chukchi; WHALING-western Arctic; Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, native, gear, catch, utilization. 

RAY, DOROTHY JEAN. 

1982. Reflections in ivory. In William W. Fitzhugh and Susan A. Kaplan, Inua: spirit world 

of the Bering Sea Eskimos, p. 255-267. Natl. Mus. Nat. Hist., Smithson. Inst. Press, 

Washington, D.C. 

Engravings of representational subjects on ivory, bone and other substances, an art form of 

unknown origins (p. 256), was practiced mainly by Eskimos living north of Norton Sound in Alaska. 

Author reviews history of engraved pictography and comments on the subjects depicted. “Kotzebue 

Sound” drill bows -- originated elsewhere on the basis of subject matter, for both walrus and black 

whale hunting figure prominently on many of the bows, yet Kotzebue Sound people hunted neither 

the walrus nor the black whale. Men living around Bering Strait and the Arctic coast of northern 

Alaska often record the numbers of animals they have caught by carving images of them in ivory. 

The animals may appear as splayed pelts, whale flukes, and caribou.” (p. 258). The engravings 

provide a wealth of information about Bering Strait life of the 19th century as they depict animals, 

hunting scenes showing methods and equipment used, even everyday and festival activities of 

villagers. Changes in Eskimo life that were created by the white man are also brought out in subtle 

ways in the engravings. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ETHNOLOGY-pictographs; IDENTITY-nomenclature; WHALING-western Arctic, native, gear, catch. 
270 

RAY, P. H. 

1885. Narrative. In Report of the International Polar Expedition to Point Barrow, Alaska, 

in response to the resolution of the House of Representatives of December 11, 

1884, Part 2, p. 19-34. 1885. Gov. Print. Office, Washington, D.C. 

The International Polar Expedition, 1882-1883, sailed from San Francisco July 18, 1881, on the 

schooner Golden Fleece, and arrived at Cape Smythe on September 8. A scientific station was 

maintained eleven and a half miles southwest of Point Barrow from September 12, 1881 until their 

departure August 27, 1883 for San Francisco. The natives reported seeing whales passing to the 

northeast on April 23, 1882, and they were seen passing in the same direction every day from that 

time on until June 15; that seemed to end their migration as no more of them were sighted until 

August 15, when they were seen going to the southwest along the edge of the pack ice (p. 24). “On 

June 9 the natives succeeded in killing a large whale, the first they had taken since we had been on 

the coast.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; DISTRIBUTION-sightings; WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, native, catch. 

RAY, P. H. 

1885. Ethnographic sketch of the natives of Point Barrow. In Report of the International 

Polar Expedition to Point Barrow, Alaska, in response to the resolution of the House 

of Representatives of December 11, 1884, Part 3, p. 35-87. 1885. Gov. Print. Office, 

Washington, D.C. 

Observations on Eskimos resident in the vicinity of Point Barrow during the author's visit there from 

September 12, 1881 to August 27, 1883, including whaling for bowheads. “...the great number of 

whales taken off the coast by the American whaling fleet during the last twenty years has nearly 

exterminated that valuable animal. That they are decreasing in numbers is well known among the 

whalemen, and the fact that Dr. Simpson reports that during the time the Plover was at Point Barrow 

there were twenty-four whales taken by the natives, while only two were taken during our stay, one 

of which was a calf (p. 45). In the spring of 1883, when they (the natives) came to prepare their boats 

for whaling, they decided after many grave debates that the bad luck of the previous year was owing 

entirely to their having equipped their boats with white man's gear, of which they had abundance, 

obtained from wrecked whalers; so it was decided that they would go back to the implements of their 

fathers, and the old ivory and stone harpoon and lance heads were brought forth and repaired, and 

that they took one whale was attributed entirely to this change; the fact that the whale was killed by a 

shot from a bomb gun we loaned them to the contrary notwithstanding.” (p. 48). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-size, calf; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, gear, catch. 

REARDEN, JIM. 

1975a. Alaska’s commercial salmon fisheries: Their history and status in brief. Part one 

of six - Introduction to the fisheries. Alaska 41(2):18-21, 51. 

In addition to the salmon industry, the exploitation of whales, sea otter and the Pacific fur seal have 

also been a major economic element in the history of Alaska. Yankee whalers first visited the PacificAlaskan coast about 1835, and soon after the hunt extended into the Bering Sea. In 1848 the whaler 

Superior made an enormous catch in the Alaskan Arctic. By 1852, 278 American vessels were 

whaling along Alaska’s coast, and in 1855, 154 American whalers passed through the Bering Strait. 

When petroleum largely replaced whale oil whaling declined, and by 1902 there were but eight 

vessels left in the Alaskan whaling industry. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, history. 
271 

REARDEN, JIM. 

1975b. Whales and Alaska. Alaska 41(2):28-29, 32, 58. 

Brief popular account of whaling by natives and commercial whalers in Alaskan waters from 

historical times to the present including methods used, value of products, decline of whaling by 1913, 

and current whaling catches of several species by various nations with some biological information 

on each. Recent actions of the International Whaling Commission to manage and regulate whaling 

are recounted. Eskimos in some coastal villages still depend upon bowhead and beluga whales for 

food (photograph of a dead bowhead on the ice). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-respiration, diving, migration; REGULATION & CONSERVATION-management, regulation; WHALING-western 

Arctic, history, commercial, native, catch, photograph, utilization. 

REARDEN, JIM. 

1981. Alaska mammals. Alaska Geogr. 8(2):104-105. 

Brief general description of bowhead whales with notes on Alaskan Eskimo whaling and early 

commercial whaling. Article accompanied by photograph of a pair of copulating bowheads near Point 

Barrow and a drawing of an adult. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-swimming, diving, migration, icebreaking; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-coloration; 

IDENTITY-description; MORPHOLOGY-structure; NUTRITION-food; POPULATION-abundance, calf size; 

REPRODUCTION-mating; WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, native. 

REEVES, RANDALL R. and EDWARD MITCHELL. 

1981. White whale hunting in Cumberland Sound. Beaver, Outfit 312(3):42-49. 

When bowhead whales became difficult to find in the eastern Arctic during the 1840s, the 

commercial whalers hunted the white whale as a popular 'filler' to make whaling voyages pay. 

Bowhead whaling in the Cumberland Sound region is briefly summarized and a photograph (E. J. 

Peck Papers, Anglican Church Archives) shows a bowhead being cut up at Blacklead Island, about 

1904. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-eastern Arctic, commercial, catch, photograph. 

REMMERT, HERMANN . 

1980. Arctic animal ecology. Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg, Germany, 250 p. 

A summary of ecological and physiological research in the Arctic--mostly on Spitsbergen. A brief 

review of conditions in the Antarctic is included to demonstrate the vast differences between the two 

polar regions. 

Citing Van den Brink, 1957 (no additional information given on publication), a table is presented on 

page 96 giving the following reproduction information on the Greenland right whale: mating period: 

VII-VIII; gestation period: 9-10 month; time of birth: III-IV; annual number of litters: 1; size of litter: 1-

2; young independent after: 1-3/4 year; sexual maturity at (in years): 2; and duration of life (in years): 

30-40? 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

GROWTH-age; REPRODUCTION-gestation, mating period, maturation, parturition, periodicity. 
272 

RENNICK, PENNY. 

1978. Alaska’s whales: Graceful giants of the deep. Alaska 44(11):37-41. 

Contains brief comments about whales found in the north Pacific and Alaskan waters. Bowheads 

follow a spring migration pattern that takes them close to the Bering and Chukchi seacoasts toward 

the Beaufort Sea, a major feeding ground, where they feed on euphausiids and other forms of krill. 

Although belugas can sometimes be seen with bowheads, they do not follow the same migration 

pattern. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration, relationship; NUTRITION-food. 

RICE, DALE W. 

1963. Pacific coast whaling and whale research. Trans. 28th No. Am. Wildl. Conf., p. 

327-335. 

Active whaling operations presently are “...conducted from three commercial whaling stations on the 

Pacific coast; and by Eskimos of the Alaskan villages of Barrow, Point Hope, and Wainwright, who 

use aboriginal methods to take bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) and gray whales (Eschrichtius

gibbosus) (p. 327).” Noting that “The United States, along with most whaling nations, is a party to the 

1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling..., certain species -the gray, right, and 

bowhead whales -are completely protected from commercial whaling.” (p. 328-329). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION-regulation; WHALING-western Arctic, native. 

RICE, DALE W. 

1964. Eskimo whaling in arctic Alaska. U.S. Fish. Wildl. Serv., Bur. Commer. Fish., Mar. 

Mammal Biol. Lab., Seattle, Wash., Apr. 15, 1964. 23 p. (Available Natl. Mar. 

Mammal Lab., Natl. Mar. Fish. Serv., NOAA, 7600 Sand Point Way N.E., Seattle, 

WA 98115.) (Unpublished). 

Reviews Eskimo whaling, principally for bowheads (but also for gray whales), in the Arctic Ocean 

from literature and from personal observations in 1961 and 1962 at Pt. Hope and Pt. Barrow. 

Discusses Eskimo nomenclature, population abundance, distribution, migration, history of Arctic 

whaling, and present-day Eskimo whaling. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration, ice-breaking; DISTRIBUTION-western Arctic; IDENTITY-nomenclature (Eskimo); 

POPULATION-abundance, mortality (struck-and-lost); WHALING-western Arctic, native, commercial, catch, crews, gear. 

RICE, DALE W. 

1967. Cetaceans. In Sydney Anderson and J. Knox Jones, Jr. (eds.), Recent mammals of 

the world: a synopsis of families, Chapt. 15, p. 291-324. Ronald Press Co., New 

York. 

The author has prepared a brief synopsis of both cetaceans in general and of each family. Specific 

information about bowhead whales is limited, but references are furnished for additional literature. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

BEHAVIOR-migration, icebreaking; DISTRIBUTION-circumpolar; IDENTITY-description, taxonomy; 

MORPHOLOGY-anatomy, measurements; NUTRITION-food; PATHOLOGY; PREDATORS & COMPETITORS; 

REPRODUCTION-gestation, lactation, parturition, periodicity; WHALING-western Arctic, native, gear. 
273 

RICE, DALE W. 

1974. Whales and whale research in the eastern North Pacific. In William E. Schevill 

(ed.), The whale problem: a status report, Chapt. 6, p. 170-195. Harvard Univ. 

Press, Cambridge, Mass. 

Briefly reviews 11 species of whales (including bowhead), history of whaling for them, and 

summarizes status of their populations in the eastern North Pacific Ocean. Gives a brief discussion 

of distribution, migration, and describes research that has been done, or is in progress, by the U.S. 

Bureau of Commercial Fisheries or the National Marine Fisheries Service on each species. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; DISTRIBUTION; POPULATION-abundance and density, mortality; WHALING-history, western Arctic, 

catch, natives. 

RICE, DALE W. 

1977. A list of the marine mammals of the world. U.S. Dep. Commer., NOAA Tech. Rep. 

NMFS SSRF-711, 15 p. 

A total of 116 species of Recent marine mammals are listed, including the geographic distribution of 

each. (From author's abstract). 

“Order Mysticeti (p.6-7), Family Balaenidae, Genus Balaena Linnaeus, 1758, Balaena mysticetus

Linnaeus, 1758 (bowhead whale; Arctic right whale). 

Arctic waters. There are four geographically isolated populations: 1) From Spitzbergen west to east 

Greenland; 2) in Davis Strait, Baffin Bay, James Bay [sic], and adjacent waters; 3) in the Bering, 

Chukchi, and Beaufort seas; and 4) in the Okhotsk Sea. The Alaskan Eskimo recognize two kinds: 

the larger “kairalik” or true bowhead, and the smaller “ingotok” (known as the “poggy” to the 19th 

century American whalers). I believe that the ingotok is most likely a young bowhead.” 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

DISTRIBUTION-world; IDENTITY-nomenclature, taxonomy. 

RICE, DALE W. and VICTOR B. SCHEFFER. 

1968. A list of the marine mammals of the world. U.S. Dep. Int., U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv., 

Spec. Sci. Rep. Fish. 579, 16 p. 

“Listed are 117 species of Recent marine mammals, including fresh-water species of the 

predominantly marine groups. The numbers of species are: Order Carnivora (1), Order Pinnipedia 

(33), Order Sirenia (5), Order Mysticeti (10), and Order Odontoceti (68). The geographical 

distribution of each species is shown. The systematic status of little-known species is discussed.” 

(From author's abstract). 

“Order Mysticeti (p. 6), Family Balaenidae, Genus Balaena, Linnaeus, 1758, Balaena mysticetus

Linnaeus, 1758 (bowhead whale), Arctic waters. There are four geographically isolated populations: 

(1) From Spitzbergen west to east Greenland; (2) in Davis Strait, Baffin Bay, James Bay [sic], and 

adjacent waters; (3) in the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas; and (4) in the Okhotsk Sea. The 

Alaskan Eskimo recognize two kinds: the larger “kairalik” or true bowhead, and the smaller “inqotok” 

(known as the “poggy” to the 19th-century American whalers). We believe that the ingotok is most 

likely a young bowhead; the taxonomy of these whales is being studied by Floyd Durham of the 

University of Southern California.” 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

DISTRIBUTION-world; IDENTITY-nomenclature, taxonomy. 
274 

RICE, DALE W. and ALLEN A. WOLMAN. 

1971. The life history and ecology of the gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus). Am. Soc. 

Mammal., Spec. Publ. No. 3, 142 p. 

Report of a study from 1959 through February 1970 to collect basic data on all aspects of the life 

history and ecology of the gray whale. Regarding growth of grays, they found no appreciable 

changes in body proportions from one year to physical maturity, a conclusion contrary to the findings 

for other species, including bowhead whales (page 50). Discussing parasites (p. 105) “Cyamus ceti

Linnaeus, 1758, was originally described from the bowhead whale from the Atlantic sector of the 

Arctic Ocean.” On the subject of aboriginal whaling the authors state (p. 120-121): “Whaling is still 

regularly practiced by the Eskimos of the villages of Barrow, Wainwright, and Point Hope on the 

Arctic coast of Alaska. In this area catch is mostly bowhead whales. From 1954 through 1959, only 

nine gray whales were killed at Barrow and one at Wainwright (Maher, 1960). The natives of the 

village of Gambell on St. Lawrence Island (Francis H. Fay, personal communication) and the villages 

of Sireniki, Imtuk, Chaplino, Naukan, Uelen, and Enurmino on the Chukotskiy Peninsula (Tomilin, 

1957, Treshchev, 1966a) also still hunt whales. The catch in these areas is almost entirely gray 

whales. One hundred fourteen were killed in 1965 and 53 in 1966 off the Chukotskiy Peninsula 

(Zimushko, 1969a).” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

GROWTH-to physical maturity; PATHOLOGY-parasites; WHALING-western Arctic, native, catch (bowhead, gray). 

RICHARDS, EVA ALVEY. 

1949. Arctic mood, a narrative of Arctic adventures. Caxton Printers, Ltd., Caldwell, 

Idaho, 282 p. 

The author’s experiences while teaching at Wainwright, Alaska, 1924-1926. Description of life and 

hunting activities throughout the year in an Eskimo village. During spring whaling in 1925, four crews 

captured two bowhead whales. One whale, a large female that measured [apparently on the body 

curvature] 20.42 m, contained a fetus 5.18 m long (p. 203). Author visited Barrow and reported 19 

bowheads had been landed there as of June 15, 1925. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; REPRODUCTION-fetus; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, 

photograph. 

RICHARDSON, JEFFREY R. 

1978. Inupiat take bowheads under quota; three villages take limit, Barrow over by one. 

Tundra Times, May 10, 15(19):1, 6, 12. 

Describes Eskimos first ever hunt for bowhead whales under a total quota of 12 whales imposed by 

the International Whaling Commission because of concern over survival of the species. The catch by 

village was Gambell (1), Savoonga (1), Point Hope (2), Wainwright(l), and Barrow (4). Barrow 

hunters exceeded their 3-whale quota by one, explaining that two of the whales were of a different 

species than the bowhead. The dispute was resolved as an unintentional violation with no 

prosecution involved, and Jacob Adams, Chairman of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, 

issued a plea for all hunters to leave the ice, and all but one crew came to shore. The Wainwright 

whale, a 53-foot female taken by Felton Segevan’s crew, was discovered to contain a fetus two feet 

in length. It was only the fourth bowhead fetus to be recovered [in Alaska] by scientists. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-specimen; IDENTITY-nomenclature, Eskimo, ingutuk; 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-sex; REGULATION & CONSERVATION-regulation; REPRODUCTION-fetus; 

WHALING-western Arctic, native, catch, crews, photographs, utilization. 
275 

ROCK, ALLEN. 

1961a. The Bush Circuit (News items): Point Hope. Alaska Sportsman 27(6):20. 

On March 16, 1961 hunters at Point Hope were getting ready for whaling. The author and his wife 

will begin covering their boat frame with ogrook skins tomorrow. It takes five ogrook skins to cover a 

whaling boat. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, gear. 

ROCK, ALLEN. 

1961b. The Bush Circuit (News items): Point Hope. Alaska Sportsman 27(7):20. 

On the morning of April 17 two crews, Rock’s and Daniel Lisbourne’s, went out on the ice following a 

report that whales were sighted last night. As of April 24 no whales had yet been struck by Point 

Hope whalers. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, crews. 

ROCK, ALLEN. 

1961c. The Bush Circuit (News items): Point Hope. Alaska Sportsman 27(10):42. 

Brief account of spring whaling at Point Hope, Alaska. The first whale, a small one about 30 feet 

long, was caught by Daniel Lisburne on May 13. Author caught his first whale as captain of his crew 

on May 24. It was about 59 feet in length, the longest baleen measured 10'6", and each jawbone 

measured 19 feet long. When Rock struck his whale he was unaware that it was accompanied by a 

calf. It was later determined that the calf had been struck but lost by Roy Vincent’s crew, who would 

not have shot it had he known the calf was accompanied by its mother. [The calf was later recovered 

as a stinker-see MacLean et al., 1971, p. 28, 56.] 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-mortality, whaling, struck and lost; REPRODUCTION-calf; 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, photographs. 

ROCK, HOWARD. 

1962a. Arctic survival: Hair seal - the big little animal. Tundra Times, October 1, 1(1):4. 

Reprinted by Tundra Times, January 2, 1973 [sic, 1974], and October 18, 1978, 

42:19. 

Describes how seal skin is prepared by the Eskimos to make clothing, rawhide lines, and floats for 

whaling. The floats slow the harpooned whale and mark its position for the hunters. When the whale 

is dead, several seal skin floats are attached to it to keep the animal from sinking. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-native, gear. 
276 

ROCK, HOWARD. 

1962b. Why Eskimos opposed AEC’s Project Chariot. (The first of a two-part series.) 

Tundra Times, October 15, 1(2):9. 

Article states reasons why Eskimos oppose the selection by the Atomic Energy Commission of the 

Cape Thompson area for a deep-sea harbor to be excavated by use of a nuclear explosion. 

“This past season of April and May, Point Hope got 6 bowheads. The known poundage of muktuk 

sold at 95 cents a pound was 5,500. Nome ordered 4,000 pounds and Barrow 1,500 pounds. Nome 

asked an additional 1,200 pounds but was refused because Point Hope people wanted the rest for 

food during the coming winter. Noatak, Kivalina and Kotzebue probably obtained large amounts of 

muktuk, but the estimate is not available.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, catch, utilization. 

ROCK, HOWARD. 

1962c. Arctic survival: Bags, boats, raincoats, window panes - all made from bearded 

Oogruk. Tundra Times, November 1, 1(3):11. Reprinted by Tundra Times, January 

9, 1974, 11(2):3,6. 

The oogruk, the great bearded seal, weighs up to well over a thousand pounds, is an animal of great 

importance to the Eskimos. Some products provided by this animal in the past and today include 

food, storage and nursing bags, window panes, raincoats, mukluk soles, rawhide thongs and boat or 

umiak covers. Six ooguruk skins are required for a 24-foot long umiak. The author states that whale 

hunting would have been almost impossible without this important animal. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-native, gear. 

ROCK, HOWARD. 

1962d. Arctic survival: Inaccurate textbooks create igloo myth in Alaska. Tundra Times, 

November 19, 1(4):4. Reprinted by Tundra Times, January 23, 1974, 11(4):7; and 

Feb. 22, 1984, 21(8):1,3, 5. 

Canadian Eskimos live in snow igloos but Alaskan Eskimos never have, instead they have utilized 

the sod igloo, a permanent type home. Whale ribs, jawbones and shoulder blades were utilized for 

building sod houses or igloos and for making tools. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, utilization, houses, tools. 

ROCK, HOWARD. 

1963a. Arctic survival: Whaling required extensive preparations, great precision. Tundra 

Times, March 18, 1(12):6. Reprinted by Tundra Times, March 27, 1974, 11(13):10-

11; and April 18, 1984, 21(16):3,19. 

Describes preparations for spring bowhead whaling by the Eskimo hunters, especially the care taken 

in the sewing of oogruk skins, six required to cover a 24-foot long umiak, and how this cover is 

attached to the boat frame. The prize of the hunt is the bowhead whale. “This monsterous marine 

animal has been taken up to 65 to 70 tons, perhaps even larger. The baleen on the large ones 

caught has measured up to 15 feet and jawbones up to 21 feet.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements, baleen, jawbones, estimated weight; WHALING-native, gear. 
277 

ROCK, HOWARD. 

