This SUP Antarctica expedition plans to be the first SUP based expedition to the continent. A small team will be setting out from Ushuaia, Argentina. After crossing the Drake passage on a transport ship we will rendezvous with the expedition yacht Icebird. This ship and our tents will be home for the next 15 days as we explore along the world’s most isolated coastline   

 

This is not just an adventure, this is a research trip.

We have teamed up with the Polar Collective, a research group dedicated to expanding our limited knowledge of this fragile ecosystem. The SUP’s will allow us to cruise through icy passages and weave between islands with just the sound of the blade in the water and the gentle lapping of the waves. Providing a unique perspective to gather data for 3 important projects. 

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The Happy Whale Project is a worldwide whale monitoring initiative. The goal is to understand migration patterns and population status. We will be in Antarctica during whale season giving us a great chance to see, identify and report the whales. Our upright position on the boards will give us a great view point to see across the waves and increase our chances of identifying the whale. This study is usually conducted by powerboats but our silent approach will offer us a better look into the whales natural lives.  

 

The Snow Algae project is a study on the single-celled organisms that live in the snow, these tiny plants absorb sunlight and speed up the melting of the snow. We will be observing the size of the algae patches and reporting its colour/species. The SUP is an ideal vessel to get us into small coves and to isolated islands. We will be recording the presence of snow algae in these hard to reach places, usually researchers have to rely on satellite images to monitor the snow algae, but cloudy skies often lead to blank spots. We will help to fill in these spots.

 

Secchi disk phytoplankton study involves using our floating laboratories to survey the amount of phytoplankton which have declined by 40% globally between 1960 and 2010 due to climate change. Phytoplankton are the main food source for a range of marine life and a major producer of oxygen. We will be using a secchi disk to measure how deep we can see into the cold watery abyss, from this we can report how much plankton is present in the water.  

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​WE NEED YOUR HELP TO GET TO ANTARCTICA TO CARRY OUT THESE IMPORTANT STUDIES. 

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