I met up with the team of researchers from the US Geological Survey who had been performing polar bear captures out of Barrow already for two weeks. That evening, after looking over our gear and getting caught up, I went over to see friends who recently moved to Barrow from Wyoming. It was great to hear about their new life in the area; moving from the mountains to the tundra is certainly a big change.

The next day I began flying in the helicopter for captures. We started in Barrow, fueled up in Deadhorse, and ended the day in Kaktovik, near the Canadian border – we covered almost the entire northern coast of Alaska. Since then we have been based out of Kaktovik, and we have had good weather and have been flying a lot.

It is great to be back out on the sea ice. Although I am out of place here, I really love this environment. In this picture we landed on a small pan of ice about twenty miles from shore; the pan was surrounded by pressure ridges and rubble from ice sheets smashing into each other.

The captures have been going well. We caught the largest bear I have seen, an adult male who weighed 1,147 lbs (I am not sure what the largest bear caught in the southern Beaufort has weighed). His neck was several times the size of my waist, and I could not fit both hands around his snout. It took several people to position him for measurements. We have caught several bears which were sampled in 2009, giving us excellent data on changes over time in the same individual.

We have also caught a lot of cubs-of-the-year, or COYs, including this litter of three. Cubs are born around January 1st. Litters of three are fairly uncommon for polar bears in Alaska, and usually include one cub that is noticeably smaller than the others – in this picture, the cub in the middle only weighed 12 lbs, nearly 10 lbs less than the other two.

The hut which is my home away from home for several days in Barrow.

Inside, the curve of the walls stands out. I am enjoying the last couple days on shore before heading to the ship.

This morning we woke to a thick dusting of snow which did not melt as the day warmed. We are staying at the facilities of the Barrow Arctic Science Consortium, or BASC, which is a kind of clearinghouse for many research projects that are based in this area. The area also houses the North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife, and I?isa?vik College.

This bowhead whale skull stands in front of the college. Subsistence hunting of bowhead whales continues to be an important cultural feature of this area. The autumn hunt begins tomorrow here in Barrow – perhaps over 30 people will launch in small boats from the beach outside of town in the morning, seeking to find and land a bowhead whale.

Our study is the lead project on the science portion of the cruise on the US Coast Guard Polar Sea which begins tomorrow. Several other projects and a total of 24 personnel are involved in the science portion, and in the last three days, everyone has arrived in Barrow and found temporary accommodations. Tomorrow morning I will get up early and walk over to a small warehouse with a large load scale, and, hopefully, beginning at about 715am, each person will come by and we can count, weigh, and label their baggage. Two helicopters and one small boat will be used to ferry people and luggage to the icebreaker, which is planned to be anchored several miles offshore to the west. Simultaneously, 32 people and all of their luggage will be disembarked from the ship. After several meetings and rounds of organization today, the schedule seems to be on track.

Cruise track for HEALY Arctic West Summer Cruise 2008, Leg 4.

The principal work of the first evening included the project of Kate Stafford from the University of Washington, who is retrieving and redeploying moorings placed on the seafloor which are equipped with hydrophones to listen for the sounds of various marine mammals, including seals, walrus, and beluga whales, but with particular emphasis on recording the sounds of bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus), the sounds of which can be heard at: http://www.dosits.org/gallery/marinemm/15.htm.

The bowhead whales are one of the key marine species in the ecosystem, and important for traditional Inuit culture — their meat and blubber a source of food, and their bones used as sled runners and in house construction. Their baleen (the horny plates in their mouths with which they filter the small shrimp-like euphausiids and copepods — their main food), as shown in the baleen model boat in Day One’s blog, was put to many traditional uses in Inuit culture: as a tough cordage for seal and fish nets; for short lanyards and lashings on sleds; as the tip of dogsled whips; for hunting snares for birds and rabbits; bent into boxes for keeping harpoon heads; made into traditional Inuit snow goggles to prevent snow blindness from glare off snow and ice; as a brow on hats for kayakers to keep spray out of their eyes; as fletching on spears and arrows instead of feathers; and as large knives for cutting ice for igloos, and smaller story knives used to tell stories by ‘drawing’ in snow or dirt. Baleen was also woven together without being cut to form racks hung from the ceiling for general storage, and as floorboards in the traditional semi-subterranean Inuit houses shown in the Day One blogs: a sort of Inuit linoleum! And, in earlier times when warfare between native groups existed, it was also used as plates woven together in the construction of armor. Making of woven baleen baskets was an innovation of the late nineteenth century begun by Barrow resident Charlie Brower.

