Arctic Survival
DRAMA, SUSPENSE, ACTION IN HUNT FOR GIANT BOWHEAD WHALE
By Howard Rock
Times Editor
This is the month—April. The
traditional whale hunts, exciting
and dangerous, will begin in widely
separated communities in Alaska.
The best known localities are, St.
Lawrence Island, Point Hope, Point
Lay, and Barrow.
Two communities stand out in
this group for their vigorous pur
suit of whaling—Point Hope and
Barrow. These two villages have
hunted whales for centuries past.
There is an informal rivalry be
tween them; they keep close tab
on each other's take each spring.
And too, whaling conditions are
more ideal at these two villages,
especially at Point Hope. There,
water leads open comparatively
close to the village; a mile to about
five miles out.
This is the month when the mood
of the communities change from the.
more or less, routine matters of
the rest of the year. An air of ex
citement pervades them—a mixture
of expectancy, hope, safety.
This feeling of keen excitement
at whaling time is a recurring mood.
Its sense of dramatic atmosphere
Is the product of tradition gained
through learning by experience,
nerve, bravery. Thus, it has become
a classic illustration of survival in
the Arctic.
The Hunt
The hunt is on. The whaling cap
tains, their crews, their women,
have made thorough preparations.
Some of the umiaks have been re
covered with new oogruk skins;
warm clothing for the hunters has
been sewn by the women: weapons
have been readied for instant use;
whale cutting knives have been
sharpened to a razor’s edge, camp
ing gear for the cook of the crew
has been assembled.
Men, as they hunt for seal and
polar bear, begin to look for some
thing more — whales. One day a
hunter, as he walks along an open
lead sees an unmistakable and fa
miliar sight — a whale surfacing
with a great column of steaming
breath shooting high into the air.
The Signal
He turns toward the village and
hurries home. He shouts to the first
person he comes across, “AGVIK!”
(WHALE!)
This is the signal that had been
waited for with tense expectancy.
It is time for action; the time to
transport the whaling umiak load
ed with gear to the edge of the
water lead.
Whaling captains begin to as
semble their respective crews.
Umiaks are placed on low, flat
sleds especially made for trans
porting them, and are pulled by
the crew or by a dogteam. An in
formal arc develops in which each
crew dashes to the lead to be first
to pick a most strategic location.
Once there, each crew picks out
its whaling site, invariably a small
ice cove. The reason: whales float
up to them to rest. On many occa
sions whales are caught in these
right at camp, but on the main
they are taken on exciting chases
End maneuvers.
Continuous Vigil
Once the camp is set up, con
tinuous vigil begins around the
clock. While the crew sleeps in
their warm winter clothes, one
member helps watch. Another mem
ber takes his turn the next night.
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Then around 2:15 A.M., a watch
man sees a whale surface about
300 yards away. He quickly runs
to the sleeping men and shakes
each one vigorously, saying in a
loud whisper, “AGVIK!"
Fast Getaway
The crew awakes in an instant.
They run to the umiak that had
been readied for quick launching.
A chute had been carved out for
that purpose on the ice under the
bow.
The men push the craft into the
water on the run, each man board
ing at his assigned position. All of
this action takes about a minute
or little more after the men are
awakened.
The watchmen made sure to tell
especially the captain and the
helmsmen where the whale had sur
faced. From then on. it was largely
up to the man who steered the
umiak to place the crew at a most
advantageous position from which
the harpooner would strike.
Hard Pursuit
At the outset, the crew paddled
in unison with great vigor to over
take the whale. The helmsman esti
mated the position of the sub
merged animal so the umiak would
be behind, as close by as possible,
on the wake or a little to one side
or the other. 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 back
position,)
On this particular hunt, the great
animal surfaced some 80 feet ahead
of the umiak. The helmsman was
almost correct in his calculations..
The position was good!
As its nostrils cleared the sur
face of the water, the huge whale
spewed forth with a loud whoosh
ing noise a great column of steamy
breath high into the air. The titan
then went into a shallow dive.
It would surface again, then
again. “We have time,” thought the
men in the Umiak. They began to
paddle swiftly, almost violently,
but with precision.
The Strike
On the second surface they had
made a desired gain. On the third
surface they would be in perfect
position to strike. The helmsmen
eased the umiak to the light and
then to the left at about a 45 de
gree angle to the whale. As he did
so, the monstrous whale surfaced
once more.
The harpooner quickly put his
paddle in the umiak, stood up, brac
ed his feet and picked up his dart
ing gun. He raised it over his head,
pulled his arms back bending his
bcdy slightly backwards. For an
instant he stood poised in that po
sition, then, with a mighty effort,
he threw the weapon aiming at his
target beneath the water line. The
umiak stopped abruptly as it bump
ed against the great black body
of the whale.
Weapon Worked
When the harpoon penetrated
a foot, the trigger rod came in con
tact with the whale firing the pow
der charge that plunged the fuse
bomb into the whale.
There was a small report and
about three seconds later a dull
explosion sounded from beneath
the water. The fuse bomb had
worked!
