Oakes Bay 1: A Preliminary Reconstruction of a Labrador Inuit Seal Hunting Economy in the Context of Climate Change

Geografisk Tidsskrift—Danish Journal of Geography 110(2):245–259, 2010

This paper presents results of recent archaeological research at the site of Oakes Bay 1 (HeCg-08), on Dog Island, Labrador, dated from the late 17th to late 18th century. Analyses of faunal remains provide a means of reconstructing the site's subsistence economy. The site's inhabitants practiced a very consistent mode of hunting throughout this time period, depending heavily on adult ringed seals taken on the fast ice in winter and spring. Juvenile ringed seals, taken at the ice edge in the spring were a secondary resource. A lack of evidence for the hunting of harp seals in the fall and of ringed seal pups in late spring suggests that the site had a relatively short season of occupation. The consistent pattern of hunting through time suggests that the impacts of climatic variability on Inuit subsistence in the Nain region were relatively limited, moderated by their capacity for mobility on the sea ice rather than by whole scale changes in hunting practices and species choice. The Oakes Bay 1 site presents an example of a different subsistence economy than that seen at other recently examined sites in Labrador, suggesting that the impacts of the so-called Little Ice Age were not global or uniform.     

Polar bear predation on ringed seals in the fast-ice of Hornsund, Svalbard

Polar bear hunting success on ringed seals in subnivean lairs and basking on the fast ice, was studied in Hornsund, Svalbard. A few bears were observed while actually hunting, but in most cases bear tracks were followed by snowmobile to determine the outcome of hunts. Seal carcasses were classified from size and tooth annuli as pups, juveniles or adults. A total of 62 subnivean structures were entered by bears, with six seals killed. One of ten charges on basking seals resulted in a kill. Success rates of bears in Hornsund arc compared with results of studies in Canada and Svalbard. OHunting success, polar bear, predation, ringed seal     

Availability of suitable land-fast ice and predation as factors limiting ringed seal populations, Phoca hispida, in Svalbard

We examined the stability of fast ice areas in western and northern Spitsbergen, the area north of Nordaustlandet, the bays and sounds of Hinlopen Stretet and the large area in the northern part of Storfjorden. NOAA satellite imagery from 1974 and 1988 and NOAA (AVHRR) imagery from 1980-87 were used to determine the dates of freeze-up and break-up. The number of days of fast ice present before the nominal birth date of ringed seal pups were computed for all major bays and fjords. Ice thickness was then computed from these data. Known prime breeding habitat in Svalbard is found in areas near glacier fronts in protected fjords and bays, where densities of birth lairs are 5.46 km⁻², corresponding to a ringed seal female density of 2.6 km⁻². Most of the ringed seal breeding habitat in Svalbard, however, consists of flat fjord ice where snow accumulation is rarely deep enough to permit birth lair construction. In these areas pups are often born in the open. Based on breathing hole densities, the density of adult females in the flat ice areas in the breeding period was estimated to 0.98 km⁻². A preliminary estimate is that approximately 19,500 pups could be born annually in the fast ice of Svalbard. Annual recruitment could be quite variable given the unpredictable nature of the fast ice areas and the high predation mortality on newborn pups. Discrepancies between our calculated ringed seal production and numbers of seals required to feed the large polar bear population in the area signal cause for management concern.     

The ringed seal (Phoca hispida) spring diet in northwestern Spitsbergen, Svalbard

A total of 284 ringed seals (Phoca hispida) were sampled to determine their diet in the spring of 1981 and 1982. Few seals contained identifiable stomach contents. No significant age-or sex-related differences in choice of prey were found. It seems that in spring northwestern Spitsbergen ringed seals prey upon arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) , decapods and larger amphipods.? Diet, ringed seal, Svalbard .     

