Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 07/25/2007 - 14:02
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Greenland Seabird Ecology

Hello from Camp!!! How are you all doing?!? CAmp is going well, we are in the middle of our third to last session, our 9-day!! Its going well, hot, but it cooled down significantly last night (perhaps 65 degrees, I suppose that isn't very cold for you lot though, eh?), so that was appreciated. We are taking the staff to Yosemite at the end of this session and camping, hiking, perhaps white water rafting, maybe sqeeze in a little resting somewhere in there somewhere too! All is well besides. Arnie popped into camp for the day yesterday, was nice to see him. He said that he doesn't think he will be able to make any full sessions though. I believe riana talked to mike about zach coming, but and not sure those details. But anyhow....We have some very important questions for you that we have been dying to ask....

What's cooking, good-looking ??!! Hehe. We (that is to say those of us at camp) were wonder what exactly the food over there on your ice shelf is like? (cause camp food sucks!!). Don't know what the shower situation is like either, wondering if you might be able to estimate approximately how many showers you get a week, and how? We like to compare these luxuries to those we experience at camp. I would approximate that us counselors take  2 1/2 showers every 2 weeks or so....Along those lines, how about the toilet? Are you best friends with the porta potties, do you have a designated area to squat, or perhaps you use yet another entirely different clever little contraption that you use? Did you ever get the water pump that you were in desperate search of?!?! Hopefully, otherwise....dun dun dun. Hmmm....what else was there? Oh yes, how are the nose tans comin along? Shoul be nice and bronzed by now, eh? What is the weather like, I can imagine cold, and we read about the fog, but just wondering if you could tell us any more about it? Okay, here is the kicker...Polar Bears!!!!???? Have you seen any, any signs of them or their whearabouts? Ohhh, have you used your guns to fend them off and protect yourselves. Any suspicious mis-shootings? Living in such close quarters with one another can be a bit trying at times. So, how about those little auks anyway? Are they as cute as expected? When you can find them that is and when the weather permits. Your hours sound long and exhausting, but unless I am mistaken your journal entries appear to be laced with awe, wonder, and appreciation for the land around you. I am sure you are having an incredible adventure and hope you are all well, we miss you and are thinking about you all the time, even if we aren't writing as much as we would like to.

Love you very much, Nadia, Riana and Tere

Thu, 07/26/2007 - 08:19

Mary Anne Pell…

Hello to all my camp friends!! I have such great memories of the time spent with you all. Since Ewan is Scottish, some of his comments, phrases, and mannerisms remind me of you Brits! Boy, so much to answer with your questions. Let’s see….
I arrived here July 14, having taken a shower July 13. Today, July 26, makes it 12 days since my body has been drenched with H2O of any kind. Ann and Rachael ventured into the lake for a dunk, soap up, scrub, and dunk again. The boys have done nothing similar since I arrived. Do handi-wipe scrubs of most body parts count? I did wash my hair on one relatively warm afternoon last week. The lake water was not too cold. I never found out whether a few brine shrimp or any algae found their way into the wet trestles. My hair was smooth and silky after it dried, however. I may have hit upon another marketing idea. A sponge bath is in the plans this afternoon, in the sanctity of the lab room.
Ummmm… the toilet. Well there is a toilet seat over a plastic bag covered bucket. Adjacent to that is a coffee can for used paper. A rock is placed on top of that so it is dog proof. We have learned from our mistakes. What a view! Once a week the bucket is dumped into the bay, with the contents carried away by currents. The bag is later burned.

The Camp Toilet
Fresh water is another adventure. The four filters I called all over California to locate and transport ended up being the wrong kind. The teams methodology for fresh water involves a plastic bag lined backpack, two large buckets, an axe, 40 minutes of time and of course, the rifle. The nearest large ice berg has been the destination of water collection. Luckily there is plenty of propane for melting when needed, and an oil stove to speed up the process too. A few days ago, one un-named member of the team, gathered ice chunks from a much closer berg. After everyone sat down for a potentially satisfying cup of tea, we simultaneously remarked at the saltiness of those sips. It was determined that that particular berg, was not a piece of glacier, but only some frozen sea ice. It did not take long for the group to volunteer to gather new ice pieces. An additional problem with the filtering system, I was told, is that none of the filters we know about filter out salt. So even if a filter that fit the elements I brought was delivered to our site with the school group that is coming, it would not filter out salt. Hopefully the ice bergs will remain accessible until the Team’s departure date of August 22.
Nose tans were coming along nicely, but it began raining yesterday. It has been snowing up at the colony for a few hours now, so the tans may fade. The fog changes- at times it’s a high fog, other times it is difficult to see greater than 15 feet in front of us. With the fog, rain, and snow, carrying the rifles up and down the slopes is a big concern. The rocks are always loose in spots, but now they are also very slippery. Wearing several layers, toting a full backpack (or rucksack as Ewan says) and slinging a rifle on one shoulder becomes tricky. We now call whenever one is coming up to replace another so, if there were to be a slip, it would be discovered quickly.
In the back of everyone’s mind is always polar bears. Ann, while doing field work over the years, has had polar bear incidences twice. Her colleague at one of the Spitsbergen sites has sighted bears several times in or near her colonies. So the concern is quite real. Some of us have become a bit stressed, or crabby. Luckily there are opportunities to retreat into some solitude to gain some personal space. Jerome is left-handed, so has helped me practice with the rifle and a dummy shell. I have begun carrying the rifle since we are now working solo. So far, it had been a sufficient deterrent. Any bears in the area have warned each other to stay away. They must have seen me practicing.
That’s it. Photos of our refrigerator, kitchen, staff lounge and office will be uploaded later. Look for them; they are certainly first class digs.
 

Our Dining Room

Our Refrigerator

The Camp Kitchen

The Staff Lounge