Whale watching by webcam in Barrow

Scientists in Alaska recently installed a radar and web camera on the tallest building in Barrow, as well as sounding probes at sites above and below the ice.

That’s so whalers can download data on ice thickness and strength as well as the location of leads where whales surface, reports the Anchorage Daily News. On the web site, there’s also historical data and new information on sea level and tide charts.

According to Eugene Brower, head of the Barrow Whaling Captains Association, the information is important this year because low temperatures and winds from the north have pushed the pack ice toward shore, building a frozen shelf that extends eight miles.

The few open paths of water through the pack ice keep slamming shut, delaying the whaling season. When whaling does begin for Barrow’s quota of 22 bowhead, support camps for 41 crews may have to wait near the forward edge of that shorefast ice.

Volunteers in Barrow are working round-the-clock to relay information to whalers to make their whale hunt safer and more successful.

To see the Web cam, go to: www.gi.alaska.edu/brwice/.