Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 08/17/2007 - 17:09
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Greenland Seabird Ecology

How did CJ like living with all those little auks?  Did CJ want to eat them?

Sun, 08/19/2007 - 07:09

Mary Anne Pell…

CJ had the time of his life, after he adjusted to it. The cold was unexpected for him, and the wind was a bit rough. When he started piggy-backing to the colony with us he kept exclaiming "Soooooooooo many birds!, Sooooo many birds!" He was also verycareful to stay under cover so his soft fur would not get bird poop mixed in with it.
Here, CJ is learning about Little auk feathers.
There was no interest in eating a single Little auk since he had his choice of lots of tasty dishes at camp. (CJ is not a born stalker, unlike his relatives, he just isn't sneaky enough). Sometimes the noise the Little auks created was intense, but he also exjoyed falling asleep to the sound of thousands of birds soaring ,circling and calling above the tents.
At the village,CJ had the most fun at the new playground with the kids. they took him on all the climbers and let him go first in line.

The children were so friendly and wanted to show him all of the new playground equipment.
A teacher from the village wrote me a few days ago and relayed that a polar bear had landed at the edge of the village last week at about 7 am. It was seen as it began to walk up to the playground and was killed. The children who were already there ran and touched it.

This is the location where a polar bear wandered up off of the sea ice and headed toward the playground.
Village law dictates that the first people to touch a downed bear get a share in the meat. so several children brought home dinner for their family.
CJ and I are amazed at funny little differences like that, between that community and ours.