interview with Japanese solo NP skier Yasu Ogita: after 11 years the ultimate - Solo Trek to the North Pole unassisted!

"I'm in Iqaluit, Matty's place. I am getting ready for my expedition. I will go to Resolute tomorrow flight. These are answers: 1. I am nervous now. Thinking a lot of the situation. 2. 800 km is not so long distance for me, but Arctic Ocean is really different place, specially moving ice, and open leads."

Last week Yasunaga Ogita was preparing his food and gear in Iqaluit at Matty McNair’s where ExplorersWeb caught up with him.

Since 2000 Yasu has been doing expeditions in the Arctic; only in the Arctic, nowhere else, the Japanese solo skier told ExplorersWeb. Although nervous about the ultimate North Pole challenge he go solo because then he is free and can go his way, says Yasu.

Eleven years later, he will attempt a solo ski, no resupplies or kites, from Canada to the Geographic North Pole (90°N).

The uncertainty of the Arctic Ocean

For this expedition he is nervous admitted Yasu, and he is thinking a lot about “the situation”.

Compared to the expeditions he has done, 800 km is not so long distance for him, he said, “but the Arctic Ocean is really a different place, especially moving ice, and open leads. They are all uncertain, unpredictable things.”

Food

At home he experimented with food and made some of it himself. Being Japanese there is rice on the menu. Apart from the freeze dried food he has pemmican, sausage, butter, nuts, chocolate and cookies. The weight of his daily food rations average 1.1 kg and contains 6000 kcal.

Learning from predecessors

Last year he and team mate Yusuke Kakuhata had done a 103-day sledge-hauling and backpacking expedition in the high Arctic, retracing John Franklin’s doomed Northwest Passage route and thereafter trekking beyond. What did he learn there that he will apply on this expedition?

“Our predecessors were great. They had no GPS, no maps, no high technology gear, no freeze dried foods. But they were traveling this harsh climate country. Now, are we degenerating? Compared with them, they went there fully aware that it might cost them their lives. Then it really happened; they did die.”

“We have lots of information and technology; much more than past explorers. I learned about their preparation during last year’s expedition. I want to apply that preparedness like them; but I don't want to die, of course.”

Below: Yasu preparing gear and vitamins for his solo NP expedition:

Yasunaga Ogita has spent many years in the Arctic preparing himself for this ultimate expedition to the Geographic North Pole; he has done expeditions “only in the Arctic and in no other place”, he stated.

- 2000 Resolute Bay to 1996 position of the North Magnetic Pole, 700 km skiing, 35 days, with a group.
- 2001 training in Resolute Bay for one month.
- 2002 Resolute to Grise Fiord, 500 km skiing solo, 24days.
- 2003 Victoria Island trip, around Cambridge Bay.
- 2004 Crossing Greenland ice cap by dog team with a friend; Siorapaluk to Ammasallik, 2000 km, 50 days.
- 2007 Resolute Bay to Cambridge Bay, 1000 km skiing solo.
- 2010 Resolute to 1996 North Magnetic Pole, 700 km skiing solo.
- 2011 Chasing Franklin expedition 1600 km, 103 days, Resolute - Gjoa Haven - Baker Lake

- 2012 - Will Attempt a Solo Trek to the North Pole unassisted to become the first Japanese to achieve such a record.

Sacramento teacher headed to Antarctica after winning 'cool' competition

Kim Williams was picked in a "cool teacher" contest.

Sacramento sixth-grade teacher Kim Williams is heading to Antarctica after being selected as one of two winners of the "Coolest Teachers in the World" competition.

The Washington Elementary School veteran teacher will join explorer Robert Swan in the 2041 International Antarctic Expedition on Monday for a two-week journey she will share with her students when she returns.

Williams said that during the trip the group will explore the Antarctic Peninsula to learn about the continent's fragile ecosystem and the effects of climate change.

Williams said the Antarctic expedition will include hikes, camping and a polar plunge.

"I have to pinch myself every once in a while," Williams said. "I never in a million years …"

Williams was selected to participate following a national search sponsored by the U.S. Green Building Council's Center for Green Schools.

