This summer, WWF is helping support two expeditions that will take on some of the world’s most difficult waters, to see first-hand the effects of Arctic climate change. One expedition is sailing across the top of Russia, a journey of 6000 nautical miles through the Northeast Passage, while another is attempting a west to east transit of the Northwest Passage, also by sailing boat, a journey of about 7,000 nautical miles.
Tom Arnbom of Sweden was on the ‘Explorer of Sweden’ though the Northeast Passage, as was WWF Arctic Programme Director Neil Hamilton for much of the trip, replaced near the end by WWF polar bear coordinator Geoff York. On the ‘Silent Sound’ Cameron Dueck of the Open Passage Expedition is filing regular stories from the Northwest passage. Come back for photos and stories throughout the summer, and follow the progress of the boats as they follow in the wake of some of history’s most intrepid explorers.
By Geoff York
Midnight comes again all too quickly as I find myself making some strong
coffee for our watch. A coastal freighter has appeared on our radar nearby,
a cargo ship that plies the Lena river and shallow near shore waters between
Tiksi and Vladivostock. It is the only ship we have seen since Tiksi, but as
the summer ice continues its rapid retreat, more ships from countries other
than Russia will demand passage on these seas.
A little after 2 AM we again notice the water temperature dropping quickly,
this time down to -0.8 C. We also begin to see birds and soon after a floe
of drift ice. It stretches across from our north and forces us to slow and
turn south to seek the edge. It was not on the satellite map and while no
match for an ice breaking ship, it is the type of arctic shipping hazard
that could prove disastrous for lesser vessels. It takes the remainder of
our shift and some of the next to get through and around this obstacle. It
is a pleasant distraction as seas are calm and the visibility good.
Despite the fact that we are losing ice at a rapid rate, there is still a
great deal of it in any given year. As it melts and breaks apart, streams of
drift ice are torn from the main pack and aimlessly wander the northern
seas. This ice is highly mobile and very difficult to track.
This is why WWF is actively pursuing shipping safety on a number of fronts.
We are working with governments and policy bodies to influence the creation
of new arctic governance regimes that would in part set the rules for
international shipping. We are simultaneously pursing regulations around
shipping in the Arctic including compulsory pilotage in some waters and
designation of sensitive marine areas. Lastly we are working to raise
awareness on the current lack of capacity to respond to emergencies in the
Arctic both in terms of rescue and oil spill response/mitigation. A major
shipwreck in the Arctic would not only result in the loss of human life, it
could be an ecological disaster.
We have an opportunity to manage these developments in the Arctic safely,
sustainably, and with proper precautionary planning. With a solid governance
framework and conservation first planning, we can balance the needs of
people and nature.
Speaking of the needs of people, and yes, this will be a recurring theme, it
is time to eat again and I have volunteered to help Niklas in the galley.
Tonight will be a gourmet meal starting with whitefish gravlax (cured on the
boat), cabbage salad, with reindeer and potatoes from Tiksi. I have also
used the last of our apples for a pie and we find a box of vanilla custard
to accompany – quite a dinner! Most of the meals onboard are quite simple and
based on dry goods. Cooking also depends greatly on the sea state and we
know we will have some nights ahead with much less civility.
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Northeast Passage: The New Siberian Islands
This summer, WWF is helping support two expeditions that will take on some of the world’s most difficult waters, to see first-hand the effects of Arctic climate change. One expedition is sailing across the top of Russia, a journey of 6000 nautical miles through the Northeast Passage, while another is attempting a west to east transit of the Northwest Passage, also by sailing boat, a journey of about 7,000 nautical miles.
Tom Arnbom of Sweden was on the ‘Explorer of Sweden’ though the Northeast Passage, as was WWF Arctic Programme Director Neil Hamilton for much of the trip, replaced near the end by WWF polar bear coordinator Geoff York. On the ‘Silent Sound’ Cameron Dueck of the Open Passage Expedition is filing regular stories from the Northwest passage. Come back for photos and stories throughout the summer, and follow the progress of the boats as they follow in the wake of some of history’s most intrepid explorers.
By Geoff York
Waking for the midnight watch is quickly becoming a comfortable routine. Using our satellite phone to upload this blog is another story. I continue to struggle with technical issues in linking my PC to the phone, technology on the high seas and in the remote Arctic is never easy nor works as planned! Fortunately, Ola has a tested system on the boat that continues to work well and I will have to rely on his help to update you on our progress.
