storically, narwhals would have been harpooned while travelling along the floe-edge, (i.e. while swimming very close to and parallel to the floe-edge), harpooning was rarely observed during the trips that were accompanied for the present study. Instead, in almost every hunting event that occurred, narwhals were fired upon while making deep dives as they swam toward the floe-edge in one of these embayments. Clearly, while rifles and outboard motor-equipped boats now play a critical technological role in narwhal hunting at the floe-edge, Inuit have also had to adapt their foraging behaviour to compensate for some of the changes in narwhal behaviour precipitated by these tools.
First, we summarize our analysis of Inuit foraging mode for narwhal hunts during the floe-edge spring season. Second, we discuss foraging modes for other species with special reference to breathing hole seal hunting and basking seal hunting. Finally, we explore the dynamic effect of the floe-edge environment upon the Inuit foraging mode for narwhals and we discuss the impact of rifle and snowmobile technologies upon foraging mode.
Our observations show that Inuit foraging behaviour for narwhals in the floe-edge environment can clearly be categorized into two major foraging modes: active foraging and sit-and-wait foraging. Our observations also reveal that the sit-and-wait foraging mode was the dominant one utilized to hunt narwhals in the floe-edge environment during the spring hunting season.
The decision to engage in a sit-and-wait strategy is due to several key factors related both to the highly mobile and acoustically sensitive nature of narwhals (Cosens and Dueck 1988; Finley et al. 1990; Ford 1976) and the dynamic ice environment (Parkinson 1999, 2000). For example, the reluctance to engage in active foraging trips by snowmobile seems to indicate the importance of minimizing noise disturbance and maximizing firing opportunities. This is supported by interviews with both elders and active hunters who related their perception that narwhals were extremely acoustically sensitive to noise. Mittimatalingmiut elders also stated that historically (ca. 1900), there were strict rules on human behaviour while at the floe-edge that were utilized in order to minimize noise disturbance. For example, an Inuk elder stated that while hunting narwhals at the floe-edge during spring, any movement among family members not engaged in hunting was not permitted. Furthermore, several elders mentioned that the contemporary snowmobile noise along the floe-edge had drastically changed narwhal migration behaviour along the floe-edge. Even though active trips by foot created much less noise disturbance along the floe-edge, they offered very limited range beyond the camp deployment area.
Notwithstanding, the active foraging mode was shown to play a key role in the initial phase of the hunting trip. In every accompanied trip a preliminary evaluation of the geographical, physical and environmental conditions began as soon as the hunters reached the floe-edge. In these evaluations, hunters first examined the spatial geography and physical status of the floe-edge within viewable range in order to gauge the costs and challenges involved in traveling along the floe-edge and in locating potential campsite areas along the entire floe-edge extent. The foremost concern was whether an area or stretch of floe-edge might rapidly erode or break away. Other factors included whether near-edge travel would require moving over or crossing between separated floes, traversing compacted and uplifted ice ridges, or the possibility of encountering snow conditions that might impede movement. Finally, local weather patterns were considered.
Once a preliminary scan of the physical conditions was done, hunters turned to an assessment of the migration stage of narwhals in the immediate area. The number of narwhal sightings made in these initial scans ultimately influenced a hunter’s decision to travel either north or south along the floe-edge and where camps might be feasible. It should be noted that,