Sept. 21, 2007--The fabled Northwest Passage, sought by explorers for centuries, has opened up for the first time on record, and a Phaeton expedition is preparing to travel high into the Arctic to investigate this historic development first-hand.
Deadly Ice-Locked Frontier Opens To Change
Seven days ago, European Space Agency scientists using satellite photographs reported an ice-free channel through the islands north of Canada. The U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) and the Norwegian Polar Institute have confirmed that this is the first ice-free year on record. Scientific monitoring of the ice status in the Passage only began in 1978, but since the 15th century generations of polar explorers attempting the Northwest Passage have found the routes blocked by ice. Sir John Franklin's expedition in 1845 cost the lives of 129 crewmen. Roald Amundsen completed the first successful transit of the Northwest Passage in 1906, but it took his expedition three years due to the short distances their ship Gjoa was able to travel before being trapped again by sea ice. Only a handful of surface vessels have negotiated the Passage without icebreaker support in the century since Amundsen's voyage.
An open Northwest Passage would cut the shipping distance from Europe to North America almost in half, and freighter traffic could begin using the channel in 2008 if ice hazards are clear. During the Cold War, this was the area of the famous Distant Early Warning line, a secure border that North America came to take for granted. It now has the potential to be thrown open. International concerns are already rising over sovereignty in the Northwest Passage, which is claimed by Canada although Canada's authority to refuse transit permission is contested by the United States and other nations. Until now the point has been essentially moot, but if the channel regularly becomes ice-free, agreements will have to be reached quickly to forestall conflict over the straits.
Phaeton Team Prepares For Icebreaker Rendezvous
Dr. David West Reynolds will lead the Phaeton reconnaissance team, which is preparing to rendezvous by helicopter with the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent and proceed to a point near the center of the Northwest Passage. Joining Reynolds will be Phaeton's top photographer Alex Ivanov, engineer Hugh Williams, and military logistics expert Matt Bliss.
Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans science liaison Vera Williams will escort the team, which will also spend the voyage collecting photography and research information in support of a proposed public outreach icebreaker poster project, an elaborate cutaway illustration of a ship such as the Louis with supporting imagery showing how such a vessel is connected with an extensive network of Northern activities ranging from community support to rescue to science program support. The poster project is not yet funded, but it has won Phaeton's support nonetheless.
"Such a project fits perfectly with Phaeton Group's mandate and our emphasis on making science accessible to a broad audience--as well as with the talents of our technical cutaway artists." says Dr. Reynolds. "We are volunteering our time in hopes of strengthening the proposal with better media and the insights that can only come from first-hand experience. While gathering this proposal support material in the field, we will conduct our own Northwest Passage mission concurrently, since the work involved supports both projects."
Creative Multi-Tasking Makes Most Of Limited Resources
This kind of multi-tasking is typical of Phaeton's innovative approach to maximizing opportunities and making the most of limited resources in not-for-profit endeavors. "Educational and scientific projects just don't have access to the funding we are used to in commercial projects," Dr. Reynolds explains. "So with projects like this, we try to work out ways of making every work hour count toward as many applications as possible. Multi-tasking and parallel project work allows us to recoup our resource investments in indirect ways, so that we can do things like volunteer our time in support of a worthy cause as we are doing here."
With summer's warmth fading, the NSIDC warns that the Passage is already beginning to close, but the icebreaker's special capabilities will ensure that the team can proceed even if ice re-forms and blocks the way. A ship-based helicopter will serve the team as a shuttle vehicle for intermediate landings during the voyage.
"In view of the strong opinions and frequently biased commentary on global warming, as well as the serious strategic implications of an open Northwest Passage, there is no room for any misrepresentation of this serious development," says Dr. Reynolds. "Our mission is to scout this situation ourselves as objective observers and bring back a first-hand report of the facts. My teammates and I appreciate the unique opportunity before us and we intend to do our best to document it." The Phaeton team plans to depart for the rendezvous on October 9, 2007.
