The Lecturers

Since this has been a special expedition cruise, Crystal hired a company called Arctic Kingdom to provide expert lecturers, zodiac support and help in general like Inuit guides to help spot wildlife. There was a special camera set up on the mast with a man running the controls from the 12th floor lounge. He had screens up there so everyone could see what he was seeing. The day we saw all the polar bears, they actually showed the sightings on screens in the showroom, during the show! It was an excellent singer that night and while she sang, down came the screens and there was a bear eating a seal. It was unique to say the least!

This cruise has been pretty controversial because of how it could affect the fragile ecosystem in the Arctic, especially if there were an accident. Last year some of Canada's top lecturer's declined the invitation to speak because of it. I have not heard if that happened again this year, but they sure had some experts onboard. And experts in a wide variety of subjects. Many of the speakers had actually lived in one of the small communities, or still do. Several were married to Inuits. One Inuit speaker in particular caught my attention and heart. His name is Peter Irniq. When he was 8 years old the Canadian government took him from his family and put him, along with the other children from his village, into a white school. They were punished if caught speaking anything but English. Because of the extreme change in diet from seal and whale blubber to meat and potatoes, many of them got sick. He told us of this experience in a soft, gentle voice. He is a gentle soul. In his quiet way he became an activist for the Inuit community. When Nunavut was made into a Provence in 1999, he was named second commissioner. At 75, he is now retired but continues to promote education about the Inuit community. I told him it had been a joy to listen to him, hearing about how he changed a troubled history into something beautiful. It was an honor to have met him. 

Other lecturers included marine biologists, historians, sociologists, etc. We even had an Inuit singer, who has won 3 Juno's (Canada's Grammy), give a performance which included a talk about the origin of the North American Inuit. She was excellent. There was a young woman on board who told about her mountain climbing experiences, including Everest. She has walked (skied) to the North Pole and almost to the South Pole. Her next expedition is to reach the South Pole by herself with no support. She said the last person who tried to do it died. I told her she is a bit crazy. She said it is not about reaching the top but the journey to get there. She had many trips that did not reach the top for various safety reasons. She called them successes too. 

At every stop in the Arctic, in a port or for zodiac adventures, a young woman dove to see what was under the water. She spoke a few days ago. It was pretty amazing to see just how much life there is under these cold waters. She saw brightly colored soft coral, some fish and many microscopic creatures. It was an excellent presentation. Recently we have had a speaker telling us about the human zoos. In the late 1800's, people from Europe came to the Inuit community to offer them a trip to Europe. They were put in enclosures like in a zoo, so people could watch how they did their cooking, hunting, etc. Five such Inuit ended up dying of small pox within 4 months of being in Europe. Recently there was a push to bring their remains home. The speaker was instrumental in doing this. Through a lot of research, she discovered the skeletons of these Inuit in the archives in the Natural History Museum of France, like any other specimen. After years of red tape,the repatriation was approved in 2013. Now they are waiting for a protocol to be written which will cover the repatriation of any human remains before these can be released. They are not home yet. 

A space shuttle astronaught spoke about his experiences in the space station. He was an excellent speaker. He gave another talk about their Mars experiments. They found a deserted island that might most resemble Mars to do the experiments. Coincidentally, it was on Devon Island, where we stopped to experience a glacier by zodiac at Crocker Bay. Thru his pictures, we were able to see what the island looked like in the interior. 

What I really appreciated about Crystal's lectures is that they were shown in the cabins simultaneously. I did not have to go to the lounge to see them I could sit and knit while watching in the comfort of our cabin. Mel went to almost all the lectures, I watched the ones that interested me. He really enjoyed a talk about the FBI. And there were a few political talks, mainly about today's issues such as ISSIS. Most days there have been 2 or 3 lectures. When Arctic Kingdom was onboard we had as many as 5! They did keep us busy. As the trip winds down, today is the last day of lectures. There has been a series called Crystal on Broadway. Two men who work in public relations for Broadway shows talked about the road to getting a play on Broadway. At the end of their presentation they announced that their most recent play, "The Play That Went Wrong", will give us a special performance on Fri night when we are in port. Tickets will be available thru the shore excursions office. What they failed to do was notify the excursions office! They knew nothing about it and are scrambling to get things organized. Should be a fun evening including meeting the cast after the show. We have 4 port days in a row coming up, ending in New York City where we will disembark after spending the one night there on the ship.