Dec 21 2025 - Winter Solstice

Many thanks to Jessica Phillips who hosted a small Winter Solstice get-together for the Toronto area members of The Explorers Club Canadian Chapter.

It was great to see so many old friends, and there was even some future expedition planning that happened.

Have a great holiday season, and I'll see you in the new year... Which promises to be filled with lots of travel and adventure.

Dec 09 2025 - Miami

The past 2 days have been spent at sea, headed back to Miami. The past 2 weeks have been great fun. Thank you to Cunard Lines for inviting me back aboard the Queen Elizabeth. I look forward to the next time.

While at sea, I gave my last 2 talks, and spent quite a bit of time on the top deck, photographing the sky, especially those Caribbean sunsets.

Day by day updates can be found here

Dec 06 2025 - Tortola, British Virgin Islands

I went ashore and walked around Road Town, the capital of the British Virgin Islands. It was sunny and hot out, which was nice, but there really wasn't a lot to see within walking distance of the ship. There were some shops around the docks, but walking into town was a bit disappointing. I'm sure other parts of the island are spectacular. I eventually turned around and headed back to the ship where I grabbed some lunch, went for a swim in the pool.

I was hoping for a decent sunset, but some passing tropical showers put an end to that.

Day by day updates can be found here

Dec 05 2025 - Sint Maarten/Saint-Martin

Today I got to experience both the Dutch and the French sides of the island of Saint Martin

We took a mini-bus to the town of Marigot on the French side of the island. We got to walk around the waterfront, checking out the shops & vendors. There were quite a few green iguanas there as well, sunning themselves on the rocks by the seaside.

Afterwards, we spent the afternoon at the famous Maho Beach on the Dutch side of the island. The beach is situated at the end of the airport runway, so jets landing pass right overhead, and those that are taking off blast the beach with 60+ mph winds as they power up their engines. It was great fun. We got totally sandblasted, and some people even got knocked over by the powerful jet-wash.

It is actually quite dangerous, and I seem to remember a fatality that happened here not too long ago. Regardless, it is a very popular beach, despite being very narrow and squeezed between the sea and the road that circles the airport.

Day by day updates can be found here

Dec 03 2025 - St. Lucia

The last time I was here in St. Lucia was way back in 1997, when I was in my 20’s.

We went ashore with no real plan in mind. The skies were overcast, which was great to keep that intense tropical sun at bay. There were a few drops of rain, but thankfully, that was it.We wandered around the little bay by the port in the capital of Castries, then worked our way back towards the downtown. Vendors were selling fruits, vegetables, a variety of spices, hot sauces and much more. We came across a place called the “Super Sexy Restaurant Bar/Grill. Unfortunately, it's closed on Wednesdays!

Day by day updates can be found here

Dec 02 2025 - Barbados

We arrived around 10:00 and the weather was fair. Interestingly, the Queen Mary 2 was docked right beside us. I imagine that it isn't too often that 2 "Queens" are in the same place at the same time (I was aboard the Queen Mary 2 back in October). I arranged to meet up with friends who lives on the island and they met us at the cruise ship terminal entrance after they'd gone to the local fish market to buy some tuna and red snapper.

We drove out to their place, which is a lovely open-concept home on a hill overlooking a golf course. We all hung out, chatted and had lunch (the fresh snapper). Unfortunately the heavens opened up and it really started to rain, and it didn't really let up for the rest of the day.

After lunch, we took a drive to their beach house. Along the way, we came across a group of invasive green monkeys that somehow came over from Senegal. They were cooperative enough that I was able to get a bunch of photos. At the beach house, we walked out in the rain to the beach to where sea turtles had recently come ashore and laid eggs in buried nests.

We were planning on snorkeling, but the weather was too bad so we just took the scenic route back to the ship. A really nice day. This was my first time in Barbados, I definitely need to return.

Day by day updates can be found here

Dec 01 2025 - Antigua

 

This is my first time in the island nation of Antigua.

 

Another gorgeous day. We went ashore and walked around the downtown port area, through the narrow, busy streets, and around the bay where I photographed a cattle egret, and a great egret along the shore. We stopped by a tree with many red flowers & spotted a couple of hummingbirds, but never got a clear shot to get a photo of them. When we eventually wandered back towards the ship, we stopped for a drink in the shade on a patio.

