March 2005 – Volume Twelve, Number Three

EXPEDITION NEWS, now in its 10th year, is the monthly review of significant expeditions, research projects and newsworthy adventures. It is distributed online and via snail mail to media representatives, corporate sponsors, educators, research librarians, explorers, environmentalists, and outdoor enthusiasts. This forum on exploration covers projects that stimulate, motivate and educate.

The following are highlights of our March issue, but this is only part of the story. Click here to subscribe to the full edition. or e-mail us for a free sample copy at editor@ExpeditionNews.com

DIVING THE NAUTILUS

Using the JAGO submersible of Germany’s Max Planck Institute, a series of dives is planned to document the Nautilus, the world’s first Arctic submarine that was scuttled in a fjord off Bergen, Norway in 1931. Serving as scientific advisor for the Nautilus Project is Stewart B. Nelson, Ph.D., an Honorary Member of the Norwegian Shipping Club and Fellow of the Marine Technology Society. Nelson has written and lectured extensively about the Nautilus.

The Wilkins-Ellsworth Trans Arctic Submarine Expedition was an attempt by the Australian Sir Hubert Wilkins to be the first to go across the Arctic Ocean, from Spitzbergen, Norway to Alaska via the North Pole. A surplus U.S. Navy submarine, built in 1918, was acquired and extensively modified for submerging beneath the Arctic ice pack. Chief scientist was Dr. Harald U. Sverdrup of Norway, later to become director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst provided primary support for the expedition.

EXPLORERS WANTED FOR SOUTH AFRICA COASTLINE STUDY

Every June a strange phenomenon occurs in the waters off South Africa’s wild Natal coastline. Millions upon millions of sardines stream northward. Attracted to this seething mass are thousands of predators. Cape gannets dive bomb the shoals from overhead while common and bottlenose dolphins pluck the quarry from beneath. This mass of life in turn draws the biggest predator of all – the shark. Copper, dusky, blacktip and spinner sharks all join the feeding frenzy.

Further north, ragged-tooth sharks begin to congregate around Aliwal Shoal, a mountain of sandstone, honeycombed with a mass of caves, gullies and caverns, that juts into the warmer waters of the Agulhas Current. The so-called "raggies" are attracted to these waters by a range of various tropical fish species drawn down on the current from Mozambique. Accessible to divers, the sharks may be encountered, up close and personal.

These spectacular dive sites provide much opportunity for scientific research. The Scientific Exploration Society, based in Dorset, U.K., has been invited to join other leading organizations to assist with the exploration of these areas. Explorers with advanced or equivalent certificate or at least 30 dives logged under different conditions, are wanted to join the SES on May 15 – June 11, depending upon the precise timing of the run. Cost to participate is approximately $5,160.

EXPEDITION UPDATE

Bancroft and Arnesen Begin Arctic Ocean Crossing – Four years after they crossed Antarctica together on foot, former schoolteachers – Ann Bancroft, 49, from Scandia, Minn., and Liv Arnesen, 51, from Norway – will launch a nearly 100-day, 1,200-plus-mile expedition from the last spit of Siberia on a springtime crossing of the Arctic Ocean, via the North Pole (See EN, October 2003).

EXPEDITION NOTES

There Goes the Neighborhood – A Volkswagen Touareg has set a new world altitude record for a motor vehicle of 19,947-ft. (6080m). This achievement, undertaken in a standard-engined Touareg 3.2-litre V6, has been officially recognized by the Guinness World Records Book.

EXPEDITION FOCUS

Machíavellí, "jungle fever," and expedition sponsorships: a survival guide by William F. Vartorella, Ph.D., C.B.C.

Within the corporate jungle, sponsorship fever is a contagious malady and expedition leaders are especially susceptible. Nearly 7,000 expeditions worldwide will go into the field this year. Many are dangerously under-funded, risking life, limb, and reputations. The days of "bwana" in a pith helmet, slashing through the undergrowth of darkest wherever with a sponsor's decal plastered on his forehead are over. Modern sponsorships are not for adventurers in short pants. They are about real politik, Machíavellí, and high-stakes market share.

This is the world of the zero-sum game. One loaf of bread. Winner take all. To paraphrase The Prince, one must consider "whether a prince has a state of such resources as will enable him to stand on his own feet in case of need or whether he must always have the assistance of others." For expeditions, therein lies the rub.

Sponsorships are not altruistic in intent. Their goal is the achievement of commercial objectives. For a complete look at this story, contact editor@ExpeditionNews.com for a complimentary sample copy of our March issue.

EXPEDITION MARKETING

Kokatat Picks Six to Sponsor in 2005

The folks at Kokatat Watersports Wear in Arcata, Calif., have picked six expedition projects to sponsor in 2005. They believe each will help educate and increase international awareness of conservation and preservation issues, cultural diversity, Global Warming, historical enrichment, mapping and youth mentoring. The company’s sponsored expeditions this year follow below: