Polar STEAM brought me to Utqiaġvik in collaboration with Dr. Julia York from the University of Illinois. Dr. York’s post-doctoral work is investigating how Arctic fishes, specifically Iqalugaq (Boreogadus saida, Arctic Cod) and Uugaq (Eleginus gracilis, Saffron Cod), physiologically sense and adapt to the freeze thaw cycles that dominate the Arctic throughout the year. Unlike some of the Antarctic fishes that Dr. York focused on during her PhD, Arctic cod experience a wider range of temperatures throughout the year, from freezing ocean water (28.4°F; -2°C) in the winter to up to mid-40s°F during the summer. Fishes are the same temperature as their environment and environmental temperature fluctuation means that during times of the year fishes must either swim away from the freezing water or adapt mechanisms to keep from freezing. Fish become fish-cicles (totally technical term, ask Dr. York!) occur at about 30.4°F (-0.9°C), thus many polar fishes have evolved antifreeze properties that, like in vehicles, help keep the fish from freezing. For Antarctic fishes that remaining mainly at freezing temperatures, they maintain their antifreeze molecules in their tissues year-round. However, some Arctic fishes only contain antifreeze molecules during the winter and lose them in the summer! Even cooler (pun intended!) still, some Arctic fishes can remodel their kidneys during portions of the year to better maintain the antifreeze molecules in their blood! This aglomerular kidney filters the blood, like in humans, but does not filter out the antifreeze molecules so that the fish does not accidentally freeze itself.
Dr. York is taking a two-pronged approach to understanding how Arctic fishes survive in such volatile environment: 1) Arctic adapted physiologies of Iqalugaq and Uugaq with non-Arctic Pacific cod, and 2) the genetic mechanisms that cause these adaptations in physiology. To do so, Dr. York must catch fish, lots of fish! During the 5 days we were in Utqiaġvik, we fished out of North Salt Lagoon which is connected to the larger Elson Lagoon which receives water directly from the Beaufort Sea, while the boundary for the Chukchi Sea is less than three miles away. In collaboration with Dr. Todd Sformo from the North Slope Borough – Department of Wildlife Management, we used seine and fyke nets. The fyke net is a large multi-chambered fish trap that is open on one side, allowing fishes to swim in, and are held alive at the end of the funneling system. We deployed the fyke for three days, checking it daily to prevent unnecessary fish mortalities. Alternatively, the seine net was deployed from the shore, sweeping the length of the net in a semi-circular manner, trapping fishes safely in the net.
The live-caught fishes were then placed in a live-pen which remained in the water, allowing for the fishes to be sorted, counted, measured, and collected for study as needed. We were surprised at the thick clouds of krill, and vast numbers of isopods, numbering over 500 on some days!
From the live-pen, Dr. York selected her preferred study species, Iqalugaq (Boreogadus saida) and Uugaq (Eleginus gracilis), and included Kanayuq (Myoxocephalus quadricornis, Fourhorn Sculpin), Nataaġnaq (Liopsetta glacialis, Arctic Flounder), Qaaktaq (Coregonus autumnalis, Arctic Cisco, commonly known as whitefish) and Uqsruqtuuq (Clupea pallasii, Pacific Herring) for Dr. Sformo’s work. Blood was collected from each of the study species for genetic work, while tissues, including nerves and brain tissue, were collected from Iqalugaq and Uugaq to determine which genes associated with temperature sensing are turned on in the sensory trigeminal nerve, the forebrain, midbrain, gill, and skin. Kanayuq and Qaaktaq were quite plentiful both in adult and juvenile forms, while Nataaġnaq varied in numbers daily. Uugaq were collected much more often than Iqalugaq, even though Iqalugaq were the holy grail for Dr. York. The water temperature ranged between 4 and 6°C (39-42°F).
Ultimately, this very interesting, but highly technical work will be distilled into accessible educational material. The Arctic Ocean is warming at rates between 4 and 7-fold from the rest of the planet, putting Arctic fish at the forefront of global climate warming. We plan to incorporate how Arctic fishes sense temperature changes in their environment and evolve with such extreme temperature shifts. Sharing climate science with communities can lead to improved conservation measures, especially for important subsistence fisheries. Working with Bennett Wong at Effie Kokrine, we will create lesson plans in which kids make their own identification guides of important subsistence foods. They will be identified by their local Indigenous language, local English name, scientific name, and common name (Ex: Iñupiaq Name: Qaaktaq; Scientific Name: Coregonus autumnalis; Common Name: Arctic Cisco; a species of whitefish). Additionally, we would like to develop near-peer mentorship opportunities by collaborating with graduate students at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), and Iļisaġvik College in Utqiaġvik, by having them share their research in K-12 classrooms, like at Effie Kokrine, and talk about their science. Iļisaġvik College is the only tribal college in Alaska, and students at Iļisaġvik can also take classes at UAF. Creating opportunities for students to meet local scientists will help transform the idea of who can be a scientist, especially if exposed during middle school.
It’s been a few hours since I started this blog post, and I now find myself in Anchorage awaiting my 2 AM flight to Seattle, to connect to San Francisco. My bleary mind reflects on the amount of information I have learned, and how it’s transformed my way of thinking. I have always been interested in learning from and centering traditional knowledge, however, I did not have the experience or confidence that I was going about it in a respectful manner, mainly due to lack of knowledge. Through extensive conversations with Bennett at Effie Kokrine, and Bernice Oyagak of UIC Science, I feel like I can respectfully ask questions and incorporate traditional knowledge and other ways of knowing in my pedagogical approach. That and I have a new goal of developing a research grant in collaboration with Iļisaġvik College to return to Utqiaġvik. I have been blessed with the hospitality, and friendliness of the people at the Top of the World and I look to incorporate their life approach into my own.