1963b. Arctic survival: The giant whale caused Eskimo helmsman to steer umiak in the 

air. Tundra Times, April 1, 1(13):4. Reprinted by Tundra Times, April 3, 1974, 

11(14):10. 

Author describes incident when his father’s crew struck a large whale and their umiak was nearly 

pulled under water when the harpoon rope snagged on the bow; fortunately, at the last instant the 

bow broke freeing the snag and the boat. The whale was eventually killed and five crews towed it in. 

The whale was one of the largest ever taken in the history of Point Hope; its baleen was measured 

and the longest of them was found to be 12-1⁄2 feet in length. Other whales were also taken that 

season at Point Hope, but the year and number of whales caught was not given. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements, baleen; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, gear. 

ROCK, HOWARD. 

1963c. Arctic survival: Drama, suspense, action in hunt for giant bowhead whale. Tundra 

Times, April 15, 1(14):4. Reprinted by Tundra Times, April 10, 1974, 11(15):8. 

Author, a native of Point Hope, provides a detailed description of the traditional hunt for bowhead 

whales at Point Hope. After a whale has been sighted within range of the crew, the umiak, a skin 

boat that is usually 24 feet long, is guided by the helmsman to a position behind and as close as 

possible to the swimming whale. “The umiak must be kept out of the line of vision of the whale. (Its 

line of vision is about 45 degrees angle backwards in relation to its forward and backward position.)” 

A bomb aimed at the juncture of the skull and spine will kill the whale instantly. The skin boats (four 

in this case) tow the dead whale to the shore-fast ice where it is pulled out of the water and cut up by 

the four participating crews. This operation takes two days and nights if the whale is larger than 

average size. At Point Hope the water leads generally open a mile to five miles out from shore and 

all portions of the whale are transported to shore before the whale could be lost to moving ice. This 

whaling community has been known to take 14 whales in one season. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration, timing, reactions when pursued by boats, when shot; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, 

gear, photographs, utilization. 

ROCK, HOWARD. 

1963d. Arctic survival: Whaling season’s over, now comes the great celebration, Kaqruq. 

Tundra Times, June 3, 1(17):4. Reprinted by Tundra Times, May 1, 1974, 11(18):8. 

When a whaling village has had a successful season and one or more whales have been taken, a 

celebration or Kaqruq is given in the form of a feast at which the successful captain(s) hand out 

pieces of the whale flukes to villagers and visitors. While the feast continues, the crews of the 

whalers assemble the walrus skin nalukatuk, the tossing skin, and everyone, children and adults, 

may take their turn at being tossed, the entire event being accompanied by elderly men chanting 

whaling songs. Due to adverse whaling conditions caused by heavy gales and south winds closing 

the leads, Point Hope whalers had only a moderately successful season. A total of three whales, all 

about 30 feet in length, were taken this spring. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ANTHROPOLOGY-Alaskan Eskimos, customs; MORPHOLOGY-measurements, estimated length; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, 

native, catch, crews, gear, utilization. 
278 

ROCK, HOWARD. 

1963e. Arctic survival: Hunter danced after big whale kill; thoughts of parents. Tundra 

Times, November 4, 2(3):4. Reprinted by Tundra Times, June 24, 1985, 22(77):8,9. 

During spring whaling at Point Hope in 1961, two bowheads were taken. The first was taken by 

Daniel Lisbourne (date not given) and was estimated to be a 30-ton whale. The second was taken by 

Kakairnok, the author’s brother, on May 24 at about 2 a.m. The latter whale was estimated to weigh 

60 tons, the jawbones each measured 19 feet in length, and the longest baleen measured 10-1⁄2 feet 

long. The celebration (Kaqruk) was held at the end of the season on June 8-10, at which time Peter 

Koonooyak announced his retirement as a whaling captain, and Kakairnok danced to celebrate the 

capture of his first whale as captain of his own crew, and to the memory of his departed parents. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements, baleen, jawbones, estimated weight of whale; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, 

gear, utilization. 

ROCK, HOWARD. 

1963f. Arctic survival: Whale hunt ended in tragedy; boys were saved by clothing. 

Tundra Times, December 2, 2(5):4. Reprinted by Tundra Times, July 17, 1974, 

11(29):9. 

Author recounts time when his father Weyahok, around 13 years of age, was first invited to go 

whaling on his father’s (Kakairok) crew. After striking a large whale, their skinboat was flipped into 

the air by the whale’s flukes and demolished. Weyahok and two other youths made it to the safety of 

the ice-edge, but his father and three other adults perished. Almost immediately after the tragedy, 

Chief Attungowruk invited Weyahok to join his crew and gave him a share of a whale he had taken 

earlier. Attungowruk took another whale that season just two days after Weyahok joined his crew. 

[Attungowruk was killed in February 1889, so this event must have occurred prior to that year.] 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crew, gear, utilization. 

[ROCK, HOWARD.] 

1964a. Important milestones. Tundra Times, February 3, 2(9):2. 

Although this article is unauthored, it is obviously by the editor, Howard Rock, who, in a reminiscent 

mood, writes about several childhood events. One such event was “Going whaling for the first time at 

twelve years of age with father [Weyahok -Sam Rock] and his crew and being told to paddle just so, 

so as not to alert the whale because it had keen hearing. Experiencing the great excitement of a 

chase and seeing his father strike a whale and feeling the bow of the umiak bump the great black 

body...”. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-hearing; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, crews, strike. 
279 

ROCK, HOWARD. 

1964b. Arctic survival: Samaroona – ‘Sage of Tigara’ - master storyteller. Tundra Times, 

March 2, 2(11):4. Reprinted by Tundra Times, August 28, 1974, 11(35):9-10. 

Samaroona was revered by Point Hope villagers “...for his storytelling ability” and because “He was 

one of the greatest hunters the village had ever known.” He was an average-sized man with a 

permanent limp. “Even under the handicap, Samaroona’s endurance was tremendous. His ability to 

take seals, oogruk, walrus, foxes, wolverines, wolves, polar bears, and the great bowhead whales 

stood out among his fellow hunters. He was a great link to the past through his fabulous knowledge 

of legends.” [Although the author does not mention it, a hunter of such stature presumably had a 

whaling crew.] 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, crews. 

ROCK, HOWARD. 

1964c. Arctic survival: Chief Attungowruk was loved, then hated at Tigara. Tundra 

Times, a three-part series published April 6, 2(13):4; April 20, 2(14):4; and August 3, 

2(21):4. 

Attungowruk, chief of the Eskimo village of Tigara (Point Hope) during the 1880s, was one of the 

greatest whalers the ancient settlement had ever had. He attained considerable prestige among 

Eskimos and whites alike because of his strength and endurance, whaling skill, generosity, sense of 

fairness, and his concern for the welfare of his people. For example, one spring [year not given], 

after his crew had expended considerable time and effort to kill and begin cutting up a large whale 

with much valuable baleen, they found a marked harpoon head in the carcass indicating Akniachak’s 

crew had first struck this whale. Attungowruk promptly turned the whale over to Akniachak instead of 

keeping it for himself. He also was as fair when dealing with the hundreds of outsiders that came to 

the area for commercial shore-whaling. 

Attungowruk apparently anticipated problems with the new-comers and refused to allow them to 

settle in his village, although several eventually married local women. His firm stand caused 

Jabbertown, a small settlement five miles to the south of Point Hope, to be built where it was. 

Because of the numerous languages spoken there, it was appropriately named Jabbertown. 

Furthermore, the chief established a boundary line on ice and water between the two settlements to 

protect his people’s traditional whaling ground from the outsiders. 

With the influx of commercial whalers, came the liquor and Attungowruk became a dangerous drunk. 

The chief murdered four people, including the first of his eight wives. Finally, Attungowruk himself 

was murdered one early June night in 1889, an event instigated by the chief’s youngest wife out of 

fear for her own life. A photograph of Attungowruk’s grave is included. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling; REGULATION & CONSERVATION-regulation, native; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, 

commercial, native, catch, crews, gear, photograph, utilization. 
280 

ROCK, HOWARD. 

1968. 90 tons of whale. Alaskan Sportsman 34(8):6-9. 

Account of bowhead whaling at Point Hope, Alaska, during spring 1968. The first whale of the 

season, a small one, was taken by Joe Frankson on April 21. Two more whales were caught within 

one hour on April 23. The first one, about 30 feet long, was taken by John Oktollik. The second 

animal, about 35 feet long, was taken by the author's brother Allen. It was noted that all three 

captains were Qaqrnaqtuuqs, one of two whaling societies in the village. Qaqmaqtuuq is the northern 

faction of the whaling societies while Ungasaqsikaaq is the southern faction. The societies are 

friendly whaling rivals and each has its ancient celebration grounds about a quarter mile distant from 

north to west. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, photographs. 

ROCK, HOWARD. 

1975. Arctic survival: Her foot caught in blubber, Aunt Mumangeena slides into water. 

Tundra Times, February 12, 12(7):10-11. Originally pub. August 23, 1965; 2( ). 

When the author was 10 years of age Kunungnowruk and his crew caught a large whale at Point 

Hope [since Howard Rock was born in August 1911 (F. Durdik, Tundra Times, October 24, 1988; 

26:8-9.) the year probably was 1922]. Howard’s father Weyahok [Sam Rock] also had a crew 

whaling that year. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling, catch; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

RODAHL, KAARE. 

1963. The last of the few. Harper & Row, New York, 208 p. 

Author recounts experiences while conducting physiological studies of Eskimos at Kaktovik, 

Anaktuvuk Pass, Kotzebue, St. Lawrence Island, and the Pribilof Islands during 1950- 1951. At 

Sevuokok (Gambell) it was noted that over 50 umiaks were by the shore and that these people hunt 

bowhead whales, walrus, and seals for food. It was Tingmiak who shot the whale this summer. It was 

killed by a single bomb from a whale gun. [The species was not stated but the use of a whale gun 

and bomb suggests that it was a bowhead since rifles are normally used on other species.] Bowhead 

whaling at Gambell is described, including gear used, the striking of whales, and their swimming 

behavior after being struck (p. 166-167). The author noted that “Earlier they used to kill at least five 

of these whales a year; now they are less plentiful and the entire whaling fleet seldom brings in more 

than three.” (p. 67-68). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-swimming when struck; WHALING-Bering Sea, natives, catch, crews, gear, utilization. 

ROSS, W. GILLIES. 

1979. The annual catch of Greenland (bowhead) whales in waters north of Canada 1719-

1915: a preliminary compilation. Arctic 32(2):91-121. 

Author presents annual data on the catch of Balaena mysticetus for Davis Strait, Hudson bay, and 

the Beaufort Sea using logbooks, journals, and manuscript annual summaries of Dutch, British, and 

other sources before 1915. More than 29,000 whales were secured but if gaps in coverage and the 

mortality of wounded and escaped animals are considered, the total kill during this time may have 

exceeded 38,000. This reconstruction is considered preliminary. (From author’s abstract.) 

EASTERN ARCTIC, WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling, struck and lost; WHALING-eastern Arctic, western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, commercial, catch. 
281 

ROWLEY, GRAHAM . 

1974. Research laboratory at Igloolik, NWT, Canada. Polar Rec. 17(106):56-57. 

Igloolik, on Foxe Basin, is the site of a new arctic research laboratory that should be in operation in 

late 1974. Both historically and geographically, Igloolik, in Turton Bay, is at the center of the Eskimo 

population. The Greenland whale, Balaena mysticetus, is occasionally reported in the area. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-sightings. 

ROZANOV, M. P. 

1931. Harvest of marine animals on the Chukchii Peninsula. Sovetskii Sever (Soviet 

North), 1931, No. 6:44-59. (Transl. from Russian by B. A. and F. H. Fay, 1984.). 

[Arctic Bibliography no. 14937. Promysel morskogo zveria na Chukotskom 

poluostrove (Sealing on the Chukotsk Peninsula.)]. 

Contains information obtained by observations and a series of interrogations about the biology, 

harvest, and stocks of marine mammals (primarily seals and walrus) along the Chukotka coast from 

Naukan to Providence Bay. Describes the boats used by the natives, skin baidaras and American 

whaleboats, and the use of imported American rifles for taking animals. Regarding whales, the 

author states (p. 6 of transl) “The Chukchi and Eskimos harvest almost no cetaceans. In 1929, on 

the whole coast of Chukotka, one whale was killed at Naukan. In 1930 no whales were taken 

anywhere. Belukhas are taken anywhere. Belukhas are taken by shooting only in Naukan. There in 

1929, they took 9 belukhas; in 1930, they took 42. At the time of our voyage, we saw belukhas only 

in the Anadyr estuary and nowhere else along the coast of Chukotka.” 

“We saw many whales. On August 12, 1930, during entrance into Lawrence Bay at Cape Nunyagmo, 

our steamship was surrounded by a herd of several tens of whales. Their blows were seen to the 

whole horizon. Many whales were seen also in Mechigmen Bay. Along the shore everywhere we 

saw remnants of the recent, intensive American whaling. Skulls and ribs of whales lay in the 

encampments of the whalers. On Mechigmen spit stands a quite complete house of American 

whalers, covered by canvas and tarpaper. In the length of the whole abandoned establishment, there 

is a can of kerosene, a barrel of whale blubber, utensils, instruments, furniture, etc.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

SKELETAL REMAINS-beachcast, whaling; WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Sea, commercial, native, gear, catch (possibly 

bowhead). 

RUMOHR, HENRY C. 

1953. Driftwood. Alaska Sportsman 19(7):8-15, 53-58. 

Account of author’s immigration with his father to the United States from northern Europe in 1870 

and his difficult life as a youth. Early in February 1888 he departed San Francisco as a sailor on a 

whaling vessel [name not given] for the South Seas and the Arctic Ocean. They arrived at Point 

Barrow on August 3 [1889?] and soon afterwards sailed for the bowhead's feeding grounds off 

Herschel Island. Author describes equipment and technique used to hunt bowheads. Their ship 

caught six whales during about one month's time. Thirteen whalers then became trapped by the ice, 

which held them fast for 21 days. After a brief stay at Point Barrow the ship returned to San 

Francisco. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-when pursued, hearing; MORPHOLOGY-measurements (baleen); NUTRITION-food and feeding; PREDATORS 

& COMPETITORS-scavenging by polar bears; WHALING-western Arctic, E. Beaufort Sea, commercial, gear, catch, 

utilization. 
282 

RUSSELL, FRANK. 

1898. Explorations in the far North, being the report of an expedition under the auspices 

of the University of Iowa during the years 1892, ‘93, and ‘94. The Univ. [Iowa, Iowa 

City.], 290 p. 

Account of author's experiences during a journey to Fort Rae, his base near the Great Slave Lake 

where he lived for a time with Indians, then down the Mackenzie River to Herschel Island in the 

summer of 1894, where he boarded the whaling vessel Jeanette bound for San Francisco. The 

Jeanette had spent the summer whaling for bowheads in the eastern Beaufort Sea but only had 

taken one. Sailing west they reached Point Barrow on September 10. “Here two whaling companies 

have stations located at Cape Smythe, 12 miles southwest of the point. During the summer of ‘94 the 

whalers had been unusually successful and had taken twenty-one thousand pounds of whalebone (p 

152). On the return trip to home they pursued whales near Herald Island, where one school of over 

100 animals was seen and one more was captured (p. 153-154). They arrived at East Cape on 

October 10, where three oomiaks full of natives came out to visit the ship. On October 11 they 

arrived at Cape Tchaplin (Indian Point as it is known among whalers), where they spent the day 

trading with natives for whalebone (p. 155). The Jeanette arrived back in San Francisco on October 

27, 1894. Author also relates some whaling experiences of the Jeanette and other vessels and 

catches made by them in 1893. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration (schooling); DISTRIBUTION-sightings; POPULATION-mortality (strandings); WHALING-western Arctic, 

commercial, native, shore stations, crews, gear, catch, utilization. 

RYDER, JOHN A. 

1885. On the development of the mammary glands and genitalia of the cetacea. Bull. 

U.S. Fish. Comm. 5(28):135-142. 

Based upon an examination of an adult Phocoena communis which contained a fetus about a foot 

long, sections of the first trace of the mammary gland in a very young female fetus of the blackfish, 

Globiocephalus melas, about two inches long, and from available literature, the author concludes 

that there is but little difference between the structure of the mammary organs of the Denticete and 

the Mysticete. He remarked that “Wyman [1848-51.], in examining an embryo of the great right 

whale, Balaena mysticetus, found it difficult to discriminate the sex of it externally, although six 

inches in length. In the series of embryos in my possession there does not seem to be any difficulty 

of this sort...” (p. 140.). 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

MORPHOLOGY-anatomy (mammary glands, genitalia), embryos. 

SAARIO, DORIS J., and BRINA KESSEL. 

1966. Human ecological investigations at Kivalina. In Norman J. Wilimovsky and John N. 

Wolfe (eds.), Environment of the Cape Thompson region, Alaska, Chapt. 35, p. 969-

1039. U.S. Atomic Energy Comm., Washington, D.C. 

The human ecology of the village of Kivalina (pop. 150) was studied from August 1959 to May 1961. 

Animals important in subsistence include the bowhead whale. Many Kivalina people travel to Point 

Hope to work as members of whaling crews. In 1960 whaling was instituted at Kivalina when Dr. M. 

Johnson sent a darting gun and some bombs to the village. Although five bowheads were seen in 

the spring of 1960, none were taken. Four whales had been killed at Point Hope and about 2,300 lb. 

of bowhead were brought to Kivalina. In 1961, no whaling occurred at Kivalina. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ANTHROPOLOGY-human ecology; WHALING-western Arctic, natives, catch, gear, utilization (food). 
283 

SABO III, GEORGE, and JOHN D. JACOBS. 

1980. Aspects of Thule Culture adaptations in Southern Baffin Island. Arctic 33 (3):487-

504. 

“An archaeological sequence of Neo-Eskimo occupations, based upon excavations of eight Thule 

winter houses near Lake Harbour, Baffin Island, is outlined. A rescheduling of procurement systems, 

coupled with a shift in the emphasis of fall/winter settlement options, is seen in response to 

climatic/ecological changes, commencing after A.D. 1250, which affected the accessibility of 

bowhead whales, ringed seal, and caribou.” (From author’s abstract.) 

Along the south coastal waters of Baffin Island species important to Inuit subsistence that are hunted 

are four species of seals, walrus, beluga, and (at least in the past) bowhead whales. The hunting of 

bowheads during the Classical Thule Phase is indicated by considerable amounts of baleen in 

addition to whale bones, and it is likely that the bowhead provided an important food source. The 

amount of whale bone and baleen decline substantially during the Developed Thule Phase, 

indicating a reduction or possibly a cessation of whaling, probably due to effects of a colder period. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY; DISTRIBUTION-history; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-artifacts; WHALING-history, eastern 

Arctic, natives, utilization. 

SANDERSON, IVAN T. 

1955. Living mammals of the world. Hanover House, Garden City, New York, 303 p. 

Living mammals of the world are briefly described. The bowhead, Greenland, or Arctic right whale, 

discovered by the Basques about the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, was grossly exploited until 

almost wiped out in the mid-19th century. At that time, a new stock of these whales was discovered 

in the North Pacific and was similarly eliminated by the Yankee whaling fleets working out of San 

Francisco. This animal is larger than the black right whale, yields more oil, and has the largest 

baleen plates measuring over 13 feet in length. “Bowheads are Arctic animals and always stay near 

the ice-front, following it north in summer. They are even vaster in girth than the black rights and their 

heads, which have a pronounced bump on top, comprises more than a third of the total animal. 

There is a distinct “neck”, unlike the black right, and the tail is much slimmer. In color they are usually 

black, with a white chin and often a white band around the tail just in front of the flukes. They used to 

breed in late spring in the Davis Straits and the Sea of Okhotsk but they are now very rare animals.” 

(p. 212). 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

DISTRIBUTION-history; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-field recognition, coloration; IDENTITY-description, names; 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-mortality; REPRODUCTION-mating. WHALING-history, general, commercial, 

utilization. 
284 

SANDERSON, IVAN T. 

1956. Follow the whale. Little, Brown and Co., Boston, Toronto, 423 p. 

Reviews the history of whaling with some general information on the natural history of whales. The 

Basques travelled toward Greenland waters where they met the bowhead, Greenland, or Arctic right 

whale (Balaena mysticetus), which they were definitely catching by 1500 A.D. and called it the 

sardako baleak. Normally from 45 to 60 feet in length, an unusually large one 70 feet long was 

caught off Spitsbergen in 1900. Its baleen was over 15 feet long (p. 161). “The bowhead of the North 

Pacific is somewhat different and has been given the name of Balaena sieboldii. In summer it is in 

the Siberian, Wrangel, and Beaufort Seas (see map page 255), and in winter migrates through 

Bering Strait to the Bering Sea and south through the Kuriles to the Sea of Okhotsk. It used to be 

very numerous in the latter sea, where the young, called “poggies”, were born. The single calf is 14 

to 16 feet long at birth and stays with its mother for a year.” (p. 164). It feeds on a pteropod known as 

Clio borealis. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

BEHAVIOR-swimming, breathing, migration; DISTRIBUTION-history; IDENTITY-nomenclature, description; 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; NUTRITION-food; POPULATION-size, calf; REPRODUCTION-parturition; 

WHALING-general, commercial, utilization. 

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE. 

1889. (News item). San Fran. Chron., September 30. 

[It was reported that 28 bowhead whales were taken by the whalers at Barrow, Alaska, during 1889. 