The bowhead whale is still the principal whale hunted off Barrow. Getting an accurate count of bowhead whales has been a key issue for scientists and the Inuit people for many decades to ensure their proper management and conservation. Preliminary information on the results of the annual aerial survey, along pictures of bowhead whales may be found at: http://www.afsc.noaa.gov/nmml/cetacean/bwasp/index.php. Kate’s hydrophone arrays are deployed offshore of the 100 meter depth line at two locations along the coast in groups of three to allow tracking of whales passing along the coast. Their batteries allow them to operate for a year. In the first day of science, the arrays already deployed from the previous year are retrieved by positioning the ship over their location and generating a specific series of tones which activates an acoustic release. Floats which had remained submerged with the hydrophones are then released from their bottom weights, and the hydrophone and floats drift up to the surface where they are located by a small boat, and passed off to the ship, which then hoists them back onto the deck.

Coast Guard small boat used to retrieve moorings by snagging their floats after release from seafloor.

Once the hydrophones are retrieved, Kate downloads the data from the past year collected by the hydrophones, changes out the batteries and data recording computer hard drives, and later in the cruise will redeploy them. Of concern when retrieving the hydrophones is the ability to find them if there is heavy ice. High resolution (100 meter) satellite images have been requested by the ship showing where the ice is located.

100 meter resolution Radarsat satellite image showing ice concentrations in Beaufort Sea off Barrow, Alaska.

This imagery is from a Radarsat satellite, which is particularly useful as it can see through the ubiquitous fog. In areas where ice concentrations are heavy, hydrophone retrieval can be delayed until the ice has moved away, and the likelihood of retrieving the moorings is more certain: better to wait a bit for conditions to improve than risk a full year’s data.

The principal components of hydrophone mooring array, shown in the photo below being disconnected from the cable by Kate Stafford of the University of Washington and John Kemp of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, are the hydrophone and acoustic release. When the mooring array is redeployed, a float is put over the side first. It is the float which provides the lift to allow the hydrophone and acoustic release to surface, be located by a small boat and retrieved. After the float goes over the side, the hydrophone, and then acoustic release go over, and last of all the weight for the mooring anchor is put over the side. When everything is in the water, the ship is positioned precisely over the desired mooring location, and a manual release is used which, when a rope attached to it is pulled, drops the weight at the correct location, and the entire array is pulled downward to the bottom, where it remains until the ship returns to ‘ping’ the acoustic release with the precise acoustic series of tones to retrieve it a year hence.

Hydrophone and acoustic release mooring components.

Float, weight, hydrophone and acoustic release.

Manual release for weight.

Bowheads were among the whales fairly heavily hunted during the golden days of whaling in the second half of the nineteenth century. Bowhead populations in advance of this period have been cited as about 16,000 animals, although of course, it is impossible to know for certain their historical abundance. The current estimate of the Beaufort-Chukchi-Bering Sea bowhead population is about 8,000-10,000 animals. The numbers of these whales seems to be stable and actually increasing. It is important to get good data on their numbers and habitat use as changes occur in sea ice and ship traffic in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas.

Each year the bowhead whales migrate south through the Bering Strait in the winter to avoid seas completely covered with heavy ice, so that they can continue to surface and breathe. In the spring they migrate north from the ice edge in the Bering Sea into and through the Chukchi Sea, and many migrate north around Barrow and then east along the coast toward the Canadian arctic and Northwest Passage channels. Maps of the migration routes of some whales tagged by Alaska Fish and Game Department personnel can be seen at http://www.wildlife.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=marinemammals.maps&name=8-10.jpg. As winter arrives, the whales return south along the coast to the Bering Sea.

Interestingly, the bowhead whales are often accompanied north by beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas), the truly “white whales” of the northern seas. Because of their much smaller size, the belugas cannot easily break through the ice to make breathing holes themselves, and follow the bowhead whales using them as their own ‘icebreaking vessels’ to access more northerly waters in spring. Once in the Beaufort Sea the bowhead whales appear to distinctly prefer the waters closer to shore along the Alaskan North Slope, while aircraft sightings and tagged animals show that belugas remain further offshore in deeper waters, with a fairly distinct separation of habitat use. The fact that bowheads prefer the more nearshore waters along the North Slope makes them potentially more susceptible to increased human activities, and Kate’s project all the more important to contribute to continued monitoring of population levels.

