Sea Ice, Weather, and Subsistence Observations from Sivuqaq, Gambell, Alaska: 2023-2025

Arctic Indigenous coastal communities sustain rich environmental knowledge for subsistence activities, yet their knowledge and observations of changing conditions remain underrepresented in scientific datasets. This dataset documents local Sivuqaq Yupik Indigenous hunters’ observations of environmental conditions and associated subsistence activity based out of Sivuqaq (Gambell), St. Lawrence Island, Alaska.
Two community research leads and experienced Sivuqaq Yupik Hunters (Ungott and Kaningok) compiled a series of regular observations over the course of three sea ice seasons from 2023 to 2025. These included quantitative measurements made with a handheld weather meter and visual assessments of specific categories of weather, ice and ocean conditions, and subsistence activities. Specifically, the quantitative observations include wind speed, direction and air temperature, while visually assessed weather conditions include cloud cover, precipitation, and visibility. Reported categories of ice and ocean conditions include current direction, state of waves, Akuzipik ice type terminology, the presence and state of shorefast ice, and the distribution of ice and open water both near the beach and further offshore. Categories related to subsistence activities noted whether any community members were participating in hunting, fishing, or crabbing, and the number of boats in the water. These observations were accompanied by narrative commentary and often photographs to add context to each record.
Observations were focused between the months of December and June, in relation to local ice presence, and ice-associated subsistence hunting. The range of data for each observed day enables comparison with other large-scale datasets while remaining grounded in the applied local context of subsistence hunting.
This dataset was developed as part of the NSF Arctic Robust Communities – Navigating Adaptation to Variability (ARC-NAV) project. For further information see arcnav.org