Cape Farewell Youth Expedition 2007

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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Keith in London, Svalbard.

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Anchored deep within the bay of Trygghamna, hugging the western shoreline about 200-300m offshore. Jozef, the student from the north of England and I were the first on deck. Incredibly peaceful, with clear skies and the waters around us reflecting the mountains with almost black mirror clarity.

Jozef spotted an adult reindeer on the shoreline. Though he is hard to see against the barren backdrop, he remains adjacent to the ships mooring. Others are now starting to get up and take photos of our first big sighting.

After breakfast we are going on shore for a walk around part of the bay with our guide Christian. We need to jump into an inflatable Zodiac to get from the Noordelicht to the shore, which will only carry 8 of us at a time. Christian will carry a gun, in the unlikely event of us meeting a hungry Polar Bear.

Around lunchtime we journey north to Ny-Alesund, a 20 hr journey along the West coast of Spitsbergen. A 3 hour watch has been organised to keep an eye out for wild life and any dangers. Everyone gets to do at least one night shift.

After about five hours from Longyearbyen on the 120ft schooner the Noordelicht we arrived tonight at the bay of Trygghamna. The water was still and peaceful throughout the journey.

After days on preparing, training and being shadowed by cameras in London and the long haul first to Stockholm, then Oslo, then Tromso, it felt wonderful to finally be on the Noorderlicht. The sense of relief once we started to moved through the waters and away from Longyearbyen was apparent by the quiet that passed over us all as we watched (and photographed) the mountains to the North and South, separated by the dark, still Arctic waters.

The Noordelicht is an amazing vessel with a crew steeped in as much history as the ship itself. Built in 1912, the original steel hull remains in tact, principally because it is thicker than the average schooner to allow her safe passage through the ice sheets she regularly navigated in her earlier days. The interior is wood throughout and though the cabins are small, they are comfortable. The cook, Anna, has a 3 m2 galley in which to muster up meals for the 19 of us from Cape Farewell and the crew of 5. The food I had this evening was easily the tastiest I’d had since leaving home in Frome; homemade soup, salmon and cheese and grapes to finish.

After about 2 hours on board, Doriana (one of the students from Canada) went along the bowsprit. With breathtaking confidence she travelled almost the full length of the 60 ft bowsprit without batting an eyelid. Not to be outdone I also gave it go. With nothing more than a flexible net underfoot I managed about 15 ft before turning back to the safety of the ships deck. Maybe tomorrow I’ll attempt to go a little further.

Before leaving Longyearbyen we visited the Cape Farewell school.

It has gone almost completed dark tonight. Last night a little light remained throughout…..I know because I kept waking up to look out of the hotel window at Longyearbyen.

New materials now available with ideas for ways your school can take part and be involved during the Youth Expedition. Click to view lesson ideas written by Jessica Burdett, Head of Art at Kidbrooke High School, who will be on-board the Noorderlicht during the voyage. Also find lesson plans by science teacher Keith Brindle, from Frome Community College, adapted from the OCR Scheme of Work, for the first GCSE Chemistry Module C1: Air Quality. 
Get lesson ideas and resources »

I’m trying to keep up with all the fascinating, challenging and often at-odds things I’ve heard about climate change over the last few days since joining the Cape Farewell Youth Expedition. Not that I’ve heard anyone deny the reality of climate change or man’s responsibility; just that the numbers, facts, predictions and consequences rarely seem to agree. One thing all have agreed on, whether it be Prof Mark Maslin from UCL and Director of The Institute of the Environment, Charlie Kronick the long-time activist and senior policy advisor on climate-change for Greenpeace, comedian Marcus Brigstocke, Dr Simon Boxall the eminent oceanographer from Institute of Oceanography in Southampton or the author Vikram Seth is that to tackle climate change mankind will need to use all it’s creativity, not just in science, but also in art, in it’s governance, through comedy, through commerce and through our individual stories.

Mark Maslin, who authored the acclaimed ‘Global Warming – A Brief Introduction.’ put the challenge into perspective by starting his talk on the science of climate change with ‘We cannot address the issue of future world climate change without also addressing the issue of current world poverty.’ Though rich in science content, Mark repeatedly challenged the notation of simply looking at climate change as solely a scientific issue, by pointing out the often devastating socio-economic or political impact of purely scientific responses to climate change…
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Keith Brindle (Science Teacher)
Keith, Science Teacher at Frome Community College in Somerset, will work with mark to provide help to the pupils with their science projects.