On May 19, 1845, Sir John Franklin, commanding HMS Erebus and Terror, left England to search for an elusive North-West Passage (see image). This was only the latest in a long series of expeditions stretching back 350 years, seeking a maritime route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through the Arctic. But this expedition was different from all the rest — both ships and 129 men vanished in the Arctic wastes. By 1847, there was growing concern for the missing expedition, and both overland and seaborne search parties were dispatched to try and find Franklin and his men. For over a decade, British and foreign expeditions combed the Arctic, first to rescue the explorers, and later to ascertain their fate. A document recovered in 1859 revealed that...

The days are rapidly becoming shorter and shorter as the polar night approaches. Our preparation continues for winter and today we began installing our hydroponics garden in one corner of the saloon. Kindly supplied to us by General Hydroponics Europe, this system promises to provide us with fresh veggies throughout the winter months. Not only giving us a good source of vitamins, it will also create a welcome winter activity. Gamet has already shown his green fingers by nurturing a variety of plants on board, including one rose that is about to flower, giving us a welcome burst of colour and life. We have also winterized our water maker this week as the temperature in ...

While many nations have awarded medals for Arctic and Antarctic exploration and scientific research over the last 200 years, Russia has also awarded special breast badges for these services. The tradition of breast badges dates back to the middle of the 19th century, when they were presented by military academies. Toward the end of the 1800s, all manner of badges were being produced, including those with maritime connections. Some honored the launching of ships, goodwill naval visits to foreign seaports, awards for winners of boat races — and to commemorate ocean voyages. After the Soviet Union came into existence in 1922, the tradition of awarding special badges was continued by Soviet civil and military institutions. Here is an illustrated review of some badges awarded for p...

By Linda Mackey — Twenty-five Arctic Quest artists followed in the footsteps of great artists and explorers of the past, as they marked the 100th anniversary of Amundsen's 1906 navigation through the Northwest Passage with a journey of their own this summer. During a twelve day voyage aboard the Akademik Ioffe, the group Arctic Quest recorded their impressions on canvas, paper and film as they traveled up the east coast of Baffin Island, Greenland, and parts of the Northwest Passage, ending in Resolute. Every day brought new surprises including icebergs emerging from the fog, waking up to Orca whales, circling incredible icebergs, taking a zodiac ride to the base of the icefields in Illilisat, Greenland, or donating art supplies to Inuit children in the Arctic communi...

By Linda Mackey — Announcing the upcoming launch of a new book by an amazing artist/scientist whose life embraced most of the 20th century. Maurice Haycock was born in Canada in the Victorian era, before cars, phones, radios and air travel. He went on to learn to use a computer at 80 and predicted the coming of the internet. He lived in the Arctic in 1926-27, painted at the North Pole, discovered a mineral which was named "haycockite" after him, was a worldwide recognized geologist and Canada's most travelled Arctic artist. For almost 40 years he travelled andMackey — painted across Canada's northern wilderness. In 2007 his manuscript will be released as a lavish book of Arctic paintings and drawings interspersed with historical notes and fasc...

As we continue to organise our life on board for the long polar night ahead, a constant preoccupation is the production, use and discharge of water. Ensuring that we have a sufficient amount of good quality water for our basic needs is a big task for at least two people each day. Like most large boats, we have a watermaker onboard that makes freshwater from seawater through the process of osmosis. In temperate climates we can produce up to 200 liters per hour. However, in our current position close to 83 degrees north the water temperature is -1.5 degrees celsius and the temperature in the forward hold (the location of the watermaker) has descended to -7 degrees, below the minimum operating temperature of 0 degrees. Therefore, we now produce our water by melting ice and sno...

As we continue to organise our life on board for the long polar night ahead, a constant preoccupation is the production, use and discharge of water. Ensuring that we have a sufficient amount of good quality water for our basic needs is a big task for at least two people each day. Like most large boats, we have a watermaker onboard that makes freshwater from seawater through the process of osmosis. In temperate climates we can produce up to 200 liters per hour. However, in our current position close to 83 degrees north the water temperature is -1.5 degrees celsius and the temperature in the forward hold (the location of the watermaker) has descended to -7 degrees, below the minimum operating temperature of 0 degrees. Therefore, we now produce our water by melting ice and sno...

As we continue to organise our life on board for the long polar night ahead, a constant preoccupation is the production, use and discharge of water. Ensuring that we have a sufficient amount of good quality water for our basic needs is a big task for at least two people each day. Like most large boats, we have a watermaker onboard that makes freshwater from seawater through the process of osmosis. In temperate climates we can produce up to 200 liters per hour. However, in our current position close to 83 degrees north the water temperature is -1.5 degrees celsius and the temperature in the forward hold (the location of the watermaker) has descended to -7 degrees, below the minimum operating temperature of 0 degrees. Therefore, we now produce our water by melting ice and sno...

If there is one thing that we can be sure about during this expedition, it is that we can never really relax as we drift across an ocean of ice. Sunday night at 3am the sea ice came alive. Beginning with an innocuous grinding and tapping on the hull, the pressure and sound rapidly increased to a deafening noise inside the boat. At times a constant tapping as the ice squeezed and the pressure increased, then rising to a high pitched screeching like fingernails running over a blackboard as the blocks of ice slide by. Tara handled the onslaught well, being pushed in all directions we have now come to rest on a pressure ridge with a nine degree list to port, not huge but big enough to give us the impression of being at sea. After a very busy week spent reinstalling scientific...

The Arctic ice shelf could completely melt during summer by 2080 because of global warming, according to scientists from the DAMOCLES programme. If the situation evolves like physics predicts, the summertime Arctic shelf will completely disappear by 2080, confirmed Eberhard Fahrbach of the Alfred Wegner Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven. This will have consequences above and beyond those in the Antarctic, he added. For example, climate change not only threatens polar bears that live in these regions but the entire Arctic food chain. This even has consequences for the fish that ultimately ends up on our tables,” said Fahrbach. DAMOCLES (Developing...