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Arctic Mission - To Protect 90 North

A voyage of discovery deep into the Arctic Ocean to explore and protect our North Pole's wildlife.

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Arctic Mission - To Protect 90 North

Arctic Mission - To Protect 90 North

Arctic Mission - To Protect 90 North

Arctic Mission - To Protect 90 North

Arctic Mission - To Protect 90 North

A voyage of discovery deep into the Arctic Ocean to explore and protect our North Pole's wildlife.

A voyage of discovery deep into the Arctic Ocean to explore and protect our North Pole's wildlife.

A voyage of discovery deep into the Arctic Ocean to explore and protect our North Pole's wildlife.

A voyage of discovery deep into the Arctic Ocean to explore and protect our North Pole's wildlife.

Pen Hadow
Pen Hadow
Pen Hadow
Pen Hadow
1 Campaign |
London, United Kingdom
$508 USD $508 USD 13 backers
1% of $31,576 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal
Overview
Does the North Pole's wildlife need our protection? Explorer, Pen Hadow, is leading a big expedition in two small yachts to find out, with wildlife experts, scientists & journalists, on one of history's most EXTREME and URGENT voyages. With 40% of the Arctic Ocean's summer sea ice now gone, its wildlife & ecosystem is now at HIGH RISK from commercial fishing, shipping and mining. With YOUR support we can start the process of protecting OUR North Pole's wildlife for the benefit of everyone.

 

JOIN US ON OUR VOYAGE - AND LET'S SEE WHAT WE CAN DISCOVER TOGETHER ...

Arctic Mission is asking for YOUR support to fund (and share with your friends on your social media) our work exploring, discovering and revealing the AMAZING ecosystem and wildlife 'up there', upon which we depend more than many of us realise.

Wildlife?! Seriously? Up there? Yes, orca aka (killer whale), all-white beluga whale, dark-skinned polar bear, bearded seal, narwhal (the original unicorn), Greenland shark (that live to 450 years old), King Eider (once producers of eider-down for bedding), and Arctic cod, and that's just the more famous ones. Marine animals go right down in size from the fish and squid to the single-cell plant life-forms which create 50% of our atmosphere's oxygen!

And why the urgency to think about protection? Because we are now all faced with a stark choice:

Protect all this wildlife ASAP ... Or They May Soon Be Lost to Us, Accidentally-on Purpose!

Even this summer commercial fishing fleets may start exploiting this area for money, and governments for power.

To advance scientific understanding of these possible threats to the region, and start a global public awareness campaign about the issues, British polar explorer, Pen Hadow, is setting sail this summer on a pioneering voyage towards the North Pole; and he and his team would like YOUR help to make this ambitious voyage as successful as possible.

Changes in the Arctic's climate and ocean have recently caused a massive loss of summer sea-ice cover, leaving the region's wildlife (once protected by the natural barrier created by the sea ice) now vulnerable to exploitation (commercial fishing), disruption (commercial shipping and tourism) and pollution (fishing, shipping and mining).

As many polar species are exceptionally slow to reproduce, grow and mature (e.g. the Greenland shark may not reach breeding age until its 250 years old), the North Pole's wildlife is at much higher risk of long-term damage than most other marine ecosystems.

A VOYAGE TO PROTECT ALL OUR FUTURES 

Known as Arctic Mission, in early August (2017), Pen and his specialist team will embark on their 3,500-mile voyage of exploration, explanation and protection - hopefully with YOU virtually onboard with us.

For six weeks we’ll be far out to sea, surveying the unexplored international waters of the Central Arctic Ocean around the North Pole. In so doing we may reach further North than any previous vessel under sail.

In our two 50-foot yachts we will be demonstrating to a global audience just how much open water there already is up there, where there used to be only sea ice. Up to 40% has been open water in recent summers (i.e. almost no sea ice), and it may be 50-60% ice-free this summer, looking at this year's satellite images. And if we can sail about in our small yachts, imagine what damage the much bigger, stronger commercial fishing vessels could do any time soon.

