In 2017, the five-member Enduring Ice expedition set out to follow the path of floating ice as it left the Arctic Ocean and headed south toward Baffin Bay and the Labrador Sea. This is important because loss of sea ice from the Arctic Ocean decreases the amount of sunlight that is reflected back out into space, which contributes to ocean warming.
Starting out from only about 8 degrees of latitude (500 nautical miles) from the north pole, the expedition’s plan was to follow the escape route that had been taken 134 years earlier by survivors of the ill-fated Lady Franklin Bay Expedition. But instead of having to make the voyage in wooden rowboats, this expedition would have access to modern electronic instrumentation and touring kayaks. Still, the stark arctic conditions could offer unknown challenges – and did.
The film Beneath the Polar Sun chronicles an amazing kayak adventure. It has been broadcast on PBS, and now it can be streamed on the PBS app at https://beneaththepolarsun.org/ . Spoiler alert: this film includes scenes of difficult portages.