Copy seen by J. R. Bockstoce.] 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, commercial, native, catch. 

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE. 

1890a. (News item). San Fran. Chron., September 17. 

[It was reported that no bowhead whales were taken by the whalers at Point Belcher, Alaska, in 

1890. Copy seen by J. R. Bockstoce.] 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, commercial, native, catch. 

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE. 

1890b. (News item). San Fran. Chron., September 19. 

[It was reported that 5 bowhead whales were taken by the whalers at Barrow, Alaska, during 1890. 

Copy seen by J. R. Bockstoce.] 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, commercial, native, catch. 

SAVINI, MICHAEL J. 

1974. Report on international and national legislation for the conservation of marine 

mammals. Part 1. International legislation. FAO Fish. Circ. 326, 80 p. 

A compilation of background information on the nature and application of existing international and 

national legislation regarding marine mammals, including Balaena mysticetus. 

EASTERN ARCTIC, WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION-legislation. 
285 

SCAMMON, CHARLES M. 

1869. On the cetaceans of the western coast of North America. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. 

Phila., 1869: 13-63. Edited by Edward D. Cope. 

A two-part account of the cetaceans of the western coast of North America. Part 1 by E. D. Cope is a 

systematic synopsis with a few species included from other sources to provide descriptions of some 

species from the Atlantic coast. Part 2 by C. M. Scammon contains his personal observations on the 

natural history of west coast cetaceans and the elephant seal made by him during a whaling and 

sealing voyage in 1852. Describes in detail commercial whaling for bowheads in the Bering and 

Okhotsk Seas. Also discusses natural history of the bowhead, including their distribution, behavior, 

identity (he believed two species of bowheads existed, p. 35), morphology, ice-breaking, populations, 

and reproduction. This paper is important because it records observations on the western Arctic 

population of bowheads before whaling severely reduced their number. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration, when hunted, icebreaking; DISTRIBUTION-former; IDENTITY-description, nomenclature, taxonomy; 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements, structure; REPRODUCTION-calves, lactation, parturition; WHALING-history, western Arctic, 

commercial, catch. 

SCAMMON, CHARLES M. 

1874. The marine mammals of the north-western coast of North America, described and 

illustrated: together with an account of the American-whale-fishery. John H. 

Carmany and Company, San Francisco. Reprinted 1968, Dover Publications, Inc., 

New York, 319 p. Facsimile edition 1969, Manessier Publishing Co., Box 5517, 

Riverside, California 92507, 319 p. + v p., Scammon charts of the whaling lagoons 

& Baja California. 

Captain Charles M. Scammon, a nineteenth century scientist and whaleman, describes 24 species of 

cetacea, including the bowhead (p. 52-65). Describes two methods of bowhead whaling: (1) From 

small open boats that are able to navigate between the ice and shore before the ships are able to, in 

which case whales are beached for flensing and blubber is rafted in the water until ship’s arrival; (2) 

from ships as their base, small boats are launched when whales are sighted and carcasses towed 

back to ships for flensing. This classic publication is valuable because it reports natural history 

observations on the pre-exploited population of bowheads, including insightful presumptions 

regarding reproduction, feeding grounds, and trans-Arctic movements. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-diving, hearing, ice-breaking, migration; DISTRIBUTION-former, whaling grounds; FIELD & LABORATORY 

TECHNIQUES-field recognition; GROWTH; IDENTITY-description, nomenclature, poggy, bunchbacks, ice-breakers; 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; NUTRITION-food, feeding; PATHOLOGY-parasites; POPULATION-former abundance; 

REPRODUCTION-calves; WHALING-Bering, Chukchi, Beaufort Seas, commercial, gear, methods 

SCHEFFER, VICTOR B. 

1942. A list of the marine mammals of the west coast of North America. Murrelet 

23(2):42-47. 

A systematic list of marine mammals found in the coastal waters from the Panama Canal to Attu 

Island and Bering Strait. “The arrangement of families is according to Simpson (1931) and the 

arrangement of genera according to Kellogg (1928) or Miller (1924).” The bowhead whale, Balaena

mysticetus Linnaeus, 1758, family Balaenidae is on p. 46. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

IDENTITY-taxonomy. 
286 

SCHLEDERMANN, PETER. 

1976a. Thule Culture communal houses in Labrador. Arctic 29(1):27-37. 

European whalers should, perhaps, be regarded as merely incidental to the development of the 

Thule Culture communal house, since large communal dwellings in the Arctic predate that culture. 

Whale bones and baleen were used in the construction of houses. The Thule culture communal 

house development roughly coincided with the period of prolonged cooling of the Neo-Boreal, 

approximately 1505-1850 A.D., with an intensified period between 1600-1730. The Baffin Bay was 

still open for ships in 1616 when Baffin discovered it, but when the ice began to advance southwards 

it was closed and in the years 1616-1718 very few whaling ships visited Davis Strait. Under those 

circumstances the Eskimos could probably no longer depend on the availability of whales. The 

author has carried out studies to show that there was a serious decline in the amount of whaling 

(baleen whales) during the Neo-Boreal period which affected the Thule culture settlement patterns, 

and upset the subsistence base of the Eskimos. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY; DISTRIBUTION-history, factors limiting; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-artifacts; 

WHALING-history, eastern Arctic, commercial, natives, gear, utilization. 

SCHLEDERMANN, P. 

1976b. The effect of climatic/ecological changes on the style of Thule Culture winter 

dwellings. Arctic Alpine Res. 8(1):37-47. 

This paper discusses the combined influence of climatic changes and faunal distribution on the style 

of Thule Culture winter dwellings through time and space, with major geographical emphasis placed 

on the central and eastern Canadian Arctic. The following generalized climatic periods are 

presented: 

“Period I-A.D. 800 to 1200, warming to warmer than present with good availability of bowhead 

whales. 

Period II-A.D. 1200 to 1550, cooling (close to present?). Whaling decreased – concentration of 

baleen in midden decreases abruptly about A.D. 1600. 

Period III-AD. 1550 to 1850, cooling to colder than present, increasing sea ice creating difficult whale 

hunting conditions.” 

The response to environmental changes by a few key animals, including the bowhead whale, is 

discussed. During warmer climatic periods with decreasing summer pack-ice cover the summer 

habitat of the bowhead was greatly expanded. A climatic cooling with increasing amounts of drift ice 

would have forced them to seek other summer feeding grounds, thus decreasing the availability of 

these large animals to the Eskimos. The availability and utilization of bowheads for food and shelter 

influenced the location and types of houses built by the Eskimos. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY; DISTRIBUTION-history, climate; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-artifacts; WHALING-eastern 

Arctic, native, utilization. 

SCHLEDERMANN, PETER. 

1977. An archaeological survey of Bache Peninsula, Ellesmere Island. Arctic 30(4):243-

245. 

During the early part of August 1977, a survey of archaeological sites was carried out in the Bache 

Peninsula region on the east coast of Ellesmere Island, N.W.T., Canada. A total of 110 sod/stone 

and whalebone winter houses was located on ten Thule culture sites. The sites contained a large 

amount of whalebone (bowhead), suggesting an excellent habitat for the large whales during a 

particular time period. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGICAL-skeletal bones. 
287 

SCHMIDHAUSER, JOHN R. and GEORGE D. TOTTEN III (eds.). 

1978. The whaling issue in U.S.-Japan relations. Westview Press, Boulder, Colo., 275 p. 

The controversy over whaling and its effect on U.S.-Japan relations were examined at a conference 

held in Tokyo in 1977 by a group of eminent U.S. and Japanese scholars. This book, the result of 

that conference, explores the history of the whaling controversy, whaling as a resource, the status of 

whaling in international law, and the policy alternatives confronting Japan, the U.S., and the relevant 

international organizations. In chapter 15 (p. 229-256) the status of the great whales, including 

Balaena mysticetus (p. 233-234), is reviewed by D. R. Patten. 

WESTERN ARCTIC, EASTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-abundance; REGULATION & CONSERVATION-regulation, management; WHALING-western Arctic, native, 

catch. 

SCHMITT, FREDERICK P. 

1975. The whale’s tale as told with postage stamps. Picton Publishing, Citadel Works, 

Bath Road, Chippenham, Wilts, Great Britain, 69 p. 

Contains descriptions and reproductions of stamps that feature whales and whaling, including 

information on their origin and nationality together with biological factors such as types of whales, 

their food, habits and distribution. Also contains a concise history of whaling up to the factory ships in 

use today. A brief description of the bowhead whale and whaling is given on page 9. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR; IDENTITY; NUTRITION; WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, utilization. 

SCHULERT, ARTHUR R. 

1962. Strontium-90 in Alaska. Science 136(3510):146-148. 

Strontium-90 concentrations were determined in a variety of foods used by the native population, 

including beluga, bowhead, polar bear, seal and walrus. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

PATHOLOGY-pollution; WHALING-utilization. 

SCHULTE, H. von W., and M. de FOREST SMITH. 

1918. The external characters, skeletal muscles, and peripheral nerves of Kogia

breviceps (Blainville). Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 38, Art. 2:7-72. 

Anatomical description of a male fetus of Kogia breviceps taken from a large female which stranded 

at Long Beach, Long Island, the skeleton of which is preserved in the American Museum of Natural 

History, No. 36595. “The presence of antebranchial muscles was first recorded in a cetacean by 

Flower in 1865. Since then they have been recognized and described in Balaenoptera, Megaptera, 

Balaena, Platanista, Mesoplodon, Hyperoodon, and Globicephalus.” (References for each 

description are given at bottom p. 27, including Struthers, J., 1877 for Balaena mysticetus). 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-muscles, comparative anatomy. 
288 

SCORESBY, William, Jr. 

1820. An account of the Arctic regions with a history and description of the northern 

whale-fishery. A. Constable & Co., Edinburgh. In two vols. Vol. 1, 551 p. plus 82 p. 

Append.; Vol. 2, 574 p., 22 pl. (Reprinted, 1969, by David and Charles Reprints, 

Redwood Press Ltd., Trowbridge, Engl.). 

This comprehensive review of whaling and natural history in the early 19th century is considered a 

classic. Describes the geography of the Atlantic Arctic, ocean and ice conditions, plant and animal 

life, history of the whale fisheries, and contemporary whaling and whale processing. Considerable 

details about the Greenland whale Balaena mysticetus, are given in volume one (p. 449-478), 

including physical and anatomical descriptions, senses, swimming and diving behavior, sex ratios, 

predation, and distribution. Whaling and utilization of whales is discussed in volume two. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-swimming, diving, respiratory, maternal; DISTRIBUTION; GROWTH; MORPHOLOGY; NUTRITION-food, feeding 

behavior; PHYSIOLOGY-integument, receptors, respiratory; POPULATION-sex ratios; PREDATORS & COMPETITORS; 

REPRODUCTION-anatomy, mating, gestation, parturition, lactation, maturation; WHALING-history, eastern Arctic, gear, 

natives, utilization, photographs and drawings. 

SCORESBY, WILLIAM, Jr. 

1823. Journal of a voyage to the northern whale-fishery; including researches and 

discoveries on the eastern coast of West Greenland, made in the summer of 1822, 

in the ship Baffin of Liverpool. Archibald Constable and Co., Edinburgh, Scotland, 

472 p. 

An account of a cruise in the Greenland Sea in 1822, including descriptions of ice conditions, 

physical features of Greenland's east coast, weather and ocean currents, whales and whaling, lists 

of plants and animals, and excerpts from journals of other whalers. Biological description of a young, 

19-foot suckling Balaena mysticetus gives details of size, morphology, muscles, brain, heart, throat, 

and blowhole and its anatomy. Additional details are presented about food, breathing behavior, 

structure of the blowhole to allow diving, migration, and distribution in Davys [Davis?] Sound of 

bowheads in general. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION; BEHAVIOR-respiratory; MORPHOLOGY; NUTRITION-food; PHYSIOLOGY-respiratory, metabolism and, 

diving; REPRODUCTION-anatomy, calf; WHALING-eastern Arctic, history, gear. 

SCORESBY, William Jr. , 

1981. The 1806 Log Book concerning the arctic voyage of Captain William Scoresby, 

kept by William Scoresby, Junior. Facsimilie Publ. by Caedmon of Whitby, by 

arrangement with the Whitby Literary and Philosophical Society, Whitby, England. 

(Unnumbered pages). 

Daily log of the fourth voyage of the ship Resolution from Whitby towards Greenland in 1806. The 

catch for the cruise was 24 Greenland whales, 2 seals, 2 sea horses, 2 bears and 1 unicorn. The 

cargo produced 216 tons of oil. Although only whales with baleen six feet or over in length were 

considered “pay fish”, 10 of the 24 whales taken by Scoresby on this voyage contained baleen less 

than six feet long. The whale taken on May 30 was a big female accompanied by a sucker but they 

let the young calf go. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-former; MORPHOLOGY-baleen measurements; POPULATION-mortality; REPRODUCTION-calf; 

WHALING-history, eastern Arctic, commercial, catch. 
289 

SEAMAN, GLENN. 

1977. Agvik! Alaska Today 5:68. 

Brief popular account of bowhead whaling by Eskimo residents of Point Hope, Alaska. One 

photograph shows two bowheads (one with three large, white scars on right side) pulled up on the 

ice and ready to be cut up. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

IDENTITY-nomenclature, Eskimo; PATHOLOGY-injury, scars; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch 

photographs. 

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER. 

1978a. Bowhead killed. Seattle-Post Intelligencer, Seattle, Wash., April 18. 

“A bowhead whale more than 40 feet long has been taken by a whaling crew of the village of 

Savoonga, Alaska, and is the first whale taken of the 1978 season. Under a quota set by the 

International Whaling Commission, Alaska’s Eskimo whalers are limited to a harvest of 12 of the 

endangered whales or 18 whales struck, whichever comes first.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration, timing; MORPHOLOGY–estimated length; POPULATION–mortality, whaling; REGULATION & 

CONSERVATION–management, quota; WHALING–Bering Sea, native, catch. 

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER. 

1978b. Whaling charges. Seattle-Post Intelligencer, Seattle, Wash., May 6. 

“National Marine Fisheries Service officials have charged that Eskimos in Barrow, Alaska, have 

taken four Bowhead whales, one more than their quota. The whalers, however, deny that they 

violated their quota. The whalers have defied an order to stop whaling, but fisheries agents have not 

formally intervened.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration, timing; POPULATION–mortality, whaling; REGULATION & CONSERVATION–management, quota; 

WHALING–Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

SEATTLE TIMES. 

1946. Year’s first whale caught off Barrow. Seattle Times, Seattle, Wash., May 3. 

“Point Barrow, Alaska, May 3. – The first whale of the year was caught yesterday by Otis Takpuk.... 

The mammal was one of four in a school, the first sighted this season.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration; POPULATION–mortality, whaling; WHALING–Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

SEATTLE TIMES. 

1978a. Eskimos butcher hunt’s first whale. Seattle Times, Seattle, Wash., April 18. 

Eskimo whalers from the St. Lawrence Island village of Savoonga caught the first bowhead whale 

killed in this year’s spring hunt. The 40-foot-long animal was taken with one strike on Sunday and fills 

the village quota for one whale. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration, timing; MORPHOLOGY–measurement; POPULATION–mortality, whaling; WHALING–Bering Sea, 

native, catch. 
290 

SEATTLE TIMES. 

1978b. Photograph. Seattle Times, Seattle, Wash., June 15, p. A7. 

(Photograph caption). “Whale landed. Residents of the Alaska whaling village of Wainwright, about 

175 miles southwest of Barrow, pitched in to pull ashore a bowhead whale which was taken during 

the spring harvest.-A.P. photo.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR; WHALING–Chukchi Sea, native, catch, photograph. 

SELKREGG, LIDIA L. 

1975. Alaska regional profiles: Arctic region. Arctic Environ. Info. and Data Center, Univ. 

Alaska, Anchorage, 218 p. 

Briefly summarizes the natural and man-made environmental aspects of the state, including the 

importance of subsistence for its people, including Eskimo dependence upon marine animals. 

Discusses bowhead whaling by the Eskimos (p. 151-161), and contains photographs of: (1) A 

bowhead whale on the ice, p. 149; (2) A dead bowhead floating in the water between two boats, p. 

152; and (3) A wooden whale boat and crew with two flags flying on the boat’s mast, p. 156. Also 

contains an extensive bibliography arranged by major subjects. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; DISTRIBUTION-former and present; WHALING-Bering and Chukchi Seas, history, commercial, native, 

catch (unidentified), photographs, utilization. 

SEYMOUR, ALLYN H. 

1966. Radiological analyses of marine organisms. In Norman J. Wilimovsky and John N. 

Wolfe (eds.), Environment of the Cape Thompson region, Alaska, Chapt. 40, p. 

1141-1149. U.S. Atomic Energy Comm., Washington, D.C. 

The radionuclide content of Chukchi Sea organisms collected from 1959 to 1962 was determined to 

establish a reference point for samples expected to be collected after a proposed nuclear bomb test, 

Project Chariot. Samples collected from two bowhead whales taken at Point Hope (muscle, liver, 

blubber and muktuk, and bone or skeleton) were tested and values obtained for Strontium-90 and 

calcium. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-radionuclides; PATHOLOGY-pollution; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, 

native, catch. 

SHAFTER, RICHARD A. 

1942. Caught in the Arctic. Alaska Sportsman, 8(12):16-18, 20-23. 

Historical account of the whaling disaster of 1871 when 39 ships became trapped by ice between Icy 

Cape and Point Belcher and 33 of them were destroyed. Contains notes on techniques used in 

whaling for bowheads in the Arctic Ocean. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Bering and Chukchi Seas, commercial, gear, catches, drawings. 
291 

SHEPELEVA, V. K. 

1973. Adaptation of seals to life in the Arctic. In K. K. Chapskii and V. E. Sokolov (eds.), 

Morfologiia i ekologiia morskikh mlekopitaiushchikh, edited by V. E. Sokolov, 1971, 

and Prisposobleinie tiulenei k obitaniiu v Arktike, by V. K. Shepeleva, edited by K. K. 

Chapskii, 1971 (Morphology and ecology of marine mammals; seals, dolphins, 

porpoises.), p. 1-58. (Transl. from Russian by H. Mills, Isr. Program Sci. Transl., 

1973, 232 p., as IPST cat. no. 22056). John Wiley & Sons, N.Y. 

Discusses the physiological adaptation of seals to life in the Arctic. In the section on “The fat cover 

as a heat-insulating layer,” Table 9 presents the following data for bowhead whales: thickness of fat 

cover (cm)20-50. weight (kg) of pelt with blubber, 25,000-30,000. Ten references as published 

sources for the data in the table are included in the caption without any indication of which species 

each applies to. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

MORPHOLOGY-structure. 

SHULTS, LARRY M. 

1979. Ogmogaster antarcticus Johnston, 1931 (Trematoda: Notocotylidae) from the 

bowhead whale, Balaena mysticetus L., at Barrow, Alaska. Can. J. Zool. 57:1347-

1348. 

A specimen of the trematode Ogmogaster antarcticus Johnston, 1931 was found in a bowhead 

whale [specimen number 77B5] captured at Barrow, Alaska, extending the known geographic 

distribution of this helminth some 5,000 km by sea north of British Columbia, Canada. This find 

represents a new host record. (From author’s abstract.) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

PATHOLOGY-parasites; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

SIMPSON, GEORGE GAYLORD. 

1945. The principles of classification and a classification of mammals. Bull. Am. Mus. 

Nat. Hist. 85:1-350. 

A working classification of mammals prefaced with a discussion on the principles of taxonomy. The 

entry for bowheads is as follows: Order Cetacea (p. 100), Suborder Mysticeti (p. 104), Fam. 

Balaenidae, “Balaena Linnaeus, 1758. L[Lower]-U[Upper] Plioc[ene]; Eu.[rope] R.[ecent]; Arctic. 

Greenland right whale, bowhead.” (p. 105). 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

IDENTITY-nomenclature, taxonomy. 

SKIPTON, R. KENNEDY. 

1973. Peoples of Alaska. In: Edward Evans-Pritchard (editor) Peoples of the earth: The 

Arctic, v-16, p. 18-37. Danbury Press, Div. Grolier Enterprises, Inc., [London]. 

A generalized description of Alaska and its people. Bowhead whaling by the Eskimos is described 

only in captions for eight photographs on the capture and cutting up of these animals. None of the 

photographs are accompanied by information on the date or location of these kills. Picture credits 

are, however, given at the beginning of the volume. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling; WHALING-western Arctic, native, catch, gear, photographs (unidentified). 
292 

SLEPTSOV, M. M. 

1955a. Kitoobraznye dal'nevostochnykh morei (Cetaceans of Far Eastern seas). Izdanie 

vtoroe (2nd ed.). Minist. Rybn. Khoz. Okeanogr., Vladivostok. 161 p. In Russian. 

First ed. pub. 1952. (Transl., 1979, by S. Pearson, NOAA, Natl. Mar. Fish. Serv., 

Natl. Mar. Mammal Lab., Seattle, Wash.) 

Covers various species of whales of the area. The bowhead whale is discussed on p. 118-120, 

principally from review of literature. Briefly describes the whale, morphology, general and seasonal 

distribution, growth, migration, food, reproduction, longevity, and present limitation of hunting to 

native peoples. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; DISTRIBUTION; GROWTH; IDENTITY; MORPHOLOGY; NUTRITION-food; POPULATION-longevity; 

REPRODUCTION-calf size; WHALING-western Arctic, natives. 