The other part of Arctic Mission's work is to reveal just how abundant the marine life is around the North Pole. We all know about the polar bears, and maybe the seals, but did you know about the zooplankton (animals that drift with the ocean currents) and phytoplankton (plants that drift ...), and then there's the extraordinary Arctic fox (that scavenges for polar bear kills hundreds of miles out to sea, but can't swim)?

And don't even get Pen started on marine microbes, of which up to x1,000,000 individuals live in every cubic millimetre of seawater - and between them they release more oxygen than rain-forests into the atmosphere - in fact half the oxygen in every breathe you take is produced by these tiny guys!

 

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IN UNEXPLORED WATERS

While breaking sailing records can make the news headlines, the main purpose of the expedition is far more important: to undertake the urgent and essential scientific research and information gathering that policy-makers MUST have, so that they can work out how best to protect this ecosystem. The region being so unexplored is therefore a problem! No one knows enough about it to know how best to protect it!

So our voyage's scientific work will be focused on:

  • Showing how melting sea ice is exposing vulnerable marine life to the immediate threat of irreversible exploitation and destruction.
  • Communicating with the public in real time to promote the function and value of the Arctic Ocean’s unique ecosystem.
  • Recording as many forms of marine life as possible including polar bear, whale, and seal, shark, birds, other fish, zooplankton, phytoplankton and those awesome microbes!
  • Studying the characteristics of the ocean’s waters looking at sea-ice cover, temperature, salinity, currents and nutrients ... and taking air, ice and water samples for pollutant analysis.

PEN HADOW - OUR EXPEDITION LEADER

Pen Hadow, one of Britain’s foremost explorers, has been launching expeditions onto the Arctic's sea ice for more than 25 years. What started out as a series of fear-conquering adventures swiftly evolved into a pioneering polar guide service, which included organising the first all-woman expedition to the North Pole (1997). Most recently his work led to the running of a programme of scientific exploration across the Arctic Ocean. And all of this has now led to him embarking on his rest-of-life mission: to protect the North Pole's now-vulnerable wildlife . 

Previously, Pen led the £6.5m multi award-winning, international research programme, Catlin Arctic Survey (2008-2012) investigating the rates, causes and impacts of the Arctic Ocean’s rapidly melting sea ice. These Surveys secured £90m worth of news coverage worldwide about the issues relating to sea-ice loss and included TV documentaries on CNN, BBC and Channel 4.

Pen is the first person ever to have made it solo, without resupply, from Canada to the North Geographic Pole (2003) - a feat that has never been repeated; and is the first Briton to have reached both the North and South Geographic Poles (without resupply) from their respective continental coastlines.

He has written books, including the best-seller, Solo: Alone & Unsupported to the North Pole (Michael Joseph/Penguin); self-filmed, The Hardest Way to the North Pole (TV documentary, National Geographic); presented a literary series on BBC Radio 4 around Jules Vernon's works; and contributed to numerous TV documentaries and books about adventure and exploration.

He is patron of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, British Exploring, and the Scientific Exploration Society, and has Honorary Doctorates from the University of Exeter (Laws) and University of Plymouth (Science).

ARCTIC MISSION'S EXPEDITION TEAM

Joining Pen Hadow onboard the expedition are:

Scientist - Tim Gordon

Doctor - Nick Carter

Journalist - Laura Hampton

Photographer - Conor McDonnell

Film-maker - Tegid Cartwright

Skippers & mates - Erik de Jong, Krystina Scheller, Frances Brann & Jaap van Rijckevorsel

SO WHY GET INVOLVED?

As you can begin to see, Arctic Mission is not a small undertaking. The expedition is ambitious, hazardous and expensive, but Pen and his team see the greater purpose of their work and believe that it's necessary to maximise the possibility of the best protection for the North Pole's wildlife. 

