Winter 2015 edition of Far Afield

The Explorers Club – Canadian Chapter 1 www.explorersclub.ca

News for the CaNadiaN Chapter

Vol. 6 No. 2 Winter 2015

Far Afield

Spirit bear and pink salmon. Photo by Mary Morris FI’10. See pages 4-5 for story and caption.


Table of Contents

Message from the Chapter Chair .................................................................................................3Communications ..........................................................................................................................4Regional Report - BC/Yukon .......................................................................................................5Regional Report - Prairie/NWT .....................................................................................................7Regional Report - Ontario/Nunavut ............................................................................................10Regional Report - Atlantic/Quebec .............................................................................................11Membership Report ....................................................................................................................11Student News and Updates ........................................................................................................12Outstanding Canadian Members ................................................................................................14Explorer Reports & Updates ......................................................................................................16In Other News.............................................................................................................................30Awards & Honours ......................................................................................................................34Classified Ads .............................................................................................................................41Explorer Resources ....................................................................................................................41 Far Afield and The Explorers Log Schedule ...............................................................................41

Far Afield is published bi-annually. Far Afield welcomes brief submissions from members, preferably in Microsoft Word format with high-resolution digital photographs files sent separately from the text. Photographs must include captions and a credit. Please send all materials to: [email protected]. Submissions may be edited for length. The authors are responsible for the content of their articles. Their views do not necessarily reflect the views of The Explorers Club Canadian Chapter and the Club is not responsible for the accuracy of the articles.


I’d like to tell you about my Dad and Ron Craven ME’91. Ron had served with the Royal Canadian Air Force as a flying Warrant Officer from 1939 to 1945, completing 32 flight tours over Europe. My father served with the Royal Air Force, stationed in India from 1943 to 1945, flying out of Calcutta over Myanmar and Thailand.

In 2006, soon after I became a member of The Explorers Club, my father and I spent an afternoon with Ron. We had driven out to Tillsonburg and the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association where I had arranged for Dad to take a flight on an old Harvard Mark 4, the plane that was used to train so many of the 130,000+ pilots, navigators, air gunners and flight engineers that Canada trained as part of the war effort.

On our way home we stopped to see Ron. He was a very gracious host. Our visit began with a tour of his office, more museum than working space, the walls covered with posters and memorabilia from the war and his long career in aviation in Canada’s north. On one wall was a big poster of Vicky, the “vicious virgin” that was Ron’s Halifax bomber. Dad held Ron’s logbook in his hand, awed by the 27,000 hours in 52 different aircraft that Ron had flown during 55 years as a pilot. Over lunch at Ron’s favourite hangout in Stratford, we – they – talked about airplanes. The unique sound and shake of each plane. The people they had flown with, so many already gone. Then it became quiet. And it was time to go home. My father passed away in April 2011. Ron passed away last October.

A few weeks ago at our February dinner, Fred Gaskin FI’81 said farewell to another member of The Explorers Club and friend of the Canadian chapter, John Lentz FN’63. John was a member of the Washington D.C. chapter, but he had been born in Toronto and attended the Wilderness and Canoe Symposium in this city almost every year, sometimes as a speaker. Fred said that he and many other members of this chapter had the pleasure of participating in canoeing expeditions with John, who had paddled and explored rivers in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Arctic Siberia for more than 50 years. In 2013, John launched his book Tales From The Paddle at the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough. In 2014, he donated half of his books on the Canadian north, which Fred said filled a small van, to the museum. John passed away in January.

Good men, all three – and Fred, too.

Message from the Chapter Chair Elaine Wyatt MI’05

Special in this editionI would like to thank Mary Morris FI’05 for serving as regional director for BC/Yukon for the past four years. In this issue, she has given us a great parting report in which she admits to being truly swept away by the “charismatic megafauna” of the BC and Alaska coast. She sweeps us away with her words and images. Congratulations must go to Austin Mardon CorMem’86 on his induction into the Royal Society of Canada, Cory Trepanier MI’09 on the selection of his Glacierside painting for the Arctic Room in Canada’s Embassy in Washington and the winners of this year’s awards: George Kourounis FI’09, Peter Rowe FI’08, Ed Reinhardt FI’04 and Clive Coy FI’14. We also named 18 members to the inaugural Explorers Honour Roll. Lee Treloar MI’09 has captured the essence of these special individuals in an article that starts on page 34.


Fellow explorers, for quite a few months now, we’ve been sending your monthly e-newsletter. We are starting to get more and more contributions, which is great! Sharing your news with the chapter is not only telling us what you’ve been up to: it’s building a community. Don’t be shy and send us your news. It’s ok if it’s brief. It’s great to connect with the rest of the group and hear what you’ve been up to.

We’re worried that some members might not be getting the e-newsletter, it may be going under their spam folder. We also know that gmail puts it into a Group folder rather than your inbox. Could you ask other members you know if they receive the e-newsletter? Feel free to forward it too.

Far Afield vs. monthly e-newsletterFar Afield now comes out twice a year. It’s a great opportunity to tell stories at length with photos, photo essays, etc. The e-newsletter, on the other hand, is published monthly. The call for news is sent to all members on the first Wednesday of the month, the deadline to submit news is the second Wednesday and the e-newsletter is sent to you on the third Wednesday. Items for the e-newsletter should be brief (100 words for news/50 words for events).

Facebook pageJoin our Explorers Club Canadian Chapter Page and invite people who are interested! We tend to share most news you send us for the newsletter on our Facebook Page too, unless you specify otherwise. We are a few administrators on the page and we like to share your news, but sometimes posts don’t have public settings allowing us to share. In any case, feel free to send us your Facebook News to [email protected] so we can post them on Facebook as well. We realize not everybody is on Facebook, but it is a great way to share explorers’ news on a regular basis and interact with non-members too who might be interested in joining the club.

Looking forward to hearing from you! Have a great winter everyone, keep exploring and keep communicating!

CommunicationsMaeve Gauthier FI’13 and Wilson West FI’08


The New Year has come and gone and the dark days of winter have already started to gradually lengthen. I see the spring bulbs poking up through the front garden, and even a few snow drops are pointing to the season changing soon. Looking back over the year since last spring’s issue of Far Afield, I am still grinning from the amazing summer I had last year. I spent most of the summer cruising on the BC and Southeast Alaska coast, both on our own boat and working as naturalist on wilderness trips by Maple Leaf Adventures. Usually I’m a person who always focuses on the little things, looking down on the moss in the forest or on the seaweed on the beach in the intertidal …but this was the year that I finally was truly swept away by seeing the charismatic megafauna. Instead of the my usual fleeting momentary glimpses of the big critters, it seemed that last summer we were so lucky to have time to look and look. We watched grizzly bears eating fresh sedges and digging roots in coastal estuaries. We had incredible views of bubble-net feeding humpbacks, where they made slow arching circles of bubbles underwater to corral

Regional Director BC / YukonMary Morris FI’10

their prey, and then lunged to the surface, mouths gaping. We marveled at a river estuary where we saw a mother black bear with her three cubs, all draped over mossy branches of giant Sitka spruce in the river valley meadow. How they could sleep like that without tipping out of the tree? We had groups of black and white Dall’s porpoises that raced under our bow, splashing with synchronized zooming dives. We saw floating sea otters with their pups along kelp beds that kept as close an eye on us as we had on them. We had time to soak it all in. We could float quietly and just watch and watch. We were even extremely luck to see a white spirit bear, that rare colour form of the black bear that lives in the Great Bear Rainforest. We were hosted by the guardians from Hartley Bay, and from their bear viewing platforms we watched, awestruck, as

Sunset view from Fury Cove at the entrance to Rivers Inlet, which is a lovely anchorage and favourite stop off for cruisers staging to cross the open water at Cape Caution. Photo by Mary Morris.


in school classrooms. Mike explained how this project is so effective because of having underwater divers in real time, making the video link technology truly come alive to connect the kids with the different world underwater. Recently, I was fortunate to attend an evening lecture at the Royal BC Museum by Robert Bateman MI’84 and Bristol Foster, where the two life-long friends described their epic trip by land rover in the 1950s, crossing Africa, north India, and Australia. This event was co-sponsored by the Royal BC Museum and the Bateman Centre, and was the preview for “The Rover Boys, A Travelling Exhibition” which will open in Victoria in May at the Royal BC Museum. Bateman described how he realized early in the trip that he was ‘not being mindful’ of the places and people he was seeing, so he started his sketch journal. They both kept photos and Bristol also took 16 mm movies—state of the art in those days. Bateman’s descriptions of his favourites from those original sketches, along with the photos and film clips brought their stories alive across the six decades since their adventure. Truly inspiring, as both men showed how their long-ago adventures became such a part of who they are today; and how they can still both share their passion for exploring with us all. I’m happy to be handing over the BC/Yukon Directorship to Cathy Hickson FI’05. Thanks Cathy! Looking forward to the coming year and happy summer season of being out in the world, everyone. Cover photo: A white spirit bear of the Great Bear Rainforest devouring a freshly caught pink salmon. Spirit bears are a rare colour form of black bear and only occur in coastal BC.

the big white bear casually wandered up the stream bank, pounced on a pink salmon in the knee deep stream and sat back on his haunches to eat the salmon, with us all snapping photos and videos, safely and quietly just a few metres away. What a precious place out there, our coastal ecosystems, in all their great-interconnected complexities from the tiniest mosses to the hugest humpback whales. I am so grateful that I could feel it for myself, taking the time to slow down, breath, watch and notice, and most important to be sharing the experience with other people. Being present in that place and taking a break from my usual hectic and techno-filled life. Perhaps that’s the essence of being an Explorer, simply finding the places to be outside, to reconnect with the real world, however large or small.Back home in Victoria, in early October, Jess Lansfield TI’13 and Maeva Gauthier FI’13 organized a wonderful evening at the Robert Bateman Centre. I presented some highlights from the summer, and Mike Irvine explained the Fish Eye Project, he’s working with. Fish Eye connects research divers via audio and video streaming live from underwater, in conversation with students

