More images from the trip
Saturday, June 23, 2007, began as a rather uneventful day. I worked on photo management and then Paulo and I went out to the biocomplexity site to take permafrost depth and water table measurements. This only took a couple hours and then we headed back to BASC, Barrow Arctic Science Consortium, for lunch.
After lunch we got a call from Lewis Brower, the station manager here at BASC. He wanted us to come over and sample something he was serving. I was intrigued and ready for anything. As many of the houses in Barrow do, Lewis’ house was like visiting a taxidermist. There were skins, meat, and animal parts everywhere. Lewis proudly showed us several of his latest prizes which included walrus tusks, a polar bear skin, and bearded seal skin.
Inside the house was cozy and full of children, all girls. Lewis took us to the kitchen and there is where we found the dish he wanted us to sample….it is called “giaq”.
He waited till after we tried it to tell us that it was actually the intestinal lining of a bearded seal with some fat attached. I thought is tasted fine, especially on a cracker.
The people here rely heavily on local wildlife for food resources. I have also sampled whale meat, known as “muktuk”, and fermented whale meat, known as “mikigauq”.
I finished the weekend with a seven mile run, covering the same course as the previous week, finishing the last two miles at a tempo type pace. All the roads here are gravel and they have trucks driving on the roads spraying water behind them to keep the dust levels down.
The shore ice is breaking up and there is talk of a polar bear swim in the next few days. Maybe that will be my next entry…..stay tuned.
Saturday, June 23, 2007, began as a rather uneventful day. I worked on photo management and then Paulo and I went out to the biocomplexity site to take permafrost depth and water table measurements. This only took a couple hours and then we headed back to BASC, Barrow Arctic Science Consortium, for lunch.
After lunch we got a call from Lewis Brower, the station manager here at BASC. He wanted us to come over and sample something he was serving. I was intrigued and ready for anything. As many of the houses in Barrow do, Lewis’ house was like visiting a taxidermist. There were skins, meat, and animal parts everywhere. Lewis proudly showed us several of his latest prizes which included walrus tusks, a polar bear skin, and bearded seal skin.
Inside the house was cozy and full of children, all girls. Lewis took us to the kitchen and there is where we found the dish he wanted us to sample….it is called “giaq”.
He waited till after we tried it to tell us that it was actually the intestinal lining of a bearded seal with some fat attached. I thought is tasted fine, especially on a cracker.
The people here rely heavily on local wildlife for food resources. I have also sampled whale meat, known as “muktuk”, and fermented whale meat, known as “mikigauq”.
I finished the weekend with a seven mile run, covering the same course as the previous week, finishing the last two miles at a tempo type pace. All the roads here are gravel and they have trucks driving on the roads spraying water behind them to keep the dust levels down.
The shore ice is breaking up and there is talk of a polar bear swim in the next few days. Maybe that will be my next entry…..stay tuned.