Photos & Text by Gregory Bull
In Barrow, Alaska, it all begins with a euphoric voice over a crackling radio: “Hey, hey, hey!”
The signal from an Inupiat whaling captain in a tiny boat on the grey waters of the Chukchi Sea is heard in nearly every home of this frozen town as far north as you can go in the United States, and its meaning is clearly understood.
A bowhead whale – one of the oldest and largest mammals on earth – has been caught.
Keeping with a tradition that stretches back thousands of years, bowhead whales are hunted by boat during the fall season. Once ashore, residents flock to help in the work of divvying up the whale.
As children slide down the whale’s slippery side, officials inspect the catch and ensure the hunters have followed international guidelines to keep traditional whaling on a subsistence scale for native communities.
The skin and blubber, known as muktuk, is prized by the Inupiat, and often eaten frozen. The community says the catch helps them feed their families in the town where produce such as watermelons that are flown in cost as much as $20 each at the local grocery.
Click on any image to launch the Whaling in Alaska gallery.
In this Oct. 7, 2014, photo, Molly Pederson, right, and daughter Laura Patkotak take a picture as a bowhead whale caught by Alaska Native subsistence hunters from their family is brought ashore in Barrow, Alaska. Whaling is a community event in Barrow, as family members and town residents race to the beach to congratulate the hunters and help to butcher the catch. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
In this Oct. 7, 2014, photo, an Inupiat whaler looks on from a boat on a trailer as a bowhead whale is hauled onto shore after a catch near Barrow, Alaska. During the fall, whaling is done in small boats and few crew members. Once a whale is caught, it is pulled ashore by the tiny boats, in an effort that often takes hours. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
In this Oct. 7, 2014, photo, a whale is pushed onto a frozen metal landing strip for butchering in a field near Barrow, Alaska. The whales, which can reach sixty feet in length and weigh more than 100 tons, can take a Herculean effort to move, both at sea and on land. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
In this Oct. 7, 2014, photo, Crawford Patkotak, above center, leads a prayer flanked by his sons Josiah, in green suspenders, Arnold, in white bib, and Samuel, fourth from right, after his crew landed a bowhead whale near Barrow, Alaska. Both revered and hunted by the Inupiat, the bowhead whale serves a symbol of tradition, as well as a staple of food. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
In this Oct. 7, 2014, photo, a boy holds on to the baleen of a bowhead whale before work begins to butcher the whale near Barrow, Alaska. A chilly celebration takes place on the frozen fields as a whale is brought ashore. The hours-long process of butchering the whale brings the town together for the event. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
In this Oct. 7, 2014, photo, a cutter slices through skin and blubber atop a bowhead whale in a field near Barrow, Alaska. Following tradition, a section of the skin and blubber will be reserved for the captain of the boat, who will open his home to the community for a feast in the coming days. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
In this Oct. 7, 2014, photo, men in boots move through blood from a bowhead whale as they finish with the butchering process on a field near Barrow, Alaska. After a whale is divided and shared, blood and some remains are hauled off farther from town. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
In this Oct. 7, 2014, photo, a cutter slices through skin and blubber atop a bowhead whale in a field near Barrow, Alaska. Blades lashed to poles are are used to cut down through the blubber in sections, to be hooked and hauled off. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
In this Oct. 7, 2014, photo, Kendra Aiken stands wearing a parka made by her grandmother, as she poses for a picture for her parents in front of work on a bowhead whale in a field near Barrow, Alaska. Children of Barrow too small to help with the hooking and cutting, are still brought down to the whale, while family members point and explain the process. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
In this Oct. 7, 2014, photo, cutters divide sections of skin and blubber while butchering a bowhead whale in a field near Barrow, Alaska. Young whalers often learn to help in butchering by learning to use the hook to pull off the giant slabs of skin and blubber. Later, they may move to the more skilled task of cutter. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
In this Oct. 7, 2014, photo, Fredrick Brower, center, helps cut up a bowhead whale caught by Inupiat subsistence hunters on a field near Barrow, Alaska. Drawing on tradition, and keeping within the closely monitored Aboriginal subsistence whaling guidelines, a bowhead whale is carved and divided by a crew armed with knives and hooks, and then shared according to custom. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
In this Oct. 7, 2014, photo, men haul sections of whale skin and blubber, known as muktuk, as a bowhead whale is butchered in a field near Barrow, Alaska. Once divided, muktuk is shared throughout the community. Some sections are even placed into duct-taped coolers and shipped by plane to elders living in warmer climates farther south. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
In this Oct. 7, 2014, photo, a man hauls whale blubber as a bowhead whale is butchered near Barrow, Alaska. The whale skin and blubber, known as muktuk, is prized by the Inupiat, and often eaten frozen. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
In this Oct. 7, 2014, photo, a cutter takes a break and drinks a soup of boiled bowhead whale meat and blubber while butchering a whale in a field near Barrow, Alaska. As workers continue with the cutting and hooking of the whale blubber, others prepare a soup to warm the crews. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
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Opening text from the AP news story, AP PHOTOS: Whale catch is survival in Alaska town.
Lead Image Caption: In this Oct. 7, 2014, photo, Fredrick Brower, center, helps cut up a bowhead whale caught by Inupiat subsistence hunters on a field near Barrow, Alaska. Drawing on tradition, and keeping within the closely monitored Aboriginal subsistence whaling guidelines, a bowhead whale is carved and divided by a crew armed with knives and hooks, and then shared according to custom. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
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