This summer, WWF is helping support two expeditions that will take on some of the world’s most difficult waters, to see first-hand the effects of Arctic climate change. One expedition is sailing across the top of Russia, a journey of 6000 nautical miles through the Northeast Passage, while another is attempting a west to east transit of the Northwest Passage, also by sailing boat, a journey of about 7,000 nautical miles.
Tom Arnbom of Sweden was on the ‘Explorer of Sweden’ though the Northeast Passage, as was WWF Arctic Programme Director Neil Hamilton for much of the trip, replaced near the end by WWF polar bear coordinator Geoff York. On the ‘Silent Sound’ Cameron Dueck of the Open Passage Expedition is filing regular stories from the Northwest passage. Come back for photos and stories throughout the summer, and follow the progress of the boats as they follow in the wake of some of history’s most intrepid explorers.
By Cameron Dueck
Silent Sound completed her epic voyage through the Canadian Arctic on October 10, four months and four days after slipping her moorings in Victoria, BC. It was a cold day with pouring rain when she pulled into Halifax Harbour, but there was still a crowd of family and friends waiting to welcome us ashore, reminding us of the community that has formed around the Open Passage Expedition.
We sailed 8,100 nautical miles, or about 15,000km, and spent two of our four months above the Arctic Circle. We spent on average more than four days a week at sea throughout the entire summer. We ran into ice, storms and days without wind that left us frustrated and behind schedule. But numbers and facts and logbook entries will never be able to tell the real story of this voyage of discovery.
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This summer, WWF is helping support two expeditions that will take on some of the world’s most difficult waters, to see first-hand the effects of Arctic climate change. One expedition is sailing across the top of Russia, a journey of 6000 nautical miles through the Northeast Passage, while another is attempting a west to east transit of the Northwest Passage, also by sailing boat, a journey of about 7,000 nautical miles.
Tom Arnbom of Sweden was on the ‘Explorer of Sweden’ though the Northeast Passage, as was WWF Arctic Programme Director Neil Hamilton for much of the trip, replaced near the end by WWF polar bear coordinator Geoff York. On the ‘Silent Sound’ Cameron Dueck of the Open Passage Expedition is filing regular stories from the Northwest passage. Come back for photos and stories throughout the summer, and follow the progress of the boats as they follow in the wake of some of history’s most intrepid explorers.
By Cameron Dueck
There was more sea ice in the Arctic this summer than in the past two years, contrary to early spring ice forecasts and the longer term trend of melting sea ice.
“Arctic ice is holding in there, with about 20 percent more than in 2007,” Dr Humfrey Melling, a research scientist with Canada’s Institute of Ocean Sciences, told me.
The National Snow and Ice Data Center, a US body, said ice extended just shy of 2 million square miles (5 million sq. kilometres). That is 620,000 square miles (1.6 million sq. kilometres) less than the 30-year average. But there was more ice this September than the record low set in 2007 – about one-third of a million square miles more (2.6 million square kilometres). Last year ranked No. 2.
Ice forecasts early in the year had pointed to conditions that could match those of 2007 and 2008 when vast areas of sea ice melted, leaving the Northwest Passage open.
“Last winter there was an El Nino effect, which meant a colder winter for much of Canada, and the Arctic was very cold. This created thick ice which took longer to melt,” said Bruno Barrette, an ice expert aboard the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Sir Wilfred Laurier. He added that temperatures have remained below average during spring and summer. The Coast Guard invited us onboard for a lovely Sunday lunch while we were in Gjoa Haven, and the visit included an ice briefing.
A report from the Nansen Centre said that in the first half of August ice melted more slowly than during the same period in 2007 and 2008 due to a atmospheric conditions that transported ice toward the Siberian coast and discouraged the southward drift of ice from the Arctic Ocean.
“Therefore there will be no new record minimum in September 2009, but the minimum summer ice extent in 2009 will still be much lower than the 1979 to 2000 average,” the report said.
The Canadian Coast Guard was called upon to assist the sailing yacht Fiona in Peel Sound after the ice closed in on her and raised the boat clear out of the water. The German-flagged Perithia, surrounded by ice, had a polar bear walk up to the boat and try to enter the cockpit. Other boats were pushed onto the beach or had to wait for days for the ice to clear out of their way. Silent Sound was lucky … we had to change our sailing plans , port calls and time schedule to allow for the ice, but we escaped unharmed and completed the passage as planned.

