Professional Documents
Culture Documents
National Geographic USA December 2023
National Geographic USA December 2023
2023
PICTURES
O F T H E Y E A R
THE WONDER OF
OU R WORL D IN 29 PHOTOS
C O N T E N T S On the Cover
A banded sea krait swims
toward the surface for a
breath of air at Blue Corner,
a spectacular scuba diving
site in Palau’s Rock Islands
Southern Lagoon.
KILIII YÜYAN
17
P R O O F E X P L O R E
Exposing
Hidden Marvels
Through specialized
techniques, photogra-
30
phy can teach us to see
the world in new ways.
BY A N A N D VA R M A
8
FIELD NOTES
PHOTO (MOBILE): “GAMMA,” 1947, © 2023 CALDER FOUNDATION, NEW YORK/ARTISTS RIGHTS SOCIETY (ARS), NEW YORK
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| S Y LV I A E A R L E |
With over 7,000 hours spent underwater as part of a lifetime of research, exploration, and
conservation efforts, Sylvia Earle isn’t just oceanic royalty. She’s the closest thing we’ve got
to a real-life mermaid. Explore the world alongside National Geographic Experts like Sylvia
when you make your next trip an expedition.
N ATG E O E X P E D I T I O N S .C O M | 1 - 8 8 8 -3 5 1 -3 274
© 2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. National Geographic EXPEDITIONS and the Yellow Border Design
are trademarks of the National Geographic Society, used under license.
N AT I O N A L G E O G R A P H I C E X P L O R E R S
These contributors have received funding from the
National Geographic Society, which is committed to illuminating
and protecting the wonder of our world.
Neil Shea
Based in Brooklyn, New York,
Shea is an award-winning writer
who works in print, film, tele-
vision, and audio. He covers
cultural and environmental
shifts in places from Iraqi Kurdi
stan to East Africa. His book
Frostlines: Dispatches From the
New Arctic will be published by
Ecco in 2025. Page 112
Katie Orlinsky
During almost a decade of living in and visiting Alaska, Orlinsky has been
examining the effects of climate change on the Arctic. Her images of its
thawing permafrost appeared in the September 2019 issue of National
Geographic, and for this issue she hiked solo for days in a remote stretch
of Alaska to document migrating caribou. When a wolf approached
briefly, Orlinsky was thrilled for the company, she says. The June 2023
cover story featured her photographs of the world’s first designated wil-
derness area, in New Mexico. She became an Explorer in 2022. Page 112
Emma Lira
A travel writer and specialist
in Spain, Lira has authored his-
torical fiction novels, a Lonely
Planet Granada guide, and a
National Geographic story on
Tenerife’s mummies. She’s a res-
ident of Madrid and the Canary
Islands and leads small group
tours for women throughout
the Islamic world. Page 88
Anand Varma
In the woods near his childhood home in Atlanta, Varma discovered
his passion for being immersed in the natural world. Then he picked
up his father’s camera and found a way to share that enthusiasm. Now
living in Berkeley, California, Varma has spent years developing inno-
vative photography techniques to reveal aspects of science and nature,
such as the rapid motions of hummingbirds, that normally go unseen.
José Manuel Navia An Explorer since 2010, he’s also a TED speaker and a World Press
Navia’s images highlighting Photo award winner. Page 17
aspects of Iberian, Hispanic, and
Andalusian cultures appear reg-
ularly in El Pais and have been The following Explorers contributed photographs to “Pictures of the
featured in the Spain edition Year,” beginning on page 36:
of National Geographic for 25 David Doubilet, Yagazie Emezi, Jen Guyton, Robin Hammond, Davide
years. His photographic essays Monteleone, Matthieu Paley, Louie Palu, Thomas Peschak, Carsten
are often based on authors he Peter, Marcio Pimenta, Jaime Rojo, Alexander Semenov, Chinky Shukla,
admires, capturing their literary Nichole Sobecki, John Stanmeyer, Brent Stirton, and Kiliii Yüyan.
landscapes. Page 88
PHOTOS (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT): PETER GWIN; KATIE ORLINSKY; VIJAY VARMA; LUCÍA RIVAS; EMMA LIRA
AVA I L A B L E W H E R E V E R B O O K S A R E S O L D
@NatGeoBooks
© 2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC
N AT I O N A L G E O G R A P H I C L O O K I N G AT T H E E A RT H F R O M E V E RY P O S S I B L E A N G L E
8 N AT I O N A L G E O G R A P H I C
DECEMBER 2023 9
In Robert Berdan’s lab, tinted slices of plants transform into kaleidoscopic works of art echoing agate or stained glass. His tech-
nique, known as photomicrography, involves photographing dyed specimens under a microscope fitted with a DSLR camera.
10 N AT I O N A L G E O G R A P H I C
DECEMBER 2023 11
Thinly sliced, tinged with red, and photographed at 400 times magnification, a poplar branch calls to mind not wood but
macramé. “I became interested in photography because I wanted to share what I saw in the microscope,” Berdan says. In this
12 N AT I O N A L G E O G R A P H I C
DECEMBER 2023 13
THE BACKSTORY
A S A C H I L D, T H I S P H OTO G R A P H E R G OT A C LO S E - U P LO O K AT
T H E N AT U R A L W O R L D. H E ’ S B E E N E N T H R A L L E D E V E R S I N C E .
G ROW I N G U P O N the shores of Lake But Berdan never forgot his two
Huron in the Canadian province of early passions—being immersed in
Ontario, Robert Berdan was never nature and photographing its tiny
far from water. When he was in sixth details—and he decided to return to
grade, he received a toy microscope them. His subjects range from snow-
for Christmas. Some of the first things flakes to spruce trees. To see the latter
he saw through its lens were tiny crea- under a microscope, Berdan collects a
tures inside droplets he’d gathered small branch and wields specialized
from a local pond. He was fascinated tools to shave off paper-thin slices,
with the microorganisms. which he dyes red or blue. For the final
After eighth grade, Berdan upgraded images, he often uses a process called
to a more sophisticated model and real- focus stacking, in which similar photos
ized it was a portal to another world. with different focal planes are blended
“The new microscope changed my life,” to achieve a more profound depth of
he says. “I could see so much more.” He field, and he sometimes stitches photos
began studying photography and buy- together to create panoramas.
ing cameras to fit on his microscope. He “I investigate anything that might
captured images of ferns, mushrooms, have possibilities,” he says. And he
and trees, and learned how to develop encourages others to do the same with
film. He also developed his micros- a microscope. “Any tool that amplifies
copy skills, so much so that he earned our ability to see will enhance our cre-
a doctoral degree in cellular biology ativity,” he notes. “Our observations can
and spent five years running a lab at potentially lead to new discoveries and
the University of Alberta in Edmonton. solutions.” — C AT H E R I N E Z U C K E R M A N
Blue pigment adds an icy hue to this view of the cellular structure within a poplar branch.
Pizza in Pompeii?
I L L U M I N AT I N G T H E M Y S T E R I E S — A N D W O N D E R S — A L L A R O U N D U S E V E R Y D AY
N AT I O N A L G E O G R A P H I C VO L . 2 4 4 N O. 6
Exposing
Hidden Marvels
WITH ITS ABILITY TO CAPTURE SIGHTS INDISCERNIBLE TO THE HUMAN
E Y E , P H O T O G R A P H Y C A N ‘ T E A C H U S T O S E E T H E W O R L D A N E W.’
