Four Seasons of Alaska:
Beginning of Winter
Winter
End of Winter
Summer
Today there was a high of 25 F. I'm not complaining I'm just surprised that it's still so chilly in April!! There's also a lottt of snow on the ground yet. Needless to say I'm very excited to see the last season listed.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
April
SOo I almost forgot about this blog (I did) for a while. But we're back in action. I haven't been doing that much...school is keeping me so busy, and I'm only taking 14 credits! What the heck. Pretty much just have one ridiculous class that I spend 80% of my waking hours on (ahem Plant Physiology).
The weather is finally getting warmer here!! And the snow is melting too, it's quite messy. Today it was up to 45 F. And the days are long, over 13 hours of daylight, sun comes up around 7 and sets around 9. Last night I had a dream about having like 22 hours of daylight (how it will be in the summer) and I have a feeling it's gonna be crazy!!! It will be so cool, you could go running at like 11 pm, or do anything outside, so many more options.
So, last week I saved a bird! I found a Common Redpoll (I'm an ornithology master now) outside the Arctic Health building (where I hang out mostly every day) and he had apparently flew into the window, he was not looking good. I was kinda freakin out because I didn't want to just leave him, but didn't really know what to do. And I thought if I picked him up he might peck my eye or something. So I called my ornithology professor and he told me to pick him up and just give him a 'boost,' birds run into windows a lot (they're smart?) and they just get shook up, but are usually okay. So I picked him up for a few minutes..it was so cool he just perched right on my finger and wasn't even scared of me!! After a few minutes he flew to a nearby tree, but I treasure our short time together.
Some exciting news- I have an interview TOMORROW with the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game!!! I'm soo excited about it! I got a call on Friday about it, had been waiting almost a month to hear back since applying. It would be in southwest AK, basically my dream internship: camping all summer, sampling salmon, playing on rivers, driving boats, not showering, etc. etc. So we'll see how that goes.
Also got a callback about an Americorp internship in Iowa. So I'm gonna see what's up with that, but it's not as cool as the previous one.
I have two tests this week so I need to get studying! ADIOS AMIGOS!
The weather is finally getting warmer here!! And the snow is melting too, it's quite messy. Today it was up to 45 F. And the days are long, over 13 hours of daylight, sun comes up around 7 and sets around 9. Last night I had a dream about having like 22 hours of daylight (how it will be in the summer) and I have a feeling it's gonna be crazy!!! It will be so cool, you could go running at like 11 pm, or do anything outside, so many more options.
So, last week I saved a bird! I found a Common Redpoll (I'm an ornithology master now) outside the Arctic Health building (where I hang out mostly every day) and he had apparently flew into the window, he was not looking good. I was kinda freakin out because I didn't want to just leave him, but didn't really know what to do. And I thought if I picked him up he might peck my eye or something. So I called my ornithology professor and he told me to pick him up and just give him a 'boost,' birds run into windows a lot (they're smart?) and they just get shook up, but are usually okay. So I picked him up for a few minutes..it was so cool he just perched right on my finger and wasn't even scared of me!! After a few minutes he flew to a nearby tree, but I treasure our short time together.
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| My friend. |
Also got a callback about an Americorp internship in Iowa. So I'm gonna see what's up with that, but it's not as cool as the previous one.
I have two tests this week so I need to get studying! ADIOS AMIGOS!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
MOOSE
I saw my first moose last Friday. Bout time right?! If I had a dime for every dead deer I've seen on highway 20 I'd be rich. Moose are slightly more scarce I guess.
My friend Karolina and I just stepped outside of our dorm for some fresh air, and this young moose was munching on a tree right across the street!!! It was super close.
Within like 15 minutes a bunch of people were ogling at poor guy and campus police came and were like "okay just be calm don't feed it blah blah," duh. It was funny. Eventually he ran back into the woods, but it made for an eventful twenty minutes or so.
My friend Karolina and I just stepped outside of our dorm for some fresh air, and this young moose was munching on a tree right across the street!!! It was super close.
