Expedition Arctic Ocean 2026, blog post 6: The North Pole
Today we arrived at the North Pole! When we started getting close to the pole we all gathered on the bridge as the crew guided Oden as close as possible to 90°N. As far as I was able to tell, we reached 89°59.9960’N, which is only a few meters from the true North Pole (measured from the center of the ship). We celebrated reaching the pole with (nonalcoholic) bubbles and a fanfare on cornet and clarinet.
Caption: The meteorology and aerosol team on the ice, with the traditional North Pole pole indicating the distance to the participants' hometowns (from the left: Linnea Huusko and Irene Bellagente (Stockholm University), Missy Westland (University of British Columbia), Faustine Mascaut (Chalmers University of Technology), and Matthew Shupe (University of Colorado, NOAA, and Stockholm University).
After this followed many selfies, group photos, and phone calls to loved ones at home (yes, we do actually have enough internet via satellite to make phone calls!). I went around recording some video, letting people share their impressions. There were a lot of strong feelings, some people were close to tears. It is really a special thing to reach this remote place, a very unique experience.
Caption: Everyone watches the instruments on the bridge with excitement as we approach the pole.
The tradition is for everyone onboard to get off the ship onto the ice to take a group photo. This, however, requires finding an icefloe large and thick enough that the ship can be moored to it, and that it can safely hold the 70 people onboard. A few decades ago, this was never an issue, but with climate change, and the arctic warming even faster than the rest of the globe, there is currently a lot of open water even as far north as this.
Caption: Group photo of all participants from SU on the 7th deck at the North Pole (From the left: Matthew Shupe (MISU), Hanna Winge (MISU), Alva Åkerlind (IGV), Linnea Huusko (MISU), Irene Bellagente (ACES), Albin Eriksson (ACES), Richard Gyllencreutz (IGV), Rune Bech Pedersen (IGV), Miriam De Vries (Physical Geography). Matthew O'Regan (IGV) is missing from the photo).
This time we did find a suitable floe, and after the ship was secured to it we all disembarked for the group photo. After that we took the opportunity to do some science on the ice. We got to learn about characterizing snow, and how to drill an ice core (very cool!).
Caption: Albin Eriksson (Stockholm University) practices drilling an ice core.
Now, a few hours later, we have already left the ice floe and the North Pole behind and are heading towards new waters on the other side of the pole. The visit to the North Pole almost feels like a dream, but we have hundreds (maybe thousands?) of photos to remind ourselves that it was reality.
/Linnea (2026-08-16)
Caption: Albin Eriksson, Linnea Huusko (Stockholm University), and Susanna Hentschel (Gothenburg University) investigate the snow properties in a snow pit.
Last updated: 2026-08-28
Source: MISU