24 August, 2000

The day was clear and we would be flying out to Lake Taserssuit. They would take John first with all of the fishing gear from Thule and then come back and pick us up.

I went to the Post Office early and mailed the cards I had written. It cost $4 to sent the postcard??? I also confirmed with them our return trip to Thule on Wednesday of next week. The post office besides being the Qaanaq headquarters for Greenland air, also has an international phone.

It was late afternoon before we finally left. It was interesting to view from the helicopter the same area I had traveled past by boat the day before. (Check out the view of "looks like an eyebrow", Qagdiussaarssuaq.)

As we arrived we could see Wendy, Anderson, and Frank, the Inuit guide, winding their way over from their camp by the Mac Cormick Fjord, probably having heard the helicopters. We all helped set up camp using polar oven tents. One had a trap door hole in the floor, that Anderson suggested could be used to get Dr. Radtke into the tent easily by just lifting up the whole tent with its aluminum frame and setting it down around Dr. Radtke. It worked with great success.

Frank, pronounced with a short vowel a as in latte', had with him one of his dogs. The dog was meant to warn us if there would happen to be a polar bear at close proximity. It had large black spots on its back and was named Ammalortortalik, meaning round spots. The dog was very friendly and well trained and like the other dogs in the village did not bark.

We then prepared the nets so that we could set them. Because the weather was so changeable, the helicopters were to come back for us the next day; we wanted to have our catch in before that time. The nets were in large plastic buckets and we went through them folding them back and forth so that we could easily set them from the boat. The nets were made in Norway and were specifically created to catch char. We had two floaters and two that would rest at the bottom. We then inflated the zodiac pontoon boat and attached the small15 HP motor. It was around 11pm when we set out to lay the nets. Unfortunately the noise of the motor broke the stillness that lay around us, but distance is deceptive in the clear air and to paddle to each sample site would have made our job much more difficult. At each site John distributed the nets into the water as Anderson steered the boat in reverse. I videoed the operation. After the four nets were set we motored as far west as we could go and then walked about a half mile looking for the illusive second lake. We could see it in the distance like a mirage abutting against a glacier. We decided that to be able to sample it, would mean another helicopter trip. By the time we returned it was 2AM yet still light. We snacked and joined the others who were already asleep.

Leaving Qaanaq, looking east along the coast toward Bowdoin Fjord.

Looks like and eyebrow, Qagdiussarssuaq.

Qagdiussarssuaq from the west viewing the glacier that looks like the white of the eye below the eyebrow, when viewed from the south.

Arctic Oven tent.

Ammalortortalik.

Lake Taserssuit.

Ground cover: moss, lichens, and some of the oldest exposed rock on the planet.

John preparing the nets.

Zodiak in pieces.

Wendy and Frank inflating the Zodiak.

Setting the nets; notice the anchor on the shore line. John's orange suit will keep him afloat and also warm if he falls in the frigid waters.