Hunting whales by certain arctic peoples is much more than simply an avocation or way of harvesting food. This is perhaps difficult for outsiders to fully comprehend, but whaling in traditional Inuit and other arctic whaling cultures was, and still is, almost a religious or deeply spiritual enterprise, surrounded with rituals of moral purification and behavioral restrictions. It is still emphatically pointed out that one does not actually hunt whales, but one simply goes hunting for whales: it is the whale that gives itself to the hunter and whaling crew which has strictly maintained the traditions associated with successful whaling. In the arctic this invariably includes, among many other things, widespread distribution of the animals taken to everyone in the community, and other communities as well, practices which are still sustained. George Naekok, who is with us as an Inuit observer on this cruise, has been whaling most of his life.

Barrow resident George Naekok.

Insignia of the Barrow crew which includes George Naekok.

Side view of Healy.

Coast guard H-65 helicopter carrying science party departs Barrow airport.

Equipped with a helmet and flight suit, we are given a flight briefing at the airport, focusing mostly on what to do if the helicopter should be forced into the water. Fortunately, the flight suits provide some floatation and cold protection and the trip is not long.

Co-chief scientist Harper Simmons from UAF/IARC dons flight helmet.

Scientist Matthew Alford wearing a flight suit.

In the helicopter (“hee-lo” as they say) we are led into the back and we strap in to a 5-point harness. We also plug the headphone-equipped helmet into the aircraft’s intercom system. The craft is operated by three “coasties” — the pilot, co-pilot and flight engineer. They all sit up front (and middle), and two of us, myself and co-chief scientist Harper Simmons sit in the back, secured to the aft cockpit wall. From this position it is hard to see much other than the backs of the flight crew or an occasional clump of ice visible through the windows.

Scientist’s-eye view of the flight crew.

Harper Simmons fills out a personnel log prior to take-off.

Chatter on the radio and a quick glimpse over the heads and shoulders of the flight crew reveal that we have arrived at the ship and been cleared to land. Touching down on the ship’s helipad, the ship is at “Flightcon-1″– no unnecessary personnel are permitted on the flight deck, and no hats are allowed (hats can get caught in helicopter rotors or engines). In addition, a rescue boat sits at the ready with the damage control (fire fighting) party. Fortunately, we don’t don’t require their assistance.

Helicopter arrival on the flight deck of Healy.

After stepping off the helipad, we are greeted by Dale Chayes from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO)… part of Columbia University. He directs arriving scientists into the hangar to be re-united with their luggage. There, we get a peek at the larger moorings that will be deployed later in the cruise.

Dale Chayes from LDEO directs arriving passengers to the hangar.

Large BS-4 (WHOI) mooring being stored in the hanger for later deployment.

Dale had invited me on my first trip on Healy in 2005 after I gave a talk at LDEO on Delay Tolerant Networking– my research area that is looking at communication in challenged and remote environments. Dale heads the science support crew that provides technical and computer help for the science party, technical institutional memory, and provides a channel to match terminology between the Coast Guard running the ship and the scientists running their instruments. The last time he was in San Francisco, together we met with Turing award winner Jim Gray to discuss how large data sets are handled. Sadly, Jim still remains lost at sea, having disappeared in his sailboat off the coast of California near San Francisco.

In the hangar, we doff the flight suits so they can be given to the next set of helo passengers. I pick up my pager and information card and drop off my things in my stateroom. Everyone wears a pager on ship, as it’s nearly impossible to find anyone otherwise. The information card gives the number of the life raft you need to report to in case there is a reason to abandon ship. I arrived just in time for lunch, but about a third of the science party didn’t… they were delayed due to fog. Barrow is one of the foggiest cities in the country, and it’s not unusual to have flights (helicopter or otherwise) cancelled or delayed. If you intend to travel here, give yourself a day or two slack on either side.

