Polar bears, walruses, and blue whales.
These three animals have a few things in common. For example, they all live in the Arctic. Sadly, another similarity is that these creatures are in danger. Luckily, humans are working to protect them. The Arctic Sense mission set sail to help with this goal.
The Arctic Sense began this summer. A boat called Barba set sail in June from Stavanger, Norway. Andreas Heide is its captain. Heide has spent nearly four months at sea with his crew so far. Last week, the team docked in London, England. Back on land, Heide told News-O-Matic about his journey.
“Our goal was to sail up to the Arctic and meet the animals that live up there,” Heide shared. That way, “we can better understand them and better take care of them.” The team wants kids to meet these animals someday.
Two major issues that these animals face are climate change and pollution. Our world is warming. This is causing the Arctic ice to melt. Many animals need that ice to survive. Pollution hurts animals too. They may eat plastic, thinking it is food. Creatures can also get stuck in trash floating in the water.
Heide and his team want to bring awareness to these issues. “If more people know, more people will care,” he said. That’s why the Arctic Sense adventure exists.
“It’s been amazing,” Heide said of the trip. “We’ve sailed in challenging conditions,” the adventurer explained.
Boats often need huge ships called icebreakers to clear a path for them through the Arctic ice. Heide and his team had a different method. One of the crew members would climb up the of the boat. This gives a better view of the ice. “It’s like pieces of a puzzle,” Heide said of the ice. “You have to zigzag your way around.”
Solving ice puzzles wasn’t the only exciting part of the trip though. The crew got to see animals such as whales and dolphins. Heide even got to swim with some of the creatures! “I got to spend about an hour in the water with two fin whales and 10 dolphins,” Heide shared.
Fin whales are the second-largest mammal in the world. They can also swim quickly. Heide used an underwater scooter to keep up! Divers use that device to swim more quickly. They hold on and speed off!
“Additionally, we came across 10 blue whales,” Heide went on. Blue whales are the largest animal ever. The blue whale was hunted close to . But now, its population is on the rise. “That’s one of the animals of my childhood dreams,” Heide shared. “Knowing that humanity was so close to this species, and then to see that it’s still there, it’s very touching. It shows that there is hope.”
The team will stay in England until October 1 before heading back out onto the water. The trip will eventually come to an end in Norway, where it started.
Updated September 28, 2021, 5:02 P.M. (ET)
By Alexa Tirapelli
