8 October, 1998

This morning we picked up some more supplies and fuel for the skidoos. I spent most of the day, bleeding and injecting fish. Bleeding involves obtaining a small sample of blood from the caudal vein. I measure the osmolarity (ion concentration) and glucose concentration of the blood. The injection is a drug called Streptozotocin which causes the fish to stop producing insulin. Some of the fish received a single dose of the drug, some received a double dose, some will not receive the drug at all. Over the next several weeks I will continue to monitor the glucose levels- if the fish are not producing as much insulin, I expect to see an increase in blood glucose levels, because insulin facilitates the movement of glucose out of the blood into the tissues for use as an energy source or for storage. I am monitoring osmolarity to see if there are any changes with a decrease in insulin levels.