Exploring the ship alone, I remember it is easy to get lost and that its time to switch to at least a semblance of nautical jargon. The “house” includes places to cook, eat, sleep, have meetings and drive the ship. Forward of the house, the fo’c’stle is the front deck of the ship, and is also nice place to use for photography, as we’ll see later. Aft of the house is the engine and lab spaces, the hangar and helipad, and the aft control room (“Aft Con”). Next to the science lab spaces is the aft outdoor workspace, containing winches and cranes to deploy and recover gear. On the starboard side is another, smaller winch system. Above it all is the “Aloft Con,” essentially the crow’s nest of Healy. Port is, of course, the left side of the ship and starboard is the right. The term starboard derives from the words “steer board”– years ago its was common to mount your boat’s steering board (modern equivalent of a rudder) on the right-hand side.

After the fog lifted, aviation operations continued once again. Repeated ringing of the ship’s bells indicated the arrival of our VIPs (known as ‘Distinguished Visitors’ or DVs). Our DVs included Michael Chertoff, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Commandant of the Coast Guard, Admiral Thad Allen. They were met by the commanding officer of Healy, Captain Frederick Sommer. I was also in the hangar when they arrived, and Admiral Allen said hello and shook my hand. A solid handshake… not surprising, as he is a solid-looking fellow. They would speak to the ship and its crew later in the evening.

The Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff.

Admiral Thad Allen.

Commanding Officer of Healy, Capt Sommer.

While the captain was sequestered with the DVs in the wardroom, the flight deck was converted back for its normal deck use. The science party wasted little time during all of this. One of the first operations is to get a sample of water and ensure the instruments read true. This is accomplished using the starboard winch to cast a rosette into the water. The rosette has a (variable, usually 12 or 24) number of water sampling bottles attached to it. They are left open until the rosette reaches a certain depth (or set of depths). At specific points, an activator controlled by a terminal in Aft Con causes the bottles to close using the snap-action of attached springs. The commands given to the rosette are frequency shift keyed (FSK) signals that travel along the same cable that lowers and raises the rosette.

Converting the helipad back for ordinary deck use.

Rosette holding sampling bottles, CTD, and other instruments.

Wilken Von Appen secures the water sampling bottle on the rosette.

In addition to the bottles, the rosette has an instrument package attached to it at the bottom. The package includes a CTD, and several other instruments. The CTD measures conductivity, temperature, and depth. It is one of the most common oceanographic instruments used, and there are many models available. In this particular case, the data retrieved from the CTD can be compared against similar measurements made on-ship of the sampled water to ensure the CTD is operating correctly. CTD “casting” takes place regularly as the cruise progresses. Data from this CTD, as well as many other instruments permanently mounted in the ship, is made available to scientists over the ship’s local area (science) network. More details on the network later.

In the evening, the DVs addressed the crew (and the rest of us who wished to attend). They handed out various awards and promotions to the crew. Secretary Chertoff discussed the importance of the arctic to both science and the national interests of the United States, and Admiral Allen underscored some of the secretary’s comments, highlighting the deployment of the CG’s new “National Security Cutter,” Bertholf. There are plans to place three more of these cutters into service in the next several years. The Commandant went on to discuss some of the crew’s concerns regarding days between port calls, career advancement and other issues, such as a revised uniform for CG personnel.

Admiral Allen addresses the crew.

Next up is the “in-brief,” where new arrivals learn about basic procedures on the ship. Much of it is also covered in the “Welcome Aboard” document allegedly present in everybody’s cabin. For those having never had the experience, it is during the inbrief where a new arrival experiences the donning of an arctic water survival suit more affectionately known as a “gumby suit,” given the way one appears when wearing it. These are not easy to get in to or remove, nor easy to maneuver in when on. However, they are supposedly effective in keeping you alive for at least a few tens of minutes should you fall into the icy water of the arctic. Attached one finds a mirror and whistle– used to signal for help.

Teacher John Peterson dons a gumby suit.

A typical day aboard Healy starts at about 0700, when breakfast is served. For most of the crew, the day ends about 1800. After dinner movies and other entertainment may be available. For the science party, however, hours can be extremely long. Working until 0300 or 0400 is not terribly unusual, and all-night sessions are not unheard of. Of course, being light effectively all day can encourage one to work longer than they might otherwise. It’s something to avoid if you intend to stay alert and safe.

Winding up the first day on Healy, I recall from my last time here that the fo’c’stle affords a nice view of the sea (and ice, if present), and is a nice spot for taking pictures. Phil and I proceed forward and begin some photography and videography. We run into Holly and Kjetil, both from the MIT/WHOI joint graduate program, who have also discovered the views.

