It’s been more than two years since a bear made it’s way to the Bering Sea village in Wales and killed the mother and her one-year-old son during a short walk from schools to the hospital.
There are still questions about what triggered the bear’s attack. But more important to Wales and the communities around it is what to do next.
The last time a polar bear attacked on Alaska occurred during Point Lay, 30 years ago. So it’s been difficult to see the way ahead — the same way it was January 17, when a series of windstorms caused whiteout conditions and created a cloud of invisibility, allowing it to roam without being noticed, until it was able to strike.
The name given to Wales is in the Inupiat language is Kingigin meaning high spot. The village, situated on top of a mountain, extends along the beach. In the winter, it’s tough to determine where the beach ends and where the sea ice starts, ice which allows Polar bears to hunt seals as well as other creatures that supply the high-energy food that is essential for survival throughout the Arctic.
Susan Nezdah, the chief administrator of the Bering Strait School District, claims that the Bering Strait School District is an unforgiving place.
“Tough situations occur,” Nezdah said. “And the general life can be slightly more challenging.”
This winter, more so.
Nezdah She is the director of the school district of Unalakleet the community that is over 200 miles away, was informed of the attack on the phone while it was happening. She was informed that employees and community members have risked their lives in order to rescue Summer Myomick and her son Clyde Ongtowasruk.
“They were attacking on the bear using shovels” told Nezdah. “The bear is captured on video leaving the attack and running to the school’s porch steps and into the front entrance The principal then managed to seal doors.”
The blinds were closed by the staff to ensure that the children could not see, but it did not prevent them from being traumatized.
“Each person reacts to crises with a unique way” Nezdah said. “You’re good for a minute. But you’re not one minute. You’ll be fine the next.”
In this constantly changing emotional landscape Nezdah states that students and staff should be let to heal on their own schedule This process requires patience and tenderness.
“Some of them struggle a lot. They’re really having a hard time,” she said.
Parents are now required to take their children with them between school and home. Additional security guards are posted throughout the school. In the beginning, students were returned to a reduced school day, with an emphasis on mental wellbeing. This was then a gradual return to academics. Parents have the option to let their children stay at home, based on bear sightings and how they’re feeling at the time.
The school has now an apparatus for snow that gives teachers rides. A fencing is being built underneath the shop, a space that the bear could use to hide from the bear before it made its way out of the structure.
It’s true that the Kingimuit School in Wales doesn’t typically have a full-time teacher. They are rotated between the 15 communities of the district, spread across an area similar to Kansas. Kansas. However, since the attack the district has ensured that Wales always had a weapon in the back of its truck.
Additionally, the community took practical steps to help move past the bear. Volunteers are on the move regularly to keep an eye out for “nannut,” the Inupiaq term for Polar bears.
Michael Oxereok, the Wales representative on the Alaska Nannut Co-Management Council, says the council is in talks together with various organizations in order to return regular patrols.
With warming temperatures with less sea ice the Oxereok thinks humans and bears will have more encounters in the near future.
“With the sea ice melting in the way it is, bears won’t be being able to survive (for themselves) like they did fifteen years ago,” Oxereok says.
Scientists believe it’s difficult to estimate how much sea ice played a role during the assault. As the bear made its entrance into the village, the ice was kept in place. However, Oxereok claims that the ocean didn’t start to freeze until the end of December.
“It was finally formed, perhaps two or three inches by the middle of January,” Oxereok said. “That’s extremely tardy for the region in Wales.”
For bears, the frozen ice is the most important thing. It’s where they build their dens, and where they hunt their prey. However, Dave Gustine, the polar bear manager at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Anchorage The glaciers are only one aspect of a mystery that proved difficult to solve by investigators.
“We needed to take our time,” said Gustine, who noted that agencies that were involved following the incident were also in an uncharted area. “And the one thing that we did was to make sure that we listened to the community and family’s demands at every possibility that we could.”
A member of the community killed and wounded the animal, male, the police took samples of the skull. There were no signs of Avian flu or other pathogens that might alter the behavior of bears, however, the bear was thinner in body fat than usual during this time of the year.
Recent dental tests put the bear’s age at around 17-years old. 15 is considered to be an old age for males. Gustine states, this might help answer questions regarding what caused the bear to be in poor health.
“This bear is in a position that required it to replenish its reserves of energy as time went on There was not any extra fat on his body.” the bear said.
In addition to the bear’s age and health, Gustine says there’s not enough evidence to determine for certain what caused the attack. Research has shown that polar bears living in the Chukchi Sea area are, generally speaking, healthy. In the past the polar bears haven’t ever been a major issue in Wales where there was one patrol, but the community was unable to fund it.
Lindsey Mangipane, a biologist working in the Fish and Wildlife’s Polar bear program, claims that the money was diverted to other places.
“We have communities that receive more than 100 calls a year there in town, which needs a lot of money. This is why it required the majority of our funds,” Mangipane said. “But there are amazing partners right now who could be able to assist with the other communities. It’s definitely a top priority for us to to achieve that.”
Mangipane says interest is very high and plans are being made for a regional training event to assist communities in reestablishing their patrols. It’s not an easy thing to accomplish in cash-strapped communities such as Wales where the cost of fuel is around eight dollars per gallon and the supplies are delivered via barge, can be expensive.
However, for the moment the people of the area take comfort by watching the snow machine light up far away, while volunteers alternate to patrol. As the head of the district, Nezdah has watched how communities across the region overcome hardships.
“Even although this seems odd, and not something we are dealing with We are accustomed to being together, supporting one another by offering each other space,” Nezdah said, “And sharing space, which I believe is extremely Alaskan.”
A GoFundMe page that will assist the family with the expenses of grieving their loss has far exceeded the amount of money raised. There are photos of Summer Myomick as well as the son of her, Clyde Ongtowasruk III, and her son, Clyde Ongtowasruk III, with the look of a loved child as well as pictures of her three-year-old daughter who is now growing up without her mother. A fundraiser said that Summer who was 24 and a mother of two, seemed “kind as well as loved by all,” described as a mother who was “incredibly proud of her twins.”
There were contributions from not only Alaska as much as from across the country , an indication of how the Polar bear attack placed this small community of 150 people into the public attention across the country.
Nezdah says that the village merits acknowledgement for much more.
“If you consider the arts and music and dance, and the tradition and the language, and just amazing and tight-knit individuals,” Nezdah said, “know that it’s a unique location.”
