Heatta was out on a mullet reconnaissance in Kautokeino when he filmed the clip of the swarm of mosquitoes around him.
– I had been walking for a while, and noticed that there were a lot of mosquitoes. I actually picked up the phone to take a video and show that I was outside – but then there were quite a lot of mosquitoes. Not that extreme, I would say, we are mostly used to mosquitoes here, he says to Dagbladet.
When he saw the video clip, he realized how many mosquitoes there actually were around him.
– I had the sky right behind me, and then you could see quite a lot of mosquitoes. You heard them well too, he says, laughing.
Nils-Johan Heatta is a Norwegian-Sámi former journalist, who was, among other things, director of NRK’s Sámi division. He is also considered one of the driving forces behind the Sami news broadcast Ođđasat.
– People from here are used to it
Heatta still does not believe that there were more mosquitoes than he has experienced before.
– But I think perhaps people let themselves be bothered by it more. I tend to say that the best mosquito repellent is not to get infected. You have to try to ignore it as best you can. If you start to annoy yourself, you can annoy yourself to death. It is of no use, and is completely wasted, he says.
Pursued by insects
According to his own advice, Heatta does not let the mosquito summer stop him.
– Those who are from here and have got used to mosquitoes, gnats and insects – I think they understand that you can’t let yourself be annoyed. Otherwise you can’t leave the house, he says and adds:
– In the summer, you have to be outside. There is no reason to stay on the couch.
– More than usual
– It has been a good deal more than usual in several places in the country, says researcher at Nibio Svanhovd, Paul Eric Aspholm.
He himself has been on trips where he has observed the mosquito population this summer, and describes how he assesses the amount of mosquitoes:
BIOLOGIST: Paul Eric Aspholm says that this year there have been more mosquitoes than usual in many places in the country. Photo: Erling Fløistad / NIBIO
sea view
– You roll up the sleeve of your jacket, leave your arm still, and then clap your hand on your arm after a minute or five. If you have to wait five minutes before mosquitoes come, it is not enough. If, on the other hand, you have 20 mosquitoes in the swatter after one minute, that is considered to be a lot. Such occurrences were a part of the places, he says.
Aspholm was on a trip to Trøndelag at the end of May, where there were what he describes as “good amounts” of mosquitoes. While in Nordland, in Western Norway, Southern Norway and in the interior of Eastern Norway, there were smaller amounts in May.
Colleagues of his have been on trips to Karasjok both earlier this summer and now, and they believe that you have to go back to the 60s and 70s for similar amounts.
– Works incredibly well
– In some places, such as on the outer side of the Varanger Peninsula, there were “zillions”. Fantastic quantities. Also from Kautokeino there are reports of large numbers of mosquitoes, now that the mullets are maturing, says the biologist.
– There were quite a few mosquitoes in the 90s as well, but in the 70s such quantities were common. I don’t know how it is in Norway in general, it varies so much. But in the vast majority of places there have been more mosquitoes than last year, he adds.
– Could mean more next year
Aspholm says that moisture in the ground and relatively warm weather means that mosquitoes thrive better. And the opposite – if there is a lot of drought in winter and spring, it is bad news for the stinging insects.
– We have seen in recent years that it gets very dry in the spring and winter, and have, among other things, had several forest and heather fires in Western Norway early on. It is a sign that there is little moisture in the ground, and then the mosquitoes have a hard time surviving, he says and adds:
Got stung by a mosquito – died
– And especially the climate changes, with many more periods of thawing and freezing throughout the winter. It is probably one of the factors that play a role to the disadvantage of the mosquitoes.
One effect of this year’s mosquito summer may be that the female mosquito has laid more eggs. It could also mean more mosquitoes next year, but the biologist emphasizes that everything depends on many things in nature that you don’t have an overview of.
– The question is what success they have with the hatching, and then it must be warmer and more humid again. But it fluctuates quickly, and there are many factors that influence it. We know too little to draw conclusions for next year. Mosquitoes have many functions in nature. It cleans water, is food for birds, fish and others, but we don’t know most of its functions, says Aspholm.
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