Day at Sea along the southern coast of Baffin Island

Happy International Year of Youth!! Today marks the official kick-off for this celebration recognizing the importance of youth around the world. And we are celebrating it in fine style aboard the Orlova. Of course, the whole intent behind Students On Ice is to promote knowledge and action about climate change to today's youth. I believe I mentioned this before, but we have 78 students on board this year all united with the same purpose - Protect the Poles, Protect the Planet.

But some students aren't just content to stop at participating in this expedition. Today, a number of them gathered together to plan out a video promoting the IYY celebrations and how they feel about their role in protecting the environment. It's a really uplifting moment to sit there and watch these young people in action. Even though myself and three other staff were there to guide them along and keep them on track, this video is ALL youth-driven, from the storyboarding to filming and editing. Can't wait to see the final product.

This afternoon was our second Pod Team meeting. Pod Teams are a part of SOI's educational component. Students are divided up into teams of 7 or 8, with two staff. In those smaller groups, it is easier for some of the less out-spoken students to get some dialogue going about the various issues we've been looking at, the sights we have seen, and to get to know each other a bit better. I'm teamed up with Jacqueline Phillips, a teacher and fellow educator on board. We've got a great Pod Team consisting of some bright and talented students - Hannah, Bradley, Joseph, Julie B., Estelle, Kamil and Lavinia. You can read their bios on the Students On Ice Arctic 2010 website. Tomorrow, we are continuing around the south eastern coast of Baffin Island. Geoff Green calls tomorrow an Expedition Day, which means he has no clue what we are going to do, where we are going to go. There's still no sign of large amounts of ice, but we are hoping there's some hiding in some fjord or cove somewhere that we can go explore. Perhaps some polar bears or whales will be spotted tomorrow.

Of course, it is the Perseid Meteor Shower tonight - although there's few chances of actually seeing some shooting stars, we're all wishing that tomorrow will bring some more exciting activity here in the Arctic!