Scientist Holly Dail poses on the fo’c'tle.

Kjetil Vage poses on the fo’c'tle.

There is also some nice ice with blue pools floating by. Although pools are fairly common, this piece has a larger than average number. Shortly after, we spot a baby seal on the ice– the first noteworthy wildlife we have seen since coming aboard. It is a bit far off, so the photo is not a close-up. The seal appears to be seeking its mother; we expect her to not be far off, but never see her.

Drift ice with numerous blue pools.

Seal on the ice.

As the arctic “summer sunset” draws near, I think of how difficult a life it must be in the arctic, but how beautiful, important, and unique it is.

The nearest we have to sunset in this part of the arctic in summer.

Matt in flight suit.

Helicopter on HEALY’s flight deck.

There are three different science projects aboard HEALY coordinated by Chief Scientist Bob Pickart from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, with participation from co-Chief Scientist Harper Simmons of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and Kate Stafford from University of Washington. With their post-docs and students our party totals about a dozen people. This includes John Petersen, a participating member of the science party who is also an Alaska high school science teacher, me, Kevin Fall from Intel Research, Berkeley, who is working with me, Barrow Inuit observer George Neakok, and Bob Reiss, a reporter for Outside magazine. Some additional science party members have been aboard HEALY on the transit up from Dutch Harbor preparing some of the science gear.

Chief Scientist Bob Pickart from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Co-Chief Scientist Harper Simmons of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.

Kate Stafford from University of Washington.

After an initial series of helicopter flights, and an interruption while we wait for the fog to lift, we are finally all aboard the ship. In order to give the science party members time to assemble their gear, I fly out on the last flight, right after the special visitors on this trip, the Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen and Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff. Their very presence on the ship is a confirmation of the growing importance of the arctic, both to the interests of the United States and to the planet. After hastily unpacking and settling in, we have dinner and attend an “all-hands” briefing by the Commandant and Secretary Chertoff, who emphasize the importance of the work the HEALY has and will be doing.

From left to right, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, Military Aide to the Secretary CAPT Andrew Blomme, HEALY Commanding Officer CAPT Frederick Sommer, and Admiral Thad Allen.

The HEALY is one of three Coast Guard icebreakers. Icebreaking ships come in various classes, which are not internationally standardized. HEALY would be classed as an icebreaker able to break through moderately thick ice. The two other US icebreakers, POLAR SEA and POLAR STAR are classed as “heavy” icebreakers capable of breaking through ice roughly twice as thick as HEALY. For me, the high point of the day was the Commandant’s assertion that he is working to ensure the future of the POLAR SEA and POLAR STAR, which have supported US arctic and Antarctic logistics and research since their commissioning in the mid-1970s. In recent years the future of these two ships had been in question, and with it the assurance of US operational capabilities in the heavy ice which is routinely found in the arctic and Antarctic. To top off this good news, the ice persisted throughout the day as we steamed offshore in good weather making for a beautiful sunset.

The sea and ice at sunset.

The emergency escape card on the Boeing “Combis” 737 aircraft. Cargo travels first class.

When winter temperatures can reach -50F, cars need to be plugged in overnight to keep them warm enough to start.

There are a handful of research activities happening in Barrow, and scientists are in no short supply. At the cafeteria joining the Barrow Arctic Research Consortium (BASC) and the I?isa?vik College, it is not unusual to overhear or join in on a conversation about methane flux at one table while at another the finer points of the year-round hunting season are reviewed in Iñupiaq. The diversity is palpable — some of the most important scientific questions affecting our planet are being asked in a setting shared with some of its most ancient inhabitants.

It takes time to unload the planes at the Barrow airport, affording an opportunity to get to know others that may well become your colleagues. In this case, it was a research team from UC Berkeley lead by Robert Rhew, Bob Reiss (a writer doing an article for Outside magazine), Phil and our driver, Scott.

Scott.

After the 20 minute drive on the dirt road (the only kind of road in Barrow) leading from the airport to BASC, one is assigned a room and meal card. Accommodations are basic… “dormitory style.” It was too late for dinner at BASC, so hooking up with our new colleagues from the Univ. of Colorado and Berkeley we were able to dine at Pepe’s– the northernmost Mexican restaurant in America… in a dry town that’s definintely NOT south of the boarder.

