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2023 Archive News/Blog & Recent Events - George Kourounis

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Dec 29 2023 - See You In 2024
 
I hope everyone has been having a great holiday season. I wish you all a happy, healthy, and adventurous new year.
 
2023 was packed with adventure with trips to Borneo, Tornado Alley, England, Alberta, Alaska & Antarctica, and I have all kinds of plans in the works for 2024. I'm really excited about the next 12 months, and I'll keep posting here as much as I can, so check back when you get the chance.
 
Have a happy new year.

2023

 
Dec 20 2023 - Back From Antarctica
 
I'm back home from my most recent voyage to Antarctica. What a great experience to an amazing place with great people, and an amazing ship.
 
Huge thanks to Six Star Travel for inviting me to host one of their trips. This has been in the works since pre-pandemic times, and I'm so pleased that it finally happened. We're already talking about possibly doing it again next year.
 
If you'd like to join me in Antarctica, or even if you just like ship-based travel, I recommend talking with Steven over at Six Star.
 
More photos of the whole Antarctica trip can be found here, and to see more from the amazing submarine dive I did down there, you can check those out here.

Antarctica_2023_12_10_12

 
Dec 15 2023 - Hope Bay, Antarctica
 
The Bay was discovered on January 15, 1902 by the Swedish Antarctic Expedition under Otto Nordenskiöld, who named it in commemoration of the winter spent there by his expedition after his ship (the Antarctic) was crushed by the ice and lost. They were eventually rescued.
 
The weather today didn't look very promising because the visibility was limited due to fog. We went out for a Zodiac cruise, and had a great time, the fog made for an ethereal mood, and there was plenty of wildlife to see including seals and a huge colony of adelie penguins.
 
Later in the day, the weather cleared up and we relocated so that the passengers had the opportunity to do a "Polar Plunge". Of course I did it, but wow, that water is cold!
 
The water temperature was -1.8°C. Sea water has a lower freezing point than fresh water, so yeah... It was cold!

Antarctica_2023_12_15_04

Antarctica_2023_12_15_06

 
Dec 14 2023 - Neko Harbour, Antarctica
 
In my numerous visits to Antarctica over the years, I've been able to visit Neko Harbour many times. I find it to be one of the most beautiful parts of the Antarctic Peninsula.

Antarctica_2023_12_14_06

 
Dec 13 2023 - Port Charcot Ashore & Pleneau Cruise & Lemaire Channel
 
Another great day in Antarctica. We continued south down through the Lemaire channel and spent the day down at Charcot & Pleneau where we saw some really amazing icebergs and got to go ashore again amongst the penguins.

Antarctica_2023_12_13_02

 
Dec 12 2023 - Danco Island Ashore, Chiriguano Bay Zodiac & Submarine Dive
 
The weather today was bit more challenging with heavy snow, but that didn't slow us down. In fact today was the busiest day. It started with a shore excursion on Danco Island, then some Zodiac cruising.
 
 
Submarine Dive
In the late afternoon I was able to dive down in the Seabourn Pursuit's submersible. What an amazing experience! We got down to a depth of 570 feet (174 meters). At that depth it was almost pitch dark. We saw all kinds of invertibrate life including sponges, krill and se stars.
 
Learn more about the submarine dive here.

2023_12_12_05

Sub_Antarctica_01

 
Dec 11 2023 - Gerlache Strait & Paradise Harbour & Brown Station, Antarctica
 
Today we did some Zodiac cruising around Paradise Harbour and set foot on the Antarctic continent mainland at Brown Station. The glaciers and icebergs here were spectacular, and we were treated to lots of wildlife too, including a huge leopard seal.

Antarctica_2023_12_11_01

 
Dec 10 2023 - Half Moon Island, Antarctica
 
 
Today was our first landing in Antarctica. Half Moon island is tiny, but it is well protected from the elements and we had great luck with the weather. It was sunny when we went ashore, and I was overheating from being over-dressed.
 
It is a gorgeous place with towering mountains, surreal blue icebergs and plenty of penguins building their nests out of rocks.

Antarctica_2023_12_10_05

 
Dec 07 2023 - Buenos Aires, Argentina
 
I've made it to Buenos Aires, and the past couple of days here have been great. I got to meet up with a bunch of friends from Canada who all happened to be here in B.A. at the same time, which was awesome. The steak we had was plentiful, delicious and inexpensive.
 