Fellow teacher Cate Arnold of Boston Latin School was also selected.

The council chose Williams based on her collaborations with California State University,Sacramento, and UC Davis that bring science, engineering and math graduate students and faculty into her classroom.

She has been teaching for 15 years and said incorporating environmental awareness into classroom studies has been a priority.

Williams started Washington Elementary's school garden and registered it as a 4-H Junior Master Gardner Program.

"The students are so excited for me," she said.

Williams will be blogging about her trip and answering questions online atwww.centerforgreenschools.org/coolestteacher.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/02/26/4291704/sacramento-teacher-headed-to-antarctica.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/02/26/4291704/sacramento-teacher-headed-to-antarctica.html#storylink=cpy

Rainbow Warrior III - Greenpeace.org legacy continues with new ship

Rainbow Warrior III



She’s the first ship in our fleet designed and built specifically for Greenpeace. That means she's one of the most environmentally-friendly ships ever made. We are thrilled she's now fighting with us for a green and peaceful future.

After 22 tireless years at the campaigning frontline, the second Rainbow Warrior retired from her Greenpeace life on August 16th, 2011.

The ship – which replaced the original Rainbow Warrior after it was bombed in 1985 – helped end nuclear testing in the Pacific, blocked coal ports and closed down destructive fishing operations (to name but a few).

It’s a very proud legacy – and the third Rainbow Warrior, which entered operation on October 14th, 2011, is better equipped to carry it on than any Greenpeace ship before her.


A purpose-built campaigning ship

Ever since the first Greenpeace expedition set off in a ramshackle old fishing vessel we have relied on existing vessels refitted to meet our needs. With the new Rainbow Warrior, we had the chance to start with a blank canvas for the first time.
A fast and reliable vessel

The new Rainbow Warrior is as fast as many industrial vessels, with action boats that can be deployed in minutes – even in waves up to 3.5 meters high. Her helicopter landing pad means we can deploy a vital eye in the sky, enabling us to spot illegal fishing operations and shipments of illegal wood.
A base for science

The ship can carry specialised equipment up to 8 tons in weight. It’s designed so that scientists can work on board. By supporting original scientific research we help build understanding of what is happening to our planet’s ecosystems.
A floating communications hub

The on-board satellite communications system – featuring a built-in satellite uplink – means the new Rainbow Warrior is able to stream live footage from the scene of environmental crimes direct to the world’s media.
A shining example for green ship building

We wanted the third Rainbow Warrior to be as environmentally-friendly as possible for a ship of its type and Greenpeace has worked with some excellent engineers to make it happen.

The ship sails primarily under wind power. Its 55m-high A-Frame mast system can carry far more sail than a conventional mast of the same size. This is the first time this design has been installed on a vessel of the Rainbow Warrior’s size.

The Warrior does have electric drive engines to help out when the weather isn’t suitable, but these are also built with sustainability in mind. Heat from the engines is used to heat water and warm the cabins.

On board up to 59 cubic meters of grey and black water can be stored, avoiding any need for at sea disposal. And a special biological filtering system helps clean and recycle grey water.

The new Rainbow Warrior’s eco-credentials include:
A hull shape designed specifically for superior energy efficiency
A-frame mast and sails - optimised for highly effective sailing
Electric drive system (10 knots on only 300kW)
Extended environmental assessment of the ship
Highest environmental standards of all engines (IMO Tier-II)
Green ship class notation with Green Passport
Voluntary environmental protection class notation
Exhaust gas treatment, minimizing NOx emissions and Particulate Matters (PM)
Biological treatment of sewage and grey water
Central filling and venting system for fuel and oils to prevent spills
Environmentally friendly paint system
Re-use of engine heat to make hot water
The making of a Warrior

The construction of the ship was a (welcome) challenge for everyone involved – the experts were not only constructing a high-tech ship; it also had to meet the highest environmental standards.

The shipyard in Gdansk, Poland, started work on the hull in the summer of 2010. 340-tons of steel were then transported to the Fassmer Shipyard near Bremen, Germany, where the ship was fitted out.

