UPDATE: kayakers already “stuck” in ice at 80.52397 degrees N
I had this post up for all of an hour before this news rolled in from PolarDefense. Hat tips to Tom Nelson, who’s report is presented below, and to Brian Koochel in comments. – Anthony
“We’re stuck”
I have slept poorly. The floating ice, while thin, is so prevalent that, throughout the night, it grinds noisily against the side of the boat in a slightly alarming fashion – imagine someone scraping their nails across an old-fashioned blackboard.The then begins earlier than normal and, unusually, I am not woken by Robbie bounding into my room. Instead the ship’s engine roars to life earlier than normal – at around 5.30 – and the MV ‘Havsel’ begins to judder ominously. I clamber out of bed and scramble up to the bridge – all the ship’s crew are there, and they look serious. I look outside and I can see why. The sea is almost entirely congested with ice floes – I would estimate 80% plus of the sea is covered by them. There is a real risk that we could get stuck up here. We have drifted in the night into a much icier area than where we stopped last night. I wake up the team, and everyone groggily makes their way to the bridge. There’s a mixed reaction in the team to the prospect of getting stuck up here.
See the location on Google Maps, 80.52397, 12.21224
After awaking to find their vessel frozen in ice the team are steaming around looking for a path that’s navigable by kayak.
No paddling today.
At about 69 miles per degree of latitude, it would seem that they’re still 600+ miles from the North Pole.
My original post follows:
Place your bets now folks. If only Robert Peary could have had CNN tag along. – Anthony
Entries from Sam Branson’s Arctic diary – In the mirror.co.uk
My split feelings about this news remind me of another paradox of my expedition up here – the fact that I am spending my days paddling in ice-cold water, with a frozen, painful backside, trying to bring to the attention of the world and its leaders the necessity of stopping the world heating up.
[Sept 1:] Travel this morning was tough. The temperature has dropped dramatically and each time the guys get in the water in is a notch harder. We are starting to see larger chunks of ice, which instead of weaving through, they have to paddle around. The occasional chunk hits the bow of the ship sending small pieces out to the side into the route of travel for our paddlers. One nearly knocked Lewis of his kayak. The water is now below zero and a spill could be quite painful. The moving water by the feet of the guys has started to freeze and this could take a toll on their much needed warmth. I know that Robbie has been struggling with his toes.
…
[Aug 31:] The ship is noticeably colder and we are all wearing an extra layer. I have been on deck loading the kayaks and boats back onto the ship. The water soaked ropes seep moisture into your gloves and it saps the heat from my hands fast. I can only imagine what it is like for Lewis and Robbie holding on to a cold paddle with waves crashing over them. The first thing Lewis said when he got back in was ‘I can’t feel my backside!’
…
[Aug 28:] Some may know this place from the book ‘The northern lights’ by Phillip Pullman, where he calls it, ‘The land of the ice bears’. From what I’ve heard, this name could not be closer to the truth. The boat we are on has just returned from a trip in the ice and along the way they encountered eighty eight bears.
Gosh, that’s a lot of bears.
Just in case you might be thinking the two kayakers are doing this all alone, on a shoe-string budget, with only strength and determination….
Here is the support vessel: 300-ton fossil-fueled MV Havsel
Polar Defense writes: The support boat we loaded our kit onto is not the QE2. She is an old fishing boat called MV ‘Havsel’ – this means ‘ocean seal’ in Norwegian. She is a tough, grubby, working boat with a strengthened hull and a big engine for a boat of her size – she will perform very well up in the pack ice.
Thanks to Tom Nelson for references in this story
Now the summer melt is ending, a great idea for their next adventure would be an exact re-run of the famously successful Franklin Expedition (1845-1847) to navigate the Northwest Passage. Rather than unfairly using Inuit technology such as kayaks and parkas, they could rely on Victorian sailpower and sheer fortitude to get them through (no nasty CO2-emitting coal though, sorry.) The BBC could provide their environmental reporters, and I’m sure the Guardian and Independent could spare George Monbiot and Johann Hari to go along. Maybe James Hansen and David Suzuki could be persuaded to take part, too. It would be the environmental expedition of the century, and I’m sure we would wish them all God speed and bon voyage.
Ma:
As for why it wasn’t printed, I can’t answer for Anthony, but my thoughts are a link was provided and generally statements of the obvious aren’t worth posting. What would one expect as the ice reverts from its cyclic minimum? Thicker ice?