Estimates of energy expenditure and energy consumption of ringed seals (Phoca hispida) throughout the year

We have employed a model for the energy balance of seals to estimate the energy consumption and energy expenditure of ringed seals throughout the year, using biological and physical parameters as input. Data on growth and seasonal changes in body mass and fat content "drives" the seasonal dynamics of the model output. The energy requirements for lactation and activity are based on data from earlier published studies. The analysis suggests that the food intake of ringed seals is highly seasonal. In adult males it is low during the periods of territory defense, mating and moulting from March to June. During this period the seals lose body mass, mainly as fat. The model predicts that lactating females increase their food intake to some extent during the approximately six-week lactation period. After the ice breakup, food intake increases in both sexes, partly as a result of increasing maintenance energy requirements, and partly because the body fat stores are rebuilt in late summer and autumn. The over-all energy requirements of the ringed seal appear to be basically similar to those of terrestrial mammals.     

Climate change in the Arctic: current and future vulnerability in two Inuit communities in Canada

Climate change is already occurring in the Arctic and the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment recently concluded that future climate change could be devastating for Inuit. This paper characterises vulnerability to climate change in two Inuit communities in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, focusing on the resource harvesting sector. In both communities, Inuit have demonstrated significant adaptability in the face of current changes in climatic conditions. This adaptability is facilitated by traditional Inuit knowledge, strong social networks, flexibility in resource use, and institutional support. Changing Inuit livelihoods, however, have undermined certain aspects of adaptive capacity and have resulted in emerging vulnerabilities. Global and regional climate projections indicate that climatic conditions which currently pose risks are expected to be negatively affected by future climate change. These projections are not without precedent and analysis of current vulnerability and identification of adaptation constraints by Inuit in the two communities indicate the continued importance of traditional coping mechanisms. The ability to draw on these coping mechanisms in light of future climate change, however, will be unequal and the research indicates that young Inuit and those without access to economic resources, in particular, are vulnerable.     

Canadian Inuit subsistence and ecological instability— if the climate changes, must the Inuit?

Considerable attention has been devoted to the possible effects of global climate change on the environment of the circumpolar world. With regard to the Inuit, the aboriginal culture of Arctic Canada, research interest has focused principally on the vulnerability of the hunting and harvesting component of the traditional food system, otherwise frequently referred to as the subsistence system, if wild terrestrial and marine resources become less available. Although also concerned with the traditional Inuit food economy, this paper concentrates on the customary institutional mechanisms by which the Inuit distribute and share the products obtained from hunting. After analysing this social economy, a review of the data on recent climate-related range changes of a number of Arctic animal populations is carried out, in terms of how projected environmental changes may affect this other aspect of Inuit subsistence. After tentatively concluding that some species substitution and/or replacement will occur, the final aspect of the paper considers the potential for the possible exclusion of these "replacements" as a result of the political aspect of climate change.     

Marine birds breeding in Penny Strait and Queens Channel, Nunavut, Canada

Surveys of breeding birds on small islands in Penny Strait and Queens Channel, Nunavut Territory, Canada, were conducted in July 2002 and 2003. Approximately 3600 marine birds were observed, with the most common species being Arctic terns ( Sterna paradisaea , N=2400) and common eiders ( Somateria mollissima borealis , N=620). We observed no Ross's gulls ( Rhodostethia rosed ) in either year, and we found ivory gulls ( Pagophila eburned ) only in 2003, even though these species commonly bred here in the 1970s. This previously unsurveyed region supports numerous breeding marine birds, but reproductive success on these small islands may be dependent on annual ice conditions and consequent movements of Arctic foxes ( Alopex lagopus ).     

Studies of the ringed seal (Phoca hispida Schreber 1775) in its breeding habitat in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard

This study was conducted in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard, from mid-March through April 1984. Local Greenland sled dogs were used to locate subnivean ringed seal lairs. A total of 90 lairs were found and excavated. These constituted 28 lairs classified as birth lairs, 22 as tiggak (rutting male) lairs, and 40 which could not be classified. The first birth lair was found on 24 March. There was significantly more snow covering birth lairs than tiggak lairs, and birth lairs were also shown to be significantly larger than tiggak lairs. The positions of the lairs were plotted on a map, and distances between neighbouring seal lairs were used as an indicator of territorial size. Arctic foxes had attacked 19 lairs and 6 of these had resulted in a kill (32%). Polar bears had attacked 13 lairs with one kill (8%).     

