For the Kuskokwim Bay community of Quinhagak, the memory of seven boaters who went missing while on a seal hunt in fall 2020 is still fresh. They were never found. Warren Jones, who heads the local Native corporation and took part in the search effort, said that community members were spurred to take action by the tragedy.
"This was a big push for the search and rescue to get started in Quinhagak," Jones said.
Today, Quinhagak Search and Rescue is a registered nonprofit that embraces cutting-edge technology both as a means of protecting the safety of residents and preserving traditional subsistence lifestyles.
Soon, a new ocean-based tool that has proven useful in this regard for whaling communities thousands of miles up the coast will also be bobbing in the waters near Quinhagak.
"It's actually a dream coming true, where we’re having the tools to help us with searching or subsistence traveling," Jones said.
Known as Backyard Buoys, the bright yellow, basketball-sized devices transmit the real-time data on wave height, temperature, and barometric pressure needed for boaters of all sorts to make the call: head out or stay put.
In mid-May, Jones went on a walrus hunt. He said that his established methods for assessing the weather when planning to travel are somewhat imprecise.
"I'd call my buddy in Goodnews Bay and check on the weather. And then I’d call a friend in Kong[iganak]. In between Kong[iganak] and Goodnews [Bay] and Quinhagak, I kind of figure out what the weather is, but not accurate," Jones said.
Thanks to the Backyard Buoys program, Jones will be able to use a phone app to check readings from three buoys placed along key subsistence corridors near Quinhagak. In June, he’ll head out to help anchor the buoys to the seafloor. And in October, when the sea ice begins to form, he’ll help pull them out of the water.
Twenty-six Backyard Buoys have already been deployed along the Arctic coastline by the Alaska Ocean Observing System (AOOS), a program under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In all of the locations, they’ve placed emphasis on putting control in the hands of communities.
Sheyna Wisdom, executive director of AOOS, said that Backyard Buoys aims to avoid decisions made on behalf of communities from afar. In Quinhagak, the buoy permitting allows the community to shift buoy locations as their usefulness becomes better understood.
"That was kind of a cool lesson learned of how we can make it easier for this to be a true co-production project, where they're the ones making decisions, not the agencies and not the scientists," Wisdom said.
It’ll be one of several community-led projects in Quinhagak, from active projects using drones to count salmon and map salmonberries, to another drifter buoy program that will see buoys move throughout the ocean transmitting vital data about currents.
As for the Backyard Buoys, Jones said that they’re yet another high-tech tool that can be used to support traditional ways of living. He said that he’s well aware of threats to federal funding that could affect projects the local Native corporation, Qanirtuuq Incorporated, and its subsidiary Nalaquq, are pursuing. But he’s taking a wait and see approach.
"You know, all these fundings come and go. We're here. We don't go. We just need to learn to use these technologies and figure them out and use them the best we can," Jones said.
While Jones is proud to see Quinhagak take the lead with Backyard Buoys in the region, he said that he hopes their usefulness will be proven for communities across the Kuskokwim Delta.
"Well, we start from Platinum, Goodnews [Bay], Quinhagak, Eek, Tuntutuliak, Kongiganak, Kwigillingok, Kipnuk, up and down the Kuskokwim," Jones said.
For now, the only community with funding through AOOS to deploy buoys in the region is Quinhagak. But thanks to a program called Friends of Backyard Buoys, other organizations can also sign up to share buoy data via the same phone app used by communities far and wide.
To download the Backyard Buoys app, scan the QR codes below:
