In a recent update, Tamara Klink announced that after eight days of cruising around the Chukchi Sea trying to find a passage among the floes of sea ice, she was told to turn back due to the ice conditions in the Russian Arctic.
The sea-ice map above shows that the polar ice cap has shifted away from Scandinavia and the Kara Sea and toward the north coasts of Alaska and easternmost Siberia. Matt Rutherford had managed to cross over Scandinavia and practically tapped on the ice cap north of Svalbard, and has gotten across the Kara Sea as far as the choke point surrounding the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. The map above shows a large body of ice south (i.e., to the right) of the islands, which is probably why Rutherford tried to sail north around the islands before being told by the Russians to turn back.
Klink is stymied by the ice north of easternmost Siberia (i.e., the top of the icefield shown above). She is returning to the Bering Strait but temperatures are dropping and strong winds are approaching and she currently finds herself trapped by the ice. There are no harbors or anchorages in that part of Siberia and as she gets closer to the coast, the pieces of ice get tighter as she tries her best to leave the area. To make matters even worse, the other night, as she tied her boat off against some ice in order to get a little sleep, she saw a bear on the iceberg and had to quickly retreat.
Klink is a savvy and experienced Arctic explorer, and we send her our best wishes as she figures out a way to escape the trap she's in quickly and safely.
No comments:
Post a Comment