Cape Farewell Youth Expedition 2007

Fri 21st Sept, 10am GMT (11am UK)
Watch Akash’s video diary, direct from Ny-Alesund, Svalbard (duration: 1:05mins). Thank you for your initial questions. If you are a pupil at Villiers join Akash online for a Live Arctic QA at 10.30am GMT (11.30am UK). Follow the link below!
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Fri 21st Sept, 9am GMT (10am UK)
Watch Jethro’s latest video diary, direct from Svalbard (duration: 2:45mins), one of the last for the Youth Voyage, and find out what’s been going on up there. If you are a pupil at Frome Community College join both Jethro and Keith Brindle both online for a quick QA at 9.30am GMT (10.30am UK). Follow the link below!
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Jethro and Keith Brindle’s Live Arctic QA Session

Friday 21st Sept, 9.30am GMT (10.30am UK)
Following the new video diary from Jethro, he and Keith Brindle will both be online live from the Arctic for 30 minutes to hear your responses and answer questions. The live QA will take place on this page on Friday 21st September at 9.30am GMT. To take part check back and follow the instructions below.
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Yesterday I went in to the Arctic sea which was about 3 degrees

Bye

I need to do glacier work Shona and Nonie are telling me to get off

Yep. that’s right…we all went swimming in the nordic sea last night….the temp was around 3 degrees celcius. our toes were frozen by the time we got out…and we were only in there for a few seconds!

today is our last day in Ny Alesund. The weather is incredibly nice again…just a few clouds. A group went up to the weather station this morning….hopefully they got a nice view of the landscape.

 We sail today for Longyearbyen at noon….we will be doing night watches in 2-hr sessions again to help the captain sail the boat. this will be tirying but exciting at the same time.

We collected climate data yesterday all day from 7am until 9pm. the students drew out this data with chaulk on the dock…and i plan to climb up the crow’s nest to take a photo and film it. should be fun!

This is my last blog until we reach Longyearbyen. It has been an adventure….I don’t want to leave this beautiful place but I guess all things must come to an end.

ciao!

Today has been a tiring but successful day. I was able to talk to talk to Dr. Jack Kohler about all the data we took yesterday and the data that has been collected over the last 40 years or so. All of the data was very interesting and I learned a great deal. Jack was very kind and I have a very high respect for him and his work. I was able to ask a lot of questions about the effects of climate change may be having on glaciers. He didn’t give me an exact answer but he explained all the factors that can influence a definite answer and makes it quite a hot topic between scientists. But he was able to show us all the trends over the last years and it can be concluded that over the last 7 years the mass balance has been very negative and the glaciers have been losing even more water than ever before. Glaciers are fascinating geography; they are so complex and intricate natural wonders. I want to learn as much as I can about them and continue to study them. I am really looking forward to doing all the mass balance calculations for myself and to work with the numbers and be able to see and understand the science for myself. I am also excited about showing all the data to the students back at Heritage.

The end is near and I can feel that everyone is looking forward to going home but at the same time there is a quite gloomy atmosphere because none of us really want to leave. We are all looking forward to getting home and sharing our experience with everyone and to start the process of getting people involved and interested (well I know I am). I don’t want to leave this place. The atmosphere here is so pure and real. The land is virtually untouched but yet the effects of mankind can be seen immediately. It will be difficult to adjust to life back home, things that I took for granted or seemed normal might seem absurd or irrelevant. But I hope that this feeling doesn’t die away and that I will be able to hold on to it for as long as I can.

Love and miss you all,
Shona x

Oh my word!!!

Keith started a very mad trend yesterday by runnning into the sea with his shorts on, he stayed in for a few seconds and then ran out straight into a bundle of towels to warm up. We all followed suit in groups and it was absolutely freezing, you went numb in seconds, I don’t think I have ever been that cold in my life, at the same time it was very exhilarating!! WOW!!! Apparently the beach we ran into the sea from is called Palm Beach, as the scientists set up trees on the bach in the summer! Will blog more later!

Cheers, Jess xxx

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Finally managed to cast an eroded piece of glacial ice, something that Heather and I have wanted to do since we first saw them, but found difficult due to the nature of the materials. Any casting material needs to be warm to set and ice melts when a warmer substance is placed on it. This time using snow print wax (used to lift footprints or car tyre tracks from snow by the police) seems to have done the trick; it forms an insulating layer between the ice and the warm plaster mix. This mould is now sitting over the washbasin in our bunk with a small hole at its base through which the melting ice is dripping. I’ll bring back the negative form to the UK and then hopefully be able to cast this into glass; rendering permanent something so transient. 

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Images: Dan Harvey with ice before casting (above) and casting the ice on the deck of the Noorderlicht (below).

Just found an image I took in 2004 of the glacier at the end of this fiord and have compared this to an image taken yesterday -hopefully these will be posted on web, the difference is obvious. Things here are changing fast! When outside day or night at least once or twice an hour you hear the noise like distant thunder as massive chunks of ice peel of the glaciers, the Kongsvegen glacier we were told is now moving at a rate of 2 meters a day!

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Kongsvegan glacier photographed in 2004 during the Cape Farewell voyage.

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Kongsvegan glacier photographed in 2007, during the Cape Farewell Youth Expedition.

I have been experimenting with inks on a cut block of ice reveling the small tubular holes that run deep within them like blood vessels. Will try tomorrow to push this work further and would love to understand the science behind these capillaries.

Had a great time hunting for the right block of ice on the second try we managed to lift it onto the small boat, felt far too heavy for the vessel but managed to get it back to harbor in Ny Alesund and then with the help of another crane from a lorry managed to lifted it up onto the quay – a beautiful piece of ice. Wanted to finally carve a clear ice lens but it has been so warm here that whilst carving its been cracking in the warmth, hope tonight to be able to pour water over it so that it becomes clear again then tomorrow if it is sunny… we’ll see if it will burn something….

If not I´m planing to set some ice on fire so stay posted for some flaming ice pics. of one sort or another.
 

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Hello all,

 Captain Blackeye here, eye is getting much better, going red and yellow!!! Went sailing around Blomstrand islan yesterday and I climebd onto the bowsprit (the long wooden arm at the front of the boat) – had to be hooked onto a harness, it was amazing, especially as we were hitting iceburgs and the boat was being rocked about, it was like surfing on a supersized surfboard. We saw a bearded seal lying on the ice and the captain (Gert pronounced Hert) took us as close as possible, it was great and I took some good photos with my new lens (thanks Mum and Dad!!!!). The guide (who is a total DUDE!!!) went up the mast to the crows nest and took some great photos! I got jealous so I went up to the crows nest this morning, took some good photos, got some good ones taken of me too!!! – whilst we were moored up, far less rocky, Christian (guide) went up whilst we were rocking about in the ice!!! It is really amazing here, everytime you turn around something new is in view, the sun changes the shapes and textures of the ice and mountains, sunrise this morning was absolutely fabulous!

Have set camera up on the dock taking timelapse of the sky and artists Dan Harvey making a sculpture from ice – I started at 7, Dan got up a wee bit later, it’s looking good so far – kids are helping out whilst I am at the Sverdrup institute writing this. Everyone in the Cape Farewell Youth expedition – including the Noorderlicht crew- are fantastic, so inspiring and amazing, I am having such a great time, I really do not wan to leave, it feels like we have been here for ages but also that time has flown by sooooooo quickly! I would love to say I have missed people, but it’s been to eventful and fantastic to have had time!!!