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February 27th, 2010 | By Nora Sawyer | Filed in AK NEWS, Gear
All this weekend, we’re at the Outdoor Adventure Show at Toronto’s International Centre. Stop by the booth for information on our expeditions, to check out the gear we’re offering for sale, or just to hear some stories from the ice! Visit the Adventure Show website for hours and directions.
February 25th, 2010 | By Nora Sawyer | Filed in AK NEWS, Gear, Uncategorized
We like outdoor adventures.
This Friday through Sunday, Arctic Kingdom will be at Toronto’s Outdoor Adventure Show, Canada’s largest outdoor adventure expo. Visit our booth to get information about our expeditions and trips, get some great deals on expedition gear, or just say hello!
The Adventure Show will be at the International Centre, near Pearson International Airport. Tickets can be purchased at the gate for $12, or you can save money by purchasing advance tickets online. Visit the Adventure Show website for hours and details, including directions to the venue.
Hope to see you there!
February 8th, 2010 | By Nora Sawyer | Filed in AK NEWS, Filmmakers, Films, Projects, TRIPS
If you subscribe to our newsletter, you’ve already heard about Océans, actor, director and producer Jacques Perrin’s exploration of the 71 percent of the earth’s surface that is covered by the sea.
A recent story in Time notes,
[The] spectacular new French maritime documentary. . . has done not only twice as much business as [the George Clooney vehicle] Up in the Air since both movies were released on Jan. 27, but is also looking to set a new mark for nature films when it rolls out internationally in the coming months.
Océans is no Jacques Cousteau rehash, and its environmental message, while alarming, doesn’t impose the sense of doom central to recent films like Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth or Frenchman Yann Arthus-Bertrand’s Home. Instead it seduces the viewer to the maritime cause with awe-inspiring imagery, creating an almost emotional attachment between viewer and cinematic object by bringing the camera into astonishing intimacy with erstwhile unapproachable beings. At one point, a mother walrus hugs her baby protectively as she swims. At another, a diver caresses and plays with an 18-foot, 1-ton great white shark nicknamed “Lady Mystery.”
As we noted in our November 2009 newsletter, we’re proud to have worked with Océans’ producers and filmakers throughout the Arctic, helping them to get some of the spectacular footage that has made this one of the most exciting nature documentaries to hit the international scene in recent years. The film hits North American theaters this Earth Day (April 22, 2010). We can’t wait to see the finished product!
January 28th, 2010 | By Nora Sawyer | Filed in AK NEWS
Our first newsletter for 2010 is online! Check it out here.
Subscribe to our newsletter for all the latest news on upcoming expeditions, special deals, and reports from the field. It’s easy! Just enter your email address into the subscription box below.
November 23rd, 2009 | By Thomas Lennartz | Filed in AK NEWS
The November 2009 Newsletter was just released. The direct link to the newsletter can be found here.
In this months issue:
Subscribe to our newsletter for all the latest news on upcoming expeditions, special deals, and reports from the field. It’s easy! Just enter your email address into the subscription box below.
– Thomas
September 18th, 2009 | By Thomas Lennartz | Filed in AK NEWS
The September 2009 Newsletter was just released. The direct link to the newsletter can be found here.
Subscribe to our newsletter for all the latest news on upcoming expeditions, special deals, and reports from the field. It’s easy! Just enter your email address into the subscription box below.
– Thomas
August 27th, 2009 | By Nora Sawyer | Filed in AK NEWS, Photographers, Projects
With its breathtaking scenery and amazing wildlife, the Arctic is a photographer’s dream. Over the last decade, we’ve accumulated literally tens of thousands of images on our expeditions, captured by team members, expedition leaders, and trip participants.
Qaanaaq, Greenland April 2006. Photo by Louise Murray.
Right now, we’re in the midst of uploading and tagging images from our collection onto Flickr. Though many of these images can also be found in our gallery and throughout the website, the Flickr page gives us the opportunity to upload more photos from recent trips and the archives, tag photos with geographical information, and connect with other Arctic enthusiasts from around the world. Visit our photostream to check out our latest uploads.
July 24th, 2009 | By Thomas Lennartz | Filed in AK NEWS
The July 2009 Newsletter was just released. The direct link to the newsletter can be found here.
Subscribe to our newsletter for all the latest news on upcoming expeditions, special deals, and reports from the field. It’s easy! Just enter your email address into the subscription box below.