A
B Y A N A N D VA R M A
DECEMBER 2023 17
in search of this light. Shimmering baby eels, tiny saw the shimmering colors and delicate bones that
transparent crabs, sparkling squid. I’d carefully select David’s image had first revealed to me.
an ambassador for each species and set up aquariums Before working for David, I had assumed the goal
to house them as they waited for David to take their of photography was simply to reproduce an observa-
glamour shot. tion so that others could share the same experience.
Those evenings aboard the Sette made me feel It had never occurred to me that photography could
as if I were on another planet. At the end of each expand our visual perception and thereby teach us
night, I’d sit and marvel at my dazzling collection. to see the world anew.
I had never imagined such bizarre life-forms could
exist in our oceans. My eyes were glued to the tanks, These are the features of
S I Z E . T I M E . L I G H T. F O C U S .
my attention absorbed by these alien beings. But I David’s photograph that expanded my understand-
didn’t grasp the true magic of what was in front of ing of that small flounder. And these are the tools
me until I saw the photographs David took of these that photography gives us to witness and reveal the
creatures I’d been gathering. world’s invisible wonders.
For example, size. When editors at
National Geographic asked me to pho-
tograph a story on honeybees, I was not
excited to take on the assignment. The
tiny pollinators had already garnered
so much media attention that I couldn’t
imagine how I could contribute anything
new. But as an insecure young photog-
rapher, how could I say no? So I faked
some enthusiasm and landed a job I had
no idea how to accomplish.
I started by learning how to keep bees
in my Berkeley, California, backyard,
hoping that with enough time and study,
I’d discover some new way of portraying
their lives. One day I noticed something
out of place: A young bee had become
trapped as it was emerging from the hive.
Using a trick I’d learned from an ento-
mologist, I plucked one of my eyelashes
and used its thin, flexible tip to brush a
bit of debris away from the bee’s face.
A macro lens, fast shutter speed, and precise lighting brought out dazzling Then I placed a light behind the hive to
details in this young flounder that weren’t initially apparent.
make the surrounding wax glow.
The bee’s position allowed me to bring
The biggest surprise was his image of a baby my camera close and capture features on its head I
flounder, seen above. I caught this fish by accident, hadn’t noticed before, like its jointed antennae and
scooping it up as I was chasing some more obvious furry face. I’d spent a year tending to my hive—but
target. Only later, when I inspected the contents of my until that moment I’d never experienced a bee this
collecting jar, did I notice its two tiny eyeballs staring way. Once we were brought eye to eye, the intimacy
back at me. The only other feature I could discern was inspired new questions. How does this creature
the faintly wriggling outline of its transparent body. perceive its environment? What do I look like to it?
But David’s photograph of this flounder revealed Why all the hair?
a universe of detail that even my eager eyes had We tend to relate best to beings our own size, or at
missed. His macro lens magnified its finely artic- least creatures we can see with an unaided eye. When
ulated ribs. The lightning-fast exposure froze its photography magnifies a subject, it can break that
motion, providing a crisply defined view. A precisely barrier. That opens us to entirely new perspectives.
aimed light released the rainbow hidden in the floun-
der’s skin. And the black background eliminated T H E R E ’ S S I M I L A R P O T E N T I A L in time. In 2015 I met
all distractions to focus our attention on the quiet bat expert Rodrigo Medellín in Mexico’s Yucatán
beauty at hand. Peninsula, where his team had located a family of
Years after that project in Hawaii, I was snorkeling woolly false vampire bats, one of the largest species
at night on a shallow reef in French Polynesia. Out of in the Americas. National Geographic wanted me
the darkness, another baby flounder emerged and to photograph the bats, and Medellín asked me to
settled on my mask. This time I knew what to look bring an enclosure so we could work with them in
for. I angled my flashlight toward the little fish and captivity. I brought a collapsible batting cage used for
A COMPELLING PHOTOGRAPH
CAN CHANGE US. IT SHAPES
WHAT WE NOTICE, CHALLENGES
OUR ASSUMPTIONS, AND
E X P A N D S O U R C U R I O S I T Y.
20 N AT I O N A L G E O G R A P H I C
PHOTOS: LUCAS ZIMMERMANN (TOP); HELENE SCHMITZ (LEFT); TIM FLACH (RIGHT) DECEMBER 2023 21
Left hand page: Gran Canaria is a traveler’s paradise of golden beaches, but its interior conceals a treasure trove of natural
wonders. Top right: Celebrated with painted costumes and devilish masks, the diabletes (little devils) carnival has been held on
Lanzarote for several hundred years. Bottom right: Lanzarote’s Timanfaya National Park is a Lunar-like landscape of lava fields,
smoking craters, and peaks formed by volcanic eruptions hundreds of years ago. Map by: Guillermo Trapiello.
This is paid content. This content does not necessarily reflect the views
of National Geographic or its editorial staff.
ARCHAEOLOGY
Pizza in
Pompeii?
Sort of
Several months
ago, when archae-
ologists in Pom-
peii revealed a
2,000-year-old
fresco showing
what they believe
to be a flat piece
of focaccia with
toppings, it wasn’t
quite the pizza
we know and love.
While the proto-
pizza might have
had garnishes,
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR
tomatoes didn’t
exist yet in Europe.
PHOTOS (FROM TOP): AUKE FLORIAN HIEMSTRA; BLICKWINKEL/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO; ABACA PRESS/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
Learn more.
michaeljfox.org
RISKY RETAIL
the tea we drink,
T H E C A N DY W E E AT,
Brazil nut
the lotion we use—they all likely con- Bertholletia excelsa
tain ingredients from wild plants.
Harvesters trek deep into Amazon
While natural ingredients can be forests to collect these nuts, which
beneficial to buyers, the way those grow on tall trees. Once the shell
plants are harvested could harm is removed, they’re eaten whole as
snacks or made into an ingredient
ecosystems and workers. In a recent for skin-care products.
United Nations–affiliated report,
medicinal plant experts revealed the
risks behind several of them, including
Brazil nuts, frankincense, goldenseal,
gum arabic, and licorice.
Plant derivatives in household
products “sit there somewhere in
the middle of the ingredients list” on
product labels, often going unnoticed,
says Caitlin Schindler, lead author
of the report. Even if consumers do
take note, there’s no information
about what’s involved in obtaining or
processing the derivatives.
Many of these plants are threatened
with extinction from overharvesting,
disease and invasive pests, climate Frankincense
Boswellia sacra
change, and habitat loss. In addition,
collecting them may involve child This aromatic resin leaks from cuts
labor, violations of workers’ rights, made in African Boswellia trees.
After the sap hardens, it’s scraped off
and even modern slavery, according and processed for use in perfumes,
to the report. Workers are often poor, lotions, incense, and cosmetics; it can
female, and from marginalized rural also treat inflammation.
areas. The endangered status of more
than 20,000 medicinal or aromatic
plant species has never been assessed,
which means it’s impossible to know
whether their use is sustainable.
