Disko Bay Expedition

Well….our forthcoming trip to western Greenland suddenly seems to be looming very quickly following the official launch at the Science Museum on Tuesday evening (16th)! Kindly hosted by Chris Rapley, Director of the Science Museum, Cape Farewell descended onto the IMAX Cinema with an assortment of artists, musicians and scientists.

David Buckland, the director of Cape Farewell and initiator of the program, introduced the forthcoming voyage before handing over to Dr Simon Boxall who spoke specifically about the science program. KT Tunstall then spoke about the personal drivers for her wanting to be involved in such a venture. We then opened the floor to a question and answer session, fielding a range of science and arts related questions, along with some invitations to speak at other events in the future!

I also spoke to a science writer from The Guardian, who is keen to follow up our science results following the voyage, a student who is keen to undertake work experience with BGS, a number of artists and film makers from previous voyages, and numerous supporters of our trip. The evening passed in a blur – so many people (estimates put the number attending at somewhere around 400 or so) to try and talk to and answer questions and concerns they hold regarding the trip.

The event for me represented the start of the run-up to the voyage, really bringing home what we are about to undertake. The container of science equipment has beaten us to it – arriving in the Arctic a few days ago onboard the Grigory Mikheev…..at least I’m hoping that we don’t open the container door and find a few thousand toothbrushes instead of my equipment! Although with 42 artists, even that would prove to be an interesting experiment! It also starts my blog, through which I hope to describe what Dave Smith and myself find through our seismic reflection profiling, and what Simon Boxall and Emily Venables discover through their CTD (Conductivity, Temperature and Density) profiling.

Here’s to a successful trip…………
Read more from Carol on the BGS Cape Farewell Blog ›