Ice-forecasting Project Uses Facebook to Improve Safety for Walrus Hunters and Whalers

The Sea Ice for Walrus Outlook (SIWO), an activity of the SEARCH Sea Ice Outlook started in 2010, is a resource for Alaska Native subsistence hunters, coastal communities, and others interested in sea ice and walrus. The SIWO provides weekly reports from April through June with information on sea ice conditions relevant to walrus in the Northern Bering Sea and southern Chukchi Sea regions of Alaska.

Excerpts from the Article:

Marine mammal hunters trying to negotiate increasingly finicky ice conditions have a new ally: a National Weather Service project that can shoot weather forecasts and satellite imagery straight to their cell phones.

The idea for the project came from Vera Metcalf, executive director of the Eskimo Walrus Commission. The project allows hunters experiencing climate change first-hand to inform scientists and each other about what they're seeing, such as the thickness and movement of ice, said Metcalf.

The satellite images span several miles off the coast of each village, but aren't detailed enough to allow hunters to spot animals.

To learn more and read the entire article and associated links: The Arctic Sounder

To visit the Facebook page for Sea Ice for Walrus Outlook (SIWO): SIWO Facebook