Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 08/05/2008 - 08:33
Forums
Nuvuk Archaeology Studies

Mr. Kelley,

I like your pictures.  After looking at your photos with my mom, I had some questions:

How did the whale bones get on the beach?   

Which kind of whale bones are they? 

How many planes did you take to get there? 

How long does it stay all daylight for?  

What kinds of trees are up there?

I think that is all for now.  I hope to see you tonight on the computer.

Alex Hutchins 

Tue, 08/05/2008 - 09:23

Frank Kelley

Hi Alex and Mrs. Hutchins,Thanks for reading the journals and looking at the pictures. You have good questions too!!
The whale bones are moved around either by waves or by humans. Many of the bones have come from whales that were harvested by humans for food. The humans eat the whale meat and use the bones for all sorts of things. For example, building materials. Can you imagine using a bone to help build your house?
Some of the pictures I took show whale bones that were stuck in the ground by humans too. I think people enjoyed seeing them, so they placed them in the ground.
The trip out here was very long, 3 planes all together, and over 4,000 miles. I was excited to come out so the time went fast, I am very excited to get home, I hope that trip goes even faster.
This far north there are no trees. The plants stay close to the ground to be out of the wind. I took a picture on Sunday of a willow plant that would be a shrub in other places. We do find driftwood though, which is wood that is in the ocean. The native people used that wood for their houses too.
Days are getting shorter up here, right now, there are about 23 hours of daylight and 1 hour of night. Soon, in another 6 weeks, there will be 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night. Come November, there will be 1 hour of daylight and 23 hours of night!!
Thanks for reading along and asking so many good questions. It sounds like you are ready for kindergarten!! I look forward to sharing more stories tonight. Say HI to your sister, Mom, and Dad.
Have fun,
Frank (aka Mr. Kelley)