In the last four hours, the water temperature has dropped from 2.8 down to 0C. Captain Anders is concerned we may be approaching some drift ice, but there is none yet in sight. We spend the next two hours peering into the dim light of evening with extra care. The seas are also becoming calm and by 1 AM we are in some fog.
Dawn comes around 3 AM and we soon sight our destination: the southernmost of the New Siberian Islands that separate the Laptev from the East Siberian Sea. There is grounded ice all along the shore and 100 m from shore. At half past three we can see the Russian weather station on shore and a few lights on buildings. We wake Ola and prepare to drop anchor. The fog comes and goes all morning.
Niklas appears from below and quickly sets the table for a light breakfast and coffee as the rest of the crew awake and prepare for a landing. Seven of us shuttle in to explore the station and the captain stays onboard. With ice around and fog, you cannot leave the main boat unattended.
The scene around the settlement is one common throughout the Arctic. Rusty fuel drums are piled all around, representing many years of accumulation. Several rusted vehicles in various states of disrepair lie scattered on the beach and up the hillside along with various generators and miscellaneous discarded items and scrap steel. You never know what you may be able to salvage from broken equipment. There is no store, and resupply can be months away, so you tend to keep everything. It makes sense in such a remote area, but is visually startling to the unitiated.
All is quiet as we stroll up the hillside towards a cluster of weather-worn buildings, old vehicles, and more drums. It is not long before the station dogs grow leery of our approach and come barking. We know that the owners will soon follow and are glad to have Victor with us to make introductions! In short order we are sitting inside the largest of the buildings in a common dining area as sleepy members of the station crew appear from various rooms. Having visitors is quite a surprise and we are warmly welcomed. After explaining our trip we are invited to a feast of freshly baked bread, butter, smoked whitefish caught and prepared on the island, and locally picked and pickled mushrooms. Accompanied by some strong Russian tea, it was a fantastic experience and confirmed that Northern hospitality is alive and well in the Sakha Republic.
Travelling to new places, meeting people, and experiencing local cultures – I come away with how much we all share in common. Our humanity, daily lives, and aspirations are much more alike than not, despite the differences in language and customs. I feel completely comfortable in this remotest part of the Arctic, with people I cannot understand in words, but whose acts of hospitality are universal.
When I think of all of the problems the world faces today, from rising temperatures, rising sea level, and looming scarcities of basic resources, I am somewhat comforted to reaffirm this common bond among people. The kindness of our island friends renews my hope that we can yet come together across nations to solve some of our most pressing concerns. We are incredibly resourceful and compassionate when at our best! As we depart for the boat, we receive one last generosity as our hosts ask that we take any fish from their net which is set nearby. We will have fresh whitefish for dinner and continue our travels into the East Siberian Sea!
Northeast Passage: Open water
This summer, WWF is helping support two expeditions that will take on some of the world’s most difficult waters, to see first-hand the effects of Arctic climate change. One expedition is sailing across the top of Russia, a journey of 6000 nautical miles through the Northeast Passage, while another is attempting a west to east transit of the Northwest Passage, also by sailing boat, a journey of about 7,000 nautical miles.
Tom Arnbom of Sweden was on the ‘Explorer of Sweden’ though the Northeast Passage, as was WWF Arctic Programme Director Neil Hamilton for much of the trip, replaced near the end by WWF polar bear coordinator Geoff York. On the ‘Silent Sound’ Cameron Dueck of the Open Passage Expedition is filing regular stories from the Northwest passage. Come back for photos and stories throughout the summer, and follow the progress of the boats as they follow in the wake of some of history’s most intrepid explorers.
By Geoff York
Midnight and it is time for my first watch with Captain Anders. The crew rotates in the wheelhouse every 4 hours and we have the quiet early morning and mid day shifts. As I am already jetlagged from travel, it is actually a good chance to start a new schedule. The night is overcast and we are cruising through light swells that gently rock the boat. The boat is heading NE towards the New Siberian Islands that separate the Laptev and Chukchi Seas. It is twilight and we are just far enough from shore that it is invisible to our passing. The morning passes without incident and I am soon asleep in my forward berth after we hand off the watch at 4 AM.