南北极海冰变化及其影响因素的对比分析

海冰是海洋-大气交互系统的重要组成部分,与全球气候系统间存在灵敏的响应和反馈机制。本文选用欧洲空间局发布的1992—2008年海冰密集度数据分析了南北极海冰在时间和空间上的变化规律与趋势,并结合由美国环境预报中心(National Centers for Environmental Prediction,NCEP)和美国大气研究中心(National Center for Atmospheric Research, NCAR)联合制作的NCEP/NCAR气温数据和ENSO指数探讨了南北极海冰变化的影响因素。结果表明,北极海冰面积呈明显的减少趋势,其中夏季海冰最小月的减少更快。北冰洋中央海盆区、巴伦支海、喀拉海、巴芬湾和拉布拉多海的减少最明显。南极海冰面积呈微弱增加趋势,罗斯海、太平洋扇区和大西洋扇区的海冰增加。北极海冰面积与气温有显著的滞后1个月的负相关关系(P0.01)。北极升温显著,北冰洋中央海盆区、喀拉海、巴伦支海、巴芬湾和楚科奇海升温趋势最大,海冰减少很明显。南极在南大西洋、南太平洋呈降温趋势,海冰增加。北极海冰减少与39个月之后ONI的下降、40个月之后SOI的上升密切相关;南极海冰增加与7个月之后ONI的下降、6个月之后SOI的上升存在很好的响应关系。南北极海冰变化与三次ENSO的强暖与强冷事件有很好的对应关系。     

南极海豹类生态学

描述了南极海豹的种类组成、资源量和种类状况等一般性生态学问题,着重讲述了这些海豹在研究全球变化中所起的作用等科学前沿问题;同时,就海豹研究在各国际组织中的地位阐述了意见。     

Faunal Remains from the Wollaston Forland—Clavering Ø Region,Northeast Greenland—Thule Culture Subsistence in a High Arctic Polynya and Ice-edge Habitat

Geografisk Tidsskrift—Danish Journal of Geography 110(2):175–200, 2010

The GeoArk project conducted interdisciplinary studies between 2003 and 2008 to investigate the Thule culture (c. 1400 AD until c. 1850 AD) in the Wollaston Forland- Clavering Ø region (74°N). Faunal remains of recent excavations and re-analyses of previous excavations of Thule culture seasonal features, winter houses and middens are presented, with an emphasis on the two winter sites of Fladstrand and Dødemandsbugten. The faunal assemblages showed ringed seal (Phoca hispida) to be the key game species, although, with important contingents of narwhal (Monodon monocerosj and caribou (Rangifer tarandus) Thule subsistence was highly dependent on having a well developed procurement system and the sea- and landscape was used differentially during the annual cycle. Hvalros Ø, located at the recurring Sirius Water Polynya, was used as a seasonal aggregation site especially for hunting walrus (Odobenus rosmarusj) throughout the entire Thule culture era. Being a predictable source of meat and blubber, the walrus was of fundamental importance to the Thule Inuit in order to cope with a harsh high arctic environment. The site locations of the study area revealed a continued similar usage of the sea- and landscape for centuries and the analyses documented only minor temporal changes in subsistence patterns.     

The progress in the study of Arctic pack ice ecology

The sea ice community plays an important role in the Arctic marine ecosystem. Because of the predicted environmental changes in the Arctic environment and specifically related to sea ice, the Arctic pack ice biota has received more attention in recent years using modern ice-breaking research vessels. Studies show that the Arctic pack ice contains a diverse biota and besides ice algae, the bacterial and protozoan biomasses can be high. Surprisingly high primary production values were observed in the pack ice of the central Arctic Ocean. Occasionally biomass maximum were discovered in the interior of the ice floes, a habitat that had been ignored in most Arctic studies. Many scientific questions, which deserve special attention, remained unsolved due to logistic limitations and the sea ice characteristics. Little is know about the pack ice community in the central Arctic Ocean. Almost no data exists from the pack ice zone for the winter season. Concerning the abundance of bacteria and protozoa, more studies are needed to understand the microbial network within the ice and its role in material and energy flows. The response of the sea ice biota to global change will impact the entire Arctic marine ecosystem and a long-term monitoring program is needed. The techniques, that are applied to study the sea ice biota and the sea ice ecology, should be improved.     