Meanwhile, the trade in wild plants—
for aromatherapy, natural medicine, Fragrance Medicine Cosmetic Food
24 N AT I O N A L G E O G R A P H I C
Licorice
Glycyrrhiza glabra
Gum arabic
Senegalia senegal
PHOTO: REBECCA HALE, NGM STAFF. SOURCES: CAITLIN SCHINDLER AND OTHERS, “WILDCHECK: ASSESSING RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES OF TRADE IN
WILD PLANT INGREDIENTS,” 2022, UN FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION; SUSTAINABLE HERBS PROGRAM, AMERICAN BOTANICAL COUNCIL
food supplements, and natural beauty products—is risks and recommends best sourcing practices.
booming. U.S. consumers spent more than $12.3 billion Other programs include the Forest Stewardship
on herbal dietary supplements in 2021—up more than Council, the Rainforest Alliance, Fair for Life, and
9 percent from 2020. Plants such as licorice can be the Union for Ethical Biotrade. If certifications are
found in herbal preventives and remedies for COVID- missing, Schindler encourages people to challenge
19, and bark from the soapbark tree, endemic to Chile, companies to do better. “Until businesses get a bit
is in the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine. more pressure from consumers, we won’t see any
Wild plants have been used locally for centuries— changes happening,” she says.
frankincense in the Horn of Africa, Brazil nuts in “Historically, the medicinal plant industry has had
South America, baobab powder in southern Africa— a lot of secrecy in it,” says Ann Armbrecht, director
but today’s global demand puts many at risk. And of the Sustainable Herbs Program, which supports
international customers often have no idea where transparency in herb sourcing. She says that when
these products originate. she got her start in this field, “there was so much
Should consumers stop buying the products? No, discussion about where food came from, and nobody
Schindler says, because “the ingredients are really was asking where the chamomile in their [tea] came
critical to a lot of people’s livelihoods.” Solutions for from.” Companies don’t want to share proprietary
transforming the trade in wild plants are rooted in information, and consumers don’t think to ask.
awareness. The first step for consumers is to “just By using contact information on company web-
notice that you’re buying something that has a wild sites, consumers can pose questions: Do you source
ingredient,” she says. It’s generally safer to purchase organic and fair-trade ingredients? Do you or your
local products and splurge on more expensive ones, suppliers make site visits to the communities where
if possible. your products are grown? What are you doing to
Consumers can also look for organic and fair- combat climate change?
trade certifications. Various programs evaluate Companies that don’t make the effort to learn
wild-plant supply chains for sustainability and about the sources of their ingredients, Armbrecht
employment conditions, and many companies says, will start doing so if consumers demand it. j
advertise these certifications, either on the product Rachel Fobar is a reporter for Wildlife Watch, our investigative
or online. One of the most prominent is FairWild, reporting project focused on wildlife crime and exploitation.
which assesses both human and environmental It’s supported by the National Geographic Society.
NORTH Licorice
A S I A
EUROPE Glycyrrhiza glabra
AMERICA
Goldenseal
Hydrastis canadensis
AFRICA
Frankincense
Boswellia sacra
Brazil nut
Bertholletia excelsa
SOUTH
AMERICA AUSTRALIA
Gum arabic
Senegalia senegal
Yes! Please send me information on leaving a gift to the Mail to: National Geographic Society
National Geographic Society. Planned Giving Office
1145 17th Street NW
The National Geographic Society has already been Washington, DC 20036-4688
included in my estate plans.
Contact: legacy@ngs.org
I would like to speak to someone about making a gift. (800) 226-4438
Please contact me. natgeo.org/legacy
NAME
ADDRESS
PHONE EMAIL
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A Difference
From Day ONE
TM
From luminous
craftsmanship
WHAT’S
NEW AND in Britain to
NOTEWORTHY
AROUND
conservation in
THE WORLD Cameroon.
BY RONAN O’CONNELL
1
UP IN
THE AIR
RARE WINDOWS
2
new youth-recruitment first time at the Seattle Art
KORUP RAINFOREST
drive aims to secure Museum, in Washington.
lasting production of R E C E N T LY B E C A M E A
“Calder: In Motion, the
these precious panes. UNESCO BIOSPHERE
Shirley Family Collection”
RESERVE . THE MANA will be part of a multiyear
RIVER FOOTBRIDGE project exhibiting the inno-
LEADS INTO THE vator’s mobiles, stabiles,
AFRICAN
PARK, HOME TO wire sculptures, and oil
PARK UNIQUE FLORA AND paintings. His 39-foot-tall,
bright red, steel “Eagle”
THE CRITICALLY
already roosts permanently
ENDANGERED CROSS
in Seattle’s waterfront Olym-
RIVER GORILLA. pic Sculpture Park.
4
IMPERIAL VIEWS
PHOTOS: ALBERTO MANUEL UROSA TOLEDANO, GETTY IMAGES (WINDOW); CAGAN HAKKI SEKERCIOGLU, GETTY IMAGES (RIVER);
© 2023 CALDER FOUNDATION, NEW YORK/ARTISTS RIGHTS SOCIETY (ARS), NEW YORK (MOBILE); TRIP NUTS AND BOLTS/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO (TEMPLE)
T gold-medal I
90-point k
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© 2023 National Geographic Partners LLC. All rights reserved. NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC and Yellow Border Design are trademarks of the National Geographic Society, used under license.
S TAT E M E N T O F O W N E R S H I P, M A N AG E M E N T, A N D M O N T H LY C I R C U L AT I O N
Young rescued tigers Clay, Daniel, and Enzo rest after some vigorous play at the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado.
into captive
O U R T W O -Y E A R I N V E S T I G AT I O N called a U.S. tiger crisis. Captive-bred cats often ended
tigers in America sent us through 32 U.S. states— up in the illegal wildlife trade. To maintain a constant
with some truly disturbing experiences. But as supply of babies, tigresses were forced to churn out
the deadline for our National Geographic story litter after litter. Cubs, wrenched from their mothers
loomed, I still needed a powerful, hopeful image. at birth, were fed poorly and handled by hundreds
When we began our reporting in 2017—Sharon, of people. When they grew too big and dangerous to
writing; me photographing; and our son, Nick pet at around 12 weeks, cubs became breeders, were
Ruggia, filming—more tigers likely lived in cages put on display, or simply disappeared. Many of these
in the U.S. than remained in the wild. Estimates venues passed themselves off as sanctuaries. At least
ranged from 5,000 to 10,000, but with lax government one made a million dollars or more in annual revenue.
oversight, no one knew for sure. There was no federal Zigzagging the country, we interviewed hundreds
law regulating big-cat ownership. of people for the story, including owners, workers,
Roadside zoos that allowed tourists to cuddle and and customers at both roadside zoos and true sanctu-
shoot selfies with cubs were at the root of what’s been aries, as well as wildlife biologists, conservationists,
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prosecutors, and U.S. Fish and Wild- rescued from Joe Exotic’s former zoo.
life Service agents. Sometimes we These huge, nearly grown cats frol-
went undercover, sometimes not. AWARD WINNERS icked, racing beside our ATV as we
We filmed and photographed cub The prestigious annual drove the fence line and sparring on
petting at run-down zoos, a high-end Eliza Scidmore Award for their hind legs—behavior I’d seen
safari show, an Illinois county fair, Outstanding Storytelling only in wild tigers.
is presented by the National
and an Oklahoma living room. We saw Geographic Society. It was a steamy July day, and soon
sick, skeletal tigers—some scarred, The award is named for two of the cats jumped into a stock
cross-eyed, or disabled—living in the writer and photographer tank to cool off. The third settled
squalid quarters. We discovered illicit who, in 1892, became the beside them on the ground. I crossed
first woman elected to the
activities, including animal abuse, Society’s board. In 2024
the road to shoot pictures of another
donations used for personal profit, the award will recognize tiger, framed by a patchwork of blue
and wildlife trafficking, which drives National Geographic sky and gray clouds, with the last rays
poaching of the last wild tigers. Explorers Steve Winter and from the sun streaming through as it
Sharon Guynup for their
Sharon corresponded with Joe dipped behind the Rocky Mountains.
compelling investigative
Exotic, the infamous “Tiger King” reporting on the plight of Then I heard my assistant loud-
who’s now serving a 21-year sentence captive tigers in the U.S. whisper, “Steve, you said you wanted
for murder for hire and falsifying a rainbow. You got one!” I crawled
criminal records, as well as killing and trafficking back toward the trio, trying not to disturb them,
tigers at his former G.W. Exotic Animal Park in Okla- and slipped my lens through the fence. The third
homa. I spent nine days photographing Bhagavan cat laid its head against the tank, and I had the shot:
“Doc” Antle and his Myrtle Beach Safari attraction. three contented tigers, framed by a rainbow.