Calm wind and water for crossing Cape Caution, headed south. Cape Caution marks the boundary between BC’s south coast and the mid-coast, and is known for tricky winds and waves. Photo by Mary Morris.


plunged into the hot springs. After that, off the highway to Jasper, Rogier took us on a short walk to the edge of the Athabasca near the National Historic Site of Jasper House. During the eighteen hundreds, this was a major stop for fur traders and a starting point for exploration to the west. Near Jasper, we hiked along Maligne Canyon, the deep gorge (55 metres, 1.2 kilometres long) eroded by water during, and after the last glaciation. This is in Devonian limestone karst region. Next, In Jasper, we looked at glacial deposits and landforms that were formed during the last glaciation, 20,000 years ago. This included glacial till and underlying outwash gravels. We noted the spot where organic matter was found that enabled us to radiocarbon date the time

Regional Director Prairie / NWTNat Rutter FE‘78

This year’s Prairie and NWT Region field trip took place in the Jasper and Hinton area. The eleven intrepid explorers included Explorer Club members Gordon Currie AI’07, Rogier Gruys MI’10, Andy Hogg FI ‘11, Barbara Schweger FI’ 08, Robyn Usher FI’11 and Nat Rutter FE’78 who led the trip. We met at the Holiday Inn, had a welcoming drink and then went to dinner at a local Greek Restaurant. After dinner, we had an interesting talk on the history of the Hinton area. Marylyn Campbell, archivist at the Hinton Municipal Library, presented us with an overview of the early coal mining industry, and early explorers, of the region and what is happening in the area today.The next morning, in a swampy area above the town of Hinton, we visited an area populated by beavers. The Town has constructed an extensive series of boardwalks that enables one to explore the area, viewing beavers and their lodges. This is a must for anyone visiting Hinton. We then went on our way to the east end of Jasper National Park to Miette Hot Springs, the hottest in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, developed in Devonian dolostone. Further east Devonian rocks are the source of major oil fields. Several of us took advantage of the glorious mountain morning and

The 2014 Prairie/NWT Group at Jasper National Park. Photo by Jane Usher.


of the last major glaciation. Before dinner, at another Greek restaurant but this time in Jasper, we were lucky to have Roger to present us with an advance showing of the National Parks new promotional artistic movie showing outstanding mountain scenery.The next day we drove to the Athabasca Falls south of Jasper and viewed the spectacular falls that has been eroding back since glaciation. Then on to the Athabasca Glacier, where we viewed and discussed the modern activity of the rapidly receding glacier, and the modern glacier landforms and deposits. Here the group parted, some to Calgary and some back to Edmonton. All agreed it was a worthwhile trip.Jason Schoonover FE’86 has had another busy year. A few highlights, as widely reported in the media, a flag expedition led by Jason as team leader and Phil Currie FI’02 and Eva Koppelhus FI’02 as field leaders made a major discovery in the Red Deer River badlands. A Dromaeosaurus discovered by Clive Coy FI’13 turned out to be a small theropod called Saurornitholestes, which some researchers believe is the same as Velociraptor. The full story will appear in a major science magazine. It was one of a stunning six dinosaurs found – the

Dromaeosaurus, four Hadrosaur and a Ceratopsian – over the two weeks. In that it takes a full month of prospecting on average to discovery one dinosaur you can understand why a delighted Phil declared it one of his successful expeditions ever. Another significant find was made by a delighted Lee Treloar MI’09 – a rare Ankylosaur skull. Eleven of the 18 expeditioneers were EC members: Su Hattori MI’13, Tony Mayo FI’14, Kumiko Yokoyama MI’13, Garth Ramsay MI’13, James Anthony MI’10, Jessica Lansfield TI’13, Lee Treloar MI‘09, Jessica Phillips MI’12, Rob Tymstra FI’94, Clive Coy FI’13, and Capt. Norm Baker FN’70.

Jason then led a four-man team on a five-day survey of Ordovician trace fossils at Namew Lake, Saskatchewan. Non-Cretaceous surface fossils are virtually non-existent in the province except for a short tongue of Ordovician licking in from Manitoba, where it sweeps south to Winnipeg and the nearby and famous Tyndall stone quarries. Tyndall is used in everything from our Parliament Buildings to institutions and major buildings across Canada and is well known for the variety of its fossils. This tongue and its shelves, in Saskatchewan surround one large lake – Namew – part of the famous fur trade Voyageur and exploration “main highway.” 102 nautiloids, 18 coral imprints and a single recepticulate were documented.He and Su Hattori MI’13 are currently in Thailand continuing excavations at Hintok Cave along the River Kwai with Sir Rod Beattie, and participating in the finishing touches to the Hintok Camp Museum being constructed to house their Paleolithic, Neolithic and WW II Death Railway finds. The cave and museum are on the site of the WW II POW camp, now an upscale resort on the River Kwai that pays homage in theme to its original flag expedition which included Capt. Norm Baker

A thrilled Lee Treloar high fives Phil Currie at the site of her skull find. She later got to work on it at the Dino Lab at the University of Alberta. Photo by Jason Schoonover.


FN’70.Murray Larson FI’05 and Andy Hogg FI’11 have identified an important piece of history that should be of interest to Canadian explorers. On November 5, 2014, they were toured around the Viking Air Facility in the Avibusiness area at the south side of the Calgary Airport (YYC) which assemblies the iconic Twin Otter aircraft. The Twin Otter, originally manufactured by de Havilland, was first on the market in 1965/66 and has flown on exploration, as well as other missions, to both Poles and to most countries in the world. They were most ably guided through the facility by General Manager Steve Stasiak.At any one time there are four Twin Otters in various stages of completion at this facility and one comes off the assembly line every two weeks and is test flown in the Beisecker and Lethbridge areas of southern Alberta. After passing the Viking Air airworthiness test the planes are flown to Spokane for painting (customers colours) and then flown to Victoria for final fitting out as well as the Transport Canada seal of airworthiness. From Victoria the planes are then flown to the country/airline that purchased them. Of the four aircraft that we saw in various stages of completion, two were

A typical nautiloid trace fossil at Namew Lake. Photo by Jason Schoonover.

Viking Air Photo

destined for Scotland and one for Peru. As a matter of interest, each Twin Otter costs $7,000,000 with floats adding an extra $750,000.


Regional Director Ontario / NunavutPeter Rowe FI’08

The Ontario region held their final meeting of 2014 at their usual clubhouse in the boardroom of Kensington Tours, with a presentation on the recent flag expedition to the caves of Madagascar. Following a holiday season dinner, team leader Simon Donato FI’09, lemur man Travis Stevens FI’13, cave man George Kourounis FI’09 and logistics queen Robin Brooks MI’14 held an attentive group captive with stories of their adventures, misadventures and discoveries in exotic Madagascar.

Globe-trotting exploration partners Peter Rowe FI’08 and George Kourounis are back out there. In November they were on the trail of Explorers Club member Theodore Roosevelt, exploring the remote Rio Roosevelt (aka River of Doubt) in the Amazon jungle that the ex-US president had navigated 100 years earlier. In December the pair flew to the Cabo Verde Islands to film the new eruption of the Fogo volcano, and in early January they were investigating the huge bush fires of South Australia.Meanwhile our region’s sole Nunavut member, Matty McNair FI’10 has just returned to her home base in Iqualuit following a winter’s trip to the sunny south – way south – Antarctica. Matty loves the ice and snow.

Peter Rowe and George Kourounis on the Rio Roosevelt. Photo by Jocelito Camargo.

George Kourounis, Simon Donato and Travis Steffens in Madagascar. Photo by Robin Brooks.


The Atlantic/Quebec members of the Explorers Club are currently Far Afield around the world, and will report their adventures and discoveries in the summer Issue.

Regional Director Atlantic CanadaDale Dunlop MI’08

MembershipMembership Director John Pollack FI’06

At the end of 2014 the official membership rolls for the Canadian Chapter contained 218 members of whom 201 members were in good standing and 17 were-in-arrears. Until these members-in-arrears make a decision about remaining in The Explorers Club, precise figures for the Chapter cannot be determined, but the trend over the past four years has been positive, up from 180 members in 2011. At present the Chapter has 26 members in the Atlantic/Quebec region, 73 in the Ontario/Nunavut region, 34 members in the Prairies/NWT region, and 72 in the BC/Yukon region. Thirteen members wish to be associated with the Canadian Chapter but live outside of the country. A total of 17 new members were elected in 2014: two as Fellows, six as Members, one as an Associate, five as Term and three as Student. Every January we verify who is a member in good standing, and those members who have not paid their 2014 dues are dropped from our lists. If you have been remiss in this regard, please add The Explorers Club dues payment to your “must do” list. The time is here. If anyone wishes to sponsor a new member, remember that one of the jobs of the Membership Director is to assist in that process with a co-sponsor letter if needed, and a check on the package to ensure it is complete. I’d be pleased to help you.


