2013 Arctic Expedition

A great movie is coming out in theatres... the scenery is just awesome and I can't wait to experience it myself next year when we travel to the north pole.

The Polar Bear has become "the canary in the coal mine"

In 2004 a scientific analysis of a rare polar bear fossil indicates that the large, iconic animal of the north evolved in the relatively recent past from common brown bears. The discovery suggests polar bears' ancestors migrated toward the North Pole in response to global warming approximately 150,000 years ago, and adapted quickly to their new Arctic habitat. Could recent climate change once again be forcing this large carnivore to be forced to adapt to different ways of survival?

Dramatic changes, caused by global warming, are taking place in the Arctic that threatens the survival of the Polar Bear. Global warming is melting the polar ice caps, robbing the bears of the ice floes they need to hunt prey. As the sea ice melts, now months faster than in recent history, polar bears are forced ashore to spend longer periods of time in the summer fasting on land.

If the Arctic ice cap continues to melt sooner and form later, polar bears will become too thin to reproduce and if they do not adapt will become extinct by the end of this century if they do now repeat a reversal of the adaption they were once forced to undergo.

The polar bear’s home – the Arctic – is experiencing the effects of global warming more than any other place on the face of the earth. Temperatures in the Arctic are rising at almost twice the rate of that of the rest of the world, and it is threatening to place the entire Arctic ecosystem in jeopardy.

Since 1979 the extent of summer ice has declined by about 30 percent – sea ice that not only provides hunting ground for polar bears, but shelter and transportation for seals, walrus, arctic foxes, and the Inuit people. The underside of the ice also provides a surface for algae that supports cod, char, beluga, and narwhal.

While that may seem insignificant to you sitting in front of your computer in your urban dwelling thousands of miles away from the arctic; consider this! The white sea ice also has a cooling effect on your climate by reflecting light away from Earth’s surface. As the ice melts, global warming advances even more quickly. This residual effect will have dire consequences on our drinking water, local wildlife that the health of you and your family.

The polar bear is now unfortunately the proverbial "canary in the coal mine" of the serious threat global warming poses to wildlife species around the world, unless we take immediate and significant action to reduce global warming pollution.

So, we are headed north, if you have been following my blog you see that four of us are travelling to the arctic circle to raise money to help fight climate change and do what we can to increase awareness of the issue… through photos, interviews, discussions, articles, you will hear our personal impressions… no scientific speak, no ulterior motive… just the findings in laymen terms.

You can follow Kevin Pepper, Ethan Meleg, John E. Marriott and Tim Vollmer. You can interact with us and engage in the conversation while we are in the Arctic Circle. We are planning on leaving in May of 2013 to go on our expedition… and until then we will be discussing the topic on this blog and on twitter.

Thanks for reading…

Kev

2013 Arctic Expedition - The Ice Floe

I have had a few people email me and ask me why we are travelling to the “floe edge” while we are in the arctic. The short answer is that from April to July, the floe edge is the most dramatic, dynamic place to be.

This is where the sea meets the retreating ice edge. Whales swim meters from shore. Walrus and seals haul themselves out to bask in the sunlight and Polar bears hunt for seals and their cubs enjoy an ocean dip.

In the past the edge of the ice appeared well off shore while more recently it seems to form closer and closer to land as climate change warms the arctic waters. Regardless of its position, the floe edge is a crucial place where local hunters gather to socialize and share bannock, tea and fresh meat while patiently waiting for seal, walrus or whales to surface. It also forms an important habitat for countless of marine organisms who depend on the open waters and ice for their survival.

These organisms congregate here in huge quantities thanks to the rays of the spring sun that penetrates through the icy surface of the water. Suddenly, billions upon billions of microscopic plankton burst to life. This influx of energy triggers a chain of events that many naturalists describe as one of the greatest spectacles in the Arctic. A seemingly endless array of migratory seabirds and ducks join seal, bowhead whales and large pods of narwhal and beluga to feed in these nutrientrich waters. Following close by are also Polar Bear and Arctic fox who closely track these marine animals from the ice.

This is the place where the winter will end and the cycle of life in the arctic will again begin… and this is where we will spend a lot of our time. For those of you that wish we will be able to communicate with you all through our twitter accounts and our blogs. You will be able to ask questions about what we are seeing, have us describe the day and share with you some of the photos we took.

I can hardly wait, and I am envious that John E Marriott has spent so much time there already. His experieince in the arctic will help ensure we are safe, come back with the information we need... but more importantly come back with some fantastic photos.

I hope everyone has a great Easter Weekend.

Kev

Polar Bear Quick Facts

Here are some quick facts on the Polar Bear...

The top speed of a polar bear is 40kph.

The Polar Bear has 42 razor sharp teeth. With jagged back teeth and canines larger than grizzly teeth, they pack quite the bite

12 inch wide paws-- a natural snowshoe that helps them trek across treacherous ice and deep snow

A Polar Bear has 3 eyelids - the third helps protect the bear's eyes from the elements

A Polar Bear has 4 inches of fat under its skin
Their skin is black

A Polar Bear has a blue tongue

The polar bear tends to swallow food in large chunks rather than chewing.

The average polar bear can consume 4.4 pounds of fat per day.

The bear's stomach can hold an astonishing 10-20% of its body weight.

The polar bear's digestive system is very efficient, absorbing approximately 84% of the protein and 97%of the fat it consumes.