I awake to the smell of lunch and stagger up top for a coffee before my next watch at noon. The water temperature has dropped in the past 7 hours from 5.8 to 2.5 C. We soon see why as a patch of drift ice appears off the bow and to the north. We are also back in the clearer, cooler waters of the Laptev and away from the fresh water influence of the Lena River. The bits of ice quickly fades and we are back to cruising open water.
Open water as far as the eye can see in all directions. This is remarkably different from my first boat trip in arctic waters during the summer of 1991. I was working a small research vessel in the Beaufort sea north of Alaska looking at the use of near shore waters by adult and juvenile fish. The pack ice was never more than 3 miles from shore and impeded our ability to access certain areas, even trapping us in a bay for 17 days. Now the Beaufort sea is open water much like the Laptev and other arctic seas. These same Beaufort waters, once inaccessible to even small boats, are now undergoing seismic exploration for oil and gas, and active planning for offshore development. Access is no longer an issue. Good news for industry hoping to exploit these new regions, but bad news for the wildlife and people that rely on the sea ice ecosystem as their habitat fades away.
Well it is my turn to make dinner tonight, so I had better start making preparations to feed this hungry crew of 8 guys: whitefish from Tiksi in a red curry sauce. As the temperature remains cold, appetites should remain high!
Northeast Passage: Landing in Tiksi
This summer, WWF is helping support two expeditions that will take on some of the world’s most difficult waters, to see first-hand the effects of Arctic climate change. One expedition is sailing across the top of Russia, a journey of 6000 nautical miles through the Northeast Passage, while another is attempting a west to east transit of the Northwest Passage, also by sailing boat, a journey of about 7,000 nautical miles.
Tom Arnbom of Sweden was on the ‘Explorer of Sweden’ though the Northeast Passage, as was WWF Arctic Programme Director Neil Hamilton for much of the trip, replaced near the end by WWF polar bear coordinator Geoff York. On the ‘Silent Sound’ Cameron Dueck of the Open Passage Expedition is filing regular stories from the Northwest passage. Come back for photos and stories throughout the summer, and follow the progress of the boats as they follow in the wake of some of history’s most intrepid explorers.
By Geoff York
Following three flights and two long stopovers, I finally lumber into a cloudy, wet Tiksi in a packed plane. Staring at the pile of unsecured baggage to my front and side, it is one of the few landings I feel like clapping for. It is all self service in the North, so I wait with the plane load of passengers as two people start to hand out bags. I quickly spy two men in the blue expedition gear, our leader Ola Skinnarmo and the famous Russian arctic explorer Victor Boyarsky. Following a warm welcome, we are off to “town”.
Tiksi is a Soviet era settlement on the eastern side of the Lena delta. In its heyday, it was a community of 15,000, but now is closer to 3,000. Many of the large concrete buildings are empty and boarded over. You can feel the uncertainty of the place. The surrounding landscape is attractive and familiar to my Alaskan eyes: rolling tundra hills, river, and ocean. I am very glad to be here as it has been only a plan, a word, until today.
We change vehicles in town and join three very friendly men who will help us with some final provisioning: local reindeer and whitefish. Following a short drive into what looks like an old barracks, we stop in front of a wooden shed. Inside is a stump with a broad axe stuck in it, another door, and a very modern digital scale. Behind the interior door is a series of corridors that are cut into the permafrost hillside.
The floor and walls become ice and we find ourselves in one of the local “freezers” replete with fish and meat – a technique the Inuit have used for generations. A quick, but fascinating look into local life and I can’t help but think of climate change again. Warming temperatures are already thawing permafrost around the Arctic, putting centuries-old traditions like this at risk of failure within my lifetime.
The port is quiet save for the loading of scrap iron of which there is plenty in the area. Our new friends drop us at the waiting Explorer where I meet the rest of the crew and quickly the boat. Within an hour of arriving, I am oriented, unpacked, and we are under way.
Northeast Passage: Our polar bear expert joins the expedition
This summer, WWF is helping support two expeditions that will take on some of the world’s most difficult waters, to see first-hand the effects of Arctic climate change. One expedition is sailing across the top of Russia, a journey of 6000 nautical miles through the Northeast Passage, while another is attempting a west to east transit of the Northwest Passage, also by sailing boat, a journey of about 7,000 nautical miles.