I've been doing a fair bit of just walking around the city. I've been through Buenos Aires several times before, but this is the first time I've had the opportunity to stay and enjoy the city a bit.
 
Next stop... Onward to Ushuaia, then onto the ship.

Buenos Aires

 
Nov 30 2023 - Headed Back To Antarctica
 
My next adventure is coming up soon. In a few days I'll be headed back south to Antarctica. This time I'm going to be travelling there as a special guest host for Six Star Travels, a Canadian travel agency. They have a small group of people that will be joining me aboard the Seabourn Pursuit, a brand-new luxury expedition ship that is only about 4 months old!
 
It's going to be great going back down there (this will be my 5th time going to Antarctica) on this shiny, new ship. I will be flying from Toronto, through Houston to Buenos Aires, then to Ushuaia where we'll be boarding the ship.

Antarctica Map

 
Nov 21 2023 - Let's Take This Outside Podcast
 
My appearance on the "Let's Take This Outside" podcast has just been released. It features my conversation with host Mary Anne Ivison and we chatted about spending time outdoors and many of my encounters with Mother Nature’s bad moods.
 
Listen to the podcast here.

Let's Take This Outside Podcast

 
Nov 18 2023 - Braga Science Short Film Festival
 
Many thanks to the organizers of the Braga Science Short Film Festival (based in Portugal) for inviting me to be a panelist for their opening round table discussion: "Infotainment: how it affects public perceptions about science".
 
I contributed remotely, and had a great time sharing my insights as a science communicator and also hearing from others as well.

BSFF
 
Nov 17 2023 - National Geographic
 
I was interviewed for a National Geographic article about the current state and future of the Darvaza flaming gas crater in Turkmenistan, and the potential efforts to extinguish it.

National Geographic

 
Nov 16 2023 - Circumzenithal Arc
 
I spotted a perfect Circumzenithal Arc (CZA) today on the way from Ottawa to Toronto.

Sometimes referred to as an “upside down rainbow”, they form when the conditions are just right with ice crystals in the upper atmosphere. I was looking at the sky and thought to myself that the cirrus clouds looked ideal for spotting a CZA. Sure enough, there was one, way up above the sun.
 
 
They’re hard to spot if you don’t know when and where to look for them.

Arc_2023_10_16_A

Arc_2023_10_16_B

 
Nov 15 2023 - RCGS Geographica Dinner, Ottawa
 
 
I had a great time at the annual dinner of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society tonight at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.

So many incredible people all gathered together in one room, we even had 2 tables at dinner specifically reserved for Members of The Explorers Club.
 
There were awards presentations, astronauts, live music by Loreena McKennitt and more. Learn more about all the things that happened at the event here.

There were too many great moments to share them all, but chatting with legendary wildlife photographer Paul Nicklen was certainly a highlight for me.

Geographica_1

Geographica_2

 
Nov 08 2023 - Filming At Casa Kourounis
 
Filming at my home today. I can't say what for yet… but for my American friends, you’ll eventually be able to watch this on a channel that features the weather...

Nov_08

 
Nov 02 2023 - Ontario Science Centre Innovator's Ball
 
Had a great time last night at the Ontario Science Centre RBC Innovators Ball last night.

A great evening of seeing some old friends, meeting many amazing people, and raising money to support science education here in Ontario. The museum was transformed into a elegant venue for the festivities.
 
It was great reconnecting with Anthony Farnell, chief meterologist for Global National News & Anthony Morgan (One of the new hosts of The Nature Of Things) who was one of the MC's for the event.

BTW, during the live auction, a pair of Taylor Swift tickets went for $11,000. I’m in the wrong busines!!

OSC_1

OSC_2

 
Oct 26 2023 - Closing Keynote for Demcon 2023
 
Many thanks to all the great folks at Ontario DEMCON, the Disaster and Emergency Management Conference for inviting me to give the closing keynote talk yesterday at the International Centre in Toronto.
 

Ilthese folks are the ones who work had to ensure that you and your community are looked after in emergencies. This also includes business continuity as well. Society continues to work because of their behind the scenes efforts.

Demcon

Demcon

 
Oct 18 2023 - Wal Mart Photo Shoot
 
Photoshoot day today.
Doing some promo shots for the new Royal Canadian Geographical Society Canadiana line of winter clothing that can be found at Wal Mart stores across Canada.

