None of the four beluga hunters picked up Tuesday reported injuries, and they have been returned to Koyuk, said Megan Peters, spokeswoman for the Alaska State Troopers.
The four took shelter after winds picked up. They are Steven Hoogendorn Sr., 38, his son Steven Hoogendorn Jr., 18, Clarence Dewey, 21, and Adrian Nassuk, 22, troopers said.
They had left the Norton Bay village of Koyuk in a 16-foot aluminum boat to go whaling at about noon Sunday and they were expected to return late Sunday or early Monday, according to troopers and the Coast Guard.
Coast Guard officials said the weather was poor, with winds blowing from the north at 20 to 30 knots and seas at five to six feet.
The men were reported missing to state troopers at about 10 p.m. Monday, Peters said.
The troopers sent a boat and a plane to look for the men, the Coast Guard sent a C-130 from Kodiak and a Jayhawk helicopter, and volunteers from bay-area villages searched on land and water.
A good Samaritan pilot spotted the skiff on the shore near a relief cabin at Island Point about 11:15 a.m. Tuesday, the Coast Guard said. In the bad weather, the hunters had decided to beach the skiff and spend the night at the cabin, the Coast Guard said.
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