MICHAEL DEFIES THE COLD AND GOES RAZORBILL HUNTING By Ivalu Duelund Qvistgaard
The cold winter weather of Greenland tends to keep us inside when the temperature drops below zero. However, to Michael Lennert (aged 35) the cold time of the year means that he is able to pursue his favourite hobby, namely razorbill hunting. “I simply can’t go without razorbill hunting even though it is freezing cold to take my boat far out to the open sea where the razorbills are”, Michael Lennert says just after returning from the first razorbill hunt of the year. “My winter isn’t complete if I haven’t been razorbill hunting.” However, razorbill hunting did not play any part in Michael’s childhood. He didn’t take up this pursuit until he moved from Aasiaat to Nuuk when he was nineteen. “I had never thought that I would go razorbill hunting at some point. It was far too cold, I thought back then. However, when I met my friend Anker, I felt like trying. Every winter since then, we have been razorbill hunting from the start of the razorbill hunting season on October 15th.” “Razorbill hunting is incredibly strenuous. Actually, I think it takes more effort than reindeer hunting because you hunt for hours on end in the cold and far out on the open sea where you may encounter huge swells. That is not always particularly funny.
Of course, we are dressed in warm clothes but we are bound to get wet when we pick up the dead razorbills from the sea. Our fingers are cold and the freezing cold makes our clothes stiff. When that happens, I often think by myself: What on earth am I doing out here on the sea when I could be sitting at home with the heating on. But it brings warmth and joy when we are able to bring home a couple of razorbills”, Michael Lennert says Razorbills as part of the Christmas cuisine Back in the day, razorbills were on the Christmas dinner menu on December 24th. The bird was either boiled or potroasted. Pot-roasted razorbills produce the most incredible game gravy. Nowadays, very few people serve razorbills for Christmas. “We don’t do that at our house, either. For Christmas, we have reindeer or musk ox that we have brought down ourselves out in the wild. Razorbills are everyday food to us. We boil the bird with suaasat. This dish makes you warm on a cold winter’s day”, Michael Lennert says. He is determined to go razorbill hunting with his friend Anker once more before their boat is taken ashore at the end of November. Michael Lennert: ”I can’t go without razorbill hunting, even though it is a strenuous and cold experience.”