2013 Artic Expedition - media coverage and sponsorship

Media coverage… we have been talking to a lot of media outlets across the country and the support and interest has been fantastic. Our goal is to have a national online partner, a national foot print of newspapers and a few photography magazines covering the story, one in Canada and one in the USA.

So far the Sun Media newspapers and the Winnipeg Free Press will be covering the expedition with our articles. I have also talked to some of the community newspapers around where we all live and the response to my request to interview us about our expedition is overwhelmingly positive.

We have also spoken to MSN Canada and they like the idea of us blogging daily from the arctic. They also talked to me about writing both articles on the effects of climate change as well as some eco-tourism articles for them upon our return. The plan with MSN would be to have them publish blogs daily online and allow people to interact with us in real time.

Social media will also play a role in spreading the message about the expedition and allow us also to communicate with people that are intereted about what its like in the arctic circle. The issue now is to have a satellite phone and model with a data plan... but there are a few companies that can supply us those... so Roadpost... I will be calling. ;-)

As for photography magazines, not many have stepped forward yet. Photo technique magazine out of the U.S. has expressed an interest in doing something, but no Canadian photo magazines have stepped forward to say they want to be “the” Canadian magazine to cover us… My money is on Outdoor Photography Canada as both Ethan and John write columns for them already. That and Roy, the Editor-In-Chief, has at least asked me to have a conversation about the expedition already. :-)

The media partners seem to be the easy part… this is an exceptional news worthy program that would garner great readership and exposure for all of our media partners.

The hard part is the sponsorship dollars… but “hard” may be the wrong word... lets call it "more challenging". We have contacted numerous companies with our media kit to sponsor the expedition and donate to the cause… it will just take a few weeks now to start to hear back from the initial media kit presentations. Our goal is to raise a minimum of $50,000 and acquire “in-kind” sponsorship to offset our own costs (flights, food, arctic gear etc)

I am sure there will be a lot more companies that decline to participate than will be willing to participate, but that is expected. If it was easy, everyone would attempt this… LOL

Oh well, onward and upward…

Stay tuned... a few exciting conversations are going to be taking place in the next week. We have a meeting at the WWF Canada offices to meet everyone and there are a few very high profile sponsors that have reached out to get more details before they render their decision.

Oh, I almost forgot. Watch CBC this Sunday, April 8th at 7pm. The Nature of Things is on at a special time. Director Adam Ravetch has made a fantastic program following a sub population of bears from ice out, through the summer. Its an increadable program on how a young bear struggles to change centuries of habit in order to survive. To read about this program please visit, http://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/episode/polar-bears.html

You can also check out the web pages for our trip north here. www.photographers-lounge.com

Out of the mouths of babes

As I sit in my living room I can only imagine what is in store for me in just a little over 12 months and 3228 Kilometers (2006 miles) north of me in the Arctic Circle.

But before we look forward, let’s go back a few weeks to a conversation with my daughter. She is in high school and like any high school student; thinking about her future. She has decided that she wants to work with endangered animals. Doing her research she came across Coke and their program in working with World Wildlife Fund. She asked how they are making a difference. I couldn’t answer her and decided to do my own research to see what it is that they were doing.

The program is more about climate change than about the Canadian iconic animal, the Polar Bear. The real focus is on what threatens the Polar Bears. These large carnivores are sensitive indicators of ecosystem health. Polar bears are actually studied to get an understanding of what is happening throughout the Arctic. A polar bear at risk is a sign of something wrong somewhere in the arctic marine ecosystem.

So, after my reading I talked to my daughter about what I found. I could tell her wheels were still spinning… but secretly so were mine after I read one line on the Polar Bears International Website. I read that by 2080 there may be no ice left in Hudson Bay. I thought to myself, “that’s major, as a kid studying Canada; Hudson Bay was the iconic frozen bay explorers crossed. Images of explorers breaking through ice and yanking wooden boats over ice immediately came to mind. Since 1670 when the King of England first granted the Hudson Bay company a fur trade monopoly for all the lands drained by rivers flowing into Hudson's Bay we have changed the climate that much?”

As a nature photographer I wondered how I could do my part. I made some calls, talked to a few friends and started to formulate an idea… and now, out of a simple question from a 15 year old high school student in rural Ontario a plan was formed that will hopefully touch people across Canada and around the world.

The team has been assembled… Ethan Meleg, John E. Marriott, Kevin Pepper and Tim Vollmer will be embarking on an expedition to the Arctic circle and stay close to the floe edge. The goal is to capture what we see in photos, talk to local Inuits about how the changes have affected their lives, interview scientists about statistical information and trends and have conversations with Canada’s leading conservation minds... out of this, an awareness story in photos and words that shows people just how much the arctic has changed.

Working with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) our goal is not only to create awareness but raise funds that will be donated to WWF to help them continue their work.

While we are in the arctic we will be sending back daily blogs and twitter feeds about the day’s findings and sharing our photos through our media partners that will be helping us communicate to you what we are experiencing. You will be able to follow us in real time and share in our experience.

Right now we are structuring the actual expedition route and having conversations with numerous potential product and cash sponsors to help us achieve our goals.

Stay tuned, come back weekly, and you can follow us from today right through the next year as we prepare for our expedition.

Over the next year I will keep you up to speed on media partners, sponsors, our expedition plans and discuss what we find as we start our interviews and our personal learning’s about the cause that brings us together for the 2013 arctic expedition to the Arctic Circle.

Thanks for reading,
Kev