There is plenty of anecdotal evidence supporting similar artic ice reductions in the past. So evidence strongly suggests Arctic ice sheets grow and decline in cycles. Satellites have only been around since ’79 so we can’t compare the levels in detail. As AGW believers are fond of saying, 10 years isn’t long enough to determine a trend and they are right. Neither is 30.
The idea a few deg. upward shift will drive the melting of the ice sheets per say has always been a very poor argument for AGWers as far as I’m concerned. When 90% of floating ice lies underwater, the greater driver of melting has to be water temp. As I sure you know, the specific heat of water is much higher than air and the miniscule increase in global temp. isn’t going to significantly effect ocean water temp. a whole lot anytime soon.
As I’m sure you have read about the thermohaline circulation, I won’t go on about cold water pushing warm water north and declining ice means declining cold water pushing the supply chain, etc., etc. etc.
If you don’t agree with me, do a couple of personal experiments. When your house is at room temp, put an ice cube on a plate and time the melt. Then do the same on a nice warm day when the A/C is off and it is a few degrees warmer. You won’t see much melt time difference. Another fun thing to do is join a polar bear club. Even though the air temps are usually colder, people can stand in the air far longer than the water. You can do it on your own if you wish. Find a nice cold day around 32F or less and see how long you can stand out side in your shorts. Then fill your bathtub with ice/water, get in there and see how long you last compared to the standing outside. Don’t do it if you have a weak heart and if you do so, suggest you have somebody with you (preferably outside of the tub). Finally, don’t be a martyr and stay in longer just to prove a point. Hypothermia isn’t fun.
Love the bit on Google Maps – “Destination: North Pole
Follow Lewis Gordon Pugh’s journey by Kayak towards the North Pole” – note the “towards”.
Has anybody told them “YOU’RE GOING THE WRONG WAY!”?
Might save them a bit of time if they headed up the way.
When he unfreezes and returns to civilization, Sam Branson will be a walking laboratory for cognitive dissonance studies.
Any way of contacting these ducks? I would like ask them why they are interfering with the ecosystem, and weakening next years ice, by mixing heavier salty water with the lighter, relatively fresher water on the surface (by using the ships propellers).
Normally, just before freezing, heavier salty water gets denser, and sinks (driving the Halocline, BTW). This leaves relatively fresher water, plus fresher ice melt water, on the surface. Ice with lower salt is stronger, with fewer salt inclusions; and melts at a LOWER temperature than saltier water.
While its sounds trivial, the knock on effect may not be. Hundreds of ships crossing the arctic will leave thousands of linear km of weaker seams of salty ice.
RE: Darwin awards, here is one of the classics, called “The Bricklayer”.
http://www.darwinawards.com/legends/legends1998-08.html
I apologize that this is off topic, but if these Brits are intent upon paddling their way into the record books, they should know they are up against some pretty stiff competition.
I think I read the goal was to paddle north and place flags as far north as possible. (Read “Should he reach the North Pole, Pugh will raise 192 national flags to highlight how melting ice caps affects all countries.” news article)
They assembled flags yesterday, drilled holes in the ice and evidently flew them. post
Evidently, the forgot a Hungarian flag (Whoops!)
I don’t know if this is the official final end, or if this is just practice for the final. But maybe they already failed just as they hoped?
Off topic, but about the Antarctic. Going through NASA’s Earth Observatory records, I found that the Antarctic had cooled A LOT 1982-2004 (almost 4 deg C):
less cold 1982-2005 but still cool;
cool 1982-2006;
but then it even warmed up a bit 1981-2007.
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17257
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17698
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17553
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17838
Did the data change? A calibration?
Eyeballing it, it looks like a 4 deg C change in 4 years.
Wow! You get other posts from Somerset! Jock ward – check out last Wednesday’s Western Daily Press – I was invited to write an article on ‘have we got the climate wrong?’ – and earlier in the Central Somerset Gazette also – we are a hotbed of rebellion down here – George Monbiot eat your heart out! Next target is the Guardian and Independent – they used to publish my stuff, but have turned down every offer of an article on the power of natural cycles. It won’t be long.
The NAO and PDO have turned negative – once the warm water off Ireland goes – it’s heat is being sucked out at a rate by the shifted jetstream, we in Somerset will get our first cold winter for a long long time – we are getting the insulation done right now!
Eco fanatics leaving their mark in the form of flags? Proof they care little for the environment, just their own aggrandizement.
They have removed the link to the “We’re stuck!” entry from the front page of their site. Address still works however:
http://polardefenseproject.org/blog/?p=153
Nothing there for p=154 through 160.