Photo_Shoot_Oct_18

 
Oct 13 2023 - Filming
 
Back in the TV studio again today… Talking about some of the most unusual places on Earth.

Oct_13_Filming

 
Sept 21 2023 - The Weather Network - Alaskan Glaciers
 
Learn a little bit about the glaciers of Alaska in this new video from The Weather Network.

I was up there earlier this summer as a travel ambassador for the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and Cunard. Alaska is incredibly beautiful with some truly epic landscapes, including countless glaciers. Some of them are doing well, but most... Not so much.

TWN_Glaciers

 
Sept 20 2023 - BBC Worlds Service - Witness History
 
My recent interview with the BBC World Service podcast program “Witness History” just came out today.
We’re coming up on the 10 year anniversary of the Gates Of Hell expedition in Turkmenistan, and the world still seems curious about it.

It was a fun interview and I think you’ll enjoy it.

BBC_World_Service

 
Sept 19 2023 - U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere
 
The iconic band U2 will be using some of my Hurricane Sandy footage as part of their stage show "Achtung Baby Live At The Sphere" in Las Vegas. The multi-media residency show will be performed in the new, state of the art spherical venue at The Venetian.
 
The series of concerts begins on Sept 29th and is expected to run through mid-December.

U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere

 
Sept 18 2023 - The World's Weirdest Volcanoes
 
Many thanks to everyone over at Exploring By The Seat Of Your Pants for letting give a classroom presentation on the "World's Weirdest Volcanoes".
 
We had an amazing turnout with classrooms tuning in from across North America, and we even had a class from Abu Dhabi.
Some of the things I talked about:
- Volcanoes that glow blue!
- Volcanoes that make lightning!
... And a lot more crazy, weird phenomena.

Weirdest_Volcanoes

 
Sept 12 2023 - The Explorers Journal
 
Just published:
 
The latest edition of The Explorers Journal features my conversation with Gavin Jones, research ecologist with Rocky Mountain Research Station.

The subject of our discussion? How climate-change driven wildfires have gotten to the point where they are now affecting species adaptation in unusual ways, steering the evolution of some of these forest species.
 
Jones and his colleagues even coined the new term “Pyrocene” to describe this new era of fire-induced evolution. Very appropriate timing considering the record-smashing fire season we’ve been having.

Explorers_Journal_2

Explorers_Journal_1

 
Aug 29 2023 - Ottawa, Ontario
 
I travelled to Ottawa for a couple of days to do some filming of a project that involves some of the other Explorers In Residence with the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.
 
It is rare to get more than one of us in the same room together, so it was great to hang out with cave diver Jill Heinerth and endurance runner Ray Zahab.
 
While I can't go into detail about what we were filming, I do look forward to seeing what happens with this project moving forward.
 
Interestingly, simultaneously at the RCGS headquarters, the current exhibit entitled "Pressure" is ongoing, feature James Cameron's deep sea submersible that he took on the world's first solo dive to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.
 
Seeing it in person, the sub is really much bigger than I expected. I learned that they had to take out one of the walls of the loading dock, just to get it into the building!

Ottawa_Aug_2

Ottawa_Aug_1

 
Aug 21 2023 - Filming In Toronto
 
Today was spent doing some more on-camera filming for yet another new TV series. I’ll share more details when I’m able to.

It was a fun, and very productive day.

Filming_Aug

 
Aug 18 2023 - Elora, Ontario
 
I was helping out with a video shoot today, and it went kind of like this:
 
“Hey George, here’s a camera you’ve never used before, you have one take to catch the shot… Oh, and you’ll be dangling from a rope off of the side of a church tower at a precarious angle”.
Great fun, actually.

Elora_Filming

 
Aug 15 2023 - Canadian Geographic Travel Article
 
My latest article for Canadian Geographic has just been published. This one is about the amazing natural wonders I experienced on my trip to Alaska last month.

Can_Geo_Article_Alaska

 
Aug 06 2023 - Moraine Lake & Yoho National Park
 
Over the past couple of days, we've visited the incredible, surreal blue Moraine Lake, then we crossed over into British Columbia to do some hiking in Yoho National Park, which was fantastic.
 
We got to see several waterfalls, including the impressive Takakkaw Falls.