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| Angie and Moose. Taken from Karolina's phone of course. |
Da Northern Lights
...not only a delicious drink at Caribou Coffee, but so much more.
So early in March there was some kind of solar flare or something, I'm too lazy to look up the deets, but basically the auroras were NUTS for a couple days later, around March 8-10. My friend Antonia and I went to Murphy Dome, the top of a big hill basically, to try and catch the action. I borrowed a camera to try and take pics but I had never used a digital SLR before, those thangs are complicated. So I'll showcase a terrible picture I took and steal some from my friends.
The auroras are beautiful. I have learned about why they appear but I still don't really understand the mechanism. They are wonderful to watch while stumbling home from the Marlin at night :)
So early in March there was some kind of solar flare or something, I'm too lazy to look up the deets, but basically the auroras were NUTS for a couple days later, around March 8-10. My friend Antonia and I went to Murphy Dome, the top of a big hill basically, to try and catch the action. I borrowed a camera to try and take pics but I had never used a digital SLR before, those thangs are complicated. So I'll showcase a terrible picture I took and steal some from my friends.
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| By me. EHH. If you can't see the green line, tilt your screen. |
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| This was the night before I went out. By David Broome. |
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| Also by my friend David, he has a knack for this. |
Anchorage
This past weekend I went on a trip to Anchorage with my friend Kristen, her boyfriend, and some other people. I always thought that Fairbanks and Anchorage looked 'close' on a map, but maps of Alaska are misleading, this place is too big!!! It was about a 7 hour drive each way, but it wasn't that bad (when the sun was up) because the views are so amazing! Also saw a moose and two bald eagles on the drive, wooo!
Anchorage is the biggest city in AK (it's not big) and it's surrounded by huge snowy mountains, and there's also bay areas on the south side. It's way more pretty than Fairbanks. Weather is a bit warmer too for some reason. We stopped for a few photo ops along the highway, and noticed that you could see the low tide taking along all the ice chunks if you look closely, it was pretty cool.
We arrived late on Friday night, and on Saturday went skiing at Alyeska Ski Resort which is AWESOME. Hands down best place I've ever skiied (sorry Breckenridge). You literally are at the top of a mountain that's a mile high and you can see the ocean and all the surrounding mountains...it's so beautiful. And it's just a great facility, tons of lifts and stuff, and the runs are crazeeyyy steep, I was scared at first. The weather was great which made it even more fun.
I lost a screw in my binding and randomly met a rental tech from DUBUQUE to fix it. Small world huh.
After snowboarding all day, we just hung out at the house, Kristen's friend Kaley made us dinner. I ATE CARIBOU!!!!! Two bites to be exact. It was really good, but I didn't want to get a stomach ache. It tasted like deer. I've noticed a lot people up here eat wild game, people in IA do a lot too, but hardly at all in the college population (it seems like). Anyway I like being able to enjoy a little protein from a humanely harvested animal that lived a free and wonderful life (commercial farming is the devil) okay I'm done trying to brainwash you. I have eaten salmon and caribou now, I still need to try moose!!
Anchorage is the biggest city in AK (it's not big) and it's surrounded by huge snowy mountains, and there's also bay areas on the south side. It's way more pretty than Fairbanks. Weather is a bit warmer too for some reason. We stopped for a few photo ops along the highway, and noticed that you could see the low tide taking along all the ice chunks if you look closely, it was pretty cool.
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| Along the highway |
I lost a screw in my binding and randomly met a rental tech from DUBUQUE to fix it. Small world huh.
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| Alyeska (phone pic) |
Monday, February 21, 2011
Feb.brr.wary.
Sorry for the blog neglect!! What can I say I'm a busy girl.
Another school week is about to start, this semester is already going by way too fast! My classes are definitely keeping me busy-one in particular, vascular plant anatomy. Our first test is Wednesday and studying has made me realize how little I actually understand. I mean, everyone thinks they know what photosynthesis is...but few people really know how it works. Both (why there are two, I don't know) the professors have their PhDs from Stanford (no big deal) and they are geniuses and speak in foreign tongues (might as well be). If I had a dime for every time I heard "carboxylation" in lecture, I'd be rich. Anywhooo enough ranting.
