Barrow

This is what Barrow looked like when Dave arrived at the beginning of June! Sorry - not a whole lot of text. busy busy. and trying to catch up on my posts. but lots of photos!

Tundra swans

Snow and white-fronted geese

Parasitic jaeger eating a lemming

These are traditional whaling boats made from a wooden frame covered with seal skin. Successful whaling crews leave their boats on the ice for a period of time after spring whaling ends.

American golden plover

the brown lemming that lived under the eider house!

photographer being watched

One of Dave's study species: Steller's eiders

heading out on the 4-wheelers to check out Pt. Barrow

someone forgot to tell these guys that it's still cold up there

polar bear foot print. yikes.

this was taken at almost midnight!

tourists watching a distant polar bear.
For a photo of the bear we saw:
http://shiwayanddave.blogspot.com/2010/06/happy-solstice.html

for the tourists

snowy owl

King eider! isn't he handsome!!!

I went out on foot surveys with Dave and his crew to look for birds and nests.

just another day at work. Arctophila pond.

Spectacled eider males flock up once the females begin incubation.

Have hip boots, will travel!

Local woman butchering a harvested ice seal. Ringed seal.

I left on the first day of the first nalukatuk (whaling festival).
Here I am trying some fermented muktuk (whale blubber). They called it 'mikeeuk' (I don't know how to spell it). I lack the microbes needed to process this stuff. One tiny bite and my stomach was churning.

whale flipper

more silliness in Barrow


I'd like to spend more time up there next summer - very interesting place.