Many thanks to everyone on the trip, our guide, Chris Booth, and all the folks at Great Canadian Trails and the Royal Canadian Geographical Society & Canadian Geographic Travel.

It is so important to explore as much of your own country as you can, and with Canada being so incredibly vast, that can definitely be challenging.

Alberta_11_Moraine_Lake

Alberta_12_Yoho

 
Aug 04 2023 - Lake Louise
 
The iconic Canadian viewpoint. Countless photos of this glacial lake have been taken over the years, and it's easy to see why it is such a popular destination. The turquoise glacial-fed lake is absolutely stunning.

We spent the day trekking in the mountains above the lake. It was a wonderful day of being in nature, experiencing on of the most beautiful places in Alberta.
 
While enjoying lunch up by the mountain tea house, we could occasionally hear pieces of the alpine glaciers in the distance breaking off and crashing down the mountainside. The sound reverberating though the valleys.

Alberta_09_Lake_Louise

Alberta_10_Lake_Louise

 
Aug 03 2023 - Athabasca Glacier
 
The Athabaska Glacier, part of the Columbia Ice Field in Jasper National Park, Alberta.
Thanks to wildfires in B.C. the air was too smoky for a mountain hike, so we went to go see the icefield instead. I'm standing in about the spot where the glacier used to end n 2006. It has receded a lot, and continues to do so.

It was fascinating (and frightening) to see firsthand how parts of our planet are changing so rapidly.

I'm holding the flag of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.

Alberta_08_Athabasca

 
Aug 02 2023 - Banff National Park.
 
One thing I was concerned with on this trip was wildfires. This has been a record-smashing year for fires here in Canada, and the smoke has made its way all over North America.
 
 
Not too surprisingly, smoke from a wildfire in British Columbia started to drift over towards our location as we approached the town of Banff today. It may affect our hiking plans for tomorrow, but it helped to make for a moody sunset as we pulled into Banff National Park.

Alberta_06_Banff

 
Aug 02 2023 - Frank Slide Disaster Site
 
 
As we left Waterton Lakes National Park, we drove past an area where they have a herd of bison, and I was able to get some great photos of them with wildflowers in foreground and the Rocky Mountains in the background. Very nice.
 
En route to Banff, we stopped at a little piece of Canadian history that I knew nothing about until we visited the site in person. It was very powerful to see it myself.

The Frank Slide disaster, a tragic and catastrophic event, occurred on April 29, 1903, in the town of Frank, Alberta. The coal-mining town faced an unimaginable calamity when an enormous portion of Turtle Mountain suddenly dislodged and cascaded down its slopes, burying a significant part of the town under millions of tons of rock and debris. The slide, triggered by a combination of geological factors, including the mountain's unstable structure, the melting of an ancient glacier, and significant coal mining, resulted in the loss of around 70 lives and buried much of the town.

In the aftermath of the disaster, efforts were made to recover and rebuild the town, but almost all traces of it are gone now. The incident also spurred greater awareness and research into the understanding of landslides and their potential triggers. Today, the Frank Slide remains a poignant historical site.

Alberta_05_Waterton

Alberta_07_Frank_Slide

 
Aug 01 2023 - Waterton Lakes National Park.
 
In Waterton Lakes National Park right now. What a gorgeous place. The park is in extreme southern Alberta, right up against the border with Montana.
 
We did an amazing hike up to Lower Rowe Lake through an area that had burned during the 2017 wildfire that took out about 60% of the vegetation in the park.

It was fascinating to see how much recovery the forest has gone through in the past 6 years. The purple fireweed flowers and the scorched tree trunks made for a surreal landscape, and we had a perfect blue sky day.
 
We also saw plenty of wildlife including bighorn sheep.
 
The little town of Wateron Lakes reminds me of a smaller, less hectic version of Banff, so if you like Banff, you'll love this place.

Alberta_04_Waterton

Alberta_03_Waterton

 
July 31 2023 - Badlands & Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump
 
Yesterday we drove from Calgary out to the badlands, specifically Dinosaur Provincial Park. This place is fascinating, a huge rift was cut into the landscape by ancient glacial activity, exposing all kinds of fossilized dinosaur bones and leaving behind amazing hoodoos & other geological wonders. We could literally just walk around and find dinosaur bones protruding from the Earth.
 