SLEPTSOV, M. M. 

1955b. Biologiya i promysel kitov dal’nevostochnykh moreĭ (Biology of whales and the 

whaling fishery in Far Eastern Seas). Pishchepromizdat, Moscow. 63 p. In Russian. 

(Transl. by W. E. Ricker of Table of Contents and Conclusions only, 6 p., avail. Fish. 

Res. Board Canada, Transl. Ser. 118.) 

Discusses biology of whale species occurring in the far eastern seas and the northwestern part of 

the Pacific Ocean. “The stocks of the balaenid or right whales, in spite of continuing protection from 

whaling, are increasing very slowly. The Greenland whale at this time occurs rarely and in small 

numbers in the northern part of the Bering and Chukotsk Seas.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION–Bering and Chukotsk Seas; POPULATION–Abundance. 

SLEPTSOV, M. M. 

1961a. O kolebanii chislennosti kitov v Chukotskom more v raznyye gody (Fluctuations 

in the numbers of whales of the Chukchi Sea in various years). Akad. Nauk SSSR, 

Tr. Inst. Morfol. Zhivotn. 34:54-64. In Russian. (Transl. by M. Slessers, 1970, 16p., 

U.S. Naval Oceanogr. Off., Washington, D. C., Transl. 478.) 

Discusses the summer and autumn distribution of various whales in the Chukchi Sea, stating that 

their distribution is dependent upon ice and food conditions. Reviews various reports from literature 

of evidence of long distance migrations of bowheads harpooned in European waters and later found 

in the western Arctic with harpoons in their bodies. In some years bowheads suffer mass mortality 

from being caught in heavy pack ice in gulfs of the Chukchi Peninsula. Observations from shore 

stations of all species of whales in the Chukchi Sea by P. G. Nikulin in 1937-1943 disclosed one 

bowhead in 1937; none in 1938; four in 1939; none in 1940-1943. In observations from vessels in 

the Chukchi Sea and Bering Strait in 1939 and 1948, Sleptsov did not sight a single bowhead, 

although other species were recorded. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION–migration, factors affecting; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES–census, shore stations, vessel; 

NUTRITION–food and feeding; PATHOLOGY–injuries, harpoons found in bodies; POPULATION–abundance, mortality, 

natural, ice entrapment; WHALING–circumpolar, commercial, gear, catch. 
293 

SLEPTSOV, M. M. 

1961b. Raiony nagula kitov v Beringovom more (Feeding areas of whales in the Bering 

Sea). Akad. Nauk SSSR, Tr. Inst. Morfol. Zhivotn. 34:65-78. In Russian. 

(Condensed transl. by D. E. Bevan and O. A. Mathisen, 1962, Univ. Wash., Seattle, 

College of Fish., Fish. Res. Inst. Circ. 162, Notes from Soviet Fisheries Journals No. 

4, p. 10-11. Page 74 transl. 1984 by Sherry Pearson, NOAA, NMFS, Natl. Mar. 

Mammal Lab., Seattle, WA). 

Lists whale species found in the Bering Sea, noting that only the beluga and the Greenland whale 

remain there during winter, the others remain there five to six months from spring to autumn. The 

whales are distributed where the highest concentrations of plankton biomass are found. Six to ten 

Greenland whales are taken annually in the Bering Strait region by natives using hand harpoons. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration; DISTRIBUTION–Bering Sea; NUTRITION–food; WHALING–Bering Strait, natives, catch, gear. 

SLEPTSOV, M. M. 

1961c. Raspredelenie kormorykh polei i kitoobraznykh v Okhotskom more (Distribution 

of feeding grounds and cetaceans in the Sea of Okhotsk). Akad. Nauk SSSR, Tr. 

Inst. Morfol. Zhivotn. 34:79-92. In Russian. (Transl. by M. Slesssers, 1970, 12 p., 

U.S. Naval Oceanogr. Off., Washington, D.C., Transl. 479.) 

Discusses correlation of food and cetacean distribution in the Okhotsk Sea. The Greenland 

[bowhead ] whale was important commercially but became rare in the 1900’s. “At the present time 

this whale has not been observed in the Sea of Okhotsk, but it may enter the Sea of Okhotsk when 

heavy ice covered [sic] the Bering Sea. The number of whales that spend the winter in the Sea of 

Okhotsk is not yet known.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION–Bering Sea, Okhotsk Sea; POPULATION–abundance. 

SLEPTSOV, M. M. 

1961d. Usloviya sushche stvovaniya kitoobraznykh v zonakh smesheniya Kholodnogo 

(Kurilo-Kamchatskogo) i teplogo (Kurosio) techenii [Living conditions of cetaceans 

in zones where cold (Kurile-Kamchatka) and warm (Kuroshio) waters mix]. Akad. 

Nauk SSSR, Tr. Inst. Morfol. Zhivotn. 34:111-135. In Russian. (Transl. by M. 

Slessers, 1970 (p. 111-121 not transl.) 18 p. U.S. Naval Oceanogr. Off., 

Washington, D.C., Transl. 481.) 

Discusses distribution of water masses, fish, plankton and cetaceans in the Bering, Chukchi and 

Okhotsk Seas. “The following baleen whales were observed [in past years] in the Kurile region: B. 

mysticetus .... The Greenland whale (B. mysticetus) was widely known in the N.W. Pacific during 

18th and 19th centuries, when it was hunted from the Sea of Okhotsk to the Chukchi Sea. By the 

end of the 19th century the population of this species decreased; greater numbers remained in the 

Arctic Basin from where some individuals migrate in some years to the southern part of the Bering 

Sea. The Aleut expedition did not obtain a single Greenland whale in this area.” (p. 126). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION–Bering, Chukchi and Okhotsk Seas; POPULATION–abundance, sightings. 
294 

SLWOOKO, GRACE. 

1973. Gambell News -- Vacation time in the village. Tundra Times, August 8, 10(32):9. 

“...Some (people) putting new hide covering on the boats. There are over 20 walrus hide boats (at 

Gambell).” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Bering Sea, native, gear, boats. 

SLWOOKO, GRACE. 

1975. Near Gambell - spring whales arrive. Tundra Times, May 7, 12(19):9. 

“On April 23, three whales have been lost. First it was Willard Kaningok’s that lost one, next was Alex 

Oozeva’s boat and the third and most sure of was Daniel Iyakitan’s when the boats all were ready to 

bring it home, it sunk.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling, struck and lost; WHALING-Bering Sea, native, catch (killed but lost), crews, utilization. 

SLWOOKO, GRACE. 

1977. Gambell news notes. Tundra Times, June 8, 14(23):3. 

“There have been lots of walrus hunting here last week after two whales have been killed. They were 

caught by Aningayous’ boat and Ozeva’s.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Bering Sea, native, catch, crews. 

SLWOOKO, H. VERNON. 

1977. Whale hunting by skin boat. Alaska 43(9):12. 

Eskimo hunter from Gambell, Alaska, describes whale hunting techniques and customs in a brief 

article. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, gear, natives. 

SMITH, N. LEIGHTON. 

1937. Eskimos hunt whale ceremoniously. Alaska Sportsman 3(10):16-18. 

Detailed account of bowhead whaling as conducted by the Eskimos living at Gambell (Sevookuk) on 

St. Lawrence Island. Author describes ceremonies traditionally followed by an Eskimo captain and 

his family that engages in whaling for bowheads, including placing of whaleskin from a whale caught 

by the captain the previous spring [presumably in 1936] and other required items in a container to 

ferment until needed for the moon worship which takes place in February, March, and April. The 

pursuit, capture, and cutting up of a whale by Gambell hunters [in 1937?] is described. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Sea, native, catch, photographs. 
295 

SOKOLOV, W. [V.E.] 

1962. Adaptations of the mammalian skin to the aquatic mode of life. Nature (Lond.) 

195(4840):464-466. 

Describes the physiology and structure of the integument of amphibian mammals. “The subcutaneous blubber of Pinnipedia and Cetacea contains a vast number of non-saturated fatty acids 

(fats with a high iodine number) which provide a low temperature of the fat setting.” Table 2 (p. 466) 

gives data for seven species; statistics given for Balaena mysticetus are: Iodine number of 69-144, 

and temperature of the fat setting in °C. is +7 to +9.5. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

PHYSIOLOGY–integument. 

SONNENFELD, JOSEPH. 

1956. Changes in subsistence among Barrow Eskimo. Unpubl. rep., 589 p. Arctic 

Institute of North America, Proj. No. ONR-140. (Copy in Naval Arctic Research 

Laboratory library, Barrow, AK 99723.) 

Historical review of changes in the annual subsistence cycle of Alaskan Eskimos in the Barrow and 

Wainwright areas and effects of outside influences on their culture. Author resided at Barrow from 

mid-May to mid-September 1954, and personal observations during this period are supplemented by 

information provided by residents. Includes considerable information on commercial and native 

hunting for bowhead whales and other species, and an extensive bibliography. The catch of 

bowheads by shore-based hunters is presented on pages i, 222, 225, 226, 233, 267, 268, 274, 277, 

278 (a table of catch figures compiled for the author by David Brower giving the catch by season at 

Barrow from 1928 through 1954), and 286. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ANTHROPOLOGY–Alaskan Eskimos; POPULATION–mortality, whaling, struck and lost; WHALING–history, Chukchi and 

Beaufort Seas, commercial, native catch, gear, utilization. 

SONNENFELD, JOSEPH. 

1960. Changes in an Eskimo hunting technology, an introduction to implement 

geography. Ann. Assoc. Am. Geogr. 50:172-186. 

Describes changes in traditional and introduced weapons technology for hunting whales, walrus and 

seals by Alaskan Eskimos in the Barrow area. Catch of bowhead whales by natives at Barrow by 

year (not by season) is given (p. 176-178) for the years 1852-53, 1882-83, 1885, and 1928-1954 

(”David Brower compiled the data for the period 1928-1954 from family records.” P. 178.) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ANTRHOPOLOGY–Alaskan Eskimos; POPULATION–mortality, whaling, struck and lost; WHALING–history, Chukchi and 

Beaufort Seas, commercial, native catch, gear, utilization. 

SPENCER, ROBERT F. 

1959. The north Alaskan Eskimo: a study in ecology and society. Smithson. Instit., Bur. 

Am. Ethnol. Bull. 171, 490 p. Reprinted 1976 by Dover Pubs., Inc., New York, N.Y. 

Ethnographic studies of north Alaskan Eskimos carried on in the summer and early autumn of both 

1952 and 1953, primarily at Barrow. Describes bowhead whaling during spring and autumn seasons, 

stating that in 1926 whales were taken at Barrow early in August, but in 1952 there was a total failure 

of whaling in both seasons, as was the autumn of 1951 (p. 26-27, 368-369, 372). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ANTHROPOLOGY–Alaskan Eskimos, culture; IDENTITY–nomenclature, Eskimo, ingutuk; POPULATION–mortality, whaling, 

catch, killed but lost; WHALING–Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea, native, crews, catch, gear, records, photographs, utilization. 
296 

SQUIRE, INA L. 

1964. A bibliography of cetacea: Literature published between 1949 and 1963. U.S. 

Naval Ord. Test Sta., China Lake, Calif. NAVWEPS Rep. 8645, NOTS Tech. Publ. 

3686, 120 p. 

A compilation of references on cetacea published in books, journals, and reports produced by 

organizations, including phonograph records. To assist investigators pursuing specialized aspects of 

research, it has been assembled in the following categories: anatomy and physiology, animal 

ecology, behavior, bioacoustics and communications, biochemistry, locomotion, morphology, 

occurrence and migration, pathology and parasitology, reproduction, strandings, taxonomy and 

evolution, and whaling and its products. Also includes an index of authors and a list of journals and 

their abbreviations. Several publications include information on Balaena mysticetus. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

BIBLIOGRAPHY-cetaceans. 

STAPLETON, ROB. 

1979. Waiting for the whales, Barrow, Alaska. Tundra Times, April 18, 16(16):12-13. 

Five photographs without captions depicting the silent watch by Eskimo hunters along open leads in 

the ice for northward migrating bowhead whales during the spring. Stapleton is on the staff of the 

Anchorage Daily News. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-native, gear, photographs. 

STEFANSSON, VILHJALMUR. 

1926. My life with the Eskimo. Macmillan Co., New York, 538 p. (first ed., 1913, reprinted 

1921, 1926). 

Narrative of the Stefansson-Anderson Arctic Expedition of the American Museum of Natural History, 

1908-1912, which travelled north on the Athabasca, Slave, and Mackenzie Rivers, west to Pt. 

Barrow, Alaska, and Herschel Island, as far east as Coronation Gulf. Describes the geography of the 

region, life on the expedition, Eskimo life and customs, and natural history. Mentions the history of 

whaling in the area, whaling ships encountered, Eskimo whaling season and techniques at Pt. 

Barrow, legends and taboos about bowheads, and catch of six whales by Eskimos at Pt. Barrow in 

1912. Whale bones were found as far east as Langton Bay [in Franklin Bay]. [See R. M. Anderson, 

1926, for details of natural history collections.] 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY; DISTRIBUTION; WHALING-history, western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, natives, catch, utilization, photographs. 
297 

STEFANSSON, VILHJALMUR. 

1943. The friendly Arctic; the story of five years in polar regions. Macmillan Co., New 

York, 812 p. (1st ed., 1921, 784 p.). 

Narrative of an expedition led by the author and sponsored by the Canadian government in 1913-

1918, starting from Nome, Alaska in 1913 and travelling to areas in the Beaufort Sea. Describes 

adventures, life of Eskimos, plants and animals, food, living conditions and other details. Includes 

various notes about whales and whaling--whales noted passing by, use of whale carcass to feed 

dogs more than a year, killing a 60-70 foot bowhead for dog food, whale catches of past years, 

whaling vessels wintering in ice, bones of bowhead and inqutok found along coast of Victoria Island. 

Notes that Eskimos and whaling captains think ingutok is a separate species, but Stefansson 

believed it was a young bowhead. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; DISTRIBUTION; IDENTITY-races or subspecies; MORPHOLOGY-measurements; WHALING-history, 

western Arctic, gear (boats), natives, catch, utilization. 

STEFANSSON, VILHJALMUR. 

1945. Arctic manual. Macmillan Co., New York, 556 p. 

Trade edition of a work first published by the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1940. The 1945 edition has a 

special introduction, an additional section on “The building of snow camps,” and an index. Chapter 5 

on animal life cites the Encyclopaedia Britannica to describe (on p. 105-107) the Greenland whale, 

Balaena mysticetus: “Head enormous, one-third the total length; rostrum greatly arched, providing 

room for exceptionally long baleen, up to 15 feet. Arctic, circumpolar, and formerly abundant off 

Spitsbergen, both sides of Greenland and the North Pacific to Beaufort Sea, but reduced by whaling 

to the verge of extinction.” This is one of the largest sea mammals, reaching a length of from 50 to 

60 feet. American whalers call it the bowhead. According to Scoresby, in the waters around 

Spitsbergen no fewer than 57,500 Greenland whales were killed by whalers in this region between 

1669 and 1775 (p. 105). The industry spread east beyond Barrow when there was a first wintering of 

an American whaler at Herschel Island in 1889. Other wintering places were farther east, chiefly the 

Baillie Islands off Cape Bathurst and Langton Bay in the southeast corner of Franklin Bay. Only the 

bone (baleen) was taken, which ran a maximum of a little over 2,000 pounds per whale, with the 

average probably around 1,000 pounds. R. M. Anderson reported that the largest catches of the 

entire history of Yankee whaling east of Barrow were 69 whales by the Narwhal in 1893-95; 67 

whales by the Balaena in 1893-95; and 64 by the Beluga in 1893-95 (p. 106). Commercial whaling 

ceased abruptly about 1906 for three reasons: Women's corsets ceased being fashionable; buggy 

whips ceased being used; and a substitute was invented, called featherbone. In prehistoric times the 

taking of the bowhead by primitive hunters seems to have been extensive. In the New World whaling 

was carried on as far northeast as Cape Kellett, Banks Island, and perhaps nearly 200 miles east of 

Cape Parry on the mainland. A small whale, which may be a different species or a young bowhead, 

was favored as a food animal because of its taste. This whale is a scientific problem as yet, and is 

therefore known only by its Eskimo name, ingutok or inyutok. The usual Eskimo and local white view 

is that they are a small species. Some believe, however, that they are yearling and 2-year-old 

bowheads. 

EASTERN AND WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-former; IDENTITY-ingutok or inyutok; MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-abundance; 

WHALING-eastern Arctic, western Arctic, commercial, native, catch, utilization. 
298 

STEFANSSON, VILHJALMUR. 

1946. Not by bread alone. Macmillan Co., New York, 339 p. 

Discourse on author’s beliefs regarding arctic diet based on his studies and experiences with 

Eskimos, and of opinions of other explorers and some physiologists. Includes information on Eskimo 

and Indian hunting, fishing and diet. “In the whales, from the huge bowhead that may be seventy-five 

feet long to the beluga, or white whale, that is no bigger than a walrus, the liking (by Eskimos) is 

strong for only one part, the skin. It is so removed from the beast that half an inch of blubber still 

clings to the inside of the hide. This is the renowned maktak, which has been a favorite with many 

whites who, unlike me, have not taken to other delicacies of the Eskimos. In Charlie Brower’s famous 

station at Barrow...the hospitality has always been famous. A special part of it is that the guest is 

served a spiced pickle..., maktak done up by a secret recipe brought there, or devised, by Brower’s 

colleague Fred Hopson (p. 34). My own description of the taste of the fresh blubber of the bowhead 

whale, and of the other whales with which I am familiar, is that it reminds of fresh cow’s cream, with a 

barely perceptible suggestion of walnut flavor (p. 121).” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurement; WHALING-western Arctic, native, utilization. 

STETSON, MARGUERITE. 

1977. What good is a whale? Tundra Times, December 28, 14(52):4. 

A nutritionist describes the important nutrients found in the flesh and muktuk of bowhead whales and 

their importance to Eskimos. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, native, utilization, food. 

STEVENS, ROBERT W. 

1976. Season of the whale. Arctic in Colour 5(1):3-5, 7. 

Account of whaling for bowheads by Eskimo hunters of Gambell, St. Lawrence Island, Alaska (in 

1974). One whale was taken in late April and a second was captured in early May. The latter whale 

was dispatched with four bombs. Length of the whale was not given but the baleen was stated to be 

10 feet long. There are 11 boat crews at Gambell, but some boat captains have more than one boat. 

Whaling gear used by the hunters is described. Author states Gambell normally takes 2-3 whales per 

year. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-breathing, diving; MORPHOLOGY-baleen length; WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Sea, natives, catch, crews, 

gear, photographs. 

STEWART, ETHEL. 

1979. Kutchin trade prior to 1840. Beaver 310:54-58. 

Long before Western Europeans set foot in America, there was a well established trade among the 

people west of the Mackenzie River: between the Kutchin Indians of the Peel River area and 

Eskimos on the shores of the Arctic Sea; between Kutchin and the Na-Dene of the Pacific Coast; 

between the Kutchin, via Eskimo middlemen, and the people of Northeast Siberia. The extent of the 

Russian traffic with Northwest America may be judged from the figures of their trade published in H. 

H. Bancroft's History of Alaska 1730-1885: whalebone 1745-1803 (977), 1821-1842 (138,000) [value 

of amounts in parenthesis not given.] 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, native, catch, utilization. 
299 

STOCKTON, CHARLES H. 

1890. The Arctic cruise of the U.S.S. Thetis in the summer and autumn of 1889. Natl. 

Geogr. Mag. 2(3):171-198. 

The U.S.S. Thetis was assigned to patrol the Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean during the summer of 

1889 to oversee commercial and whaling interests of the United States, and to assist in the 

establishment and erection of a house of refuge at Point Barrow. Numerous whaling vessels and 

their commanders in the Arctic Ocean are named, and experiences while sailing the area and visiting 

various villages are detailed, including descriptions of the Eskimos, especially those living at Point 

Hope. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, vessels, shore-stations. 

STRICKLAND, DANIEL. 

1978. Of Eskimos, ivory & progress. Defenders 53(3):146-151. 

“The walrus, principally, has enabled the people of St. Lawrence Island to build their culture; the 

walrus has been life’s blood here for hundreds of rugged years. Bowhead whales, hair seals, and 

sea birds are also hunted by the people of St. Lawrence’s two villages, Gambell and Savoonga, but 

theirs is essentially a walrus economy.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Sea, native. 

STRICKLAND, DAN. 

1981. The Eskimo vs. the walrus vs. the government. Nat. Hist. 90(2):48-52, 57. 

Account of walrus hunting by the Eskimos of Little Diomede Island in 1977-78. Ivory from walrus and 

baleen from bowhead whales are only two of a wide variety of items the Eskimos use for trade 

goods. An old Eskimo resident stated “When I was young the village was quiet all the time and the 

whales and walrus would come very close to shore. Now we have snowmobiles, generators, sixwheelers---too much noise. The game never comes close anymore.” (p. 51). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-reaction to noise, red color; WHALING-western Arctic, Bering and Chukchi Seas, native, utilization. 

SYLVESTER, BOB. 

