In Summary
by Sebastian Copeland
 The Canadian Arctic, more than anywhere else on Earth, shows direct signs of the effects of climate change. This was dramatically highlighted during our month long expedition by various dramatic developments. During our visit to the Ward Hunt ice shelf, it was revealed (thanks in part thanks to our findings and GPS coordinates!) that a four square kilometer chunk had permanently broken off. Additionally, in the same time period, the high risk of flash floods from the unprecedented thawing resulting from high temperatures forced the departure of many tourists visiting Baffin island. On our arrival in resolute on July 11th, we experienced a historical record high of 19C degrees (66.2F), which toppled the previous year’s record high on the same day of 17.5C. Climate change is a reality which faces and impacts the lives of every resident up here.
To symbolically summarize our experience, on the day of my departure from Iqaluit, Ola Johanessen, the Norwegian climate researcher, releases a provocative new report on the Arctic thaw stating that “ 90 percent of the decreasing sea-ice extent is empirically ‘accounted for’ by the increasing CO2 in the atmosphere’, adding that the Arctic ice cap will shrink “substantially faster” than was originally projected. The study was released by the Chinese Academy of Science.
In all, this was an extraordinary trip. Upon setting off on a journey of this nature, I have learned that the best that one can hope for is a smooth and safe passage, with the hopes that the experience will impact young impressionable minds with a message of personal accountability; and that their personal communion with this extraordinary landscape will stay with them forever. This is what happened to me. In the end, perhaps the best part of the experience was the human aspect and the relationship. Every child on the trip excelled in sometimes challenging situations of cancelled and delayed flights, not to mention camping environment sometimes inclusive of cold temperature, simple diets and various discomfort, and for some, a long way away from their parents or any familiar faces. The bonds that they created was, for me, the greatest gift.
A special mention goes to the adults: Luc, my partner, for his unwavering focus on managing complicated flight schedules; Matty, for her guidance, experience and high spirit; Brian for maintaining an upbeat approach and accumulating hours of in depth video interviews and spectacular footage soon to be assembled in the documentary The Young Ambassadors of the Arctic. And especially the mothers who came along on this adventure: Paige for her steady smiling, positive and unconditional support; and my friend and partner since the early stages of planning Nicole for her courage and strength. This trip would not have happened without their help.
Finally, and on behalf of the Pax Arctica team, a great debt of gratitude goes to Doug Cole and the HP team for their belief in the mission and their support in sharing it each of you. I hope the stories we brought back have done justice to the uniquely privileged experience we shared in the high Arctic.
See you on the next adventure!
Sebastian Copeland | My Overview
by Kuria (check out my full blog)
 First of all I want to thank Sebastian and our sponsors. I would also want to thank the group and everyone that taught me new things as well as the ones who learned along with me. I also want to thank Matty McNair for guiding us along and having a strong grip on holding her patience tight. This expedition pretty much put my life in order and on the path of who I really chose to become. I learned greatness is built by consistency, not by moment to moment. It definitely changed my life in a positive way. I wish we stayed in the high Arctic. Being able to see how us humans need to individually take responsibility of protecting the life cycle made me open my ability of spreading the message of trying to make this world a better place. | July 24, 2008--Ward Hunt Island
by Ainhoa (see my expedition blog)
 Once again, we thought we would be able to leave this morning but were wrong since the whole island was fogged in with ice fog. My dad still told the pilots to come to Eureka which is only about 1h30 minutes from Ward Hunt Island. We played Hearts a lot with Matty, Flaam, and Beth. Then the weather looked like it was clearing a little so we called the pilots and told them to fly over to see if maybe they could. So we packed up our bags and tents. We also put markers on the air strip so pilots could see it easily. But obviously, the plane wouldn’t land because there was too much fog. So we had to un-pack everything and set up all our tents again. Luckily, the plane was able to land somewhere only 21 kilometers away. Then we just had some dinner and after that the park rangers invited us to watch a movie in their hut. We watched A Mighty Heart. Then we played more cards and went to bed. | July 23, 2008--Ward Hunt Island
by Kuria (check out my full blog)
Today was a mellow very mellow day because we slept in after an exhausting day yesterday. We really didn’t do that much but as a group we picked up trash around the camp and that made me feel good deep down and boosted my energy up also. I decided to write a little positive message in the outhouse that said: :If everyone would do a little bit of cleaning up, the world would be a better place”. I love to try and make a difference in this world even by writing a little message like that really motivates me to clean up more and do as much as I can. |  Today Beth had a really hard time waking up. After breakfast we went for a walk to the ice shelf we can see from the back of the camp. We walked for about 3 or 4 hours in the slushy snow. We stopped for lunch (well, cheese and crackers once again) when we couldn’t go any further: we had reached a huge crack! It was about 100 feet wide. There was also a seal in the water. After lunch we started walking back to camp when we encountered another crack. We took photos with the sponsor flags. At each crack we would take the GPS points and photos to send to the climatologist Derek Mueller. Everybody’s boots were soaking wet so I was thankful that I had rain boots! The way back was much shorter. I talked with my dad and sister.
