A long-standing Arctic scientist, who was considered to be one of the world’s top whale experts was missing following an accident on a raft within Interior Alaska last week.
Craig George, a retired senior biologist from The North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management was reported missing on Wednesday, while rafting along on the Chulitna River with companions south of Cantwell close to Denali National Park, the Alaska State Troopers reported. The body of the man was not located as of Monday morning an official spokesperson for the trooper stated.
George 70-year-old George many years studying bowhead whales and analyzing their longer-term increase. He also researched the many ways in which decreased sea glaciers as well as other impacts of climate change have affected Utqiagvik as well as the other coastal areas of Arctic Alaska.
He has published research about such topics as increased predation of bowheads from killer whales which are now able to swim further north, the ways changes in shore ice patterns have changed the hunting habits of Inupiat and methods to protect the traditional cellars for food that are buried in the permafrost that is warming.
He relocated to the city that was named Barrow around the year 1970.. He worked as an animal caretaker in the Naval Arctic Research Laboratory before beginning his long-running career at The North Slope Borough. He gained notoriety for his work in collaboration together with Inupiat experts.
George was a gifted man with achievements beyond his work in science. He was a leader in his Utqiagvik community. A musician, he was and frequently performed the song he composed “Keep on whaling.” Son of the Newbery Award-winning author Jean Craighead George, he along with his sister worked together to finish one of his mother’s books that were not finished after her death. The book’s title is “Ice Whale” and, like the majority of Jean Craighead George’s works it was partly influenced by her son’s research at the University of Alaska in Arctic Alaska.
Tributes to George have been flooding into social media when the details of his tragic accident were made public.
D.J. Fauske director of the external affairs department for North Slope Borough, wrote on his Facebook page about his memories from the first grade as in the Ipalook School at Ipalook Elementary School. It was also the first time he came across George.
“He was gentle, kind and humble. He was funny, charming, and was able to impart knowledge without knowing that there was a academic lesson. There is no ever was an unimportant question for him. . . . It’s been an honor to work with my local borough and individuals like Craig are a major factor in the success. Craig was a huge help to many as well as helped preserve and protect the Inupiat cultural tradition which was discriminated against and denigrated for years by the outside world. He was able to combine the thousands of years worth of local Inupiat wisdom with the latest technology and information.”
Suzanne Little, who is responsible for Alaska preservation of land at the Pew Charitable Trusts, played in a group with George who performed at an event that took place in the mid-1980s at the era of Barrow High School.
“Dr. Craig George, aside from being a wonderful friend and musician dad, songwriter, husband and a stellar community leader, was also among the very early western science biologists together with the Dr. Tom Albert, who took note of people’s Indigenous Knowledge of the Inupiat People in the early 1900s and instituted the Bowhead Whale survey program that would prove that the Indigenous people were correct in their belief about their knowledge of the Bowhead whale population not being threatened. . .Craig’s work offers us all an outline,” she posted on Facebook.
Cheryl Rosa, deputy director of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission Cheryl Rosa, deputy director of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission “Dr. Craig George was a remarkable Arctic research scientist who had unique curiosity in science which drove his work and his findings were often delivered with a soft voice and humour. Craig George was a strong advocate of co-production in research, long before it became a buzzword. He was kind and compassionate in his work and in life. The respect he displayed to his colleagues earned him the status of an admired partner. He also showed the other scientists how research can be improved through local contributions. Craig was an advisor to a number of students and a close friend to more. Many scientists have entered and remain working in Arctic research due to his guidance. He was a great person who will be deeply missed.”
The hunt for George has been hindered by the high levels of levels of water in the river according to Austin McDaniel, a spokesman for the Alaska State Troopers. A diving team is waiting for the levels of water to drop in order for specialized equipment to be positioned into the water, McDaniel said.
This article first appeared in Alaska Beacon and is republished here with permission.