1980. Old bomb found in bowhead. Arct. Coastal Zone Manage. Newsl. 30:11. 

A 51-foot female bowhead whale caught by Gambell whalers on May 4, 1980, was found to have 

sustained two wounds from strikes in previous seasons. Remains of a bomb were found 

encapsulated in scar tissue dorsal to the eye. A second wound, one probably caused by a harpoon, 

was about one foot long and located two to three feet dorsal to the bomb wound. A National Marine 

Fisheries Service biologist, Katherine Hazard, was present at the butchering of the whale and stated 

the cetacean had recently been pregnant but no fetus was found. This incident is important as it 

shows that some individuals do survive strikes by whalers. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-specimens, wounds, bomb fragment; MORPHOLOGY-measurements; 

PATHOLOGY-injuries, scars; POPULATION-sex, mortality, whaling, struck and lost; REPRODUCTION-fecundity; 

WHALING-Bering Sea, catch, gear, photographs. 
300 

TABER, RICHARD D. 

1958. Eskimo hunters: 1. Whales. Pac. Discovery 11(3):18-21. 

Bowhead whaling at Wainwright, Alaska, by Eskimos is briefly described. Whaling begins in April 

with the northward migration of bowheads past the village. The hunters travel out to the offshore 

lead, usually 8 to 10 miles out from shore, to make a 24-hour watch for whales at a location where 

whales might rise to breathe. “The Eskimos believe that whales follow one another along some 

underwater path and rise to breathe at the same points along the route.” It costs the captain about 

$200-300 dollars to keep a crew of 8 or 10 men for a month. In the spring of 1956, the whalers of 

Wainwright took two whales. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration, breathing; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, gear, catch, photographs. 

THIERCELIN, M. L. 

1866. Action des sels solubles de strychnine, associes au curare, sur les gros cetaces. 

C. R. Seances Acad. Sci. 63:924-927. Paris. 

“The whales, in actual experiments performed by Thiercelin (described below), were inoculated with 

0.005 gram per kilogram of body weight. Cartridges were made, each containing 30 grams of toxic 

mixture, one being sufficient to kill a whale of 60,000 kilograms or less, and two would be enough to 

kill the largest whales of the Arctic. Each cartridge was inserted in the powder of an ordinary 

explosive projective known as a bomb lance. Shipping on a whaling cruise to make actual 

experiments, Thiercelin shot ten whales (1 rorqual, 2 killer, 2 gray, 3 polar, and 2 unspecified 

whales), all of which died within 18 minutes. Details of each killing, including dates, approximate 

locations, area of whale struck, whales' reaction to the poison and length of time to death are given.” 

[Article not seen, information from R. F. Heizer (1943:456-458; and 1967:19-20.)] 

WESTERN ARCTIC, EASTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-reaction to poison; IDENTITY-nomenclature; WHALING-western Arctic; eastern Arctic, Bering Sea, North Atlantic 

Ocean, commercial, gear, catch, drawings. 

THOMAS, THEODORE K. 

1962. Four whales for Tigara. Alaska Sportsman 28(5):8-10, 40-41. 

Account of bowhead whaling by Eskimos at Point Hope, Alaska, as observed by W. A. Thomas, 

Episcopal missionary at the village, and authored by his son. The lead opened and the first whale of 

the season was sighted on April 10, 1924. By May 1, 14 crews were on the ice but no whales had 

been taken. On May 4, however, 4 whales were killed within 12 hours. One of the whales was 

retrieved from under the ice as a stinker, a feat that required three days. Baleen obtained from the 

latter whale measured 10 feet 6 inches in length and weighed 2,100 pounds. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; MORPHOLOGY-measurements, baleen; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, 

gear, photographs. 

THOMPSON, BETTY LOU. 

1980. “We have a whale!” Alaska 46(6):A15-A16. 

Describes the activities and customs observed by a captain and crew members [at Barrow] prior to 

the beginning of the whaling season and after they have captured a bowhead whale. It costs 

approximately $2,000 to outfit one crew of eight for the season. Includes a drawing indicating how 

parts of the whale carcass are divided up. Also contains photograph of Billy Neakok’s crew, the last 

holdouts on the ice during the Barrow whale hunt in the spring of 1978. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, crews, catch, gear, drawing and photograph, utilization. 
301 

THOMPSON, R. W. 

1908. Diomedes gone dry. (Letter of May 18, 1908, to the Nome Daily Nugget.) The 

Nome Daily Nugget, Nome, Alaska, May 30, 8(129):1. 

In a letter from R. W. Thompson, government teacher on Little Diomede Island, he stated “Several 

bears were caught [there], also one whale a few days ago. Big Diomede caught a whale this spring 

as well, and harpooned two more who broke the rope and made their escape.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–migration, timing; POPULATON–mortality, whaling, struck and lost, catch; WHALING–Bering Strait, native, catch 

TIKHMENEV, P. A. 

1861-63. Istoricheskoe obozrenie obrazovaniya Rossiisko-Amerikanskoi kompanii i 

deistvii eya do nastoyashchago vremeni (A historical survey of the formation and 

activities of the Russian-American Company until the present time). St. Petersberg. 

In 2 vols. (Translated and edited by Richard A. Pierce and Alton S. Donnelly under 

title: A history of the Russian-American Company, publ. by Univ. Washington Press, 

Seattle, Wash. 1978, 522 p.) 

The Russian-American Co. considered whaling essential to obtain food for local inhabitants. Whale 

hunters were to be paid 10-20 rubles per whale, depending on size. From 1821 to 1842, baleen 

exported from Kamchatka and Alaska amounted to more than 124,390 lb. (56,424 kg). Company 

attempts to bring in foreigners to instruct local personnel in whaling failed because Aleuts preferred 

old ways. Whaling by foreigners in Russian waters caused problems, and the Russian-American 

Whaling Company, formed in 1850, was not successful. Bowhead whaling by foreigners developed 

in the Okhotsk Sea in the 1850s; an average of 100 foreign vessels whaled there in the period 1853-

1863. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, history, commercial, natives, catch, photographs, drawings. 

TILLMAN, MICHAEL F., JEFFREY M. BREIWICK and DOUGLAS G. CHAPMAN. 

1983. Reanalysis of historical whaling data for the Western Arctic bowhead whale 

population. In Tillman, Michael F. and Gregory P. Donovan, (Editors), Historical 

whaling records, p. 143-146. Rep. Int. Whaling Comm., Spec. Issue 5, Paper 

SC/32/PS6. 

A reanalysis of the initial population of bowhead whales in the Western Arctic using the estimation 

procedures of Allen (1966, modified DeLury method) and Breiwick et al. (1980, iterative model). It 

was concluded that “These two procedures would thus seem to provide a reasonable basis for 

estimating initial population size, and a likely range of estimates of initial abundance might be 

10,000-20,000 bowhead whales, as contrasted with the 20,000-40,000 range of Bockstoce and 

Botkin.” [1983]. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION–initial abundance, calculated. 
302 

TILTON, GEORGE FRED. 

1927. “Cap’n George Fred” Himself. Doubleday, Doran and Co., Inc., New York, N.Y. 

Reprinted 1969 by Dukes County Historical Society, Edgartown, Mass. 02539. 295 

p. 

Author spent most of his life at sea on merchant and whaling vessels; includes names of various 

ships that hunted bowheads in the western Arctic, numbers of whales caught, killed and lost and 

struck but lost. He identified a shore-whaling station at Barrow and four in the vicinity of Point Hope 

and described respiration, feeding, and swimming behavior of bowhead whales, including reactions 

when hunted and after being struck. When fleet was stranded in Arctic near Point Barrow during 

1897-1898, Tilton volunteered to go south overland and by sea to San Francisco for help. In the 

vicinity of Cape Lisburne, about 18 miles from Point Hope he found the carcass of a whale that had 

been set adrift by whalers and obtained food for his party. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–respiration, swimming, when hunted, migration; DISTRIBUTION–sightings, whaling grounds; MORPHOLOGY–

structure, yield of oil, baleen; NUTRITION–food, feeding; POPULATION–mortality, whaling, numbers captured, killed and lost, 

struck and lost; WHALING–Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, commercial, gear, shore stations, catch, products, 

photographs, utilization. 

TOBIN, LEW. 

1979. From Ketchikan to Barrow (News items): A meeting of elders. Alaska 45(8):12-13. 

Elders from 15 mainland villages and 2 St. Lawrence Island villages met in Nome May 10-12, 1979, 

for the first elders conference in modern history on the Seward Peninsula. The purpose of the 

meeting was to preserve the knowledge about Eskimo life that the elders had obtained during their 

lifetime. “One man from Gambell told how he was a striker, or harpooner, most of the time and how 

in 30 years he had gotten seven whales. He knew of only one man who had done better: in his 

father's time a man had taken nine whales. He also told me how to tell male bowheads from females 

(males have white stripes on the baleen, females don't), and young from old whales (older whales 

have permanent curls in their flukes, a sort of cetacean arthritis).” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-field recognition; WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Sea, native, catch. 

TOMILIN, A. G. 

1948. O vozrastnoi i individual’noi izmenchivosti sheinogo otdela pozvonochnika 

grenlandskogo kita (Balaena mysticetus L.) (Varitations in the cervical vertebrae of 

the Greenland whale according to age and individual). Byulleten’ Moskovskoe 

Obshchestvo Ispytatelei Prirody, Otdel Biologii, 53(4):39-47. In Russian. [Not seen, 

citation and annotation from N. S. Romanov, 1959:285-286 (No. 3262)]. 

“Description of skeletal bones in the anatomical section of the Moscow State University Zoological 

Museum, collected on Wrangel Island in 1938. See also: No. 1880, 1881, 1923.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION–skeleton specimens; MORPHOLOGY–structure, cervical vertebrae; SKELETON REMAINS–Wrangel Island, 

beachcast. 
303 

TOMILIN, A. G. 

1954. Prisposobitelyne tipy otriada Kitoobraznykh (K voprosu ob ekologicneskoi 

klassifikatsii kitoobraznykh). [Adaptive types in the Order Cetacea (The problem of 

an ecological classification of cetacea)] Zool. Zh. 33(3):677-692. In Russian. 

(Transl. 1957, 13 p. Fish. Res. Board Canada, Nanaimo, B.C., Transl. Ser. No. 95.) 

“Recent cetacea can be classified according to their morphological and biological characteristics, into 

two basic ecological groups: (1) whalebone whales (Mysticeti), and (2) prehensors (Odontoceti). 

Among the whalebone whales, three adaptive types can be distinguished: (a) microplanktophagi, (b) 

macroplanktophagi, and (c) sarcophagi.” B. mysticetus (Table 1) is classified as microphagi. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

IDENTITY–taxonomy, classification; MORPHOLOGY–structure; NUTRITION–food and feeding. 

TOMILIN, A. G. 

1955. O povedenii i zvukovoi signalizatsii kitoobraznykh (On the behavior and sonic 

signaling of whales). Akad. Nauk USSR, Tr. Inst. Okeanol. 18:28-47. In Russian. 

(Transl. by Miss A. De-Vreeze and D. E. Sergeant, Fish. Res. Board Canada, Arctic 

Unit, Montreal 18, P.Q., Transl. Ser. 377.) 

Discusses peculiarities of behavior in cetacea in connection with defense, obtaining food, 

reproduction, and a gregarious lifestyle through acoustic communication. As for Greenland 

[bowhead] whales, “According to O. V. Lindholm (1888) the Greenland whale (Balaena mysticetus) 

hears the slightest noise at a distance of one mile and reacts even when another is wounded by a 

harpoon twenty miles from it. The sensitivity of this whale is well known to inhabitants of the Chukot 

Peninsula, who try not to make any scaring movements when hunting or any sharp noises, 

maintaining maximum care when approaching animals. According to I. Lepekhin’s (1805) 

observations, a Greenland whale’s exhalation can be heard for a mile.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–acoustics, communication, reactions; NUTRITION–food and feeding; PATHOLOGY–injuries, wounds; 

REPRODUCTION–mating; WHALING–Bering and Chukchi Seas, commercial, native, gear. 

TOMILIN, A. G. 

1957. Kitoobraznye (Cetacea). Zveri SSSR i prilezhashchikh stran (Mammals of the 

U.S.S.R. and adjacent countries), Vol. 9, Izd. Akad. Nauk SSSR, MoscowLeningrad. 756 p. In Russian. (Transl. by Israel Program Sci. Transl., 1967, 717 p., 

available U.S. Dep. Commer., Natl. Tech. Inf. Serv., Springfield, VA., as TT-65-

50086.) 

Detailed monograph of 23 species based on review of literature and the author's observations. 

Coverage of bowhead includes: nomenclature, external appearance and skeleton, geographical 

distribution and migrations, biology, and whaling industry and its products. Information is 

comprehensive and encyclopedic. 

EASTERN ARCTIC, WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-diving, migration, respiratory, swimming; DISTRIBUTION; IDENTITY-nomenclature, taxonomy; 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements, structure; NUTRITION-food; PATHOLOGY-diseases, parasites; PREDATORS & 

COMPETITORS; REGULATION & CONSERVATION; REPRODUCTION-mating & fertilization, gestation, lactation, parturition; 

WHALING-history, eastern Arctic, western Arctic, catch, gear, natives, utilization (food, houses, gear, fuel, illumination, 

implements, manufacturers products). 
304 

TOMILIN, A. G. 

1962. Kitoobraznye fauny morei SSSR (Cetacean fauna of the seas of U.S.S.R.). Akad. 

Nauk SSSR, Zool. Inst., Opredeliteli po Faune SSSR 79. 212 p. In Russian. 

Scientific handbook, arranged in taxonomic order, of cetaceans of waters of the U.S.S.R. The 

Greenland (Polar) whale, Balaena mysticetus, is reviewed on p. 79-81. Briefly reviews nomenclature, 

morphology, distribution, biology, respiratory behavior, swimming speed, food, gestation and time of 

birth, age, parasites, locations of whaling areas, and average yield of oil and baleen per whale. 

EASTERN ARCTIC, WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-swimming, respiratory; DISTRIBUTION; GROWTH-age; IDENTITY-nomenclature; MORPHOLOGY; 

NUTRITION-food; PATHOLOGY-parasites; POPULATION-age; REPRODUCTION-gestation, parturition; WHALING-eastern 

Arctic, western Arctic, utilization. 

TOMILIN, A. G. 

1965. Istoriya slepogo kashalota (The history of the blind sperm whale). Izd. “Nauka”, 

Moscow, 191 p. In Russian. (Transl. by Foreign Tech. Div., Wright-Patterson Air 

Force Base, Ohio, 1966, 208 p. avail. U.S. Dep. Commer., Natl. Bur. Stand., Inst. 

Applied Tech., Clearinghouse for Fed. Sci. Tech. Info., as AD-650-803 (1967)). 

Discusses cetacean history and mythology, biology, distribution, captivity, and predation by killer 

whales. Information concerning Greenland [bowhead] whales includes harpoons found in captured 

and stranded whales (p. 6, 40), the Eskimo myth that bowheads use ice to aid in giving birth to 

young (p. 22), these animals can communicate over great distances (p. 111), and that they can 

produce breathing holes in ice by using their massive backs (p. 194). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR–communication, migration, maternal; DISTRIBUTION–evidence (harpoons); NUTRITION–food, feeding; 

PATHOLOGY–injuries, harpoons; POPULATION–mortality, whaling, struck and lost; PREDATORS & COMPETITORS–killer 

whales; REPRODUCTION–parturition; WHALING–circumpolar, commercial, native, gear. 

TOOYAK, ANDREW. 

1963. Pt. Hope gets many belugas. Tundra Times, May 6, 1(15):4. 

“The first white whale, or beluga, was caught by Antonio Weber's whaling crew on April 20, second 

by Allen Rock’s crew, third by Lauri Kingik’s. Allen’s crew caught two more and Kingik’s crew got 

another. The last one caught was by Amos Lane’s crew. I saw one black bowhead whale on Sunday, 

April 20th. Andrew Frankson’s crew chased it but it was little too far away when he tried to strike it. 

His harpoon fell short.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration, interaction with belukha; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, crews. 

TORNFELT, EVERT E. 

1981. Bering Sea cultural resources. U.S. Dep. Int., Bur. Land Manage., Alaska Outer 

Continental Shelf Office, Anchorage. Tech. Pap. No. 2 , 21 p., append. A, 2 p., 

append. B, 21 p., append. C, 19 p. 

This document was prepared to provide basic policy, guidance, and a brief summary of human 

development in the Bering Sea region where oil and gas lease sales 57, 70, 75, and 83 are expected 

to take place. Subjects discussed include Bering Sea cultural resource management, human 

settlement in the Bering Sea region, locations of past people and culture, marine archaeology, and 

descriptions of cultural indicators. Table IV-1 lists significant shipwrecks in the Arctic (mostly in the 

Chukchi Sea) from 1868 to 1888, most of which were bowhead whaling vessels. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY-marine; ETHNOLOGY-Bering Sea region; WHALING-western Arctic, history, commercial, native, vessels. 
305 

TORNFELT, EVERT E. 

1982. Cultural resources of the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, shelf and shore. U.S. Dep. 

Int., Bur. Land Manage., Alaska Outer Continental Shelf Office, Anchorage. Tech. 

Pap. No. 6, 8 p., append. A, 9 p. 

A concise consolidation of information about prior human development and cultural resources in the 

Chukchi and Beaufort Seas region, which are the sites of several proposed oil and gas lease 

offerings in the next five years. Table 1 presents National Register sites in the region, and Table 2 is 

a list of ship wrecks in the region for the period 1851 to 1913, with information on year of loss, 

location where lost, and the value of hull and cargo (information is taken from C. L. Andrews, 1916.). 

Appendix A is an excerpt from “Beaufort Sea Cultural Resource Study” by Dixon, Sharma and 

Stoker, 1978. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY-cultural sites; ETHNOLOGY-Eskimos, culture and subsistence; WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, gear 

(vessels). 

TOWNSEND, C. H. 

1935. The distribution of certain whales as shown by logbook records of American 

whaleships. Zoologica (N.Y.) 19, 50 p. 

Author examined hundreds of logbooks of American whaleships whaling in the western Arctic and 

plotted the positions of 5,114 bowhead catches in the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas from 1848 

to 1919. Townsend’s data for the months of June through October indicated that these whales were 

captured over a much wider range than they apparently occupy at present. This information suggests 

that pre-exploitation sub-groups of the bowhead population may have been eliminated by the 

whalers. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-former; POPULATION-abundance, sub-groups; WHALING-Bering, Chukchi, Beaufort Seas, commercial, 

catch. 

TROUESSART, EDOUARD L. 

1897-1899. Catalogus mammalium tam viventium quam fossilium. Tomus (volume) 1, p. 

1-664; Tomus 2, p. 665-1469. Nova editio (prima completa). R. Friedlander und 

Sohn, Berlin. 

Classification catalogue of mammals, including Balaena mysticetus (p. 1091, 1092). 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

IDENTITY-classification. 

TROUESSART, EDOUARD L. 

1904-1905. Catalogus mammalium tam viventium quam fossilium. Quinquennale 

supplementum (1899-1904). Fascicular (parts) 1 and 2, p. 1-546 (1904); 3 and 4, p. 

547-929 (1905). R. Friedlander & Sohn, Berlin. 

Classification catalogue of mammals, including Balaena mysticetus (p. 787). A supplement to the 

1904-1905 edition. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

IDENTITY-classification. 
306 

TRUE, FREDERICK W. 

1884. H. Catalogue of the aquatic mammals exhibited by the United States National 

Museum. U.S. Bur. Fish. [Great Internatl. Fish. Exhibit, London, 1883: catalogues], 

Doc. 74, 22 p. 

Brief account of the fur seal fishery, sirenians and cetaceans, together with an annotated list of the 

aquatic mammals of North America and a catalogue of specimens exhibited at London. In a brief 

discussion of the economic value of cetaceans, author states Balaena mysticetus attains a length of 

45 to 58 feet and yields from 75 to 200 barrels of oil and from 500 to about 3,000 pounds of 

whalebone (p. 9). 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

GROWTH-maximum length; WHALING-eastern Arctic, western Arctic, utilization. 

TRUE, FREDERICK W. 

1885. Suggestions to the keepers of the U.S. life-saving stations, light-houses, and lightships, and to other observers, relative to the best means of collecting and 

preserving specimens of whales and porpoises. U.S. Comm. Fish and Fish. Pt. 11, 

Rep. Comm. 1883, append. F, art. 39:1157-1181. 

A guide to the identification of cetaceans with suggestions on the collection of samples and types of 

information to record for each, along with instructions on the preparation and shipping of collections 

to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Balaena mysticetus is included in a key to 

identification of specimens along with a drawing of the species in Figure 32, which notes a length of 

60 feet. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

IDENTITY-nomenclature, taxonomy. 

TRUE, FREDERICK W. 

1899. Mammals of the Pribilof Islands [part 3, p. 345-354]. In The fur seals and fur-seal 

islands of the North Pacific Ocean.... U.S. Treasury Department, 1898-99. 

Bones of the bowhead are numerous about the Pribilof Islands, particularly at Northeast Point. 

Author measured and described a right mandible found on the beach north of Lukanunan that had a 

total length (straight) of 18 feet 8 inches. A left mandible, presumably of the same individual, lay 

nearby, but was much weathered. “The bones on the beaches are from dead whales which wash up 

from time to time in winter. One stranded on St. George in 1889, and about 1,500 pounds of 

whalebone, according to Mr. Palmer, were obtained from it by the natives, who received $1 a pound 

from the company. Another came ashore the same year near East Landing, on St. Paul. The mass of 

cervical vertebrae and a number of ribs were still there in 1895. I also found a portion of a skull 

imbedded in Zoltoi Sands, which may have been of the same individual.” (p. 352) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-carcasses, Bering Sea; MORPHOLOGY-measurements; SKELETAL REMAINS-beachcast, strandings; 

WHALING-Bering Sea, native, catch, utilization. 
307 

TRUE, FREDERICK W. 