This past weekend was laid back, just went to the university pub with friends from class on Friday, and to the legendary Marlin with some of the dorm friends on Saturday. It's been snowing the past few days and I really want to get out skiing/snowboarding again!!
Still no word from the DNR about internships, but there's still over a week left in February. I have decided to apply for summer internships up here though. Got an e-mail about some a couple days ago, there are a bunch of great positions in cities all around Alaska. It would be nice to spend the summer here I think, I've heard good things. Being away from home for 3 months longer would be difficult, but I think my mom would survive :) We'll see what happens.
OHHH I did something cool last week, almost forgot. On Tuesday night I went with my friends Cory, Thomas and Megan to the final leg of this dogsled race called the Yukon Quest. (http://www.yukonquest.com/) It's a 1000 mile race that goes all over Alaska and I think some of Canada too. We saw the first two teams cross the finish then left because it was at least -30 and we were freezing. The guy who won was the youngest person to ever win the race, I think he was 24, so it was cool to see that. It amazes me that the dogs can carry the sled/person/equipment that far. They aren't as big as I thought they would be either, they're pretty small and lean. The second dog team that we saw still wanted to keep racing!! They were all barking and jumping up and down, I couldn't believe it. I wish I had my camera on me at the time.
Well I should get studying...cheers.
Another school week is about to start, this semester is already going by way too fast! My classes are definitely keeping me busy-one in particular, vascular plant anatomy. Our first test is Wednesday and studying has made me realize how little I actually understand. I mean, everyone thinks they know what photosynthesis is...but few people really know how it works. Both (why there are two, I don't know) the professors have their PhDs from Stanford (no big deal) and they are geniuses and speak in foreign tongues (might as well be). If I had a dime for every time I heard "carboxylation" in lecture, I'd be rich. Anywhooo enough ranting.
This past weekend was laid back, just went to the university pub with friends from class on Friday, and to the legendary Marlin with some of the dorm friends on Saturday. It's been snowing the past few days and I really want to get out skiing/snowboarding again!!
Still no word from the DNR about internships, but there's still over a week left in February. I have decided to apply for summer internships up here though. Got an e-mail about some a couple days ago, there are a bunch of great positions in cities all around Alaska. It would be nice to spend the summer here I think, I've heard good things. Being away from home for 3 months longer would be difficult, but I think my mom would survive :) We'll see what happens.
OHHH I did something cool last week, almost forgot. On Tuesday night I went with my friends Cory, Thomas and Megan to the final leg of this dogsled race called the Yukon Quest. (http://www.yukonquest.com/) It's a 1000 mile race that goes all over Alaska and I think some of Canada too. We saw the first two teams cross the finish then left because it was at least -30 and we were freezing. The guy who won was the youngest person to ever win the race, I think he was 24, so it was cool to see that. It amazes me that the dogs can carry the sled/person/equipment that far. They aren't as big as I thought they would be either, they're pretty small and lean. The second dog team that we saw still wanted to keep racing!! They were all barking and jumping up and down, I couldn't believe it. I wish I had my camera on me at the time.
Well I should get studying...cheers.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Into the Great Wide Open
Alright...I'm finally doing some cool stuff around here!
So a lot of people up here actually do 'rough it.' A couple of guys I know just moved into a dry cabin...which is exactly what it sounds like-absolutely no running water. They buy big containers of water for daily h2o needs and have an OUTHOUSE a few yards behind the cabin. It's nuts. Oh yeah and these cabins are heated by wood-burning stoves, which they chop wood for on a regular basis. And I thought living in the dorm was bad...
On Saturday night, Antonia and I stayed over at the cabin and we all had dinner together, drank and went out to this bar close by called Ivory Jack's. Sounds like a place you'd find in Iowa huh?? We also saw the NORTHERN LIGHTS which were out all weekend. It was soo cool to finally see them. You need to have a camera capable of a long exposure time (like 15 secs or so) so I wasn't able to get any pictures, but some of the other people did.
