Nathan Gordon Jr. drove his truck on the spit right outside of Kaktovik in early March. He is the city mayor and leads the town's polar bear patrol program. Under his back seat, he had a shotgun, and in his console – shotgun rounds and what he uses the most to deter bears: cracker shells.
"There is polar bear ground right there," he said, pointing to the sea ice. "I'll make a drive around the outskirts, and then I'll get to the interior roads, and then I'll start to go up and down to make sure there's no bears outside the houses."
The North Slope community of Kaktovik sits on Barter Island on the Beaufort Sea coast, offshore from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In late summer and fall, up to 80 polar bears come on land near the village – a trend that has been increasing as the sea ice diminishes.
That brought the need for patrol – and created opportunities for polar bear viewing that flourished before the pandemic. Hundreds of tourists used to flock to the Iñupiat village of about 250 people. The community was often dubbed as the polar bear capital of the United States.
"There was booming during the fall time," Gordon said. "The whole three months would cover the other nine months of money that was made at the hotel."
But in 2020, the pandemic put a pause on visitation. Then the federal government halted the tours, following significant community opposition. They never reopened. Now Gordon said Kaktovik leaders have been working to revive them.
"I'm excited for the tour season to be back, both for the community and those who work for it," he said. "Let's get this place back to making money, and it'll be great for everybody."
A chance to see Arctic wildlife
When Robert Thomposn moved to Kaktovik about 40 years ago, he would rarely see polar bears, unless he hunted for one on the sea ice. Over the years, he witnessed more and more bears coming to shore.
"It's a climate issue," said Thompson, who is a long-time Iñupiaq polar bear tour guide and the head of the Kaktovik Polar Bear Captains Association. "I think part of what we did made people more aware. More people see the polar bear and more people want to save them, you know?"
Polar bears are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act because of the loss of sea ice, their primary habitat. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game determined that the southern Beaufort Sea sub-population of polar bears – which includes Kaktovik bears – is declining.
Several researchers say that a chance to see Arctic animals in a quickly changing environment – a phenomenon called last chance tourism – is a significant tourism driver. Thompson said he noticed that as a guide as well.
"It's a worldwide interest," he said.
A profitable business
Ketil Reitan was among those who caught the polar bear tourism wave. A prominent Norwegian musher who repeatedly competed in the Iditarod, Reitan moved to Kaktovik in the late '80s and started the company Kaktovik Tours in 2010.
"We started on a very small scale and it grew every year. And (the) last year, the whole season was almost fully booked," he said. "It was very popular, and the clients were very happy to come and see the polar bears in Kaktovik."
By 2019, Reitan said he and his two children took several hundred tourists a season on their two boats – a rare economic opportunity in a village with limited jobs.
"We were able to make a year's income in about six weeks," he said.
Reitan was not alone: At least five Kaktovik companies offered polar bear tours, according to the Kaktovik Comprehensive Plan. The number of tourists soared from about fifty in 2010 to over a thousand by the time the tourism shut down, according to the Native Village of Kaktovik officials.
Gordon said the hotels were packed, and tourists would pay for rides, arts and crafts and walking tours.
Growing concerns
Kaktovik polar bear tourism grew so quickly that residents were worried it was interfering with subsistence practices and disrupting life in the village.
"There'd be a bunch of times where we get tourists who are not respectful towards the whaling community, which is where we draw the line," Gordon said. "We don't want to lose any of that."
While many guides were local, there were also outside companies that flew tourists for a day, without spending money in the community.
Village officials said that some local guides didn't have the means to meet the requirements for boat tour permits issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – such as a Coast Guard captain license – and that meant that permits went to outside companies.
Former guide NoraJane Burns, who helped found polar bear patrol, said that some tourists and guides approached bears too closely, or even fed and baited them.
"The polar bears were starting to get used to the guides, boats and stuff," she said.
But the main source of pushback to tours was an argument that visitors would book out seats on small flights and limit the amount of freight that was coming in.
"That was the catalyst that kind of got everybody, especially when we have elders that go out for medical," Burns said. "And then when they try to come back, the flights would be booked."
Reitan said that tour companies like his were in the process of solving the problem by using charter flights and offering locals cheap extra seats. Still, the conflict remained.
After a pause, the chance to bring tourism back
The COVID-19 pandemic shut down the tours. And a year later, the U.S. Department of Interior issued an order pausing permits for commercial boat polar bear viewing, until the effects of the industry were more defined.
The land-based tours continued, but guides say the boat tours offered a more efficient, safe and reliable way to see bears that might not show up to the same location accessible by car.
The shutdown of boat tours upset many of the guides, and several had to move in search of jobs.
"There are some people that relied on it, so that kind of cut into it, especially if they didn't have any other income," Burns said. "And that kind of hurt the other businesses."
Since then, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – the agency that oversees boat tours in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge – has been working with the city and village of Kaktovik, as well as Kaktovik Inupiat Corporation, on a plan for polar bear viewing.
Native Village of Kaktovik officials said they completed a study on polar bear tourism from a community perspective in 2024. They said they met with residents to hear their concerns and spoke to local air carriers.
Charter flights came up as a solution to continue tourism without overwhelming the transportation system for locals – something that tour companies were already implementing before the shutdown.
Another solution outlined in the study was forming a tourism nonprofit, owned by the local village, city and corporation. The nonprofit could get the necessary permits, help captains with licensing, provide boats and safety gear and manage how many people are on the water at the same time, to minimize potential harm to bears and visitors.
The study also outlined benefits of developing tourism opportunities around polar bear viewing – like creating chances to buy Inupiaq arts and crafts, see cultural performances and explore the tundra and the village.
Village officials said they hope the study can help reopen tourism. They said they plan to form a trilateral agreement between local governments this spring, as a first step towards launching a tourism non-profit.
Gordon said that this time around, he wants the community to develop infrastructure for tourists and focus on educating visitors through brochures, signs, videos and in-person conversations.
"Just putting out knowledge to those who come in would be the easiest answer to fixing tourism problems," he said. "I think we'll be way more prepared for tourism this time."
But who will run the tours?
Thompson said he is retired and is not sure he would go back to guiding. Burns is busy with her job at Kaktovik Public Works Department. And Reitan sold his boats and moved to Nome.
But they said they hope the younger generation will take over polar bear tours – if and when they're back.
"I hope they can find a solution and get things started again," Reitan said. "This would be an excellent opportunity for local people in Kaktovik."
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