Polar Outreach Catalogue

We are the world's northernmost diving school, located in Kongsfjord at a latitude of 70 43'. Kongsfjord is surrounded by shallow water coral reefs and small islands, which are breeding grounds for various seabirds. These reefs are formed by rhodolith (Lythothamnion sp.) and their phenotype and expansion appear to be unique. Their porous three-dimensional structure creates a diverse habitat, with many endemic and rare species [Steller et al., 2003]. The small Lophelia reef that we discovered at 70 55' is the northernmost yet known.
Much of Kongsfjorden's marine environment is not easily accessible. We set out to make this environment accessible through a range of marine adventure learning programmes:
Arctic snorkelling: Thanks to the great clarity of the water, students experience directly kelp forests, coral reefs and diving seabirds. Beach clean-up: The winter storms bring many strange objects, natural and man made, some of them extremely dangerous for sea creatures. Students learn about these objects and recover them. Visual arts workshop: Students visualize their impressions of our marine environment through drawing and painting, guided by our resident artist. Arctic Diver Programme: This is aimed at certified sports divers and enables divers develop a greater appreciation of the arctic marine environment. As a result, our students have developed a greater awareness of the Arctic marine environment as well as an emotional relationship with aspects of it they previously even did not know about.