“Why do you need to send her a picture of your penis?”

“I need to send a picture of my penis to Kate*,” said my husband.

I looked up slowly from my laptop. “Why do you need to send her a picture of your penis?” I asked.

“I need another one,” he replied matter-of-factly. “The one I have is too big. I need a smaller one.”

Seeing what he was holding in his hand, I now understood what was going on.

A couple of years ago, my husband bought this walrus penis bone from a local in Qaanaaq, one of the northernmost settlements in Greenland, where walrus hunting is a significant local industry. Walrus live around the Northern Water polynya on the eastern side of Smith Sound in northwest Greenland, west of Qaanaaq and hunting walrus is a part of the traditional culture. Walrus are a rich source of food – for people and their dogs – and their tusks have been used for tools or traded as handicrafts or jewellery for centuries.

Perhaps less known is that walrus penis bone is also prized, if more locally, as it is particularly hard and strong, while also being slightly flexible, making it very durable. These heavy bones were once useful as bludgeons, for hunting. And as it turns out, walrus penis bone also makes an excellent material for carved knife handles, which is what my husband was hoping to use one for, employing the services of a skilled local knife-maker and bone carver. But after returning to Nuuk with his penis bone, he concluded that it was simply too big for this purpose and he would like to buy a second, somewhat smaller one.

Our friend, Kate*, happened to be going to Qaanaaq – not a place you just pop in to, being in far northwest Greenland and extraordinarily expensive to get to and from – and so he had asked her to keep an eye out for one while there. Thus the intention of sending a photograph of what she should be looking out for. But earlier this year, the walrus were late in arriving in the Qaanaaq area – there being no sign of them in January or February, when they normally begin to appear. I don’t know why. Certainly the ice conditions, which affect walrus migration, have been changing over the years. Also, the catch quotas are tight, despite Qaanaaq having almost half the total walrus quota for Greenland – 79 this year – which the hunters argue is still not not enough to support their dogs, and thus their livelihood. Given this, it is perhaps unlikely that she will find one. So my husband may have to be satisfied with what he has for the moment.

*Not her real name…