Sedna IV Wraps Up Six Month Arctic Research Expedition
For more information on Sedna IV and Arctic Mission, visit:
http://www.nfb.ca/sedna
Sidney, BC - After six gruelling months battling harsh Arctic conditions
in the Northwest passage, the Sedna IV will end her mission when she
sails into port at the Institute of Ocean Sciences (IOS) in Sidney,
British Columbia. The three-masted 51-metre sailing vessel and her crew
of 16 left the port of Cap-aux-Meules on the Magdelen Islands on July 8
for an extraordinary odyssey of more than 11,000 nautical miles across
the Arctic ice.
Following the route of the great explorers of the past, the sailing
vessel crossed the legendary Northwest Passage in a single season
without the help of Canadian Coast Guard icebreakers. For mission leader
Jean Lemire, the unescorted Arctic passage represented a huge challenge.
"We all wanted to try and do this without assistance from icebreakers -
to retrace the route taken by the great explorers and experience the
daily struggle between our boat and crew and the ever-moving ice."
Captain St½phan Guy explains that modern navigation and communications
technology played a key role in determining Sedna IV's route. "We had
remarkable logistical support from Canadian Coast Guard and the Canadian
Ice Service. Their analysis of ice movement in certain sectors helped
our decision-making process and air reconnaissance by the CANICE-3 plane
confirmed our strategies during critical moments in the expedition".
ARCTIC MISSION
This great human adventure at the top of the world will be at the centre
of a major collection of five documentary films analysing the impact of
climate change on this fragile and little-known environment. The Arctic
plays an essential role in regulating our planet's climate and offers a
unique way of measuring the impact of man on the environment. In
mid-December, part of the team will fly to the Antarctic to document the
effects of climate change on this other ecosystem that is both fragile
and essential to Earth's climatic balance.
The five films comprising ARCTIC MISSION are:
The Great Adventure (working title), by Jean Lemire and Thierry
Piantanida, covers Sedna IV's voyage from Montreal to Vancouver via the
legendary Northwest Passage, exploring impact of climate change in the
Arctic.
Climatology (working title) by Alain Belhumeur looks at climate change
in a global and historical context, showing how our planet has
experienced climate variations throughout history.
Lords of the Arctic (working title), by Caroline Underwood, focuses on
Northern wildlife and its close and tragic relation to climate change.
Peoples of the North (working title), by Carlos Ferrand, looks at the
North through the eyes of those who live in the region and are grappling
with environmental, social and cultural upheaval.
Some Like It Hot (working title), by Patricio Henriquez, connects with
people in the North and the South who are fighting for survival,
examining the social and geopolitical consequences of global warming if
the process is not stopped.
Co-produced by Glacialis Productions, the National Film Board of Canada
and G½d½on Programmes (France), these films will be broadcast on the
CBC's The Nature of Things with David Suzuki, T½l½-Qu½bec, France 2 and
France 5.
The Research
Sedna IV also brings back valuable scientific data collected in
collaboration with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) scientists.
"DFO is very excited that this expedition was captured in time by the
National Film Board - both on film and in the plankton samples they
collected with our equipment," said Dr. Eddy Carmack, Climate
Oceanographer from DFO's Institute of Ocean Sciences. "The JWACS program
will greatly enhance our understanding of what is happening to the
Arctic environment."
The Joint Western Arctic Climate Study (JWACS) is a scientific
collaboration of more than 130 researchers from Canada, the United
States, Japan and China. This year was the first of a six-year program,
and is one of the most diverse and complicated international Arctic
research initiatives ever undertaken by Canada. The JWACS program spans
the Canadian Basin and the Mackenzie Shelf examining the impacts of
climate variability on living and physical ocean processes. Research
topics include atmospheric science, oceanography, climate change,
potential effects of oil and gas exploitation and marine mammal
observations.
For updates on Sedna IV and ARCTIC MISSION, visit
http://www.nfb.ca/sedna
Contacts:
For the National Film Board:
Angela Heck
Public Relations- Western Canada
National Film Board of Canada
Vancouver, BC
(604) 666-1151
a.heck [at] nfb.ca
For the Dept. of Fisheries and Oceans:
Lara Sloan
Communications Officer
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Vancouver, BC
(604) 666-0903
sloanl [at] pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca