Caribou Migration

• Photographer
  Katie Orlinsky
• Agency / Studio
  National Geographic
• Technical Info
  Dji Mavic 2 Pro
• Photo Date
  April 28, 2022

The Western Arctic Caribou Herd migrates toward their birthing grounds near the Inupiat community of Ambler, Alaska. The herd is in shocking decline, going from half a million animals to 164,000, with a quarter of the losses happening in just the past three years. Over the course of their migration they pass through thousands of miles of Alaska’s wildest rivers, national parks, and numerous Iñupiat and Athabaskan communities. Unfortunately, the state of Alaska plans on building a 211-mile industrial mining access road that will cut straight through the caribou’s migration path.

Photographer Katie Orlinsky has spent the last fifteen years covering news stories and feature assignments around the world for publications like National Geographic, The New York Times and The New Yorker. For the last nine years the majority of her work has focused on documenting the how climate crisis is changing and challenging communities across the Arctic. Katie received a BA in Political Science from Colorado College and an MS in Journalism from Columbia University. She has taught photojournalism as a visiting professor at NYU and the University of Alaska Fairbanks.