In June 2023 Antle was convicted of felony wildlife When the story ran in 2019, members of Congress
trafficking and conspiring to traffic in wildlife. who’d sponsored legislation regulating big cats
While we documented the underbelly of this received a copy. Three years later, the Big Cat Public
industry, we also wanted to show the best life these Safety Act became law, prohibiting private owner-
magnificent apex predators—unable to be released ship in most circumstances and public hands-on
into the wild—could have in captivity. With two contact. The U.S. cub-petting industry is now a
weeks left before my deadline, I headed to the Wild thing of the past. j
Animal Sanctuary near Denver, where well-nurtured Steve Winter photographed and Sharon Guynup wrote “The
cats roam acres of habitat. Tigers Next Door,” which ran in the December 2019 issue of
There I met Clay, Daniel, and Enzo, three of 39 tigers the magazine.
Writer Sharon Guynup captures photographer Steve Winter in action with a selfie taken atop Elephant Rock during recent
fieldwork in Sri Lanka. The team works together to document the challenges facing big cats and other animals.
F EAT U R E S
112
C A R I B O U A R E C R E A T U R E S O F
H A B I T, A N D T H E I R H A B I T S S E E M
SYNCED TO AN OLDER AND
COLDER WORLD. THE QUE STION
IN OUR TIME IS HOW QUICKLY
T H E Y W I L L O R W O N ’ T A DA P T.
S
U
P
R
E
C
N AT I O N A L G E O G R A P H I C P H OTO G R A P H E R S T R AV E L T H E G LO B E TO
CAPTURE THE WONDER OF OUR WORLD AND THE SPIRIT OF OUR TIMES.
HERE WE PRESENT OUR ANNUAL SELECTION OF THEIR BEST WORK.
F
O
E
PAG E
202 3
39
D ECE M B E R
H R
E
T A
S O DA N KY L Ä , F I N L A N D
At a military facility
north of the Arctic
Circle, Finnish and
U.S. soldiers train for
winter warfare by
navigating an obstacle
course while on skis.
The exercise took place
two months before
Finland—which shares
an 800-mile border
with Russia—joined
NATO. The training was
arranged in response
to the war in Ukraine.
•
PHOTOGRAPH BY
LOUIE PALU
41
SPIRITS OF
THE AMAZON
P U E RTO N A R I Ñ O,
COLOMBIA
In the cosmology of
the Tikuna, one of the
largest Indigenous
groups in the Amazon,
pink dolphins are
mischievous spirits and
guardians of the watery
realm. Women dance
in dolphin costumes
made from the bark
of the yanchama tree.
•
PHOTOGRAPH BY
THOMAS PESCHAK
PESCHAK’S TWO-YEAR EXPEDITION
ACROSS THE AMAZON IS SUPPORTED
BY ROLEX’S PERPETUAL PLANET
INITIATIVE, A PARTNERSHIP WITH
42
MASAI MARA
N AT I O N A L R E S E RV E ,
K E N YA
Soon after dawn at
Lemek Conservancy,
spotted hyenas arrive
at a pond to drink.
Widely misunderstood,
hyenas are fierce,
intelligent, and social,
living and hunting as
members of matriar
chal clans. Jen Guyton
captured this close-
up with an armored,
remote-controlled
robot designed by
National Geographic
photo engineers.
•
PHOTOGRAPH BY
JEN GUYTON
X I ’A N , C H I N A
On Chinese Labor Day,
tourists pose for a selfie
in front of a pagoda
and bronze statue of
Xuanzang, the seventh-
century Buddhist monk
who spent 16 years on
a pilgrimage to India
and translated dozens
of manuscripts from
Sanskrit into Chinese.
•
PHOTOGRAPH BY
JOHN STANMEYER
C H I B A , JA PA N
Workers at the Chiba
Kogaku glass factory
use sledgehammers to
remove the clay pot
around a core of optical
glass. Highly resistant
to air-temperature
changes, the glass
will be cut into slabs,
shipped to the Univer-
sity of Arizona’s obser-
vatory, then melted
and cast into mirrors
for large, high-altitude
telescopes.
•
PHOTOGRAPH BY
CHRISTOPHER PAYNE
4 8
F R A S A S S I C AV E S ,
I T A LY
Caver Valentina Mari
ani (above), National
Geographic Explorer
Kenny Broad (center),
and Nadir Quarta
prepare for a dive into
the dark, toxic waters
of Lago Verde. Such
sunlight-starved eco-
systems could offer a
glimpse into the chem-
istry of life in alien seas.
•
PHOTOGRAPH BY
CARSTEN PETER
JARQORGON,
U Z B E K I S TA N
An all-woman cere
mony beneath a
hand-embroidered
suzani marks a son’s
departure to study in
the capital, Tashkent.
While one recites
Quranic verses, others
remove a covering to
bless the flatbread.
This ritual was influ
enced by Zoroastrian
ism, one of the world’s
oldest living religions.
•
PHOTOGRAPH BY
MATTHIEU PALEY
52
C H I C AG O, I L L I N O I S
A seven-foot-long zebra
shark glides through
an exhibit at Shedd
Aquarium, one of several
aquariums where endan-
gered zebra sharks are
breeding to produce
eggs for shipment to
Indonesia. They will be
raised and released into a
marine protected area in
Raja Ampat to rebuild its
wild population.
•
PHOTOGRAPH BY
DAVID DOUBILET
T H AT E M P O W E R E D W O M E N . B O L D. C O U R AG E O U S . D R I V E N .
GAME
CHANGERS
HARGEISA ,
SOMALILAND
Markosian traveled to
Somaliland—an unrec-
ognized, self-declared
state within Somalia—
three decades after the
country emerged from
civil war. She found
plenty of youthful
energy: “I met a gen-
eration of girls who are
mixing things up and
reshaping culture
while also maintaining
tradition.” Left: Hafsa
Omar, 20, and her
sister Asma, 18 (hold-
ing ball), play on a
women’s basketball
team and attend
university. Hafsa also
works digitizing cas-
sette tapes and other
media containing
music, speeches, and
more. Right: Suhuur
Hassan, 19, and Muhim
Mawliid, 20 (looking at
camera), study tradi-
tional dance at Hargei-
sa’s Halkar Academy.
•
PHOTOGRAPHS BY
DIANA MARKOSIAN
HARGEISA ,
SOMALILAND
Markosian traveled to
Somaliland—an unrec-
ognized, self-declared
state within Somalia—
three decades after
the country emerged
from civil war. She
found plenty of youth-
ful energy: “I met a
generation of girls who
are mixing things up
and reshaping culture
while also maintaining
tradition.” Left: Hafsa
Omar, 20, and her
sister Asma, 18 (hold-
ing ball), play on a
women’s basketball
team and attend
university. Hafsa also
works digitizing cas-
sette tapes and other
media containing
music, speeches, and
more. Right: Suhuur
Hassan, 19, and Muhim
Mawliid, 20 (looking at
camera), study tradi-
tional dance at Hargei-
sa’s Halkar Academy.
