Ancient whalers altered arctic lakes

Analyses of sediment and water from an arctic lake indicate that an ancient whaling community left a mark on the lake’s ecosystem that persists today, even though the settlement was abandoned centuries ago.

LAKE HOUSE. Canadian guide stands amid the remains of a whalebone hut whose decomposition is affecting water chemistry in a nearby lake. PNAS

Thule Inuit whalers moved from Alaska to islands in the Canadian Arctic about 1,000 years ago.