Destination: Seal Camp

This grouping of three buildings is similar to many of the hunting camps scattered along the coasts of St. Lawrence Island. This site is primarly used in the fall to hunt ice seals that come in with the wind. These shacks are nothing fancy, but like everything Eskimo, they are very practical and comfortable. The building we chose in this pitcure was well insulated with wind- blown snow as you can see. Like most of the shacks out here, the building has an attached breezeway that fills with snow in the winter. This serves to further insulate the building much like breezeway in an igloo. Inside you'll find a standard 55-gallon drum cut in half that serves as the stove. It got the place warm in a hurry despite a continual 20-30 mile wind on the outside.