•
PHOTOGRAPHS BY
DIANA MARKOSIAN
5 7
VA L PA R A I , I N D I A
Elephants wander a tea
estate that was once
part of their forest
habitat before being
converted to crop
production in the late
1800s. Today about
70,000 people live
and work in the region
among 120 elephants.
•
PHOTOGRAPH BY
BRENT STIRTON
FLIGHT
SCHOOL
P ROV I D E N C E ,
RHODE ISLAND
At Brown University,
doctoral student
Brooke Quinn (blue
glove) and her adviser,
Sharon Swartz, work
with a Seba’s short-
tailed bat inside a
wind tunnel. They
are testing how tiny
sensory hairs on bats’
wings affect their
flight responses to
turbulence.
•
PHOTOGRAPH BY
NICHOLE SOBECKI
60
TLC FOR
THE KIWI
WELLINGTON,
NEW ZEALAND
Field specialists exam-
ine a North Island
brown kiwi two months
after 11 of the birds
were released outside
New Zealand’s capital.
A national symbol,
kiwis have been deci
mated by predators,
especially stoats, intro-
duced in the 1800s.
•
PHOTOGRAPH BY
ROBIN HAMMOND
62
C H AC H A , I N D I A
Taj Mohammad stands
among his sheep and
goats in the desert
landscape of Rajas-
than. As a boy in 1998,
Mohammad felt the
ground shake and
witnessed a gigantic
dust cloud when India
conducted under-
ground nuclear tests
at the nearby Pokhran
site. India is currently
one of nine countries
with nuclear weapons.
•
PHOTOGRAPH BY
CHINKY SHUKLA
N E W H AV E N ,
CONNECTICUT
To better study how
cells from one region of
the brain connect with
cells in others, Yale
researchers looked
for a way to reanimate
recently dead brain
tissue. The team suc-
ceeded with a pig’s
brain by combining a
custom drug cocktail
(blue) with an oxygen
carrier (dark red).
•
PHOTOGRAPH BY
MAX AGUILERA-
HELLWEG
JET PROPULSION
L A B O R A T O R Y,
CALIFORNIA
A technician studies
the “brains” of NASA’s
Europa Clipper space
craft, which will launch
next year. As it flies
by Europa—one of the
largest of Jupiter’s
moons—the craft will
study its ice shell and
characterize the salty
sea below.
•
PHOTOGRAPH BY
CHRIS GUNN
68
WHERE
MONARCHS
REIGN
M O N A R C H B U T T E R F LY B I O S P H E R E
R E S E RV E , M E X I C O
JAIME ROJO
M O N A R C H B U T T E R F LY
B I O S P H E R E R E S E RV E ,
MEXICO
Streaked with sunlight
and crowded together
for warmth in winter,
monarch butterflies
blanket fir trees in
El Rosario Sanctuary.
Rojo received special
permits to work out-
side the sanctuary’s
operating hours. He
made this photograph
shortly before sunset.
•
PHOTOGRAPH BY
JAIME ROJO
ORIGIN OF
SPECIES
P U N TA A R E N A S , C H I L E
A Darwin’s rhea, named
for naturalist Charles
Darwin, is displayed
at the Maggiorino
Borgatello museum.
Darwin encountered
the species of flightless
bird in 1834 during a
tour of Patagonia. Com-
paring it with the larger
American rhea helped
him realize that two
species can arise from
a common ancestor.
•
PHOTOGRAPH BY
MARCIO PIMENTA
74
H E L E N R E E F, PA L A U
Brian Fidiiy jumps
from a boat into the
Helen Reef lagoon
to fish for food with
a homemade spear-
gun. Fidiiy and fellow
Helen Reef rangers—all
members of the local
Indigenous popula-
tion—protect Palau’s
most biologically
diverse reef from ille-
gal commercial fishing.
•
PHOTOGRAPH BY
KILIII YÜYAN
I T W A S A P R I V I L E G E T H AT A S H L E Y A L L O W E D M E TO S H A R E
I N H E R E X P R E S S I O N O F Q U E E R J O Y, S U R R O U N D E D B Y
P EO P L E U N I T E D I N T H E F R E E D O M O F DA N C E A N D M U S I C .
— YAG A Z I E E M E Z I , P H OTO G R A P H E R
79
WELCOME
WAT E R S
KO L W E Z I , D E M O -
C R AT I C R E P U B L I C
OF THE CONGO
Pastor Ngoy Niko
(right) of the African
Apostolic Church of
Congo presides over
the baptism of a new
member in the Lualaba
River. The congregants
use this stream for
initiation and purifi-
cation rituals because
they believe it is one of
the few still clean amid
local mining for cobalt.
•
PHOTOGRAPH BY
DAVIDE MONTELEONE
80
D O Ñ A N A N AT I O N A L
PA R K , S PA I N
Pilgrims sing, dance,
and play flamenco
during a stop along
their spring journey
to the Virgin of Rocío
shrine. Photographer
Aitor Lara says that the
group’s lyrics “reflect
the magical experience
of the pilgrimage
and the joy of being
able to present their
fervor to the Virgin.”
•
PHOTOGRAPH BY
AITOR LARA
82
S O U T H AT L A N T I C
OCEAN
Volcanologists and
mountaineers return
after a weeks-long
expedition to Mount
Michael, a remote
volcano in the South
Sandwich Islands. The
team made a successful
first ascent and study
of the peak, which
holds one of Earth’s
few lava lakes.
•
PHOTOGRAPH BY
RENAN OZTURK
N Y- Å L E S U N D , N O R W A Y
The Reverend Siv
Limstrand of the
Church of Norway is
the only pastor for the
Svalbard archipelago
in the Arctic Ocean,
welcoming worshippers
of any nationality and
religion. As the Arctic
warms, Limstrand’s
congregation of scien-
tists and local people is
chronicling, and coping
with, climate change.
•
PHOTOGRAPH BY
ESTHER HORVATH
P H OTO G R A P H S B Y J O S É M A N U E L N AV I A
A RT B Y F E R N A N D O G . BA P T I STA
FORTRESS FAITH OF
A N I N S I D E LO O K AT T H E FA B L E D A L H A M B R A ,
WHERE SPAIN’S LAST MUSLIM KINGD OM RULED FOR
N E A R LY 3 0 0 Y E A R S
F O RT R E S S O F FA I T H 91
F O RT R E S S O F FA I T H 93
94 N AT I O N A L G E O G R A P H I C
F O RT R E S S O F FA I T H 95
A CHRISTIAN
corrals, and families who had nowhere else to
go settled in the empty spaces. “It went from
being a castle of kings to a refuge for outcasts,
but it was always inhabited,” says Bermúdez.
“And that kept it standing.” The squatters of the
Alhambra, Bermúdez calls them.
Irving gave them a more romantic name: the
QUEEN TO REDUCE
children of the Alhambra. It was the vagrants,
the bandits, the disinherited who, together
with the ghosts of the defeated, populated his
THE ALHAMBRA
Tales of the Alhambra—unveiling the city and
putting it on the tourist map. Still in every
bookstore in the city and widely translated, the
TO ASHES. INSTEAD,
ISABELLA ORDERED IT
book perpetuated the fortress’s romantic aura,
reminiscent of One Thousand and One Nights.