Here, the hull’s rusty brown also gave way to a much more suitable colour – the Greenpeace green. A dove of peace and the striking colours of the rainbow finally made the new ship our Rainbow Warrior.

She entered water for the first time in July 2011 and was officially launched in Hamburg, Germany, in October the same year.
Specifications


Port of registration: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Vessel Type: Motor Sail yacht with helicopter landing deck
Class: Germanischer Lloyd, Notations include Green Passport
Length Overall: 57.92m
Beam (Max): 11.30m
Draught (Max): 5.15m
Air Draught: 54.25m
Gross Tonnage : 855
Sailing Rig: Staysail Schooner, 2 A frame mast with 5 sails
Total sail surface: 1255 sq meter
Service Speed / Max Speed: 7 knots / 15 knots
Main & Auxiliary Engines: Caterpillar, IMO Tier II Certification
Cruising range: 9,500 nm
Accommodation: 30 persons
A beacon of hope

All Greenpeace ships are special, but our new Rainbow Warrior is one of a kind. She plays a key role in our campaigns, allowing us to bear witness and take action to prevent environmental crimes around the world.

“Since setting sail in 1978 the Rainbow Warrior has been on the frontline of the struggle against environmental abuse,” Kumi Naidoo, Greenpeace International’s Executive Director, said at the keel laying ceremony, which took place on July 10th, 2010 – the 25th anniversary of the bombing of the original Rainbow Warrior.

“She is an icon of non-violent direct action and a beacon of hope for millions of people around the world.”

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http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/
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Submergers and acquisitions - Personal Submarine

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/5a9f77e0-53e0-11e1-bacb-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1nPIwYXUw

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A personal submarine is the latest must-have plaything for billionaires

Oceanic: Triton 3,300/3 submarine

As I look out over the calm sea, a transparent bubble breaks the surface like an enormous jellyfish. It rises as our inflatable dinghy pulls closer, until water is cascading down the two-metre-wide glass dome and a bright yellow deck appears.

This is the first Triton 3,300/3, a new model created by Florida-based Triton Submarines, one of only a few companies in the world building submersibles for personal use. The company has brought it here, to the Atlantic off the Bahamas, for testing and to demonstrate it to industry colleagues and potential buyers.

Our dinghy deposits me on deck. I climb a metal ladder attached to the dome and shimmy down through a hatch in the top. I settle into one of two passenger seats and we begin to descend, the water rising from chest to eye level and soon closing above my head. We have been swallowed up by blue.

Until very recently the notion of submarine tourism was pure fantasy. Over the past six years, though, Triton and companies such as Netherlands-based U-Boat Worx have been changing the game. The new submersibles are two-or-three seaters with windows on the sea, making the experience less like being a German sailor trapped in a U-boat and more like being Captain Nemo surveying the aquascape from the Nautilus, the submarine in Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. And now, for the right price and about four weeks of training, you can buy one and pilot it yourself.

“I think there’s a healthy market for submarine tourism on these kinds of subs,” says Mike McDowell, who heads the company Deep Ocean Expeditions and has come to watch the 3,300/3’s debut. He’s been in the adventure travel business for 35 years, having co-founded a company that takes tourists to Antarctica and another, Space Adventures, that takes them to the International Space Station.

This year, using a Russian research submarine, Deep Ocean Expeditions will take passengers to visit the Titanic, which lies 3,800m below the surface. About 80 people will take the eight- to 10-hour trip, which costs $60,000 a head. The company is also offering upcoming trips to the Bismarck, to ocean-floor hydrothermal vents and, for $375,000, a 35-day, 15-dive journey across the north Atlantic.

Triton, meanwhile, says its revenue is growing as new models sell for higher prices. It had sold four submersibles in total before designing the 3,300/3. One earlier model, the 1,000/2 (which takes two people to just over 300m), went for $2m. The 3,300/3 is priced at $3m and already one customer has ordered two, intending to charter out one of those for between $5,000 and $7,000 per day.

Since its launch in 2005, U-Boat Worx says it has sold eight submarines and its range runs from the C-Quester, which can dive to 100m and sells for €875,000, to the C-Explorer, which can reach 1,000m and costs €2m. As of last year, one of its submarines is available to charter from a Marseilles-based firm.

