Cape Farewell Youth Expedition 2007

Hey ppl,
The adventure is coming to an end but the story will go on. The memories I’m bringing back will inspire many to the reality we are living in. Through this expedition I’ve experienced so much. My plankton research was really interesting, and I will continue to analyze my data once I get home, so that I can complete my conclusions. Planktons are fascinating creatures and like I mentioned before, I will be using their shapes and colors to create my mural.

I managed to get some really beautiful pics of planktons that are really bright, colorful, and vibrant. These photos were taken by a scientist that worked in The Kings Bay MarineBiology Lab in Ny Elesund. Dan the scientist who was aboard with us taught us so much about all aspects of features that the team and I have a more open minds about our surroundings.

I will forever remember.

We were there to learn, we were there to research, we were there to experiment and in the end we did conquer!

I will keep blogging to resume the whole expedition.

Keep blogging.
Peace, ¤Amelie¤ TTYL (talk to you later)

Tears on the ice!!

It’s our last day and we are currently in Longyearbyen Skole, one of the teachers -Hilde- has kindly let us in!! We are waiting to be picked up and taken to the airport and our flight leaves at 2 ish. I have had the best time ever!!! I have learned so much and had so many amazing experiences that it’s going to take months to write it all down and create all the art that I have been inspired to make! The students have been totally awesome, from getting great Amy love to learning about Canada from Shona, Amelie and B. They worked so hard on all their projects, group and individual, science and art, they were fantastic!!!!!!! As were the crew and the education team, I feel priviliged to have worked with all these fantastic people!! Yesterday T4 filmed us coming into port at Longyearbyen after a long night sailing down here from Ny Alesund it was a very rocky sail and no-one got much sleep!!! My watch (team 3 superstars Shona, Jethro and Franzi) contemplated mutiny and sailing off into the sunset so we never had to come home, our plans included cabin boys and sirens on deck and night raids on Longyearbyen for food and supplies!!!

We have left the ship and said our goodbyes but are currently all still together, I know there are going to be lots of tears when we all split up at Heathrow! I am REALLY going to miss all these wonderful people and this wonderful land, Svalbard is a fantastic place, really beautiful – the reality of what we are doing to the planet and how fragile it really is, we are damaging it so badly and have lost our respect for the balance of nature, we all need a wake up call before its too late!!!

Will post lots of photos on my return, have loads  and loads!!!!

See ya, Jess xxxxx

This is goodbye to Svalbard.

Speeding up and down the River Thames seems like years ago, I remember meeting everyone for the first time in London and nobody knew anything about anyone else on the trip. Now it’s completely different, it seems like everyone has known everyone for ages, it’s so relaxed. All of the wildlfe here has been amazing, we’ve been lucky to see a polar bear and we’ve seen seals, a puffin some walrus’ and reindeer.

It’s going to be strange going back to Frome, life is so different, I want to stay here for a little longer so I can try to see everything but unfortunately I can’t so goodbe to Svalbard, I’ll see everyone soon.

Jethro

This will be my final post since we are leaving today for London. It has been an incredible adventure so far. We have learnt so much…and I have enjoyed every minute of this amazing journey (even the cold nights). Our trip from Ny Alesund was quite rocky….someone left the bar fridge open and all of the pop cans rolled around the ship for hours on end….i thought the entire kitchen fell apart.

After hours of rocking back and forth….the ship settled and we rolled into Longyearbyen just after breakfast. We had one last night in Longyearbyen with the school kids…we played football for a few hours and had a blast.

The crew of the Noorderlicht arranged a really nice dinner for us…and we danced until the wee hours of the night.

We will shortly head for the airport and then we are off to London…this is the end of our climate change adventure….until next year.

Big thanks to everyone who followed the Youth Expedition and sent messages of support. The expedition may be back from the Arctic, but it doesn’t stop there… Use the menu alongside or calendar below to read the latest posts added since the expedition returned. 
Read all the latest posts > 

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Sunset in Ny-Alesund as the Youth Crew head back to Longyearbyen.

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Colin here. Can’t believe I haven’t had time to make a post till now! We are about to leave Ny Alesund and head south again. Akash is next to me doing the final live Q and A session before we set off. Thanks to Kathy Barber and all at Bullet, Jess at Big Heart Media, Hannah at Cape Farewell central , and particularly Base Commander Sverdrup Institute, Trond, Karl, Jack and all the scientists at the Norwegian Polar Instititute, we have been able to keep our site bubbling with blogs videos and posts. They have also helped us to see how real scientists work on climate change related isssues.

Look out for everyone’s Video 3s summing up what they have been feeling and achieving – also some stunning footage of everybody actually SWIMMING in the King’s Bay last night. Mad or what? Climate change is definitely biting if most people felt able to swim at latitude 78 degrees 56 minutes! Everyone says snow is very late this year. Usually they have a big snow fall early in September

Last night we were all out on the quayside quite late watching Dan prepare his latest sculpture -burning ice – a large iceberg which Joe and I helped him to fish out of the bay on Wednesday with the help of Capt Arne Christofer and the King’s Bay tug – (see the image bank)

We’re all looking forward to the football match with the youth club at Longyearbyen tomorrow ! We’re not looking forward to saying goodbye to this very special place where we have shared so much together and learnt a lot about each other and this precious world we share.

Keep looking out for those reports!

Make a difference!

Love and changes – The Cape Farewell Youth Expedition 2007 at Furthest North!

Watch Akash’s video report

Watch Akash’s video report broadcast direct from Ny-Alesund, just before the crew leave to return to Longyearbyen. Hear Akash speak about his art and science projects and how they have developed. (Duration: 1:25mins)

Watch Nonie’s latest video diary

Friday 21st Sept, 12noon GMT (1pm UK)
Watch Nonie’s second video diary direct from Svalbard responding to your initial questions. In this broadcast, just before the crew return to Longyearbyen, Nonie speaks about the collective art project, the communities in Svalbard, her projects and the answers she’s found during the voyage. (Duration: 3.50mins)

Use the comment box below to leave a message for Nonie, ask her another question or leave her a response to her video diary broadcasts.

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Join Akash’s Live Arctic QA

Fri 21st Sept, 10.30am GMT (11.30am UK)
Following Akash’s video diary broadcast he will be online live from the Arctic for 30 minutes to hear your responses and to answer any more questions. The live QA will take place on this page from 10.30am GMT onwards on Fri 21st Sept. To take part check back and follow the instructions below.
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