| July 22, 2008 -- Ward Hunt Island
by Beth (see my trip diary)
 This morning was SO horrible! I did not want to wake up! I had such a bad sleep. Then we went for a walk on the ice shelf to look for the cracks. In the beginning I was so tired, I had no energy at all. I had spotted an enormous crack from a distance. It took forever to get there. Once we got there we had lunch. After lunch, we took pictures with the sponsors flag. Well, the Global Green USA, Global Green France, Pax Arctica, and Explorers Club. On our way back, I had more energy. Plus I was talking to Matty. I talked the whole way back with her. It was really nice to talk to her. Now we just got back, and they are making dinner. Night night. XOXO Beth
| July 21, 2008--Ward Hunt Island
by Ainhoa (see my expedition blog)
This morning, one group took the Twin Otter back to Resolute Bay. Now we are 9. After they left, we had breakfast, then went to talk to the Park rangers for an orientation. Next we climbed up the red mountain and got a good view of the whole island. Then we hiked up another hill that was right behind it. We went down to a part of the ice shelf and walked on it a little. We didn’t see the big crack but maybe we will tomorrow. Then we walked back to camp which is basically walking across the entire island, pass the lake. We had some lunch, then relaxed, took naps. Once I woke up from a nap, my sister and I went to the lake to get fresh water. Tomorrow we will go on a different area of the ice shelf to see the bigger cracks. Also, Zepher is being a bad dog and ate Matty’s tent up. The plane will probably come back Wednesday to take four of us to Mount Barbeau, then take the rest to Resolute. | July 19, 2008--Otto Fjord
by Sebastian Copeland
I wake up at 8AM to get Luke up for our daily call to Ken Borek for an update on weather and planes to Ward Hunt Island. The island is especially relevant to our mission as it holds the largest remaining ice shelf in the Arctic and large cracks have been recently observed foretelling its coming demise. As I step out of my tent, a family of snow geese replete a dozen chicks in tow stroll by the water’s edge. I have time to throw boots on and a fleece (I am in my underwear!) and grab my camera. I sneak up on them and manage to steal a few shots as they all move to the water and climb on and off the many ice patches parching the surface. That is until I run out of space on my camera flash card! And I am too far from my tent at this stage to run there and back. Oh, well: a nice break from shooting icebergs! Temperatures are frigid, especially half dressed and I crawl back into my sleeping bag just in time to realize that I am freezing. Soon a downpour turns to snow and sleet. A sheet covers the tents and everyone sleeps in. We will have covered all conditions! By mid-day, the sun comes out blasting strong rays across the fjord. A Canadian air force Twin Otter lands by us. They come back from Ward Hunt Island where the conditions today are clear! We plan for a pick up mid-day and keep our fingers crossed. Our wait here might come to an end. An afternoon hike up the surrounding hills reveals the unique scope of the fjord’s vista. Otto, like Disco Bay in Greenland, is unique in that its two glaciers pour directly into the water releasing icebergs like an ice cube dispenser! There will be no late night shooting today off the boat as the ice patches make navigating the fjord impossible. Unless tomorrow proves different, I feel that this could well be be the last time I have such autonomy shooting icebergs from the water in the Arctic. It is 12:30AM, chilly (about 0C degrees) and I am spent. Mask on! | July 18, 2008--Otto Fjord
by Kuria (check out my full blog)
These are some of the things I learned from a friend as well as one of my role models, Sebastian, about religion. I learned about Protestantism founded by Calvin and Luther who went on exile in Switzerland and rejected the corrupt catholic church of their day. This morning after we had breakfast, we walked along the shore by where we camped at. We were taking tons of pictures of icebergs as they slowly flipped one after another. I would never imagine myself anywhere near and that’s what makes it so much more exciting and fun. It’s very hard to explain the feeling you get but what happens is your heart starts feeling really warm with positive rich vibes that keep your mind clear and helps you concentrate and think about your personal weaknesses as well as remembering your loved ones back home. It’s a really special time, believe or not it feels like therapy. After a couple of group pictures, it started drizzling lightly. But I didn’t want to go back in my tent. So I kept going along with Sebastian. Sebastian has really caught my attention with his knowledge and has showed me advice that will definitely beat down negative peer pressure. He was talking to me about how to avoid negative peer pressure; the meaning and understanding of religion, and different dynamic of law. Sebastian also showed me and taught me the right way of being a young leader. I sincerely appreciate his effort and also just who he is.
