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| Breathtakingly beautiful |
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| US Coast Guards-Customers boarding our vessel |
We entered US waters and sadly were not allowed to do any zodiac cruising (a crazy US regulation that says anyone in charge of a boat has to have a captain’s license). Not to be daunted our fearless leader had a packed program for us. Lectures of course but workshops of many kinds from Inuit language classes, to mitten making, to Inuit beading. From writing and sketching workshops, to bridge groups and photoshopping in readiness for the photo comp.
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| Who knew there were so many Polars (we're going to two in September 2024 North) |
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| Some excellent talent on board |
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| My favourite place - the citizen science lab |
And Citizen science which was a great wrap up of what we had collected and learnt to pass on. The data collected on this expedition will eventually be used not just for scientific purposes, but to encourage policies and regulations that can impact our passage through wildernesses like this – responsible expeditions and cruises.
A most unexpected on-board auction of a number of artefacts and ‘souvenirs’ raised a considerable amount of money to support the https://polarcollective.org/. This organisation was started by three of the guides on board our ship. Their mission is to empower the polar tourist industry to make valuable contributions to science research. Ships and expeditions like ours regularly go into regions that researchers find it hard to afford. It’s a win-win situation.
On board we had Lisa Blair the fastest person to sail solo around Antarctica. On her two circumnavigations around Antarctica she collected many samples – microplastics, nanoparticles, water and air samples. Her story is powerful. She was on board to become familiar with the region and learn some craft from our EL, Ashley, a pretty impressive sailor in her own right.
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| Lisa Blair - a woman on a mission |
And on our last night before heading into the Bering Strait they held a TedX session. Six people presented including Lindsay and me. It was quite fascinating with topics from walking the Camino, to the dangers of sea food dredging, from waling the desert to Inuit dental health. The latter was rather horrifying. There's little acre available to these remote communities and poor dental health and diets. This man travels there with a team of surgeons and odontists a few times a year. I was fascinated and sat down to talk to him further. Turns out that he worked with a Canadian colleague of mine. Strange, small world.
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| Our voyage map to date |
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