Today we took in the UNESCO site known as Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. This is a cliff side that has been used for almost 6000 by the Blackfoot ancestral people as a natural trap to catch Bison in the autumn. They would set up pathways to funnel the bison towards the cliff while someone dressed in a baby bison skin would draw them closer and closer. Suddenly, others, dressed in wolf skins would start to panic the bison, driving them across the rolling hills and over the cliff to their death. Sometimes a couple hundred at a time if the hunt was a good one.
 
Immediately the task of skinning and preparing the bison would begin in preparation of drying the meat etc as winter would be coming soon.
 
This is the largest and best known of all the Buffalo Jumps, and I highly recommend visiting the interpretive center.

Alberta_01_Badlands

Alberta_02_Head_Smashed

 
July 29 2023 - Heading to Alberta
 
I'm headed to Alberta! I'm going to be hosting another trip as a travel ambassador for the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and Can Geo Adventures. This time we're teaming up with Great Canadian Trails on their "Badlands and Rocky Mountains" trekking trip.
 
I'll be all over the province, and visiting a lot of places that I've never been to before, but have always wanted to see. From Dinosaur Provincial Park, to Banff to Lake Louise and more... This will be a fun adventure.

Alberta_Map

 
July 26 2023 - The Weather Network
 
Today I was filming with a team from The Weather Network. I was doing some on-camera pieces, talking about my recent experiences in Alaska. We filmed down along the shore of Lake Ontario at the Scarborough Bluffs.

TWN_Shoot

 
July 21 2023 - Filming In Toronto
 
Now that I'm back from Alaska, I'm available again for TV shoots. This week I did another shoot for "Mysteries From Above". This marks the start of filming for season three of the show. There will be more shoot days coming up later in the year, but it is great fun to be back, contributing to this program.

Filming_July_2023

 
July 15 2023 - Ketchikan, Alaska
 
It has been a tremendous pleasure to have been invited on this Cunard voyage. I've had a great time, both at the Alaskan destinations, and aboard the ships itself (which is stunning). Our last stop was in the town of Ketchikan, which is known as the "salmon capital of the world".
 
Tomorrow is a sea day, headed back south to Vancouver, ad I'll be giving my second talk of the trip in the main theatre. Thank you so much to Cunard and the RCGS for the invitation to share my stories with the passengers and to experience this amazing voyage.

Alaska_Ketchikan

 
July 14 2023 - Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska
 
Yesterday we made a stop at Icy Strait Point and I took a nice long walk over to the small fishing town of Hoonah. The weather has continued to be fantastic!
 
Today the ship picked up a couple of national park rangers and we cruised around in Glacier Bay National Park.
 
What a beautiful spot. There are no roads here, so the best way to appreciate this place is from the water. We got to see numerous glaciers including:
 
Margerie
Grand Pacific
John's Hopkins
Lamplugh &
Reid
 
I know I've been sharing a lot of glacier photos, but they are beautiful, fascinating and so many of them are in a state of decline, that I just love to show them off.
 
Tomorrow is our last stop before heading back to Vancouver.

Alaska_Hoonah

Alaska_Margerie

 
July 12 2023 - Juneau, Alaska
 
Juneau is the state capital of Alaska, and the largest city that we'll be visiting on this trip. There are no roads in or out of Juneau, so everything has to come in via plane or boat.
 
I took an excursion up to see the Mendenhall Glacier, which is a short drive outside of town. It was beautiful, but you can really tell that the glacier has been shrinking more and more each year.

Mendenhall Glacier

 
July 11 2023 - Hubbard Glacier
 
Today we made it to the northernmost point in the voyage, Hubbard Glacier.
 
Hubbard is the largest tidewater glacier in North America, (meaning it makes it all the way to sea level). Interestingly, 95% of Alaska's glaciers are receding, but Hubbard is one of the few that is actually advancing. Most of the glacier is at the high altitudes of Alaska & Yukon where a lot of new snow falls on the glacier, adding more to it than melts away.
 
We got to spend a few hours cruising around the fjord, admiring the deep-blue ice.

Hubbard Glacier

 
July 09 2023 - Sitka, Alaska
 
I've made it aboard. I flew to Vancouver, then boarded the ship and started heading north. Yesterday was an at-sea day.
 
The Queen Elizabeth is an amazing ship. The Art Deco aesthetic really makes you feel like you're on a cruise liner in the 1920's but with modern amenities.
 
