Alena Naiden

Scientists and Iñupiaq hunters have been counting bowhead whales passing by the northernmost American town, Utqiagvik, for the past two months. It is part of an effort to evaluate the health of the whale population up north – and support subsistence in the area.

Salmon were once a rare sighting in the Alaskan Arctic. But warming temperatures have made them more common up there, and climate change has also changed whale patterns. These shifts are being watched closely by scientists and Indigenous communities.