How Inuit Hunters Find Seals Hidden Beneath the Arctic Ice

[00:00:01]Beneath this ice lies an ocean.

[00:00:05]>> [whistles] >> And beneath the ocean a seal is searching for air.

[00:00:16]The opening it needs may be no wider than a human hand.

[00:00:24]From the surface, almost nothing reveals where that opening is hidden.

[00:00:33]The hunter cannot see through the ice.

[00:00:41]He may wait for hours without movement.

[00:00:48]But somewhere below the seal must eventually breathe.

[00:00:55]The hunt depends on knowing where ocean, ice, animal, and air will meet for only a few seconds.

[00:01:04]Inuit are indigenous peoples of the circumpolar Arctic.

[00:01:12]Across Canada, Inuit Nunangat includes Nunavut, Nunavik, Nunatsiavut, and the Inuvialuit Settlement Region.

[00:01:20]The Arctic is enormous and hunting traditions vary by region, season, animal, and period.

[00:01:29]There is no single method that represents every Inuit community.

[00:01:36]This reconstruction focuses on a method documented in Nunavut.

[00:01:40]Waiting beside a seal's breathing hole in the sea ice.

[00:01:45]The practice is sometimes described by the word nippaak, waiting at a seal hole.

[00:01:53]This is not a story about people trapped in the past.

[00:01:59]>> [music] >> Inuit communities today use modern equipment alongside knowledge passed through generations.

[00:02:07]>> Country foods, including seal and caribou, continue to feed families and communities.

[00:02:16]>> The historical style reconstruction shown here is limited to one method in one environment during one season.

[00:02:26]To an inexperienced visitor, the frozen sea may look like an empty white plain.

[00:02:32]It is not.

[00:02:33]>> [snorts] >> Sea ice moves.

[00:02:43]>> Sea ice moves.

[00:02:48]>> It cracks, compresses, thickens, and opens with wind, current, and temperature.

[00:02:59]Snow can hide weak places.

[00:03:06]A route that was safe earlier may become dangerous after weather changes.

[00:03:12]Before thinking about seals, a hunter must understand the ice itself.

[00:03:23]Its color, texture, and sound can carry information.

[00:03:30]A dark section may indicate thinner ice or water.

[00:03:34]>> [snorts] >> A raised ridge may show where moving sheets have pressed together.

[00:03:44]Open cracks can create danger, but they can also affect where marine animals travel and breathe.

[00:03:54]The hunter is not walking across a frozen object.

[00:04:00]He is traveling on a moving layer between atmosphere and ocean.

[00:04:07]>> Seals are mammals.

[00:04:16]>> They must return to air even when winter covers the sea with ice.

[00:04:24]Some maintain breathing holes using them repeatedly while moving beneath the surface.

[00:04:32]But the openings may be covered by snow and almost invisible from above.

[00:04:39]Historical footage from Nunavut shows hunters traveling across sea ice with dogs and using probes to locate possible breathing holes.

[00:04:49]A trained dog may detect scent that a human cannot.

[00:04:56]The hunter then examines the area carefully.

[00:05:07]The purpose is not simply to break open every suspicious patch.

[00:05:12]Destroying the structure could cause the seal to abandon the hole.

[00:05:21]The hunter must identify an active breathing place while disturbing it as little as possible.

[00:05:30]>> Finding a hole does not guarantee a seal will appear.

[00:05:35]>> The animal may use several openings over a wide area.

[00:05:45]The hunter has found only a possibility.

[00:05:49]>> [snorts] >> The hunter prepares a position beside the hole.

[00:06:00]Every movement is controlled.

[00:06:08]Loose snow is managed carefully.

[00:06:11]Equipment is placed where it can be reached without sudden searching.

[00:06:16]The harpoon is checked.

[00:06:24]Traditional Arctic hunting tools were made from available materials such as wood, bone, antler, ivory, hide, and sinew.

[00:06:33]Designs varied greatly between communities and through time.

[00:06:40]The tool had to function in cold conditions while the hunter wore heavy clothing and worked on an unstable surface.

[00:06:49]But equipment alone could not summon the animal.

[00:06:56]Once the position was ready, technology gave way to waiting.

[00:07:03]Hours can pass at a breathing hole.

[00:07:11]The hunter limits movement because vibration and sound may travel through the ice.

[00:07:19]>> [whistles] >> Cold gradually enters the hands and feet.

[00:07:28]Wind presses against the clothing.

[00:07:38]Nothing on the surface confirms that the seal is approaching.

[00:07:43]>> [snorts] >> This is why patience cannot be separated from knowledge.

[00:07:53]Waiting without understanding would be chance.

[00:08:00]The experienced hunter knows why this hole was selected, how weather may affect it, and which signs might indicate movement below.

[00:08:08]In the Inuit made short film Nipawuk, hunter Joshua Ataguyuk waits beside a breathing hole as the sun moves across the sky.

[00:08:18]The film needs no dramatic narration.

[00:08:24]The passing time is the story.

[00:08:34]The hunt is not a burst of action surrounded by emptiness.

[00:08:39]The waiting is the central work.

[00:08:48]The hunter leans close enough to detect a change, but not enough to disturb the opening.

[00:08:57]The Arctic is never completely silent.

[00:09:04]Wind moves grains of snow.

[00:09:08]Grains of snow.

[00:09:11]Ice shifts with low cracks and distant pressure.

[00:09:20]The hunter must separate those sounds from something much smaller.

[00:09:28]A seal approaching from below may create only a brief signal.

[00:09:35]He relies on a carefully prepared indicator and on subtle information transmitted through the opening.

[00:09:44]>> Then something changes.

[00:09:52]A movement too controlled to be wind.

[00:09:59]>> The seal is below the ice.

[00:10:08]The hunter does not react immediately.

[00:10:16]>> The seal must position itself to breathe.

[00:10:24]>> Moving too soon would warn it.

[00:10:27]Moving too late would allow it to disappear into the dark water.

[00:10:35]>> Now the decision must be made within seconds.

[00:10:39]>> The surface indicator moves.

[00:10:47]>> The hunter acts.

[00:10:56]>> The moment of impact is not shown.

[00:10:58]Instead, the camera remains on the open Arctic as the wind carries snow across the ice.

[00:11:03]>> The result of the hunt is handled beyond the frame.

[00:11:11]>> The hunting equipment is gathered.

[00:11:14]A covered load is secured on a sled.