How Arctic people hunt

Hunting is a traditional way of life for Eskimos. Or rather, hunting in the Arctic is the "privilege" of the Eskimos. They have been hunting for generations. In northern Greenland, they hunt seals at the turn of winter and summer, June to August to bird hunting and fishing, caribou hunting in September. In the northern tip of Alaska, on the other hand, seal hunting is the mainstay year-round, and caribou are hunted during the winter and summer months, with whaling from April to May.

Different seasons and different regions, Eskimos use different methods to hunt seals.

Summer, Eskimo hunters paddle single kayaks with seal forks or barbed pikes, nets, ropes and other tools to the sea where seals frequent to look for prey. The hunter paddles quietly and searches the surface. Eskimo hunters from a young age to develop a set of good eyesight, can see 100 to 200 meters away from the seals playing. Once the prey is found, the hunter will approach the target as quickly and quietly as possible. Wait until close, the hunter quickly pick up the harpoon to throw to the seals. The action should be fast, throwing to be accurate, otherwise the seal will instantly dive into the water to escape. The harpooned seal will also dive into the water and may even capsize the boat. Since the seal can swim as fast as usual even with a boat in tow, the hunter must use the net to drag the seal quickly until it is finally exhausted. At this point the hunter approaches the prey, kills it, and ties it to the side of the boat. Then a thorough check of the boat's facilities is made and the search for the next prey continues. With luck, a hunter can catch two or three seals a day. The unlucky ones will have to go home empty-handed.

In winter, when the sea is frozen over, the Eskimos use another method of seal hunting. Seals belong to mammals, although living in the sea, but by the lungs to breathe, so must often constantly floating to the surface to breathe air, and then dive into the water. Seals can stay underwater for 7 to 9 minutes for every inhalation, and the longest they can stay underwater is about 20 minutes. If they exceed this time, they will suffocate and die. As the sea freezes in winter in the Arctic, seals are unable to find a place to change their breath under the ice, so they cut a hole in the ice from the bottom up to use it as a breathing hole. Eskimos are hunting seals by looking for seal breathing holes.