On April 27, 2005, a 16-foot skin-covered whaling boat from Gambell, Alaska, capsized about five to seven miles offshore in the Bering Sea during a bowhead hunt. The boat carried six people; two were rescued, one man, James Uglowook, 20, was pulled from the water but later died at the village clinic, and three others did not return from the sea.

Among those unaccounted for were Gambell mayor and experienced whaler Jason Nowpakahok, 38, his 11-year-old daughter Yolanda Nowpakahok, and his 11-year-old nephew Leonard Nowpakahok. The crew reportedly were not wearing flotation devices. The missing were presumed to have drowned after an extensive search.

The capsizing devastated the roughly 650-person community, where whaling is a central, multigenerational subsistence practice and including children in hunts is traditional. The tragedy also prompted outside criticism about children’s presence on the hunt, a claim that deeply angered villagers.