Tom Arnbom of Sweden was on the ‘Explorer of Sweden’ though the Northeast Passage, as was WWF Arctic Programme Director Neil Hamilton for much of the trip, replaced near the end by WWF polar bear coordinator Geoff York. On the ‘Silent Sound’ Cameron Dueck of the Open Passage Expedition is filing regular stories from the Northwest passage. Come back for photos and stories throughout the summer, and follow the progress of the boats as they follow in the wake of some of history’s most intrepid explorers.
By Geoff York
WWF senior programme officer for polar bear conservation, Geoff York, with a polar bear cub
So begins my small part in the 2009 expedition to successfully sail through the Northeast Passage, retracing the route of the famous explorer Nordenskiöld. I am replacing Neil Hamilton, director of the WWF Arctic Programme, and plan to go on with this blog as the journey continues across the Laptev, Chukchi, and Bering seas!
I am the senior programme officer for polar bear conservation at WWF, and a long time Alaskan. My entries will often reflect back on matters relating to arctic wildlife and the people who rely on this resource for their livelihood and culture. This is my background, the lens from which I view this amazing part of the world we call the Arctic.
As I depart Moscow for Yakutsk, I am anxious to be in Tiksi. The boat has waited an extra day for my arrival as I was delayed by paperwork and the crew a bit ahead of schedule. I know they will be ready to keep moving east as the summer quickly draws to a close in the far North. It will take nearly nine hours of flight to reach Tiksi by tomorrow evening, and I will begin this adventure with a good dose of jetlag.
Even though temperatures are beginning to cool, the sea ice will continue to melt through mid September, and it is melting fast. From 2005-2008, temperatures in the central Arctic were 5 C above the level expected. The summer sea ice extent has decreased by 40 percent since the 70s, forcing walrus to abandon prime feeding areas and leaving polar bears to choose between a summer on the distant ice or on land, neither of which is their preferred habitat (more on that later). Significant permafrost, ice sheet, and glacial melting have also already taken place. These changes are driven by greenhouse gas emissions – a byproduct of our modern lives.
Due to the reductions in sea ice extent driven by climate change, it is now possible to challenge the Northeast Passage by small sailboat without the support of an icebreaker. This is perhaps one of the last times such an expedition will be a real challenge. In the future, the melting ice will make sailing through the Passage easier and easier, and not just for small boats. Decreasing sea ice extent and thinning of the ice will open up the Arctic for unprecedented increases in transport, tourism and resource development in this vulnerable region.
As I race to meet the crew in Tiksi, I know we are all also in a race for the survival of our planet as we now know it today. In a few short months, the nations of the world will come together in Copenhagen to negotiate a new deal on climate change. This will be a crucial first step of many needed to ensure we collectively and quickly reduce our green house gas emissions, aggressively develop renewable sources of energy, and challenge ourselves to live sustainably in all aspects of our lives. Much like our sailing expedition, this will require careful planning and there will be many uncertainties along the way. Stabilising the global climate will require extraordinary commitment by all of us and it will not be easy.
I hope you will join me on both adventures starting today.
Northeast Passage: Reflections
This summer, WWF is helping support two expeditions that will take on some of the world’s most difficult waters, to see first-hand the effects of Arctic climate change. One expedition is sailing across the top of Russia, a journey of 6000 nautical miles through the Northeast Passage, while another is attempting a west to east transit of the Northwest Passage, also by sailing boat, a journey of about 7,000 nautical miles.
Tom Arnbom of Sweden was on the ‘Explorer of Sweden’ though the Northeast Passage, as was WWF Arctic Programme Director Neil Hamilton for much of the trip, replaced near the end by WWF polar bear coordinator Geoff York. On the ‘Silent Sound’ Cameron Dueck of the Open Passage Expedition is filing regular stories from the Northwest passage. Come back for photos and stories throughout the summer, and follow the progress of the boats as they follow in the wake of some of history’s most intrepid explorers.
By Neil Hamilton
Google Map showing the location of Tiksi, a port settlement in Bulunsky Ulus of the Sakha Republic, Russia
This will be my last blog from ‘Explorer of Sweden’ as I leave the boat tomorrow morning at Tiksi, and will be replaced by Geoff York a day later. I thought therefore that I should reflect on what I have seen and learned, and what lessons others may find useful.