On Sunday morning, Antonia, Guy and I went skiing to this place called Ski Land, it was about a half hour drive away. We had a lot of fun, it wasn't too cold and the place was pretty empty since it was super bowl Sunday (the pack still sucks). We even saw a real live porcupine at the bottom of the hill, it was so funny he was just sitting in a tree eating pine needles, he didn't even care that we were like 10 feet away.
So yeah had a really fun weekend here!! Consequently have a lot of homework and studying to catch up on...but having fun is what's most important right?
Also, had a phone interview with the Iowa DNR on Saturday morning, I think it went pretty well and we're supposed to hear back from them by the end of the month. So keep your fingers crossed for me!
Miss you very much Ames friends and Dubz friends and fam :)
So a lot of people up here actually do 'rough it.' A couple of guys I know just moved into a dry cabin...which is exactly what it sounds like-absolutely no running water. They buy big containers of water for daily h2o needs and have an OUTHOUSE a few yards behind the cabin. It's nuts. Oh yeah and these cabins are heated by wood-burning stoves, which they chop wood for on a regular basis. And I thought living in the dorm was bad...
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| Diego, Armando and Guy's cabin. |
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| Aurora Borealis on a Saturday night (By Armando) |
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| View from top of the hill...Makes Sundown look even worse haha. |
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| Our new porcupine friend :) |
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| Beer showcase (?) Armando, Diego, Me and Antonia at Ivory Jack's. |
Also, had a phone interview with the Iowa DNR on Saturday morning, I think it went pretty well and we're supposed to hear back from them by the end of the month. So keep your fingers crossed for me!
Miss you very much Ames friends and Dubz friends and fam :)
Monday, January 31, 2011
Amigoz
Oh and here is a picture of me and some of my friends here. We took this on Friday on our walk to the Marlin, a nearby college bar. We were posing with the UAF 'Nanook' aka a polar bear made out of ice. It's kinda poor quality since it was outside at night, but there will be more! The crew (from top left): Guy, Charlotte, Antonia, Karolina, Konstantine, Me, Diego, Armando, Christopher.
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| Us & the Polar Bear |
Week Two
Last week was pretty standard, I've been pretty busy with school. I'm only taking 14 credits but three of those classes also have wonderful 3 hour labs which makes for some long days. I've been sacrificing so many plants and inspecting so many taxidermized (??) birds, I'm exhausted.
Went on a walk on some campus trails yesterday. The weather is actually getting more pleasant here, its been in the teens for a while, hopefully the temperature doesn't dip back down to the -30's!!! That sucked. I never thought 15 degrees F could feel so warm...it's all relative huh.
I'm also trying to convert my brain to Celsius since I'm a 'science major' person. People in science in America really get screwed, why do we learn Fahrenheit and our own numeric system when literally every other country uses Metric/Celsius?!??!!! Also pounds and kilograms...and more. Ridiculous. So anyways, don't get confused when I say its 20 degrees in April, don't be confused, I am speaking in Celsius.
I have yet to see the northern lights!! Sadly. A group of people went out and saw them on Thursday night, but I had 9 am class Friday so I didn't go. I guess some people are going on Tuesday night so maybe I'll check them out then. I think to take pictures of them you have to set your camera on a long exposure time (like 15 seconds or more) so I don't know if my little point-and-shoot will be able to capture the moment...we'll see.
Went on a walk on some campus trails yesterday. The weather is actually getting more pleasant here, its been in the teens for a while, hopefully the temperature doesn't dip back down to the -30's!!! That sucked. I never thought 15 degrees F could feel so warm...it's all relative huh.
I'm also trying to convert my brain to Celsius since I'm a 'science major' person. People in science in America really get screwed, why do we learn Fahrenheit and our own numeric system when literally every other country uses Metric/Celsius?!??!!! Also pounds and kilograms...and more. Ridiculous. So anyways, don't get confused when I say its 20 degrees in April, don't be confused, I am speaking in Celsius.
