Year-End Celebration and Circumnavigating the Arctic Aboard a Russian Icebreaker – Anita Ruthling Klaussen

In July of 2016, Anita began a rarely attempted voyage.  She spent almost three months on the Kapitan Khebnilkov, a Russian icebreaker, circumnavigating the Arctic Ocean in four legs – the Northeast Passage along the coast of Siberia, Extreme Greenland, the Canadian High Arctic, and the Ultimate Northwest Passage.  Daylight lasted for 23 hours and produced an abundance of wildflowers.  Included in the adventure were numerous islands, the town of Longyearbyen, an almost complete circumnavigation of Greenland with its pristine and isolated fjords, and Inuit communities.  Sites important to the history of Canadian exploration included Baffin Bay, Grise Fjord, Elsmere Island, and Beechy Island. One of the many highlights of the expedition was tea with Inuit hunters after they had killed and skinned 20 deer to sell at markets.  Anita’s talk will also include the current impact of climate change in the Arctic.