These companies are counting on high-end adventure tourism remaining a growing segment of the tourist market despite the prevailing economic climate. Nearly 80m Americans will retire in the next 20 years, argues Triton president Patrick Lahey, who is at the controls for my test dive. “A good portion of these people are well-heeled and looking for something more than just lying on a beach in Cancun drinking margaritas.” He points to the fact that tourists’ desire to go where few others have been before is already helping recreational space travel become a viable business – seven tourists have now visited the International Space Station, paying tens of millions of dollars each, while Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic space-flight business has nearly 500 bookings.

Sir Richard Branson with his prototype submarine

The submarine makers believe that personal subs will increasingly become the billionaire’s must-have plaything. And, as if to underline that point, Branson is also working on his own under-sea project, Virgin Oceanic. It has developed an innovative one-person submarine that Branson hopes will reach 11,000m in the Mariana Trench. After that, he says he will take the controls himself for a dive to 8,000m in the Puerto Rico Trench.

Triton claims the 3,330/3’s touchscreen-and-joystick control system makes it simpler to operate than previous generations, and despite being able to reach a depth of 1,000m it is relatively lightweight, making it easier to hoist on and off a yacht.

But most spectacular, from a passenger’s point of view, is that it has the largest acrylic sphere ever made for a manned submersible – and also the thickest. Even though the membrane between passenger and water is 17cm thick, it’s so transparent that it feels like looking through an ordinary pane of glass.

Underwater, the first thing I notice is how peaceful the downward drift feels. The second is that while I was nervous about becoming claustrophobic, that hasn’t happened. If anything, it’s the agoraphobic who should be wary of the 3,300/3, because it’s like floating in space. As we descend, the sea above us is still turquoise and below it is cobalt. I peer into open water, uncertain of how far I’m seeing. A reef shark sails overhead.

Lahey calls out the depth – 45m, 75m, 105m. We won’t be diving to her full capacity but we’re deeper than I’ve ever been scuba diving and the encroaching darkness becomes an indigo dusk. Triton also has a two-person submersible down here today and as we approach a wall in the sea floor Lahey radios the other captain to turn his lights on. Two pinpricks appear between us and the wall and I realise how colossal the vertical surface is, extending up, down and sideways as far as I can see. It’s the island of Grand Bahama, sloping steeply down to the ocean floor. When we turn our light to the wall we see lionfish, angelfish and squirrelfish minding their own business, and a curious barracuda.

Forty minutes go by in an instant and I don’t want to surface but this ride is just a teaser. The 3,300/3 can go for up to 10 hours, to deep shipwrecks or seamounts teeming with life.

Next, Lahey hopes to start working on the Full Ocean Depth Triton, capable of reaching 10,973m. “This is comparable to the ships built by the British, Spanish and Portuguese in the late 1400s,” he says. “They offer human beings an opportunity to visit vast areas of our planet that we have never explored and know little or nothing about.

“People are sceptical,” he adds. “But we’re used to that.”

www.tritonsubs.com

www.uboatworx.nl

www.deepoceanexpeditions.com

www.virginoceanic.com

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2012.

Fabled ex-Canadian frigate turned luxury yacht opens to London sightseers

The Newly Restored Christina O, Former Private Yacht Of Aristotle Onassis, And Her Tender Cruise At Sea April 24, 2001 In The Mediterranean.
Photograph by: Getty Images , Getty Images

Nearly 70 years after it joined the D-Day armada across the English Channel and helped launch the liberation of Europe, a Canadian frigate from the Second World War is back in British waters this week and open to sightseers at its London mooring for hour-long tours at 15 British pounds a pop.

But the curious visitors won't be hearing much about the perilous U-boat patrols or other war stories that unfolded on the decks of the former HMCS Stormont, a ship that only truly became famous after it was sold off by the Canadian government and luxuriously refitted in the 1950s by Greek businessman Aristotle Onassis — who went on to host many of the world's most glamorous and powerful guests aboard his legendary warship-turned-mega-yacht Christina O.

