Adrenaline Junkie? Seal Butcher? Neither?

I survive the "day" trip with Dines and what do I do two days later? Yep, agree to another "day" trip hunting in icy waters with Dines. It was kind of him to invite me (and I suspect he didn't mind that I was paying for his food and gas) and he did return me safely the last time (eventually), so how could I not? Selective short-term memory.

This time I packed for anything. Three weeks camping on a barren rock? Ski mountaineering? Scuba diving? I was ready. Or at least my pack felt like I had an oxygen tank in it. When Dines picked me up in his boat, I was pleased to see we would be joined by Dines' girlfriend and a neighborhood youth. This meant we HAD to be going on just a day trip, right?

Perfect weather accompanied us out to sea. Waters were still icy and this time we headed further away from the coast where "there will be lots of seals bathing on the ice". Sure enough, there were lots of seals stretched out on the ice, basking in the sun. "Lots" being at least ten different seals seen in about a one hour period.

After Dines missed his first two opportunities at a seal, his girlfriend declared that it was time for her to take care of business. She grabbed the rifle and decidedly bagged the next seal we saw. "That is how it is done" her confident smirk expressed to Dines. Then it was the youngster's turn. Nic, approximately 11, also bagged the next seal we saw, a large (approx. 300lbs) male. The girl and the boy now had both shot seals. The friendly pressure was squarely on Dines. Which he kindly redirected to the American. It was time for me to shoot my first seal (according to the group).

When I shot at the seals in Nuuk, I basically knew there was no chance that I would hit one. Those seals were at long ranges and only peaked above the surface providing a minuscule target. None of my experienced Nuuk companions had hit a seal, so I figured even if I tried to shoot one, I would miss. Here, in the icy waters of the east coast, the seals were making themselves large, slow moving targets by basking on the icebergs. So a dilemma. I don't really need to kill a seal. I have no use for it. But the people I am with would make use of every part. If I declined, then I am basically rejecting their culture. But can I decline while conveying that I admire their way-of-life, it's just not for me? But the next seal would get shot at whether I was the one doing the shooting or not. What to do, what to do? Peer pressure usually galvanizes me into definitely not complying.... hmmm, I will leave the outcome as a mystery for the readers to create their own story.

Within two hours we had four seals (one large male, two medium to large females, and one 2yr old, about the boats weight limit) on the various surrounding bergs. I noted for future reference that the boat could either hold 2 passengers and 20 dogs or 4 passengers and 4 seals.

Now to collect the seals. Dines used several special tricks to get the hefty seals from the ice into the boat. Again, such specialized knowledge on display. A quick and dirty description is that he used the boat to drag all the seals to the edge of one iceberg, then used the passengers (yes, I got to go stand on a floating iceberg) to leverage the iceberg like a see-saw so that the edge holding the seals would be above the edge of the boat. My initial hesitation to scamper around on a floating iceberg that looked like it could dissolve at any minute, eased only slightly as I tromped on the berg. Sure it could hold four heavy seals, but it still had patches of aqua blue water where soft spots and holes existed. The surface of the iceberg had a soft layer resembling new fallen snow on a lawn. Two to three inch deep footprints showed our paths. Everyone once in a while, as if the whole experience wasn't exhilarating enough, a foot would plunge deeper as your heart tried to jump up your throat. I tread lightly.

Weighted down with the seals, we slowly motored our way back to Tasiilaq. Okay, I thought, finally a day trip that ends at a reasonable hour (around 5pm). Not to be. We still had to clean the seals, of course. The three big ones were to be feed to Dines' dogs. So we headed to a shore close to his dog island and began the seven hour seal cleaning process. I'm not bothered by motion sickness. I've cleaned public toilets for Overland Park Parks & Rec. But I'm not a big fan of blood and guts. So I was a little apprehensive about helping with the seal cleaning process. I didn't really know what to expect for myself. Could I handle it? Dammit... if we bothered to kill four seals, then I'd better respect the seals by putting them to use. And that included cleaning them. But what did "cleaning" entail? That's what I was afraid of. Of course, before we could start the cleaning process, we had to have the dinner Dines had packed. Full stomach, then seal cleaning? Great.

The cleaning process entailed Dines' girlfriend skinning the seal, then Dines and I butchering up the seal into hunks that the dogs could eat. Dines would remove the bladder and toss it overboard, but that was the only part that didn't become dog food. The process was trying at first. I had to mentally talk myself through it, sticking to carving the upper body and meaty parts while avoiding the innards. I told myself it was just like biology class, dissecting a giant mammal instead of a worm/frog/cat. My other duty was to bail blood from the boat. We had to clean the seals in the boat because they were too heavy to remove from the boat and drag ashore. The amount of blood in a seal is astounding. I would guess at least 70 liters per seal. For the first seal, I mostly bailed blood as it was easier to handle than slicing up intestines. Dines and his girlfriend were surgeons. It was a little scary to see how swift and efficient they were with knives. They could join the mob, no problem.



After the first seal, I was adjusted. It was actually incredibly fascinating to see all the organs and the inner workings of a seal. By the end of it all, everyone was completely covered in blood. Gory doesn't begin to describe it. Surprisingly, it was human. The experience reconnected you with the food chain. For humans to be where we are now, this process has occurred almost eternally. If you eat meat, it at some point had to go through this butchering stage. I am so glad I decided to participate and not let my stomach fears get the best of me (Dines had offered to take me back if I needed/wanted). It was a long process. And now the smell of seal intestines is forever etched in my memory (they STINK!!!).

I wanted a picture to document my participation, but because everything was covered in blood, I had to have Nic take the picture. I later learned that he didn't get my bottom blood soaked half in the picture :(



We had a huge amount of seal meat now. How much can twenty hungry sled dogs eat? Almost all of it. We bagged one-fourth of the meat (three seals) and gave the rest to the dogs. The 2 yr old seal would be saved for people to eat and cleaned another time.

The day trip concluded as we returned to Tasiilaq after midnight. In any other country, a person walking the streets after midnight soaked in blood and carrying a knife should be a concern. Not in Greenland.