He Explores, We Follow!

maisielkirkland
Mar 2, 2021
2 min read

Naturalist, explorer and wildlife TV presenter, Steve Backshall, delivered a series of exciting talks recently at Bangor University featuring highlights of his career and his experiences within wildlife and conservation. This blog focuses on the first of his talks I attended, where Backshall speaks about his recent series of expeditions into unexplored 'hotspots' across a variety of exciting locations!

Unexplored Wonders of the World

Throughout his childhood, Backshall had the urge to explore untouched wonders of the world; to be the first to experience new heights and explore unmapped territories. His most recent project, ‘Expedition’, encases decades of his work; exploring with both teams of specialised individuals and the local people of each geographical location visited to merge expedition film making and wildlife filming into one insightful project.

“Canyons that have never felt the imprint of a human foot”

The ‘Expedition’ project is formed of a collection of thrilling explorations across contrasting geographical landscapes; for example, venturing into miles of sunken, unmapped cave passages in Mexico. The expedition filming reveals Backshall and his team diving through vast cathedral sized chambers and tight ‘squeezers’ that have been left untouched since exploration of ancient maya people of Suriname.

Image: Prayer flags in Bhutan.

We were then informed further about his travels down extreme rapids and the discovery of a new waterfall in Suriname, South America as well as, the expedition team being given permission by the King of Bhutan to be the first to kayak down the last unrun river in Bhutan!

Anthropogenic Climate Change

It was an expedition to Greenland, however, that stood out the most for me. The focus of the Greenland expedition was the effects of anthropogenic climate change upon the formation of the sea pack ice on the longest Fjord in the world.

Image: Beautiful image of boat alongside and iceberg in Greenland.

During the initial research period before travelling, they discovered that for the first time ever that the ice had opened up in Spring - something that should not be possible! The next year Backshall and his team were able to kayak down the fjord between the ice through “velvet flat glorious water”.

“This should be an unbroken, infinite stretch of white”

This represents one of many shocking changes that have occurred within the challenging yet beautiful environment of the Arctic; along with the loss of significant glaciers and arrival of many foreign species, anthropogenic climate change is triggering critical shifts within the Earth's natural systems.

Studying these significant changes triggered by anthropogenic pressure is something I have developed an interest in throughout my time at University. Being able to further understand the changes the human race has forced upon the planet and how we can reduce their impact is something I want to explore further in my future.

It is for this reason that I chose this topic for my dissertation, with the hope that if I pursue this topic as a career, my work and study for my dissertation will make me an ideal candidate and represent my interest in the subject.