Fresh Crab, Whale and Beer!

One of the great things here in Nome, is all the fresh crab. Alaskan King crab to be exact. The season is just under way and I can get live crab for $4.99/lb. The other day, having a hankering for some live crab, I went down to the Warf and purchased one or 2. Each crab is about 2 pounds and can feed 2 people if you have some veggies on the side. Having never cooked a live crab before, it was a big adventure. I called a few friends to come over and we figured it out. I must admit, I am hooked. Thankfully the season is just starting.

One thing the locals tell me goes well with crab is whale. Yes, I know that would not be your first thought of a pairing with crab, but when in Nome… Luckily for me, one of the villages just landed a 55 foot whale. I was just out on the St. Lawrence Island and the village of Savoonga was kind enough to let me try some of the whale. Now traditionally, whale is eaten raw. The closest thing I can compare it to is taking an old crusty bike tire, smearing Crisco on it and chewing it for at least 20 minutes…. It is an acquired taste, and one that I must admit, I did not acquire.

Thinking that there must be some way to make the whale taste better, we tried multiple recipes. We put it in the microwave,(not a good idea, it literally blew-up), tried baking it with shake and bake (a local favorite) still not very good and finally tried frying it with some seasonings. The fried was the best, but I have to admit, it tasted like an old French fry found at the bottom of a deep fat fryer. In the end, I think I will leave the whales for the natives. They did say walrus season is now just starting…..








Me and the first fresh crab of the season. It is still alive and moving at this point.
Weighing in at 2.5 pounds.







The crab in the sink as I try to figure out how to cook the thing...











Steaming along. We had to really hunt to find a pot big enough to hold the whole crab.






Nice and steamy red! The best way is to steam the crab for about 11 minutes.

Crab legs and beer! What a great night!

A picture of a bowhead whale. The one we ate was 55 feet in length.

Me and the raw whale. As you can see, there is a layer of skin (black) and fat under it (pinkish color). They have cut it into small sections for us.





My friend Peter and I trying our first bite of whale.









Chewy little stuff...







In the end, not a taste I acquired.


(I left out the photo of me spitting it out into the trash can...)

History of Whale Hunting in the area:

Whale hunting amongst prehistoric Inuit hunting cultures illustrates the ingenuity of people without modern tools in a severe environment.The Inuit legend of the giant bullhead whale is a mythological explanation for the creation of the heavy mists that characterize the spring climate of the Arctic coast.This legend says that the giant bullhead whale was the Creator's favorite animal. However, the creator realized that the people needed this animal for survival, and decided to offer it to them provided they did not kill it for mere sport. The Creator created a special season -- spring -- in which the sea ice melted, leaving jagged cracks. The whales would swim amongst the ice cracks, making it easier for the Inuit to capture them. Although killing the whale was essential for survival, the Creator did not like to witness the hunt. Consequently, the thick mists of spring were created so the Creator could not see the killing of the great whale.The huge bowhead whale liked to spend time near or in the sea ice. Inuit hunters found points of land jutting into the sea that were close to the whale's migration route. In spring the hunters pulled their umiaks and kayaks to the edge of the ice and waited for the whales to surface near them. Sometimes days lasted into weeks. When a whale surfaced, a flurry of activity began as boats were quickly set afloat, and silently and swiftly the whale was pursued. When the whale was overtaken, the lead hunter hurled his harpoon into the animal. Attached to the leather harpoon lines were several seal skin bags inflated with air. These were used to slow down the whale and to mark its location for other hunting crews. When the whale was exhausted, it was killed with a long-handled stone tipped lance. It was towed to thick ice and pulled out of the sea by means of the seal skin ropes. The meat was cut up and hauled back to the shore on komatiks (sleds) and the muktuk or skin was eaten as a delicacy.Smaller beluga whales were caught with strong nets as well as by harpooning. In western Alaska, long nets made of bearded seal straps were strung out from the beach to catch whales swimming close to shore. Once tangled in the nets, the whales were speared from kayaks (single man hunting boats) or umiaks (larger boats that carried several people).The types of whales found along the coast of the western Arctic were the beluga, the Pacific killer whale, the grey whale, the fin back, and the hump-back whale. The most common Greenland whale was the bowhead. The whale hunters were most interested in the capture of beluga and bowhead whales.Each spring in late March or early April the beluga and bowhead whales began to move north from their winter feeding grounds in the Bering Sea farther to the south. Their migration route followed the eastern coast of Siberia, through the Bering Strait, and then along the western and northern coast of Alaska and eastward toward the Beaufort Sea. (Check this route on a map). Normally the bowheads and belugas traveled together in early spring. Beluga moved northward until late June or early July. In autumn the whales migrated westward from the Beaufort Sea past Point Barrow, Alaska, and returned to the south in the Bering Sea.

Welcome to Nome!

Sorry I haven’t updated my blog in a while. It has been busy and I admit, I have been lazy. Since the last entry, I have move to Nome, AK. Nome is a small town, about 3500 people, 106 miles south of where I was before. I am no longer in the Artic circle, and it is about 10-15 degrees warmer here than in Kotzebue. I am now working as a flight paramedic for the local Medevac service that is associated with the regional hospital.