Today I gave my first talk aboard the ship, then we made our first stop in Sitka. One of the interesting things about Sitka is the local volcano, Mount Edgecumbe. On April 1st, 1974 A prankster transported 70 old tires up to the crater by helicopter by helicopter and lit them on fire, tricking the community into thinking that the volcano had started erupting.

Sitka Alaska Mount Edgecumbe

 
July 06 2023 - Headed To Alaska
 
The next adventure is about to begin.
Tomorrow I head west to board the Cunard Queen Elizabeth to give a series of talks on a voyage from Vancouver to Alaska and back as a travel ambassador for the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.

I’ll be updating my social media channels frequently during the trip!

Alaska Map

 
June 25 2023 - IMAX at the Ontario Science Centre
 
Many thanks to the good folks over at the Ontario Science Centre here in Toronto for inviting me to a special screening of the new IMAX film "Turtle Odyssey" It follows the life of a green sea turtle off the coast of Australia near the Geat Barrier Reef, and it e film is narrated by none other than Russell Crowe.

Turtle Odyssey - IMAX

 
June 21 2023 - New TV Series on The Weather Channel
 
Prime Suspect: Earth is the new TV series on The Weather Channel that I appear in as an on-camera expert/contributor. The show airs on Saturday nights at 7 & 8. This is the TV show that I was filming in London recently. Here's a brief synopsis:
 
"History is full of mysterious events and disappearances, from abandoned ghost ships and lost planes to strange glowing lights and unexplained booms. Could a natural phenomenon be to blame? Was the Earth itself responsible? In this series, a crack team of expert investigators collects and analyzes the evidence. But that's not all: They also apply the latest data and science to build a virtual crime scene where the mysteries occurred and step inside the simulation to unravel the clues and crack the case."

Prime Suspect: Earth - The Weather Channel

 
June 20 2023 - Tornado Chase 2023 Complete
 
It has been a great storm chase trip. Many thanks to chase partners Dave Lewison & Scott McPartland for the safe, productive trip.
 
I was gone for 14 days... 6 of those were travel days, 1 was a down/rest day, and all the rest were chase days.
While we did see a few spin-ups and murky tornadoes, we didn't catch any real photogenic tornadoes this year. We made up for it though with gorgeous, photogenic storms, intense lightning, hail, and a close encounter in Laverne, Texas on June 17th.
 
This was a very late-season chase trip for me, as the pattern this year has been off due to a rex blocking patter over North America that affected weather across the continent for much of May and early June.

Read the daily updates
here.

2023_06_17_C

2023_06_16_E

 
June 06 2023 - Tornado Chase 2023
 
Final preparations are underway for my first post-pandemic tornado chase. It's been a while, and I'm really excited to finally get back out there. Tomorrow morning I'll be headed to New York state to meet up with Dave Lewison and Scott McPartland, then the 3 of us will be headed west to Tornado Alley. This will be the latest start to a chase trip I've ever done (usually around mid-May), but the weather pattern hasn't been too favourable until now.
 
Scott, Dave and I have known each other for about 2 decades and have chased countless storms/tornadoes/hurricanes together.

To follow along, I'll be posting my daily updates
here.

Tornado Chase 2023

April 18 2023 - London, England
 
I've crossed the pond, and am in London, England this week.
 
Unfortunately, I won't have a lot of time to take in the sights and visit many of my U.K. friends on this trip because I'm spending most of my time filming segments for a new TV series.
 
This is a project that I already started working on back in February, and pretty soon I'll be able to make an announcement about what the project is and where you'll be able to see it, but for now I can't divulge any details.
 
The filming has been going great, and it's been a lot of fun. I can't wait to share the finished programs.
 
Many thanks to the crew here in London. You're awesome, and have helped to make my job easier.

London

London Filming

April 13 2023 - Geo Night
 
I am very proud to be representing Canada at the 2023 Geo Night event tomorrow. It is in international celebration of geography and geographic education.
 
More about Geo Night: In 2017, the French National Geographical Committee (CNFG) initiated the first GeoNight, which took place in Paris and in a dozen other French cities. In 2018 and with the support of EUGEO, the events reached a European scale. In 2019, with IGU, more countries around the world organized GeoNight events. Now, thousands of people attending GeoNight around the world.

Geo Night 2023

April 06 2023 - Toronto Life Magazine Article
 
Toronto Life recently published an interview I did with them. As someone who has lived in Toronto for most of my life, I really appreciated that they reached out to me to talk.
 
