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Arctic Tundra Dynamics

Hi Rob-

I was wondering if Alice and her whale team saw a difference in the thickness of the blubber in whales taken in the spring verses whales in the fall?

Also is she Inupiat Eskimo?

Lastly, what were the traditional houses of her village made from? I realize that there are very few trees up there. In the book 'Goodbye, My Island' that we read in school, some of the shelters on King Island were made of walrus skin and willow branches and then strapped to the side of the island with gut rope.

Thank you so much for your help and time in answering my questions!

warmly,

 

Maggie 

Tue, 06/26/2007 - 14:27

Rob Wilder

Hi Maggie,

I have some answers for you from Alice.

She did not know if there is a difference between the whale blubber thickness between the two seasons.  I also asked someone from the Department of Wildlife here and they did not know either, they did say that the females had a more salmon colored blubber.   I also found out that whale girth changes according to the amount of summer sea ice and the girth is greater during years of "light" sea ice, which is probably due to the greater access to food resources.

She is Inupiat and the old houses mere made of soil, sod houses, along with whales bones and drift wood they collected.