Today was our departure for Herschel Island.

It was a very early start with lots of running around, packing and unpacking of truckloads of gear and some stresses. But in the end we got on the plane and left our worries and e-mails behind us and flew off for our next fieldwork adventure. It was cloudy and misty in Inuvik when we left, but as our plane flew out across the Mackenzie Delta the clouds parted revealing a sunny Beaufort Sea with the odd beluga whale swimming through the waters below us.

We arrived on Herschel to a welcome crew of Richard Gordon (Head Warden), Ricky and Sam (Rangers) who helped us to unload our plane of it’s 2400 lbs of gear and food. We are all set up now in the Researchers Cabin our temporary home on Herschel until the AWI crew arrives.

Since arrival we have stored our food in the permafrost, taken an icehouse selfie, been attacked by clouds of mosquitos, gone on a short boat ride to blow the bugs away, been filmed by a drone, and met lots of new folks from the film crew (more info here) and locals visiting the island. The late evening sun is still high in the sky and the waters are sparkling and still as I look out the window of the researcher’s cabin.

It is wonderful to be back on Herschel Island again and to get to share this magical place with the Team Shrub 2015 research crew!!! We can’t wait for TeamShrub to be reunited when Jakob and Joe join us hopefully asap.

Next up after our delicious dinner will be a sauna and a swim in the Arctic Ocean!!! Woohoo!

Send by #TeamShrub via satellite phone from Herschel Island on 13 July 2015