Mystery Links
A list of
interesting Web sites to augment your reading
Murder
Below Zero
An interesting web site about the Arctic Circle developed by the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History about the history, mammals, and sea mammals living there. www.mnh.si.edu/arctic
An Arctic theme page which gives a concise and comprehensive overview of the Arctic region. www.arctic.noaa.gov
A general rundown of the region compiled by the U.S Arctic Research Commission. www.arctic.gov
The Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme, a Norwegian-based international organization that implements components of the Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy, offers information about various environmental problems there. www.amap.no
The University of the Arctic, a cooperative network of universities, colleges and other organizations from nations bordering the Arctic Ocean, provides a useful collection of research on the North. www.uarctic.org
The Arctic Climate Impact Assessment evaluates and synthesizes knowledge on climate variability and change for its member nations—the United States, Russian, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, and Norway—from its headquarters at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. [Do a Google search with the key words Arctic Climate Impact Assessment]
The excellent CIA World Fact Book covers the geography, people, governments, economies, communication, transportation, and military of the Arctic Ocean, among hundreds of other countries and regions. www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/xq.html
A useful background on how icebreakers break ice. www.athropolis.com/arctic-facts/fact-icebreaker-break.htm
What the United States Coast Guard says about its icebreakers, the Polar Sea and the Polar Star. www.uscg.mil/datasheet/icepolr.htm
A good general rundown on the Army Special Forces can be found on the web site of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command. http://www.soc.mil/ [See related links on Google under Army Special Ops or Special Forces]
Material on Spetsnaz, the Russian special forces, can be found on both its officla web site (http://www.spetsnaz-gru.com/) and http://www.incredible-adventures.com.
There are hundreds of web sites about Chechnya, its history and people, and the current crisis. A good general rundown appears on
http://www.world-newspapers.com/chechnya.html. BBC News has also put together a comprehensive look at this troubled region of Russian. [For more, just type in Chechnya on Google.]
There are hundreds of books and web sites on Arctic whaling. An excellent overview of the subject appears on the New Bedford Whaling Museum web site (www.whalingmuseum.org). A June 1899 article in Harper’s Monthly Magazine presents a gripping account of the freezing up of all the ships in the Winter of 1897 and its tragic aftermath. Articles on Capt. Michael Healy and Herschel Island in the Beaufort Sea can be found by typing in both subjects on Google.
John Bockstoce has written two excellent books on the Arctic at the height of Arctic whaling: Steam Whaling in the Western Arctic and Whales and Ice & Men: the History of Whaling in the Western Arctic.
Dead Whales Tell No Tales
The Web Site of Greenpeace, a worldwide conservation and enviromental organization that fights to preserve whales and other species whales.greenpeace.org
The Web Site of the International Whaling Commission, the organization that regulates the hunting of whales www.iwcoffice.org
The evolution of Japanese whaling www.whalesci.org/human/japan-history.html
A Japanese view of whaling written by a former interpreter for the Japanese delegation to the International Whaling Commission www.luna.pos.to/whale
Background information on the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission www.fakr.noaa.gov/omi/grants/aewc.htm
The Web Site of the New Bedford Whaling Museum, a great repository of information and artifacts about the age of American whaling www.whalingmuseum.org
The life and works of Herman Melville, the author of Moby Dick and many other novels about the sea www.melville.org
Oregon State University Hatfield Marine Science Center
The Web Site of Bruce Mate, a marine biologist at Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center who has done extensive research on whales http://oregonstate.edu/groups/marinemammal/
Murder at Yaquina Head
Yaquina Lights, a non-profit organization that supports the Yaquina Head Lighthouse through activities and programs not funded by the Federal government. www.yaquinalights.org
Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area is operated by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. www.or.blm.gov
A look at historical lighthouses, including the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. www.cr.nps.gov
A review of lighthouses, lightships, and lifesaving stations worldwide. www.maine.com/lights/www_vl.htm
The United States Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. www.ushmm.org
A look at women in the French Resistance during World War II, Presented by the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. http://motlc.wiesenthal.org