Mosquito Hell - VIDEO
Think mosquitoes are bad in your neck of the woods this summer? It could be worse. Just ask researcher Jesse Krause, who just spent 78 days working at the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Toolik Field Station on the North Slope. Krause has returned with images of mosquito hordes that will make your skin crawl.
Krause, a PhD student at the University of California Davis, said this summer’s mosquito bonanza was “the worst for sure” of the last four summers he has spent working at Toolik Field Station. He categorized the insects' overwhelming numbers as “pretty god-awful.”
Krause’s studies focus on climate change in the Arctic and how the changing spring season will affect birds migrating to the North Slope. “The question that we’re really asking about is timing,” he said, and how patterns falling out of synch between green up, the emergence of insects, and birds’ migratory patterns affect their populations.
Most researchers know what they're getting into when they arrive at Toolik, but occasionally some people can’t handle the bugs, Krause said. If mosquito bites cause you to swell up for days on end, Toolik probably isn’t the place for you. “You better know whether or not you’re going to have that reaction before you go to Alaska.”
