er of campsites for all trips was two (see Table 4) (SD = 0.97).
Camp routine was as such that at least one person was on alert and scanning for whales at all times in multi-occupant camps. This explains why the average number of groups per camp in all three years was two even though seven  of the 14 hunts that were accompanied through their entirety were by single hunters (see Table 2). Solitary camping was actually relatively rare as visits from passing hunters were frequent. This was usually due to the high camp density location chosen by the solitary camper. Although narwhal was the primary objective while waiting in camp, Inuit were also continuously scanning the local environment for deteriorating ice conditions, weather conditions and polar bears.
Comparison of foraging mode
The time spent engaged in each foraging mode reveals the dominant search behaviour of Inuit narwhal hunting at the floe-edge. Of the overall 840 hours spent at the floe-edge for the 14 trips, an average of 94% of hunters’ time was spent in the sit-and-wait foraging mode (SD = 3.62; Figure 3; Table 5).
A 3 (years) x 2 (foraging mode) mixed-model ANOVA was conducted, where years was set as the between-subject factor and foraging mode was set as the within-subject factor. The analysis revealed a significant main effect for foraging mode, F (1, 11) = 42.95, p < 0.01; that is, hunters spent significantly more time in sit-and-wait foraging than in active foraging. As expected, the interaction between years and foraging mode was not significant, F (2, 11) = 3.42, p = NS; that is, the pattern of relatively higher time spent in sit-and-wait foraging was consistent over the years.
Despite the large number of trips reviewed here, and the large amount of time spent in both modes of foraging, the rate of successful narwhal capture was low. Overall, only one narwhal was captured. Generally, even the most assiduous hunter was often prevented from having success because of numerous environmental barriers, such as high waves or fog along the floe edge that obscured narwhal target, to broken ice inhibiting any opportunity for retrieval of a kill. Still, there were more actual firing events (capture opportunities) when hunters were engaged in the sit-and-wait foraging mode (Table 6).
Given the inherent importance of campsites for the sit-and-wait foraging mode, campsite selection bears some discussion. Indeed, when camp residence duration and total trip duration are compared, it indicates that 79% of hunters’ time was spent in camp. This comparison was even more salient when the total time spent at the floe-edge was compared to the camp residence duration: hunters spent 99% of their time near their campsite.
A) Seasonality and geography
Historically, hunters mostly established their campsites near Sannirut during the spring season (Degerbøl and Freuchen 1935; Mary-Rousselière 1984). Presently, the majority of hunters from Pond Inlet actually venture across a larger expanse of the floe-edge. In terms of scheduling and seasonality, more specialized Pond Inlet Inuit concentrate their campsite selection in the southern extent of the floe-edge (see Figure 2), the geographical area where the probability of sighting and intercepting northward-migrating narwhals is highest (Hay 1984; Silverman 1979). By early June, all hunters disperse their campsites along the entire extent of the floe-edge.
Interviews with Mittimatalingmiut elders suggest another reason for why some hunters concentrate on the southern section of the floe-edge in early spring. They stated that when noise disturbance is minimal, narwhals often travel in very close proximity to the floe-edge (as close as 5m). This was the case before mechanized transport (that is before ca.1960) became ubiquitous in the Pond Inlet area. In fact, this a point remarked upon by Degerbøl and Freuchen (1935: 259) in their section on narwhal: “[…] the Eskimos were continually catching those that come near the ice edge, without the others apparently being disturbed in the least by it.” In early spring it is possible, because of