Inspire Me Arctic & Antarctic
Northern Lights - aurora borealis
“ I had a dream when I was 22 that someday I would go to the region of ice and snow and go on and on till I came to one of the poles of the earth”
Quote Source ― Ernest Shackleton
The North & South Pole Facts
NORTH POLE There are in fact three North Poles - The Geographic North pole - or True North pole. The Magnetic North pole - which is migrating from Greenland towards Canada - (sometimes call The North Dip Pole) and the one your compass points to. But it’s not much use for finding the Geographic North Pole as they are in different places! There is also the Pole of Inaccessibility - being the most difficult of the Poles to Reach. The Geographic North Pole has no land mass and is just a thin ice sheet - we measured it at less than 6ft (1.8m) when we visited and below that is some 4000 meters of seawater. It gets cold we recorded -43c in 2017 at Ice Camp Barneo. It has just one sunrise and one sunset a year, the sun rising around 21st March - permanent daylight and setting around the 21st October for permeant darkness, and you will have to wait unit March to see the sun again.
SOUTH POLE Differs from the North Pole in that there is a land mass, it also gets colder - 89c was recored at the Russian Vostock base. The Geographical South Pole is at 90 degrees south is now at an American Base. The Pole of Rotation is the axis on which the earth spins moves as the earth wobbles about on a 23000 year cycle causing ice ages and warm ages.. There is the same as the North also a Magnetic South Pole and Pole of Inaccessibility. Most people who visit the Antarctic Continent (it has a land mass) do so on the Antarctic Peninsular - very few cross the Southern Polar circle and even fewer get to the South Pole. At some point the South and North Magnetic poles will “flip” over.
Source Museum Original Video Clip - North West Greenland - Inuit displays for the adventurers - amazing skills in traditional canoe and seal skin cagoule in 4c water. Bravo Indeed!
Sisimet - South West Greenland and the 2nd Largest City in Greenland. Entrance to 18th Century Quarter via 2 Large whale jawbones - possibly Bowheaded Whales.
Source Museum Original Video Clip - Humpbacks in Antartica by Janet - Petermann Island - This is just a clip longer samplers are available in the museum. It’s all the noises going on - the breathing and splashes.
Crabeater Seals and Leopard Seals - there are longer clips in the museum this is just a sample - Most of the seals are covered in attack bites and scratches, but it’s mainly young and penguins as well as krill are all on the menu. Crabeaters and Leopard Seals have straining teeth - there is an example in the museum - they are amazing.
Antarctic - 5 Men at the Pole - Old Press Photo in the Museum Collection
Arctic - illustrated extract from a sea chart by Maria Etchigova - (Argentinian) of Antarctic Circle Expedition - Various Albatross, Pintado or Cape Petrel. MS Expedition. We have 4 such charts in our collection from Maria.
Arctic - Travel Museum Artefact - Another perspective of Greenland Sled model - note canvas snow screen and gun on the sled which the hunter would crawl along the ice behind to get closer to the pray.
Arctic - Travel Museum Artefact - Traditional Kayak Model - Check out our Kayak skills video with traditional seal skin cagoule (Seal fur scraped from it), to make a waterproof barrier.
Arctic - Model Greenlandic Sledge - They are wider than Sami (Lapland) sledges and you sit in them - dogs run in a fan shape. (no trees! and to spread the load on sea ice) In Lapland they are narrower and you stand on them - dogs run in pairs so you can get between trees.
Photo - Museum Originals - Camping in Antarctica - Incredible experience
Travel Museum Artefact - Canadian High Arctic - Tourist ware - tea cosy - It is so charming though.
Antarctic - It is such a stunning landscape - photos cannot do it justice - go see it for yourself
Arctic - North Pole Expedition - AN74 - Svalbard - Note engines are above to stop sucking in snow and ice - You spend a lot of time waiting in Polar expeditions - then it is all go!
Antarctic - How can you not love these guys - Chinstrap Penguins - There was a gang of three and they were egging each other on to come over to see what we were. Travel Museum Original Photo.
Artic - North Pole Expedition having some R&R Longearbayen - Spitzbergen - Glacier- PHD Polar suit went to the North Pole and now in the Museum Collection.
Antarctic - Each tail Fluke and fin is like a signature and you can identify individuals from them - this is a Humpback Whale. This probably means that it it is going on a deep dive to feed.
Arctic - Travel Museum Photo Original - Ice Cave - Longyearbayen - takes you inside the glacier - mud fossils of trees and leaves inside indicate it must have been a forest once.
Leopard Seal - having big lunch - it can be a bit gruesome - but that is nature. Travel Museum Original Photo.
Two Antarctic Fur Seals having a fight -probably over breeding - they look like male and female by size. They can move pretty quick on land as true pinnipeds - faster than us in wellingtons!
Artefacts, Objects and Artwork, with some original photos from the North and South Polar Regions.