Author Description

This Task Order, funded by the Minerals Management Service (MMS) has as its broad objective the description of subsistence whaling as currently conducted near Cross Island by residents of Nuiqsut. This effort is designed to measure basic descriptive parameters of Cross Island whaling so that observed changes (if any) can be analyzed in relation to such factors as oil and gas activities, weather and ice conditions, or other variables. Special attention is devoted to geospatial information through the sharing of GIS information by participating whaling crews. Project reports are only for the purposes of reporting information collected, with no analysis of the information either as a self-contained database or in conjunction with the many pertinent external databases. As a second broad objective, the project is designed as a collaborative effort of MMS and its contractor, Applied Sociocultural Research (ASR), the subsistence whalers from Nuiqsut, and the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission (AEWC). The project will develop a system for collecting information that local whalers themselves can adopt, adapt, and maintain. This report documents the results of the third and final year of this component of the ANIMIDA project. It will be continued by at least three (possibly four) years of additional data collection as a component of the cANIMIDA project.