This summer, WWF is helping support two expeditions that will take on some of the world’s most difficult waters, to see first-hand the effects of Arctic climate change. One expedition is sailing across the top of Russia, a journey of 6000 nautical miles through the Northeast Passage, while another is attempting a west to east transit of the Northwest Passage, also by sailing boat, a journey of about 7,000 nautical miles.
Tom Arnbom of Sweden was on the ‘Explorer of Sweden’ though the Northeast Passage, as was WWF Arctic Programme Director Neil Hamilton for much of the trip, replaced near the end by WWF polar bear coordinator Geoff York. On the ‘Silent Sound’ Cameron Dueck of the Open Passage Expedition is filing regular stories from the Northwest passage. Come back for photos and stories throughout the summer, and follow the progress of the boats as they follow in the wake of some of history’s most intrepid explorers.
By Cameron Dueck

The first time I saw one I couldn’t believe my eyes. I checked the charts, looked through the binoculars and asked the crew to double check what I was seeing.  A small island had suddenly grown by a few hundred metres, towering high on the horizon miles away.
Then I looked in the other direction and saw more strange sights. Ice floes that wobbled and jumped. Buoys that stood taller than the mountains on the shore.  Bits of ice that stood impossibly high in the water, weaving dancing in the distance. They were mirages on the arctic horizon, and they have become an everyday part of our sailing life.
They can make navigation tricky, as they make things appear far larger and closer than they really are. A low lying island which you expect to be 10 miles away suddenly looks like a mountainous bit of land a few miles distant. Thin ice floes can suddenly look like massive icebergs, making it hard to decide in which direction to sail when you are trying to pick your way through the sea ice.
Dr Chris Pielou, our scientific advisor, told me the Novaya Zemlya Effect happens when a layer of cold air is trapped between warm air above and below it, over a large area.  Light rays become trapped in the layer: once in it, they are bent back upward if they enter the warmer air below, and are bent back downward if the enter the warm air above.
The effect was first recorded in 1596, near the island of Novaya Zemlya in the Siberian Arctic. The image of a ship appeared just above the horizon although it was known to be about 400 km away. We’ve been experiencing the same effect on nearly every sunny day. Another example of the effect is that the sun appears above the horizon earlier than the Nautical Almanac tells you it should.
So, if we tell you we’ve seen ice stacked a thousand miles high and mountains shaped like an hour glass don’t blame us, blame the cold air.

This summer, WWF is helping support two expeditions that will take on some of the world’s most difficult waters, to see first-hand the effects of Arctic climate change. One expedition is sailing across the top of Russia, a journey of 6000 nautical miles through the Northeast Passage, while another is attempting a west to east transit of the Northwest Passage, also by sailing boat, a journey of about 7,000 nautical miles.
Tom Arnbom of Sweden was on the ‘Explorer of Sweden’ though the Northeast Passage, as was WWF Arctic Programme Director Neil Hamilton for much of the trip, replaced near the end by WWF polar bear coordinator Geoff York. On the ‘Silent Sound’ Cameron Dueck of the Open Passage Expedition is filing regular stories from the Northwest passage. Come back for photos and stories throughout the summer, and follow the progress of the boats as they follow in the wake of some of history’s most intrepid explorers.
By Cameron Dueck
Shortly before Silent Sound set off for the Canadian Arctic last spring the region’s seal population made the headlines.  The European Union banned seal products, angering Inuit hunters and artisans and prompting Canada’s governor general Michaelle Jean to skin one of the creatures and eat a piece of its heart raw to show solidarity with the Inuit. 
As we’ve sailed through the western Arctic and now the central Arctic we’ve seen thousands of seals. In areas where we see no other wildlife we’re still certain to see a seal or two bobbing about in the water, quizzically watching us sail past. They’ve certainly livened up some tedious watches as I’ve stood at the helm.
We’ve eaten seal a few different ways on this trip. Our first taste was barbequed seal ribs, and we’ve since tried it dried and sautéed. I don’t like it dried, but it’s tasty – like liver –when it’s cooked right. I’ve also tried on some of the mitts and boots made from seal skin. The fur is deliciously soft and warm.
They’re cute, they’re harmless, and they’re a key part of the Inuit traditional diet and culture. And there are heaps of them left. The political hijacking of their seals has come up in conversation with several Inuit, and they seem pretty united in their response. Which, in brief, is “Piss off!”
One old timer who invited me into his kitchen for tea lamented the confusion over the seal clubbing ways in parts of eastern Canada and the way he and his fellow hunters dispatch their prey. “We shoot them, we don’t club them, and if those people from down south would come up here I’d show them how we  do it,” he said, nearly spilling his tea as warmed up on the issue. He also offered a few simple but drastic measures to quiet the criticism, but I’m sure he didn’t really mean them.
In Holman (aka Ulukhaktok) we watched a grandmother, her daughter and toddler granddaughter flense a pile of seals caught by the men in their family. It was bloody, dirty work, and the grandmother admitted that few of the younger generation were interested in doing it. However, there was also an every day practicality about what they were doing that both showed respect to the animals and underlined the necessity of these activities in their life.
It’s odd to see so many seals along our route, both ringed seals and bearded seals, and think that elsewhere in the world, where they know little to nothing about seals, these creatures are creating such passionate debate. By coming to the Arctic this summer and weaning myself off daily news I feel I’ve missed out on the seal debate. Instead, I’m in the home of the seals, and watching how they play an integral role in the diet and life of Inuit.