The trip has been easier than I expected, much easier. Some of this can be put down to the professionalism of Ola and the team, but the reality is that we have had dream conditions. The sea has been completely calm (so calm in fact that we could not sail for much of the way and had to use the motor), the weather warm (we had days of 15 degrees at 75 North!), and there has been only one short episode of sea ice. This has added up to a much more relaxed trip that anybody anticipated.
The amount of ice we have seen so far is exactly what I had anticipated, a short traverse across Cape Chelyuskin. This is a massive tragedy: The entire expanse of the Barents, Kara, and Laptev seas is completely ice free this summer. We are certain to come very close to breaking the all time record low of 2007 that shocked the world. I hope this puts to rest, at long long last, the spurious and unsupportable claims of the sceptics once and for all. It’s too late for obfuscation and ‘half truths’ now, we have a real challenge to address.
Beyond the sea ice, we have also seen unmistakable evidence of the effects of melting permafrost where we landed, the landslides, slips, and coastal erosion all exposing huge slabs of underground ice. I expect Geoff will see a lot more of this as the boat proceeds westwards.
The arctic seas are much, much emptier than I expected. You really feel alone! If you exclude the Barents sea, there simply is no shipping beyond a couple of coastal supply ships, two ice breakers, a tiny number of research vessels, and the Norilsk nickel transport form Dudinka. Oh yes, and the eight private vessels making the transit of the North Esst Passage this summer. This lack of shipping partly reflects the vast unpopulated spaces of the Russian north, but also the fact that this is a ‘new sea’: a place where shipping could not pass on a systematic basis until now. When you look at the maps and charts, the settlements are many many hundreds of kilometres apart, and when you land you know that you are a very long way from anywhere.
Finally, I feel optimistic that we can make a difference to whate is happening here. The damage can be repaired, the ice can return, if we reduce carbon emissions at home. The consequences of failing to do this break my heart. The Arctic is the greatest wake up call we have ever had.
Northeast Passage: The Laptev Sea
This summer, WWF is helping support two expeditions that will take on some of the world’s most difficult waters, to see first-hand the effects of Arctic climate change. One expedition is sailing across the top of Russia, a journey of 6000 nautical miles through the Northeast Passage, while another is attempting a west to east transit of the Northwest Passage, also by sailing boat, a journey of about 7,000 nautical miles.
Tom Arnbom of Sweden was on the ‘Explorer of Sweden’ though the Northeast Passage, as was WWF Arctic Programme Director Neil Hamilton for much of the trip, replaced near the end by WWF polar bear coordinator Geoff York. On the ‘Silent Sound’ Cameron Dueck of the Open Passage Expedition is filing regular stories from the Northwest passage. Come back for photos and stories throughout the summer, and follow the progress of the boats as they follow in the wake of some of history’s most intrepid explorers.
Google Map of the Laptev Sea
By Neil Hamilton
Now that we are ‘on the road’ again I can give you some impressions of the third legendary sea we are travelling through, the Laptev Sea. It is named after Dimitry Laptev, one of the leaders of the famous Russian Great Arctic Expedition. Lying between the Taimyr peninsula and the New Siberian islands, the Laptev is, like the Barents and the Kara, part of the huge Russian arctic continental shelf. It is also, like the Kara, shallow (we haven’t been through water deeper than 25 metres yet!), and very, very empty.
This is one of the remotest places you can be. To the south lies the Sakha Republic / Yahkutia, the biggest and least inhabited part of Russia; to the west the Taimyr peninsula (which is complete wilderness); to the north, nothing but ice. We are aware of two seismic survey vessels but to our knowledge there are no other ships in the entire sea.
The Laptev is also a bit different for us, too. For the first time since leaving Murmansk we have an ocean swell, up to 2 metres high. It gives the ‘Explorer’ a pleasant new motion, but makes keeping things on the table pretty interesting. It also brings new weather for us: having basked in 15 degrees on the Taimyr, we now have zero degrees: the swell comes straight from the North! At least the sun is shining and visibility is good, which is critical for us as there are big logs in the water.
Where do these come from? My legendary river, the Lena. We are travelling eastwards towards the delta of the river that brought me here in the first place, from which a constant and enormous supply of timber is delivered into the arctic ocean. It travels with the trans-polar drift westwards, ending up on the coast of Svalbard and northern Norway. An incredible thought.
My part in this amazing expedition shortly comes to a close, as I leave ‘Explorer’ and her crew in Tiksi, on the eastern margins of the Lena Delta. Geoff York, WWF’s polar bear coordinator, takes over shortly afterwards and will continue this blog.
