The MV Arctic Sunrise off Greenland © Greenpeace/Morton
Dave is onboard the Arctic Sunrise, heading north up the coast of Greenland.
Blue and white icebergs are looming through the sea mist as I write this, from the campaign office of the Arctic Sunrise, in Baffin Bay. Our ship - an old sealing vessel - is just south of the wonderfully named Disko Island, or Qeqertarsuaq, off the west coast of Greenland. A seal just popped its head up, to check out who is passing by. And we just crossed the Arctic Circle.
We're heading north along the west coast of Greenland in a race against time. Our destination is the disintegrating Petermann Glacier, one of Greenland's largest and most northerly glaciers. An 87 square kilometer chunk of ice - larger than New York's Manhattan Island - is due to crack off from the glacier in the coming weeks. We intend to be there when it happens.Follow the expedition on twitter: @gparctic
To reach Petermann we need to navigate the Nares Strait. At the top of the strait is an ice bridge which holds back the Arctic Sea ice, stopping it from blocking the narrow passage. So we're now in a race against the climate - with the warmer sea and air in the Arctic, the ice bridge could break earlier in the year than ever, letting a deluge of sea ice into the narrow channel which would make progress further north impossible. If we successfully get through, the Arctic Sunrise will be one of the first ships to navigate the strait so early in the year.
On board we're got a diverse, international crew, hailing from countries that include China, India, Australia, New Zealand, the Ukraine, the US, Canada, Cyprus, UK, Ireland, Denmark and the Netherlands. Ice navigators, captains, engineers, cooks, filmmakers, ice climbers and climatologists.
Ours is a three-month Arctic expedition to bear witness to the accelerating impacts of climate change and conduct scientific research that will help us better understand its ongoing effects the Greenland ice sheet, and rising sea levels. We've already got glacier and climate expert Jason Box on board - the first of several scientists we'll be working with during this trip, which will reach way beyond the normal realms of scientific research.
After Petermann, we plan to head to Greenland's east coast to research the effects of warm sub-tropical waters of the island's glaciers. Finally, as the Arctic ice reaches its annual low point, the expedition will push into the melting pack ice north of the island of Svalbard.
You can follow the expedition on our blog, the Greenpeace Climate Rescue blog, and on Twitter: @gparctic Also, check out the Arctic Sunrise Webcam to see where we're at.