1904. The whalebone whales of the western North Atlantic compared with those 

occurring in European waters with some observations on the species of the North 

Pacific. Smithson. Contrib. Know. 33 (1414), 332 p., 50 plates. (Reprinted 1983.) 

Contains a historical review of information on baleen whales in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, 

including descriptions of species, nomenclature, anatomical notes, measurements and a 

bibliography of significant European and American works on cetaceans. Although the bowhead was 

specifically omitted due to a lack of new material, numerous references are made to Balaena

mysticetus, including common names applied to the species and its distribution. The author 

concludes that the Grand Bay whales discussed by Baffin in 1616 (p. 10), in Thomas Edge’s 

voyages of 1610-1622 (p. 11-12), and DeCrevecoeur in 1782 (p. 43) were bowheads. Citing True’s 

account of DeCrevecoeur’s statement: “The river St. Lawrence whale which is the only one I am well 

acquainted with, is seventy-five feet long, sixteen deep, twelve in the length of its bone (which 

commonly weighs 3000 lb.), twenty in the breadth of their tails, and produces 180 barrels of oil.” 

EASTERN ARCTIC, WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-eastern Arctic; IDENTITY-nomenclature; MORPHOLOGY-measurements; WHALING-eastern Arctic, western 

Arctic, commercial, catch. 

TUCKFIELD, CHARLIE. 

1962. Plane hunters get polar bears; native hunters get none. Tundra Times, October 1, 

1(1):6. 

Hunting for polar bears by non-native hunters using aircraft flying out over the ice from Point Hope is 

increasing annually and the activity is causing the bears to avoid area around the Eskimo village. 

“There were six whales killed this spring; the first one by Amos Lane. On 29th of April three were 

killed, one each by Tony Webber, Hubert Kinnaveak, and Allen Rock. It sure was work that day. 

And a week later two more were killed again on the same day, one by Tony Webber and one by Roy 

Vincent. It sure was another labor day. Most all ice cellars are pretty well supplied with muktuk now. 

Four thousand pounds of muktuk have been sold to Nome, and 1,200 pounds to Barrow. It was good 

to have a little money.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, utilization. 

TUNDRA TIMES. 

1963a. Bowhead whale. Tundra Times, May 6, 1(15):1. 

“The first bowhead whale of the season was taken at Point Hope on April 29. Nicholas Hank’s crew 

got the small whale, about 30 feet in length.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements, length; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

TUNDRA TIMES. 

1963b. Pt. Hope gets 3 bowhead whales. Tundra Times, May 20, 1(16):3. 

“POINT HOPE, May 11 - Four [sic] bowhead whales have been taken to date. The first one was 

killed on April 29 by Nicholas Hank’s crew. Three [sic] more have been taken since then; one by 

Mark Kinnaveak’s crew and Laurie Kingik’s crew killed one.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 
308 

TUNDRA TIMES. 

1963c. (Title unknown). Tundra Times, June 3, 1(17):4. 

Three whales, each about 30 feet long, were taken at Point Hope this year. (seen by Dale W. Rice.) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements, body length (estimated?); POPULATION-mortality, whaling; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, 

catch. 

TUNDRA TIMES. 

1963d. Photograph. Tundra Times, August 5, 1(21):8. 

Caption: “The Kaqruq or whaling celebration grounds - At Point Hope the flags are seen through the 

arch of two huge whale jawbones, each 19 feet in length. The 60-foot whale, from which they came, 

was caught by Allen Rock of Point Hope, in May 1961. In the background are two other sets of 

jawbones. Four sets of bone tripods, three of which can be seen, are used to tie the nalukatuk tightly 

to insure safety to the performers and to stabilize the pull on all sides. These are the grounds where 

great feasts, nalukatuk (blanket toss], and celebration dances are held after each successful whaling 

season. The whole population of Point Hope gathers here for the occasions. - Tundra Times Photo 

by Andrew Tooyak.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements, jawbones, total length; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, photograph. 

TUNDRA TIMES. 

1963e. Whale hunter and wife make visit to Tundra Times. Tundra Times, November 4, 

2(3):8. 

“...Paul Matumeak, 59, of Barrow, ...is a veteran whale hunter. He has taken 12 bowhead whales 

during his career, four of which he took as captain of his own crew. He lost his umiak in the recent 

Barrow storm [October 3, 1963]. He is not sure whether he will go whaling when the spring season 

comes around. Paul is a home movie enthusiast and has several films of life in Barrow 

[including]...films of whaling...” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, gear, film. 

TUNDRA TIMES. 

1963f. Photograph. Tundra Times, December 2, 2(5):7. 

Caption: “Thanksgiving feast - Sam Taalak, newly elected president of the Barrow City Council is 

shown cutting whale muktuk in his home just prior to Thanksgiving. Taalak’s whaling crew killed a big 

bowhead whale off Pt. Barrow this fall, and as the crew’s sponsor it was his job to distribute muktuk 

to all the villagers for Thanksgiving. - Tundra Times Photo.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Beaufort Sea, native, catch, crew, utilization. 

TUNDRA TIMES. 

1964a. Pt. Hope men take 1st whale. Tundra Times, May 18, 2(16):6. 

“A bowhead whale was taken by Amos Lane’s crew May 8. A few belugas have been taken by other 

crews. Three bowhead whales were taken at Point Hope last year.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 
309 

TUNDRA TIMES. 

1964b. Amos Lane's crew takes 60 Ft. bowhead whale near Pt. Hope. Tundra Times, 

June 8, 2(17):3. 

“May 20: There has been no whaling for ten days now due to bad weather. Three years ago a big 

whale was taken on May 24, so there is still hope for better whaling for this year. Amos Lane got the 

only whale this year, but it was 60 feet long, the largest taken in recent years. 

Fred Machetanz, the artist, has been in Point Barrow [sic] for 18 days. He was on Seymour 

Tuzroyluke’s whaling crew and helped take the big whale.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements, total length; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

TUNDRA TIMES. 

1964c. Photograph. Tundra Times, June 22, 2(18):2. 

Caption: “Chanters of the Nulukatuk - while nalukatuk, blanket toss, is being performed, Jakey Lane, 

Jimmy Killigvuk, and Herbert Kinneaveak [of Point Hope] chant accompaniment of whaling songs. 

This is an ancient custom done throughout the performance om [sic] the nalukatuk. - Photo by Don 

C. Foote” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, utilization. 

TUNDRA TIMES. 

1970. 8 whales at Pt. Hope, at Barrow 11. Tundra Times, Fairbanks, AK, June 3, 7(22):7. 

“Eight whales have been caught at Point Hope this season. Last word from Barrow has it that eleven 

were caught at the Top o’ the World big Eskimo village. 

Mrs. Dorcas Rock of Point Hope said that the whaling celebration has been tentatively set for June 

7-10. The celebration is the greatest event of the year at the village. 

Billy Webber of Point Hope has the rare distinction this year of having caught three whales this 

season. 

Two whaling captains, Joseph Frankson and Amos Lane, each caught two whales. Allen Rock made 

up the eighth whale with his single catch this year. He caught two last year. 

The weights of the whales are not known at this time but if each weighs at 30 tons, the village catch 

amounted to about 240 tons. At the same rate, Barrow should have around 330 tons.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-estimated length, weight; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

TUNDRA TIMES. 

1971. (Title unknown.) Tundra Times, June 1, 8. 

Citing F. E. Durham (1979:22), an article in the Tundra Times stated “At that evening [April 19, 1971] 

Killigvuk’s crew shot a whale with a shoulder gun and lost it...Billy Weber’s crew harpooned with 

darting gun and lost it...and Elijah Rock’s crew harpooned with darting gun, but bomb did not go off 

and [they] lost it.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling, struck and lost; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, crews, gear. 
310 

TUNDRA TIMES. 

1973. NOAA: Bowhead whale research will continue. Tundra Times, Fairbanks, AK, June 

20, 10(25):1,6. 

Dr. Robert M. White, Administrator of the Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration announced the signing of a contract with Dr. Floyd Durham, University of 

California, to ensure continuation of ongoing research on bowhead whales. Personnel from NOAA’s 

National Marine Fisheries Service are working with Dr. Durham this year to assure a smooth 

transition when he retires from this phase of his work later this year. During the past 10 years Dr. 

Durham has studied the biology of the bowhead whale including reproduction, food habits, and size, 

in addition to gathering data on the number of whales taken by the Eskimos. Data obtained by Dr. 

Durham have been made available to the Federal Government and to the International Whaling 

Commission. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements; NUTRITION-food and feeding; REPRODUCTION; WHALING-western Arctic, native, catch. 

TUNDRA TIMES. 

1974. Buckley may observe whaling at Pt. Hope village. Tundra Times, May 8, 11(19):1. 

Senator James Buckley, R-New York, is expected to be in the village of Point Hope this month to 

observe whaling. “Three Point Hope whaling captains and their crews have gotten whales so far this 

month, and they are: Joe Frankson, Billy Weber and Amos Lane. Two whales have been caught at 

the village of Barrow.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling, catch; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

TUNDRA TIMES. 

1975. Two bowhead whales caught at Point Hope. Tundra Times, April 30, 12 (18):9. 

Reports that “Hubert Koonuk of Point Hope is the first man in his village to catch a bowhead whale in 

this season of whaling. The whale was caught last Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. (Point Hope time). 

And last Saturday, Seymour Tuzroyluke caught another and the two whales caught there so far 

assures Point Hope the big whaling festival to be held early in June commemorating the events. 

Whales have been sighted at Barrow and some whaling crews have already gone out...” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration, timing; POPULATION-mortality, whaling; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 

TUNDRA TIMES. 

1977a. Repairman enjoys Kivalina. Tundra Times, January 5, 14(1):6. From the Village 

Voice. 

Doug Frank, an employee of AVEC [Alaska Village Electric Cooperative] Operations and 

Maintenance, just returned from Kivalina where he spent the past month overhauling several units. 

“The people of Kivalina have completed making an Oogruk skin boat,” said Doug. “They haven’t had 

one for several years.” “Now they hope to go whaling.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, gear. 
311 

TUNDRA TIMES. 

1977b. Eskimos are hunting whales from Barrow to Gambell. Tundra Times, May 11, 

14(19):1, 6. 

As of May 10 a total of 12 bowhead whales had been landed at four Alaskan villages: Gambell (1, 

April 22); Kivalina (1, Victor Swam [sic], May 9); Point Hope (1, Billy Webber, May 2 or 3); and 

Barrow (9). The successful crews at Barrow were: Burton Rexford, May 2, 37 feet in length; Harry 

Brower, May 3, 29 feet; Joash Tukle, May 3; David Brower, Benjamin Itta and Jacob Adams, on May 

5; Raymond Kalayauk and Roxy Oyagak, on May 8; and an unconfirmed report that Arnold Brower’s 

crew recovered a whale on May 10 which they had previously killed. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements, body; POPULATION-mortality, whaling, killed and lost, stinker; WHALING-Bering and 

Chukchi Seas, native, catch, crews. 

TUNDRA TIMES. 

1977c. Sharing the whale. Tundra Times, October 12, 14(41):1, 12. 

Two bowhead whales were taken by crews from Kaktovik, Alaska. The first whale, taken September 

29 by Nolan Solomon’s crew, was 55 feet long; the second, taken by Herman Aishanna’s crew on 

October 2, was 22 feet long. A box of muktuk was flown to Anaktuvuk Pass to be shared with the 

inland Inupiats. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements, body length; WHALING-Beaufort Sea, native, catch, crews, utilization. 

TUNDRA TIMES. 

1977d. Wanted: good bowhead whale info. Why the IWC went wrong in Tokyo. Tundra 

Times, December 28, 14(52):1, 4. 

Article describes disappointment of Alaskan Eskimos with a whaling quota imposed upon them by 

the International Whaling Commission and the general lack of knowledge by many people about 

bowhead whales and the annual subsistence hunt. Eskimo viewpoints expressed include an 

observed increase in numbers of whales, an increase in annual harvests in recent years due to 

favorable conditions resulting in increasing numbers of crews dispersed over a larger area 

accompanied by a better recovery of “stinkers”, the taking of females with calves is not a problem 

because they customarily travel together in a third run which usually occurs when the ice is 

becoming rotten and whaling stops, and because of Eskimo concern for the bowhead whale they 

desire to participate in a management program and will finance at least a part of planned scientific 

research on the species. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration, segregated timing; POPULATION-abundance (observed), mortality, whaling, stinkers; REGULATIONS 

& CONSERVATION-management, quotas; WHALING-Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, native, catch, crews, utilization. 

TUNDRA TIMES. 

1978a. Anthropologists endorse local game control. Tundra Times, March 22, 15(12):3. 

At an Alaska Anthropological Association Convention held last weekend in Anchorage, the group 

endorsed local game control following a panel discussion, under the direction of moderator Rosita 

Worl, to address the critical issues of land use and subsistence by Alaska natives. Two members of 

the panel were Roger Silook, a member of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission from Gambell, 

and David Frankson from Point Hope. Frankson was a whaling captain for nearly 40 years, from 

1929 to 1967, and during that time his crew only captured 9 or 10 whales. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ANTHROPOLOGY-Eskimos, Alaska, culture; REGULATION & CONSERVATION-conservation; WHALING-Bering, Chukchi 

and Beaufort Seas, native, catch, crews, utilization. 
312 

TUNDRA TIMES. 

1978b. U.S. may enforce bowhead quota. Tundra Times, July 12, 15(28):1, 12. 

“The United States probably will not take advantage of its legal right to object to the new whaling 

quota set by the International Whaling Commission in London last month, says Richard Frank, 

administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the U.S. Commissioner 

on the IWC.” The new quota for 1979 is 18 whales landed or 27 struck. 

Jacob Adams, Chairman of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, told Frank that he could not 

condone such a restriction on the hunters he represents and that the AEWC will set its own quota 

and regulate the hunt themselves, based on actual needs of the Eskimo people, but not to exceed 2 

percent of the best estimate of the population of the bowhead herd. The 2 percent figure was 

supported by the United States at the London meeting without success. 

Ten whales were taken so far this year; the total quota for 1978 is now 14. Fifteen whales have been 

struck out of an allowable 18. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling, struck and lost; REGULATIONS & CONSERVATION-regulation; WHALING-Bering, Chukchi 

and Beaufort Seas, native, catch, utilization. 

TUNDRA TIMES. 

1979a. Five whales taken. Tundra Times, May 9, 16(19):12. 

To date only five whales were reported taken by Eskimo whalers, one at Gambell and four at Point 

Hope where John Oktollik took the fifth whale of his career as a whaling captain. Crews at Point 

Hope reported record numbers of whales migrating northward. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-abundance (observed), mortality, whaling catch; WHALING-Bering and Chukchi Seas, native, catch, crews. 

TUNDRA TIMES. 

1979b. Whales arrive, -- finally. Tundra Times, May 23, 16(21):1. 

At Barrow the William Kaleak crew landed a 27 foot bowhead whale on Wednesday, the first whale 

of the season for the village. A photograph shows the whale being cut up on the ice. Late Thursday 

night another bowhead was struck near Monument, 12 miles west of Barrow. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, photograph. 

TUNDRA TIMES. 

1979c. Old ways still valuable. Tundra Times, May 30, 16(22):1, 5. 

Retired whaling captain Vincent Nageak, 76, of Barrow, Alaska, still advises others on his whaling 

techniques. He was only 12 or 13 years old when he was allowed to take his first shot with the big 

brass gun. The first whale he shot sank and got away. His old equipment is now being used by the 

Robert Aiken crew. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-mortality, whaling, struck and lost; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, crews, gear. 
313 

TUNDRA TIMES. 

1981. Whalers, U.S. reach agreement. Tundra Times, April 1, 18(13):1. 

“Last week the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission signed two agreements with the U.S. 

Government that in essence returned control of the bowhead whale hunt to the Eskimos and 

provided for a cooperative agreement between the whaling commission and the National Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Administration,...one that outlines the commission's bowhead management plan 

and the other to aid NOAA in monitoring the hunt.” 

The AEWC management plan sets a limit of 32 whale strikes and no more than 17 whales landed 

during 1981. Village quotas are: Barrow, 10; Point Hope, 5; Wainwright, 4; Savoonga, Gambell and 

Kaktovik, 3 apiece; Kivalina, 2; and Nuiqsut and Wales, one apiece. The commission will also assess 

penalties for infractions of their regulations. Duration of the agreements is two years. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION-management, quotas, regulation, agreements; WHALING-Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, 

Beaufort Sea 

TUNDRA TIMES. 

1982a. Whalers, U.S. reach quota accord. Tundra Times, March 3, 19(9):1, 16. 

According to an agreement arrived at between the U.S. Government and the Alaska Eskimo Whaling 

Commission, bowhead whalers will be allowed 19 strikes this year. The strikes allowed each village 

are: Barrow (5), Point Hope (3), Savoonga (2), Gambell (2), Wainwright (2), Kaktovik (2), Wales (1), 

Kivalina (1) and Nuiqsut (1). “The quotas were established using figures from last year’s hunt and 

IWC quotas. Last year, whalers took 17 whales of the 28 they struck. The IWC in 1980 set a quota of 

up to 65 whales landed in 1981, 1982 and 1983, which means that the captains can strike 37 and 

land 28 for the remaining two years of the IWC quota.” Also, “...captains will attempt to limit their 

strikes to sexually immature whales of less than 39 feet in length and will be forbidden from taking 

bowhead calves or adults accompanied by calves. Captains will be fined for each whale taken after 

the limit of 19 strikes is taken but the AEWC will pay the fine instead of the whaling captains.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION-management, quotas, regulation, Eskimo. 

TUNDRA TIMES. 

1982b. Editorial: Dispute shouldn’t divide Inupiat. Tundra Times, May 12, 19(19):8. 

Editorial comments on a serious disagreement of whaling authority that has erupted between the 

whaling captains of the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission, and the Inupiat Community of the 

Arctic Slope, the tribal government. The first group has decided to abide by the [IWC] quota, the 

latter has decided against that agreement. The disagreement has been fueled by the fact that no 

bowheads were taken by Barrow whalers this spring season. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION-management, quotas, regulation, Eskimo; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, catch. 

TUSAAYUGAAT INUIT ILISAGVIANNIN. 

1980. Nalukataq. Tusaayugaat Inuit Ilisagviannin, 1(5):6-7. Inuit Univ. of the Arctic, 

Barrow, Alaska. 

“This spring, Lawrence “Savik” Ahmaogak, Ralph “Amakak” Ahveoganna, Arnold “Aanualuk” Brower, 

Sr., Harry “Kupaaq” Brower, Sr., Ben “Alivrun” Itta, Marchie Nageak, Percy “Kunannauraq” 

Nusunginya, Simeon “Nasuk” Patkotak, and Patsy Tukle captured whales. The crews split into three 

groups for three different days of “blanket toss”, one of which was an official Inuit Ilisagviat holiday.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews. 
314 

UNGUDRUK, IRVING. 

1978. Whaling festivals. Tundra Times, April 26, 15(17):1, 7. 

An editor’s note at beginning of the article states the St. Lawrence Island villages of Savoonga and 

Gambell have each landed one whale so far this season. Author describes nalukatak, the whaler’s 

celebration of a successful season. Three successful captains placed their umiats end to end, tipped 

on their sides as windbreaks for the people, and the captains' flags were raised on poles next to the 

boats. However, the year of celebration and names of the captains have been omitted. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-Bering Sea, native, catch, crews, gear. 

U.S. NAVY CINCPACFLT INTELLIGENCE. 

1952. Whale intelligence. U.S. Navy CinCPacFlt Intelligence, Fleet Intelligence Center 

Pacific, San Francisco, CA., 10 p. Bibliography, 12 charts. 

Purpose of article is to provide U.S. Navy personnel with information to assist them in distinguishing 

whale sightings from vessels. Brief general descriptions on the life histories and behavior 

characteristics of each species of large whale in the Pacific. Figures apparently taken from 

Townsend, 1935, show the monthly distribution for each species. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-general; DISTRIBUTION-monthly, Okhotsk, Bering, Chukchi, Beaufort Seas; FIELD & LABORATORY 

TECHNIQUES-field recognition. 

U.S. NAVY CINCPACFLT INTELLIGENCE. 

1961. Submarine or Whale? U.S. Navy CinCPacFlt Intelligence, Fleet Intelligence Center 

Pacific, San Francisco, California, 17 p. appendix I-10, II-3, III-2, IV-3, 12 charts, 

bibliography, supplementary notes. This publication cancels and supersedes 

CINCPACFLT Whale Intelligence of January 1952. It has been prepared for wide 

distribution as an aid in the identification of whales, having as a goal the reduction 

of reported false submarine sightings. 

Brief general life histories and behavior characteristics of all whales, dolphins and porpoises which 

might be found in Pacific waters. Characteristics of submarines and whales are compared, and every 

conceivable contact similarity and difference is discussed, appropriately illustrated with annotated 

photographs of submarines and whales from various altitudes and in various “maneuvers.” Whale 

distribution charts are provided to aid in determining the probability of a whale sighting by month of 

the year. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-general, migration; DISTRIBUTION-monthly, Okhotsk, Bering, Chukchi, Beaufort Seas; FIELD & LABORATORY 

TECHNIQUES-field recognition. 
315 

U.S. REVENUE CUTTER SERVICE. 

