September 25, 2009 Temp 30F

My day began quite early. The alarm on my watch gently broke my slumber at the 4:00am mark. I’ve never been one to jump out of bed and this morning was no different.  I laid there curled in the fetal position on my right side trying to find the inspiration to get my ass out of bed. My mind was churning though you could never tell since it looked as though I was still asleep. As is always the case when I’m physically beat and short on sleep, I start asking myself, “Why are you doing this? What’s the purpose?” I come up with poor reasons as to why I should stay in bed and gradually as I begin to wake the voice of lethargy and laziness begins to loose it’s power. It’s replaced by the whisper of adventure and curiosity and finally the booming thunder of guilt and shame at the idea that I’m still lying there. There’s a very large boat to catch and I hauled myself out of bed to begin my journey of documenting a project for Polar Bears International highlighting scientists studying polar bears. From Bozeman to Barrow the trip begins.

A view of the Brooks Range on my way to Barrow, Alaska

Just out my window is the Brooks Range. I’m close to the end of the trip for today but just the beginning for the next five weeks. The plane I’m on includes myself and 39 other able bodied scientists, camera men and women, coast guard personnel and others that are winging our way to meet up with the US military icebreaker, Polar Sea. It’s a big ship, 399 feet from stem to stern. It displaces 13, 500 tons and can travel at 3 knots through ice six feet thick. There’s only one country with more muscle in the ice breaker department and that’s Russia. The Soviets use nuclear power to thrust them along. The US does not. In any case for what we plan to do she’s plenty worthy. Our mission? To study polar bears that are living on the arctic ice pack. I’ve worked with several of the scientists that are on this expedition. I’m excited to see George Durner and Eric Regehr two friends I’ve made from past science adventures.

See Photos From the Polar Sea Icebreaker Expedition

Read the rest of this entry »

Robert Buchanan of Polar Bears International addresses The Polar Bears Sustainability Alliance

This past week I spent time in Portland, Oregon shooting photos and attending meetings with Polar Bears International. PBI was asked to join the Association of Zoos and Aquariums  at their annual conference. PBI’s mission to help all polar bears includes working with zoos and aquariums which have tremendous outreach to help educate the public to the issues effecting the climate and eventually the habitat polar bears call home. Jane Goodall was there to give the keynote address and it was hearing her speak is always incredibly inspirational. You can see more photos from the event by clicking on the following link Portland PBI Event

For those of you interested in doing your own printing you should check out  my good friend and master printer extraordinar David Saffir’s upcoming  printing workshops. He’s a great guy and has been extremely helpful in  guiding me and my office staff in our quest to produce the highest quality Limited Edition Fine Art Prints. Take a look at the cities he will be visiting Digital 2 You