– Thomas
July 14th, 2009 | By Nora Sawyer | Filed in AK NEWS, Projects
The Arctic is a land of contradictions, remote from it’s southern neighbors and ever-present within the world ecosystem, both ancient and at the very forefront of climate change and the global response to those changes. And just as they have throughout history, the Arctic’s inhabitants are rising to the new challenges global climate change presents.
Writing for the Arctic Kingdom blog, I often feel overwhelmed by the constant flow of dire news that comes out of the Arctic. Declining animal populations, the loss of sea ice, and the many seemingly unstoppable forces already at play in the global climate can sometimes seem like insurmountable problems.
But there is still hope to be found in the global effort to preserve and protect the Arctic and its inhabitants. Here at Arctic Kingdom, we’re proud to be involved with Arctic Hope, a “cooperative project intended to help the arctic region adapt to a shifting world. The main goals are to strengthen the viability, resiliency and sustainability of the region through mutual education and collaboration with indigenous communities.” Visit the website for more details on how you can get involved!
July 9th, 2009 | By Thomas Lennartz | Filed in Arctic Animals, Diving, Recent Trips, Team Interviews
As I recently have just returned from the floe edge, I am going through the literally thousands of photos..and I already want to go back again It’s amazing how the Arctic calls one to come back. I mean look at this photo ..it’s the one I like to call ‘the twin iceberg photo’. It is one of hundreds of icebergs we see on expeditions, but the meltwater, and the the sheer size of them was impressive and …well.. beautiful.
The Twin Icebergs
For those that have never been to the arctic, most, probably I would say rarely even think about it. Yes, it’s up there on the news – it is melting, the polar bear is endangered, and the news can go on…but few probably have thought about ’seeing’ the arctic in person.
When I meet people for the first time and they find out that I work for Arctic Kingdom and head up to the Arctic to lead expeditions and animal photography trips the reactions range from: “Wow that’s cool!” to…” oh.. really.. Why do you go?Isn’t it …freezing cold? What’s there to see?” The latter reaction is typically quickly changed once they see the Arctic Kingdom gallery of images - there obviously is much to see and over the next few months, I’ll be posting some of my favourite pictures like this one…
Base Camp Fly By
taken on Arctic Kingdom expeditions over the last 10 years (wow..has it been that long already!) and the story that surrounded those pictures
TheArctic is one of those places that you either love it, or you haven’t been there. I am still asked why I go year after year – I mean, once you’ve been there once haven’t you seen it enough? I reflected on this recently as to why I love the Arctic – the ice, the snow, the animals and the many Inuit friends. For me, the primary draw that fuels the passion, that drives me to return and also to show those around me what the Arctic is really all about…is most definitely the animals – especially the whales .
I am going to post an article below I wrote for a dive magazine back in 2002 after my first expedition to the Admiralty Inlet floe edge out of Arctic Bay. I wrote this after my first time ever having swam with beluga and narwhal… and after re-reading it just now.. memories come flooding back..and the Arctic calls again. Without further adoo.. here is that article titled “Dancing with Beluga”
Belugas "Dancing" with the photographer
The Beluga whale and I stare deep into each others eye’s – the Beluga upside down, facing the surface of the Arctic Ocean craning her neck to examine me with a seemingly permanent smile, and me, floating face down, with only a few feet of crystal clear icy water separating us. I float in the water, breathing gently through my snorkel, totally mesmerized by the dark pools of brown that make up the Beluga’s eyes – a stark contrast to her milky white body. I am oblivious to everything except the surreal world below me. Any direction I face, I see pods of white Beluga and charcoal speckled narwhal whales swimming toward me from the black depths below – all with necks angled towards me in unison. All I can hear, aside from my breathing, are their canary-like songs enveloping me from all sides – a virtual orchestra of clicks, whistles and flute-like notes. All I can feel is the icy arctic water pressing tightly against my drysuit. My lips are numb from the cold, but I don’t care, this is a beautiful and magical world unlike any I’ve ever experienced before and I never want this to end.
Beluga pod coming to fill the dance card
As I turn away from my Beluga to look at the other 30 face-up Belugas surrounding her, she turns and follows. With a kick of my right fin, I turn left and she follows my lead. I kick right, and she mirrors my move. I think to myself, “I’m dancing with a Beluga!” and from the depths of my soul, I let out an uninhibited laugh through my snorkel…a laugh of pure joy and exhilaration of having connected one to one with one of nature’s most wonderful animals. I had never laughed so freely and spontaneously before until that moment.
From the surface looking down at the belugas...who are also looking up
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