This summer, WWF is helping support two expeditions that will take on some of the world’s most difficult waters, to see first-hand the effects of Arctic climate change. One expedition is sailing across the top of Russia, a journey of 6000 nautical miles through the Northeast Passage, while another is attempting a west to east transit of the Northwest Passage, also by sailing boat, a journey of about 7,000 nautical miles.
Tom Arnbom of Sweden was on the ‘Explorer of Sweden’ though the Northeast Passage, as was WWF Arctic Programme Director Neil Hamilton for much of the trip, replaced near the end by WWF polar bear coordinator Geoff York. On the ‘Silent Sound’ Cameron Dueck of the Open Passage Expedition is filing regular stories from the Northwest passage. Come back for photos and stories throughout the summer, and follow the progress of the boats as they follow in the wake of some of history’s most intrepid explorers.
 
By Cameron Dueck

Silent Sound has spent the last few days dodging ice along the coast of Victoria Island. The Arctic may be warming up rapidly but there’s still enough ice to make the captain of a fibreglass boat very nervous. We have spent a lot of time sailing through 20 to 30 percent ice cover since leaving Holman.
It’s a stunningly beautiful sight. The water is a deep blue, and the ice a brilliant white. As we approach the small ice bergs and floes we can see the underwater ice shining a bright aqua blue … pretty but deadly. We’re also seeing a lot of seals on the ice. This morning we rudely awoke a fat bearded seal that was sunning himself on a floe, and he took off into the water with a resounding plop as we approached. Hunters have repeatedly told us that where there is ice and seals, there are polar bears, but we have yet to see one.

