Students on Ice: All good things must come to an end

The final days of the voyage were spent in Greenland, a beautiful country that we all wish we could have spent more time in. With a population of around 56,000, Greenland is the world’s largest island of which the majority is covered by a massive ice sheet.  This year we were lucky because we were joined by Ivalu Christensen, the first Greenlandic student to participate in Students on Ice who was so excited to share her country with us.

Other than the incredible scenery, we were astounded by the number of fishing boats we saw in the harbours which really goes to show how reliant this country is on healthy oceans and fisheries. In fact we heard that in Greenland it is much more common to own a boat than a car! In Illulissat we visited the Ice-fjord a UNESCO World Heritage Site where we saw what can only be described as an conveyor belt of ice that produces over 10% of Greenlands icebergs . This ice-fjord sends approximately 19m of ice into the sea each day, and one of the highlights of the trip came on our final day as we took a spontaneous zodiac ride through the ice to witness the many shapes, sizes and colours that it can take on.

Too soon it was time to say goodbye to the vessel, the place where friendships were formed, music was made, and workshops were had. Now, a week later, I look back at this time and am blown away by what a creative and cohesive family these 116 people made.
I had the immense privilege of getting to know my shipmates, 75 students and 41 staff who all disembarked the Akademic Ioffe as ambassadors for the North, for the Earth, and for our future. We are no longer the same people who met in Iqaluit on July 30^th, we are now part of a contingent of Students on Ice alumni committed to protect the poles, protect the planet.
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