Thursday, August 23, 2012

Final group picture with Michael F., George, Juliane, Hugues, Ricky, Stefanie, Boris and Lee-John. (photo: S. Weege)We are back in Inuvik. It is a strange feeling to be back in a city after four weeks on an isolated island without running water and shops. We enjoy the advantages of having a shower, a washing machine and fresh food. We are thoroughly enjoying the good weather and took some time off from the weeks of almost uninterrupted work. Everyone is healthy but at the same time exhausted.

 

Packing up all the equipment. (photo: S. Weege)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have carefully packed our samples. Unbelievably, we managed to fill eleven coolers during our trip! This coming Monday we shall embark on our journey back to Europe, together with our samples. The trip is expected to last about 32 hours, during which we will travel from Inuvik to Potsdam via Norman Wells, Yellowknife, Edmonton, London, Frankfurt, and Berlin. Hopefully our frozen samples survive this long trip. We bought lots of ice packets to keep the samples cool.

Boris and George taking the samples to the landing stripe on the beach. (photo: S. Weege)The trip back is not the only thing on our minds. We are also preparing for our return to the Arctic next year. Through an employee of the Canadian Customs Office we have found out that it's possible to store scientific equipment in Canada for several years, thus saving both logistics and money. The local officials are especially helpful and support us wherever they can. The regional National Parks Office issued a multi-year license. The Aurora Research Institute has offered a formal partnership. In addition, the Herschel Island park rangers are willing to put one of the buildings on Herschel at our disposal. It seems this is an opportune time to expand scientific efforts in this area.

 

 

 

Proudly taking our samples home. (photo: S. Weege)Now to summarize the achievements of the Expedition Yukon Coast 2012:

• - 14 scientists from Canada and Germany, and from four different institutions worked in close cooperation
• - What began as a coastal erosion study back in 2003 has grown into a multi-million Euro interdisciplinary project with a broad focus and many international partners
• - Our next expedition will surely attract new participants from AWI and our partners to carry out scientific studies in the Yukon. We are looking forward to it!
• - This year's success is owed to the exceptional preparation, the team spirit of all participants, and the unusually good weather