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A Meeting for the Kullorsuaq Community

Our community meeting was held in the new Kullorsuaq school. (Photo D. Porter)
Our community meeting was held in the new Kullorsuaq school, the blue and white building in the center of the cluster of buildings . (Photo D. Porter)

Søren, a local teacher in Kullorsuaq and our contact here, returned from a summer trip home to Denmark on today’s helicopter. He is instrumental in building a link to the community members suggesting we start with a meeting to explain our project to the residents.  We jot down a few lines for a flier that will be translated first into Danish and from there into Greenlandic to be posted around town.  We then head down to the waterfront to look for boating prospects. It seems that many of the local fishermen have gone Narwal hunting further north but there are several good prospects for boats that Søren will scout further as several of the fishermen are sleeping.  The fishing is better right now at night and with 24 hours of daylight day or night fishing doesn’t really seem to matter.

Magnus and Gabriel meet with Dave to discuss the planning for our measurements. (Photo M. Turrin)
Magnus and Gabriel meet with Dave to discuss the planning for our measurements. (Photo M. Turrin)

Within what seems to be hours news has spread around the community that we are looking for a boat and we have been introduced to Gabriel and his cousin Magnus. Gabriel has a sturdy trustworthy boat and Magnus can translate for us.  We have a team. We will have to make some adjustments as Gabriel has a winch, but it is a hand crank.  We have a power winch but he does not have a battery available so we will need to switch the line to make it work.  The loose ice is also shifting Gabriel notes which might help our ability to reach the sites we hope to sample.

Fishermen and community members from the town meeting. (Dave, Edvin (meeting translator), Søren, Gabriel, Ella, Magnus in the back row). (Photo M. Turrin)
Fishermen and community members from the town meeting. (Dave, Edvin (meeting translator), Søren, Gabriel, Ella, Magnus in the back row, other community members front row). (Photo M. Turrin)

The town meeting is an opportunity to share information.  We cover the project goals, existing studies and resulting understanding of ice/ocean interactions around Greenland, show the CTD instrument (for measuring conductivity, temperature and depth) and explain why we are here in Kullorsuaq.  We then gather around the maps we have brought and learn from the local fishermen about water depths, ice conditions, and recent changes in the area around Kullorsuaq.

Gathering feedback from the community members on depths in the fjords. (Photo M. Turrin)
Gathering feedback from the community members on depths in the fjords. (Photo M. Turrin)

According to the fishermen the area in front of Allison is much deeper than the small amount of available data had shown.  The best fishing is right in front of the glacier – what we call Alison they smile and call Nanatakavsaup.  The depth is great there and they let down lines 1000 meters long to hook the Greenlandic Halibut.  They let the line stay an hour or so but not too long so they don’t feed their catch to the Greenlandic shark that share the water. We ask them to jot down on the map wherever they know depths.  Some depths they know from dropping their lines, others they learned from larger fishing boats that came into the area with depth finding sonar.

Amasat a small fish that arrived recently in northwest Greenland. (Photo M. Turrin)
Amasat a small fish that arrived recently in northwest Greenland. (Photo M. Turrin)

New fish have moved in over the last few years. Cod, Catfish and Salmon have moved into the area and Amasat arrived about 7 years ago. Amasat were smaller when they first arrived but they have now put on a little size, although they are still only 6-7 inches in length.  Like sardines they are eaten completely, fins, bones and head.

The night view of the  Kullorsuaq waterfront where the darkness never comes at this time of year. (Photo M. Turrin)
The night view of the Kullorsuaq waterfront where the darkness never comes at this time of year. (Photo M. Turrin)

The meeting runs until everyone has added and shared what they can. The locals note that the ice conditions can turn around in a day so we are hopeful about our ability to get up close to the front of the glacier when we head out in the morning with Gabriel and Magnus.

Project Information: Dave Porter and Margie Turrin are in northwest Greenland working with local community members to collect water column temperature profiles. The Leveraging Local Knowledge project will work with members of local Greenlandic communities to collect water measurements in the fjords. This will assist in determining if warming Atlantic Ocean water is circulating up through Baffin Bay where it enters the fjords to lap against the frozen glacier footholds, causing them to loosen their hold on the rock below. Alison Glacier (74.37N and 56.08W) is selected as the project focus. Emptying into Melville Bay to the east of Kullorsuaq Island and has been undergoing dramatic change over the last decade.

The project is funded by the Lamont Climate Center with support from the NASA Interdisciplinary Program and logistical support from NSF.

http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/~dporter/Kullorsuaq/

Science for the Planet: In these short video explainers, discover how scientists and scholars across the Columbia Climate School are working to understand the effects of climate change and help solve the crisis.
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