Another stupid polar publicity stunt – "Row To The Pole"

I thought when I saw the Catlin expedition and their faked biotelemetry on their website I had seen the epitome of stupid when it comes to polar publicity stunts. I was wrong.

Enter the new candidate:

Not only is it pointless, but misleading to nearly (see update below) the point of pushing a lie with the expedition name. Why?

Well you see they know they can’t make it to the real north pole at 90N, 0W, since there will be a formidable ice pack they won’t be able to row through. So what do they do? They aim for the magnetic pole and will tweet some caterwauling about the northwest passage being open (maybe) along the way.

Look at the proposed route:

I had to laugh though, when I clicked “The science” link on the homepage and read what the scientific justification was. Its as if nobody ever took salinity and temperature measurements in the Arctic before. Here’s what they say:

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A chance for gathering ‘world first’ data

The extreme weather conditions and its remoteness make field research in the Arctic difficult, so chances to gather data are relatively rare. That is why The Old Pulteney Row To The Pole voyage provides a vital opportunity to conduct much needed research.

David Mans, one of the crew, is an oceanographer and he will be leading the science programme to capture data on the open water crossed during the expedition. This will be first data captured from these waters and will provide a base line for all future studies.

Using specialist equipment, David will be measuring the salinity and temperature of the water at different depths. This data will then be sent to the National Oceanography Centre at the University of Southampton where it will help researchers piece together a more detailed picture of the changing Arctic.

Once processed, the data will be useful for modellers seeking to project the pace and pattern of changes which are likely to occur in the future: not only in the Arctic, but in other parts of the world.

How the research will be undertaken?

• Data will be collected every 10 nautical miles throughout the voyage.
• A small probe, is lowered into the water down to a depth of 50 metres
• The probe will be lowered over the side around 8 times a day
• The probe will measure the conductivity, temperature and depth levels of the water
• The probe’s readings will be recorded along with the exact location from the vessel’s GPS system at each sampling position

1. Boat GPS system accurately

   records the location.

2. The probe is lowered over the side of the boat

   on a line released from a drum.

3. As the probe descends it measures the conductance of the water,

   indicating salinity and records the water temperature at each depth.

4. The probe can take measurements every few metres

   down to 50 metres or more.

With temperatures down to minus 15 degrees Centigrade, this will be hard and sometimes painful work to undertake as wet equipment in these temperatures can quickly freeze over.

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Gosh, “data useful for modelers”. And how do they reconcile this statement on the science page:

With temperatures down to minus 15 degrees Centigrade, this will be hard and sometimes painful work to undertake as wet equipment in these temperatures can quickly freeze over.

With this one at the top of the very same science page:

This once ice locked destination is going through rapid change as Global warming brings a great thaw to the region.

Hmmm. Too much Old Pulteney when they wrote this?

With the ‘world first’ data, I suppose this means the data gathered by NOAA drifting buoys and webcams since 2002 aren’t useful for modelers?

http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/gallery_np.html

They actually start at the true North pole and relay thousands of data points as opposed to the few hundred points at best the row boaters might gather on the way to the magnetic pole.

In fact, there’s a whole bunch of satellite linked buoys in the Arctic operated by the US Military via the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory:

They measure data at depth too.

And then there’s the International Arctic Buoy Programme, which has a number of satellite linked buoys measuring sea water temperature and salinity, much closer to the actual North Pole:

So when the rowboat guys say:

A chance for gathering ‘world first’ data

I have to wonder what the “world first” aspect of the data is. It might be they mean this:

“Worlds first Arctic data gathered by a bunch of guys in a rowboat on a publicity stunt”

In case anybody thinks this isn’t a publicity stunt, meet the sponsor showcased on this page,    http://www.rowtothepole.com/the-whisky/    Old Pulteney:

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UPDATE: I didn’t see this, because I was focused on the route map,  but our sharp readers did. Not only is the expedition pointless, it’s now an outright lie. They aren’t even going to the North Magnetic Pole!

Under the route map, they say this:

The expedition to the Magnetic North Pole (as certified in 1996) will set off from Resolute Bay in July/August 2011, the crew plan to row for 450 miles before finally reaching the Magnetic North Pole at 78 degrees, 35.724 minutes North, 104 degrees, 11.915 minutes West.

From Wikipedia:

The Canadian government has made several measurements since, which show that the North Magnetic Pole is moving continually northwestward. In 1996 an expedition certified its location by magnetometer and theodolite at 78°35.7′N 104°11.9′W / 78.595°N 104.1983°W / 78.595; -104.1983 (Magnetic North Pole 1996).^[8] Its estimated 2005 position was 82°42′N 114°24′W / 82.7°N 114.4°W / 82.7; -114.4 (Magnetic North Pole 2005 est), to the west of Ellesmere Island in Canada.^[9] During the 20th century it moved 1100 km, and since 1970 its rate of motion has accelerated from 9 km/year to approximately 41 km/year, or 1.3 mm/sec (2001–2003 average; see also Polar drift). If it maintained its present speed and direction it would reach Siberia in about 50 years, but it is expected to veer from its present course and slow its rate of motion.

Even drunken sailors could get closer than this: