Journal

A beautiful summer day full of promise found me sailing in the turquoise blue waters of the Bahamas off the coast of Bimini with a team of researchers studying the health of the local population of spotted dolphins. All around us, a family of dolphins played in our wake, and we slowed to observe them. A handful of adults and several babies stayed with our catamaran and after some time, I decided to join them. Grabbing my mask and snorkel, I waved at the captain to stop and dove in. The water

Most of us don't think about where our water comes from. We turn on the tap and there it is - clean, fresh and ready for drinking, cooking, or bathing. During my travels in Guatemala, I spent time with a young woman named Amelia who had never experienced the ready availability of water that we take for granted. Walking for hours every day to collect water from the river for her family, Amelia cannot imagine what it would be like to have a faucet in her home. Such a simple fixture would not

Eric the Red has been a regular topic of conversation as we retrace his steps from Iceland to Greenland. What was he like? What was he looking for? Why did he leave his country to go live in a country of harsh Arctic conditions? What kept pushing him farther and farther west? I stepped off the Zodiac in Brattahlid hoping to understand a bit more about this famous and fearless Norseman. After all, this place was the one he chose to settle in and an important bit of history happened here:

Qaqortoq is South Greenland’s largest town and our destination today. Indeed, it is larger than any village we have seen so far with a population of 3,000 inhabitants and even boasts a small town square with a restaurant as well as Greenland’s oldest fountain. Colonial buildings dating back to 1775 are scattered around the town lending a sense of timelessness to this place. Because the town is so large, service and administration employs many of the inhabitants but fishing is obviously still

We are sailing through the fjords of southern Greenland today and they are impressive and exquisite. Rocky mountains rise up in towering cliffs from the teal colored water just as glaciers push their way through valleys only to fall into the sea. Walls of ice, ancient rock, and waterfalls of glacial melt water Enormous icebergs bob at the surface as we sail by them. This part of the world is surreal and forbidding, the only ones living here are insects, birds and perhaps an Arctic fox or two. Interestingly,

I woke this morning to the sight of icebergs outside my porthole, just as I had hoped. Nature has made these extraordinary modern sculptures floating in the ocean like enormous ice cubes. I love it. We are in the village of Tasilaaq, population 1,849. There are brightly colored homes nestled around a small bay. Sled dogs are tied in the yards, usually with a sled nearby. They seem restless, as if they are yearning for winter to come again so they can stretch their legs and run across the

Today we sailed across the Denmark Strait – the part of the northern Atlantic that separates Greenland and Iceland and connects the Arctic Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean. It is 300 miles long and 180 miles wide at its narrowest point. It is not the largest part of the northern ocean, but in spite of this the strait can claim great strategic importance as part of the Greenland-Iceland-UK gap, as well as economic value as a rich fishing ground. This morning we saw an iceberg floating in the distance,

Today we were in the northernmost part of the Westfjords, visiting a family that lives on Vigur Island. Measuring about one and a half miles long and a little over 1300 feet wide, it is the second largest island of Isafjord but, to be honest, it is not that big at all. In fact, to my astonishment, only one family lives there. There can be no doubt that they are living in isolation in one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Seals play in the waters near shore, hundreds of thousands

I arrived in the capitol city of Iceland, Reykjavik, yesterday afternoon and spent a few hours exploring the city before boarding the ship in the evening. Reykjavik is a charming city that is home to 300,000 people or 60% of the population of Iceland. Brightly colored homes with white trim mixed in with larger stone buildings make up the majority of the city's architecture. It is a lovely place and the food, mostly seafood, is delicious. We set sail at midnight and arrived at Latrabjarg in

I’ve met a lot of people that distance themselves from the term “environmentalist”, probably because they don’t want to be perceived as a granola munching, tree hugging hippie. And as much as I love granola and trees, I probably don’t qualify as a hippie. But I am definitely an environmentalist.

Covering over 70% of the planet, the ocean is the life support system of the living world and has been intimately connected to mankind as a vital source of sustenance, transport, commerce, growth and inspiration throughout history. It is the lifeblood of the Earth. Driving the weather and regulating temperature, the ocean has contributed to maintaining the stability of our climate, which has in turn allowed us to develop agriculture. Communities have blossomed along the coasts and the call of the

I recently returned from Rangiroa, an atoll that is part of the French Polynesian islands. Protecting marine life is something that the native Polynesians understand. On Rangiroa, you often see young men spear fishing for their family's dinner. They tie buckets to cords tied around their waists and throw their fish into it as they move along the reefs in the turquoise blue waters of the lagoon. Knowing that sharks are attracted to spear fishermen, I asked one of them, named Joseph, if he had ever

A couple years ago, the appearance of a little rat in Laos (southeastern Asia) made it clear that we don’t know nearly as much about the world as we think we do. Locals call it the kha-nyou and generally eat it for dinner. But, the scientists that observed them in the wild found them to be “a friendly, furry creature, about the size of a squirrel, that waddles a bit like a duck.” Are the experts surprised? Yes! They say that the kha-nyou can trace its line to a rodent family that initial studies

I love seafood but there is so much of it I won’t eat because it’s not sustainable. “So, what IS sustainable?” is a question I get a lot. Here is a guide to ocean friendly seafood that you can print out, put in your wallet and pass out to your friends. ;) Also, check out this video blog by Brian Halweil of the Worldwatch Institute. It says it all!

You might not believe this but I had never been to a Wal-Mart until… last week. Yikes! As I walked around the vast expanse dedicated to the convenient consumption of goods, my head was turning. Row after row of clothing, car batteries, beauty products, organic produce, bicycles, cameras, cookware. And there was more. People were getting their taxes done and indulging in manicures. Others were lunching at a McDonald’s. It was enormous, a real shopping behemoth. A one-stop shop. To be completely