In August 2013, I spent three weeks in the Arctic as artist-in-residence with One Ocean Expeditions. Our journey started in Iqaluit on Baffin Bay in northeast Canada. We then traveled along Baffin Island to Monumental Island, Pangnirtung, Sunshine Fjord, and Qeqertarssuaq before crossing the Davis Straight to Western Greenland. There we visited Disko Bay, Ilulissat, Sisimiut and Evigheds Fjord. After a day in Kangerlussuaq where a new group of passengers embarked, we returned to Sisimuit and Ilulissat before crossing back to Canada, this time taking a more northern route up Baffin Bay to Pond Inlet, Beechy Island and Prince Leopold Island. We went through Bellot Strait in the historic Northwest Passage and continued on to Cambridge Bay where I reluctantly dis-embarked.
I went to the Arctic to see how climate change is affecting this region of the world. It is warmer faster at the poles than anywhere else on earth, so as I expected, there was not much sea ice. What was there, was mostly thin first-year ice. From the resident experts on board the ship, I learned a great amount about the past, present, and future of the Arctic. Geologist Maria Cashin spoke about glaciers and sea ice, naturalist Jacques Sirois helped identify the birds, historians Huw Lewis-Jones and Katie Murray gave historical context, biologist and photographer Matthias Breiter informed us about polar bears, and meterologists George Kourounis and Mark Robinson told amazing tales of storm-chasing. This trip confirmed what I knew: that the Arctic is a stunning and precious ecosystem that is worth protecting from the effects of climate change and the desire to drill for more oil. To see more work visit www.TheWitnessTree.org