Northwest Passage: Halfway home
This summer, WWF is helping support two expeditions that will take on some of the world’s most difficult waters, to see first-hand the effects of Arctic climate change. One expedition is sailing across the top of Russia, a journey of 6000 nautical miles through the Northeast Passage, while another is attempting a west to east transit of the Northwest Passage, also by sailing boat, a journey of about 7,000 nautical miles.
Tom Arnbom of Sweden was on the ‘Explorer of Sweden’ though the Northeast Passage, as was WWF Arctic Programme Director Neil Hamilton for much of the trip, replaced near the end by WWF polar bear coordinator Geoff York. On the ‘Silent Sound’ Cameron Dueck of the Open Passage Expedition is filing regular stories from the Northwest passage. Come back for photos and stories throughout the summer, and follow the progress of the boats as they follow in the wake of some of history’s most intrepid explorers.
By Cameron Dueck
Silent Sound may be halfway home, but we’re now entering some of the most treacherous waters in the Arctic as we sail past the graves of those who died seeking this passage hundreds of years ago.
Silent Sound left Cambridge Bay on Thursday morning, and we’re now nearing Gjoa Haven on King William Island. Victory Point is where Franklin’s men left their last note in a cairn before stumbling on through the snow, eventually succumbing to cannibalism and a cold and miserable death.
None of that for us, I hope. We have about 4,600 nautical miles behind us, with some 4,000 miles left to go. The journey has become more difficult in the past week, but nothing to match the hardships of true explorers. We had some engine trouble in the week before reaching Cambridge Bay, and that meant our whole visit was taken up with greasy work deep in the bilges as we remounted the engine.
We added to our woes by running aground as we came into Cambridge Bay, giving us a forced seven-hour time out as we waited for the tide to lift us. A humbling experience, but thankfully there was no serious damage.
The men who left their names on the bays and islands around us battled winter storms and scurvy to stay alive; we battle to keep our laptops charged GPS working. Same place, different time.
The crew of Silent Sound have been reflecting on those differences in recent weeks as we’ve dropped anchor in increasingly remote communities and marvelled at how past traditions and the reality of 21st century life come together.
Online social communities are a huge hit, and a we’ve seen grandmothers put down the traditional skin clothing they are sewing to have an online video chat with their grandchildren thousands of miles away. Yet, we have also been struck by how the land and its wildlife permeate all aspects of life. Hunting still rules the calendar for many people here, and we’ve benefited from their success as we’ve left every port with a fridge full of game. Those that do hold regular 9-to-5 jobs drop their work and pick up their rifles when the summer beluga migration begins or they spot a herd of caribou.
Those hunters have been extremely generous in sharing their game with us, giving us a welcome break from our dry provisions of beans and pasta.
We are not the first to rely on the Inuit for fresh meat, but while early explorers left with their holds full of furs and lands claimed for their king, we leave each port with new Facebook friends and a better understanding of how climate change and modern conveniences are changing the face of Inuit culture.
Northeast Passage: Weather or climate?
This summer, WWF is helping support two expeditions that will take on some of the world’s most difficult waters, to see first-hand the effects of Arctic climate change. One expedition is sailing across the top of Russia, a journey of 6000 nautical miles through the Northeast Passage, while another is attempting a west to east transit of the Northwest Passage, also by sailing boat, a journey of about 7,000 nautical miles.
Tom Arnbom of Sweden was on the ‘Explorer of Sweden’ though the Northeast Passage, as was WWF Arctic Programme Director Neil Hamilton for much of the trip, replaced near the end by WWF polar bear coordinator Geoff York. On the ‘Silent Sound’ Cameron Dueck of the Open Passage Expedition is filing regular stories from the Northwest passage. Come back for photos and stories throughout the summer, and follow the progress of the boats as they follow in the wake of some of history’s most intrepid explorers.
By Neil Hamilton
We have been anchored for a day in the calm and beautiful Bukta Pronchishchevoy, basking in 15 degree temperatures and bright sunshine. It’s ideal for filming the rarely seen Laptev walrus (which Frederik is doing) and adjusting to the 6 hour time change between Murmansk and Tiksi which we chose to’ implement’ on ‘ship time’ here.