Student News and UpdatesJessica Lansfield TM’13

Passion, from the Latin word passionem, which means suffering or enduring. As explorers, it is often hard to explain why we have such affection or enthusiasm for the experiences and work that we throw ourselves into, or why we are drawn to certain objects, concepts or people. At times, we suffer for these explorations. Other times, we wish the bliss and feelings of flow would never end. Perhaps it is for these extremes, the suffering and the bliss, and all of the moments in between, why we search for a sense of community in The Explorers Club. A community of people, who might not share our exact experiences, but who have been through the highs and lows of pursuing the thing(s) that make them feel alive. In this community we find inspiration, courage, challenge and support. We find the support to continue to pursue our passions even though they may bring us suffering. Throughout the past year, I have followed and encouraged members of this club and their explorations. I have learned of many journeys, short and long, those that have been smooth sailing, and others that were far from smooth, and even more that landed

somewhere in between. Some of these tales of adventure were shared through a few events, which were organized over the last few months. Kayaking in AlaskaIn July, Daniel Fox, creator of The Wild Image Project, spoke to a crowd of 20 curious Yukoners about his solo kayaking adventures through Alaska and his goal of paddling from Victoria on Vancouver Island to San Francisco to fundraise for the Wilderness Immersion & Leadership Development (WILD) campaign. This campaign aims to send youth to wilderness immersion opportunities. Since then, Daniel has traveled many miles and continued to garner support. In September, half-way through his Pacific Coast expedition, a series of unfortunate events lead to a temporary halt in his plans. Here is an excerpt from his journey:My eyes focused on the silhouette made by the water line, trying to figure out the rhythm of the sets. To be honest there was not much to decipher in the dark. I took a deep breath and relaxed for a second. I closed my eyes and asked the ocean to keep an eye on me. I started paddling toward the surf. A

wave crashed. I stopped. I hesitated. I went again. And like a “deja vu”, I heard the roaring mounting behind me, like a giant monster rising from the depths and about to engulf me with one bite. Grasping for the impact I filled my lungs with as much air as I could.The weight of the Pacific landed on my back with such tremendous force that I felt the kayak breaking in two. It was not like trying to rip a piece of fiberglass apart. The kayak literally snapped in two halves like a dry twig. The ring of the cockpit was broken but my skirt was still around it. I was in the water being ravaged by the surf, tied to the waist with a piece of the kayak on each side of me. For more information on Daniel’s journey and updates, visit www.wildimageproject.com.Explore The Ocean DayOn October 2, The BC/Yukon region hosted Explore The Ocean Day in partnership with The Robert


Student News and Updates cont’d

Mike Irvine of The Fish Eye Project provides an underwater perspective. Photo by: Bill Weaver.

Bateman Centre. People collaborated to share ocean-based talks, images, and discussions. During the day, live dive experiences were provided by The Fish Eye Project, co-founded by Maeva Gauthier FI’13. In the evening, Mike Irvine from the Fish Eye Project, Mary Morris FM’10 and BC-based film and media producers Andrew Robertson and Ian Hinkle, shared their love of the ocean and reasons why we need to protect it now more than ever.Student UpdatesLindsay Marie Stewart received the 2015 National Geographic Young Explorer’s Grant. Lindsay will be accompanying explorer Kate Harris FI’10 on the Borderski Expedition. Visit the Borderski website and social media pages for more information http://www.borderski.com/ Robert St-Onge S’06 has agreed to be the new student representative for

Mary Morris coastal adventures captivate the audience. Photo by: Jessica Lansfield.

Eastern Canada. Welcome to the team Robert!Over the past year, I have been in contact with students from across Canada and other clubs and organizations within the BC/Yukon region, such as The Alpine Club of Canada – Vancouver Island Section, The Ancient Forest Alliance British Columbia, The Fish Eye Project, The Jellyfish Project, Sailing The Arctic Race and The South Vancouver Island Mycological Social to support connections with The Explorers Club and to create a broader community of explorers.I hope that current members will contact student representatives if they are interested in providing a talk or if they know of any students who would enjoy membership with The Explorers Club. In the next few months, I will be searching for a BC/Yukon student representative

replacement and would love to see someone who would shine in the role take over its responsibilities. Please email for details [email protected]. Being a part of this club, I have learned so much, and I think it is time for another person to benefit, and hopefully only suffer a little, if they have a passion for fulfilling the role.


Mark Angelo FI’09 is clearly one our stars in the Canadian branch of the Explorers Club. He is an internationally celebrated river conservationist, writer, speaker, teacher and paddler. Upon graduating from the University of Montana, Mark moved to Vancouver and over the next several decades, played a leadership role in numerous river conservation and restoration initiatives. Projects ranged from successful efforts to restore heavily damaged urban streams such as Guichon Creek in Burnaby and Still Creek in Vancouver. He led effective campaigns that helped clean up severely polluted streams such as Britannia Creek, which saw the return of salmon for the first time in a century, to broad-based initiatives to protect the Heart of the Fraser, one of the most productive stretches of river in the world. He also played a major role in reclaiming Hastings Creek in Vancouver. This urban stream was buried and paved almost a century ago and its restoration was one of the most progressive projects of its kind. Mark organized a major cleanup of the Thompson River in the southern interior of British Columbia. This led eventually to BC Rivers Day, which grew to become the biggest event of its kind in North America involving up to 75,000 people in activities from steam clean-ups and fish enhancement activities to educational outings and community riverside celebrations. This was the catalyst for proclaiming World Rivers Day by the United Nations. Mark has worked on and profiled numerous international river issues. His efforts have been honored by governments, community groups, professional and indigenous bodies in Canada and abroad.

Mark Angelo FI’09

As an avid kayaker, canoeist and rafter, Mark has traveled close to a thousand rivers spanning over 100 countries. From 2003 to 2007, his acclaimed program, “Riverworld; a personal journey to the world’s wildest rivers”, launched in conjunction with National Geographic on line, played to sold out audiences across North America. The program’s website has had more than 40 million visits. Follow-up programs had similar success. He has written over 300 articles and essays about his experiences, and related conservation issues, for many different publications.At the present time, Mark is completing a major river documentary film entitled RiverBlue, set for international release in 2015. This was an Explorers Club flagged expedition.

Outstanding Canadian members – Mark Angelo FI’09By Nat Rutter FE’78

A Rivers Day event where school children are releasing trout into Guichon Creek in Burnaby.


This ambitious and much anticipated film chronicles an around-the-world journey by river that Mark took in the years following his retirement from British Columbia Institute of Technology. This enabled Mark to revisit many rivers that he had paddled in past decades while providing an overview of the global state of our waterways.Mark is or has been a member or Chair of The Explorers Club, the Pacific Fisheries Resource Conservation Council, Canadian Heritage Rivers Board, B. C. Heritage River System, B.C. Park Legacy Panel and the Outdoor Recreation Council of British Columbia. He has been honored by many institutions and organizations. Among the many, a member of the Order of Canada, the order of British Columbia, honorary degree from Simon Fraser University, the United Nations Stewardship Award and the National River Conservation Award. In 2014, the B. C. Wildlife Federation presented him the Barsby Award, the highest award of that organization. Mark continues to support and mentor both fledgling river conservation groups as well as young people interested in river conservation. In 2012 the city of Burnaby honored Mark by naming a local stream “Angelo Creek”.

Mark Angelo on the Ganges at the massive Kumbh Mela gathering in India.

RiverBlue: From WRD CommunicationsDear River Advocates,Much is happening with RiverBlue, the much anticipated documentary film that aims to change an industry. RiverBlue chronicles an unprecedented, three-year around-the-world river adventure that follows renowned paddler and conservationist, Mark Angelo, as he travels down some of the world’s greatest rivers, as well as some of the most polluted. In the midst of an amazing journey, he and his crew uncover the dark side of the global fashion industry, one of the world’s most polluting industries. RiverBlue is a film that many think will take the river conservation message to a new, and broader audience.Legendary keyboardist Doug Johnson, from the rock and roll hall of fame band, Loverboy, has completed an amazing symphonic score and soundtrack for the film. Also, attached is a link to a great editorial on “The Making of RiverBlue” from a recent issue of BC Nature Magazine. The global journey the RiverBlue crew undertook was also recognized as an official flagged expedition of US-based The Explorers Club. Thanks for all your efforts and we’ll be in touch in the run-up to World Rivers Day 2015 set for September 27. With best wishes, Scott Denkers WRD Communications

For more information read The Making of RiverBlue in BC Nature Magazine.http://riverbluethemovie.com/


Explorer Reports & Updates

2015 Tham Khoun Xe Mapping ProjectXe Bang Fai River, Khammouane Province, LaosBy John Pollack FI’06

In 2008 I was fortunate enough to secure a small National Geographic grant to work on one of the largest known river caves in the world – Tham Khoun Xe (also known as Tham Xe Bang Fai) in Khammouane Province in central Laos. We fielded a “blue-ribbon” cave survey team, including world class Cave Research Foundation (CRF) experts Pat Kambesis of Kentucky and Bob Osburn of Missouri, and professional cave photographer Dave Bunnell. Over 10 kilometres of massive river passage were mapped and photographed to a high standard. The detailed results of that project were published in the News of the National Speleological Society (NSS) (July 2009) as well as a presentation to the UIS conference in Texas that same year. Last month we returned to Laos. Very simply, in 2008 we found more cave than we could map in the time available. A return was possible because of GIZ, the German non-profit society helping develop a sustainable management plan for the cave and its surrounding biodiversity

En route to a lead in the upstream maze section. Photo by Bob Osburn.

area. GIZ liked the detail of the 2008 map and NSS News article, and wanted the rest of it. A few phone calls determined all members of the 2008 mapping team were eager to return, so I worked with Terry Bolger of Vientiane to put together a January 2015 project. The team spent a total three weeks in Laos during which the cave survey was finished. The remote upstream maze area could not be easily reached via day trips from the lower (downstream) entrance, so this time a base camp was set up on the surface near the upstream entrance of the cave. To get to camp two distinctly different routes could be taken. Three of us (the river team) took two inflatable boats upstream right through the active river cave – seven kilometres of paddling punctuated by six to seven portages, some of which involved rather nasty bouldering. The remainder of the party took a track through the jungle, and backpacked camp over a limestone ridge, to a sandbar some 300 metres upstream of the upper entrance. Our two parties met about an hour before nightfall, and set up tents on the banks of the Xe Bang Fai River. We were “home” for the next eight days.Camp was a classic... in the surrounding jungle sharp karst pinnacles and mountains soared above us, a Laotian eagle had a nest in a nearby tree, rare black langurs could be


seen 300 metres away on a ridgetop, and the river teemed with small fish that were netted every morning by the porters. We were advised not dig a latrine or disturb the ground as the cave area is located on the Ho Chi Minh trail, the area was bombed heavily, and UXO is still abundant. Routine UXO operations are still underway on farmland in the valleys, but not in the karst. A nine foot King cobra was encountered by the men; it became breakfast. Finally, we learned of a recent firefight between the park rangers and professional Vietnamese poachers, less than 2 kilometres from our camp. Lao is indeed the Wild West of SE Asia.Again this backdrop our two survey parties travelled 6 to 7 km underground daily into the upper maze area and began to clean-up the question marks on our 2008 map. While the active river passage contains great stretches of wall-to-wall water, the maze passage is a fossil overflow area that is entirely dry except during the wet season. Except for one 150 metre-long pool, it was all walking or climbing. The typical passage in the maze is 50-110 metres wide, such that one often has to survey up one wall and down another in order

Explorer Reports & Updates cont’d

A well-decorated side passage near the downstream entrance of the cave. Photo by Bob Osburn.

