Flying helicopters off a nuclear icebreaker in the Arctic...

I’ve just returned from two weeks of breaking ice in the Arctic...

I’ve just returned from two weeks of breaking ice in the Arctic Ocean. Icebreaking is incredible, helicopters are amazing and we learned a huge amount about observing sea ice and recording data about it.

Midnight sun in Murmansk

Midnight sun in Murmansk; At almost 70°N it is golden hour for hours and hours. http://flic.kr/p/vKndaq

lauren:We’re in Murmansk at nuclear base Atomflot and we’ve...

lauren:

We’re in Murmansk at nuclear base Atomflot and we’ve boarded 50 let Pobedy, the most powerful ship in the world. It’s 11:30pm and we’re enjoying the endless golden hour.

Tomorrow we’ll welcome our first set of guests and begin our first of four voyages to the North Pole!

Lauren took this photo of me tonight on deck. The ship is vast and industrial and very Russian i.e. everything I hoped. It’s also fantastic to be back in the Arctic where golden hour lasts for hours and hours.

Well, Canada is behind me. Time to prepare for the next...

Well, Canada is behind me. Time to prepare for the next project…this summer I will be travelling to the North Pole four times aboard 50 let Pobedy (50 Years of Victory), a Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker.

I’ll be working as geology lecturer and expedition staff, guiding excited and adventurous travellers, but I will also be collecting sea ice data in an ambitious project

Thanks to Lauren Farmer (if you don’t follow her yet you should) for the photos of the icebreaker; she’ll be there with me on her second contract aboard the ship, and has been organising and putting the whole data collection project together while I have been away in Antarctica and Canada.

If you’re interested in the data collection project then I’ll be posting more here shortly with ways you can get involved. Stay tuned!