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travel / express yourself / your adventures / cape farewell
| Your Adventures |
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2008 Youth Expedition: Cape Farewell Canada
Twenty-eight high school students from Canada, Ireland, Brazil, Mexico, Scotland, Germany,
India and the United Kingdom boarded a research vessel in Reykjavik, Iceland, on Sept. 7, 2008.
As ambassadors of their schools and communities, these students set out on a journey to observe
and interpret the effects of climate change in the Arctic. This voyage, Cape Farewell, is created
by an organization of artists who combine arts and science with the aim to raise awareness
about the environment. Their hope is to inspire the youth to share their experience and influence
the world to find solutions to this problem. For all the blogs, videos and photos visit capefarewellcanada.ca.
| ABOUT THE EXPEDITION |
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MEET THE STUDENTS |
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PHOTO GALLERY |
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Greenland Landings
SEPTEMBER 12, 2008
Good morning/day/night to everyone, David here blogging from Greenland outside a very small village called Tasisuaq with a population of less than 100 people. The local primary teacher was kind enough to show us round the community and primary school. I was also very pleased with the availability of chocolate (haven’t had any in days!!!) Climate change to Tasisuaq could take away a reliable food source, the seal and whale which they hunt for their survival if there is a shortage of food.
I am part of the biogeography group (the study of plant and animal life) and what we have been doing is estimating the abundance of each species. One of the most interesting facts that I have learned is that a plant called lichen, (which only grows where there is little air pollution, so you won’t find it anywhere near a city) is the ONLY source of food for reindeer and caribou in the winter months. This plant takes about 15-20years to reach maturity (so we try not to step on them) and we have determined the maximum height to be 7cm. All of the plants here are of very similar height so they do not compete for sunlight, however if the climate gets warmer the other species will grow taller and drown out the lichen which means no more reindeer/caribou which in turn means a loss of food for Inuit communities and no one to pull Santa’s sled.
We’ve also been doing art attack-esk sculptures using the materials around us to make pictures. We found out that one of the crew had a guitar onboard so I was playing last night which made me so happy! The other day we made the boat that we’re on out of sea-weed with mountains in the background. Today we had a photography session with the theme of change.
The views here are epic; I’ve taken 350 photos in the past week! In some of them the backdrop is so beautiful that you’d have a hard time believing that they were real but they are! I’ve taken many pictures of glaciers, corries etc so geography are welcome to them if they wish them.
Next blog will be in a few days. Thanks for your comments on the last blog and I hope you
do the same for this one.
Cya next time.
Posted by David S.
Bishopbriggs Academy
Glasgow, Scotland
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