Heading upriver through the active river cave from the lower entrance. Photo by John Pollack.

to capture the required detail. The largest passages were breakdown areas with mountains of large rocks >100 metres high in them. Here the survey teams had to climb up and down loose boulders lying at 25-45 degree angles. Some of the boulders were house-sized, and when down-climbing one often encounters drop-offs of 6-10 metres that must be bypassed to the right or left, via chimneying. Rock fall was frequent, and several team members took small tumbles,


but there were no serious injuries, thankfully. The survey was completed as planned but with no spare days. An additional 5.5 kilometres of survey was shot in 285 stations. (Note that some stations were tie-in shots that will be excluded from the final length of the cave). To give the reader an idea as to the level of effort required, my river/survey team travelled 42 kilometres underground in eight days. A complete, detailed map will now be produced in Lao and English versions over

An evening dinner of spicy fish and sticky rice in base camp. Photo by John Pollack.

Bob Osburn and Pat Kambesis (Cave Research Foundation) discuss survey objectives for the day. Photo by John Pollack.

the next year. It will be used to support further conservation and research studies in the cave, including a pending UNESCO World Heritage Site application. The Lao government has begun commercialization the downstream reaches of this immense river cave but it will not become a popular destination until the road into this remote area, is upgraded. That upgrade is underway. For further information on the cave, its people, and the river, please see the NSS News - July 2009.


Local men on the Xe Bang Fai river upstream of the cave, coming back to the jungle camp atop bamboo pole boats. Photo by John Pollack.

Pat Kambesis cooking a small mountain of calories on the campfire after a long day mapping in the upstream maze. Photo by John Pollack.



Flag Expedition #112: Madagascar’s Limestone LabyrinthBy Travis Steffens FI’14I descend down a small fissure in the limestone with explorer and adventurer, George Kourounis FI’09. We squeeze through a hole and enter a small dark chamber. George inches forward and spots a medium-sized gecko, which scurries away just as I catch a glimpse. “Awesome, our first cave animal!” George exclaims. After searching every nook and cranny throughout the small section of Tsingy (translated from Malagasy to “where one cannot walk barefoot”) we rendezvous at the “hub,” a spot reminiscent of the hub of a bicycle wheel where passageways through the limestone radiate like spokes. We are both hot, sweaty, hungry and more than a little thirsty when Adventure Science founder Simon Donato FI’09, and adventurer and ex-army ranger Tim Puetz, pop back into the hub with childish grins on their faces. “You’re gonna love what we found!”, Simon says, winking at Tim. George and I report that we found many small caverns

Simon Donato surveying the Anjohibetsara cave system.

Travis Steffens and Tyler Leblanc examine an intact clay pot (~400 years old) found inside one of the caves in the survey area.

and caves, and a wary gecko. Looking a little unimpressed by our finds, Simon and Tim convince us to follow them through the limestone labyrinth. Due to the forbidding nature of the Tsingy, Simon and Tim lead us on a tortuous route through narrow chasms, tunnels, and over the razor sharp limestone. After 15 minutes, we ascend up a small rock ledge and are looking down into the entrance of what we later discover is one of the largest caves in Madagascar. Barely able to contain his excitement, George asks if we can go in. This is an Adventure Science project and we are


Explorers Club members: of course we can. The cave is huge - over a mile long with many chambers and passageways, filled with water, bats, and amazing stalactites and stalagmites. This unexplored cave has it all.We are in the Strict Nature Reserve (the northern and poorly explored portion) of Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park, Madagascar, where I, an Explorers Club fellow and founder of Planet Madagascar and the Madagascar and lemur expert on the trip, am working with two other Explorers Club fellows, Simon Donato and George Kourounis. We have the privilege of carrying Explorers Club Flag #112. The Tsingy is a unique type of limestone formation that is essentially a Jurassic aged barrier reef that has been exhumed. The ancient corals, now exposed by time and weather have eroded into a vast labyrinth of razor sharp rock that form knife-like ridges, ranging from a few millimetres to many meters deep. We are exploring the Tsingy in search of poorly known lemurs, new caves, unknown archeological sites, and dinosaur footprints. To accomplish these tasks, Simon, with the support of our expedition

George Kourounis and Travis Steffens inspecting if the entryway above leads into yet another cave.

partner Kensington Tours, has assembled a crack team of scientists, adventure racers, and explorers from around North America. As the Madagascar expert, I arrived in advance of the main team to help locate and setup base camp with my Malagasy colleague, Mamy Razafitsalama, and the Kensington Tours support team. I have extensive experience working in Madagascar and was excited to explore a region known for its extreme difficulty. Getting to the area took three days overland driving on treacherous roads with some risk of bandit attacks. With us, we had a large crew of cooks, guides, drivers, and even two Gendarmes (military personnel). After reaching in the park, Mamy and I scouted various base camp locations by motorcycle. There were no roads to where



we wanted to go so we used a combination of ox cart trails, fire breaks, and open grassland to reach our destination. More than once, we had to coax our bikes across moving water but eventually we reached out destination. Next came the hard part of making a route navigable for a Land Cruiser. Fortunately, our support team helped organize a fantastic crew of enthusiastic locals that helped us literally build a small road out to base camp so that we could ferry in our supplies and team from the airstrip they would all be flying into. There were a few times that all of us were pulling the Land Cruisers through the same rivers that our bikes barely made it across a day earlier. Soon base camp was up and the second advance team arrived including Simon, Jim Mandelli (Canadian adventure racing legend), and Keith Szlater (communication expert and operations manager). In an effort to ground-truth the planned survey routes that each team would embark on daily, Simon, Jim and I went on a trekking sortie into the virgin forest. Our goal was to find a route through the Tsingy in order to reach the other side, which would have been an ancient shoreline 160-million years ago. Unfortunately, the unmapped Tsingy was more daunting then even our collective experience was prepared for, with geologic, biologic, and hydrologic challenges at every turn. We soon realized that we couldn’t take the rest of the team through the Tsingy with any assurance of safety. Although everyone was expecting to meet some level of danger on this expedition, attempting to cross the Tsingy in this area was certainly inviting disaster. So, like true explorers, we adapted quickly, refocused the expedition, and started working on our objectives of finding lemurs, caves, and archeological sites closer to base camp. Fortunately for us, we found all three within a two-kilometre walk from camp, including the previously mentioned cave, some ancient pottery in a small cavern, and seven out of 10 possible species of lemurs.We were motivated by our early success, and searching for lemurs and exploring the new cave kept us busy for days. However, we found no additional archeological finds, likely because they are scarce in this area, nor had we discover any dinosaur tracks. Not finding dinosaur footprints was nagging the team because it was one of the main objectives of the project. Based on previous research south of our location, Simon had a hunch that there might be an ancient dinosaur highway nearby. If we discovered prints in the area, we could add support and data to this theory. Simon decided

A endangered crowned sifaka spotted during the team’s survey.

Tracks of a three-toed theropod dinosaur.


Jim Mandelli, Canadian Adventure Racing legend.


to assemble a small rapid survey team made up of the fastest and most experienced members on the expedition. Starting south of our camp, they pushed over 20 kilometres along a known trail, crossing the Tsingy in the process, and trekking into the “sweet spot” where the dinosaur tracks were expected to exist. While walking over some exposed bedrock along a dry creek bed, Jim noticed an odd shape. Sure enough, it was the three-toed footprint of a theropod dinosaur! The print was severely eroded, but it clearly provided confirmation that dinosaurs travelled this ancient shoreline 160 million years earlier. A more extensive search turned up two trackways in the area, making the site the most northerly trackways yet discovered in Madagascar. Elated, the team returned to share their discovery.The expedition was a fantastic success, and we met all of our objectives. The ground team and support given by our partner, Kensington Tours was invaluable. The local Malagasy team was fun and also helped ensure the success of our project. We took many of the Malagasy group out to see the cave we discovered. Many had never been to a cave, let alone one this massive. They were astonished by both its size and beauty. We

Adventure Science veteran and expedition medic Tyler Leblanc heading out on one of the nighttime lemur surveys.

asked the local Malagasy team to name the cave. After a few minutes of discussion, it was unanimous the cave should be called Anjohibetsara, which means “big beautiful cave.” Travis and Simon wish to thank the following participants and supporters of the Explorers Club Flag #112 expedition: Robin Brooks MI’14, George Kourounis FI’09, Ian MacNairn, Jim Mandelli, Keith Szlater, Mamy Razafitsalama, Melissa Rae Stewart, Tim Puetz, Tyler LeBlanc, Joleen Plant, National Parks Director, the park agents, Malagasy Army, and the support team Kensington Tours support team (both field and office).


