June 2014 – Volume Twenty-One, Number Six

EXPEDITION NEWS, founded in 1994, is the monthly review of significant expeditions, research projects and newsworthy adventures. It is distributed online to media representatives, corporate sponsors, educators, research librarians, explorers, environmentalists, and outdoor enthusiasts. This forum on exploration covers projects that stimulate, motivate and educate.


MINNESOTA ADVENTURERS DESCEND AMAZON'S "RIVER OF DOUBT"

One hundred years ago, Theodore Roosevelt, America's "Rough Rider" and "Wild West" adventure president, undertook his biggest physical challenge - the first descent of an unmapped, rapids-choked tributary of the Amazon, the legendary "River of Doubt."

During the two-month trek, Roosevelt's crew faced great hardship. They lost their boats and supplies to punishing whitewater. They endured starvation, Indian attack, disease, drowning and a murder within their own ranks. The ordeal brought Roosevelt to the brink of suicide and left his health debilitated. But he later said he wouldn't have traded this epic experience for anything. It added the Rio Roosevelt, as it's now called, to the map of the Western Hemisphere and prompted several books, including his own and the 2005 national bestseller The River of Doubt, by Candice Millard (Anchor, 2006).

This month, two Ely, Minn., guides, Dave Freeman and Paul Schurke, are teaming up with native Brazilians to retrace Roosevelt's fabled expedition. Unlike Roosevelt, this centennial trip, which departed in late May, is employing lightweight Kevlar and collapsible folding canoes. In contrast, Roosevelt's crew relied on one ton dugouts they crafted along the way - canoes they found nearly impossible to portage around the miles of whitewater rapids through dense jungle that define the river's upper end.

That portion of the river remains unchanged, surrounded by impenetrable jungle that's protected from development of any kind. And it remains the realm of the Cinta Larga, an Amazon tribe whose first significant contact with the outside world didn't occur until the 1970s. Plans call for a six-week, 400-mile descent, through the end of June, starting near the headwaters and finishing where the Trans-Amazonian Highway crosses the Rio Roosevelt's lower reaches.

For more information: Daily updates on the River of Doubt Expedition can be found on WildernessClassroom.org, a geography and wilderness education website targeting 85,000 students enrolled at over 600 schools.


EXPEDITION UPDATE

Cousteau Grandson Begins Month-Long Submersion

The grandson of explorer Jacques Cousteau has started a 31-day underwater expedition in the Florida Keys. Fabien Cousteau is among a group of five people spending a month inside the Aquarius Reef Base, a pressurized lab 63 feet below the ocean's surface nine miles off the coast of Key Largo. The mission began on June 1 (see EN, September 2013).

Mission 31 researchers will study the effects of climate change and pollution on the reef, while also making a documentary.

Jacques Cousteau is credited with creating the first ocean floor habitat for humans. Mission 31 expands on his ocean exploration while coinciding with the 50th anniversary of his underwater travels.

This is the first time the Aquarius lab, which is operated by Florida International University, has been used for a mission of such duration at the only underwater marine habitat and lab in the world.
Watch the mission live


Solo New York to Gallipoli Row Postponed

Erden Eruc, the first person to complete an entirely solo and entirely human-powered circumnavigation of the Earth, has postponed by a year the launch of his solo 5,700 nautical mile Journey for Peace – New York to Gallipoli (Turkey) Memorial Row. The reason is a lower back injury requiring additional rest.

"Launching later this season is not possible (due to) increased hurricane risk for New York departures after mid-June," he posted to Facebook. The injury happened on April 30 during a heavy workout; proper diagnosis was not made until 30 days later. (See EN, ­­­August 2013)

Despite the setback, he was a cordial host when EN saw him during a fundraiser on May 31 at an Australian bar in New York. The Gallipoli Campaign, a notable failed offensive by the Allies in World War I, took place on the Gallipoli peninsula in 1915.
Learn about his plans


EXPEDITION NOTES

It's a Jungle Up There

"If only I had a tail I could explore so much easier," says Dr. Margaret D. Lowman, aka Canopy Meg, during a May 23 presentation to the Northern chapter of The Explorers Club. Dubbed the "real-life Lorax" by National Geographic and the "Einstein of the treetops" by the Wall Street Journal, Lowman has earned an international reputation as a pioneer in forest-canopy ecology, canopy plant-insect relationships, and devising ingenious canopy-access methods. Using climbing ropes, hot air balloons, construction cranes, inflatable treetop rafts, and walkways, she's dedicated her career to conducting forest canopy research, a place she calls the "eighth continent," where 50 percent of the world's terrestrial biodiversity lives.

"The world has chopped down 50 percent of its forests," she laments. "We must save what we have, replant what we lost."

She believes that canopy walkways can generate more tourist income for local communities than logging and is working closely with Coptic priests in Ethiopia to save the last five percent of forests in the country's northern region.

Educating youth is another passion she shared. "One of the biggest issues facing the next generation is keeping our kids linked to nature," says Lowman, a sentiment reflected in her recent book, It's a Jungle Up There (Yale University Press, 2006), co-authored with her two sons Edward and James.
For more information


NASA Scientist Worried About Greenland Ice

"If the Greenland ice cap melts, sea levels would rise 22 feet," warns Ian Fenty, Ph.D., a scientist from NASA's JPL Science Division. He was speaking to guests from The Explorers Club on May 9 while docked at a Hudson River pier aboard the 116-ft. MV Cape Race, an expedition vessel restored for charter. Satellite images show the Greenland ice sheet is thinning, especially along the coasts; water from the melted ice is flowing into the ocean, he said.

Fenty displayed images of West Greenland's Jakobshavn glacier, site of the longest calving (1.8 cu. mi.) ever videotaped. It has retreated 10 miles in just eight years and at 20 meters per day is considered the fastest-flowing glacier in the world.

"We know there's a human effect, it's not small and it's causing the sea level to rise. In fact, half of global mean sea level change is due to Greenland melting." He believes the U.S. needs to commit to climate science as France has done.


Communicating Field Work

It's one thing to conduct field research, and quite another to tell the world about it. Gaelin Rosewaks, 34, of New York, grew tired of sitting at her computer so she developed a passion for field work. She told an audience at the Wilton (Conn.) Library on May 28 that she's found her calling: these days her Global Ocean Exploration, Inc. works with scientists to communicate the research conducted on field expeditions, through video, photography, blogging, and public speaking, as she was doing that night in a presentation moderated by photographer and explorer Daryl Hawks.

She's been a guest angler and scientific consultant on the National Geographic Channel's series, Fish Warrior with host, Jakub Vagner, catching and studying white sturgeon on the Fraser River. She was named one of six "Sustainable Stewards" at the Sustainable Planet Film Festival for her outstanding contributions to marine conservation. Rosenwaks also earned a master's from Duke University, where she studied the migratory movements of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna.

"Scientists want to get their message out there and explain their work, but usually don't have the time to do it," she said. "I'll do what's right for the expedition: photography, writing, video or a combination of all three."

She believes television exposure is the most effective means of reaching the widest number of people. "My 'aha' moment about the global power of television came when I was recognized in a spice market in Turkey."
More information

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

"Floating above the clouds, materializing out of the mist, mountains appear to belong to a world utterly different from the one we know, inspiring in us the experience of the sacred."

- Edwin Bernbaum, Sacred Mountains of the World (University of California Press, 1998)