I have yet to see the northern lights!! Sadly. A group of people went out and saw them on Thursday night, but I had 9 am class Friday so I didn't go. I guess some people are going on Tuesday night so maybe I'll check them out then. I think to take pictures of them you have to set your camera on a long exposure time (like 15 seconds or more) so I don't know if my little point-and-shoot will be able to capture the moment...we'll see.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Trekkin
Today I checked out some trails just off campus. It was really fun and super pretty! It was about -20 so we couldn't stay out very long, I hope to go back out more when things warm up around here. There are trails for walking and cross country skiing, so hopefully I'll have a chance to try the latter sometime.
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| The trail. Pic by Karolina P. |
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| Smith Lake near campus. |
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Earthquake
Today I experienced a very minor earthquake! I was innocently reading in my bed and everything started shaking a little, at first I thought I was dying but then I realized that's what it was. So cool. I LOVE PLATE TECTONICS!
Anyway, last night went out to this bar called the Marlin with a bunch of my exchange homies, it was fun. It was a very laid back place, kinda reminded me of the Lift or Welch Ave. I like how people here don't dress up to go out, I only saw one girl wearing a skirt. People at ISU are sew fashionable. There was some drunk band playing blue grass and demanding that the bargoers buy them shots, haha.
Also, yesterday while I was trying to enjoy a sandwich the fire alarm went off at the building I was in. I have a new found hatred for people who pull those things, waiting outside in -30 degree weather =brutal.
Anyway, last night went out to this bar called the Marlin with a bunch of my exchange homies, it was fun. It was a very laid back place, kinda reminded me of the Lift or Welch Ave. I like how people here don't dress up to go out, I only saw one girl wearing a skirt. People at ISU are sew fashionable. There was some drunk band playing blue grass and demanding that the bargoers buy them shots, haha.
Also, yesterday while I was trying to enjoy a sandwich the fire alarm went off at the building I was in. I have a new found hatred for people who pull those things, waiting outside in -30 degree weather =brutal.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Back 2 Skoo
First day of classes!! Only had one today though- GIS analysis. Seems really cool, I'm always weary of computer based classes working with new software...but I gotta learn. Our professor gave us all copies of ArcGIS 10 to install....but it's not compatible with mac!! Ah..so I need to figure that out. It's a pretty small class, about 25 students, so my prof was taking attendance and he's like "oh Angela Richman is an exchange student, where from?" Everyone laughed when I said Iowa...apparently it's not far enough away. Feels like a different country to me almost.
It was almost -40 this morning. Still dark when I took the bus to class around 9:30 which is kind of sad. But whatevs. Hopefully I'll do something cool this weekend, it's supposed to snow and be above zero degrees!! Hoorayyyyyy.
I snapped my first few pics today after class, but it's so cold my fingers hurt after being out of gloves for a few minutes.
(Sorry I know these are on fb too...but my mom doesn't have one k)
It was almost -40 this morning. Still dark when I took the bus to class around 9:30 which is kind of sad. But whatevs. Hopefully I'll do something cool this weekend, it's supposed to snow and be above zero degrees!! Hoorayyyyyy.
I snapped my first few pics today after class, but it's so cold my fingers hurt after being out of gloves for a few minutes.
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| View from Yukon Dr. |
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| Sun it Rises...around 11 am. |
(Sorry I know these are on fb too...but my mom doesn't have one k)
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
PS.
Also my mailing address for this semester is:
Angie Richman
University of Alaska Fairbanks
PO Box 751161
Fairbanks AK 99775-1161
Please send wine and munchies
Angie Richman
University of Alaska Fairbanks
PO Box 751161
Fairbanks AK 99775-1161
Please send wine and munchies
Day 1
Alright. I'm feeling much better here. Still don't know anyone...but my room mate, Kaisa and I went out today to buy some school supplies, got my student ID card, and had a cup of coffee and chatted. It was nice to see a little bit of campus, and all the people around here seem amiable.
