September 2012 I visited the town of Kaktovik, Alaska. Kaktovik is on the north shore of Barter Island on the Beaufort Sea coast. It lies in the 19.6 million acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Due to Kaktovik's isolation, the village has maintained its Inupiat Eskimo traditions. Subsistence is highly dependent upon the hunting of caribou and whale.

There were approximately 260 people living in Kaktovik and during the few days that I was there, the polar bear count on Barter Island was 75.