All roads in Barrow are dirt roads, but some have a nice view.

Our accommodations in Barrow.

Walking the 200 or so yards to visit the new $60M+ BASC building, Phil and I we were squawked at by a fairly rare Parasitic Jaeger (also known as Arctic Skua or more formally Stercorarius parasiticus). This is the first noteworthy wildlife encounter.

A Parasitic Jaeger.

Science and native culture are not the only concerns in Barrow. There is a national government presence as well. The new BASC building is currently being shared with the US Coast Guard. The CG provides support for its traditional mission areas (navigation aids, border security, oil spill response, fishery enforcement, and search/rescue), in addition to its science support of resources such as the icebreakers. The warming of the arctic poses new concerns for the USCG and its parent, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)… less ice means more navigable water. More navigable water means more work for DHS. This is enough of a concern they have coined the term ‘Arctic Domain Awareness’, and the Secretary of DHS has come to Barrow to see how its working. As fate would have it, he was closer than I had really realized…

It is a short hop by air from Dead Horse on to Barrow. Nok Aker, whose full name, Nokinba, is the Inupiaq word for snowy owl, meets us while we wait for the luggage.

Nok Aker, on the left, and Michael Donovan, on the right.

He is great, maintaining the tradition of the hospitality of the north. In the hours and days that follow we quickly learn that the weather, even now in mid-summer, can change very quickly from pleasant and warm to damp, rainy, windy and bitingly cold. But happily for us, extremely strong winds the preceding days have blown in ice from the open sea, which drifts slowly and beautifully along the gravel beaches of the coast.

Coastal sea ice.

Ice! It is a wonderful sight, and seems to structure the entire ecosystem and community. The locals in Barrow are happy to see the ice too, and launch boats to hunt seals on the ice almost around the clock in the 22 hours of sunlight at this time of year.

The ancient village site of Barrow was known as Ukpiagvik, which means “The Place Where We Hunt Snowy Owls.” Along the beach bluffs the mounded semi-subterranean whale rib and driftwood house beams are visible in the soil where the ancient houses are eroding into the sea.

Welcome to Ukpiagvik.

Ancient house mounds.

Driftwood beams from ancient house eroding into the sea.

Me beside a whale rib house beam sticking out of the ground.

A semi-subterranean house door.

The village of Ukpiagvik was occupied for more than a thousand years, but like many arctic coastal archaeological sites is gradually eroding into the sea. The loss of such important arctic archaeological and cultural heritage sites is exacerbated by rising sea level and increased exposure to spring and autumn storms in the face of decreasing periods of winter coastal ice protection. However, as in the past, the lifestyle of the local people in Barrow remains focused on the resources of the sea: whales, seals, and walrus, and fish, with trips inland to hunt caribou.

The feeling of tradition in Barrow is very strong, we ask questions of all the local people we meet, starting to learn from them about their history and lifestyles. At the Inupiaq Heritage Center we meet the carver of a baleen boat.

Artist Larry Okomailak with his baleen boat.

He is the great-grandson of a Hawaiian who sailed on a whaling vessel to San Francisco in the late 1800s and was shanghai’d on a whaling ship to Alaska, where he stayed to raise a family, whose descendants include this artisan. He is a contemporary example of the historical mix of Barrow traditions that included New England whalers, Hawaiians who came north on whaling vessels (voluntarily or not), and those of the local Inuit. The carver points out that the sail on the baleen boat is multicolored, with stripes of grey, tan, and white. I had noticed it wasn’t the usual black baleen. He explains that colored baleen develops only in old whales: female Bowhead whales must be old enough to have calved at least several times to develop baleen with such colors, and males had to be even older to have baleen with such hues. Bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) often live to well over 100 years old, and older whales with such baleen are rarely taken, so it is hard to find such colored baleen to include as the sail of his model boat. With this knowledge suddenly the baleen boat takes on a much greater meaning as a work of art and craft and cultural tradition.

Like many things in Barrow, I continue to realize that just as the mist and fog move in from the ocean and hide the land periodically during our visit, and clear away to reveal the crystalline beauty of the ice, I must look deeper and ask more questions to understand the many and rich traditions here, half revealed and half hidden like the ancient semi-subterranean houses.

To date, we have found 12 burials this season.