Utqiagvik residents gather to share joy and loss during this year’s whaling festival

Quincy Adams prepares to jump on a sealskin blanket during Nalukataq festival in Utqiagvik in June, 2025. (Photo courtesy of Sarah Betcher/Farthest North Films)
Back in June, whaler Quincy Adams soared above a seal blanket at Simmonds Field in Utqiagvik, with a bag of candy in his hands. He leaped even higher and tossed the kaleidoscope of sweets, as the children around him whooped with joy and caught treats.
Quincy and his wife Bernadette Adams are the captains of the Aaluk whaling crew. They w