Other notables had set foot in Granada, but
TO BE LEFT
none had the impact of Irving. Given the weight
of his influence, his single statue, set just off
the Cuesta de Gomérez, a historic path to the
UNTOUCHED.
fortress, seems a lukewarm tribute.
When Irving arrived at the Alhambra with his
traveling companion, a Russian diplomat, they
were appalled that visitors, even dignitaries, had
left their mark in graffiti—their names and notes
scrawled on its walls. The Russian provided a
leatherbound guest book to discourage the prac- The book made the fortress “an object of
tice. Thousands of signatures filled that volume desire—a need to visit it, to discover it,” says
for the next 43 years. It was an early glimmer of Bermúdez. “Today we know this is also part of
recognition of the structure’s value. our heritage. Preserving a universal monument
Though his fellow traveler soon departed, such as the Alhambra also means preserving all
Irving would stay on for several months, “spell- the values from its past.”
bound,” he wrote, “in this old enchanted pile.”
He ensconced himself in royal chambers that enraptured those
T H E A L H A M B R A H A S A LWAY S
opened up onto picturesque Lindaraja garden. from the outside. In January 1492 Queen Isa-
Mateo Jiménez, a self-described “son of the bella, leading a military procession, began her
Alhambra” who claimed his ancestors had lived triumphant ascent up Cuesta de Gomérez on
in the fortress for generations, offered himself up horseback to Al Hamra, which translates to
as a servant and guide, recounting the family lore. “the red” for the fortress’s pink-hued stone. The
Places where Irving set his reflections and Reconquest—lasting more than 700 years—had
accounts still can be seen today, such as the rolled back Muslim territories one by one across
reconstructed Gate of the Seven Floors. Popular the peninsula. A papal order authorized this
legend holds that Boabdil, the last sultan, fled final crusade, resulting in a 10-year war waged
through that gate, imploring that it be sealed for control of the holdout Granada kingdom.
after his departure. Irving’s story describes a suc- When the keys to the Alhambra were finally
cession of passages in which the sultan would surrendered, chroniclers noted Isabella’s sur-
have hidden a magnificent treasure in case he prise as she took in the fine details inside the
ever managed to return. Another spot, the Tower bastion that had long been forbidden to her: its
of the Princesses, later renamed after Irving’s intricate latticework, honeycombed vaulting, the
tale, was the setting for his story of three Muslim infinite geometry of its tiles, trickling pools that
princesses who fall for Christian captives. mirrored the magnificent facades.
96 N AT I O N A L G E O G R A P H I C
F O RT R E S S O F FA I T H 97
Poitiers
MUSLIM KINGDOM (A.D. 732) EUR
as Al Andalus, their new land faced constant pressures yet Settlement Fortification
became a hub of arts, education, and science for centuries. 50 mi AL ANDALUS
50 km
Toledo (712) Rome
Granada
Fez Carthage
(698)
Bay of Bisca y
P FRANCE Tripoli
Bilbao ANDORRA (647)
Y SPAIN
ASTURIAS R E
Oviedo NAVARRE N E E S 500 mi
A F R I C A
r i a n M t s. Pamplona
C a n t a b Architecture remains 500 km
ARAGON
Santiago de a visible sign of
Compostela Conquest and collapse Eb Islamic culture
ro Advance of Islam
León After quickly overpowering CATALONIA
the peninsula, Muslim rulers Muslim lands, ca A.D. 756
LEÓN Barcelona
lose land to Christian kings
GA LICIA over the next 700 years. Zaragoza
Aljafería 1
Palace
S PAIN A.D. 756-1031
er o
PORTUG AL Du CAS T ILE
Medina ZARAGOZA 2
del Campo HILLTOP FORTRESS
1085-1145 Minorca
A L A N D A L U S Ba lea r ic Water is central to construction
ablutions in the Alhambra. The
Salamanca Sea
Majorca
on Sabika Hill makes getting it t
Translation center for
Muslim, Jewish, and Madrid
3
Christian scholars, ca 1085 VALENCIA
1147-1238
I B E R I A N P E N I N S U L A Valencia
Toledo
T a gus Bab al Mardum Ibiza
Mosque
TOLEDO
SP UGA
PO
AI
ad i a n
a
RT
Gu DÉNIA
L
BADAJOZ Badajoz Largest city in
western Europe, C Ó R D O B A Murcia
Lisbon ca 1085
Córdoba MURCIA
Mosque–Cathedral
a
of Córdoba Cartagena
Se
Jaén
iv i
r
qu
dal AREA SHOWN
ua G R A NA DA
n
4 ON NEXT PAGE
ea
SEVILLE Granada n
G
Seville
ada
ra
1238-1492
Giralda Site of ra Nev
Sier
Alhambra Almería t er
di
Albaicín
Málaga e
M Alhambra
Cádiz Albora n
Rock of Gibraltar
(Jabal Tariq) Sea
ATL A NT IC ar Ceuta (SP.)
Granada
Strait of Gibralt
OCEA N Melilla (SP.) A F R I C A
Tangier
ALGERIA
MOROCCO
Córdoba Bab al Mardum Aljafería Alhamb
Giralda
AGE OF AL ANDALUS Mosque Mosque Palace construc
A.D. 800 900 1100 1200 1238
OPE
Samarkand
(711)
GRANADA’S
MEDIEVAL MUSLIMS RULED FROM THIS EUROPEAN STRONGHOLD FOR
A S I A
Constantinople Nahavand (642)
Baghdad VIEW OF THE
Damascus ALHAMBRA TODAY POINT OF VIEW OF
Medit. Sea Jerusalem Palace PALACE ILLUSTRATION
Alexandria (INTERIOR GRAPHIC)
ARABIAN Place of worship
Medina Bath
PENINSULA
Mecca (A.D. 632) Dungeon or silo
Albaicín
ve
Medieval city
Ri
rr PALACE OF
o
of Granada
Da CHARLES V
Harnessing flow
er River water is
iv
rr oR routed nearly
Da four miles to the
city via gravity- ALCAZABA
Acequia
fed channels Original fortress
Real
called acequias. with large
watchtowers
Tower
of Arms
bra
ction CONSTRUCTION TIME LINE
1380 1400 1500
The Nasrid dynasty’s seat of power, the Alhambra was the PALACE OF THE LIONS, ca 1370-1380
last holdout of Muslim rule in western Europe until 1492. It’s Lacelike porticoes frame this symmet
rical courtyard that exemplifies the
shown here in its 15thcentury glory, encoded with religious Nasridstyle integration of movement
symbolism and designed to dazzle visitors and project power. between indoor and outdoor spaces.
Hall of
the Kings
Mathematical harmony
From buildings to tiles, designs are based
on knowledge of geometric proportions
passed since antiquity through the gen
erations. At the root of designs across the
complex: circles and squares. THE PARTAL, ca 1302-1309
This early palace is part of a complex
that once included the sultan’s living
quarters. Murals in one late 14th
century home depict life at court.
