The Whale Bone Arch on the seafront — two giant bowhead jawbones planted upright with a third laid across the top — is Barrow's most photographed object. It frames a view straight out over the Chukchi Sea, which is ice for most of the year and open black water for a few weeks in late summer.
Around the arch sit the skin-frame umiaks, the traditional boats still used in the spring whale hunt. The patch of beach behind is where successful crews bring catches ashore for division among the community in late April or early May. There is no museum, no entry fee, no guide — just an arch, the ocean, and a strong Arctic wind.