Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 04/03/2009 - 08:55
Forums
Spring Plankton and Changing Ice Cover

Hi Ms. Welch, Our names are Oasis and Liliana. We are from East Palo Alto Academy High School. Our teacher is Ms. Cristina Galvan.

Our question is which animal that you have seen in Alaska has fascinated you the most?

Mon, 04/06/2009 - 08:15

Guest

Hi Oasis and Liliana,
The animal that has been the most intriguing to me is the walrus. We spotted a group of walruses off the starboard (the right side of the boat), yesterday afternoon. What started out as one small group turned out to be walruses as far as the eye could see! They were all hanging around holes in the ice diving in and out of the water like it was hot tubs! They were so cute and awkward moving with their big bodies and those huge tusks. We could tell how old they were by looking at the length of their tusks. There were some grandaddys in there!
Thanks for writing!
Ms. W

Sun, 04/12/2009 - 14:46

Ashna Sandoze

Hi Ms. Welch,
My name is Ashna Sandoze, and I am in 1st grade. I read about your expedition in KidsPost (Washington Post). What other animals did you see?
Thank you and have fun.
Ashna Sandoze

Sun, 04/12/2009 - 20:23

Simone Welch

Hi Ashna!  I'm so glad that you saw the article and that you are following the expedition!  I hope that you had a chance to see the pictures of the walruses from my journal.  I have also seen Spotted Seals with their pups.  The seals are very dark-skinned so that they can soak up the heat from the sun and stay warm.  Their pups are white so that they can hide from predators like polar bears by blending into the snow. 
Today there were lots of Glaucous Gulls circling the back of the boat.  They look like the seagulls that we have along the Potomac but they are more white.  We have also seen Fulmars, which are birds that lay their eggs high on cliffs above the ocean.  I will put seal pictures in a journal soon.  Stay tuned!
Ms. W