Andrew was right - Barrow, Alaska is where I live.  While there are further
northern places that support cold, lonely and probably insane people, Barrow
is the furthest north and still in America.

Latitude ~ 71 degrees 18 minutes North ; 156 degrees 48 minutes West.

Point Barrow itself is the little point of land that sticks out at the very
top and, at least according to the maps around here, mark the change from
the Chukchi Sea on the west and the Beaufort Sea on the east.  The Point, as
we call it, is about 8 miles from the heart of town and about 4 miles from
where I live.  It's a great place to go and watch polar bears since the town
deposits most of the rotting whale meat, blubber and bones out there in
order to keep the bears out of town.  No small pile either - the last few
years they Bowhead whale harvest has averaged over 22 or 23 whales per year.
  With 5000 residents, only 60% Inupiat, each whale weighing on average 45
tons (90,000 lbs) - well you can do the math.  LOTS left over.  Oil wealth,
in subsitance terms, means large gas powered, cabin heated boats, modern
exploding harpoon tips, etc.

Mind you - I'm not trying to get on a soap box.  I hunt myself for caribou
and such but I have to admit I just don't understand the sea mammal
policies.  Only natives can hunt them, and they do year round, and I'm told
that because it's a cultural thing I'll never understand it because I'm not
native.  I only get funny looks when I point out that my great grandfather
moved to Alaska in 1898, my grandfather was only year old at the time, my
father was born here and I was born here.  I also get  absolutely no answer
when I ask - just how many generations does it take before get to call
myself native?  Oops - I almost stumbled right on top of that darn soap box.
  My appologies.

Tom - thanks for your e-mails - I'm sending you a longer, private response
but just to get the record straight - Brooke Sheilds ruined it for all the
males in the world that for generations had rightfully claimed the noble and
masculine name of Brooke as theirs.  Not only is Brooke Shields not male,
she is not as old as me and not as evolutionary evolved as evidenced by my
balding nature.  Also, she's in an economic league that is quite different
from mine.  Come to think about it, besides the first name, about the only
thing we share is our initials - which, I'm sure she'll agree, isnt't the
best set of intials to go through life with.

I'll make an effort to e-mail back in the next day or so those that have
sent personal e-mails the last few days.  Thanks an awful lot for the
contact, I appreciate it.  But lets get back to the general topic of
molluscs -

Here's a question I have regarding some problems recently encountered trying
to identify some pretty common Murex.

Chicoreus torrefactus appears to me to be identical to Chicoreus brunneus -
just shorter fronds.  Are there other differences that aren't obvious.  It
would seem that such a difference alone wouldn't warrant the designation of
an entirely new species.

Also I'm looking at some shells that I believe are Chicoreus brunneus but
only one third to one half the average size I see listed in the few
reference books I have.  None the less the development of the fronds and
everything else looks complete - samples are just a whole lot smaller.  Is
this normal for Murex development - are juveniles just minature copies of
the adults?

Any how - thanks for the time -

-  Brooke


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