Engineering Design Innovation,
Northwestern University, IL
Point Lay, Alaska
I was offered a spot in a tribal cultural exchange program to spend time in Point Lay, Alaska. I collected data on wild beluga whales (which will not be pictured here out of respect for the Iñupiaq natives) in conjunction with my work at the Mystic Aquarium labs. The village of Point Lay has no more than 200 residents, making this a unique and tight-knit community. This trip quickly became a great way to connect with new people and get to know a world entirely different from my own. It afforded me the opportunity to discover where science and culture connect.
We made it just in time for the Blanket Toss when we had our layover in Utqiagvik (Barrow), Alaska. It was around midnight when I took this picture.
We were welcomed to Point Lay, AK with some raw wild-harvested bowhead whale meat. I also got to taste beluga whale milk--both uniquely tasty!
We observed the migration of the beluga whale herd through Kali Pass (the body of water between the current village and the old village). With climate change, the migration patterns and herd sizes have been erratic. Because the Iñupiats source their a large portion of their food from this annual subsistence harvest, the predictability of migration patterns are crucial.
The old village on the other side of Kali Pass. The villagers moved to their current home when this side of the pass ran out of potable water.
The most rewarding part of this trip was connect with villagers of all ages--especially the kids. Once they warmed up to me, they showed me their clubhouses and hideouts along the periphery of the village.
analyzed the samples we collected from the wild belugas in Kali Pass for Brucellosis and performed t-cell assays once we returned from Point Lay. These studies were performed in the interest of better understanding the immune function in wild vs. aquarium whales.
This is Juno! He is one of the belugas at Mystic Aquarium. He served as the control group for many of my assays since his immune system is top tier! He also loves attention, so make sure to say hi if you're ever at the aquarium.