To the land of the midnight sun.
If you checked out the sunrise and sunset times in Barrow Alaska today you would have found the following: not applicable. The sun never sets at this time of the year so each day is 24 hours of sunshine above the horizon!
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Midnight sun time lapse video somewhere in the Arctic on youtube.
For a little local New York perspective, sunrise in East Hampton today was at 5:24 am with sunset at 8:07pm, for a total of only 14 hours and 42 minutes with the sun above the horizon compared to the 24 hours in Barrow.
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A little compare and contrast to the Arctic midnight sun. 24 hour sun rise and set over New York City in early July 2011. Time lapse video on youtube by Brimu.
I found that the Barrow never-ending daylight was a great motivator for working and playing extra hours. However after a while I did find it tiring when my body finally wanted to crash from exhaustion and clearly told me to, "GO TO BED!” but the daylight told me to "STAY AWAKE!" To help block the sunlight we put aluminum foil up on the windows, but little bits of light still peeked through, convincing our minds to think that we should be up and doing something. Consequently we took many late walks around campus, always on watch for polar bears and other, less worrisome wildlife.
The closest we came to seeing a polar bear! Ute and I spotted this lemming hanging out on the roadside at 11pm while we enjoyed a late night stroll. May 22, 2012. Photo by Lisa Seff
Snow Bunting in Barrow Alaska. Photo by Elizabeth Duncan Eubanks. May 2012.
After Hours in Barrow!
One evening a few nights ago, I joined two other educators for an evening expedition to Point Barrow in search of polar bears and other adventures. No worries as we were in good hands and tucked inside the safety of a Hummer. Point Barrow is the Northernmost point in Alaska and the United States. It is also the area where the Bowhead whale bones are taken after the whale meat has been divided among the community members. The bones are taken to this deserted area of beach to keep the polar bears away from the main village. We never saw any bears during our tour, however we did see several fresh bear prints leading away from the whale bones and out onto the frozen Arctic Ocean.
Lisa Seff standing near the safety of the Hummer before the expedition ended for the night. May 21, 2012. Photo by Ute Kaden.
Bowhead whale bone pile at Point Barrow Alaska. May 21, 2012. Photo by Lisa Seff.
We never saw any polar bears but we did see several polar bear prints. That was close enough! Point Barrow. May 21, 2012. Photo by Lisa Seff.
No real polar bears in sight, so PolarTREC polar bears Ute Kaden and Chantelle Rose posed for the camera. Point Barrow Alaska. Photo by Lisa Seff. May 21, 2012.
Another evening we finished off our day of work with a drive around Barrow. We observed many interesting sights including the Inupiat Heritage Museum, an amazing and detailed view of several ancient Inupiat home sites with Archeologist Anne Jenson and snowy owls flying across the white horizon. We even came across a road sign to New York!
Which way to New York? Lisa Seff in Barrow Alaska. May 18th, 2012. Photo by Sarah Crowley.
Lisa Seff knee deep in the Arctic Ice. Barrow Alaska. Photo by Chantelle Rose. May 23, 2012.
Lisa Seff standing by Bowhead Whale skull bones on NARL campus in Barrow Alaska. Photo by Cristina Castillo. May 22, 2012.
I'll be back!
Such an amazing opportunity to come to Barrow ahead of my expedition this summer and learn about the ongoing Arctic research projects, the unique environment and the amazing people that live and work here. Also incredible to have the chance to work together with so many talented Arctic scientists, educators, community members and workshop sponsors, all to help develop lesson plans based on present Arctic research. I can't wait to come back to Barrow!
2012 Arctic Ocean Ecosystem Workshop Group photo Barrow Alaska. Photo by Elizabeth Duncan Eubanks. May 22, 2012.