The storied vessel arrived in late January at the Docklands port district along the Thames River, quickly generating a buzz via websites maintained by London-area ship-spotters.

It soon emerged that the yacht — where Onassis successfully wooed opera superstar Maria Callas, and later the presidential widow Jacqueline Kennedy — would be staying in Britain until June, with the public invited to take audio-guided tours recalling the days when visitors as diversely renowned as Sir Winston Churchill and Marilyn Monroe strolled Christina O's opulent decks.

"Step back in time and visit the most famous super-yacht in the world," states the sales pitch for tours that began this week and are on offer until June at the Docklands.

"Walk around this floating treasure and relive one of the most glamorous eras of the 20th century," adds the online description of the tour, highlighting an onboard exhibition "packed with memorabilia" from the yacht's heyday before Onassis's death in 1975.

"Hear stories of Princess Grace, Jackie O, and Winston Churchill. See where one of the most famous affairs of all time started."

Christina O's latest incarnation as a dockside tourist attraction is all part of the ship's new identity as a commercial enterprise trading on its richly layered past.

Built in 1943 at the Canadian Vickers shipyard in Montreal, HMCS Stormont took its name from a former county south of Ottawa.

It served in the famous Murmansk Run convoys, maintaining a supply line to the Soviet Union through treacherous Arctic waters at the height of the Second World War.

The ship also escorted troops and munitions across the North Atlantic and hunted submarines before its participation in "Operation Neptune" — code name for the landing phase during the D-Day invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944.

During one extended wartime voyage between Gibraltar, Murmansk and Halifax, HMCS Stormont was at sea for 63 straight days — the single longest mission of any Canadian frigate during the 1939-45 conflict.

But the ship's war-era exploits have long been overshadowed by its postwar service as Onassis's personal playground for the rich and famous.

The frigate was purchased from the Canadian government after the war and later given a $4-million makeover by the Greek shipping tycoon, who acquired Stormont in 1954 and renamed the vessel after his daughter, Christina.

Among the attractions onboard the 99-metre yacht are a full-sized swimming pool, a spiral staircase, 19 lavishly decorated staterooms and Ari's, the fabled watering hole with bar stools covered in minke whale foreskin.

"Madame, you are sitting on the largest penis in the world," Onassis is said to have told Monroe and his other Hollywood invitees over the years, including Greta Garbo and Elizabeth Taylor.

In 1956, Monaco's Prince Rainier and film star Grace Kelly had their wedding reception on the ship, which Egypt's dethroned King Farouk once described as "the last word in opulence."

In 1957, then-U.S. senator John F. Kennedy met Churchill, Britain's wartime prime minister, aboard the yacht, which also boasts a collection of priceless artwork and rare books.

Around that time, the decommissioned gunship became the setting where Onassis secretly courted Callas before he dumped the diva for Kennedy — subsequently known as "Jackie O" — in the late 1960s.

The ex-Stormont was eventually refurbished and relaunched in 1999 by Greek businessman Yannis Papanicolaou, who made it available for a princely sum of $5 million for one month of high-seas partying at the turn of the millennium.

Later, 10-day luxury cruises could be had for about $40,000 per couple.

Since 2006, Christina O has been available as a charter yacht for clients able to afford rental fees of up to $60,000 per day.

And in 2009, apparently in a bid to reach a bigger pool of potential customers, the ship's current owners began offering a one-night, Callas-themed, meals-and-entertainment package out of Monte Carlo for $3,000 per passenger.

The musical Mediterranean cruise, called the "Maria Callas Experience," was billed at the time as an "exclusive opportunity to be transported into the jet-set era of the 1950s and 1960s" — and to explore the places where "the most passionate, chronicled and ill-fated romances of the 20th century" unfolded.