Back aboard, I went up to the top deck for the sunset. It was really nice, with a view of the island of Nevis to the west, and to the southwest we could see Montserrat. As the sun dipped low, I could start to see some distortions of the light as it touched the horizon. As the disk of the sun dipped below the horizon, I managed to catch the rare green flash on camera.

 

 

Day by day updates can be found here

Nov 30 2025 - U.S. Virgin Islands

 

We departed Miami aboard the Queen Elizabeth on the 27th and have spent the last 2 days at sea, sailing further into the Caribbean. On the 2 sea days, I gave my first 2 talks of this voyage and both went over very well.

 

Today we make our first stop of the trip in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.

 

The first couple of days of this trip have had less than ideal weather, but today was perfect for walking around town, exploring.

 

 

Day by day updates can be found here

Nov 25 2025 - Off To The Caribbean

 

I have yet again been invited aboard the Queen Elizabeth cruise ship, but this time instead of Alaska, I'll be in the Caribbean. My role aboard is to give presentations to the guests about my global adventures, expeditions, and to teach them about interesting natural phenomena, some of which we may see on this voyage.

 

I'll keep updating this page each day as the voyage progresses. I'm excited to visit numerous islands that I have never been to before.

Nov 22 2025 - Jane Goodall Memorial Service

 

It was a great honour to be invited to the Jane Goodall Memorial service at Convocation Hall at the University of Toronto today, celebrating the life of one of the worlds greatest individuals whose influence shaped so many lives around the world. Her dedication to the study of the chimpanzees of Gombe was just the starting point of a career that spanned decades, and helped the world better understand our closest relatives in the animal kingdom.

Laughs, tears, and stories about how she changed conservation, women’s roles in science and how she inspired several generations to care about the planet and all its living things.

Nov 18 2025 - Classroom Talk

 

It was great fun to give another classroom talk to students all over North America with Exploring By The Seat Of Your Pants. Today’s topic was tectonic plates, earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes. We had some technical hiccups, but in the end it all worked out great and the students had plenty of amazing questions.

Many thanks to Joe Grabowski for hosting the session. I’ve now done somewhere in the ballpark of 20 of these over the years, and I’m always blown away at how curious and creative the students can be with their questions.

Nov 11 2025 - The Globe & Mail Article

 

I was featured in a newspaper article about how pushing our limits has real real psychological benefits, and helps us to build our resilienece when it come to facing challenges. A little stress, in the right dose is good for us.

 

Read the article here.

Nov 05 2025 - Geographica Dinner - Ottawa

 

 

The past couple of days have been spent in Ottawa, attending a series of events surrounding the 2025 annual Geographica Dinner, put on by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.

 

On Tuesday, I attended the annual general meeting where we learned that the new federal budget contains special funding for the society that will be spread out over the next 4 years. This is huge news, and will really go a long way.

 

On Wednesday, there was informal breakfast get-together at Zak's Diner for members of The Explorers Club. There's quite a bit of overlap between the 2 organizations, and it's always great to spend time with my other explorer friends.

 

In the evening, I attended the formal awards ceremony and filmed a short promotional video, detailing what I love about Canada.

 

Then it was time for an amazing evening at the Canadian Centre for Geography and Exploration for the actual Geographica Dinner. It was great to see so many old friends, meet some new people, and listen to fascinating stories from the speakers on stage. This year was different with food stations spread throughout the building rather than a sit-down dinner (and the food was great with an oyster bar and several wonderful dishes from Spain). This new format allowed for more time to socialize, which was great.

Nov 03 2025 - Filming "Secret Places"

 

Today I filmed on-camera interviews for the new TV series "Secret Places". It's all about locations around the world that are hidden away from the public. Places like the NSA headquarters, Bio-research labs and supermax prisons.

 

I wish I had been able to visit some of these places firsthand, but it was still fascinating to learn about them and share some insight as to how these places operate.

Oct 28 2025 - Shane Hewitt Radio Show

 

Category 5 Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica as one of the strongest ever Atlantic hurricanes, and it may be some time before we know the full extent of the damage, but it will certainly be severe. This is the strongest storm to ever hit Jamaica in recorded history.

 

I was invited to talk about the storm on Newstalk 1010 on the Shane Hewitt & The Nightshift show.

Oct 20 2025 - Explorers Club Book

 

It is an absolute honour to be one of the people featured in the new book from The Explorers Club “Letters From The Edge: Stories of Curiosity, Bravery and Discovery”.
To be included among the ranks of so many world-class explorers, scientists, and other outstanding individuals is very humbling. I just received my copy, and I can't wait to read it.

