Cape Farewell Youth Expedition 2007

Wed 19th Sept, 10am GMT (11am UK)
Watch Amy’s video diary, direct from Ny-Alesund, Svalbard (duration: 1:13 mins). Thank you for all your initial questions! If you are a pupil at Moorhead join Amy online for a quick QA at 10.40am GMT (11.40am UK).
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Hello all,

It’s been a while as we have mainly been on the boat or a glacier and no where near a computer, let alone internet connections! Mobiles don’t work up here as their are no masts, which is good as they would interfere with the research scientists satellite uplinks and other equipment. A LOT has happened since I last wrote anything on my blog, we arrived at Ny Alesund on Saturday afternoon, and spent the evening getting ourselves sorted out. On sunday we went to the Kinsfjord glacier for a reccy and to experiment with makiing artworks from natural materials. As we were walking up the glacier, which was very slippy, I fell backwards, which was quite funny fr about two seconds until my camera fell onto my eyebrow and split open, blod was dripping in my eye and all over the ice, which looked quite cool once I had got over the shock. Christain, the guide who protects us from Polar Bears and provides us with fascinating info and facts about Svalbard (he is a DUDE!!) rushed over and checked my injury out, he says I’ll probably have a scar. Currently have a very nice black eye!!! The kids were great and they were all really concerned, they are such a great bunch of people who are working so well together and doing so much great stuff, it is an inspiration to work with them!

I am soooooooooooooo glad I bought the Arctic weather boots as they have kept my feet seriously warm, wellies just would not have done the job. It is pretty cold here, though today it’s not so bad, I think it’s about 2 degrees celcius, has been minus 5 and with the wind chill factor it gets really cold!!!! We saw a reindeer yersterday, in London, we visited an island called Blomstrand which used to be part of the peninsular when it was attached to the mainland by glacier, however because that has now retreated it is no longer part of the mainland. London was a small mining community, on Blomstrand, that didn’t fare too well and is now just rusting ruins. The reindeer was casually grazing on the sparse foliage and was not that bothered by our presence, we also saw a seal last night, it was in the water so I not sure what type it was. Lots of birds – gulls, guillemots, sandpipers and types of finches. It is really beautiful and peaceful here, I don’t want to come back to smelly, crowded London!

Being here has really brought home the impact we are having on the planet and how fragile life is, we are doing so much damage and not that many people seem to care, it makes me really sad and scared for the future!!

Gotta get off now as live blogs are happening, will try and speak soon!!!

Jess xx

So I’ve now seen my first reindeer up close and personal!!! We were hiking on one of the mountain slopes when we came across a reindeer. It was grazing on vegetation…not really bothered by our presence. These animals are not migratory and not really social animals, therefore you will hardly ever see them in groups. So far, we’ve seen two reindeer and they were both alone.

We found out yesterday that dwarf birch is now being found on Svalbard. A species, which normally grows at or near the treeline in the Arctic. Its presence on Svalbard would generally indicate that the climate has warmed enough to have a change in plant species composition in this part of the Arctic. I cannot imagine what this area will be like 15 years from now. Will we see trees? If so, how will this affect the herbivory patterns of the reindeer?

We spent the day looking at zooplankton under the microscope to see whether there are any changes in the zooplankton communities in a site far from a glacier (more saline) vs a site closest to a glacier (less saline due to an input of fresh water in the ocean). We are still on the hunt for results!

Read more as the das pass…we only have one more full day in Ny Alesund before we sail back to Longyearbyen.

So far, it has been an adventure of a lifetime…

Hello again, Sorry about the problems on the blog, it was a problem with the host of the website.
The first days in Ny Alesund have been great! Ny Alesund is a scientific research community which we are docking at for the next few days. The water here is wavy because weather is getting rougher.

Yesterday we went back to the glacier that I shot my video next to, we didn’t walk on it this time but we created a brilliant piece of art using the ice. We made a sort of wall with a seat in the middle, it’s hard to explain but it was incredible. While we were doing this we saw a huge piece of ice break off the glacier. The noise that it made was thunderous!

Today we went to London; it’s an island just off the shore of Ny Alesund. When we went up to the top of the first hill on the island we saw a reindeer. It was incredible, we went within a few metres of it and it just briefly looked at us and carried on eating the plants there. To those that asked I’m working on the bangin’ arctic tunes.

Suba Subramaniam worked with the students to create a group dance/movement piece this afternoon. See the images below of the students practicing the dance piece and an image of the final piece. More soon…

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How’s it going? Have been having an amazing time, sorry I couldn’t do the live blogging yesterday- the website wasn’t working. Ny Alesund is the most northerly town in the world- and at the moment probably the quietest- it almost feels deserted although quite a lot of research etc. goes on here. I hope you saw my video that was posted yesterday- if you did you would have heard me talk about the glacier we saw crumbling- yesterday afternoon an even bigger bit broke off and now there is a massive great chunk of ice sitting in the sea which wasn’t there two days ago. The face of the glacier has changed so much in the 3 days we have been here- it is scary how much to think it will have changed in a year’s time. What is even more scary is the noise the ice makes as it breaks- like thunder- and the way the water erupts in a huge wave and floods onto the beach.

We also completed our group art project yesterday- an arrangement of ice and ice sculptures in shapes, walls and balances- the piece was all about balance and hopefully you will see some good pictures of it soon. Everyone worked together to complete it and it took a while- it was such a sense of achievement to finish it and to see what we had created.

Today we were doing a dance piece in a place called ‘London’ on an island called Blomstrand- it was a very reflective piece of Indian movement and we were all spread out on the rocks down to the beach – it should be pretty awesome to watch because we were all moving together and with this beautiful background behind us- it was a very peaceful and relaxing thing to do but just a little bit cold!- I couldn’t feel my toes at the end even though I had 8 layers and about 3 pairs of socks on!

Hope you’re all good, thanks for all your comments and sorry I can’t answer them all!

Love Nonie xx x xx x xx

P.S. My big toes misses you too thank you Kate and Emily! !
And Gaby you don’t get Eskimos in the Norweigan Arctic!

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Latest images from the Arctic.

Amélie’s Live Arctic QA Archive

Tues 18th Sept, 4.30pm GMT (now over view the arctive below)
Following Amélie’s video diary broadcast she was online live from the Arctic for 30 minutes. View the transcript below.
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Tues 18th Sept, 4pm GMT (12noon Montreal)
Watch Amélie’s video diary, direct from Ny-Alesund, Svalbard. (Duration: 1:35 mins)

Thank you for all your initial questions! If you are a pupil at Chambly Academy join Amélie online for a quick QA at 4.30pm GMT (12.30pm Montreal). Follow the link below!
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Join Josef’s Live Arctic QA

Tues 18th Sept, 10.30am GMT (11.30am UK)
We hope you enjoyed Josef’s video diary broadcast direct from Longyearbyen. Josef will be online live from the Arctic until 11am GMT (12noon UK) to hear your responses and to answer any more questions. The live QA will take place on this page, just follow the instructions below and use the comment box to join in.
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