Trichinella sp. in polar bears from Svalbard, in relation to hide length and age

DiaPhragma and masseter muscles from 376 polar bears ( Ursus maritimus ), 252 ringed seals ( Phoca hispida ), 84 bearded seals ( Erignathus barbatus ), and 77 arctic foxes ( Alopex lagopus ) from Svalbard were examined for Trichinella . Infection rates in polar bears varied between 23 and 58%, and between 3 and 67% in arctic fox- None of tne seals were infected. Trichinella in polar bears is probably transferred through cannibalism and scavenging upon polar bear carcasses. Infection rate in arctic fox was high when they preyed upon polar bear carcasses before polar bear hunting was prohibited in 1973. A low infection rate seems more natural when such prey is not available. No difference could be found in infection rate between male and female polar bears. There is only a slight increase in infection rate with age, as calculated from hide lengths, and many adult animals remain uninfected. Geographical isolation of polar bear populations may explain differences in Trichinella infection rates between bears from arctic America and arctic Europe. Possible explanations are that discrete polar bear populations have different food habits, or that they are exposed to different Trichinella strains.     

Dynamic Inuit Social Strategies in Changing Environments: A Long-Term Perspective

Geografisk Tidsskrift—Danish Journal of Geography 110(2):215–225, 2010

This paper presents an overview of the International Polar Year (IPY) research programme Dynamic Inuit Social Strategies in Changing Environments: A Long-Term Perspective. For this project, research teams from six separate multi-year subprojects performed fieldwork across much of the Canadian Arctic. Fieldwork and analysis revolved around two primary processes critical to the understanding of Inuit history: first, is the migration from Alaska to the east by the earliest Inuit, known as ‘Thule’, an apparently rapid event which replaced populations of the earlier, and culturally very different Dorset tradition; second, is the transformation of Thule Inuit into their more diverse recent cultural forms, involving abandonment of some regions, combined with major changes in settlement patterns, artifact form, architecture, economy, and social organization. The ultimate goal of the project is to understand the variable roles of climate change and social structures on the culture change which can be observed during the past 800 years of Inuit history.     

南极海豹内脏组织——肝、脾、胃的蛋白质含量及氨基酸组成测定和比较

南极海豹是南极及南大洋的主要哺乳动物之一,它们在南极及南大洋生态系中占有重要地位,也是南极的主要生物资源之一。 关于南极海豹的数量分布、种群动态、生态习性以及它们之间的相互作用已有不少报导(陈万青,1973;宁修仁,1984;Bengtson, J. L.,Carrick, R.,1962;Erckson,A. W. , 1970,1971;和Davis, R. M. ,1970等)。现有的研究结果表明,在南极繁殖的真正海豹有四种,即锯齿海豹,又名食蟹海豹,其英文名为Crabeater Seal(Lobodon Carcino phagus),这是南极海豹中数量最多的一种,据估计有200—500万头,它们主要以南极磷虾而不是以蟹为食;威德尔海豹,其英文名为Weddell Seal(leptonychotes weddelli),这种海豹的数量占南极海豹第二位,估计有20—50万头;它们主要以乌贼和杜文鱼及磷虾为食;豹形海豹,其英文名为Leopard Seal(Hydrurga leptonyx);罗斯海豹,其英文名为Ross Seal(Ommatophoca ross Gray)。     

