Families and whaling crews prepare for weeks before heading out to the ice. There is really no telling how long you could be out there. It all depends on the whales of course! Whaling crews take one skin boat out to actually hunt the whale as well as one aluminum boat, used to bring the whale to the edge of the ice once its caught. I couldn't help but notice the irony of dragging old wooden, dog sleds behind the snow-mobiles! Aka (grandma) said a prayer while everyone held hands around the skin boat and then engines roared and off we went on the back of the sled! The ride out was beautiful and slightly nerve wracking! Reed and I both totally wiped out once. We were really lucky that neither of us got hurt and that the camera didn't break! Once out on the ice, we set up camp.....shoveled some snow so our tent could rest evenly on level ice, made a path to the edge of the ice for the skin boat, set up a camouflaged bench to chill on while watching for the whales and that was that.... we were whaling! Reed and I were thinking of shots to take while everyone else was keeping a look out for blows, but nonetheless, we were all pretty focused for the first 12 hours of the hunt. Initially, I was slightly startled when a 28 foot whale came within 14 feet of where I was standing, but as time moved forward and the sun stayed in the same place, I gained confidence in the ice we were standing on and in my adopted Inupiat family. Soon enough Reed and I were called by our eskimo names and told to be quiet if a whale was getting close. We fit right in! Everyone had a role in the operation whether it was the boys building up a wall to shield the camp site from being spotted, Taaqpak cooking up a meal or Julio looking through binoculars to determine a whale's distance or size. People took turns sleeping in the tent while the others kept one eye open for the bowheads. The hours flew by
