Journal Entry
The State Bird of Alaska
Before I came to the Arctic, everyone who was familiar with Arctic summers warned me about the mosquitoes. Back during our orientation in Fairbanks in late March, we even had the chance to model some bug shirts to prep ourselves for the onslaught.
PolarTREC teacher Alicia Gillean models a bug shirt back in Fairbanks. She was lucky enough to escape most of the mosquitoes during her time at Toolik.
I’m not making this up. This pin verifies my assertion that the mosquitoes here are epic.
Evidence
Every good scientist needs to provide evidence to support their claims. Take a look at the pictures and video below and see if you agree with my statement that the mosquitoes in the Arctic are like a plague of biblical proportions...
Swarm of mosquitoes in the tundra. Photo courtesy of Jesse Krause.
Mosquitoes on Kate Michmerhuizen’s bug shirt while out in the field. This is typical.
Check out this video of the mosquitoes in action on Team Spider’s own, Kiki Contreras.