Now, at least for the next four months, any tourist in London — perhaps even some of the few surviving Canadian veterans who served on HMCS Stormont during the war — can spend an hour soaking up the ship's colourful history for the equivalent of about $23.50.

rboswell@postmedia.com
© Copyright (c) Postmedia News

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Fabled+Canadian+frigate+turned+luxury+yacht+opens+London+tourists/6202310/story.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christina_O

How an 1870s marine expedition changed oceanography and drove eight sailors insane

SECRET HISTORY

How an 1870s marine expedition changed oceanography and drove eight sailors insane

When was the first voyage of the Challenger? No, not the Space Shuttle — the original Challenger, a sea ship that sailed in 1872. The HMS Challenger traversed the world's oceans for four years, drove some of its sailors completely insane, caused about a quarter of the crew to jump ship, and forever changed the face of ocean science.

Is there a way to scroll past the nature channels without seeing one that describes the richness of the ocean and the life that teems in its depth? In the early 1800s, the ocean was something to fish in and to get across. What happened below 1500 feet was of no concern to anyone, although scientists calculated that the pressure, the temperature, and the lack of sunlight meant that no life existed below. The bottom of the ocean was presumed to be as lifeless as the surface of the moon, though it was far less known. In 1872, the HMS Challenger was sent out to circumnavigate the globe, with a crew of around 240 sailors and scientists. When it got back in 1876, it had 144 people aboard, losing people to madness, death, sickness, and sheer desperation to escape the voyage. It also held a wealth of information that launched a new era of exploration, and a new field of science.

The HMS Challenger sounds like a dream assignment to anyone who has ever imagined exploring new territory or making a contribution to science. It was set to go around to the globe, via some of the most beautiful islands in the world, taking reading and collecting life from regions never studied. Then reality set in. The routine of the Challenger was this: the ship would sail to a certain part of the ocean, send down lines to a certain depth, take temperature and pressure readings, send nets or dredgers down, and haul up whatever life they could find. It would do this at several points nearby, should it find anything interesting. Then it would move on and do the same the next day. And the next. For the scientists it was a thrilling, if stressful, time. For the crew it was excruciating. The manual labor was repetitive and backbreaking. To maintain accuracy of readings, the work also had to be extremely precise.
Although ship's records only vaguely references sailors 'going mad,' or leaving the ship at various ports, it's known that at least eight people did go insane during the voyage, and one threw himself into the sea. Others picked the more conventional method of waiting until they got to a likely port and running like hell. Still others died of sickness or simply became sick and were put ashore at the next port and left. (This strategy of simply putting people ashore and letting them hope they could find some other way to get home was pretty common at the time. The ships' logbook mentions finding two brothers, both whalers, who were set on a slip of a beach next to huge unscalable cliffs to hunt seals, and left there by a ship that didn't return for them.)

The HMS Challenger's mission was rough on everyone, and disastrous to some, but something did come out of it: all of oceanography. The voyage invented the science, changing it from something done casually by 'naturalists' and scientifically-minded staff aboard ships to a reason for going to sea in the first place. The voyage brought back 4,700 marine specimens from areas that were considered lifeless. The crew discovered mountains under the sea, which many thought were the lost city of Atlantis. They discovered the Marianas Trench, the lowest spot on Earth. They brought back enough material, overall, for a fifteen-volume text that took nearly two decades to complete. They shifted the idea of exploring the depths from a Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea fiction to scientific possibility. The first few deep sea explorers, who went down to terrifying depths in glorified tin cans, and unmanned divers and everyone who heads down to the depths for science is participating in a science, and a mindset, kicked off by that one, long miserable voyage of discovery.

http://io9.com/5887068/how-an-1870s-marine-expedition-changed-oceanography-and-drove-eight-sailors-insane

ADVENTUROUS LADY

In just a few days time, Zeena al Towayya will become the first Omani woman to go on an expedition to the Antarctic. The IT professional will be joining the International Antarctic Expedition (IAE) 2041 on February 25. The news was announced at a press conference at the Caledonian College of Engineering, who is supporting the expedition, earlier this week.

Zeena will be taking after fellow Omanis Bader al Rahbi and Ali al Esry, who joined the expedition last year. On February 27, she will join a team of 72 people from all over the globe in Ushuaia, Argentina, from where they will continue by ship to begin their journey in the Antarctic. The group will be led by founder of IAE 2041, Robert Swan, a polar explorer and environmental leader who is also the first person to have walked to both the North and South Poles.