Wild life seen: Wooley bear; white rabbit. | July 17, 2008--Otto Fjord
by Ashley (more from Ashley)
Dear journal, we woke up late except for my family tent. We woke up late because someone threw up (Ewwwwww!!) Then we heard today was the day we were hiking to the huge glacier which looked like a five minute walk. (it was so dumb). We started walking; it was not so bad until the glacier started moving away! (I thought) I was totally exhausted by the time we stopped for lunch. My knees were throbbing from pain. By the time we got to it it was late. It took us six hours to walk there, plus there was this river you had to cross to get to the glacier and had to go knee deep in the water. I had my hiking boots on and didn’t want to get wet, so I said I want to go down there and Matty said it was head high so I decided to stay back and not get wet. But a little bit of land went down and I fell in! You don’t know how mad I was at Matty. I was so mad because Matty told me to go the wrong way. My hiking shoes were soaping wet. I took the foot thing out ,and I was so mad I forgot it. I was leaving because I was so mad that nobody came to help. When I left my inside foot thing, I can never wear them. Plus they were extremely expensive. On the way back from the glacier, Matty was really nice. Beth caught up and made up a funny song, and we sang it at the top of our lungs. We had a blast!! Then Kuria was carrying another Ambassador on his shoulders and met up with us. By the time we got home it was soooo late. We ate and went to bed!!
PS I bet Flam had the worst birthday! | July 15, 2008 -- Resolute
by Beth (see my trip diary)
We went to Beechey Island today! I have worked there before but in the spring. It is really nice there! At Beechey Island is a sight where Sir John Franklin had stopped to camp. He was an explorer from the British Navy in 1845 (?) He was looking for the Northwest Passage! He is really interesting because during the mission, all of his crew were dying of lead poisoning from eating out of their canned food. From that, his crew of 129 men men rapidly died and they disappeared throughout the journey. Today, scientists and many other people are still trying to find the ship and the people. It is nice scenery at the island. OMG, we saw a dead polar bear! It was really sad! Well, we’ve been waiting five days now for the weather to clear to go up to Ward Hunt Island! It is getting pretty boring. All my good friends/best friends are on vacation :+(( But hey, Flaam’s birthday is in two days!! |
July 14, 2008--Resolute
by Ainhoa (see my expedition blog)
This morning we woke up early to finish packing our bags and load the truck. Then we went off to the airport. But unfortunately we got bad news that we had to return to the hotel and check back at the airport at noon because the weather at Ward Hunt Island was terrible. We went back to the hotel and hung around, played cards. At noon, my dad and Sebastian went to the airport and came back with more bad news that we wouldn’t be able to leave at all today. So that afternoon we played more cards and games. After dinner, we were able to go and meet a famous French photographer named Yann Arthus Bertrand. He is famous for taking pictures from the sky, from helicopters. He was staying in a hotel nearby. He showed us a preview for his movie coming out in June 2009. It’s called “Home” and the preview was really cool with lots of amazing images from 50 countries. The message of the movie is to warn people about global warming. Then we came back to the hotel and went to bed. | We woke up relatively early today. We had to prepare all the luggage fro the trip to Ward Hunt island. First of, we took out all the food, separating breakfast food (oatmeal, hot chocolate etc) from lunch (cheese, power bars, nuts) and dinner (pasta, soups). We also had to separate the food into 12 days, 9 for the expedition and three extra “safety” days. Finally by noon, that was over, we spent the afternoon lounging around. We visited an archeological site, where the Thule people made houses [600-800 years ago]. Later on, we each had to individually pack. Around 5:30 we ate dinner and at 6 we flew in a Twin Otter to Arctic Watch on Somerset Island, about 20 minutes away. From there we took ATV’s to the water where we saw the Beluga whales up close! There were about 500 of them. The adults are white, the teenagers grey, and the babies black. I had never seen a Beluga whale before (except in a zoo). Sebastian, my dad and Nicole flew over the whales with a helicopter. Finally we finished packing and went to bed. | | |
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