I watched intently as several pods of long-finned pilot whales – their bulbous black heads plowed through the water creating bow waves during their passage – approached the MV Cape Race, our 116’ expedition vessel. A large pod of curious whales and calves encircled Erika Bergman, a submersible pilot and Young National Geographic Explorer, as she snorkeled nearby in the deep waters of the Davis Strait.From Greenland to Alaska, Sedna is the Inuit goddess of the sea. As the spiritual mother of all marine mammals, Sedna regularly takes the form of the sea creatures within her watery domain. What a fitting welcome and good omen for the 2014-2016 Sedna Epic Expedition’s inaugural sea trials in the Davis Strait.From July 10 to 27, 2014, I led an exceptional 10-woman team of ocean explorers, scientists, scuba diving professionals, movie makers and journalists on the 20-day proof-of-concept snorkel expedition from northern Labrador to western Greenland.

Explorer Reports & Updates

Sedna’s July 2014 proof-of-concept expedition delivers results: Planning continues for the Northwest Passage snorkel relay in 2017By Susan R. Eaton MI’11 Founder and Leader, the 2014-2016 Sedna Epic Expedition

Team Sedna in Nain, Labrador, prior to departure, in front of the MV Cape Race. Photo by Jill Heinerth.

At its core, the proof-of-concept expedition involved long-distance snorkel relays, team-building exercises and a marine mammal and sea bird census program. The expedition also focused on delivering an innovative ocean educational program using portable “touch” aquariums and ocean-going robots to Inuit communities with a focus on empowering young women and girls.Using diver propulsion vehicles, or scooters, the women demonstrated that snorkelers can successfully mount long-distance relays – up to 35 km in 12 hours – in the open waters of the Davis Strait and in coastal

waters strewn with pack ice and bergy bits. Given these performance metrics and the Arctic’s non-stop sunlight during summer, a 24/7 snorkel relay of the 3,000-km Northwest Passage is clearly within our grasp.The multi-talented team included female explorers from Canada, the United States, Mexico and New Zealand. The team also included two Canadian dive masters and a two-man above-water TV crew (of Ice Pilots and Highway Thru Hell fame) from Vancouver. Four of the sea women were affiliated with the Explorers Club: Jill Heinerth FN’10, Fellow of the Royal


Explorer Reports & Updates continued

Sedna aquarium full of critters on the Transport Canada pier in Nain, Labrador. Photo by Jill Heinerth.

Canadian Geographical Society and Sedna’s official photographer; Becky Kagan Schott FN’12, five-time Emmy Award winner and Sedna’s underwater videographer; Françoise Gervais MI’13, leader of Sedna’s marine mammal and sea bird census project; and Susan R. Eaton MI’11, founder and leader of the 2014-2016 Sedna Epic Expedition. The expedition kicked off on July 10 in Petty Harbour, Newfoundland, with a press conference at the Petty Harbour Mini Aquarium, one of our expedition partners. Later that day, we delivered a lecture at Memorial University to 49 high school girls enrolled in a summer employment program run by (WISE) Women in Science and Engineering Newfoundland and Labrador, also an expedition partner.On July 14, after delivering two days of ocean educational outreach in Nain, Labrador, we boarded the MV Cape Race. Two action-packed weeks at sea followed. It was a good thing that the sun never really set.As the MV Cape Race approached the Arctic Circle, offshore Greenland, the captain and his crew kicked into a high seas rite of passage called the Order of the Blue Nose and

Renata Rojas shows a young Inuit boy a sea snail. Photo by Jill Heinerth.

threatened to throw us overboard. True to Maritime tradition, the captain transformed himself into King Neptune, complete with an aluminum colander for a crown and a worse-for-wear mop as a reasonable facsimile of a trident. Undaunted, we donned our SANTI Ladies First Arctic-rated dry suits and willingly jumped overboard. Snorkeling across the Arctic Circle, we celebrated a world first under the midnight sun. The formal part of the expedition concluded in Ilulissat, western Greenland, where the Jakobshavn Glacier is hurtling seaward at accelerating rates due to global warming. During our approach to Ilulissat on a foggy morning, we navigated a veritable minefield of icebergs that had originated from the Jakobshavn Glacier.Our flight home included a stopover in Iceland, a verdant island where locals, channeling their Viking ancestors, still


our two-day outreach program. Showcasing local sea creatures housed in our two large aquariums, we raised awareness about ocean conservation for this essentially non-swimming community. In turn, the Inuit children and elders taught us the Inuktitut names of local invertebrates, including Ittik, the word for sea urchin, which looks remarkably like a human posterior, Ittik in the Inuktitut vernacular. “The Sedna Epic Expedition came at a good time,” said Sean Lyall, an elected Nain ordinary member and speaker of the Nunatsiavut Assembly. “We’ve had a long cold winter and people get quite excited when new ships and new people come in... it was great having you here. Team Sedna is certainly very friendly, respectful and very informative. Speaking with

Susan R. Eaton navigates in pack ice, using the world’s first pink diver propulsion vehicle, near Torngat Mountain National Park, northern Labrador. The MV Cape Race stands by. Photo by Jill Heinerth.


reference Norse gods, trolls and fairies in conversation. Team Sedna snorkeled and dived in the fresh (but frigid) waters of the Silfra Fissure, a geologically unique place in Thingvellir National Park where the mid-Atlantic Ridge dissects the southwest part of Iceland. The fissure, like this island country, is geologically young, and pulling apart at a rate of two cms per year. Framed by towering columns of basalt, divers can place one hand on the North American tectonic plate and the other on the Eurasian tectonic plate. Using ocean-going remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and “touch” aquariums, our science team set up shop on the Transport Canada pier in Nain, bringing the ocean to eye level in this predominantly Inuit community. Led by Ruby Banwait, an aquarist with the Vancouver Aquarium, the scuba divers carefully collected and temporarily housed invertebrates and small fishes in Sedna’s two large salt water aquariums. Meanwhile, Erika Bergman demonstrated the capabilities of her camera-equipped ROVs, facilitating a unique hands-on educational experience targeting girls and youths.The residents of Nain enthusiastically embraced

the children and community, it was nice to see lots of happy, smiling faces.”The success of Team Sedna’s ocean outreach program in Nain was due, in large part, to the gracious assistance of Sid Pain of Nanuk Diving Inc. Sid is a transplanted Australian who came to Labrador to work at the nearby Voisey’s Bay Mine more than 20 years ago. He donated scuba tanks, compressed air and truck transportation. He also provided us with a higher speed internet connection than the local hotel could muster.Sid hosted a lovely BBQ dinner on the eve of our departure, presenting Team Sedna with an exquisite serpentine carving by a local Inuit artist. The carving depicts Sedna swimming, seemingly at high speed, with her hair streaming


scientific knowledge to inform governments of the world on implementing science-based policies to mitigate global warming. The expedition will also serve to inspire young women and girls to think big, and to follow their dreams, no matter how out-of-the-box they may appear.Sedna will snorkel with the sea women during this epic journey. One day, she’ll be a tusked narwhal or a beluga. The next day, she’ll take the form of a walrus or a polar bear. To follow or support the Sedna Epic, visit www.facebook.com/sednaepic or www.sednaepic. To view the Sedna Epic, visit www.youtube.com/user/sednaepic.

Becky Kagan Schott films Team Sedna in pack ice near Torngat Mountain National Park, northern Labrador. Photo by Jill Heinerth.

2014-2016 Sedna Epic Expedition route for proof of concept expedition, July 2014. Image by Susan R. Eaton.


back and one of her arms outstretched. Sedna’s body position is reminiscent of an arctic snorkeler steering her scooter at speeds of up to six kilometres per hour. Travelling by air, Team Sedna plans to deliver its innovative educational outreach program featuring its touch aquariums and ocean-going ROVs to more northern communities during the summer of 2016, building North-South bridges with aboriginal organizations and women’s groups. Logistical plans, including the hunt for a suitable vessel and fundraising activities are underway to support Team Sedna’s epic, 100-day, 3,000-kilometre snorkel relay of the Northwest Passage during the summer of 2017.Team Sedna will celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary by snorkeling from Pond Inlet, Nunavut, to Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories. En route, the sea women will scout, document and record the impact of global warming. Immersing ourselves (pun intended) in the issue of disappearing sea ice, we’ll translate our findings into educational awareness programs. The expedition will serve as a call to action for citizens of the world, including youth, providing aboriginal and



Nine canoes containing 13 Explorers Club members and five friends of the Club completed a 190-kilometre prospecting mission through the beautiful Red Deer River basin from Bleriot Ferry to Jenner Bridge between June 13 and 28, 2014. This canoe-based expedition through Alberta’s stunning, fossil-rich, Badlands resulted in the discovery of four hadrosaur (duck-billed dinosaur) skeletons, a ceratopsian skeleton (relative of the familiar Triceratops), a long lost quarry site (possibly excavated by early dinosaur hunter Barnum Brown in 1910), three new bone beds (mass death assemblages), an ankylosaur skull (armoured dinosaur), and an extremely rare small meat-eating dinosaur. When the small meat-eater was initially discovered, only a few tiny toe bones were eroding out of the rock. During excavation the team exposed another leg and foot, roof of the skull, and a lethal-looking claw from the hand; all in their approximate life positions, suggesting it was a completely articulated skeleton. Dr. Currie identified the dinosaur as Saurornitholestes, which some researchers believe to

Flag Expedition #134 results in exciting dinosaur findBy Clive Coy FI’13 and Jessica Lansfield TI’13

Jessica Lansfield and Clive Coy in the expedition’s flagship canoe. Photo by Philip Currie.

Dr. Eva Koppelhus looks over outcrops in Drumheller area. Photo by Philip Currie.

