Burton Island (AGB 1) - Naval Cruise Book

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IINCOMING MAILI MAIL CALL Nothing seemed to raise the morale of the BURTON ISLANDERS like MAIL CALL. So when mail was missent to a forward area, to which the BURTON ISLAND was not scheduled to reach, the men felt mighty low to say the least. For about six weeks we seemed shut offn from the world outside, and when mail finally began to reach us we eagerly anticipated its arrival. On the spring cruise mail was deliveredfrom Kodiak and dropped by parachute on the ice. It was brought aboard by helicopter or human-dog teams. On the spring cruise we had the thrill of seeing a plane pick up two bags of mail from the ice by means of a special rigging. On the summer expe- dition mail was taken off at Barterlsland or, at Pt. Bar- row, and mail was brought on board at the same sites by helicopter and by boat. Those were joyous occasions, and even though some mail arrived ahead of that sent days earli- er, it made for good reading and gave us more food for thought. 4 wks A ' ' .. - MAIL DROP RETRIEVING MAIL BY FOOT! RETRIEVING MAIL BY HELICOPTER

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i f I rf k WHICH WAY IS THE N BERING SEA CLUB? T x wwf UAS. BURTON ISLAND -:1:,,E.,. L4 E 1 , H-, .. -M- ,, ,,.... '-s-q--- ' ,,- -.-...-:S H ., Nxhslf. .... '-T , - '- A,4.,1i.-- f -4+ , ?-af-- ' , ,... 'fr .... ...- . A ., ..........-- R GIVE ME LIBERTY-OR GIVE ME DEATH! 't ...i.,,.,, T f X? ENE., -LT.?---- .W v V , 'gn ' 4 ' -' I T- ..,.. . ' 7.6-.,,,,,.- ....,....... ,-., ,,--,E 'E A - A THE MEN THAT KEPT Us IN 5 A A HXING SPIRITS I his A f 1 x . HOME AWAY FROM HOME

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ARTIC WILDLIFE - . , -,, One of the most interesting parts of our trip to the north is the seeing of Arctic wild-life. POLAR BEAR .OFF THE STARBOARD BEAM brings every available sailor to the rails. . The polar bear, having selected for his home the Arctic ice-pack, has been comparatively unmolested by man. He is seldom hunted except by the Eskimos, who enjoy the flavor of meat which is too strong for the average white man's palate. Fur traders find little demand for the coarsely furred pelt which is usually used as a rug or as a trophy. During the past 20 years only 1500'pelts have been reported shipped down from the Arctic. Alaskan game laws consider the polar bear a fur bearer and allow three per license per year. For the interested, a license can be purchased for 850. It has been estimated that approximately 3000 inhabit the northern part of Alaska. This monarch of the ice is one of the largest of the sur- viving members of the bear family, with big males often weighing 1500 to 1600 pounds, and females from 850 to 900 pounds. They measure up to 12 feet in length. Largely car- nivorous, his favorite food is the seal, but he will turn to fish, porpoise, a stranded whale, roots, seaweed and grass when no other food is available. They are powerful swim- mers and are occasionally seen many miles from any ice flow. Like other members of the bear family, his vision is not good and his hearing poor. His acute sense of smell. however, more than atones for the other sensory defects. He is able to smell bacon rind, which is placed on the stack of the ship, from great distances. - It is possible to look over the plains and see great herds of caribou. The various species of caribou have long been important to the natives. of the Arctic, as the buffalo was to the American Indian. The Eskimos utilize the entire caribou -the meat for food, the hide for clothing, bedding, etc., and the bones and antlers for tools. The smaller domesticated a V . is .. - . gl 4, rfb' .Q 9' if ' n f f - ' A . ,W ,X fy if were my S s Q X si Sf reindeer, a cousin from Asia and Europe, were Alaska at thebeginning of this century, but with poor re- sults. Efforts to introduce reindeer meat on the American market have been unsuccessful because of. the great trans- portation cost. Caribou and .reindeer are the only members of the deer family in which both the males and females are antlered. Even the young, one month old fawn bears a spike. The antlers are flattened much look moose antlers and have distinctive shovels projecting down over the face. Caribou have extremely large hooves which enable them to traverse boggy grounds and soft snow. Males average about 7 feet in length and weigh from 200 to 300, pounds. He is herd-bound, depending on safety in numbers. He wanders great distances in search of his native ffood, which consists of lichens, sedges and grasses. He is also an excellent swimmers and his the hollow hairs of his pelt make him very buoyant as well as insulated. His hide is consideredthe best material for Arc- tic clothing -because it is so warm and durable for its weight. No article on Arctic wild-life would be complete yvliill- out some mention of the herds of walrus that sit on their ice floes, eyeing the BURTON ISLAND as she goes -by. Al- though the flesh is used for food and the hide for covering of boats, the greatest economic value of the Walrus is its ivory.- The total retail value of carved ivory sold annually BP' preaches the S200,0000 figure. It is believed that the ma- Jority winter on the Siberian side of the Bering Sea. In the summer they move up into the Bering Straits and the Chilk- chr Sea area. The females bear their young in the spring of the Year, and are most ade-pt at placing them between their tusks and necks to carry them out of the paths of dan: 8913 Manyha picture has been taken by the shutter bug When We passed a herd numbering thousands, -taking life eaSY 011 the 106- n It 1S a very amusing thing to watch them 1'31Se UD' Off the lCe,'bark'and take tothe water, afterwe passed them, and when we could have done them harm had we S9 desired. Of course, they are supposedly the dumbest ani- malS 111 the W01'1d QHYWHY, so they are just doing what comes natllfally- Just being natural. may make them more alll- teulgfmt tha!! We give them credit for being, however, and that-is to their credit. '