Nome is quite a bit bigger than Kotzebue. We have 2 stores, 5 restaurants, 2 motels, and the most important thing to me, a 6 lane 25 meter SWIMPOOL! The prices of food are still high but much lower than Kotzebue. A gallon of milk here is only $6.50 instead of $7.69. Also with the 2 stores, we have a Safeway and are able to get the sale prices you would see at a regular store.

The street in front of my house. Notice that there is not any snow right now. The town has turned to mud!

One of the main hotels in town. The sign in front lists mileage to some cities in the “lower 48”. Denver is 3502 miles away…

Town square and the white church. This church is one of the major landmarks in town. You can see if from the air and the sea miles before you land in Nome.

The Dexter. Wyatt Earp owned this building in the 1900's. It wast the first 2 story building in Nome.

This is Airport Pizza. They became famous for allowing the local villages in the area to order a pizza that is delivered by plane! I have to admit, the delivery costs are quite high!

This is also where you can get the best breakfast in town and the best coffee!

Board of Trade. This is the oldest bar in Nome. Wyatt Earp tended bar here in 1901. This is the place to dance and sing karaoke. It is considered a “native” bar where most of the local natives hang out. All the bars in Nome are smoking bars. I only hang out a little while, then due to the smoke, have to head home.

BTW: Dad, Leon said to say "Hi"

Location of Nome.

History of Nome:

The west coast of Alaska was hunted by Inupiat from prehistoric times. However, there was no permanent settlement there until 1898, when a Norwegian, Jafet Lindeberg, and two Swedes, Erik Lindblom and John Brynteson, discovered gold on Anvil Creek. News reached the gold fields of the Klondike that winter. By 1899 Nome had a population of 10,000. It was not until gold was discovered in the beach sands in 1899 that news about the gold reached the lower United States. Thousands of people poured into Nome during the spring of 1900 aboard steamships from the ports of Seattle and San Francisco. By 1900, a tent city on the beaches and on the treeless coast reached 48 km (30 miles), from Cape Rodney to Cape Nome.
During the period from 1900 – 1909 estimates of Nome's population reached as high as 20,000. The highest recorded population of Nome, in the 1900 United States census, was 12,488. At this time, Nome was the largest city in the Alaska Territory. Early in this period the U.S. Army policed the area, and expelled any inhabitant each autumn who did not have shelter (or the resources to pay for shelter) for the harsh winter.
The name "Nome" may come from a point of land located twelve miles from the city; it is also possible that the town was named after Nome, Norway. Cape Nome had received its name from a copying error, when a British mapmaker copied an annotation from a map made by a British officer had made on a voyage up the Bering Strait. The officer had written "? Name" next to the unnamed cape. The mapmaker misread the annotation as "C. Nome", or Cape Nome, and used that name on his map. In February 1899, a group of men who had property and mining claims on the near present-day Nome agreed to change the name of the new mining camp from Nome to Anvil City, because of the confusion with Cape Nome, and Nome Creek, four miles from Nome. The United States Post Office in Nome refused to change its name to Anvil City and the residents of Anvil City were afraid that the post office would move to Nome City, a mining camp on the Nome River. They voted and unhappily agreed to change the name of Anvil City back to Nome.
Many late-comers were jealous of the original discoverers, and tried to “jump” the original claims by filing mining claims covering the same ground. The federal judge for the area ruled the original claims valid, but some of the claim jumpers agreed to share their invalid claims with influential Washington politicians. Alexander McKenzie, a Republican party higher-up from North Dakota, took a partial interest in the jumper mining claims, secured the appointment of his obedient crony Arthur Noyes as the federal judge for the Nome region, and the two went together to Alaska to steal the richest gold mines in Nome. The bald-faced theft using the federal judiciary was eventually stopped, but provided the plot for Rex Beach’s best-selling novel The Spoilers, which was made into a stage play, then five times into movies, including one version starring John Wayne and Marlene Dietrich.[3]
Fires in 1905 and 1934 and violent storms in 1900, 1913, 1945 and 1974 destroyed much of Nome's gold rush architecture. The pre-fire "Discovery Saloon" is now a private residence and is being slowly restored as a landmark.
During World War II, Nome was the last stop on the ferry system for planes flying from the United States to the Soviet Union for the Lend-lease program. The airstrip currently in use was built and troops were stationed there. One "Birchwood" hangar remains and has been transferred to a local group with hopes to restore it. It is not located on the former Marks AFB (now the primary Nome Airport); rather it is a remnant of an auxiliary landing field a mile or so away: "Satellite Field".
In 1925, Nome was the destination of the famous "Great Race of Mercy", where dog sleds played a large part in transporting diphtheria serum through harsh conditions. In 1973, Nome became the ending point of the 1,049+ mi (1,600+ km) Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race held in honor of the serum run.

The finish of the Iditarod this year. I missed most of the race, but did see a few teams come in. This is Jeiffy. I have one of his booties. I sent it to my mom in CO.

The last finisher of the race. They won the "red lantern"

One of the 2 planes we use.

Me in the Medevac plane on my way to a call.

The inside of the plane. We fly King Air's. We take a row of seats out of the plane and place our stretcher in when we need to run a call.

We service 18 villages in the area. This is Gamball on St. Lawernce Island. It was one of the first places I went.

Gamball is a native village that still hunts whales and polar bears. This season they have 4 whales.