Dinosaur limb bone [Hadrosaur tibia] eroding out of the badlands. Photo by Philip Currie


The 18 members of the expeditionDr. Philip Currie FI’02, expedition co-leader; Dr. Eva Koppelhus FI’02, expedition co-leader; Jason Schoonover FE’86, expedition co-leader; Clive Coy FI’13, technician; Susan Hattori MI’13, medical officer; Jessica Lansfield TI’13, TEC student representative; Tony Mayo MI’14; Lee Treloar MI’09; Captain Norman Baker FN’70; Robert Tymstra FI’94; Jessica Lindsay Phillips MI’12; Kumiko Yokoyama MI’13; Dr. James Anthony MI’10; Phyllis Biegun; Doug Chisholm; Diane Fay; Brian Gentner; and Sally McIntosh. A full expedition report can be found at www.explorers.org/flag_reports.

be Velociraptor, an animal currently only found in Mongolia.This is an extraordinary find for the University of Alberta. For Dr. Currie and Clive Coy, it represents the culmination of a 34-year quest for a complete small theropod from Alberta that highlights the close relationship between theropods from Alberta and Mongolia. In truth, Dr. Currie extremely excited about the discovery, proclaimed it as “the best small theropod ever found in Alberta”.

Expedition members on a breezy pinnacle, taking a break from prospecting for bones. Photo by Philip Currie.


Lee Treolar’s Ankylosaur skull as found eroding out of the badlands. Photo By Philip Currie

Expedition camp on the Red Deer River just East of Dinosaur Provincial Park. Photo by Philip Currie



On board of MV Cape Race: Exploring the top of the worldby Françoise Gervais

MV Cape Race had an extremely busy 2014 season taking researchers involved in the 2014-2016 Sedna Epic proof-of-concept Expedition from Labrador to Greenland and Baffin Island. The field season began in July with exceptionally sunny weather and calm seas. In addition to numerous snorkel relay trials with diver propulsion vehicles, the ten-woman expedition conducted a pelagic seabird survey. Equipped with Suunto GPS watches, binoculars, clipboards and pencils, the team spotted, identified and documented the location of many remarkable sea birds including the Northern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis), Pomarine

Kyatt Dixon processing samples. Photo by Françoise Gervais.

Ruby Bainwait and Françoise Gervais surveying birds. Photo by Jill Heinerth.

The nasal passages on the upper bill of the Northern Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis), one the numerous adaptations of seabirds, are clearly visible. Photo by Françoise Gervais.

Scientific diving team ready to go sampling in cold water. (Left to right): Kathleen MacGregor, Mathieu Suskiewicz, Françoise Gervais (guide), Christopher Lane, Kyatt Dixon, Gary Sounders.


Jaeger (Stercorarius pomarinus), Razorbill (Alca torda). They also had interesting encounters with whales including Minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata); Northern Bottlenose whale (Hyperoodon ampullatus) and Long-finned Pilot whale (Globicephala melas).In August, MV Cape Race continued her way north to explore the glaciers of Sermalik Fjord in East Greenland, now with a team led by Eric Rignot of NASA’s

NASA’s research team pushed the ice away from the boat to avoid damage to the sonar device. Photo by Françoise Gervais.

Jet Propulsion Laboratory and TerraSond Limited. Navigating through thick ice, bergy bits and uncharted areas, they went as close as possible to glaciers to map the seafloor and collect sea water measurements in order to better understand the dynamics of Greenland’s glaciers. She travelled along Baffin Island and the Labrador coast before welcoming, with Arctic Kingdom, a team of researchers eager to sample species to better understand the dynamics of arctic diversity. By then it was late September, and they didn’t have to brave icebergs, as in Greenland, but numerous storms instead.

Dr. Austin Mardon CorMem’86 inducted into the Royal Society of CanadaDr. Austin Mardon was inducted into the Royal Society of Canada, the highest honour available to academics and scholars, on November 22, 2014. This comes by way of special election for his contributions “to our store of knowledge on living with mental illnesses and the stigma that surrounds them.” An accomplished academic, geologist, and mentor, Dr. Mardon has been to Antarctica to help recover meteorites, and helped develop methods for retrieving meteorites in Soviet Russia. Dr. Mardon has struggled with schizophrenia since October 1992, but has led a fulfilling life, marrying and adopting a son. This is a link to Austin’s website: www.austinmardon.org/_______Hannah James SM’13 recently returned from 11 days on the CCGS Amundsen, Canada’s state-of-the-art research icebreaker, traveling from Kugluktuk to Iqaluit. The Schools on Board program aims to bridge the gap between Arctic science

In Other News

Dr. Mardon at the Royal Society of Canada induction ceremony in Ottawa. Photo courtesy of Jonathan Harline.


and secondary schools. With the 13 other members of the Schools on Board team Hannah had the chance to experience both the awe-inspiring beauty of the north and the frontier of Arctic climate science. From polar bear sightings, ice islands and phytoplankton classification her first trip to the Canadian Arctic captured her heart and she eagerly awaits the next opportunity to return. _______West Dawson shipyard video

By John Pollack FI’06The West Dawson shipyard dates from the 1898 Klondike Gold Rush and contains one of the best collections of 19th century stern-wheel steamboats in North America.You might find this clip interesting and possibly useful. Please see www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxE_BIk8Od0&feature=youtu.be. The old West Dawson shipyard is one of our major sites in the Yukon and perhaps the best preserved and largest collection of 19th century steamboats remaining in North America. Seven great steamboats lie in the forest next to the Yukon River. No diving, great access, and wonderful local people. The clip is a spinoff from our 2014 work assessing the 1898 vessel Schwatka. Sean Adams did the flying, and Jim Bruner of the PAST Foundation did the editing. The result was entered into the 2015 video contest at the Society for Historical Archaeology meeting in Seattle. Our thanks to Dr. Sheli Smith for setting this one up. Note the music is a song on a Berliner record found at the wreck of A.J. Goddard entitled The Harp that Once Through Tara’s Halls. Work at West Dawson will continue in 2015, funding permitting. _______“I wish to help make the Oak Ridges Moraine a rock star” – Bill Lishman FI’07On behalf of Bill Lishman we are looking to raise awareness for a new book he is trying to publish through crowdfunding. We need your support in order to publish this beautiful book. Please spread the word about the campaign. Artist Bill Lishman rose to prominence in the late eighties by becoming the first human to fly with birds (Fly Away Home, the 1996 feature film was based by his story). Bill has been flying over the Moraine from east to west since he first started flying with birds almost three decades ago and has become passionate not only about the moraines geological importance but its diverse beauty.From his privileged bird-like vantage, he has taken thousands of photos and now wishes to share the best of this imagery. We hope you will become a part of this project and help us celebrate this wonderful natural area of South-Central Ontario.The crowd funding site is live on Rockethub and will be up until March 9th, 2015. Rockethub link: http://www.rockethub.com/projects/51778-bill-lishman-s-oak-ridges-moraine-from-above-limited-edition-book


Trépanier’s Glacierside Painting: From Canada’s Far North to the Canadian Embassy in Washington D.C. What began in one of the most remote and raw landscapes on earth under the watchful eyes of Arctic wolves and muskox, has now completed a journey of 4,780 kilometres to hang for a year in Canada’s Arctic Room, overlooking the White House. Almost a decade ago artist/filmmaker Cory Trépanier MI’09 began his Into The Arctic project with the unique artistic goal of creating the most unprecedented collection of original oil paintings from the Canadian Arctic of our time.To accomplish this, he undertook three extensive Arctic painting/filming expeditions, which have led to over 50 oil paintings from some of the most remote and spectacular corners of our planet’s north. Places seldom seen, many of them have never been captured on canvas before. It has also led to two films, including the Canadian Screen Award nominated Into The Arctic II.One afternoon, with his half-box French easel perched on a hillside in Ellesmere Island’s Quttinirpaaq National Park, where his canvas might hang some day was the furthest thing from his mind. Instead, he battled blowing sands from the polar desert, adding grit to his oil paints, was busy keeping an eye out for stray polar bears, and was awed by the icy spectacle of Henrietta Nesmith, a glacier that dominated the landscape before him and is so massive that it creates its own weather system.It was just one day of a 10-day hike, during a seven week expedition to Canada’s Far North, but the impression made on Cory led to his largest painting of the expedition: his eight-foot wide Glacierside.Now, visitors to the Canadian Embassy will be seized with the stark beauty of this majestic land through Cory’s passionate brushstrokes.On display for the next year, Glacierside is accompanied by the small oil study began on location, and a short excerpt from his Into The Arctic II film from his journey. U.S. exploration history also plays a part in this story as Henrietta Nesmith Glacier was named by American explorer Adolphus Greely in 1882 in honour of his wife who pressed for a rescue mission that saved his life.The timing is most appropriate as Canada prepares to pass along the chairmanship of the Arctic Council of nations to the US this spring.2017 Into The Arctic Traveling Museum ExhibitionThose that view Glacierside at the Embassy will receive a powerful introduction to what is to come next. In 2017, this canvas will be joined by over 50 of Cory’s paintings from the furthest


reaches of Canada’s north, by his Arctic films, maps and more to form the Into The Arctic North American traveling museum exhibition. Opportunities to bring the collection overseas, and share Canada’s Arctic even more broadly, are also being explored. 2015 Into The Arctic: The Last Chapter ExpeditionThe lure of the north has gripped Cory once more: he is currently preparing for one last unexpected Into The Arctic painting expedition. His fourth for the project, this journey will be over six weeks in length and is to begin this July.This will boost his Into The Arctic collection to almost 75 paintings and add one more film to the project leading up to the start of the exhibition tour in 2017.With untouched landscapes like the one that Trépanier depicted in Glacierside, can you really blame him for going back?Visit www.intothearctic.com for paintings, expedition videos, photos, stories, and much more. Visit Cory’s Caledon gallery and studio, just northwest of Toronto, and see his works at www.trepanieroriginals.com_______