It's currently -34 F (it's only 11 am though) and the high is -19! Haha. The cold isn't really bugging me though. I got my nice warm down jacket (Holla Callie) and some Sorel boots that are keeping my feet super warm. It's just kinda hard to breath in air that's so cold, so I'm walking around with a scarf over my face for now, but I bet I'll get accustomed to it eventually.
My dorm is pretty cute, kinda junky but definitely better than Helser.......weird. It's really close to a cafeteria and some c-store type places, and the bookstore, so that's convenient. I think my classes are a couple blocks away, so we'll see how that goes tomorrow.
It's definitely going to be an interesting semester. I'm excited to meet some new people and see new things. Currently a little homesick though...
It's currently -34 F (it's only 11 am though) and the high is -19! Haha. The cold isn't really bugging me though. I got my nice warm down jacket (Holla Callie) and some Sorel boots that are keeping my feet super warm. It's just kinda hard to breath in air that's so cold, so I'm walking around with a scarf over my face for now, but I bet I'll get accustomed to it eventually.
My dorm is pretty cute, kinda junky but definitely better than Helser.......weird. It's really close to a cafeteria and some c-store type places, and the bookstore, so that's convenient. I think my classes are a couple blocks away, so we'll see how that goes tomorrow.
It's definitely going to be an interesting semester. I'm excited to meet some new people and see new things. Currently a little homesick though...
I'm Here.....
Idk how I feel about this yet.
I've made one friend, too bad she's 80 years old and doesn't go to UAF. I'll try again tomorrow.
I've made one friend, too bad she's 80 years old and doesn't go to UAF. I'll try again tomorrow.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
Ficus (Moraceae)
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| "Kitty." Joint custody of Amber, Natalie and Angie |
I think trees are inspiring. Or deciduous ones at least. Even when it looks dead because of the lack of leaves, its still alive and healthy. They change along with the seasons to be well-suited for that particular time of the year. A ingenious evolutionary mechanism I think, I wonder humans don't change with the seasons? We just change our wardrobes. We R so Dum.
THREE DAYS TIL ALASKA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Ames
AHHH I just woke up. Last night was the last night in Ames (just til I come back in 4 mos) so it's not reary the last night. Needless to say I still prob have a BAC above .08. OOpz. Umm I miss my ISU friends already and I'm still here. I know we took a group photo at some point last night, it will be posted in the near future.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
HI
6 more days til I leave for Alaska....
I'm actually starting to get nervous every time I think about it.
I am really not worried about the snow and cold, I'm just worried about not knowing a single soul up there. I hope my room mate is cool also...had some issues with that freshman year at ISU! I think I might get a job up there too, just some university position or something, so I can meet more people.
On a less serious note....also worried about fitting all my stuff into 2 suitcases!! Seriously. My snowboots are gonna take up like half the space in one suitcase. Winter clothes are just too bulky, plus I need stuff for the nicer weather in the spring too!!! AH DIHLEMMAS. (SP?)
I'm actually starting to get nervous every time I think about it.
I am really not worried about the snow and cold, I'm just worried about not knowing a single soul up there. I hope my room mate is cool also...had some issues with that freshman year at ISU! I think I might get a job up there too, just some university position or something, so I can meet more people.
On a less serious note....also worried about fitting all my stuff into 2 suitcases!! Seriously. My snowboots are gonna take up like half the space in one suitcase. Winter clothes are just too bulky, plus I need stuff for the nicer weather in the spring too!!! AH DIHLEMMAS. (SP?)
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| This is me soon! WEEEEEEEEE |
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
2 Weeks To Go....
COUNTDOWN TO ALASKA: 13 DAYS !!!!!! yay
I'm also going to Ames this Sunday to visit my beloved friends and co-workers for a few days, I'm so excited to go back. It's fun here in Dubuque too, but I have been going out much less.....seriously like 3 times over break, WHAT! And I've concluded that drinks are cheaper in Ames.
Last night I had a dream about watching TV, does that mean my subconscious is bored? Just a thought...