The great animal shuddered visi
bly, partially submerged, then it
was still. The harpooner had stop
ped it with one shot. The explo
sion had severed the spine at the
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base of the skull, stopping the
whale instantly.
At the moment of the strike, one
of the two men directly behind the
harpooner quickly threw an in
flated seal skin float attached to a
150-foot harpoon line over the side.
(When the harpooned whale is not
stopped at once the long line is
allowed to uncoil to its full length,
but if the while is stopped at once
the inflated float is fastened a few
feet of the harpoon to keep the
whale from sinking.)
When the men heard the explo
sion, there was a noticable tense
ness among them. Each, in his mind,
was asking. “Did we get it?”
Turned Turtle
The answer came almost at once.
The huge animal started to turn
turtle very slowly. Tenseness in
creased. Will it keep going? The
left front flapper broke the water
and made a slow arc in the air and
slowly submerged on the opposite
side.
The men watched for a moment,
one way or the other, of the now
exposed belly of the whale. It
swayed slowly from side to side,
then was still. The captain was
now sure that a kill was made.
After the dramatic pause, he shout
ed a loud triumphant yell, and was
followed instantly by the rest of
the crew. The intense silence was
broken with happy sounds of shouts
and back slaps.
Sharing
Three whaling crews raced to the
kill along the ice banks of the lead.
The first one to reach it would be
awarded the next choice portion
of the whale after the captain and
his crew had selected. Other crews
would get their choices, according
to their turns.
The Tow
Additional seal skin floats were
attached to the dead whale. A har
poon was plunged at the tip of the
head and the four crews aligned
themselves one after the other for
the tow to the shore ice.
The tow began with loud happy
sounds from all members of the
four whaling crews. They sang and
joked as they paddled hard, making
interminably slow progress. But
that did not matter to the hard
working men. A whale had been
taken, a big one. It meant food,
good food and plenty of it, for
everyone in the village.
Great News
When the tow was completed the
triumphant captain sent a messen
ger, a young man who was fleet
of foot, to carry the great news to
the village.
When the messenger reached the
village, it was the women, children,
and the aged who rejoiced. Even
the dogs seemed to sense the good
news as they let a chorus of yelps
and howls.
Feverish activity began in the vil
lage. Women, young women, older
boys, hitched their dogs and with
teams made their way to the camp
where the whale had been taken.
At 'the camp, the men made
ready to cut up the large whale. It
would take about two days and
nights to cut it up. “Dead men,” or
anchors, were chopped out in the
ice for the block and tackle. Addi
tional cooking tents were raised
to accomodate the many people who
would be working around the clock
until the cutting was completed.
Hopes
As the whale was cut and appor
tioned, it was loaded into sleds and
taken to the village and put under
ground food caches. Before the haul
ing was done, each team had made
several trips to the cutting opera
tion. Much food had been taken
from just the one whale.
The season was young and the
whaling crews were hopeful of
getting more whales. If whaling
conditions remained favorable, more
whales would be taken. This whal
ing community had been known to
take fourteen whales in one sea
son.
Drama Of Survival
And so. whaling remains as one
of the great traditions in the Arctic
Alaska — whaling — exciting, chal
lenging, exacting, dangerous. It is
deeply woven into the lives of the
people in the communities where
it is pursued. Although, hunting of
other animals is important, this
great hunt has molded a way of
life.
The hunt will go on until the last
day of May. The whaling crews will
debark and rest awhile. Around the
first part of June, will come the
| "Kahkruq,” the whaling celebra
I tion. The village will gather in a
body and give thanks. Great feasts
| will ensue and the people will
dance.
Thus, the season will end, signi
fying the great drama of survival
of man in the Arctic.
Governments, like clocks, go from
the motion men give them
Wherefore governments rather de
pend upon men, than men on gov
ernments. Let men be good and
the government will be good: but
if it be ill, they will cure it.—WIL
LIAM PENN (Preface to the Frame
of Government of the Province of
Pennsylviania)
TO THE OPEN LEAD—Whaling umiak is being pulled by dogteam
to the open water lead alter a whale had been sighted. Around the
middle, or later part of April, bowhead whales begin to migrate
north. As they do they pass close by Point Hope, where intense
whaling activity goes on annually. —Photo by Den C. Foote
CUTTING THE WHALE—A large wliale has been caught at Point
Hope and the cutting up is in progress. This operation takes two days
and nights if the whale is better than average size. On the fore
ground is a whaling umiak. It is usually 24 feet long. It is being
left unmanned due to the urgency of the cutting of the whale.
Moving ice may close in with a change of wind and every available
man is needed to get the job done. —Photo by Den C. Foote
WHALERS AT CONFERENCE—A whale had been caught and the
apportioning of it is being discussed by whaling captains and their
crews. Two ladle-like objects at left are cutting tools on long handles.
Huge knives on long handles are also used as well as three pronged
whalebone hooks. Barely seen in the background are several dog
teams that will be used to haul muktuk and meat of the whale to
the village of Point Hope to be put into underground storage caches.
—Photo by Rev. J. Keith Lawton