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The Arctic
The Catlin Arctic Survey
To get the latest information, news, videos and photos from the expedition, click here.
© Catlin Arctic Survey / Martin Hartley
WWF has partnered with a pioneering scientific expedition – the Catlin Arctic Survey – to help determine the lifespan of the Arctic Ocean's sea ice cover. From late February until the end of May, a team of three extremely experienced polar explorers from Britain – led by Pen Hadow – will journey by foot across the disintegrating Arctic Ice Pack to measure the thickness of the arctic sea ice cap along a complete traverse from 80°N and 140°W to the North Pole.
Watch WWF’s video on the expedition launch
The explorers will travel more than 1,000 kilometers, over 100 days, and take 12 million readings of the sea ice. It is the first detailed mapping of the sea ice with state-of-the-art impulse radar technology.
"This is important data at a critical time for the Arctic," said Neil Hamilton, Director of WWF’s Arctic Program. "This is the only ground-truthed information about ice thickness coming out of the Arctic this year. Satellites give us good measurements about the ice extent, but they’re not so good at measuring its thickness, and that measurement is important to understand how long the ice will last."
View the route of the polar explorers on their approximately 100 day trek across the Arctic.
© Catlin Arctic Survey / Martin Hartley
The Survey will significantly improve the accuracy and reliability of computer models forecasting the timing of the ice cap’s disappearance, and the associated impacts on the global climate. Current estimates for the North Pole ice cap's total disappearance vary from 100 years down to just 5.
WWF is supporting this expedition because we are concerned about the future of the Arctic sea ice. The ice is on a downward trend, and is predicted to disappear in the summer within a generation. This will likely have severe consequence for the Arctic animals and people that have relied on that sea ice for generations. The disappearance of the ice is also having a global effect.
The Catlin Arctic Survey will form an essential part of WWF’s work to protect the Arctic, raising awareness around the world about the plight of the Arctic, the impact of climate change, and the need to secure radical CO2 emission reductions.
Learn more about the Catlin Arctic Survey team:
Penn Hadow – Director and Head of Surveying, Catlin Arctic Survey
Pen rose to international fame when he became the first to complete one of the last polar challenges – trekking solo without re-supply from Canada to the North Pole. This feat was thought by some to be harder than climbing Everest solo without oxygen, and some polar experts had begun to think the challenge impossible.
Pen is also the first Briton to trek without re-supply to both North and South Geographic Poles. He has been a professional polar guide for 18 years. Pen will be responsible for all surveying and observational procedures for gathering the water column, sea ice and weather data.
Pen (46) is increasingly featured in the media as a national spokesman on environmental and climate change issues, based on his knowledge of, and concern for, changes in the North Pole environment. He has featured in public speaking line-ups for environmental events alongside HRH The Prince of Wales, Al Gore, Lord Coe and Sir Jonathon Porritt.
Ann Daniels – Field Operations, Catlin Arctic Survey
Ann Daniels, on achievement alone, is one of the world’s leading women polar explorers. Ann first went to the Arctic Ocean in 1997, when she took part in the lead team of a five-group, relay-formatted expedition to the North Pole.
It was during this expedition that Ann (44) fell in love with the Polar Regions and the challenges of expedition life. In 2000 she co-led a five-strong, 700 mile sledge-hauling trek to the South Pole which became the first British women’s team to complete this journey. Then in 2002 Ann became one of two women, in an originally three-strong team, to reach the North Pole after a gruelling 500 mile, 80-day epic trek in atrocious conditions.
And, in 2005, Ann set off to attempt to become the first woman to trek solo to the North Pole, but despite keeping to her mileage schedule, her hitherto perfect expedition was forcibly airlifted off the ice when on Day 21, through no fault of her own, her permit was withdrawn by Russian officialdom. Pen considers her the most capable polar operator on the Arctic Ocean, hence her primary role as navigator.
Martin Hartley – Photographer and film-maker, Catlin Arctic Survey
One of the world’s leading expedition photographers, Martin Hartley (40) has made the polar environment his own. With nineteen photographic assignments to the Arctic and the Antarctic to date, he is uniquely placed to document the fragile state of the Arctic Ocean.
Martin's sustained commitment to capture the beauty of unadulterated landscapes and remote communities has taken him to some of the most isolated and challenging locations in the world. His in-depth technical knowledge, creative vision and ability to produce results in the most difficult of conditions makes him a highly sought after expedition and adventure photographer.
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