At a recent Ontario/Nunavut Chapter meeting, Matt Ryan, co-chair of TEDxToronto 2015, came to visit and talk about how the organization and conference operate, what type of speakers they look for and how to get involved as a volunteer.This fall the 7th annual TEDxToronto conference will bring together the city’s idea collaborators, thinkers, innovators and influencers. The ‘x’ in TEDx stands for “independently organized events”. These events occur all around the world with the common concept of “ideas worth spreading”. Each has its own theme and their programming includes a day of speakers from a variety of backgrounds, all with an idea to tell the world. While TEDxToronto may focus on that city and its people, or a story or idea that comes from there, the driving force behind how ideas are shared is that the talks from TEDxToronto (or any TEDx event) will end up on TED.com.Explorers Club member George Kourounis FI’09 was a speaker at TEDxToronto 2010, as well as a few other TEDx events. His TEDxToronto talk was “Why Being Afraid Makes You Live Longer”. See the video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=l47MH0T_lY4&feature=youtu.beThe theme for TEDxToronto 2015 will be announced in the spring and to be a speaker you can apply through www.tedxtoronto.com. Updates for TEDxToronto will be made via the website and social media channels: www.facebook.com/tedxtoronto and www.twitter.com/tedxtoronto


The 2014 Canadian Chapter Award Recipients By Lee Treloar MI’09

Each year, the Awards and Honours Committee of the Canadian Chapter is tasked with honouring a number of deserving Canadian members with one of the chapter three awards. Our three awards are the Stefansson Medal, Citation of Merit, and the Explorers Honour Roll. Each award recognizes different exploration accomplishments. While the Committee gets to read the nominations forms and get to know the candidates in more detail, we recognize that many of fellow Canadian Chapter members are not aware of the accomplishments of these individuals. To that end, here is a

Awards & HonoursSimon Donato FI’09

more robust description of this year’s Stefansson, and Citation of Merit award recipients.

The 2014 Stefansson MedalThe Stefansson Medal honours outstanding contributions to exploration and/or field sciences by exceptionally meritorious members of the Canadian chapter of The Explorers Club. This medal has been made possible by the generous support of Jeff Willner MI’01 and Kensington Tours

George Kourounis FI’09 and Peter Rowe FI’08 are jointly recognized for the Stefansson Medal of 2014, not only for their work on Angry Planet and several other productions, but for their contributions to the Club. Both Peter and George are full time and extremely active explorers, with many years of exploration under their respective belts. They are very deserving of this highest honour of The Explorers Club Canadian Chapter.

George Kourounis FI’09George Kourounis is unique as an explorer, and has developed a career specializing in documenting the extreme forces of nature. He does so in a most personal, most dramatic manner that has led to numerous documentaries for TV, film, and speaking engagements. George has done an enormous amount to educate the public on Mother Nature, and The Explorers Club.

George has only been a member of The Explorers Club for five years, but a quick look at his CV reflects a remarkable dedication to scientific exploration. It is quite astounding how many projects he has undertaken, including participation in four flag expeditions.

George is an explorer who specializes in documenting extreme forces of nature - often in remote and challenging locations worldwide. His style is to get up-close and personal with Mother Nature in order to show the sheer power, magnitude, and scale of these events. He is well known for his 11-year dedication to the chasing and documenting of tornados, as his battered SUV will attest.

In 2014 alone George participated in several remarkable expeditions. In Cape Verde George documented the Fogo Island volcanic eruption from the newly erupting Pico de Fogo volcano. A month earlier he was involved in the re-tracing part of Theodore Roosevelt’s 1914 expedition


of the Amazon’s River of Doubt as part of an Explorers Club flag expedition. He also participated in another Explorers Club flag expedition involving the exploration of Madagascar’s Limestone Labyrinth which is a nearly impenetrable, deadly sharp limestone landscape of the rarely visited Tsingy de Bemaraha Strict Nature Preserve.

In September 2014 George participated in the Marum Volcano Expedition on Ambrym Island, Vanuatu where he descended 400 metres to the bottom of the Marum crater to document the violently boiling lava at the base. In January, George was in Antarctica filming episodes of the TV series “Unearthed” in various locations along the Antarctic Peninsula and South Shetland Islands. George Kourounis FI’11

In November 2013 he was the expedition leader for a National Geographic, and TEC flag expedition to the Darvaza flaming gas crater in the Karakum Desert, Turkmenistan. The result of a Russian-era drilling mishap and subsequent collapse, the crater has been leaking methane gas and has been burning for over 40 years. George became the first person to ever set foot at the bottom. While there he took temperature readings and soil samples that were later analyzed and found to contain new species of extremophile bacteria. The expedition was featured in the National Geographic television show Die Trying – Crater of Fire, which was another TEC flag expedition.

During his 11 years of guiding tornado chasing trips in the central United States he has recorded close to 100 tornadoes. In 2013 he filmed the largest tornado ever seen in the USA – it was over four kilometres wide! George has also chased storms in the Australian Outback, and photographed the Catatumbo everlasting lightning phenomenon in remote Venezuela. George intercepted and documented 18 hurricanes, in the U.S., Jamaica, Canada and Bermuda.

George is also one of few people to have explored the Naica Crystal Cave, Mexico. Located 900 feet below the Earth’s surface, Naica Cave contains the largest crystals in the world. Some of them are 30 feet long and weigh 55 tons. The environment inside the cave is extremely hostile with an air temperature of 52oC and a humidity approaching 100%. Custom ice-filled suits were required to explore the cave. This adventure is marvelously documented and was also an Explorers Club flag expedition.

George has documented more than 20 active volcanoes all over the world, often climbing them or rappelling down inside the craters. Locations have included: The Danakil Desert; Ethiopia, Indonesia, Deception Island; Antarctica, Djibouti, Iceland, Congo, Vanuatu, Italy, Costa Rica, Dominica, New Zealand and more. George swam ashore to the world’s newest volcanic island that had recently erupted out of the sea near Tonga. George was married on the crater’s edge of the exploding Yasur volcano, Tanna Island.

This overview of George’s explorations is only a fraction of a much larger list. George is an enthusiastic and active member of the Club, and is known globally for his explorations efforts. In addition to his on-screen contributions, he is also generous with his time, contributing it regularly a speaker and a moderator. George has contributed in a major way in how people perceive the world. His field efforts are literally legendary, and in his words – nothing on earth is off-limits if you simply ask and pay.


Peter Rowe FI’08 Peter Rowe is a documentary and dramatic filmmaker specializing in the themes of exploration and adventure. He has a history of exploration which goes back more than four decades beginning with exploration of the Tweedsmuir Glacier of British Columbia and the Yukon in 1971. His 39-part television series Angry Planet airs in 35 countries around the world.

His wilderness filmmaking has taken place in over 40 countries and in many challenging locations such as in active volcanoes, Antarctica, the Canadian Arctic, the Sahara Desert and the Empty Quarter.

Peter has been involved in four Explorers Club flag Peter Rowe FI’10

expeditions: 2009 – Flag 74 – Crystal Cave Expedition 2011 – Flag 46 – Lionfish Expedition 2012 – Flag 76 – Reef Revisited - Curasub Expedition 2014 – Flag 220 – Rio Roosevelt (Brazil) Expedition

In addition to his explorations and film making, Peter has been active in The Explorers Club. He is the Director of the Club’s Ontario/Nunavut region; given presentations at The Explorers Club New York; showed the Naica crystal cave film at the 2010 ECAD; and participated in the 2009 Lowell Thomas Dinner with a flag return and film presentation.

As well as his involvement with Angry Planet and numerous films, Peter is an author. His most recent book Adventures in Filmmaking, published in 2013, describes 40 years of adventure and wilderness filmmaking around the world. He is well published which is an important criterion for TEC members. He has had two articles published in the Explorers Journal and also written for Sailing Canada, the Globe & Mail, Toronto Sun, Readers Digest, Canadian Cinematographer and others.

His filmmaking has taken Peter on expeditions all over the world. Since 2006, this has primarily been for the television series he produces and films, Angry Planet, done in collaboration with the host of the show George Kourounis. Getting the message of science and exploration to the public is a major component of Peter’s contribution to TEC.

Since January, 2015, Peter has been to Siberia to find the coldest village in the world, then to Tuvalu, which with rising ocean levels might become the world’s first virtual country, then to Vanuatu, where he plans to explore a brand new lava eruption on Ambrym Island, then to Laos, where we explored three large underground caves. I believe they are back from all of this.

Peter has always been as an open communicator who shares his experience and knowledge of film making. He represents the silent background leader of exploration, always being on the opposite end of the camera and spending oodles of time in the editing suite. He has participated in and led expeditions for his films and television series, and endured activities that push the limits so that he can bring the world to our living rooms. His work has inspired young explorers to be, and helped to support existing scientific expeditions by providing a record base, and sometimes extra hands to get the work done!


Eduard Reinhardt FI’04

In the documentary film business, not everyone is the public figure. Peter has served as the background to get the information and experience out there by dealing with the often boring and laborious efforts of logistics, bureaucratic paperwork, and behind the scenes stuff that makes the production possible.

His book Adventures in Film Making shares many of these experiences and aside from being a thoroughly enjoyable read, provides information valuable to the would-be documentary filmmaker.

The Citation of Merit The Citation of Merit is awarded annually to recognize a commendable feat of exploration or services to the Canadian Chapter of The Explorers Club.

Eduard Reinhardt FI’04 and Clive Coy FI’13 are the 2014 winners of the Citation of Merit for their contributions to exploration and academic. Both Ed and Clive are researchers, with Ed serving as a professor at McMaster University, and Clive as senior technician at the vertebrate paleontology program of the Biological Sciences Department at the University of Alberta.