File photo of a bearded seal. Photo: WWF-Canon / Sindre Kinnerod

This summer, WWF is helping support two expeditions that will take on some of the world’s most difficult waters, to see first-hand the effects of Arctic climate change. One expedition is sailing across the top of Russia, a journey of 6000 nautical miles through the Northeast Passage, while another is attempting a west to east transit of the Northwest Passage, also by sailing boat, a journey of about 7,000 nautical miles.
Tom Arnbom of Sweden was on the ‘Explorer of Sweden’ though the Northeast Passage, as was WWF Arctic Programme Director Neil Hamilton for much of the trip, replaced near the end by WWF polar bear coordinator Geoff York. On the ‘Silent Sound’ Cameron Dueck of the Open Passage Expedition is filing regular stories from the Northwest passage. Come back for photos and stories throughout the summer, and follow the progress of the boats as they follow in the wake of some of history’s most intrepid explorers.
By Cameron Dueck
When Silent Sound entered the Work Boat Channel of Herschel Island, we were expecting a day or so at anchor at a quiet historical site, perhaps with a hunting party or two in the area. How little did we know. Herschel Island was a booming community of some 25 souls by the time we left two days later, most of them scientists who paced around the island looking very serious in their Gore-Tex clothing with clipboards clenched in their hands. They’re all there because Herschel is an easy place to come and see how climate change is affecting the arctic ecosystem.
Besides the scientists, we met the Mackenzie family, who have been living on the island for generations and now use it as their summer hunting camp.
Herschel Island was a key harbour for whaling ships 100 years ago. It then became an important RCMP outpost before being abandoned, and then becoming a national park. Meeting the Mackenzie family was great luck on our part, as they have generations of oral history on the place.
Marjorie Mackenzie was born in the old family log cabin, where the extended family was now staying with a brood of children. The area around the cabin was busy with wheelbarrow traffic as the kids hauled each other around camp and a jumble of mattresses laid out to air, fishing nets, knives, guns, coffee mugs, toys and scraps of firewood. But in order to get to all that you had to cross a swampy bit where the seawater was creeping up over the land.
“It’s just getting a lot warmer. There’s more water right by the house here, this bit of water right in front used to never be here,” Marjorie said.
Herschel Island is slowly sinking because its permafrost is melting. Chris Burn, of the Department of Geology at Carlton University and one of Canada’s pre-eminent permafrost experts, happened to be visiting the island, as he has done for decades.
“We know there has been a 2C warming of the permafrost in the last century, its harder to know how much of that has occurred in the last 50 years because of the data we have to work with,” he said. “This is happening because of higher air temperatures at the surface.”
At 15m below the surface the permafrost is now –8C, while it slowly gets colder downward from there.
“We know that it is definitely warming to 42m, but surface temperatures suggest that measurable temperature change is penetrating to 80m,” he said.
“Think of the amount of energy needed to input to warm that amount of mass, all that soil, to that extent.”
Burns said the biggest impact of melting permafrost in the Canadian Arctic will be the higher cost of maintaining an building municipal infrastructure for the many small, scattered communities. With taxpayers facing the bill for this, the problem will likely dwarf into a political hot potato before it gets solved.
“Can we reconcile ourselves with the rising cost of northern life, which takes place in a transition area for climate change,” he asked.

This summer, WWF is helping support two expeditions that will take on some of the world’s most difficult waters, to see first-hand the effects of Arctic climate change. One expedition is sailing across the top of Russia, a journey of 6000 nautical miles through the Northeast Passage, while another is attempting a west to east transit of the Northwest Passage, also by sailing boat, a journey of about 7,000 nautical miles.
Tom Arnbom of Sweden was on the ‘Explorer of Sweden’ though the Northeast Passage, as was WWF Arctic Programme Director Neil Hamilton for much of the trip, replaced near the end by WWF polar bear coordinator Geoff York. On the ‘Silent Sound’ Cameron Dueck of the Open Passage Expedition is filing regular stories from the Northwest passage. Come back for photos and stories throughout the summer, and follow the progress of the boats as they follow in the wake of some of history’s most intrepid explorers.
By Cameron Dueck
Silent Sound is at anchor in Barrow, Alaska, America’s most northerly point
and one of the front lines of the battle between oil companies and citizens
concerned about the side effects of oil and gas exploration.
Barrow is the administrative centre of the North Slope Borough, which of
course includes the Prudhoe oil and gas facility and other North Slope
fields. Exploration has become the bread and butter of this area, but with
it have come a whole host of worries that Barrow scientists are trying to
address.
Heightening the concerns for residents is the fact that a large percentage
of the Inuit living here remain subsistence hunters, and they rely on the
animals and land around them for food.
“The mayor is opposed to some of this further development, but it is in
federal waters, and it is coming. What we’re trying to do is get more
science done,” said Karla Kolash, special assistant to the mayor of the
North Slope Borough. “We don’t think and oil spill can be cleaned up in
these weather and ice conditions up here.”
Bowhead whale and caribou populations are two of the more important species
for local hunters, and in both cases there is concern that exploration
activity affects their migratory habits.
Oil and gas exploration is ramping up in Canada, and Alaskans say that
communities across the border could learn something from their experiences.
“Stay involved, do what you can to be in the decisions making process,”
Kolash said. Our fear is that one day they’ll just run right over us.”
Scientists here are increasingly combining traditional science and knowledge
gathered from hunters and elders and combining this with scientific facts to
get a fuller picture of the wildlife.
At the Ilisagvik College, sitting on a windswept spit of land that protects
a shallow lagoon just north of town, much of the work focuses on wildlife
research and preservation and finding out how modern human activity affects
the Arctic environment. Even as they study the negative effects of oil
exploration, funds that come in from selling these exploration rights are an
important source of funding for their research.
Cyd Hanns is a research assistant who spends much of her time looking at
contaminant levels, a concern in the Arctic because ocean currents deposit
pollutants in the North.
“We’ve begun testing in particular the parts of the animals that people here
eat,” Hanns said.