By Lisa Sheffield Guy, ARCUS
The Sea Ice for Walrus Outlook (SIWO) is a resource for Alaska Native subsistence hunters, coastal communities, and others interested in sea ice and walruses. The SIWO provides weekly reports during the spring sea-ice season with information on weather and sea-ice conditions relevant to walruses in the northern Bering Sea and southern Chukchi Sea regions of Alaska. The Outlooks are produced with information on weather and sea-ice conditions provided by Alaska Native sea-ice experts, NOAA’s National Weather Service-Alaska Region (NWS), and the Alaska Ocean Observing System (AOOS). SIWO is managed by the Arctic Research Consortium of the US (ARCUS), in partnership with the Eskimo Walrus Commission, NWS, University of Alaska Fairbanks, and local observers in seven Bering Strait communities. SIWO has been funded by the National Science Foundation’s Office of Polar Programs (PLR-1928794) since its inception in 2010.
SIWO Partners met for a two-day workshop, 12–13 July 2024, in Nome, Alaska. The goals of the meeting were to: (1) Create an opportunity for SIWO partners to meet in person, strengthen relationships, and create a shared vision for SIWO; and (2) Outline a SIWO synthesis paper & a community outreach product to share lessons from 15 years of SIWO. The workshop was only the second time program partners have had the opportunity to meet in person, and was attended by fourteen participants (Fig. 1).
Reflections on the 2024 SIWO Season
The 2024 season—which ran from 29 March–28 June—was good for many Bering Strait communities who experienced better ice conditions and successful walrus hunts. Ice was slow to form overall, but lasted well into June for most communities. This season, we observed unprecedented SIWO engagement and Knowledge-sharing, including: (1) engagement on the SIWO Facebook page (@seaiceforwalrus; 10x increase over previous years); (2) number of observers (7 in 2023; 17 in 2024); and (3) total observations (59 in 2023; 82 in 2024). This is due in part to the widespread use of Starlink satellite internet in the region. SIWO observers were encouraged by new sharing among hunters in communities that do not normally communicate with one another. All outlooks from 2024, including detailed local observations (like Fig. 2), can be viewed in the SIWO archive.
SIWO will be ready to adapt the program’s content in 2025 to serve communities with good internet connectivity. In 2025, the SIWO observers would like to use more videos in their reports, both to share local conditions and to inspire and educate young hunters. NWS partners will now be able to offer higher-resolution, annotated satellite imagery for SIWO outlooks, for which such high-resolution imagery was formerly prohibited by the lack of bandwidth in the Bering Strait region.
SIWO Program Outreach and Youth Engagement
During the previous SIWO Partners Workshop, held in March 2023 (Sheffield Guy et al. 2023), participants reviewed recommendations from an evaluation of the SIWO program (Hendricks et al. 2023; Kettle et al. 2023). SIWO observers identified increased youth engagement as a high-priority focus area for the program. Specifically, youth engagement was defined to include outreach to young hunters via social media and video, and inclusion of young hunters as SIWO observers. In response to this identified need, footage for a SIWO program outreach video was recorded during the workshop, which will be used to kick off a new phase of program implementation and outreach adapted to changing technologies and increased internet connectivity in the Bering Strait region, as well as targeting younger hunters. On Day 1 of the meeting, participants discussed the use of video for the program in general, the length and types of content a program outreach video should include, draft interview questions, and the best way to get these new products to viewers. Filming began that afternoon, and continued through Day 2 with interviews of participants who wished to share their perspectives on SIWO.
SIWO partners discussed options for a synthesis product that will share stories and lessons-learned from the network’s fifteen seasons of outlooks. A forthcoming paper will draw on the information-rich SIWO archive, and Knowledge and stories shared at the meeting.
Next Steps for SIWO
Looking ahead to the 2025 season and beyond, the virtual landscape of community-based science in the Bering Strait Region looks very different from that of even two years ago. Access to high-speed internet has created new opportunities for Knowledge-sharing, education, and equitable partnerships with community researchers and Knowledge-holders. SIWO partners look forward to sharing new types of content to support safe travel for Bering Strait coastal residents and to share on-the-ground observations with forecasters observing from a distance. SIWO aims to provide more visual, predictive, and timely information to support hunters, residents, and research partners.
ARCUS extends its gratitude to the National Science Foundation’s Office of Polar Programs for their invaluable support and the opportunity to strengthen relationships within the SIWO network through this workshop, as well as for their program support from 2010 to 2024.
However, with the current ARCUS funding agreement with NSF coming to an end amidst significant NSF budget cuts and delays in appropriations, additional support is crucial to sustain the SIWO programming and partnerships developed over the past 14 years. ARCUS is now actively seeking further funding to maintain these vital community connections in the coming year. We are excited to collaborate with the Alaska Ocean Observing System and other new partners to continue the program in 2025.
For additional program information, or to discuss opportunities to collaborate on SIWO-related programming, please contact Lisa Sheffield Guy, ARCUS Project Manager, at lisa [at] arcus.org.
References
Hendricks, A., N. Kettle, L. Sheffield Guy, O. Lee, V. Metcalf, and D. Holen, 2023. Reviewing the Sea Ice for Walrus Outlook to Increase Resilience in Coastal Alaska. International Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks. Fairbanks, Alaska.
Kettle, N. P., A. Hendricks, L. Sheffield Guy, O. A. Lee, V. Metcalf & D. Holen. 2023. Climate Services in a Rapidly Changing Environment: An Evaluation of the Sea Ice for Walrus Outlook (SIWO). Polar Geography 46:4 206-227.
Sheffield Guy, L., V. Metcalf, Barr, M., Irrigoo, C., Hendricks, Metzger, R., Nayokpuk, C., A., Ozenna, M. E., Prewitt, J., Sheffield, G., Rosengard, Schreck, M., S., Sopow, K., Thoman, R., and Tokeinna, R. 2023. Workshop Report: Sea Ice for Walrus Outlook Partners Workshop, 25–26 March 2023, Nome, Alaska. 1 October 2023. 8 pp.
About the Author
Lisa Sheffield Guy has worked with ARCUS since 2015 on a variety of programs, including the Sea Ice for Walrus Outlook, the Arctic Indigenous Scholars Program, The Arctic in the Classroom, and others. Lisa earned BS and MS degrees in Wildlife Science at Oregon State University where she studied seabirds as indicators of climate change on St. Lawrence Island, AK. Her professional interests include the impact of changing climate on ecosystems and communities, equitable inclusion of Indigenous Knowledge in science, science communication, and marine ecology. Lisa lives with her family on unceded Rammaytush land in Pescadero, CA.