A whale harvest for the Eskimos

It takes teamwork to haul in 50 tons of bowhead whale. 150 Eskimos head out of Barrow, Alaska, on showmobiles towing sleds and boats. Arriving in the evening, they find a whale marked with two buoys, floating just below the surface. A polypropylene line attached to a cargo strap brings the tail up first.


The group raises the whale far enough to attach a block and tackle. Men kneel on the lines to prevent the whale from sliding backwards.
A section of muktuk, the black skin lined with blubber, already has been cut away and boiled to make an oily snack.
Butchering begins immediately. Insulated by thick blubber, the warm meat will soon spoil, even though the outside temperature is well below freezing.

The female bowhead had been carrying an unborn calf, now cut free and left on the ice. It is a sad disaster but the calf would not have survived without it's mother.

Nearly 10 hours later, the whale carcass has been stripped and left for the polar bears. As tired family members load up their share of the meat and muktuk.

Frogs

Frogs and Toads are a relatively rare sight in most gardens nowadays, but curiously it is in the countryside that their numbers have fallen most heavily, owing to, among other factors, the dredging of ponds for farmland, the loss of hedgerows and the use of pesticides. Frogs breathe through their skin and they are highly sensitive to pollution in the water.
Thus environmentalists tell us that the recent steep decline of the frog population indicates that we have very good reason to be worried about the world in which we now live. Like ladybugs, bees, toads and most birds, frogs are a gardener's friend because they eat so many pests, especially slugs and aphids. Creating a pond in your garden is the best way to attract frogs and toads.
Creating a pond is not particularly difficult and it will add a new, pleasant nook to your garden while attracting much beneficial wildlife. A pond is perhaps the most beneficial of all the habitats you can create in your garden.