Went out early this morning, 5am, to Point Barrow for some Polar Bear watching. There is a large pile of Bowhead Whale bones that the Natives dump on the point after the October Whale hunt. This is actually done for a couple reasons, it keeps the Polar Bears out of town (for the most part) to look for food, and it provides the Polar Bears with food.
Point Barrow is the northernmost point of the United
States. The city of Barrow is 9 miles
southwest of Point Barrow, with the City of Barrow being the northernmost city
in the United States. Point Barrow is
the divide for the Chukchi Sea (western side of Point Barrow) and Beaufort Sea
(eastern side of Point Barrow) all making up the Arctic Ocean. Point Barrow as it is now referred was once
called Nuvuk. It was a large settlement
for the Inupiat (the Native people of the North Slope of Alaska)
now abandoned with little evidence remaining of the village that was reported
to number over 1000.
You may all know the movie "Big Miracle" release earlier this year starring Drew Barrymore, about the 1988 rescue of grey whales in
Alaska. Well, this took place at Point Barrow.
Every day here is changing me, giving me a new outlook on life. I know I do ramble on at times, read the rambling if you like or just enjoy the pictures..either way, just do what makes you happy.
It was again, a humbling day, traveling to
the northernmost point in the United States with a goal of watching Polar
Bears. While the bears were the
highlight of the trip I was humbled after hearing the story that the Inupiat People
once made this little sliver of land home.
I looked out over the barren ground, no trees, no grass, just gravel and
ice….thinking how difficult surviving here must have been. The Natives would have used bones from the
Bowhead Whale and sod to create shelter, hunting caribou and whale to
survive. I have said it before and I am
sure will continue to repeat myself, but this trip that was to be just an
adventure is now a very confirmed trip of humbling self-discovery.
People
do things that don’t make them happy, they continue to live a life being
unhappy, some continue to be unhappy for the sake of family, some are just
afraid of the unknown, some let others control them and what they do even
knowing they have the power to control their happiness but don’t have the will
power to act on the feelings. People
today are too concerned with the “why” in the things we do. They want a reason for the decisions we make,
they are overly concerned with how others see them or what others think. People are worried that the house they live
in or the car they drive is not up to par or that they will be looked down upon
for not “keeping up with the Jones’.” People
are too concerned what others will say if they pursue the happiness they want,
if that happiness if not the “norm” of society.
I can’t fully explain why, and I may never be able to, but I don’t feel I
have to explain my decisions or actions to anyone. I have made a promise to myself that I will
no longer be unhappy; I will do what makes me happy. I have discovered who I am, who I want to
be. No matter where life takes me or
what happens, I will not be the person I once was, I am me, no more, no less,
take me for who I am or don’t take me at all.
I can only be judged by one, and if you are not God himself then you
have no right to judge me or others. If
you don’t like a person’s decisions then tell them to their face, don’t be a
coward and talk behind their back. I
give you my word I will tell you how I feel to your face, good or bad. I’ve had my period of being the “nice guy”
being the “everything is perfect guy” and I am done with that! I have my strength and confidence back and will
do what continues to make me happy. I will not let anyone bring me down, sure I
will get sad, I will get mad, but this will only be a temporary moment as life
is too short to waste on those who attempt to bring you down. For those that
accept this and have helped me find myself I will be eternally grateful. Again….I am ME!
This blog was initially going to be my
adventures as I roamed (hence the name) around the country working as a travel
nurse. My contract here ends August 17, but I have made a decision, and if
everything works out I will become a resident of Barrow, Alaska.
The blog will continue but the roaming may come to an end, but the self-discovery will take a lifetime………
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| Polar Bear on the frozen Arctic Ocean |
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| This bear was checking us out, raising his head to sniff us, he was wanting to get back to the whale bone pile for another chunk of meat. |
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| Just awesome to be in the same area in the wild as this amazing animal. |
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| My knife is right at 9" open. This is a good size track, but they get much, much larger. |
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| I just liked this shot, Bowhead Whale vertebrea that is being picked clean by the Polar Bears. |
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| Beaufort Sea (eastern side of Point Barrow) of the Arctic Ocean |
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| Chukchi Sea (western side of Point Barrow) of the Arctic Ocean |
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| This is the Bowhead Whale bone pile, what the Polar Bears are coming to eat. OH, and a Caribou skull. |
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| Caribou skull, shot taken facing South / Southwest looking back towards Barrow. |
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| Wide open Point Barrow, think, people lived on this land. |
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| I'm standing on the northern most point of land in the United States. |
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| More of the Bowhead Whale bone pile. |
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| Bowhead Whale bones. The large rounded piece mid pic is actually the top portion of the Bowhead Whales Skull. The Natives used to use the bones for structure for sod houses. Modern building material has made the use of the bones a thing of the past. |
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| The sky was just beautiful overlooking the whale bones. |
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| A view of the bone pile from the a distance. |
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| The Polar Bears, birds, fox, and various other animals make use of the left over whale. |
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| Well, it's a Polar Bear...a Polar Bear on the frozen Arctic Ocean. ;-) |
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| Such an amazing, poweful, beautiful animal. |
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| The ice is breaking up, and obvious by this shot that the Polar Bear did find a soft spot in the ice. |
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| It was a strange feeling knowing that I was not at the top of the food chain. Polar Bears have been reported to track humans. |
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| Sea Birds are usually close to the Polar Bears. They pick up the scraps the bears drop. |
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| This amazing animal has a large chunk of Bowhead Whale blubber in its jaws. It was fun watching this bear toss the meat around. It looked as if it was playing with it, but in all reality it was just tearing off chunks to eat. |
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| Caught this one sorta' mid toss, you can see the large chunk of blubber / meat in the bears mouth. |
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| Just chillin' |
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| MMMMM...Bowhead Whale, it's what's for dinner! Well, to at least the Polar Bears. All the human consumption meat / blubber has been removed. In the distance upper left of photo you can see the ice breaker that was used in an attempt to rescue the trapped Gray Whales in 1988. |
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| This is the actual ice breaker that the US Military was dropping from a Chinook Helicopter in the attempted 1988 rescue of trapped Gray Whales. |
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| This is the actual ice breaker that the US Military was dropping from a Chinook Helicopter in the attempted 1988 rescue of trapped Gray Whales |
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| Don't mind me...just running from a bear! LOL, in reality, the Polar Bears are over 8' tall, they could have just plucked me from this perch. NOTE: Yes, I am armed, it is a Ruger 44 Mag. I carry this anytime I am outside in an area that has a chance of bears being around. I would NEVER even think of harming or killing a Polar Bear for sport or fun. This is for my protection and whoever may be with me. |
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| It's a Bear Ass.....get it...LOL..... BEAR ASS!! |
