The 12th century Norwegian text Konungs Skuggsjá (King's Mirror), a didactic work prepared by one or several authors, probably for the education of a king's sons, provides some of the earliest known descriptions of sea-creatures (legendary and real) inhabiting northern Atlantic waters. Most of the descriptions give sufficient detail to allow identification with species common in the area today. This article (the second of two articles on Konungs Skuggsjá; see Polar Record, (1985), 23(141): 615–27), presents translated sections of the original text, and possible identifications of 26 species with discussion, notes and comments.

Following the founding of the Aardrijkskundig Genootschap [Dutch Geographical Society] in 1873 there was a brief revival of Dutch interest and participation in the Arctic. The schooner Willem Barents, specially built for the purpose, made annual voyages into the European Arctic from 1878 to 1884, placing memorial stones at sites where the Dutch had operated in earlier centuries and collecting scientific data. During the International Polar Year, 1882–83 the Dutch expedition was caught in pack ice and its ship Varna was lost. Thereafter Dutch interest in the Arctic waned, and Willem Barents was sold in 1886.

Pending land claims by Alaska Natives were extinguished by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971. This act marked the culmination of more than 100 years of expressed Federal concern for protection of land rights of aboriginal peoples within the region, starting with the 1867 Treaty of Cession. The Federal legislation provided both a cash and a land settlement, and mandated creation of corporations to manage the resulting assets. Two amendments, in 1976 and 1980, attempted to alleviate certain problems arising from the original act. Nonetheless, many difficulties with the act itself are becoming more apparent as the 1990s approach, and certain sections of the act such as taxation and stock alienation become activated. This paper discusses the major events leading to passage of the act, key provisions of the act, and the major controversies and conflicts facing Alaska Natives through the next two decades as a result of the legislation.

This article describes a framework within which an initial strategy could be developed for managing commercial exploitation of marine living resources of the Southern Ocean, particularly of krill and fish, in accordance with Article II of the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). Quantitative predictions involving multi–species models are needed to assess any indirect impacts of fish or krill exploitation, and also for management to restore depleted populations. This article recommends research to provide the knowledge necessary for the models (identifying key species, estimating their demographic status, and experimental interference), and suggests interim management action to delimit management areas, agree target levels for stock–size, and monitor stocks. Early efforts to model the fishing operation are particularly recommended.

Samuel Hearne is best known to students of polar history because of his famous overland expedition of 1770–72, when he became the first European to reach the northern coast of North America at the mouth of the Coppermine River. Fewer know of his other notable journeys, in which he established Cumberland House as an inland trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company; fewer still may be aware of his capture, while Governor of Prince of Wales' Fort on Hudson Bay, by the French naval commander la Pérouse in 1782. That Hearne was an attractive and interesting character emerges clearly from his own account of his major expedition (a classic in exploration literature) and his other writings. However, he was also a figure of controversy, both during his life and subsequently, and this lends interest to his story.