244 



NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 74 



Table 39. Numbers of walruses retrieved by St. Lawrence Island Eskimos in 

 1940-68. (During this period each village required at least 120 to 125 animals 

 for human and sledge dog food and other uses.)^ 



Village 



Year 



Gambell 



Savoonga^ 



1940 



315 



? 



1946 



170 



? 



1947 



180 



? 



1948 



70c 



? 



1949 



250 



? 



1950 



300 



? 



1952 



275 



? 



1953 



200 



175 



1954 



70c 



120 



1955 



125 



30c 



1956 



150 



330 



1957 



200 



270 



1958 



150 



300 



1960 



280 



425 



1961 



300 



250 



1962 



435 



510 



1963 



275 



240 



1964 



120 



240 



1965 



445 



390 



1966 



490 



510 



1967 



85c 



300 



1968 



465 



115c 



^Data from Hughes (1960), J. W. Brooks and F. H. Fay (unpublished data), and unpub- 

 lished records of Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Years in which har- 

 vests were not recorded are omitted. 



^'Question mark indicates quantity unknown. 



cinsufficient harvests. 



harvests (Fay 1957 and unpublished data). Again, ice conditions had a major 

 influence on the numbers available to each village. The smallest harvests at 

 Gambell in 1940-68 were taken in years of very light ice cover in the Bering Sea 

 and very early breakup and dispersion of ice between St. Lawrence Island and 

 the Chukchi Peninsula. In those years, the walruses apparently wintered much 

 farther north than usual and had mostly vacated the Gambell area by the time of 

 the traditional spring hunt. Conversely, the light ice cover allowed the Savoonga 

 hunters to have early access to the walruses, and to take an adequate harvest. 

 The smallest harvests at Savoonga were taken in years when the ice remained 

 compacted against the northern side of the island until late June, preventing the 

 hunters from launching their boats before most of the animals had left that area. 

 In those years, the ice was more favorable at Gambell, and adequate harvests 

 were taken there. The largest harvests in both villages were mainly the result of 

 availability of walruses during unusually favorable ice conditions in autumn. In 

 those years, large supplementary harvests were taken during the southward 

 migration of the walrus population. 