I just read Lewis’ exerpt from Sept 3 titled, “the bear” and was compelled to share. I am sincerely getting worried they are at risk of becoming bear food. If for no other reason, can’t we call off this insanity in defence of our gentle polar bear friends?
“We are still struggling to get beyond 81 degrees north. The MV ‘Havsel’ continues to push east in the hope of finding a break in the ice so that Robbie and I can paddle further north. So far, to no avail – we are right up against the edge of the ice wall. My disappointment, however, is tempered by a special sight. Steinar spots an adult male polar bear out on the ice, a couple of hundred meters in front of the boat. For many of the team, this is the first polar bear they have seen outside of a nature programme on television. It is a magical moment – they are such wonderful creatures. This one looks at us with a degree of curiosity, stands up, sniffs the air, pauses; and then pads leisurely on. Polar bears are an extraordinary mix: although huge – adult males typically get to 400 kg – they are as graceful and nimble as a domestic cat. They are also frighteningly quick, both in and out of the water. You can forget outrunning them.”
Pugh’s video of last year’s swim just seems fishy to me. I must be
overly skeptical, but I’ve watched it several times. He makes a “test” swim a couple days before the Russian icebreaker reached the Pole itself, and the expanse of open water he swam in looks suspiciously like the last shots of the alleged Pole swim. Yet when they reach the Pole, they show only narrow open water, like what an icebreaker would make. The background looks suspiciously alike as well, with more than one ship in the background at both the test area and Pole. A publicity stunt for sure, but he couldn’t or wouldn’t have faked this swim at the Pole and got away with it, riding on a Russian icebreaker intent on claiming rights in the Arctic and setting a flag on the ocean floor, could he?
dipole (20:48:57) :
The links on the left seem to be the most recent. The “We’re stuck!” entry is the bottommost entry for Sept 3.
I think the “p” number includes the category an article is assigned to. I haven’t
investigated.
The odd thing is that UK ITV news were filming Pugh`s attempt, there was NO mention of Pugh in news at ten last night Sept 04, I think they have pulled the plug, shame, they should have stayed for the laugh.
[…] kayak – Google News wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt […]
I just checked http://polardefenseproject.org/blog/ – no news yet today. It’s almost as quiet as the Sun.
Maybe GISS’s August temps will liven things up.
[…] Read the rest of this great post here […]
But wait folks, we must all be wrong, I read it here ;-
http://www.itv.com/News/newsspecial/KayaktotheArctic/default.html
The National Snow and Ice Data centre says both the north western and north eastern passages to the North Pole are open
On the day before the trip’s launch, melting Arctic sea ice reached the second lowest level for thirty years
If the journalists at itv say there’s no ice, it must be right ok?
On the other hand, if there really is a book on this, I’ll give em another 48 hours, and they have to call it a day or they really will be stuck, and imagine the bad publicity of being rescued 1000 km from the pole. Oh the shame of it.
“We have now left the realms of the ice and are heading south to Spitsbergen”.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2008/09/01/sam-branson-s-arctic-diary-115875-20720564/
(link by Chris on ClimateAudit).
Further to my earlier look at itv journalism,
http://www.itv.com/News/newsspecial/KayaktotheArctic/default.html
this wonderful piece of journalism appears:-
“His journey will show how cracks in the ice have made it possible to travel through what used to be permafrost”
Gosh!
Slightly off-topic, but I wondered if Mr. Pugh’s support boat is the very same Havsel, “Norwegian seal-hunting vessel”, which sprang a leak after being pierced by an ice floe between Jan Mayen and Greenland in 2004? (see http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article786116.ece) If so, it doesn’t quite square with his stance of “integrity…total honesty and fidelity to the truth” on ecological matters, does it?
It’s bizarre but when you read Pugh’s site and Branson’s journal they don’t seem to have any recognition that their hare-brained adventure has been a complete failure. They are so pumped up with their own self-worth and self-righteousness that reality has no place in their minds.
I wonder how much this fiasco cost. At least, by giving up almost straightaway, they avoided the need to be rescued and put meaningful lives at risk.
“Slightly off-topic, but I wondered if Mr. Pugh’s support boat is the very same Havsel, “Norwegian seal-hunting vessel”, which sprang a leak after being pierced by an ice floe between Jan Mayen and Greenland in 2004?”
It is the very same vessel. You can also compare the photos for verification. Still the same colour as well.
“This will be one of the last team member portraits for this expedition. I wanted to save the Captain till around this point, as he is a special man. The Captain is called Bjorne Kvernmo, and the MV ‘Havsel’ belongs to him.”
Same seal hunting captain as well.