The interview is now online here.

Toronto Life Interview

April 05 2023 - Mysteries From Above, Season 2
 
I am happy to announce that season 2 of Mysteries From Above has started airing in Canada on Cottage Life Television. I've been an on-camera contributor for this show since its first episode, which showcases unusual places on our planet that can only be fully appreciated with a view from above using drones or satellite imagery. The show will also be available on Smithsonian Channel and Prime Video.

Mysteries From Above Season 2

March 23 2023 - Explore Podcast
 
I was a guest on the Canadian Geographic Explore podcast today, hosted by David McGuffin. It’s always a treat to chat with David. This was my second time being a guest on the show.
We talked about all kinds of things... From climbing icbergs in the Atlantic, off the coast of Newfoundland, to my time spent inside the most dangerous volcano in Africa.
 
Listen to the podcast here.

Explore Podcast

March 10 2023 - Purposeful Curiosity Book
 
This just arrived in the mail. A while back, the author reached out to interview me while he was writing this. I’m looking forward to giving it a read.

Purposeful_Curiosity

March 08 2023 - Filming
 
Today was spent in front of the camera again. This time shooting some more interviews for season 2 of the show "Mysteries From Above".
 
These 10 new episodes will begin airing later this year on Crave TV and Smithsonian Channel.

Filming_March_08

March 07 2023 - Classroom Presentation
 
This morning I gave a live, interactive classroom presentation to schools from all across Canada and the U.S.
 
Exploring By The Seat Of Your Pants is an educational non-profit that connects scientists, exploreres and field researchers with students via virtual talks. Today's topic was various kinds of extreme weathing including: tornadoes, lake effect snow, and thundersnow.

EBTSOYP

March 06 2023 - Polar Plunge, Lake Ontario
 
Polar plunge complete! Brrrrr...

We had about 10 people jump into Lake Ontario today (plus Gidget the husky) as part of a fundraising event in support of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.

The air temperature was just above freezing with blustery wind. Yes, it was cold, but not *too* bad. Great fun was had by all.

Polar_Plunge_2023

March 03 2023 - Thundersnow!
 
A very quick moving, but extremely potent winter storm swept through Southern Ontario today, brining with it high winds, heavy snow (I measured 28cm) in my back yard, and copious amounts of thunder & lightning.
 
Thundersnow is not a common phenomenon, I have seen it many times, but I think this is the most I've ever experienced in the city of Toronto. According to Environment Canada, we had 220 lightning strikes across Southern Ontario from this one snowstorm!
 
I did manage to shoot video, and caught one of the close lightning flashes.

Thundersnow

March 01 2023 - The Proof Is Out There
 
Today I was interviewed for the History Channel TV series The Proof Is Out There. The story they wanted to talk to me about was something I filmed a couple of years ago. I can't mention any details at this time, but watch for the new episode airing on History Chaneel and streaming services later this year.

Proof_Is_Out_There

Feb 16 2023 - Filming
 
For the second time in a week, I’m back doing more on-camera commentary for a TV series. This is a new, different production that I’m excited to (eventually) tell you more about.

Feb_16_Filming

Feb 04 2023 - Kuching,
 
We have now flown from Mulu National Park to the city of Kuching.
 
In the morning, we took a boat ride out to Bako National Park, where we spent much of the day trekking around. There's a great deal of wildlife there, including red & silver Leaf Monkeys, Proboscis monkeys, and quite a few wild boars.

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Feb 02 2023 - Mulu National Park
 
Mulu National park is an amazing place, home to incredible biodiversity, and some of the world's most epic caves. It is also a UNESCO world heritage site. We spent a couple of days here, out of reach of roads and wifi to explorer and hike throughout the park.
 
These unusual strings hanging from the ceiling of Lang Cave are not geologic formations… They’re sticky strands excreted by the fungus gnat (Mycetophilidae) and are used as a trap (kind of like a fishing line) to catch flying insects.
They’re similar to the “Glow Worms” found in some caves in New Zealand, but these ones don’t glow.
 
Deer cave is one of the biggest in the world, and everym night, about 3 million bats exit on their way to go hunt for insects. It’s like a firehose of bats! They just keep going and going…

There are about 12 species of bats that live in the cave i total.
 
Here's a video of the bat emergence.