1899. Report of the cruise of the U.S. revenue cutter Bear and the overland expedition for 

the relief of the whalers in the Arctic Ocean, from November 27, 1897, to 

September 13, 1898. U.S. Gov. Print. Office, Washington, D.C. (Treas. Dep. Doc. 

2101; also 56th Cong., 2nd Sess., House Doc. 511). 144 p., Map. 

The revenue cutter Bear, under command of Capt. Francis Tuttle, was sent to rescue crews of eight 

whaling vessels caught in the ice near Pt. Barrow in 1897. Reports by various individuals describe 

their adventures including brief mention of whaling stations, names of whaling vessels and catch of 

bowheads. (See Bertholf 1899; Jarvis 1899). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, shore stations, history, gear (vessels), catch. 

VAN NOTE, CRAIG. 

1978. Letters, notes and comments: (Letter to Lael Morgan, and testimony before U.S. 

Commerce Department, September 8, 1977, about bowhead whale issue). Alaska 

44(1):12. 

The letter and testimony by the author questions wasteful bowhead hunting by Alaskan Eskimos. He 

presents estimates of the bowhead population and requests support for a zero quota in 1978 as set 

by the International Whaling Commission. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-abundance & density, recruitment, mortality (struck & lost); REGULATION & CONSERVATION-regulation, 

conservation, management; WHALING-western Arctic, natives, gear. 

VAN STONE, JAMES W. (editor). 

1957. The autobiography of an Alaskan Eskimo. Arctic 10(4):195-210. 

Recollections of Attungoruk (L. K.) son of Chief Attungoruk’s daughter, who was born at Point Hope, 

Alaska, on March 16, 1928, describing his childhood, adolescent and adult years and the hunting 

cycles followed to obtain food. In his introduction to the autobiography, Van Stone briefly reviews the 

importance of bowhead whaling to the village residents livelihood from pre-contact days with the 

white man to the present. Van Stone resided at Point Hope from September 1955 until August 1956, 

during which time he encouraged L.K. to write out the story of his life. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, native, commercial, utilization. 

VAN STONE, JAMES W. 

1958. Commercial whaling in the Arctic Ocean. Pac. Northwest Quart. 49(1):1-10. 

Description of American bowhead whaling industry in the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas from 

1848-1916. Includes statistics on baleen and oil production; as a general average for the fleet, the 

yield of baleen was 15 to 20 pounds to the barrel of oil and the average whale yielded 100 barrels of 

oil. Shore whaling began at Barrow in 1884, at Point Hope in 1887, and by the winter of 1897-98 

thirteen such stations, owned and operated by white men, were strung out at intervals along the 

coast between Point Hope and Cape Seppings. Commercial whaling for bowheads declined 

substantially by 1908, although in 1910 there still were shore whaling stations at Point Hope, Cape 

Lisburne, Icy Cape, and Point Barrow. Shore whaling ended in 1915 and 1916 was the last year that 

whaling ships went to the Arctic. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea, commercial, shore stations, catch, utilization. 
316 

VAN STONE, JAMES W. and WENDELL H. OSWALT. 

1962. Three Eskimo communities. Univ. Alaska, Fairbanks, Antropol. Pap. 9(1):17-56. 

Acculturation studies were conducted at Napaskiak and Point Hope, Alaska, during 1955-1956, and 

at Eskimo Point, Hudson Bay, Canada, in 1959. The annual food cycle hunt at Point Hope is 

described including a concise account of bowhead whaling during the spring. The appearance of 

belugas (white whales), which usually arrive before the bowheads, is a signal for the beginning of the 

hunt off the south side of the peninsula. Early in June most of the bowheads have passed Point 

Hope and the crews return to shore. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, gear, utilization. 

VAN VALIN, WILLIAM B. 

1941. Eskimoland speaks. The Caxton Printers, Ltd., Caldwell, Idaho, 242 p. 

Popular description of Eskimo life from author’s observations near Nome, Pt. Barrow, and at 

Wainwright, Alaska, where he served as a teacher in the early 1900s. Includes detailed observations 

of Eskimo whaling methods and gear, techniques to approach bowhead to avoid discovery, whales 

captured, cutting up whales and their use for food. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-when hunted; WHALING-western Arctic, native, catch, crews, gear, photographs, utilization. 

VASIL'CHUK, YU. K., and A. V. YABLOKOV. 

1981. Grenlandski kit v Obskoi Guba (A Greenland whale in Obskaya Guba). Priroda 

3:116. In Russian. (Transl. by S. Pearson, U.S. Dep. Commer., NOAA, Natl. Mar. 

Fish. Serv., Natl. Mar. Mammal Lab., 7600 Sand Point Way N.E., Seattle, WA 

98115). 

In 1980, the carcass of a stranded bowhead whale was found in Obskaya Guba, near the village 

Seyakha on the Yamal Peninsula. Measurements indicated a fluke width of about 4m and a total 

body length of approximately 12 m. From an examination of the remains it was concluded that the 

animal died not more than 20 years ago. Since the animal was found 400 m within Obskaya Guba, it 

appears that it died in the bay itself and not in the open basin of the Kara Sea. Mentions three 

bowhead strandings found in the vicinity that were previously reported by Tomilin (1957). The 

authors state that “The fact of finding the remains of a juvenile bowhead whale in Obskaya Bay is 

extremely interesting in the sense that it verifies the existence and possible beginning of an increase 

of numbers of this (Spitsbergen) population.” 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-stranding, Kara Sea; MORPHOLOGY-measurements; POPULATION-mortality, stranding; SKELETAL 

REMAINS-beachcast. 

VERRILL, A. HYATT. 

1923. The real story of the whaler; whaling, past and present. D. Appleton and Co., New 

York, 295 p. 

Reviews the history of whaling; describes the whalemen’s lives and adventures, vessels, equipment, 

and whaling methods. Drawings of whales include bowhead and right whales. General, limited 

description of bowhead distribution, food, behavior under chase. Notes the first bowhead was taken 

in the North Pacific by the Janus off the coast of Kamchatka in 1843, and the Superior took the first 

whale in the Arctic after passing Bering Strait in 1844 (sic) . 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-when chased; DISTRIBUTION; NUTRITION-food; WHALING-history, western Arctic, commercial, gear, 

utilization, photographs and drawings. 
317 

VIBE, CHRISTIAN. 

1970. The Arctic ecosystem influenced by fluctuations in sun-spots and drift-ice 

movements. In W. A. Fuller and P. G. Kevan (eds.), Productivity and conservation in 

northern circumpolar lands, p. 115-120. Int. Union. Conserv. Nat. and Nat. Resour., 

Morges, Switz., Proc. of Conf., Edmonton, Alberta, 15-17 Oct. 1969, IUCN Publ. 

New Ser. No. 16. 

Relating drift-ice conditions and sun-spots to the Arctic ecosystem, the author believes mild winters 

restrict plankton production and cause fluctuations in the numbers of mammals, including Greenland 

whales. He describes various periods in the 18th and 19th centuries when disappearance of drift-ice 

and decreased plankton production caused decreases in the populations of the whales in areas of 

the Atlantic Ocean. 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-factors limiting and changing; NUTRITION-food; POPULATION-abundance; WHALING-history, eastern 

Arctic, commercial. 

VINCENT, LEON S. 

1944. The whale didn’t get away. Alaska Sportsman 10(8):16-17, 26-28. (One of a series 

of articles titled The top of the world: 10(5):10-11, 35-36; 10(6):12-13, 31-33; 

10(7):16-17, 23-26; 10(9):16-17, 25-26.) 

Author describes his experience as a member one day of Bert Panigeo’s crew at Barrow, Alaska, in 

about 1928. Equipment used consisted of a wood-plank boat with a sail, a shoulder gun, two darting 

guns, bombs, harpoons, lines and two seal-skin floats. They struck a large whale with two bombs 

and it was dead before the first of 12 other boats arrived on the scene to assist in the kill. Panigeo’s 

boat led a procession of seven boats in towing the whale to their camp on the ice. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-swimming, when pursued; IDENTITY-nomenclature; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, native, catch, 

crews, gear, photographs. 

VINCENT, LEON S. 

1959. King of the Arctic. Alaska Sportsman 25(9):8-11, 40, 42; 25(10):12-13, 40-42; 

25(11):18-21, 40-43; 25(12):14-17, 32-33. 

Author spent three years [1927-1930] in Barrow, Alaska, as the school principal. During that time he 

became good friends of Charles D. Brower, known as “King of the Arctic.” All four parts of this series 

about Brower and his life at Barrow contain some references to whaling but part three describes his 

arrival in Alaska, when he decided to make his home there, the beginning, evolution and ending of 

his bowhead whaling business and interesting aspects of his life as a community leader. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi Sea, commercial shore station, native, gear, catch, photographs. 

VON ELLING, ROSEMARY. 

1965. Culture change in six Alaskan Eskimo communities. M. A. Thesis, Wash. State 

Univ., [Pullman], 140 p. (Unpublished). 

This study, drawn entirely from the literature; examines the acculturation trends in six Eskimo 

communities: Kaktovik, Barrow, Wainwright, Point Hope, Gambell, and Napaskiak. Contains some 

general information on bowhead whaling by the natives. Citing Milan (1964), author states (p. 91-92) 

that there were three whaling crews at Wainwright in 1955 and one whale was caught. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ANTHROPOLOGY; WHALING-western Arctic, native, catch, crews. 
318 

WARD, JOHN G. 

1979. Bird and mammal surveys in the Cape Parry Area, Northwest Territories, JuneAugust 1979. Rep. by LGL Ltd., Edmonton, Alberta, for Dome Petroleum Ltd., 

Calgary, Alberta, 40 p. (unpublished). 

Several aerial and ground surveys were conducted in the Cape Parry area to provide site-specific 

information needed to evaluate potential impacts on wildlife of two proposed fuel staging areas 

(Summers Harbor and Wise Bay) for deep-draft icebreakers. Although both bowhead and white 

whales were expected to occur in the area, none were sighted during the surveys. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-eastern Beaufort Sea, sightings; FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-census, aerial. 

WARNER, IRIS. 

1973. Herschel Island: Canada’s valuable flyspeck. Alaska J. 3(3):130-143. 

A detailed history of Herschel Island in the eastern Beaufort Sea, which was used as a winteringover station by American whalers hunting the bowhead whale. Author reviews bowhead whaling in 

the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas and gives some information on natural history of the species. 

The first whaling vessel to reach Herschel Island was the steam bark Grampus in 1888. Joe 

Tuckfield was provided supplies by Charles Brower and sent on the Grampus to Herschel Island. He 

was to winter-over and attempt shore whaling for bowheads the next spring as Eskimos from the 

area had informed Brower about numerous whales present there each summer. He captured one 

whale. Following Tuckfield’s return to Barrow the summer of 1889 with information of many whales in 

the area, the whaling fleet began working the area that same year. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-swimming; DISTRIBUTION-history; IDENTITY-description; MORPHOLOGY-measurements; WHALING-western 

Arctic, Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, commercial, catch, photographs & drawings. 

WARNER, IRIS. 

1976. Herschel Island; Canada's valuable flyspeck. Alaska 42(11):43-45, 80-81. 

Briefly reviews historical importance of Herschel Island. Contains information on use of the island by 

American whalers searching for bowhead whales in the eastern Beaufort Sea. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION; WHALING-western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, commercial. 

WATSON, D. G., W. C. HANSON, J. J. DAVIS, and W. H. RICKARD. 

1966. Radionuclides in terrestrial and freshwater biota. In Norman J. Wilimovsky and 

John N. Wolfe (eds.), Environment of the Cape Thompson region, Alaska, Chapt. 

42, p. 1165-1200. U.S. Atomic Energy Comm., Washington, D.C. 

The kinds, amounts, and distribution of radionuclides originating from worldwide fallout were studied 

in the biota of the Project Charriot (proposed nuclear explosion) site near Cape Thompson, Alaska, 

from 1959 through 1962. Analysis of a bowhead whale muscle sample (p. 1186) from Pt. Hope, April 

1962, gave a 137Cs reading of 0.036 micromicrocuries per g of standard dry weight and a total 

gamma emitter rating of 0.036. No data were obtained for other gamma emitters and for 90sr in 

muscle, fat, or skin and fat. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES-experimental techniques; PATHOLOGY-pollution; WHALING-western Arctic, Chukchi 

Sea, native, catch. 
319 

WENTWORTH, CYNTHIA. 

1978. Battle for the Beaufort Sea: Natives document subsistence use in the Pt. Thomson 

oil lease area. Arct. Coastal Zone Manage. Newsl. 14:1-7. 

Author interviewed active subsistence hunters of Kaktovik, Alaska and prepared land use maps to 

show patterns of subsistence use extending from the Canadian border to the Sagavanirktok River, 

and south into the Brooks Range. A brief paragraph on the bowhead whale states: “One resource 

specialist interviewed said that he shot a whale at Flaxman Island, sometime before 1930. He 

remembers that the bone was eleven feet long.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements, baleen; POPULATION-mortality, whaling, catch; WHALING-Beaufort Sea, native, catch, 

utilization. 

WENZEL, GEORGE W. 

1981. Clyde Inuit adaptation and ecology: the organization of subsistence. Natl. Mus. 

Canada, Can. Ethnol. Serv. Pap. 77, 163 p. 

This monograph examines the position of Inuit (Eskimo) subsistence activities in the Clyde River 

region on Baffin Island, which are perceived not simply in terms of isolated actions, but as a process 

encompassing a broad range of societal components. Although Greenland whales, aqyiq, (Balaena

mysticetus), occasion the region, the Inuit report none seen in the last ten years (p. 55). An elderly 

Inuk in Clyde (Iqalukuak, 1972, pers. comm.) noted he had seen a bowhead killed but, when 

pressed, stated that this occurred in Cumberland Sound in the 1930s (p. 59). 

EASTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-present; IDENTITY-nomenclature (Eskimo); WHALING-eastern Arctic, native, catch. 

WEST, ELLSWORTH LUCE (as told to Eleanor Ransom Mayhew). 

1965. Captain’s papers; a log of whaling and other sea experiences. Barre Publ., Barre, 

Mass., 172 p. 

Popular style narrative and journal of the author's adventures in whaling and sailing in the North 

Pacific Ocean, particularly in the Bering and Chukchi Seas. Includes descriptions of shipboard life, 

whaling gear, bowhead and other whale sightings, and catches in various years (principally 1892-

1896). Gives brief descriptions of bowheads, their feeding and swimming behavior, breathing, and 

baleen and its value. Catches by vessels with which the author was involved were: 1887(?)-4; 1890-

6; 1892-5; 1893-saw 3 took 1; 1893-94--number seen, took 6; 1895-saw 6, took 1; 1896-8. Only 5 

bowheads were taken in 1895 by the northern fleet of 13 steam whalers and 1 bark. One large 

bowhead in 1893 yielded 2,700 lb. of baleen and 130 barrels of oil. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-respiration, swimming; IDENTITY-description; MORPHOLOGY-baleen; NUTRITION-feeding; WHALING-history, 

western Arctic (Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea), gear, catch, utilization, photographs (vessels). 

WEST, FREDERICK HADLEIGH. 

1966. Archaeology of Ogotoruk Creek. In Norman J. Wilimovsky and John N. Wolfe 

(eds.), Environment of the Cape Thompson region, Alaska, Chapt. 34, p. 927-967. 

U.S. Atomic Energy Comm., Washington, D.C. 

Ogotoruk presents a picture of late prehistoric Eskimo culture leading without important break into 

modern times. Ogotoruk has been an important area for the hunting economy of Tigara and Kivalina. 

Three sites were investigated, and artifacts recovered that were associated with whaling and 

utilization of whale products are listed and described, many represented in photographs. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ARCHAEOLOGY-artifacts; WHALING-history, western Arctic, native, gear, utilization. 
320 

WHITING, EMMA MAYHEW and HENRY BEETLE HOUGH. 

1953. Whaling wives. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 293 p. 

Contains considerable information on the people and families of Martha’s Vineyard centered about 

accounts of whaling vessels, voyages, and the whaling industry of that community: The sources of 

most of the information were logbooks, journals, letters, diaries and fragmentary annals preserved in 

old records covering the period from 1790s to 1914. Includes accounts of whaling in the western 

Arctic, including the Okhotsk Sea. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, catch. 

WHITTAKER, C. E. 

1937. Arctic Eskimo. Seeley, Service & Co. Ltd. London, 260 p. 

Account of the daily life of Eskimos of the Mackenzie River and Coronation Gulf regions by a 

missionary who served there from 1895 through the early 1900s. Describes the impact of American 

whalers on the Eskimos of Herschel Island and vicinity during the period when they first arrived there 

in 1889 through about 1907 when the value of whalebone plummeted. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Beaufort Sea, commercial. 

WOOLFE, HENRY D. 

1893. The seventh or Arctic district. In Robert P. Porter, Report on population and 

resources of Alaska at the eleventh census: 1890, p. 129-152. Gov. Print Office., 

Wash., D.C. 

Author presents a general but comprehensive description of the geography of the Arctic district and 

the lifestyle of its residents gained through personal experience over a ten-year period beginning in 

1884. He describes one superstitious incident at Point Hope in 1885 that was followed by the taking 

of a big whale the next day. (p. 141) “The whale fishery from the ice floe is carried out identically at 

Point Hope and Point Barrow...”, (p. 146) and “About 8 or 10 boats from each village make up the 

usual fleet.” (p. 147). Also includes a detailed account of Eskimo whaling for bowhead whales 

describing timing of the migration, gear used and method employed to capture the whales. (p. 146-

49) 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ANTHROPOLOGY-culture; BEHAVIOR-migration, timing; WHALING-Chukchi Sea, native, catch, crews, gear, utilization. 

WORL, ROSITA. 

1978. The bowhead whaling ban. Tundra Times, Special Subsistence Issue, January, p. 

6-7. 

Author criticizes the evidence that the International Whaling Commission relied upon to make the 

decision to ban bowhead whaling by Alaskan Eskimos beginning in 1978. The Eskimos formed the 

Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission in August 1977 and sent representatives to Tokyo, Japan, for 

the December meeting of the IWC. At that meeting, the IWC allowed for a whale harvest quota of 12 

whales or 18 struck during 1978. Article reviews the importance of the bowhead whale to the Eskimo 

and describes how “...the contemporary Eskimo whaling complex exemplifies the successful 

adaptation between a subsistence and monetary economy. As a contemporary subsistence culture, 

it is dependent on access to a cash supply to purchase the technological equipment... an initial 

minimum investment of $6,500 is required to support a whaling crew.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

ANTHROPOLOGY-Alaskan Eskimos, culture; POPULATION-mortality whaling, struck and lost; REGULATION & 

CONSERVATION-regulation; WHALING-Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, crews, gear, photographs, utilization. 
321 

WORL, ROSITA. 

1980. The North Slope Inupiat whaling complex. In Y. Kotani and W.B. Workman (eds.), 

Alaska Native culture and history, Senri Ethnol. Studies No. 4, p. 305-320. Natl. 

Mus. Ethnol., Suita, Osaka, Japan. 

An effort to describe and analyze the complexities of the contemporary Inupiat socio-economic 

organization for bowhead whaling, the interrelationships between subsistence and capital economy, 

and the customary laws which regulate ownership and distribution patterns of the whale. Bowhead 

whale migrations and environmental factors affecting the hunt are discussed. Based on personal 

experience and field research in Alaska from 1975 to 1977. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; WHALING-western Arctic, native, gear, utilization. 

WORL, ROSITA. 

1981. Subsistence and culture. (Abstr.) In Acoustical Society of America. 1981. San 

Diego workshop on the interaction between man-made noise and vibration and 

Arctic marine wildlife, February 25-29, 1980, p. 62. Unpub. rep. by Acoust. Soc. 

Am., [Washington, D.C.], for Alaska Eskimo Whaling Comm., Barrow, AK 99723. 

Discusses the importance of the bowhead whale to Alaskan Eskimos for subsistence and cultural 

purposes and how the bowhead whale issue...”exemplifies the need for scientists and policy makers 

to adopt multi- and interdisciplinary approaches in investigative research in the development of 

management regimes.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION-management; WHALING-native, Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, utilization. 

WYMAN [JEFFRIES]. 

1848. (no title). Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. 3(1848-1851):355. 

“Dr. Wyman exhibited an embryo, six inches long, of the Greenland whale, Balaena mysticetus, 

which presented some remarkable differences from the adult animal. Instead of the long flukes and 

central depression seen in the adult, the tail of the embryo was rounded, as in the tail of Manatus; 

there was also a vertical crest above and below the tail. The genital organs, in external appearance 

male, proved to be female on the internal examination; in the early stages of the foetus it is 

impossible to distinguish them externally. The thymus body was remarkably large, extending down 

between the lungs and heart, then underneath the latter, and with its fellow of the other side almost 

enveloping this organ.” No information was given on the origin of the embryo. 

CIRCUMPOLAR 

MORPHOLOGY-measurements, anatomy; REPRODUCTION-fetus. 

YOUNGMAN, PHILLIP M. 

