Anchorage, Alaska — Late every summer, great white bears congregate outside a small Alaska Native village on the edge of the continent, well above the Arctic Circle, to feed on whale carcasses left behind by hunters, and wait out the bitter cold to freeze the sea.
It’s a sight that used to attract 1,000 or more tourists every year Kaktovikthe only settlement in arctic National Wildlife Refuge, In a phenomenon sometimes called “last chance tourism” – a chance to see once-wonderful sights and creatures Climate change It makes it extinct.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the federal government’s order to halt bear-seeing boat tours have largely ended the Kaktovik trip Polar bear tourism Amid fears of strangers invading the small village. But Kaktovik leaders now hope to revive it, saying it could be worth millions to the local economy and give residents another source of income — provided the village can establish guidelines that protect its way of life and the bears themselves.
“We definitely see the benefit of tourism,” said Charles Lambie, president of the Kaktovik Inupiat Corporation, which owns 144 square miles (373 square kilometers) of land. “The thing is, it can’t run like it used to.”
Since the early 1980s, anyone in Kaktovik with a boat and knowledge of the water has been able to take a few tourists to watch bears navigate the flat, treeless barrier islands just off the coast, or rip the ribs off of a bowhead whale abandoned by subsistence hunters.
Tourism in Kaktovik has soared in the years after federal officials declared polar bears an endangered species in 2008. Rapid warming in the Arctic is causing… Melting sea ice Bears are used to hunt seals, and scientists say most polar bears could become extinct due to floods End of the century.
As visits boomed, the federal government imposed regulations requiring tour operators to obtain permits and insurance, and that began to put pressure on locals to get them out of the industry, Lamb said. Larger operators moved in from outside the city, and soon crowds of tourists were coming to Kaktovik — a village of about 250 people — during the six-week viewing season.
The city’s two hotels and restaurants lost some business when larger operators began ferrying tourists from Fairbanks or Anchorage on day trips. Local residents complained about tourists staring at them or wandering into their yards.
Small aircraft capacity became an issue, as residents sometimes competed with tourists to travel on flights to and from major cities for medical appointments, forcing those stranded in cities to take up expensive hotel rooms for the night.
When the pandemic hit, Kaktovik temporarily halted visitation. Then in 2021, the federal government, which manages polar bears, will… parked boat tours, Mostly due to concerns about how tourists will influence the bear’s behavior and overrun the city.
Alaska Native leaders are now in talks with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to address those concerns and revive the industry, perhaps as early as 2027. The agency told The Associated Press in a statement that it is working with Kaktovik “to ensure any future opportunities are managed in a way that prioritizes visitor safety, resource protection, and community input.”
Among the changes Kaktovik leaders want to see is limiting how long a boat can stay in the water near bears. For too long, bears become accustomed to humans, Lamb said, making it a dangerous situation when bears wander into town looking for food.
During the height of the tourism boom, it became difficult to get bears out of town, even when they were still in town Bear patrol Shooting them non-lethally. Lamb said the patrol had to kill about three or four bears a year, compared to one a year before the boom.
“Our safety was at risk,” Lambie said.
In 2023, a 24-year-old woman and her 1-year-old son were killed in a polar bear attack in Wales, in far western Alaska. It was First fatal polar bear attack For nearly 30 years in Alaska, the only US state home to this species.
Lamb said that since boat trips in Kaktovik stopped, the bears once again seemed more fearful of humans.
Polar bear tourism coincides with Kaktovik’s subsistence whaling season. When a crew catches a whale, it is usually slaughtered on a nearby beach. While the community encourages visitors to watch or even help, some have been recording or taking photos without permission, which is considered disrespectful, Lamb said.
Sherry Robert, CEO of the Native American Tourism Association, suggested that Kaktovik market itself as a two- or three-day experience.
Indigenous communities willing to receive tourists “want them to come and learn and come away with a greater understanding of our people, our way of life and our culture,” she said.
Roger and Sonia McKertish from Australia were looking for the best place on the planet to see polar bears in the wild when they came to Kaktovik in September 2019. They spent several days in the village, took an elder-led walking tour and bought souvenirs made by local artists, including a polar bear hoodie.
For Roger McKertich, a professional wildlife photographer based in Sydney, the highlight was the boat tours to see bears roaming the barrier islands or diving into the water. The Bears didn’t pay them any attention.
“This is about as good as it gets,” he said.