s part of the active foraging mode because hunters continued to search for narwhal while traveling. Arguably, inter-camp movements could be considered simply as travel time; however, the scanning for prey supported inclusion as active foraging search.
Active foraging by snowmobile began as soon as hunters arrived at the floe-edge (Table 3). Upon arrival at the floe-edge, initial scans for narwhals were made and a travel direction was then chosen. This phase was particularly important because critical environmental information for travel safety and campsite selection was collected and given a priority greater than, or at least equal to, the search for narwhal. For example, the structural stability of the ice edge, sea conditions, weather patterns and the movements of drifting ice were all collected and synthesized. Equally important to the physical characteristics, this phase also provided the hunters with the number and distribution of the status of campsites located within the regional vicinity.
Snowmobile foraging was frequently punctuated by scan-stops. Scan-stops were brief pauses that generally lasted from 10 to 30 minutes and almost always occurred if a narwhal was sighted in order to evaluate the narwhal’s position and/or to hunt the narwhal with sit-and-wait foraging tactics. Such tactics should not be confused with the sit-and-wait foraging mode. Sit-and-wait foraging tactics refer to manoeuvring and positioning to hunt narwhal over a short term. These tactics were always employed because narwhal would readily dive and be very challenging or impossible to track actively in the pack ice environment. Scan-stops were also executed to evaluate the stability of an ice platform with an ice probe before travelling upon it.
Hunters who carried out extensive active searching by snowmobile incurred two kinds of costs. The first was monetary as a snow machine consumed about CDN $25.00 in gasoline and oil for roughly every three to four hours of operation (average price as calculated at the time of study, 1996-1998). Perhaps even more important was that the noise associated with snowmobile use was said by Inuit to affect how closely narwhal would approach the floe-edge and ultimately affect hunting opportunities.
Finally, a negligible amount of active foraging along the floe-edge based from the campsite was also done on foot. Walking provided the advantage of almost no disturbance. It did, however, have disadvantages. First, only a limited extent of floe-edge could be covered. Second, if a narwhal was shot, the chance of a successful retrieval without a boat was unlikely. Third, venturing any significant distance from camp meant risking exposure to possible deteriorating ice or rapid weather change. Last, it was difficult to be perfectly quiet while walking; some Inuit stated that the sounds of a hunter’s footsteps are interpreted by nearby narwhal as the sound of a polar bear shuffling on the sea ice.
Sit-and-wait foraging mode
At 13:40 hours, we sighted three narwhals moving south from our camp location. They are approximately 200 metres away from our location. They breathe for 8-10 minutes and then one takes a very deep breath and dives. The others follow almost immediately afterwards. They were very large in size with white coloration.Lee, Field Notes, 29/06/96
The sit-and-wait foraging mode was observed when hunters deployed a campsite where they searched for narwhal by remaining stationary for an extended period of time. The sit-and-wait foraging mode comprised all of the time spent by hunters who were stationary in their campsites. Although this included additional activities such as cooking, cleaning, resting, preparing and repairing equipment, hunters were always vigilant for narwhal while remaining stationary in their campsite. Overall, the average length of stay at the floe-edge for the 14 hunts observed over these three years was two and a half days (SD = 1.74; Range = 0.2 - 7.4 days). Given this average length of stay at the floe-edge, each hunt established at least one camp (Table 4). In fact, the average numb