The large lead (area of open water in the sea ice) that existed just offshore from our camp has closed overnight. The ice in the Chukchi Sea is very dynamic, even in the middle of winter. This part of the Chukchi is always ice free in the summer, so everything we are flying over and working on is first year or newer ice and typically not much more than 2 metres thick. Leads are constantly forming and closing and as the season winds to a close next week, the ice should really start to fragment and simply begin melting.

Weather often dictates fieldwork in Alaska, especially when you have to be in the air or on the water. This morning it is foggy with periodic snow. As conditions can change quickly up here, we always assume things will improve and plan accordingly.

WWF International Arctic Programme polar bear specialist, Geoff York, is currently in the Chukchi Sea area with the US Fisheries and Wildlife service, conducting research into the status of polar bear populations in the area. This is the first of several blogs from him during his time there …

Today Ann had her first unscheduled dip in the Arctic Ocean. With the amount of thin ice that the Explorer Team have been crossing over the past few days it was inevitable that one of them was going to get wet sooner or later. Since Ann is the lightest of the three she normally takes the lead when crossing thin ice but that also means she is constantly in the ‘Guinea Pig’ role. She managed to avoid total immersion but an arm and leg went through the ice into the water below. Ann was able to get herself to some firmer ice and once there simply had a roll around in the snow to help absorb any excess moisture.

To call the last 14 days eventful for the Catlin Arctic Survey Explorer Team would be the grossest sort of understatement. Two weeks of both the weird and wonderful culminated in a rude awakening on Thursday morning when the ice pan on which they were camped started to break up.

Brownie, a 5 year old husky cross, can boast to be the dog who’s on top of the world. Well, furthest north at any rate. She’s on polar bear alert guarding the scientists and support team of the Catlin Arctic Survey way out on the floating sea ice of the Arctic ocean.

It’s no picnic surviving on an arctic expedition in the depths of winter and early spring. But if you are doing a scientific survey at the same time, it is a lot more challenging. For the explorers in the Catlin Arctic Survey team trekking across the floating sea ice of the Arctic ocean, a picnic cool box is a vital piece of kit.

Based on first year sea ice approximately 1.5 m thick and about 10 km from the rugged coastline of Isachsen on Ellef Rignes Island the location of the Catlin Arctic Survey 2010 Ice Base site is stunning. It’s quite surreal here, like being on a different planet and it’s not as flat as you might think. The ice we’re camped on is flat but to the north and south of camp there are regions of multi-year ice which have ridged up over time and created a bizarre but beautiful rubbled ice landscape.