A tiny Arctic village in Alaska is trying to revive its polar bear tourism industry

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — At the end of each summer, towering polar bears gather outside a small Alaska Native village on the edge of the continent, far above the Arctic Circle, to feast on whale carcasses abandoned by hunters and wait for the deep cold to freeze the sea.

It’s a sight that once drew at least 1,000 tourists each year to Kaktovik, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s only settlement, in a phenomenon sometimes called “last chance tourism” — a chance to see magnificent sights and creatures before climate change wipes them out.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the federal government’s order to halt bear-viewing boat tours largely ended polar bear tourism in Kaktovik amid fears the small village would be overrun by outsiders. But Kaktovik leaders now hope to revive it, saying it could bring millions of dollars to the local economy and give residents another source of income — provided the village can establish guidelines that protect its way of life and the bears themselves.

“We clearly see the benefits for tourism,” said Charles Lampe, president of Kaktovik Inupiat Corp, which owns 373 square kilometers of land. “The problem is that we can no longer function as before.”

Visitors overwhelm a small village

By the early 1980s, anyone in Kaktovik with a boat and knowledge of the waters could take a few tourists to watch the bears as they lumbered across the flat, treeless barrier islands off the coast or tore at the ribs of a bowhead whale abandoned by subsistence hunters.

Tourism in Kaktovik has boomed in the years since federal authorities declared polar bears an endangered species in 2008. Rapid warming in the Arctic is melting the sea ice that bears use to hunt seals, and scientists have said most polar bears could be exterminated by the end of the century.

As tours increased, the federal government imposed regulations requiring tour operators to have licenses and insurance, which began to squeeze locals out of the industry, Lampe said. Larger operators from out of town moved in, and soon crowds of tourists arrived in Kaktovik – a village of about 250 people – during the six-week viewing season.

The city’s two hotels and restaurants lost some business when the big operators began sending tourists from Fairbanks or Anchorage on day trips. Locals complain that tourists gawk at them or wander through their yards.

Small aircraft capacity has become a problem, with residents sometimes struggling to fly to or from major cities for medical appointments, forcing those stranded in cities to put up in expensive hotel rooms for the night.

Renewing polar bear tourism, with changes

When the pandemic hit, Kaktovik suspended visits. Then, in 2021, the federal government, which manages the polar bears, halted the boat tours, mainly due to concerns about how tourists were affecting the bears’ behavior and overrunning the town.

Alaska Native leaders are now in talks with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to address those concerns and revive the industry, perhaps as soon as 2027. The agency told The Associated Press in a statement that it is working with Kaktovik “to ensure that all future opportunities are managed in a way that prioritizes visitor safety, resource protection and community input.”

Among the changes Kaktovik leaders want to see is a limit on how long a boat can stay in the water near bears. Too long, Lampe said, and the bears become accustomed to humans, creating a dangerous situation when they wander around town looking for food.

At the height of the tourism boom, it became more difficult to chase bears out of town, even though the city’s bear patrol shot them with non-lethal bullets. The patrol was expected to kill about three or four bears a year, compared to perhaps one a year before the boom, Lampe said.

“Our safety was in danger,” Lampe said.

In 2023, a 24-year-old woman and her one-year-old son were killed in a polar bear attack in Wales, in the far west of Alaska. This is the first fatal attack by a polar bear in nearly 30 years in Alaska, the only US state home to the species.

Since boat tours in Kaktovik were halted, the bears seem more fearful of humans again, Lampe said.

Encouraging respectful visits to the Arctic

Polar bear tourism coincides with the subsistence whaling season in Kaktovik. When a crew lands a whale, it is usually massacred on a nearby beach. While the community encourages visitors to watch or even help, some were recording or taking photos without permission, which is considered disrespectful, Lampe said.

Sherry Rupert, CEO of the American Indigenous Tourism Association, suggested that Kaktovik be presented as a two- or three-day experience.

Indigenous communities who are willing to welcome tourists “want them to come, be educated and leave with a better understanding of our people, our way of life and our culture,” she said.

Roger and Sonia MacKertich, from Australia, were looking for the best place on earth to view polar bears in the wild when they arrived in Kaktovik in September 2019. They spent several days in the village, took an elder-led walking tour, and purchased souvenirs made by local artists, including a polar bear hoodie.

For Roger MacKertich, a professional wildlife photographer based in Sydney, the highlight was the boat trips to watch bears roaming the barrier islands or swimming in the water. The bears paid no attention to it.

“It’s almost as good as it gets,” he said.