“I am glad to be part of a team that aims to promote recycling, renewable energy and sustainability to combat the effects of climate change,” said Zeena during the press conference. “I will gain firsthand knowledge of the continent’s fragile ecosystem, experience its wildlife and observe the magnificent landscapes of the Antarctic.”

IAE 2041 has been conducting corporate expeditions to the Antarctic since 2003. Its goal is to educate on and promote the protection of the Antarctic Treaty. The treaty, which will be open to modification or amendment in the year 2041, aims to keep the area demilitarised, establish it as a zone free of nuclear tests and the disposal of radioactive waste, promote international scientific cooperation and set aside disputes over territorial sovereignty.

Zeena hopes that with the help of Bader and Ali, she will be able to convince Oman to sign the protocol for the treaty, which has 27 other signatory countries. “As an expedition member, I will be responsible for informing, engaging and inspiring Omani youths to be proactive and take initiatives that will protect the environment and provide a sustainable future,” said Zeena.

“On my return, I plan to give lectures at colleges, schools and community gatherings. I always had a vision to do voluntary work, become a leader of positive change and conserve the environment.”

http://www.theweek.co.om/disCon.aspx?Cval=6028

Adventurer plans solo Arctic expedition

A Japanese adventurer is aiming to become the country's first person to complete a solo trek to the North Pole.

Yasunaga Ogita is planning to complete the 800km journey from Canada and if he succeeds, will become only the fourth person ever to achieve the mission.

The 34-year-old from Hokkaido will set off in March pulling a sledge loaded with around 100kg of fuel, food and supplies for the expedition, which is expected to take around 50 days, the Mainichi Daily reported.

Since 2000, Ogita has made 11 trips to the Arctic, trekking a total of around 7,000km, including a 700km trip across the Arctic with fellow adventurer Mitsuro Oba.

Ahead of his trip, Ogita told the news provider: "There is only a fine line between adventure and recklessness. Making experiences and building knowledge will lead to adventure."

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the fateful expedition led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott to the Antarctic that claimed the lives of him and his crew.

UMaine researchers help lead 81,000-nautical-mile scientific ocean expedition

http://bangordailynews.com/2012/02/19/news/bangor/umaine-researchers-help-lead-81000-nautical-mile-scientific-ocean-expedition/

Photo courtesy of C. Sardet/Tara expeditions - University of Maine marine science professor Lee Karp-Boss (sitting, right) explains part of the scientific research behind the 2 1/2-year Tara Oceans Expedition to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (sitting, second from right) and his wife, Yoo (Ban) Soon-taek (sitting, left). Sitting next to the secretary general's wife is French fashion designer Agnes B., the owner of the Tara and a financial contributor to its research.

By Nick McCrea, BDN Staff

ORONO, Maine — A 2½-year ocean-trotting scientific expedition is nearing its end, and a University of Maine researcher is gathering some of the last bits of data on a journey that spans 81,000 nautical miles and 60 ports of call.

Lee Karp-Boss, a marine science professor at UMaine, left New York City on Feb. 12 aboard the 118-foot schooner Tara, where she will serve as chief scientist on one of the last legs of the journey, according to her husband and fellow UMaine professor Emmanuel Boss.

This leg of the journey will take 15 crew members and scientists from New York to Bermuda, Boss said from his home Saturday morning.

Tara set sail from Lorient, France, in September of 2009 and has been gathering data and organism samples ever since in an effort to reveal more about biodiversity in oceans that cover 70 percent of the planet.

Data gathered on the Tara’s expedition could help researchers determine the organization of ocean ecosystems and how global climate change might be affecting ocean organisms, Boss said.

Karp-Boss specializes in the study of phytoplankton and their form, function and relationship to the environment.

Boss’s expertise is ocean optics, which uses the color and clarity of ocean water identify and learn about the organisms that live in the water. He was chief scientist on a separate leg of the Tara expedition that went from Panama City, Panama, to Savannah, Ga.