Such amazing weather here, plus the ice we encountered in the Vilkitsky Strait around Cape Chelyuskin, prompted several questions from the crew about how we can say that climate change is affecting the Arctic. Couldn’t it just be natural variations in weather?
The answer isn’t simple: first you need to understand the difference between climate and weather. Someone once said to me that “climate is what you want, but weather is what you get”. In other words weather is what actually happens on a given day, whereas climate is the long term average of weather over say 20 or more years. I’m sure you ‘know’ what the summer is supposed to be like at your home, or favourite beach holiday place: in a sense that is climate; but what actually occurs this year at that place is weather.
In the Arctic there is no doubt that the climate is warming. It’s warming faster and further than anywhere else on Earth. From 60 degrees North (that’s south of Oslo!) to the Pole, the annual average air temperature has risen more than 2 degrees above the long term average. There is absolutely no question that Nordenskjold, Nansen, and all the other explorers undertook their expeditions in a much colder climate than we have. Seasonally it is now also much warmer, particularly in autumn. And some places in the Arctic, like the region we are entering now, are warming faster than other places.
But the Arctic has another attribute you don’t see in many other places: sea ice, which plays a dramatic role in both weather and climate. Sea ice forms in winter and covers much of the arctic ocean, and more than half of it melts each summer. The amount that is melting however is increasing dramatically, a fact we know from satellite imagery. What we experienced at Cape Chelyuskin was the sea ice equivalent of ‘weather’: a small (well, relatively speaking!) stream of ice broken off the pack around Severnaya Zemlya and pushed south by the wind. I would have been very surprised if there had been no ice there at all, as this is the northernmost continental point on the planet.
This is part of what I explained to my colleagues on the boat, together with an explanation of how we know what is natural and what is man made climate change. But that can wait for another blog.
Northeast Passage: Walrus 1, Bear 0
This summer, WWF is helping support two expeditions that will take on some of the world’s most difficult waters, to see first-hand the effects of Arctic climate change. One expedition is sailing across the top of Russia, a journey of 6000 nautical miles through the Northeast Passage, while another is attempting a west to east transit of the Northwest Passage, also by sailing boat, a journey of about 7,000 nautical miles.
Tom Arnbom of Sweden was on the ‘Explorer of Sweden’ though the Northeast Passage, as was WWF Arctic Programme Director Neil Hamilton for much of the trip, replaced near the end by WWF polar bear coordinator Geoff York. On the ‘Silent Sound’ Cameron Dueck of the Open Passage Expedition is filing regular stories from the Northwest passage. Come back for photos and stories throughout the summer, and follow the progress of the boats as they follow in the wake of some of history’s most intrepid explorers.
By Neil Hamilton
The amazing sight of 5 polar bears waiting around a large Laptev walrus rookery has given way to a more analytical look at what is actually happening there. We have noticed that almost all the bears are in relatively poor condition, and appear to be injured. What is going on here?
It’s pretty difficult to tell without spending a lot of time here or examining the bears more closely, which I certainly don’t want to do: a safe polar bear is one that is a long way away! But it is possible to piece together at least parts of the puzzle.
Firstly, we know that as a result of climate change there is no sea ice for many hundreds of kilometres from here. It now melts early, and returns late each year. That means that there are no ringed seals (the main food of the polar bear) around. The bears have probably been trapped at the coast since the sea ice disappeared in June or early July, wandering around looking for anything they can scavenge. They are faced with the inevitability of spending the next few months with no reliable food source. We know from several studies that bears in this position lose huge amounts of body weight, which translates directly into reproductive success: less weight, less surviving cubs next year.
Secondly, we know that a fully grown walrus is more than a match for a bear. I’ve seen many accounts of walrus fighting off bear attacks, and anyone who works on walrus can tell you how fast they can move when they want to. They might look like bags of blubber on land, but those bags can move like a rocket over short distances. And in water they are even more dangerous, thinking nothing of attacking a Zodiac. They are not known as ‘the hippo of the Arctic’ for nothing.
Thirdly, the injuries to the bears looked like puncture wounds, and several were in pairs about 30cm apart. many were on the back or the hind quarters of the bears, leaving substantial blood stains on the fur.
I’m sure you’re getting the picture by know. Starving bears, a walrus colony with young, and not a seal in sight. It might not be McDonalds, but the possibility of some tender young walrus just could be worth a tusk or two in the rump.
That’s climate change in the Arctic.