Flower for the Day Zinnia 9-16

For the last few years I have forgotten to put in zinnias. This year I put in several varieties and 

this is the time of year that they show up. More to come. 

 

Don's Blog Greenland IV Whales 2

In the last blog we discussed the energy and excitement of watching whales from the National Geographic Explorer.  It was also frustrating to be so far away from these amazing creatures. Jan and I have had a continuing interest in whales and other sea and land mammals since we lived for several years in Anchorage. We became quite involved in getting to know the natives (the Inipiat) and the objects they produced with the byproducts of these fascinating animals. 

In the spring of 1970 Jan and I and another couple visited Point Hope which is a subsistence village on the northwest coast of Alaska. The village is dependent on fishing, gathering  and hunting of marine mammals for food. The village is on a spit of land that juts out into the Chukchi Sea on the northwest coast of Alaska. It is reportedly the oldest continuously inhabited village on the North American continent with over 2,500 years of recorded history. The bowhead whale is at the center of the Inupiat culture. It is also called the Greenland right whale and is an arctic baleen whale. Eskimos have hunted whales for more than 2,000 years. Currently the bowhead whale can be legally hunted by Alaska Native whalers from 10 villages only. Point Hope is one of these ten. A strictly allocated number can be hunted for food, oils and Native craft materials.

The word baleen derives from the Latinbalaena related to the Greek phalaina both of which mean whale. In the development stage modern mysticetes (baleen whales) have teeth initially and then develop baleen plates in utero. They lose their dentition and have only baleen plates as juveniles and adults. Below is a photo of two keratinous plates of baleen that we acquired from Point Hope. Bowhead baleen can reach 13 feet in length. These plates are 5 feet in length. A bowhead whale has up to 360 overlapping baleen plates hanging from each side of the upper jaw. After the water and its krill are taken in, the water is forced out of the mouth through the baleen strainer and the remaining food is swallowed. Bowheads consume about 2 tons of plankton (krill) each day.

The leading edges of the baleen have a fine hairy fringe.

Native artists have been making baleen baskets since early in the 20th century. Thin strips of baleen are cut and soaked and attached to

ivory discs at the start. A coiling method is used to sew the baleen bands together ending in a carved ivory knob on the handle. Point Hope is one of the most active places where these baskets are made.  We purchased this baleen basket in Anchorage in 1969. That is a bowhead whale on the top.

The artists initials are under the carving and there is a number on the bottom.

When we bought this piece of carved baleen we were told that by grasping the small tip and twirling it around on the string as fast as possible that a sound would be produced which would "scare away wolves." It does make an eerie sound and so far it has worked.

This is an ossified intervertebral disc from a whale.

This carving from a whale vertebra shows how ingenious and artistic the Inupiat Natives are. They have a great sense of humor.

This blog has shown a different look at whales than we had on the ship. All of the artistic pieces shown here were purchased legally between 1968 and 1970.

Flower for the Day Dahlias 9-15

Jan has placed dahlias in exceptional containers which accentuate their beauty.

This yellow plate size dahlia is in a Steuben dish that was given to us as a wedding gift 

over 54 years ago.

These smaller dahlias are in a hand crafted contemporary vase which was a gift from

my brother David and his wife Frances.

 

Don's Blog Greenland IV Whales 1

On July 22 the crew on the bridge began seeing dolphins and some whales.  The Denmark Strait is the body of water between Iceland and Greenland. It connects the Arctic Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean and is 300 miles long and 180 miles wide at its narrowest. The cold East Greenland Current passes through the strait and carries ice south into the North Atlantic. Greenlanders call their home Kalaallit  Nunaat, the land of people. The isolated east coast of Greenland is largely dependent on subsistence hunting and fishing and is well separated from the more populated southern and western coast.

Our trip across the Denmark Strait has been uneventful with 3 to 4 foot swells and sunny days. 

Dolphins are in the toothed family of whales. The dolphins allegedly have prominent beaks and cone shaped teeth. As you can see from my images I cannot see the head or even much in the way of markings. The dolphins feed in groups and followed alongside the boat for long periods of time. The dolphin and whale watch period can be described as festive. We were all over the ship - fore and aft, above and below the outside decks. There was no telling where the next whale would surface.

The whales that were identified by the experts were Baleen Whales which are filter feeding species. These whales possess many rows of keratinous

baleen that hang down from the roof of the mouth. The inside edge of each plate has a fringe of dense bristles. The plates overlap forming an efficient sieve all around the edge of the mouth. The water filtered in through the baleen contains  small fish and krill and the whale's huge muscular tongue moves this food to the back of the mouth where it is swallowed. Different species of baleen whales have different sizes of baleen filter plates that allow them to coexist and yet feed on different prey. 

