  We present two uniformly observed spectroscopic samples of Ly-alpha emitters
(LAEs) (127 at z = 5.7 and 82 at z = 6.6), which we use to investigate the
evolution of the LAE population at these redshifts. The observations cover a
large field (44 sq. deg) in the North Ecliptic Pole (HEROES), as well as
several smaller fields. We have a small number of exotic LAEs in the samples:
double-peaked Ly-alpha profiles; very extended red wings; and one impressive
lensed LAE cross. We also find three broad-line AGNs. We compare the Ly-alpha
line width measurements at the two redshifts, finding that the lower-luminosity
LAEs show a strong evolution of decreasing line width with increasing redshift,
while the high-luminosity LAEs do not, with a transition luminosity of log
L(Ly-alpha) = 43.25 erg s-1 . Thus, at z = 6.6, the high-luminosity LAEs may be
producing large ionized bubbles themselves, or they may be residing in
overdense galaxy sites that are producing such bubbles. In order to avoid
losses in the red wing, the radius of the ionized bubble must be larger than 1
pMpc. The double-peaked LAEs also require transmission on the blue side. For
the four at z = 6.6, we use models to estimate the proximity radii, Ra , where
the ionizing flux of the galaxy is sufficient to make the surroundings have a
low enough neutral fraction to pass the blue light. Since the required Ra are
large, multiple ionizing sources in the vicinity may be needed.
