Arctia’s multipurpose icebreaker Nordica transited the Northwest Passage in on the Arctic 100 Expedition. One of the explorers was Ari Laakso of the Arctic Centre, who filmed the time-lapse video from the journey.
The Northwest Passage is a sea route connecting the northern Atlantic
and Pacific Oceans via waterways through the Canadian Arctic
Archipelago. Science Communicator Ari Laakso participated in the Arctic
100 Expedition organized by Arctia Ltd on polar icebreaker Nordica.
“This time-lapse video is made of pictures taken during days 16 and 17
(21.-22.7) of our 24-day long journey along the Northwest Passage.
During this time, we were entering the Franklin Strait and saw polar
bears for the first time.
The sea ice was mainly first-year ice, but sometimes we also encountered
multiyear ice, which we tried to avoid. The icebreaker navigators try
to find a route through open water and weak ice; this is visible in the
video as the zigzag movement of the vessel.
We were far into the Northwest Passage and far above the Arctic Circle,
so the sun never set. As you can see in the images, the weather was just
amazing. The camera was mounted inside the ship, in the dayroom. The
pictures were taken at a rate of 1 picture per 30 seconds during the
whole 24-day long trip from Vancouver to Nuuk.”