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Jan 31 2023 - Kota Kinabalu
 
From Kinabatangan, we travelled to Sabah where we visited a tea plantation, then onwards to Kinabalu National Park. It is supposed to be the "dry season" here but the rains have lingered. In fact we've had rain at some point every single day, but we've been lucky in that much of that rain has come either when we've been driving or stopped to eat. It hasn't really slowed us down too much.

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Jan 28 2023 - Kinabatangan River, Malaysian Borneo
 
For the past couple of days, we've been staying on the Kinabatangan River.
 
During the days, we'd go out in small boats to look for wildlife along the river where we'd frequently see macaque monkeys and hornbills flying overhead. Our guides have been amazing at spotting wildlife. One of the spotted a snake in a tree that was quite some distance away. We had to get right under the tree and have him point it out to me before I even spotted it. These guys have so much experience out here, spotting wildlife.
 
In the evenings, we'd do forest walks looking for more species. Again we found so many different types of frogs and insects, it was incredible. Our guide managed to spot a giant centipede that was in the process of eating its dinner, and he commented that this was the only animal out here that he was really afraid of.
 
Apparently the venom of these centipedes is extremely painful, and it sounded like he was speaking from personal experience. I took a few photos and wisely left it alone.

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Jan 26 2023 - Danum Valley, Malaysian Borneo
 
Right now I'm in the Danum Valley, a nature preserve that's not so easy to get to. It requires a few hours of 4x4 travel on some seriously sketchy dirt roads, but the lodge we've been staying at here is spectacular.
 
One of the best parts is walking around in the jungle at night. There are so many species that come out. All kinds of insects and other invertebrates, and lots of frogs.
 
The one thing to watch out for here is the leeches... So many leeches. The species here are land-dwelling Tiger Leeches. They live on branches and the underside of leaves. When they sense someone approaching, they reach out and will grab on to you. Once they latch on and start to bite, you'll never know it because their saliva has anesthetic properties. We all ended up with leeches on us.
 
One member of our group didn't notice the leech stuck to him until he went to take an evening shower... And a leech had crawled down his pants and attached itself to a part of his anatomy that you never want to have a leech stuck to!!
 
They were easy to remove, just grab and pull, but they were a constant nuisance. Regardless, Danum Valley is a great spot, and very much worth the leech encounters.

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Jan 24 2023 - Sepilok, Malaysian Borneo
 
Wow wow wow! Thanks to the heavy rain today at the Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary, I was able to get a “bucket list” photo! A female orangutan, constructing a rain hat out of leaves. I was not expecting to get so lucky. To see this kind of tool construction from a wild orangutan was really something special.
 
Let me rewind a bit... To get there from Canada took me 56 hours of travel. Toronto-Abu Dhabi-Kuala Lumpur-Sandakan. It was exhausting with 2 red-eye flights plus an overnight in K.L. Let me tell you though, it's already been worth the effort.
 
 
We started in Sandakan, then stopped at Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary en route to Sepilok.
 
The proboscis monkeys were fascinating, and they're only found only here on the island of Borneo. The males have giant noses that enhance the resonance of their vocalizations and larger noses impress the lady proboscis monkeys.

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Jan 19 2023 - Off To Borneo
 
This trip has been a long time coming. Because of the global pandemic, a lot of my travels were either canceled or postponed, and after 2 years or so of delays, I'm finally departing for Malaysian Borneo. I'll be special guest-hosting another adventure with Exodus Travels, who I partner with frequently.
 
This will be my fort time to Borneo and Malaysia, so I'm super excited about it. I'll be seeing a lot of wildlife, caves and other natural wonders there.

Borneo Map

Jan 11 2023 - Talks
 
Thank you so much to the folks at the Olean Camera Club in New York and the Solo Traveler blog site for inviting me to give recent talks. Both were lots of fun. I really enjoy sharing my stories of adventure with everyone.

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Jan 01 2023 - Happy New Year!
 
I hope that you all have a safe, happy, and prosperous 2023. The past few years have been difficult ones, the pandemic really had a major effect on my operations, but things have been improving and I'm really excited about some of the plans I have in store for 2023. These will include lots of travel and new adventures, plus plenty of media appearances. I look forward to another year of sharing the wonders of nature with you all.

An Archive of Previous Year's News Items Can Be Found Here

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

 

Any Questions/Comments?

george@stormchaser.ca


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