We’re looking to raise £25,000 through the awesome things we have for sale in the PERKS section on this Indiegogo site. All the money raised here will go towards the delivery of the expedition and the projects it supports (e.g. school resources). The expedition's costs include:

  • Yacht charter
  • Medical and yacht insurance
  • Scientific research 
  • Professional fees
  • Foods & consumables
  • Travel arrangements
  • Equipment & samples freight
  • Medical resources
  • Satellite communications
  • Specialist equipment
  • London HQ support

ARCTIC MISSION IS ONLY THE BEGINNING

Arctic Mission is the first and essential initiative in Pen’s broader plan to protect permanently the waters around the North Pole from commercial fishing, shipping and mineral extraction. Something he can do with your help.

THANK YOU

Whatever you'd like to contribute to this Arctic Mission will be gratefully received by Pen and his team. And don't forget, you can also support our work by sharing this page across your own social platforms. Nice one!

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Choose your Perk

Thank You Email

Thank You Email

Currency Conversion $3 USD $4 USD (33% off)
£2 GBP
A simple heartfelt Thank You email from Arctic Mission’s leader, Pen Hadow, for your encouragement to protect the North Pole’s marine life, and for spreading our message through your social media.
Included Items
  • A Thank You Email
Estimated Shipping
August 2017
0 claimed
Image of the Week

Image of the Week

Currency Conversion $5 USD $6 USD (20% off)
£4 GBP
Arctic Mission’s 'Image of the Week' to be sent to you each week of the voyage, with a short written update on the voyage.
Included Items
  • Image of the Week
Estimated Shipping
August 2017
1 claimed

Wristband

Currency Conversion $6 USD $9 USD (28% off)
£5 GBP
An Arctic-cool, dark blue, wristband featuring ‘#protect90north’ (imprinted in white), one size.
Included Items
  • Wristband
Estimated Shipping
August 2017
3 claimed

Poster

Currency Conversion $13 USD $15 USD (16% off)
£10 GBP
Poster print: A3 size, unframed, depicting one of Arctic Mission’s most evocative images. An example of the kind of image we hope to offer is given below.
Included Items
  • Poster
Estimated Shipping
October 2017
1 claimed
Ships to United Kingdom

Beanie

Currency Conversion $32 USD $38 USD (16% off)
£25 GBP
An Arctic Ocean beanie hat: dark blue, featuring ‘Arctic Mission #protect90north’.
Included Items
  • Arctic Ocean Beanie
  • Beanie - #protect90north
Estimated Shipping
September 2017
2 claimed

Limited Edition Print

Currency Conversion $126 USD $152 USD (16% off)
£100 GBP
Limited to x75 prints (A2 size, high quality, unframed) depicting Arctic Mission’s official image from the voyage, signed by Pen Hadow. An example is given below of the kind of image we hope to provide.
Included Items
  • Limited Edition Print
Estimated Shipping
November 2017
2 out of 75 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Primary School Talk

Currency Conversion $505 USD $632 USD (20% off)
£400 GBP
Primary School Talk (available to be purchased by a parent or teacher): about the story and work of Arctic Mission, from January 2017.
Included Items
  • Primary School Talk
Estimated Shipping
December 2018
0 claimed
Secondary School Talk

Secondary School Talk

Currency Conversion $1,010 USD $1,263 USD (20% off)
£800 GBP
Secondary School Talk (available for purchase by a parent or teacher): about the story and work of Arctic Mission, from January 2018
Included Items
  • Secondary School Talk
Estimated Shipping
January 2018
0 claimed
Special Guest Appearance

Special Guest Appearance

Currency Conversion $2,526 USD $5,052 USD (50% off)
£2,000 GBP
Special guest: Pen Hadow joins your corporate lunch or dinner event to add some polar sparkle and Arctic Mission stories, from November 2017.
Included Items
  • Special Guest Appearance
Estimated Shipping
October 2017
0 claimed

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