Eduard G. Reinhardt FI’04Eduard G. Reinhardt is a professor in the School of Geography and Earth Sciences at McMaster University in Hamilton, where his his research interests vary widely from isotope geochemistry to quaternary geology. His present interest in underwater cave exploration centring on geoarchaeology is fascinating and the basis for his 2014 nomination. He writes: “In November 2005, I became interested in the aquatic caves of the Yucatan Peninsula while attending a presentation on the Cenotes of Mexico at the Kingston, Ontario Dive Show. I had never considered studying caves, but during the presentation I realized their potential for containing important geological and archaeological evidence.”

Since then, Ed has become one of the preeminent underwater cave researchers on the planet - leveraging his expertise in geology, micropaleontology, isotope geochemistry, and archaeology to help better interpret the environmental, and climactic history of these flooded passages. Some of the longest underwater caves are found in the Yucatan, with the Ox Bel Ha being in excess of 242 kilometres. Presently, these caves are beautiful subterranean landscapes with gin clear waters, but during the last period of continental glaciation, were dry labyrinths that entrapped unwary humans and now extinct animals.

Ed’s fascination with cave systems has grown through the years, in part because of their general inaccessibility. In his words, “few scientists visit aquatic caves because of the specialized training required for diving in the flooded cave passages with no direct access to the surface. In February 2006, I took my first cave diving course with Global Underwater Explorers in Mexico. I began diving in 1989 and I was a proficient diver, but found cave diver training challenging. I then had to ‘undo’ many bad habits that I had picked-up through the years. Learning precise positional and buoyancy control is a critical part of cave diving as well as precise dive planning with redundant equipment is required which is not part of recreational open water diving classes.”

Ed’s contributions to the Hoyo Negro project garnered international headlines in 2014 as details of the research findings became public. The Hoyo Negro (black hole) cenote is a fossil


Clive Coy FI’13

treasure-trove, containing both human, and mega-faunal remains dating from the late Pleistocene. The Hoyo Negro site is particularly important due to the incredibly well preserved remains of Naia, a 13,000-year-old skeleton from a young female who became trapped and perished in the cave when it was dry, and accessible. This cave also contains well preserved skeletal remains of extinct Pleistocene mega-fauna including sabre tooth cats, ground sloths, and more.

Based on research by Reinhardt and others, it’s thought that humans and animals were lured into the dry caves in search of water and/or carrion, or became trapped and perished after falling into this (and other) sinkhole(s). Using sediment cores, microfossils (marine foraminifera and freshwater thecamoebians), and radiocarbon dating, and and his colleagues have been able to shed light on when and why animals and humans may have entered the cave. As sea-level rose during the Holocene, the caves flooded, preserving a fossil record that would not have survived on the surface, exposed to normal meteoric processes.

Other caves in the region have yielded well preserved human remains, which have been useful for researchers studying the timing of human arrival in North America following their crossing of the Bering land bridge. This find is unique in that it is directly associated with mega-fauna of late Pleistocene age.

Ed described his research in the summer 2013 issue of Far Afield, stating that, “using sediment cores reconstructs the cave environment and tries to determine when cave passages were closed with rising groundwater level. Rising groundwater levels associated with Holocene sea-level rise would have cut-off cave passages at different times preventing animal and human access but we have little data on when this occurred, and its effect on cave site formation and the accumulation of bones. The present groundwater is not entirely fresh in all parts of the Yucatan, so there are questions on its potability and whether animals and humans were lured into the cave for drinking water. Cave sediment cores and their microfossil content will provide important details on groundwater salinity in the past.”

In Ed’s words, “Yucatan caves represent a new frontier in Quaternary science that has remained largely unstudied due to inaccessibility, but as more cave passages are explored the discoveries will increase. Venturing into an underwater cave not visited for millennia is awe inspiring, but requires specialized training to make sure you know the way out!”

Clive Coy FI’13 Dr. Clive Coy is the senior technician in the Vertebrate Paleontology program of the Biological Sciences Department at the University of Alberta. Although a recent addition to the Canadian chapter of the Club, he has collected and prepared a wide variety of vertebrate fossils for research and exhibition for over 30 years.

Clive supervises two specimen preparation laboratories at the University of Alberta: DINO LAB (part of Dr. Phil Currie’s Dinosaur Paleobiology Programme) and Z423, a lab shared with other vertebrate paleontology research programmes.

Clive’s significant projects to date include: 2010, Argentina-Canada Dinosaur Project


2009, Korea International Dinosaur Project 2006, Svalbard Marine Reptiles 2001-2008, Canada-Mongolia Project 1998, Japan-Mongolia Paleontological Expedition 1996, Kong-Long Dinosaur Exhibit at Tyrrell Museum 1996, Dinosaurs from the Gobi 1993, The Dinosaur Project, An International Exhibit 1990, Hitachi Dinoventure display in Japan 1986, Display for Field Station of the Royal Tyrrell Museum 1982-85, building exhibits for the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology

In June 2014, Clive was one of the team leaders from the University of Alberta, along with Dr. Philip Currie FI’02, Dr. Eva Koppelhus FI’02, who re-worked a recently rediscovered bone bed south of Edmonton. On this Flag Expedition #134: Dinosaurs of the Red Deer River II, were 13 members of The Explorers Club and five other keen participants who paddled down the Red Deer River and hiked the canyons for 18 days, looking for possible bone beds.

The expedition was a huge success resulting in numerous significant finds, several of which were excavated and brought back to the lab in Edmonton. Clive made an important discovery on that expedition but did not know the extent of his find while out in the field in June. Spotting only a few toe bones sticking out of the sandstone, he used his brief window of time to further expose the ankle and geo-tagged the specimen.

He returned to excavate the site in September. This time, Clive exposed the other foot, leg, roof of the skull, and a beautifully preserved claw from the hand. All bones were in their approximate life positions. From what he could see, it appeared to be a completely articulated skeleton!

Back at the lab, Dr. Phil Currie identified it as the small theropod Saurornitholestes, which some researchers believe is the same as Velociraptor. Clive’s discovery is a very exciting find for the University of Alberta, and for Cretaceous dinosaur research worldwide.

The specimen is reported to be the best-preserved small theropod found in the province. It is a known species, but it is the most complete yet discovered in North America. Clive believes the painstaking work of chipping away the 75 million years of detritus will take him the better part of a year, but his enthusiasm for the project never wanes, as a find such as this comes once in a lifetime.

Explorers Honour RollThe Explorers Club Flag expeditionsFlag #112: Madagascar’s limestone labyrinth. The team surveyed unexplored regions of Madagascar’s great tsingy and discovered new caves, archaeological sites, dinosaur tracks, and conducted lemur surveys:Robin Brooks MI’14: Robin provided logistical support during the expedition. Robin also organizes the monthly meetings for the Ontario chapter at the Kensington Tour offices in Toronto.Simon Donato FI’09: Simon was the project lead, team geologist/paleontologist, and responsible for the discovery of the Anjohibetsara cave. George Kourounis FI’09: George served as cave expert, small space aficionado, and photographer.


Travis Steffens FI’14: In addition to significant logistical contributions, Travis served as the expedition’s primatologist and naturalist, leading daily lemur surveys.

Flag #113: The expedition’s objective was to canoe and explore a nameless river on Victoria Island in Nunavut, over 500 kilometres above the Arctic Circle.Adam Shoalts TM’14: Led the expedition in the Canadian Arctic, where he spent several weeks conducting the first-ever paddle survey of this river. Flag #134: This flag expedition set out to find new fossil resources through the badlands along the Red Deer River, AB, which has the highest concentration of dinosaur bones in the world. Eighteen members paddled and 180 km, making several important discoveries along the route. Dr. Philip Currie FI’02: Philip co-led the expedition and served as the field leader and paleontologist.Susan Hattori MI’13: Susan served as the medical officer on the expedition.Dr. Eva Koppelhus FI’02: Eva co-led the expedition and served as the field leader and palynologist.Jessica Lansfield TI’13: Jessica participated in the expedition and was the The Explorers Club student representative.Tony Mayo MI’14: Tony participated in the expedition and served as the fire starter and story-teller.Jessica Lindsay Phillips MI’12: Jessica was responsible for several discoveries on the expedition. Jason Schoonover FE’86: Jason was the team leader for the expedition.Lee Treloar MI’09: Lee was responsible for a significant Anklyosaur discovery, and subsequent specimen preparation in the University of Alberta Bio Sciences laboratory. Robert Tymstra FI’94: Robert served as the ornithologist on the expedition and along with the team identified 95 species of bird.Kumiko Yokoyama MI’13: Kumiko participated in the expedition and was responsible for several discoveries.Flag #211: This expedition was the first for the newly created flag #211 which saw the Anglo-Danish Maritime Archaeological Team explore the remains of the French brig Le Casimir, which sunk after hitting a reef at night in 1829. Dr. Simon Spooner FI’04: Led the successful Le Casimir Wreck Project.

Significant non-Flag expeditionsSusan R. Eaton MI’11: Susan led the all-female 2014 Sedna Epic Expedition to the Canadian arctic and Greenland, achieving a first-of-its-kind snorkel relay in arctic waters.

Francoise Gervais MI’13: Francoise participated in the 2014 Sedna Epic Expedition to conducted marine mammal and seabird surveys.


Send us your suggestions for resources, information, granting sites, websites and other materials helpful to exploration and field research. Explorers Club Canadian Chapter Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/explorersclubcanada. Find out what your fellow members are up to and share your own news.Gribs USA (www.grib.us) is the format used by the meteorological institutes of the world to transport and manipulate weather data and is the foundation of the forecasts we see around us in our daily life. GRIB.US allows you to extract weather files tailored to your needs. The easy-to-use Ugrib software allows you to view the data anywhere in the world when you want to, where you want to.

Wanted: Contributions to Far AfieldWe’re looking for keen and interested volunteers to help edit and write columns.Please contact Wilson at [email protected]

Wanted: Expedition photos for the front cover of Far Afield. Please contact Wilson at [email protected].

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Winter 2015 edition of Far Afield