2024
WhaleFest Theme
Shifting Boundaries New Horizons
This year we follow how life is on the move in a dynamic ocean. Together we will learn how animals are redrawing the maps of their historical ranges, and how these distribution shifts are reshaping our ties to land and water.
Science Symposium Speakers
The heart of Sitka WhaleFest is the three-day symposium, where world-renowned scientists share their current research. These presentations are unique because the speakers are chosen for their ability to communicate their work and engage a broad sweeping audience. This innovative science event gives future scientists and anyone interested in our oceans opportunities to meet and interact with a passionate and diverse group of speakers. Each afternoon, symposium participants and guest speakers will explore a daily theme connected to the overall theme of the symposium.
Friday November 1st
12:45pm to 1:00pm
Welcome & Opening Remarks
1:00pm to 1:45pm
Navigating Change: From Microscopic Plankton to Majestic North Pacific Right Whales | Deana Crouser
Join Deana Crouser as she shares her journey exploring Alaska’s large marine ecosystems. She’ll discuss her research on how temperature affects zooplankton size and introduce us to fascinating friends she’s met along the way. Discover how commercially important fish are responding to warming waters, learn about the inspiring recovery of the endangered short-tailed albatross, and marvel at the migratory habits of the critically endangered North Pacific right whale.
2:00pm to 2:45pm
How Alaska’s Fisheries (and Science!) are Keeping Pace with a Changing Climate | Elizabeth Siddon
Explore how climate change is affecting Alaska’s oceans and fisheries. Attendees will learn about the intersection of science and sustainable management, and how collaboration among 100s of researchers each year provides real-time science in a rapidly changing environment. We will explore recent case studies of extreme climate events, impacts to fish and crab, and lessons learned for scientists and fisheries managers. Elizabeth will wrap up with an overview of 2024 climate and ocean conditions across Alaska as well as forecasts for 2025.
3:00pm to 3:45pm
Are marine mammals in Arctic Alaska responding to warmer waters and less sea ice? | Lori Quakenbush
The Arctic is warming. Sea ice is melting earlier and forming later, so we expect that seals, whales, and polar bears that have depended on sea ice as habitat will likely need to adjust their behavior. Join Lori Quakenbush to learn what changes have, and have not, been seen in marine mammal behavior and health, what tools researchers use to detect changes, and what happens when long-established tools do not work anymore.
Saturday November 2nd
1:00pm to 1:45pm
Nunaaqqit Savaqatigivlugich – Working with Iñupiaq Communities to understand a changing Arctic | Donna Hauser, Roberta TG-B, & Kim Pikok
Indigenous Peoples across the Arctic have adapted to environmental change since time immemorial, yet recent climate change has imposed unprecedented and abrupt changes that affect the land and sea upon which communities rely. Co-created community-based observing programs offer an opportunity to harness the holistic breadth of knowledge in communities with the goal of tracking Arctic change while simultaneously supporting community priorities and local-scale needs. Here, we describe the Alaska Arctic Observatory and Knowledge Hub (AAOKH or ‘A-OK’), which is a network of Iñupiaq observers from northern Alaska coastal communities working in partnership with academic researchers. Five core functions have emerged through AAOKH, which include: tracking long-term environmental changes, communicating Indigenous-led observations of the environment and their meaning, place-based and culturally-relevant education, enabling western science and Indigenous Knowledge exchange, and supporting community-led responses to environmental change. Focusing on how shifts in coastal sea ice and wind conditions impact traditional marine harvests, we outline and discuss specific actions and opportunities that have been used to increase knowledge exchange of AAOKH observations, make space for the next generation of Indigenous scholars, and create locally-relevant data products and syntheses that reflect societal impacts of Arctic environmental change.
2:00pm to 2:45pm
Mean and Green (or not!). European Green Crab in Southeast Alaska | Kari Lanphier
European green crab are listed among the top 100 most impactful invasive species in the marine environment. European green crab threaten nearshore subsistence resources and habitats. In 2022 they were discovered in Southeast Alaska in Tamgas Bay on the Annette Island Reserve by the Metlakatla Indian Community. Tribes and other partners are conducting multiple mitigation efforts to help lessen the impacts of European green crab in Southeast Alaska. In this session learn about the invasion history for European green crab, lifecycle stages and strategies, and specific mitigation efforts being conducted in Southeast Alaska.
3:00pm to 3:45pm
Tracking the Tusk: Using Sound to Study Narwhal Movements | Marie Zahn
The narwhal is one of the most sensitive Arctic marine mammals to climate change and human-generated noise pollution. As the Arctic becomes more ice-free, ship traffic and hydrocarbon resource extraction are on the rise, leading to increased underwater noise. In recent years, scientists have collected underwater recordings of narwhal vocalizations and their surroundings to track their movements and understand how they are adapting to the changing environment. In this talk, Marie will highlight how these acoustic methods are used to study the combined impact of sea ice loss and increased underwater noise on narwhal behavior.
Sunday November 3rd
1:00pm to 1:45pm
In Support of the Coming Generations: Lessons Learned and Lessons Taught from Subsistence Hunting and Whaling Communities on the North Slope | Richard Glenn & Lee Kayotuk
Richard Glenn and Lee Kayotuk will share their insights and observations from living in Utqiaġvik and Kaktovik. Topics will include seasonal shifts in year to year conditions (freeze-up, break-up), and how those changes affect arrival time of marine mammals, including seals, bowheads and polar bears. They’ll share stories related to hunting, travel safety and marine mammal observations.
2:00pm to 2:45pm
Alaska Salmon in a Warming World: From too hot to just warm enough | Peter Westley
There is scientific consensus that our actions as People are having an outsized role in warming of the global climate system, and some of the fastest rates of warming are observed in the far north. What warming means to species, such as salmon, that are adapted to and reliant upon clean, complex, connected, and cold habitats is far from clear. In this talk I ponder the variable role of warming on Alaska’s salmon and its impact on salmon-reliant communities. In some regions, warm summers are associated with unusual mortality, delayed migrations, and prespawning mortality on the spawning grounds. In other regions, warming is associated with increasingly observed occurrences of salmon in places that historically have been too cold. The talk concludes with a call to action of what tangible actions we can take to sustain the 14,000+ year relationship between salmon and People in Alaska.
3:00pm to 3:45pm
Following the arc of humans’ relationship with marine mammals in Southeast Alaska | Lauren Wild, John Moran, & Mike Miller
This panel-style discussion among three regional specialists will explore the history and changing landscape of human and marine mammal interactions in our local waters. From harvesting practices to entanglement concerns to the impacts of climate change, this conversation will bring the theme of SWF 2024 home by zooming in on local perspectives of change and how community members can help support ongoing studies and initiatives.
