TIME CAPSULE

Hello

Memory exists in many forms. Beyond human recollection, it lives in ancient tree rings, in layers of Arctic ice cores, and in the sediment of the ocean floor. These natural archives hold crucial information about our planet's past, capturing everything from atmospheric conditions and temperature changes to species migrations and extinction events.

Nature keeps its own records, just like we preserve our memories in photographs, films, and in the stories we share with others. Serving as both witness and warning, nature’s memories and ours document impacts on even the most remote corners of our world. 

PLASTIC POLE

Lewis first trained in Svalbard’s Arctic waters in 2005, when sea temperatures were a chilly 3°C. Returning a decade later, on the day of his training swim he found the water in the same place was a startling 10°C. The Norwegian Meteorological Institute reports that Svalbard is warming seven times faster than the global average, with 2023 marking its warmest summer on record.

But there's another crisis unfolding in this once pristine archipelago: despite nearly two-thirds being designated national parks or nature reserves, Svalbard lies at the endpoint of a vast ocean conveyor belt which deposits massive amounts of plastic waste along its shores. "Even from the air, we see bright orange buoys, green fishing nets, and plastic cans scattered along the shore," reports Louise Krüger, a volunteer with the annual cleanup initiative that's been running for over two decades. When Lewis and the team were last in Svalbard they experienced the same, and dedicated time to cleaning up fishing tackle [see our photo above], garden hoses, kitchen implements, and many more items that were discarded thousands of kilometres from these Arctic waters, but still found their way to accumulate here. The Norwegian Polar Institute estimates that over 79,000 tonnes of plastic now lurk in the deep waters around Svalbard – an amount equivalent to the weight of 50,000 cars.

While a recent study shows beach cleanups can significantly reduce microplastic pollution in just one year, the real solution lies in prevention. The upcoming INC-5 negotiations present us with a crucial opportunity to develop a legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution at its source, protecting remote areas like Svalbard.

REVIVING A FROZEN RELIC

Looking back through the annals of polar history, Shackleton's Endurance expedition stands out. In 1915, after their ship was crushed by Antarctic pack ice, Ernest Shackleton managed to keep his entire crew alive for more than a year. Escaping in small boats and on foot, Shackleton and his team made it to South Georgia, where he launched a rescue mission for the rest of his men. Over a century later, in 2022, the shipwreck was discovered in remarkable condition, preserved three kilometres beneath the Weddell Sea, looking almost exactly as it did the day it sank.

Now, a groundbreaking documentary connects past and present, bringing the ship's story to life and detailing exactly how the lost ship was finally discovered. Using AI technology from Respeecher (a Ukraine-based speech synthesis software company), archival recordings of the legendary explorer and his crew were adapted so the men could 'narrate' their own diary entries, alongside restored and colourised footage from expedition photographer Frank Hurley. The result is an extraordinary retelling of one of the greatest survival stories in history. Directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin and Natalie Hewit for National Geographic Documentary Films, Endurance premiered earlier this month. Watch it on Disney+.

TCHAIKOVSKY TO THE RESCUE

Almost exactly 40 years ago, another extraordinary polar rescue was taking place. In December 1984, 3,000 beluga whales found themselves trapped in the ice-covered Chukchi Sea, part of the Arctic Ocean. After the pod chased some fish down a narrow straight, strong winds packed the passage behind them with ice, leaving them cornered under an ever-shrinking breathing hole.

Despite local efforts to help by enlarging the holes and feeding the whales frozen fish, many belugas began to die. That’s when the Moskva was called to help. Carving a channel through the dense pack ice, the 122-metre-long Soviet icebreaker finally reached the trapped pod. But the belugas, frightened by the ship’s enormous propellers, refused to approach.

Luckily, a crew member remembered that marine mammals are highly responsive to acoustic signals, and began playing different genres of music from the ship’s speakers. The Belugas, it turned out, responded best to the classical music of Tchaikovsky. Over the next two months, 2,000 belugas were slowly guided down a 24-kilometre channel of ice, finally gaining freedom in February 1985.

 ‘Operation Beluga’ proved that music really is a universal language. 

OCEAN BULLETIN

🐠 Thousands took to the streets of London demanding action on Britain's sewage-polluted waters. 

🐠 COP16 ends without securing vital funding despite wins for Indigenous rights and genetic data.

🐠 Deep-sea expedition finds bizarre 'yellow brick road' on ancient Pacific lake bed. 

🐠 Photographer documents Svalbard glaciers' haunting disappearance after two decades of change. 

🐠 Emperor penguin arrives on Australian beach thousands of kilometres from home, breaking species' northernmost record.

JUST CHILLIN'

Around this time of year, Weddell seal pups are born on the Antarctic ice. Although it’s hard to imagine by looking at this little cutie, this species can grow to 10 feet (3 metres) long!

Image credits
Svalbard cleanup © Kelvin Trautman | Endurance © Frank Hurley | Beluga pod © Group for Research and Education on Marine Mammals | Seal pup © Myeongho Seo