Peak Oil, What Peak Oil? Notes To The Granddaughters -- Not About The Bakken; Whales, The Arctic, George Armstrong Custer, Battle of Gettysburg

I couldn't decide whether to post this story or not, about Alaskans sitting on billions of barrels of oil. Variations of this story have been posted before.

But the references to the bowhead whale caught my attention, so this is for archival purposes, for my granddaughters.

Quick: what are the only three species of whales that don't migrate south/north? The three Arctic whale species?

The other day I asked my older granddaughter that question and she told me. I about fell off my chair. She's nine years old and plans to be a marine biologist when she grows up. For the past year or so, she and I have been in a whale viewing/reading phase. (Just one of many hobbies she has -- more about that below in the Note to the Granddaughters below.)

We've taken a few boat cruises to see whales up close off Boston; we've seen whales off San Pedro; we've visited the Marine Mammal Care Center in San Pedro; and, have read any number of books and articles on whales. A highlight for my wife and I just last month was visiting the New Bedford Whaling Museum and Seamen's Bethel where Herman Melville and Captain Ahab attended service.

I can't remember where I first read about the three Arctic whales. And, of course, I have no idea how my granddaughter knew, but she did. I think I might have read it in Philip Hoare's book The Whale.

The narwhal, the beluga, and the bowhead. She also said the orca which I did not consider. She was correct; I was wrong. The orca can be found in all oceans. I guess technically there are other whales that visit the Arctic, but only the narwhal, beluga, and bowhead are exclusively arctic (as far as I know), migrating east-west, and not north-south. The bowhead would die in equatorial waters: just too much blubber, measure in feet of thickness, rather than inches.

A little bit of irony. It was oil that wiped out or nearly wiped out some species of whales, but it wasn't fossil oil. It was .... whale oil. I guess if the faux environmentalists stop Norway's oil industry, Norway can always go back to whaling. Norway took the lead in decimating whales. I believe Herman Melville said the Norwegians could take more whales in a day than the the US and the Brits took in a year, but I may have misread that. A sad, sad chapter in human history.

A Note to the Granddaughters

I can't remember if I posted this or not. The other day my older granddaughter brought home a huge book on the Civil War.

It's really a reference book, and not one to read, necessarily, from cover-to-cover.

So, randomly, we picked the three-to-five page story of the battle at Gettysburg. July 1- 3, 1863. 150,000 men; 50,000 casualties; turning point in the war. Pickett's charge. This is where George Armstrong Custer made a name for himself leading the Michigan army in a most famous charge. So, that's what we read a couple of days ago.

Yesterday, my wife took me to a most delightful museum to see an exhibit of Grand Canyon photographs, just ten minutes from where our grandchildren live, and, best of all .... free.

The exhibit was n Lexington, Massachusetts, on the patriot road from Boston - Lexington - Concord: The National Heritage Museum, Scottish Rite Masonic Temple and Library Inc.

After viewing the spectacular Grand Canyon exhibit, I wandered around the temple and museum, my first visit. And there, a huge oil painting of George Armstrong Custer leading his Michigan army charge down the hill. What a coincidence. And what a way to reinforce American history. Incredible. Another outing for our granddaughters.

Of course, the younger granddaughter will prefer to stay home, curled up on the couch, enjoying a cup of hot chocolate during these cooler winter days.