1. Research area # 2 in the 1998/99 Announcement of Opportunity by CIFAR, "Study of anthropogenic influences on the Western Arctic/Bering Sea Ecosystem", and 2. Research area #4 in the 1998/99 Announcement of Opportunity by CIFAR, "Contaminant inputs, fate and effects on the ecosystem" specifically addressing objectives a-c, except "effects." a. "Determine pathways/linkages of contaminant accumulation in species that are consumed by top predators, including humans, and determine sub-regional differences in contaminant levels..." b. "Use an ecosystems approach to determine the effects of contaminants on food web and biomagnification." c. "Encourage local community participation in planning and implementing research strategies." The objectives of Phase I, Human Ecology Research are to: 1. Document reliance by indigenous arctic marine communities in Canada, Alaska and Russia on arctic resources at risk from chemical pollutants; and, 2. Incorporate traditional knowledge systems of subsistence harvesting. The human ecology components of the project were conducted within the frameworks of indigenous environmental knowledge and community participation. Using participatory mapping techniques, semi-structured interviews and the direct participation of community members in research design, data collection and implementation, research and data collection on the human ecology of indigenous arctic marine communities was undertaken in the communities of Holman, NWT (1998), Wainwright, Alaska (1999), and is underway in Novoe Chaplino, Russia. (2000).
Species sampled: Bowhead whale, ringed seal, beluga whale, marine invertebrates, marine fish, arctic fox Analyses: Stable isotopes (muscle), organochlorines (blubber, fat, heavy metals (Se, Ag, Cd, Cu, Zn and Hg)(kidney and liver).
Some samples banked by the Alaska Marine Mammal Tissue Archival Project (AMMTAP)
Organochlorine analysis by National Water Research Institute, Environment Canada, 867 Lakeshore Road, Burlington ON L7R 4A6 Stable isotope analysis by National Water Research Institute, Saskatoon, Canada Mercury analysis, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA (laboratory of Dr. L. Duffy) Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA (laboratory of Dr. G. Bratton)
Cooperative Institute for Arctic Research, University of Alaska Fairbanks (CIFAR)
The human ecology components of the project were conducted within the frameworks of indigenous environmental knowledge and community participation. Use of participatory mapping techniques, semi-structured interviews and the direct participation of community members in research design, data collection and implementation, research and data collection on the human ecology of indigenous arctic marine communities was undertaken in the communities of Holman, NWT (1998), Wainwright, Alaska (1999), and is underway in Novoe Chaplino, Russia. (2000).
The Bowhead whale as a potential indicator species for monitoring the health of the western Arctic/Bering Sea ecosystem using blubber, histology, metal and mineral indices