AUG 4, 20.30 UTC – Polarquest crewmember Kevin Monneron has sent a dispatch this evening to report about the first days of activity of NANUQ2020 in Greenland. The dispatch was in French and it’s hereby translated into English: “Our crew stopped at Nansen Fjord. Imagine azure-green water dotted with saturated blue icebergs, surrounded by towering high dark and black mountains. This decor punctuated by the dull sound of icebergs breaking under the erosion of the waves makes you look like an intruder in the middle of immensity. Our passage was productive, I was able to take my first scientific dive to take some measurements in this water where the visibility does not exceed 1m and the temperature at 7m is -0.5 ° C … magical and terrifying. Our teams on the ground divided up the work amid general enthusiasm. On the program, Mapping of vegetation by drone, photogrammetry of flora and methane survey in a water point. The day ends with the measurements of the DST probe in the Fjord. We spend the night here, celebrating this productive day with a good meal. In the early hours of the morning we send Tamara, a climber and mountaineer to the top of the 20m mast to install Go-Pros in time lapse [for photogrammetric purposes]. While our entire crew has their eyes riveted on the top of the mast, Ophélie, our photographer, pays attention to a white shape in the water, swimming towards the back of the boat. Ophélie: ‘It took me at least two good seconds to realize it was a bear! This rather curious polar bear was less than 5m from the boat, before turning back towards the coast once spotted. With a slow and confident step he emerged from the water and stood for a moment in his territory under our amazed gazes … We must be careful’. It is now time to leave, we go north and leave this intact place which will leave with us unforgettable memories.”