气候变化背景下北极海冰对我国冬季气温的影响研究

利用1961—2015年中国冬季气温资料、中国气象局逐月北极海冰密集度指数资料和美国国家海洋和大气管理局(NCEP/NCAR)环流资料,采用滑动相关、时滞相关及偏相关等分析方法,探讨了秋季北极海冰对中国冬季气温的影响。结果表明,秋季北极海冰改变了后期冬季西西伯利亚高压和华北高压强弱,导致我国西北地区和长江与黄河之间地区冬季气温异常。进一步分析发现,西北地区冬季气温的异常主要是受西西伯利亚高压影响,而长江与黄河之间冬季气温的异常主要是受华北高压影响。而秋季北极海冰通过改变后期冬季欧亚中高纬度环流,进一步影响高原地区冬季气温。     

Ecological influences of Thule Inuit whalers on high Arctic pond ecosystems: a comparative paleolimnological study from Bathurst Island (Nunavut,Canada)

Until recently, major anthropogenic impacts on freshwater ecosystems were believed to be rare in North America prior to the period of European colonization. However, recent paleolimnological and archaeological data collected from the Canadian Arctic suggest that the whaling activities of Thule Inuit, who lived in small, nomadic communities, altered freshwater ecosystems centuries earlier. Using a comparative paleolimnological approach from two ponds situated adjacent to a former Thule winter settlement on south-eastern Bathurst Island (Nunavut, Arctic Canada), we record marked ecological changes in pond ecology due to eutrophication from the Thule’s activities. The geography of our study site provided an interesting and rare opportunity for a comparative paleolimnological study of long-term Thule impacts on polar limnology, because our two study ponds (only ~50 m apart) were nearly identical in size and in geological and climatic settings, but differed markedly in the magnitude of Thule influence. Here, we recorded striking changes in diatom species assemblages, spectrally-inferred primary production, and nutrient geochemistry, indicating eutrophication in a small pond draining 18 Thule whale houses. Input of marine-derived nutrients from sea mammal carcasses used by the Thule for both sustenance and the construction of winter settlements, as well as other anthropogenic activities, coincided with a notable increase in the eutrophic diatom taxon Stephanodiscus minutulus, whereas no comparable changes were recorded in the nearby control pond for the duration of the sedimentary record. Although the diatom changes recorded in the affected site persisted after the period of Thule occupation, the most recent sediments and water chemistry suggest that the pond has largely recovered to near pre-impact conditions.     

Feeding habits of harp and hooded seals in drift ice waters along the east coast of Greenland in summer and winter

Results of analyses of stomach and intestinal contents from hooded ( Cystophora cristata ) and harp ( Phoca groenlandica ) seals captured in the pack ice belt of the Greenland Sea in summer (July-August) in 2000 and winter (February-March) in 2001 revealed that the diet of both species were comprised of relatively few prey taxa. Pelagic amphipods of the genus Parathemisto , the squid Gonatus fabricii , polar cod ( Boreogadus saida ) and capelin ( Mallotus villosus ) constituted 63-99% of the observed diet biomass in both seal species, irrespective of sampling period, but their relative contribution to the diet varied both with species and sampling period/area. For hooded seals, G. fabricii and capelin were the dominant food items in winter 2001, but the summer 2000 diet comprised a mixture of this squid and polar cod. Parathemisto was most important for the harp seals during summer 2000; in winter 2001 the contribution from krill and capelin were comparable to that of Parathemisto . Multivariate analyses revealed differences in the intestinal contents of hooded and harp seals in areas where the two species' occurrence spatially overlapped. Different foraging depths of the two species may have contributed to the observed differences in diets.     

Video observations of the underside of arctic sea ice-features and morphology on medium and small scales

Morphological structures and the occurrence of sea-ice sediments and ice-related algae at the ice floe-water column interface were studied by video observations in summer 1995. Recordings at twelve stations in the northern Laptev Sea and the adjacent Arctic Ocean showed large variations. On a medium-scale (metres), level ice and deformed floes as well as whole rafted and stacked floes were found. At the underside of floes, small-scale structures (centimetres such as bulges, depressions and holes were observed. The surface and sides of rafted floes sometimes had downward running grooves. Sediment inclusions occurred in diffuse or concentrated forms as well as in parallel streaks. Ice-related algae were visible as green areas at the underside of floes or as threads haniging into the water column. The distribution of sediments and algae was patchy. Some processes which might lead to the observed structures are suggested.