1975. Mammals of the Yukon Territory. Natl. Mus. Can., Pub. Zool. 10, 192 p. 

Subject discussed in article includes a history of mammalogy in the Yukon, environmental influences, 

a checklist of the mammals, accounts of species and type localities of Yukon mammals. The species 

account consists mainly of brief history of American whaling in the Beaufort Sea with a note that 

Eskimos formerly hunted the bowhead along the Yukon coast and utilized the products for food, fuel, 

house frames and implements. Records of occurrence and references are listed. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION-specimens; IDENTITY-taxonomy; WHALING-western Arctic, eastern Beaufort Sea, commercial, native, 

utilization. 
322 

ZENKOVICH, B. A. 

1934. Kitoboinyi promysel v Kamchatskom i Beringovom moryakh (sezon 1933 goda). 

(The whaling industry in Kamchatka and Bering Seas (1933 season). Rybn. Khoz. 

Dal’nego Vostoka, No: 1-2: 113-118. In Russian. (Transl. by Lydia Hutchison, Univ. 

Calif. San Diego, La Jolla, Calif.) 

A general account of Russian whaling activities in the area during 1933. Speaking about the natives 

at Lavrenty Bay the author states “...let me mention that up to ten specimens of Greenland whales 

are killed annually on the coast from Providence Bay to Cape Dezhnev (Uelen village). One can find 

hand-harpoons with grenades (used to kill whales) in the Iarangas (or skin-tents) of the following 

villages: Sireniki, Naukan, Dezhnev and Uelen.” 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, Bering and Chukchi Seas, native, catch, gear. 

ZENKOVICH, B. A. 

1954. Vokrug sveta za kitami; Ekspeditsiya kitoboinoi flotilii “Aleut”. (Around the world 

after whales; Expedition of the whaling fleet “Aleut”.). 2nd ed., revised and enlarged. 

Gos. Izd. Geograf. Lit., Moscow. 407 p. In Russian. (1st ed., 1936, Izd. “Molodaya 

Gvardiya”, Leningrad, 190 p.). (Transl., 523 p, by Lydia A. Hutchison, Univ. Calif., 

San Diego.) 

Popular account of whaling around the world, including the author's observations on a voyage in 

1932-33 from Leningrad, through the Atlantic and the Panama Canal, and in the Pacific Ocean, 

Okhotsk, Bering, and Chukchi Seas on the whaler Aleut. Describes bowhead whales, their behavior, 

migration, utilization by natives and commercial whalers, reproduction, and some data on catches. 

Of particular interest is chapter 17 on the smooth or right whales and chapter 19 on whaling which 

presents a history of whaling in European and Far Eastern waters, with emphasis on development of 

the Russian whaling industry in the Far East. 

EASTERN ARCTIC, WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-swimming, diving, reactions, respiratory, migration; DISTRIBUTION; IDENTITY-description, nomenclature; 

NUTRITION-food; POPULATION-abundance, mortality; REPRODUCTION-calves, Eskimo beliefs; WHALING-history, eastern 

Arctic, western Arctic, commercial, native, catch, gear, utilization. 

ZENKOVICH, B. A. 

1955a. Kratkaya istoriya kitoboinogo promysla i sovremennoe ego sostoyanie v SSSR 

(A brief history of whaling in prerevolutionary Russia and an account of present-day 

whaling in the U.S.S.R). In S. E. Kleinenberg and T. I. Makarova (eds.), Kitoboinyi 

promysel Sovetskogo Soyuza (The whaling industry of the Soviet Union), Chapt. 1, 

p. 5-23. Izd. “Rybnogo Khozyaistva”, Moscow. In Russian. (Transl. by Israel 

Program Sci. Transl., 1968, avail. Natl. Mar. Fish. Serv., Office Int. Relations, 

Washington, D.C.) 

The author contributed three parts to chapter 1: Kitoboinyi promysel na russkom Severe (Whaling in 

the Russian North), p. 5-11; Kitoboinyi promysel na Dal'nem Vostoke (Whaling in the Russian Far 

East), p. 11-19; and promysel v Dal’nevostochnykh vodakh (Whaling in the Far East), p. 19-23. 

Presents a brief history of the whaling industry of the Russian north and status of the contemporary 

whaling industry of the U.S.S.R. A table of Soviet whaling in the North Pacific, 1932-1954, lists catch 

of 8 Pacific right whales. 

EASTERN ARCTIC, WESTERN ARCTIC 

BEHAVIOR-migration; IDENTITY-description, .nomenclature, subspecies; WHALING-history, eastern arctic, western Arctic, 

commercial, native, catch. 
323 

ZENKOVICH, B. A. 

1955b. O migratsiyakh kitov; promyslovye raiony v dal'nevostochnykh vodakh (The 

migrations of whales; whale fishing in the waters of the Soviet Far East). In S. E. 

Kleinenberg and T. I. Makarova (eds.), Kitoboinyi promysel Sovetskogo Soyuza 

(The whaling industry of the Soviet Union), Chapt. 3, p. 51-68. Izd. “Rybnogo 

Khozyaistva”, Moscow. In Russian. (Transl. by Israel Program Sci. Transl., 1968, 

avail. Natl. Mar. Fish. Serv., Office Int. Relations, Washington, D.C.) 

Mentions that bowhead whales in Far Eastern waters have not been studied and are encountered 

only rarely. Some primitive whaling of bowhead is conducted by natives of the Soviet coast of Bering 

Strait and Chukchi Sea. Author notes he captured two varieties of right whale, known as “poggi”, in 

the Okhotsk Sea and that these were similar to neither the Pacific right whale nor the polar whale 

(bowhead). 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION; IDENTITY-races or subspecies; WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, natives, catch.

ZHIRNOV, L. V., A. A. VINOKUROV , and V. A. BYCHKOV. 

1975. Redkie mlekopitayushchie, ptitsy, i ikh okhrana v SSSR (Rare mammals, birds, 

and their protection in the U.S.S.R.). Ministry of Agriculture, Moscow, 82 p. In 

Russian. (Translation of Chapt. 3, Morskie mlekopitayushchie (marine mammals), p. 

27-38, plus accompanying references by Francis H. Fay, Univ. Alaska, Fairbanks, 

1977, 17 p.). 

Describes status of rare and vanishing species, including six species of great whales. There are 

three stocks of bowhead whales: Bering-Chukchi, Spitsbergen, and West Greenland. Spitsbergen is 

the smallest stock, Bering-Chukchi is largest stock. Annual harvest was about 1,000 whales in 16th 

and 17th centuries, but now only the native population of Chukotka takes a few each year. The 

bowhead is close to extinction, its recovery has been slow, and local conservation measures in 

Bering Strait region consist of prohibition of whaling. 

EASTERN ARCTIC, WESTERN ARCTIC 

POPULATION-abundance and density; REGULATION & CONSERVATION; WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, native, 

catch. 

ZHIRNOV, L. V., A. A. VINOKUROV, and V. A. BYCHKOV. 

1978. Redkie i ischezayushchie zhivotnye SSSR: mlekopitayushchie i ptitsy (Rare and 

endangered animals of the U.S.S.R., mammals and birds). Izd. “Lesnaya 

Promyshlennost,” Moscow, 303 p. In Russian. 

General handbook review, with bowhead whale discussed on p. 45-47. Includes a brief description of 

the bowhead whale, review of distribution, reproduction, food, and history of whaling in the eastern 

and western Arctic. Discusses the development of protective regulations, beginning with the 

International Conference on Regulation of Whaling in 1931. Other regulatory acts were provided in 

1946, 1949, 1955, and 1960 in the U.S.S.R. At present only the native people, the Chukchis and 

Eskimos, are allowed to catch bowheads in Soviet and Alaskan waters. Traditionally the annual 

catch by Soviet natives is about 10 and in Alaska 30-40 individuals, which cannot essentially effect 

its future fate. 

EASTERN ARCTIC, WESTERN ARCTIC 

DISTRIBUTION; IDENTITY-description; NUTRITION-food; REGULATION & CONSERVATION-management; 

WHALING-eastern and western Arctic, history, natives, catch, photographs and drawings. 
324 

ZIMUSHKO, V. V. 

1969. Nekotorye dannye po biologii serogo kita (Some data on the biology of the gray 

whale). In V. A. Arsen’ev, B. A. Zenkovich, and K. K. Chapskii (eds.), Morskie 

mlekopitayushchie (Marine mammals), p. 93-97. Izd. Nauka, Moscow. In Russian. 

(Transl. by Leda V. Sagen, College Fish., Univ. Washington, Seattle, Wash.). 

The total harvest of baleen whales by the Collective Communes of Chukotka USSR, in 1965 and 

1966, was 99% gray whales. Fin and bowhead whales were rarely taken. 

WESTERN ARCTIC 

WHALING-western Arctic, commercial, catch. 
325 

Index 

ANTHROPOLOGY · 79, 82, 121, 133, 134, 144, 151, 

156, 161, 166, 239, 269, 277, 282, 295, 311, 317, 320 

ARCHAEOLOGY · 5, 42, 65, 66, 71, 74, 80, 86, 107, 

108, 129, 132, 136, 143, 149, 155, 156, 178, 191, 199, 

200, 205, 207, 221, 256, 283, 286, 296, 304, 305, 319 

BEHAVIOR · 2, 3, 4, 6, 10, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 23, 

26, 34, 35, 38, 39, 41, 44, 45, 46, 50, 52, 54, 55, 59, 

62, 64, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 77, 78, 79, 80, 82, 

84, 85, 86, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 

99, 101, 103, 104, 105, 106, 108, 109, 110, 111, 113, 

115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 121, 122, 124, 127, 130, 132, 

133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 139, 140, 141, 142, 146, 147, 

148, 153, 155, 158, 159, 160, 164, 167, 169, 173, 177, 

181, 182, 183, 185, 188, 191, 193, 194, 195, 196, 198, 

199, 201, 203, 205, 206, 207, 208, 213, 216, 222, 224, 

235, 237, 238, 239, 241, 242, 244, 250, 251, 252, 254, 

255, 256, 258, 260, 265, 266, 268, 270, 271, 272, 273, 

275, 277, 278, 280, 281, 282, 284, 285, 287, 288, 289, 

290, 292, 293, 297, 298, 299, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 

310, 311, 314, 316, 317, 318, 319, 320, 321, 322 

BIBLIOGRAPHY · 4, 36, 78, 145, 147, 156, 260, 261, 

263, 296 

DISTRIBUTION · 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 16, 18, 19, 22, 

23, 25, 26, 34, 35, 36, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 46, 47, 65, 

66, 68, 70, 72, 74, 77, 78, 79, 80, 82, 84, 85, 86, 88, 

89, 90, 92, 93, 96, 97, 98, 99, 103, 105, 108, 109, 110, 

111, 112, 113, 115, 118, 119, 121, 129, 130, 131, 133, 

134, 136, 137, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 147, 148, 149, 

150, 151, 152, 153, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 162, 

164, 165, 167, 173, 174, 177, 178, 179, 181, 183, 185, 

186, 188, 189, 191, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 200, 

201, 203, 206, 207, 208, 209, 211, 212, 213, 216, 221, 

222, 238, 241, 242, 244, 249, 255, 263, 265, 266, 267, 

268, 270, 272, 273, 281, 282, 283, 284, 285, 286, 288, 

290, 292, 293, 296, 297, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 

314, 316, 317, 318, 319, 321, 322, 323 

ETHNOLOGY · 31, 138, 184, 256, 262, 269, 304, 305 

FIELD & LABORATORY TECHNIQUES · 2, 3, 4, 5, 

9, 13, 14, 16, 19, 22, 26, 32, 33, 37, 38, 43, 46, 64, 65, 

83, 88, 99, 101, 105, 106, 110, 111, 116, 117, 118, 

119, 121, 130, 131, 132, 133, 136, 137, 138, 140, 146, 

147, 148, 149, 155, 159, 162, 165, 178, 179, 182, 184, 

185, 186, 188, 191, 193, 194, 197, 205, 207, 209, 216, 

222, 235, 238, 239, 242, 265, 266, 271, 274, 283, 285, 

286, 290, 292, 299, 302, 314, 318 

GROWTH · 66, 90, 103, 115, 119, 122, 139, 153, 183, 

271, 274, 285, 288, 292, 304, 306 

IDENTITY · 4, 6, 13, 14, 19, 33, 34, 36, 37, 40, 45, 55, 

64, 65, 67, 71, 72, 73, 74, 77, 86, 88, 90, 92, 93, 96, 

103, 114, 115, 118, 119, 128, 133, 134, 148, 149, 153, 

155, 159, 160, 164, 165, 167, 177, 179, 181, 183, 191, 

192, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 208, 209, 211, 219, 220, 

221, 237, 238, 239, 241, 249, 251, 258, 259, 260, 263, 

265, 266, 268, 269, 271, 272, 273, 274, 283, 284, 285, 

287, 289, 291, 292, 295, 297, 300, 303, 304, 305, 306, 

307, 317, 318, 319, 321, 322, 323 

MORPHOLOGY · 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 22, 26, 29, 31, 33, 34, 

35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 44, 47, 49, 55, 57, 62, 67, 

68, 69, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 78, 84, 85, 86, 88, 90, 91, 

92, 93, 96, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 105, 110, 114, 

115, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 127, 128, 131, 132, 

133, 136, 139, 140, 142, 144, 146, 148, 149, 152, 153, 

159, 162, 163, 164, 165, 167, 173, 177, 182, 183, 185, 

186, 188, 191, 192, 195, 196, 198, 199, 203, 207, 208, 

209, 211, 213, 214, 215, 219, 221, 222, 223, 224, 226, 

227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 

238, 241, 242, 245, 249, 250, 255, 256, 258, 259, 260, 

263, 264, 267, 271, 272, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 280, 

281, 282, 283, 284, 285, 287, 288, 289, 291, 292, 297, 

298, 299, 300, 302, 303, 304, 306, 307, 308, 309, 310, 

311, 316, 318, 319, 321 

NUTRITION · 2, 3, 6, 33, 35, 36, 46, 66, 67, 69, 72, 73, 

84, 86, 88, 90, 92, 94, 98, 105, 110, 112, 113, 115, 

117, 118, 119, 120, 136, 137, 140, 141, 142, 148, 149, 

150, 158, 159, 164, 173, 177, 179, 182, 183, 187, 191, 

195, 196, 198, 207, 213, 237, 238, 240, 249, 258, 260, 

263, 271, 272, 281, 284, 285, 287, 288, 292, 293, 302, 

303, 304, 310, 316, 317, 319, 322, 323 

PATHOLOGY · 33, 34, 39, 46, 55, 66, 67, 68, 72, 73, 

77, 88, 94, 97, 111, 114, 117, 118, 119, 122, 144, 151, 

156, 158, 190, 194, 197, 201, 202, 242, 267, 272, 274, 

285, 287, 289, 290, 291, 292, 299, 303, 304, 318 

PHYSIOLOGY · 33, 38, 67, 69, 73, 88, 116, 119, 131, 

139, 140, 145, 153, 177, 207, 217, 288, 295 

POPULATION · 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 

18, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 32, 33, 34, 36, 37, 38, 42, 

43, 45, 46, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 55, 56, 57, 59, 60, 61, 

66, 69, 70, 71, 72, 74, 75, 77, 79, 80, 81, 83, 84, 85, 

88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 96, 99, 100, 101, 103, 105, 107, 

108, 109, 113, 117, 118, 119, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 

127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 136, 137, 138, 

139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 147, 150, 153, 155, 156, 

158, 159, 160, 161, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 170, 174, 

175, 176, 177, 179, 180, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 

189, 190, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 198, 199, 201, 203, 

205, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 

217, 219, 221, 223, 226, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 

234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 239, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245, 

246, 247, 248, 250, 251, 253, 254, 255, 256, 259, 265, 

267, 268, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 279, 280, 282, 

283, 284, 285, 287, 288, 289, 291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 

297, 299, 301, 302, 304, 305, 308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 

315, 316, 317, 319, 320, 322, 323 

PREDATORS & COMPETITORS · 57, 69, 92, 94, 98, 

105, 107, 108, 109, 117, 118, 121, 140, 141, 142, 163, 

164, 186, 189, 210, 211, 212, 237, 258, 272, 281, 288, 

303, 304 

REGULATION & CONSERVATION · 1, 2, 5, 6, 11, 

12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 

36, 37, 38, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 66, 70, 81, 83, 89, 

100, 101, 103, 112, 113, 117, 120, 127, 128, 130, 132, 

144, 154, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 165, 166, 174, 176, 
326 

177, 183, 187, 193, 194, 195, 198, 212, 213, 215, 216, 

217, 221, 237, 239, 243, 251, 256, 258, 271, 272, 274, 

279, 284, 287, 289, 303, 311, 313, 315, 320, 321, 323 

REPRODUCTION · 2, 5, 6, 10, 13, 25, 33, 34, 35, 36, 

38, 45, 47, 67, 72, 85, 86, 88, 89, 90, 98, 105, 108, 

109, 113, 115, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 127, 133, 

136, 139, 140, 141, 147, 149, 152, 159, 173, 177, 182, 

183, 184, 186, 191, 209, 219, 220, 232, 237, 238, 239, 

241, 249, 256, 271, 272, 274, 275, 283, 284, 285, 288, 

292, 299, 303, 304, 310, 321, 322 

SKELETAL REMAINS · 5, 32, 65, 92, 137, 149, 151, 

159, 160, 162, 191, 194, 208, 211, 267, 281, 306, 316 

WHALING · 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 

15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 

29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 

43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 

57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 68, 69, 70, 71, 

72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 

86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 98, 99, 100, 

101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 112, 

113, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 

125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 

137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 

148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157, 158, 

159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 

170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 

181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 187, 188, 189, 191, 192, 193, 

194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 203, 204, 205, 

206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 

217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 

228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 

239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245, 246, 247, 248, 249, 

250, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 

262, 263, 264, 265, 266, 268, 269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 

274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 282, 283, 284, 

285, 286, 287, 288, 289, 290, 291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 

296, 297, 298, 299, 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 

307, 308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316, 317, 

318, 319, 320, 321, 322, 323, 324 
RECENT TECHNICAL MEMORANDUMS

Copies of this and other NOAA Technical Memorandums are available from the

National Technical Information Service, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22167

(web site: www.ntis.gov). Paper and microfiche copies vary in price. 

AFSC126 HONKALEHTO, T., W. PATTON, S. DE BLOIS, and N. WILLIAMSON. 2002. Echo integration-trawl

survey results for walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) on the Bering Sea shelf and slope during

summer 2000, 66 p. NTIS number pending.

125 HONKALEHTO, T., N. WILLIAMSON, and S. DE BLOIS. 2002. Echo integration-trawl survey results

for walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) on the Bering Sea shelf and slope during summer 1999,

77 p. NTIS number pending.

124 ANGLISS, R. P., D. P. DEMASTER, and A. L. LOPEZ. 2001. Alaska marine mammal stock

assessments, 2001, 203 p. NTIS number pending.

123 ROBSON , B. W. (editor). 2001. Fur seal investigations, 1999, 52 p. NTIS No. PB2002-100418.

122 SEASE, J. L., W. P. TAYLOR, T. R. LOUGHLIN, and K. W. PITCHER. 2001. Aerial and land-based

surveys of Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) in Alaska, June and July 1999 and 2000, 52 p. NTIS

No. PB2001-107277.

121 BRITT, L. L., and M. H. MARTIN. 2001. Data report: 1999 Gulf of Alaska bottom trawl survey, 249 p.

NTIS No. PB2001-105324

120 LAUTH, R. R. 2001. The 2000 Pacific west coast upper continental slope trawl survey of groundfish

resources off Washington, Oregon, and California: Estimates of distribution, abundance, and length

composition, 284 p. NTIS No. PB2001-105327.

119 FERRERO, R. C., HILL, D. P. DEMASTER, P. S. HILL, M. M. MUTO, and A. L. LOPEZ. 2000. Alaska

marine mammal stock assessments, 2000, 191p. NTIS No. PB2001-102015.

118 WILSON, C. D., M. A. GUTTORMSEN, K. COOKE, M. W. SAUNDERS, and R. KIESER. 2000. Echo

integration-trawl survey of Pacific hake, Merluccius productus, off the Pacific coast of the United States

and Canada during July-August, 1998, 103 p. NTIS No. PB2000-108482.

117 ORR, J. W., M. A. BROWN, and D. C. BAKER. 2000. Guide to rockfishes (Scorpaenidae) of the

genera Sebastes, Sebastolobus, and Adelosebastes of the northeast Pacific Ocean, second edition,

47 p. NTIS No. PB2001-100757.

116 WION, D. A., and R. A. MCCONNAUGHEY (editors). 2000. Mobile fishing gear effects on benthic

habitats: A bibliography, 163 p. NTIS No. PB2000-108106.

115 LAUTH, R. R. 2000. The 1999 Pacific west coast upper continental slope trawl survey of groundfish 

resources off Washington, Oregon, and California: Estimates of distribution, abundance, and length 

composition, 287 p. NTIS No. PB2000-106004.

114 SHAW, F. R., M. E. WILKINS, K. L. WEINBERG, M. ZIMMERMANN, and R. R. LAUTH. 2000. The

1998 Pacific west coast bottom trawl survey of groundfish resources: Estimates of distribution,

abundance, and length and age composition, 138 p. + Appendices. NTIS No. PB2000-105410.

113 ROBSON, B. W. (editor). 2000. Fur seal investigations, 1998, 101 p. NTIS No. PB2000-104258.

112 YANG, M-S., and M. W. NELSON. 2000. Food habits of the commercially important groundfishes in

the Gulf of Alaska in 1990, 1993, and 1996, 174 p. NTIS No. PB2000-103403.