I'm also going to Ames this Sunday to visit my beloved friends and co-workers for a few days, I'm so excited to go back. It's fun here in Dubuque too, but I have been going out much less.....seriously like 3 times over break, WHAT! And I've concluded that drinks are cheaper in Ames.
Last night I had a dream about watching TV, does that mean my subconscious is bored? Just a thought...
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Sundaze.
Dearest blog, today I share with you a haiku of my own:
A cold winter day
The green conifer revels
Near shivering oaks
-AJR
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| Ansel Adams- Winter Yosemite Valley |
(trees inspired by trees)
....jk
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Mississippi
I went the the Mississippi River Museum the other day with my mom, it was soo cool. The have a ton of indian (yeah I'm not politically correct boohoo) artifacts and models and parts of old steamboats. My favorite parts were the tanks with real animals in them.
There was a saltwater tank (kinda doesn't make sense since it's supposed to be all about the river, but whatevs) with a hugee octopus, sea stars and cucumbers, anenomes, cute fish and corals.
The octopus has been a big attraction for the museum since they're such odd creatures. Sadly, this is the museum's second octopus-the first one died shortly after it was introduced to the tank because of water temperature issues.
I always have mixed feelings about zoos and aquariums, taking animals from their natural habitats and putting them in cages and tanks just for human entertainment doesn't seem right. At least the river museum does actually offer a lot of information to its visitors. I feel like zoos aren't so educational. My mom and I loved looking at the animals, but since we've both lived in Dubuque all our lives and been on the river too many times to count, the fish tanks didn't really show us anything new. It would probably be cooler for people from further away.
Anyways, I hope someday zoos and aquariums will be obsolete. People's time and money could be spent much more wisely on habitat restoration efforts and supporting local wildlife organizations (DNR, US Fish & Wildlife Service) rather than maintaining captive habitats.
On another note, I was a little awestruck upon viewing a tank with the river's most popular game fish: catfish, northern pike, bass, carps (ew) etc. Fish have indeterminate growth, meaning they grow throughout their ENTIRE lives, so crazy. Some turtles and other herptiles also share this quality. So some of these fish are like six or seven feet long! I don't even know how much they would weigh...some were probably near 300 lbs, just guessing.
I would recommend anyone visiting Dubuque to go to this museum, it's so informative and interesting. I think everyone in Dubuque should visit too, though I think people here already do have a deep (puns intended) appreciation for the river.
I'll leave you with this, some translations of the Ioway tribe:
Iowa- means beautiful
Chicago- means place of the skunk
LOL
There was a saltwater tank (kinda doesn't make sense since it's supposed to be all about the river, but whatevs) with a hugee octopus, sea stars and cucumbers, anenomes, cute fish and corals.
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| Sea Squid- excuse the crappy quality, this is a phone picture. |
I always have mixed feelings about zoos and aquariums, taking animals from their natural habitats and putting them in cages and tanks just for human entertainment doesn't seem right. At least the river museum does actually offer a lot of information to its visitors. I feel like zoos aren't so educational. My mom and I loved looking at the animals, but since we've both lived in Dubuque all our lives and been on the river too many times to count, the fish tanks didn't really show us anything new. It would probably be cooler for people from further away.
Anyways, I hope someday zoos and aquariums will be obsolete. People's time and money could be spent much more wisely on habitat restoration efforts and supporting local wildlife organizations (DNR, US Fish & Wildlife Service) rather than maintaining captive habitats.
On another note, I was a little awestruck upon viewing a tank with the river's most popular game fish: catfish, northern pike, bass, carps (ew) etc. Fish have indeterminate growth, meaning they grow throughout their ENTIRE lives, so crazy. Some turtles and other herptiles also share this quality. So some of these fish are like six or seven feet long! I don't even know how much they would weigh...some were probably near 300 lbs, just guessing.
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| Me with the gigantic catfish. |
I'll leave you with this, some translations of the Ioway tribe:
Iowa- means beautiful
Chicago- means place of the skunk
LOL
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