Master writers who advise the
sultan incorporate more than
100 poems into wall decorations. Domestic
Observatory houses
Tower of
the Ladies
Prayerhouse
Fast fortifications
Concrete walls can be rapidly
FERNANDO G. BAPTISTA, ROSEMARY WARDLEY, PATRICIA HEALY, AND EVE CONANT, NGM STAFF constructed by tamping locally
SOURCES: JESÚS BERMÚDEZ, MARÍA ISABEL JIMÉNEZ ARCO, JOSÉ CARLOS ÁVILA CANO, AND
AMELIA GARRIDO CAMPOS, PATRONATO DE LA ALHAMBRA Y GENERALIFE; JOSÉ MIGUEL PUERTA
sourced clay, sand, water, and
VÍLCHEZ, UNIVERSITY OF GRANADA; HUGH KENNEDY, SOAS UNIVERSITY OF LONDON; SANTIAGO lime into wooden frames.
QUESADA-GARCÍA, UNIVERSITY OF SEVILLE; NATIONAL CENTER FOR GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
Hall of
Comares
Courtyard
Hall of of the Myrtles
the Two
Sisters
Hall
of the
Blessing
Bedroom
Royal bath
Layers of opulence
Rearrangeable carpets, cushions, and
Steam rooms with silk drapes add comfort and multifunc
hot and cold tionality to rooms. Medieval accommo
running water dations also include bathrooms, heating,
and pitchers of fresh water.
Basement with
sentry chambers
Lindaraja Private prayer Imprinted on
garden room of the upper walls are
sultan delicate plant
motifs, framed by
panels of poetry.
KING CHARLES’S
CHAMBERS, 1528-1533 From his throne,
the sultan has
Poem
strategic and
Queen’s Several towers
aesthetic van Inscription
dressing are converted
tage points of
room into palaces
the hall and the
or living spaces
city beyond.
over time.
Decoration
Cursive
Arch
Intricate murals Tree Palace of poems
Plant
Panels of colorful, glazed tilework motifs motif Carved into the decor are poetic
1 2 Individual 3 Pieces are set face
in precise geometric patterns are pieces are down in a frame inscriptions praising Allah and
affixed to interior walls. Shapes handshaped before thick mortar the sultan in rectilinear Kufic
include waves, birds, and stars. to fit designs. is applied. and cursive Arabic calligraphy.
Kufic
SECANO
Gate of
the Seven
Floors
Tower of
the Heads
Church of
MEDINA
St. Mary of
Artisan workshops
the Alhambra
and houses
th
s pa
es
Gate of cc
eza
Justice r
é
m
G o
de
ta
es
Cu
Protective buffer
A road between
the double city
walls could be
flooded to create
a moat.
Generalife
BECAME THE MOST and Muhammad might have had their bold-
est collaboration. Its fountain, magnificently
sculpted so that the rock grain simulates the
POWERFUL IN
lions’ muscles, contains a symbolic message.
It features the word “caliph,” Islam’s highest
leader, whose role transcends that of sultan. The
THE SULTAN.
ficult times,” says Puerta Vílchez. “The sultan
needed to legitimize his power not to Christians
so much as his own people.”
108 N AT I O N A L G E O G R A P H I C
110 N AT I O N A L G E O G R A P H I C
F O RT R E S S O F FA I T H 111
P H OTO G R A P H S B Y K AT I E O R L I N S KY
113
The Western
L E F T: F L A P : Sniffing for scent, O P E N I N G P H OTO :
Arctic caribou herd a bull caribou noses Caribou, or tutu in Inu
gathers on windy into the wind on the piat, traverse the snowy
mountain slopes tundra. Caribou, mem heart of Alaska’s Brooks
during the summer to bers of the deer family, Range. Each spring,
avoid mosquitoes. Like once roamed through caribou all across the
most herds, the West out the continent. North American Arc
ern has experienced a Today they’re found tic begin extraordinary
stark and mysterious only in the northern migrations toward their
decline in recent years. most reaches. calving grounds.
T H E C A R I B O U C O W C LY D E M O R RY K I L L E D
belonged to the Western Arctic herd, sometimes
simply called the Western. At the time, in early
2021, the Western was one of Alaska’s largest
groups of caribou. In the 1990s, when Morry was
learning to hunt, the Western was on its way to a
high of nearly 500,000 animals, and they roamed
a territory about the size of California. Many of
them walked right past Morry’s house twice each
year during their spring and autumn migrations,
providing his community with a steady source of
food and spiritual well-being in a roadless and
extremely remote part of northern Alaska.
But by 2021, the Western’s numbers had
dropped by more than half. Some years, Morry
and other hunters told me, very few caribou trick-
led through Anaktuvuk Pass. In other years, they
arrived weeks late or didn’t come at all. None of
this was necessarily unusual—caribou herds have
been known to fluctuate in size over time, and
they are wild beings, heeding their own instincts,
schedules, and motivations. Placed into a larger
context, though, the decline is deeply unsettling
because the Western is not alone.
Migratory tundra caribou can be called many
things: barren-ground caribou or eastern migra-
tory caribou in Canada, while in Alaska “caribou”
Tlicho Nation members alone will usually do. In Russia and Norway,
Joe Zoe (right), Janet nearly identical animals are called wild reindeer.
Rabesca (left), and
Tyanna Steinwand look All of these live in extreme northern habitats
for the Bathurst herd between the tree line and the remote reaches
in a remote corner of of the Arctic tundra, and they make long migra-
Canada’s Northwest
Territories. The Tlicho tions. No matter where you look or what you call
have relied on Bathurst them, they have been fading away for decades
caribou for genera right before our eyes.
tions, but since 2015,
with the herd’s num Between the late 1990s and 2018 these animals
bers spiraling, hunting declined by some 56 percent, from about five mil-
them has been banned. lion to two million. After 2018, data on Russian
reindeer (as well as collaboration with Russian
scientists) were harder to come by, but in North
W H E R E H AV E A L L T H E C A R I B O U G O N E ? 119
at
t .
rM
re
ea
G
B
RUSSIA
ARCTIC iz zly
Western
OCEAN
Gr
Arctic herd
GREENLAND
Ambler (DENMARK)
Mining vuk Pass Hottah
aktu Lake
DistrictAn Beaufort
LE
Baffin
RC
ALASKA Sea
Bay
CI
(U.S.) IC
ARE CT
AR
Porcupine
ENLAA
herd R GED
YUKON
1
Setting off in spring
N.W.T. NUNAVUT Winter
From April to June the
Bathurst NFLD. herd migrates north range
herd & LAB.
Hudso n to calve where forage
B.C. Bay is rich and mosquitoes
ALTA.
SASK. MAN. are not yet active.
C A N A D A
QUE. Lac
N O R T H ONT. Grandin
Ottawa
A M E R I C A
U N I T E D S TAT E S
Lac la
Martre
Plummeting populations
Western Arctic and Bathurst numbers, 15 percent of all migra Stewards of the herd
tory tundra caribou today, have been falling for decades. The Nomadic ancestors of the
Porcupine herd has seemed stable; its habitat has less mining Tlicho Nation followed
development and more protection and food options. caribou. In 2015 the Tlicho
halted their hunting to focus
500,000 solely on conservation.
caribou Western Arctic
(Alaska)
400K
Bathurst Willow Lake
(barren-ground)
300K Horn
Plateau
Ma
el
T
OR S in e Napaktulik R
Bu
IE T
ra
S Lake O
D
C A N A D A Contwoyto L.
I
(Koketi)
R
R
Lupin
O Closed
C
Nose
Redrock Lake
Lake
N
S u m m e r r a n g e
O
July – August
I
T
Point
A
Rawalpindi R Lake
Lake G
Yamba L.
