ADVENTURES IN KAKTOVIK ~ POLAR BEARS AND A GRIZZLY IN HOT PURSUIT

I felt fortunate to being flying to Kaktovik on Barter Island to work in the clinic this second week of September.  Bertrand, the public health nurse who had been assigned to the village before me had advised I go this week, saying that it’s when I would see the most polar bears as well as learn more about the culture in the village as they would have started their fall whaling season.

I wasn’t able to prepare for the trip during the week as other things kept pulling for my attention, so I enjoyed spending a quiet Saturday there, planning and packing.  I would be placing PPD’s, the skin test for TB on all of the children in the village school as well as giving immunizations to those who needed them, doing well child checks on infants, and giving education around SIDS, caring for teeth, starting solids, reading, common infections, toilet training, temper tantrums and reducing risk factors for diabetes, heart and vascular diseases and obesity.

Public Health Nursing hasn’t received any of this year’s flu vaccine yet, although it’s been ordered and should arrive in Barrow soon.  When talking with the school principal in Kaktovik earlier in the week before going, he asked if I would be able to offer flu shots at the school to all of the staff and faculty during my trip there.  The hospital in Barrow had received a large supply of the vaccine but because I am not an employee there, some policy-stretching had to be considered before they could be released to me.  I learned after arriving in Kaktovik that they would be sending 40 doses out on Tuesday’s plane, allowing me to offer flu clinics at the school as well as to the health clinic and fire department staff and to pregnant women in the village.  This was going to be a very productive trip.  

I left a foggy Barrow on the 9-seater Beechcraft 1900 plane Sunday morning, surprised that we were able to take off as visibility was poor.  I was grateful though as I had a large 58 pound suit case with supplies I’d need as well as my clothes for the week, a 38 pound box of t-shirts with the message “There’s no safe level of second hand smoke…” to give to the school counselor for all of the children, sent by the Health Department, a 50 pound tote with my juicer and food that I’d need for the week as well as a 30 pound bag of ice blocks and cool packs with immunizations that I’d be giving and taking to stock the clinic there for the coming months.  I was ready to go and wasn’t excited about unpacking if the weather didn’t permit our taking off = ). 

Fortunately, our pilot, Magnus, explained to me on our walk to the plane, that it was no problem for him.  I learned that he came from Sweden in 1990, loves flying his routes to the villages on the North Slope and didn’t see a big problem with the day’s weather.  I was grateful when he offered to carry my immunization bag and then stored it up front behind where the co-pilot sits.  Other pilots are not so confident and wait until the fog lifts, sometimes not happening the same day.

I peered out the plane window, looking for polar bears on the coasts when flying through Nuiqsut, Prudhoe Bay and on to Kaktovik.  My searching wasn’t rewarded, but having heard for the past year that I would see them on my September trip, I was sure that I’d have my chance.  Stephanie Aishanna, one of the health aides from the clinic picked me up at the air strip.  As soon as we’d loaded the vehicle, she asked if I wanted to go with her to see the polar bears at the bone yard that night.  Hmmm…let me think about that, just for a split second, that is.  She said that they were on the spit during the day and swam over to the island at night, so she’d pick me up at 9:45 and we’d go looking for them.  Sounded like a great plan to me and although not a new feeling on my latest trip here, I smiled deeply at her warmth, sense of adventure, friendliness and generosity.  I unpacked, made sure the immunizations I’d brought hadn’t been out of safe temperature range, did an inventory of the ones already in the clinic and took an enjoyable nap, although I didn’t sleep.  I was going to see my first polar bears since arriving on the North Slope almost a year ago…in just a few hours.

Stephanie picked me up with her infant niece in the hood of her parka and her five year old daughter, Mya, bouncing from one spot to the next in the vehicle, happy to be going to see Nanooks (the Inupiat word for polar bear).  Stephanie has lived here all of her life, but says she never tires of seeing them--that it’s always exciting.  We spotted our first nine by the whaling shack looking for something to eat.  They ran towards the ocean when they saw us--I think we surprised them.  They were very close to the village, within walking distance to the clinic.  It was interesting knowing that they were there and I was reminded of why I wouldn’t be out walking, something I normally wouldn’t think too much about.  We drove on to the end of the runway where the remains of the first two whales of the season were brought the previous two weeks.  There we saw two nanooks enjoying a feast and another running to the west with a grizzly bear in hot pursuit.  I joined Stephanie and Mya in sending out a plea, “Run, Nanook, run!”  Grizzlies have been known to chase large groups of polar bears, being more fearsome and dangerous.  Stephanie said that she thought that the grizzlies liked to chase the nanooks for fun too.  They come from the Brooks range and the Canadian mountains to the south and east of the island, most likely drawn to the whaling too.

On the drive back, we saw two nanooks behind the old Air Force hanger, so 14 in all that night.  I hadn’t practiced taking photos in the dark with the camera I had borrowed, so didn’t get any good shots, but was in awe of all we’d seen.  Before long I said “good night” to my new little friend, Mya, who had kept me laughing on our adventure, and to Stephanie and little Ali Rose, and sank into a deep and much-needed rest in the upstairs clinic quarters before starting a rigorous schedule at the school the next morning.  Stephanie said that I’d be hearing gun shots fired all night long as patrols would be out frightening bears out of the village.  With whale from the last two catches still outside of people’s homes, there were plenty of nighttime visitors.  My schedule had been so filled prior to coming with many late nights, that I slept without hearing even one.  

The next post will have some photos of the bears = )