Paulatuk hunters Joe (Upboy) Illasiak, left, Micheal Nolan Green, Steve Illasiak, Mykle Wolki, Frank Wolki and Brandon Green haul in a beluga whale at Billy's Creek near their community on July 26. Hunters said whales harvested were longer, but thinner than usual this year. - photo courtesy of Diane Ruben |
Traditional knowledge finding a place in science
Beluga monitoring program uses hunter observations to bolster understanding
Miranda Scotland
Northern News Services
Published Monday, December 15, 2014
BEAUFORT SEA
Inuvialuit have been pushing scientists to use traditional knowledge more formally when studying marine life in the Western Arctic.
And now a group of scientists with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is working to do just that.
For decades, DFO has been collaborating with communities in the Western Arctic to collect information on beluga whales. Monitors record the whale's size, sex and blubber thickness, and take tissue samples for analysis.
The local and traditional ecological knowledge project aims to build on that data by collecting community observations on belugas.
For the second year running, Paulatuk hunters were asked to fill out forms with questions, such as:
What size group was the beluga travelling with?
Were there many young whales with it?
What were the whales doing? Was any behaviour such as molting, calving or feeding observed?
Where exactly was the whale hunted?
The questionnaire also inquires about observations made while butchering the whales.
Eight hunters filled out the forms this year, four more than in the project's first year.
Researchers also asked Paulatuk residents to complete reports on beluga sightings. Forty-six community members filled in the form in exchange for a gift card.
Sonja Ostertag, a researcher with the Freshwater Institute in Winnipeg, compiled the results. She said the information will help scientists interpreting other data gathered during the season.
For instance, hunters' observations about the composition of the group may shed light on the varying levels of contaminants found in belugas, said Ostertag.
"Maybe the differences we see might not be based on the age of the animal but based on what kind of group it was travelling with. So if it was travelling with calves then maybe it would be travelling near the shore environment where it would have different food items and different exposure to contaminants as well."
Also, reports on sightings may help scientists gain a better understanding of why belugas hangout in Darnley Bay and the timing of their travel through the area, said Ostertag adding DFO doesn't run aerial surveys to mark beluga movements.
Ostertag visited Paulatuk in late November to share the results from the questionnaires with community members. About a dozen residents attended.
The most notable information gleaned from the forms, Ostertag said, was that a large number of calves were seen in Argo Bay and many of the hunted belugas were thinner than in previous years.
Testing is underway to determine why the whales are thinner, but the results have yet to come in, said Ostertag.
"It was interesting to see that maybe the calves were using (Argo Bay) more than what had been recorded before. This is probably information the community already had but it wasn't recorded in a way that we would be able to see," she said.
The project team's ultimate goal is to develop standardized tools to record traditional and local ecological knowledge.
During her presentation, Ostertag also sought input from residents on how to improve the program.
"Part of the project is evaluating the tools for recording this information," she said. "It's a matter of fine-tuning the questions and making sure they're relevant questions and we're not missing anything important."
Some community members suggested it might be convenient to develop a cellphone app for recording beluga observations now that Bell Mobility has launched 4G wireless service in Paulatuk.
However, they added, there should be an alternative for community members who are less comfortable with technology.
"Another big (suggestion) was to not just focus on belugas but also to look at the surrounding ecosystem," said Ostertag. "So find ways to record observations about marine mammal sightings, marine birds in the area because they're linked.
"If we only focus on the beluga we will miss all that other information. So I think that was really important feedback."
Ostertag is hopeful the project will continue next season but it depends on funding.
Diane Ruben, resource person for the Paulatuk hunters and trappers committee, said there is increasing support for the project. Some members, she added, would like to see the monitoring program extended into the fall since whales have also been observed throughout August and mid-September.
"We are enthusiastic about carrying this out again next season. In the past, the program was not working so well without traditional knowledge and community observations," stated Ruben in an e-mail to News/North. "We have been pushing hard for researchers to use this method to better understand the fish and marine mammal programs and all other research programs/projects for that matter."
