June 9, 2008 – When I woke up this morning, the sun was blazing as strong as ever. It was amazing that for as long as the sun shined here, it never turned warm! We were ready to go halibut fishing with Niels, and took a 30 minute boat ride to a rocky island where he would prep his bait. He made about 50 lures while Pete, David, and I wandered around the rocky island with ice surrounding it. There was a beautiful blue pond that David walked too close too and ended up stepping through with one leg. It was a hilarious sight, but David’s foot certainly started to freeze. Even though David’s foot went in the water, we drank the water from the pond and it was so cold, delicious, and fresh.

Niels took us to his favorite secret spot for halibut near the ice sheet. With the 50 lure all hooked on a line to a metal weight, he threw the lure into the water 400 feet deep. At that point, we realized some ice was moving towards us, and the speedboats started up to break up the ice sheets. But an even thicker one was coming, and it became too dangerous for us to stick around. Pete broke up some more ice one more time, then dropped a large two-foot orange buoy into the water where the fishing line was laid. We would come back in three hours. We decided to head out to the open sea, where we navigated some fjords and iceberg mazes and headed towards Naajaat, a very small village with just 12 houses and 35 residents nearby Niels’ fishing spot. The town had four speedboats and one bigger boat for the open water to share, and the few people who lived there gave us a very nice greeting when we anchored our boat.

After seeing the town, we went back out on the open water and saw one of the biggest icebergs I had seen the entire trip, almost a half mile long and at least five stories tall. The iceberg had a beautiful blue strip along the side, an extremely rare thing for an iceberg. The stripe was old ice entombed inside at least 10,000 years of new ice. We saw another iceberg with an extremely tiny hole, but as we approached it, the hole got bigger and I realized we could go through the hole and into a cove inside the iceberg. It was like the fallen redwood tree in California where cars can drive through a hole cut in the tree. But the truly amazing thing was the top was just the tip of the iceberg, and as Niels and Pete drove our boats through the hole, we could see the bottom of the iceberg below the boat as well! After that, we saw another iceberg that I decided to mark and name the DeafNation Iceberg with Niels!

As we continued to tour the Arctic, we saw a bigger boat with four crewmen and a stronger engine breaking the ice. We followed the boats path to reach our fishing area, letting them do all the work of breaking the ice, as a layer of ice froze above the water we had just boated over, so instantaneously! When the larger boat stopped to check their line, I worried that we wouldn’t be able to break through a path of our own. Ice had frozen over the sea where we just were! But the small speedboats were strong enough to break through the ice, as the sun was shining and we were not gone too long.

It took Niels just 10 minutes to pull in his fishing line and to check his work, and in that span he found that 32 halibut and one sting (which was returned to the water) had bit, what a great haul! David, who is from Wisconsin, stood flabbergasted as he knew many fishermen who had spent entire days for just one bite, and Niels had 32 in 3 hours.

We took our fish back to Innaarsuit, and at one point went through a narrow fjord just 10 feet wide with our boats just squeezing through. Only a speedboat could make this passage, and other boats would have to find another path. It was a joyous mood among us all when boasting 32 fish as we arrived to show for the day. We took our fish to a fishing company that will clean and pack the fish for larger ships to be shipped around the world. The manager was nice enough to give us a tour of the facility but would not allow us to film to take pictures of the place. We were forced to wear a white suit and head cap for food safety, and I was surprised (and pleased) to see such stringent conditions in such a remote place of the earth. The warehouse was so neat and well organized, with piles and piles more than two stories high of halibut neatly stacked. Workers were efficient in their cuts and actions, and with everything frozen it was a very crisp and cool place. After our tour, we went on a tour of the rest of town, and we saw absolutely everything there was to see because it was such a small place!

It was amazing how the town operated, and life is so different considering the environment. The village has a huge water tank that is filled with melting snow and a nearby pond, and a small water house for the townspeople. Everyone who lives in Innaarsuit has to bring their own containers to the water house to fill and bring back to their home to shower, wash clothes, cook, and drink. Homes have their own water tanks for little needs, but that needs to be filled as well. The town as small as it was, even has a graveyard. The town “airport” is actually a helicopter pad, where a 20-minute flight to Upernvaik costs $400USD roundtrip!

We went to Niels parents’ home where we saw video of unicorn whales and their tusks. One of the trophy tusks was taller than Niels himself, now a gift to his father after he got it in Qaanaag, the northernmost town in Greenland. His parents beamed and talked with pride over how Niels is the best hunter in Innaarsuit, and has caught some of the largest fish and marine animals the town has seen. While I heard the story, Niels father cut me a piece of unicorn whale, a rare and special delicacy served raw. David and I would not eat halibut, explained Niels, because we were special guests, and we were handed a piece of raw unicorn whale. It tasted like sushi, the bite delicious, filling me with honor over the rare treat. It was a fantastic end to a fantastic journey to Innaarsuit. We would travel south as we returned to Upernavik tomorrow bright and early tomorrow morning. I’m sad about leaving Innaarsuit, but even sadder about the long, cold boat ride we have ahead of us tomorrow!