I
M
Ekati
3
Gameti Fall mating
Tundra
W
Closed
i Closed In September caribou
Faber n begin migrating to rutting
Lake T l i c h o D
ec
t
e
MacKay L. grounds. As temperatures
drop, they travel farther
em
L a n d s
r south, aiming for the tree
be
r r line before winter sets in.
–
Ap a Snap Lake Tr e e l i ne
ril n Closed
g Gahcho Kue
e
Artillery
Lake
Whati
4
Marian Winter protections
Lake Russell
Lake By early December, cari M c L e o d Ba y
bou head to forests where
Behchoko they’ll wait out the winter,
surviving on shrubs and
ay
tie B
carbohydrate-rich lichens. ris
Ch
Lutselk'e
Yellowknife
N
or
th
Birch Ar Nechalacho
Lake m
ds
l
an
Is
s on Nonacho
mp Lake
Si
Great Slave RANGE DATA COLLECTED 1996–2012.
Lake IN RECENT YEARS SOME BATHURST CARIBOU
HAVE JOINED WITH A NEIGHBORING HERD.
124 N AT I O N A L G E O G R A P H I C
W H E R E H AV E A L L T H E C A R I B O U G O N E ? 125
128 N AT I O N A L G E O G R A P H I C
alternative routes, detours that might be useful phases of boom-and-bust during which they peak
depending on what the weather or the wolves or and then contract. Across Alaska and Canada,
the human hunters are doing. many herds, including the Western, bottomed
I’ve long thought these migrations resembled out in the 1970s and then began to climb into the
pilgrimages. The education of younger animals ’90s and early 2000s. Indigenous oral histories
(delivered mostly by older females) is connected record even earlier eras of plenty and of dearth.
to what scientists often call the herd’s collec- If cycles do exist, their causes are unknown
tive memory: i ts unique and enduring way of and appear to operate on decades-long inter-
knowing the landscape. Some have even begun vals. The idea is attractive because it suggests
to call such practices culture. These cultures caribou herds naturally bounce back. But it can
are cohesive enough that the animals tend to also be misleading, many researchers warned me,
stick with their own and remain loyal to their because in a rapidly changing, warming world
calving grounds. even the most durable creatures may not have
But Adamczewski said that in recent winters enough time to recover.
the Bathurst had been mixing with another, “There are times when we do lose herds on
much larger, herd called the Beverly. Maybe the landscape, and there are times when new
the Bathurst caribou were seeking safety in the herds will be forming as well,” Adamczewski told
Beverly’s numbers. Maybe they would fold into me. “Herds are not immortal. They’re not fixed
the larger herd. It was still possible for them to forever in time and space.”
recover; other herds had come close to disappear-
ing and scraped by. But the Bathurst’s singular O N A N OV E R C A S T D AY I N A U G U S T 2 0 2 1 I S T O O D
culture—its way of being, as an Indigenous friend on a green tundra plain in an isolated corner of
had put it to me—was at risk of blinking out. Nunavut, looking over dozens of caribou trails.
“If we lose one of these herds, there’s a lot in They were deep and narrow, and they scored the
terms of behavioral memory that we also lose,” earth in every direction, like rows of corn, like
Adamczewski told me. “When caribou don’t visit rays of light in a child’s drawing of the sun. You
their traditional calving grounds, they don’t could pick any of them and walk it to the horizon.
seem to live as long.” Maybe all the way back to the city of Yellowknife,
Seen against other changes unfolding in the far 250 miles to the south.
north—greening tundra, melting sea ice, burning I chose a trail and followed, clumsily, slotting
forests—the unraveling of the Bathurst appeared one boot in front of the other. Beside me a stout,
like a symptom of dementia, the landscape losing athletic man named Roy Judas did the same. He
another piece of its identity. Would the Bathurst’s wore woodland camouflage, though the nearest
condition spread? Was it irreversible? Was there tree was more than a day’s walk away. And he car-
a cure? No one knew. ried an old lever-action Winchester rifle, in case
Adamczewski said he found hope in small of bears, or “big men,” as his people, the Tlicho,
details: signs of growth in one herd, say, or a slow- sometimes call them—a term of respect. On that
ing rate of decline in another. Even holding on to day, though, the big men were absent, off hunting
a broader sense of time itself helped. or munching cloudberries somewhere else.
Caribou herds seem to follow cycles, he said, Everywhere we turned, the tundra appeared
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134 N AT I O N A L G E O G R A P H I C
Alaska recovering satellite tracking collars river at the end of their autumn migration. Arti-
from caribou that had died during a brutal facts show that for at least that long humans had
winter that saw deep, wet snow—cement-like been arriving to meet them, hunt them, process
stuff that’s hard for caribou to travel through. In their flesh and hides and bones. It was a regular
September brighter news unfolded on the state’s appointment, kept across millennia. And though
oil-rich North Slope where the Department of local hunters still showed up, the caribou now
the Interior canceled all petroleum leases in the were often late or didn’t come at all.
immense Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, home The shifting migration brought consequences
to the Porcupine’s calving grounds. for both humans and animals. In the caribou’s
The news was celebrated among the Gwich’in, case, arriving later in the season meant finding a
for whom the area around the calving grounds river in flux—not exactly liquid, not fully frozen.
is holy, “the sacred place where life begins.” Crossing was dangerous, as the young male was
But human hunger for oil still looms over the learning. Waiting for freeze-up was too: Wolves
Porcupine’s future. While there’s no drilling in and bears patrolled the forest along the riverbank.
the refuge now, there’s also no guarantee a new But the caribou had no choice. For days hundreds
administration, or a new Congress, won’t push of them paced up and down the river, yards from
for it. Local and national politicians have already my tent, filling the air with their musky scent and
tried and failed dozens of times. the peculiar click click click that comes as they
“I think it’s been hard for us to quantify how walk, a sound thought to be made by tendons
much has been changing for caribou,” Johnson snapping over bones in their feet. They were rest-
told me. But “if there’s one thing they don’t like, less and wanted only to continue their journey.
it’s industrial development. They are just really From my small vantage it seemed impossible
sensitive to development. It’s been shown so the world would ever return to the way it had
many times.” been when this route over the river, this habit
In a mystery the size of a continent, she said, of movement, was laid down in their ancestors’
this may be the best lead we have. minds. Already the portage itself was being trans-
formed by new trees and shrubs that had crowded
C A R I B O U A R E C R E AT U R E S O F H A B I T, A N D T H E I R in and grown tall as the climate warmed. But I’d
habits seem synced to an older and colder world been told by many Indigenous people that the
that no longer exists. The question in our time caribou would adjust, given time. They were curi-
is how quickly they will or won’t adapt. Late one ous, resilient. In the Arctic they had to be.
October I stood alone on the shore of the Kobuk I looked back to the river: a chunk of ice, a blow
River in western Alaska, watching a young male to the head, another dunking. The young male
try to swim the black water. He struggled. Large surfaced in a spluttering fit. He decided to turn
rafts of ice tumbled down the current, battering around. At the shore he shook wildly, rejoined the
him, shoving him under. A group of his less dar- others. The herd turned to regard me—gray bod-
ing companions stood on the shore waiting to ies, big racks, eyes wide. Then the caribou stepped
see how things would turn out. up the bank and disappeared into the trees. j
The place was Onion Portage, and for 10,000 The Pulitzer Center provided a grant to support the
years caribou had been coming here to cross the reporting for this story.
W H E R E H AV E A L L T H E C A R I B O U G O N E ? 135
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