The design of the sampling scheme was based on 6 years of data (2000-05) from the Bowhead Whale Aerial Survey Project (BWASP (7)) conducted by MMS.

Eavesdropping on bowhead whale calls is a much more effective approach: It does not rely on good weather or adequate light and can continue for weeks to months.

Still, despite widespread reverence for these kings of the sea, species' numbers, such as those of the bowhead whale, are cause for concern in some areas.

Walrus and bowhead whale populations were being depleted by heavy hunting in the Sound and the caribou were nearly extinct.

The Point Hope dancers performed short solo and duet pieces, dressed in white (for snow) and black (for the bowhead whale, which forms the base of their economy).

Many whales on the Endangered Species list inhabit these marine ecosystems, including the northern right whale (Balaena glacialis), bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus), and humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), as well as one marine reptile, the leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea).

Commercial whalers almost wiped out the bowhead whale population in the eastern Arctic, but Inuit learned this week they may soon harvest one of the remaining few.

The workings there represent the latest stage of a process of exploitation which began with the whalers who reached the Atlantic Arctic in the sixteenth century, and by 1900 had almost exterminated the bowhead whale.

Key words: bowhead whale; Balaena mysticetus; beluga whale; Delphinapterus leucas; Arctic; Beaufort Sea; habitat; aerial survey; feeding

In 1976, through the influence of various environmental and animal rights groups, a moratorium was placed on the bowhead whale hunt.

One of the most amazing sightings this year has been an Arctic bowhead whale -- one of only about 1,000 residing in the North Atlantic.