“We have satellites in space that look at the ocean, and the only way we can see the ocean and the effect of biology on the ocean on a daily scale is through the changes in the color of the ocean,” Boss said.

Equipment on the ship measures the properties of the water while seven nets with different pore size gather samples of organisms, Boss said. That information can give scientists a better idea of how organisms affect the oceans they inhabit and allow researchers to determine what’s living in the water based on images from a satellite.

Work onboard the Tara has drawn interest from the United Nations, which has kicked in funding for the expedition and sent UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on a tour of the Tara after a New York City conference on Feb. 9 that highlighted the importance of ocean research, Boss said.

Karp-Boss used a water tank filled with salt and fresh water to demonstrate ocean stratification — or the layering of ocean water because of varied properties such as salt content — and help explain why the Tara’s work is important to revealing more about ocean life, Boss said.

Karp-Boss and Boss co-authored a booklet highlighting ocean-related experiments such as the one the Tara scientists showed Ban during his hour-and-a-half-long excursion on the schooner. That booklet is available for free at http://www.tos.org/hands-on/teaching_phys.html

Rotating crews of seven scientists stay on board for one leg, which typically lasts three weeks, sampling several stations along the way, which typically run 18-36 hours. The captain is replaced every six months, crew members switch off every three months and the scientists work on one-leg shifts, according to Boss.

There are 50 laboratories from 15 countries collaborating on the research. Most of the expeditions backers are based in France, where Tara got its start.

The Tara is owned by French fashion designer Agnes B., a supporter of environmental causes who has invested more than $3 million euros — or nearly $4 million U.S. — each year of the expedition, according to Boss.

The expedition is mostly funded by European groups, but NASA, the U.S. Navy, UN and several American universities, including UMaine, also have contributed. Even the prince of Monaco pumped funds into the venture.

The Tara will return to France on March 31, where it will be on display as an educational tool for students and the public. Plans are in the works for an expedition to the Arctic in 2015 and another expedition to study coral reefs a few years later, according to Boss.

More information about the Tara expedition and its research may be found at www.taraexpeditions.org/en.

Discover Svalbard with photographer Florian Schulz!

Discover Svalbard with photographer Florian Schulz!

We want to share with you the unique opportunity to join Florian on a 14 day arctic adventure to explore the archipelago of Svalbard. For his new companion book "To The Arctic" to the upcoming IMAX film Florian explored the Arctic in the course of 18 months in the past years. Svalbard has become one of his favorite spots. Now you can join him on this expedition.

We will embark on this arctic expedition to explore the Svalbard archipelago from June 04 to June 18, 2012.

Interested? Please contact us by, Thursday March 1st, 2012!

While we certainly hope to discover polar bears, this expedition is more about exploring and documenting the arctic ecosystem as a whole. We will visit large bird colonies where animals number in the hundred-thousands, look for walrus haul outs, look for arctic foxes and spend time capturing the magic of the arctic landscape.

A good amount of our effort of course will be searching for the great white bear. In the past expeditions we had great success finding and photographing polar bears but we will all have to work together scanning the landscapes and taking turns on polar bear watch while we are at anchor. As the light is best during the night hours, we might turn around our clocks to sleep during the day.

The total cost per person for the14 day expedition is 9,000.- EUR.

This includes all meals, snacks, soft drinks, zodiac and guide. The cost of the trip does not include your flight to and from Svalbard nor any hotel accommodations. It only includes the boat trip. We will of course, pick you up at the airport.

On board the sailboat we will have two zodiacs that we can launch once we are anchored to head out to explore the coast or visit bird colonies. Overall the trip should be seen as an exploration of Svalbard for nature enthusiasts that enjoy photography.

While it is not a photography workshop Florian will give insights into his photography, share tips and tricks and give little photography "seminars" in the evenings.

The skill level of photography is not that important as is the passion for taking pictures and the interest in observing wildlife as we sometimes may spend an extended amount of time photographing in one single area.

If you are interested in joining us, please make sure to get in touch with us by March 1st, 2012.

Thank you!

For more details contact: Emil Herrera-Schulz / +49 (0) 7503 2173 / emil@visionsofthewild.com