Although someone identified a blue whale which is the largest of all whales, averaging 81 feet in length, it was too far away to take a picture. This is a fin whale which is the second largest whale averaging 70 feet in length. It is known as the greyhound of the sea because of its swimming speed. 

 

The spouting of all the whales was most amazing. Most of the spouts produced fine sprays of sea water which rose high into the air.

Most of the whales were long dark forms on the ocean far from the ship. In the time we were enjoying these dark shapes I acquired almost no ability to make an identification distinction.

Flower for the Day Morning Glory 9-14

The morning glories bloomed very late this year. The came from three different seeds. The full blue

came from last years morning glories by re-seeding. The two striped ones were a gift from Chris and Meg and I started them in small pots.

 

 

 

Don's Blog Princeton Intramural Champion

Recently I was contacted by Volker Schroder who is the Adviser of the current Princeton Table Tennis Team which competes in intercollegiate matches at the Club Level. The men's team has been competitive but the women's team has won the national championship for the last two years. He got my name from the archives of the Daily Princetonian. He knew I was a member of the 1958 Cannon Club Team had won the Princeton Intramural championship.

I told him that I had played #3 behind Stewart Knott and Steve Nichol. I told him that we had also won in 1957 and that at the Cannon Club we played Table Tennis almost every evening and almost every Friday and Saturday nights well into the morning.  He wanted me to send him pictures of my medals. 

I looked through my "stuff" and sure enough there were these two medals - one for tennis and one for table tennis.

After receiving the photos he responded by indicating that his research showed that our 1958 team (15-1) was nearly invincible.

I do know we had a great time and it was fun being reminded of past "glory'.

Yesterday I talked to Stewart Knott who is a retired Ophthalmologist  living in Boca Raton. He was excited to hear of our historical notoriety and we enjoyed discussing the good times of the old days.

Another friend wanted to know how we would do against the current team. I told him, "I used to be fast - now not so much."

"Little Abner's" mother  Mammy Yokum once said, "Whether you're rich or whether you're poor, its nice to have a gold medal."

 

 

Don's Blog Greenland III Birds 2 The Puffin

One of my secret goals in going to Greenland was to see a puffin in the real. I have long had romantic thoughts about this awkward bird with orange feet and a most colorful beak. The Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) is an Alcid (Auk) which feeds primarily by diving into the water. Their short wings are adapted for swimming with a flying technique under the water. In air flight they can move their wings up to 400 beats per minute (not exactly hummingbird territory). Their large and colorful bill is shed after breeding season.

This is breeding time and the chicks in the nesting burrows need to be fed. Puffins are unique in their ability to hold several small fish crosswise in their bill.

This is made possible by a specific hinging mechanism in their beak which allows them to hold multiple fish at the same time.This gives them a remarkable advantage over most water birds that can bring only a single fish back to their chicks and then must regurgitate it. 

My interest in puffins has been long term. These Inuit carvings from Alaska and Nunavut show that the carvers held a romantic view of these special birds.

These carvings which are much older than me definitely produced a desire to see this amazing bird.

Lest we get too caught up in the romantic world of the puffin I must mention something I learned on our expedition. In Iceland the puffin is not protected and is collected by a method called "sky fishing" (nets capture the flying birds) and eaten. I thought, "Really?".

Don's Blog Greenland III Birds 1

I'm not a bird guy but when an entire ship's attention is directed to bird watching who wouldn't catch the fire. Latrabjarg, a sheer cliff in the most western part of Iceland, is Europe's largest bird cliff. It is 14 km long and 440 m high and provides nesting sites for millions of birds. The most plentifull birds are the guillemots  in the Alcid family, also called Auks. Three common guillemots include razorbills (with a specific hooked bill), the common murre (with a longer thinner bill), and the thick billed murre (with a thicker bill). They filled the waters between the cliffs and the ship.

 

About 40% of the world's population of razorbills nest here at Latrabjarg.

 

If you look closely at this image you can see a razorbill (bottom right), two common murres (left and right),

and a thick billed murre (upper center). 

These birds are designed for under water flight. They have narrow wings and their posteriorly placed legs are used as rudders. Because their bodies are heavier than other species aerial flight is quite labored. It is difficult for them to become airborne as shown in the image. They fly low and flap fast.

Colonial nesting helps inexperienced birds in finding the spotty food resources at sea and the large numbers of individuals in the colony confuses and satiates nearby predators.

It is an amazing event to see all the veteran and rookie bird watchers in action with their many forms of magnification and photographic equipment.

My images were taken with my Canon 30D with my macro lens.

Flower for the Day Bistort 9-10

This bistort was in Colorado's Indian Peaks area. It differs from the bistort I saw in Greenland which

is much taller and more pink. 

 

Flower for the Day Butterfly Bush 9-9

My Butterfly Bushes (Buddleia) have not done well this year. The winter treated them harshly

but they finally started to bloom in August. Butterflies love the blooms.