Carleton PhD biology student Richard Webster will be part of the first-ever expedition to row to the Magnetic North Pole from Resolute, Nunavut at the beginning of August.
The Magnetic North Pole is the point where the Earth’s magnetic field points down vertically. Navigational compasses use this magnetic field to show bearing. The Magnetic North Pole is located in the heart of the Arctic and is not the same as the North Pole, which is the Earth’s rotation axis.
In the past, the surrounding water was impassable due to polar ice, Webster said.
Webster will be the supportcrew’s science officer, stationed in Resolute Bay. He will be monitoring weather conditions with the help of weather consultants and advising the rowers of the best route to take via satellite phone.
He said he will also be responsible for updating the expedition’s website, rowtothepole.com, with photos, videos and blog posts to chart their journey. Webster is also a reserve rower and will be flown in by helicopter if a rower is injured or extra help is needed to make the final push to the pole.
For the first week of the expedition, a small boat equipped with a camera will follow and film the crew’s endeavors for a BBC documentary.
The expedition is the brainchild of seasoned adventurer Jock Wishart, who Webster described as an “intrepid crazy Scottish explorer who’s done all kinds of crazy stuff.”
While the journey will be a feat of adventure in itself, it also has the important goal of drawing attention to climate change, Webster said.
“We’re just trying to draw people’s attention to the fact the North is changing,” Webster said.
It’s the changes in global temperatures that are allowing the expedition to be a reality. The team hopes for a clear path from Resolute to the Magnetic North Pole, but their specially designed boat with runners on the bottom can be manually dragged across ice if need be, Webster explained.
“In the last 30 years, there’s been this real trend of diminishing sea ice,” Webster said. “The surface area of the ice has diminished, and it’s particularly diminished in the summer.”
“We’re just adventurers, in some sense. And we’re making the most of something that could never be done before. It’s only in this changed north that this expedition would ever have been possible,” Webster said.
The expedition is expected to take about a month, with an additional week of preparation in Resolute beforehand.
Webster is readying himself for his trip with the help of a recent $800 trip to Bulk Barn and boxes upon boxes of energy bars from Costco.
There’s just a short time left before Webster packs up his month’s worth of food and 30 kilograms of camera equipment, and he is as excited as a child at Christmas.
“I couldn’t imagine not doing the expedition, and being involved in this challenge that has got such a spirit of adventure.”
