Students on Ice: Found songs (Days 5, 6, 8, 9 & 12)

Students on Ice, Days 5 and 6: School’s in for summer
Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit: the word is difficult for me to pronounce, but I grasp the concept immediately.  It means traditional knowledge, and it is absolutely necessary in understanding the Arctic, its challenges, and ways of moving forward.
Bird expert Gary Donaldson explained how research with Inuit people on migratory bird patterns was crucial to his field of study (hilariously, he also argued that auks, including puffins, are vastly superior to their penguin cousins in the Antarctic… but that seems to be another, longer story). Musician Ian Tamblyn told us how Aboriginal people in Australia could sing their way across 3,000 miles of desert.
Sharing knowledge is exactly why we’re traveling across the Arctic – not just Qaujimajatuqangit, but the unique experiences of all of the staff and students on board this floating classroom. Yesterday, as we hiked up a mountain, I was delighted to watch young Liv from Greenland show her peers which plants were edible.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kzq5qVP1YOw&feature=player_embedded#at=72[/youtube]
When we woke after our first night sleeping aboard the Clipper Adventurer, we were anchored off the northernmost point of Iceland. After breakfast, we boarded Zodiacs, the versatile little transport vessels created by Jacques Cousteau. As we went in for a closer look at a huge cliff filled with sea birds, I was lucky enough to sit next to whale expert Richard Sears, who is also well-versed on the different species and behaviours of birds. Richard later treated us to a rare site when he spotted four blue whales – including a mother and calf. For many students, this was their first whale sighting, and the fact that they were blue whales made the moment even more special.
Again today, we’re in the open, rough waters of the Denmark Straight, on our way to Greenland. We have a choice of workshops about GPS tracking, Inuit printmaking and sewing, journaling, marine biology and more. The education program is a welcome distraction for the queasy students (not to mention queasy educators, and even some of the ship’s crew – and yours truly, who was too busy being horizontal to blog yesterday). Fingers crossed for calm seas ahead!
Students on Ice, Day 8: Ice, ice, baby
This morning, as the fog that had blanketed us for 36 hours finally lifted, my new friend and Inuit youth advocate Jesse Unaapik Mike compared it to childbirth – or at least, what we imagine that might be like. The pains we experienced as we heaved on the open ocean were all but forgotten the moment we heard that cry of “land ho!” and laid eyes on the miraculous sight of Greenland.
Few have been lucky enough to be able to visit these remote southern fjords of Prins Christian Sund. As self-described “Greenland fanatic” and expedition guide David Fletcher explained to us, the large island country boasts the second-largest ice cap, and some of the oldest rocks on the planet. It makes “geologists’ mouths water,” he says, but it just makes me feel small and in awe of the scale of this special place.
As the ship’s crew navigated through a field of icebergs, students and staff spent a few blissful hours on the sunny deck, taking zillions of photos and gaping at the mountains towering over us on each side of the fjord (and saying fjord many times, loving the way it sounds).
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLr3RXFQClc&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
Liv and Ania, two students from Greenland that WWF is sponsoring on this voyage, absolutely lit up at the sight of home. Over lunch, they told the table how they have seen first-hand the effects of climate change, with snow falling later every year. Inuit students from different regions chimed in, describing how the late-forming sea ice affects their communities.
During two afternoon Zodiac landings, we got a close look at the ice and at glaciers, touching the ice and tasting what is undoubtedly the freshest, coldest water I’ve ever had.
Climate change is melting ice caps like the ones we are exploring at an alarming rate. Students on Ice founder Geoff Green tells us that the most recent charts of this area, from the late 60s, indicate that our ship should be sitting on top of a glacier – meaning that it has receded more than three miles in the past three decades.
I’ve been working with filmmaker Leanne Allison and some of the students on a series of short videos that explore the theme of ice – what it means to their communities, what changes they are seeing, and how they work to protect it. Today’s challenge was to tell a story without words – as if words could begin to describe what we have seen and felt as we sail across the waters of our melting glaciers.  
Students on Ice, Day 9: Time
“Gooooood morning, Students on Ice!” The voice of founder Geoff Green wakes us on the ship’s intercom early each morning, a la Robin Williams. My friends and family reading this at home will get a chuckle picturing this, as I’m typically useless until around noon. But it’s not too hard to get out of bed when adventure and sometimes even uncharted waters await outside your porthole.
Our day began with a short hike in the foothills of southern Greenland. I experienced “land sickness” for the first time – a woozy feeling on solid ground after finally getting used to the movement of the ship. But I soon forgot about it, as we swapped our winter gear for swimsuits and crowded into a hot (well, warmish) spring overlooking an astounding vista of icebergs and mountains. A thousand years ago, Vikings used this spot for the exact same reason.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh8o_xftFlc&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
Shivering but exhilarated after our dip, we piled into Zodiacs for a closer look at the icebergs. Our Zodiac driver extraordinaire, Alex Taylor, got us close enough to touch one, and we marveled at fact that the bubbles rising to the surface were releasing air that was perhaps a thousand years old.
We boarded the Clipper Adventurer again and sailed to Nanortalik, Greenland, where many of the members of the community came out to greet us. Canadian Inuit elder David Serkoak  and youth advocate Sylvia Cloutier performed drum dance and singing along with several students from our expedition. In return, local Inuit dressed in traditional furs, and showed us an impressive display of kayak skills.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNvd0qapYv8&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
As we explored the remote fishing town, our Inuit students and staff were able to piece together conversations, despite the difference in dialect. The kids made fast friends, playing soccer and sharing sweets.  Evening drew near, and we reluctantly left Nanortalik en route to Labrador, while the children on the dock cheered and showed off their breakdance moves.  Nakurmiik, we shouted. Thank you. 
Students on Ice, Day 12: Here comes the sun 
As we near the end of our voyage, it’s becoming increasingly clear that there is no way to adequately describe even a fraction of what we have experienced. Alex, our most adventurous Zodiac driver, introduced a “word of the day” to help. Today’s word: sublime.
We’re in the heart of the Torngat mountains, in one of Canada’s newest, and definitely most spectacular, national parks. We’ve spent two utterly sublime days exploring a narrow fjord (and yes, we still love saying that word) and meeting the people who live on this land. Our fearless captain has taken us into waters that no ship of this size has ever dared traverse.
Our arrival at Base Camp was a highlight of the entire expedition for more than one reason. I was thrilled to see the smiling face of Martin von Mirbach, director of our Arctic team, who caught a ride to this remote coast of Labrador with our customs agents. We were also warmly greeted by Inuit elders and the outside researchers who are living in a tent community along the shore. One of our local students, Sam, was reunited with her mother, who charmed all of us. Sam had previously been a summer student at the camp, and was excited to show us around what she calls “the most beautiful place in the world.”
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GqLUM98uBc&feature=player_embedded#at=136[/youtube]
Again today we feasted on “country food” with the elders, park rangers, and students from both base camp and our team. It’s the largest event that has ever happened in this national park, and we were grateful to spend time with the elders, the last generation that remembers living on this land in the traditional way before they were relocated.  We definitely needed the nourishment they offered to brave the icy cold ocean waters, as over 100 of us officially joined the Arctic swim team.
We learned another word earlier this week: ineffable. It may not be possible to describe everything we have experienced and learned. But we will certainly try.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cybFFCBEUy8&feature=player_embedded#at=195[/youtube]