SEA HISTORY for kids
Animals in Sea History by Richard King ooking over the rail of the boat, Matthew Henson knows he will die in minutes if he falls into this water. He is in a polynya (an ice-ridged expanse of open sea) that extends into Ikeq-Smith Sound, between the far northern tips of Nunavut and Greenland. Yet the walruses, for which Henson is searching, swim comfortably under the icy surface. Walruses have a thin layer of hair that grows over leathery, wrinkly skin that can be 1 ½” deep, and underneath that they have an insulating layer of blubber that can be nearly 4 inches thick. It is 1908. Already north of 75˚N Engraving of “Walrus Hunt off Pikantlik” from Arctic Explorations (1856) by expedition leader latitude, Henson and his shipmates Elisha Kent Kane, who had voyaged to the same Ikeq-Smith Sound region as Henson. aboard the steam schooner Roosevelt are slowly making their way farther north, pausing here to do some hunting. On board is Commander Robert Peary, who is seeking to lead the first expedition to reach the North Pole. Henson, gifted carpenter, sailor, organizer, and hunter, is his right-hand man. At 42, he now has been going to sea for thirty years. Orphaned as a child, he first shipped out as a cabin boy on a ship bound for China from Baltimore. By the time of this expedition, he is a veteran of several Arctic expeditions and fluent in the local Inuit language. Both the Inuit and the American crew respect him as the expedition’s most-skilled sled driver and dog handler. This afternoon Henson and a few shipmates are hunting for meat to fortify them and their dogs for their upcoming attempt to reach the North Pole. They head out in the ship’s motorboat, but when the engine sputters out they break out the oars and row. Henson shoots and kills two walruses,
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SEA HISTORY 175, SUMMER 2021