Oct 17 2025 - New York City

 

After 2 more days at sea, another voyage comes to an end. It was a great honour to be one f the on-board lecturers on such an icon ship as the Queen Mary 2. We were treated to another great sunrise as we prepared to leave the ship. The earth shadow over the Statue of Liberty was especially nice. Once off the ship, we took the ferry, subway and train to Newark Airport in New Jersey and flew back home to Toronto. The next Cunard voyage will be coming up soon. This time I'll be back aboard the Queen Elizabeth, but not in Alaska this time.

Oct 14 2025 - Sydney, Nova Scotia

 

The weather has been pretty much perfect on this trip, and that trend continued today in Sydney.

 

We were at anchor because there were 2 other cruise ships in town. We came ashore in a tender right beside the “World’s Largest Fiddle” and looked around some of the shops, then walked along the boardwalk.

We continued all the way to the end of the wooden boardwalk, then turned in to town and ended up eating lunch at the Governors Pub.

Oct 13 2025 - Corner Brook, Newfoundland

 

It was quite cold in the morning, with plenty of steam coming off the water in the bay as we arrived at Corner Brook. The cold didn't last long though, it turned into a gorgeous sunny and warm day.

 

There were delays with getting tenders out. The winds had picked up and they were having trouble docking them with the ship, so we had to wait until the tide rose and the ship could dock fully. Today was Canadian Thanksgiving, so I wasn't sure what was going to be open in town. The main street was closed off with street vendors and live music, it was a real street party.

 

We walked around town, and then followed some of the Corner Brook Stream Trails. It was lovely. Great fall colours, and blue skies. We hiked down the stream and around the pond that had all kinds of ducks and swans.

 

We then went back into town and decided to check out the Three Bears Trail, a short, steep hike that gave us a nice view of town and the paper mill.

 

Back aboard, we were treated to a nice sunset with vivid pastel colours.

Oct 11 2025 - Quebec City

 

It has been years since the last time I was in Quebec City. It was nice to open the curtain this morning and look out on the old city and the Chateau Frontenac. It was cold enough that there was steam coming off the St. Lawrence River.

 

By the time we were ready to go ashore, it was still a bit chilly, but it warmed up quickly and turned into a great day. We had no plans, so we went ashore and started wandering. We meandered through the narrow, cobblestone streets, and decided to to ride the funicular up the hill. Once we were up high, we had great views of the ship, the St. Lawrence river and the old city. We walked along the Batterie Royale with its row of cannons, over to the iconic Chateau Frontenac.

 

I haven't spent any time here since I was a teenager. We had perfect weather for walking around the old city, the Citadel, the Plains of Abraham, the narrow cobblestone streets and the Notre-Dame Basilica. What a vibrant city. It's a little taste of old-world Europe, right here in Canada. Of course we had to have some poutine (with pulled-pork and mimosas) at a place called L’omelette.

Oct 09 2025 - Saguenay Fjord, Quebec

 

The past couple of days were spent at sea, headed west through the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The weather continues to be good, and I even spotted the elusive Green Flash at sunset yesterday.

 

Today we were awoken by the anchor dropping, we couldn't dock as the tide was too low. The town of La Baie looked very pretty, and the autumn leaves looked good, but not as good as they could have been due to prolonged drought. We had to take a tender ashore, and once there we decided to just walk around since we had no real plan. We found a spot with some steps to walk down to the rocky beach on the Baie des Ha! Ha! (yes that's the real name of the bay here).

 

Once we got to the end of the beach, we wandered into town, checking out some of the shops. There were artisan booths set up in a little park, which was nice. We continued walking past the docks and further north. A little bit of cold rain started to fall, but it was brief, so no real bother.

Oct 06 2025 - Halifax, Nova Scotia

 

Today brought more clear skies and even record-breaking high temperatures. With highs in the mid to upper 20’s across Atlantic Canada, Halifax hit a new October temperature record.

 

We walked along the waterfront boardwalk to the very end, taking in the sights, then we cut into town and walked up the hill to the Halifax Citadel, where the famous clock tower is, overlooking the entire city. Then it was over to the public gardens which is quite beautiful. I was expecting the leaves to be in full fall colours, but it's been so dry that everything has been delayed and the colours have not been good.

 

We continued on to downtown and across Argyle street before heading back down to the waterfront.

 

Back aboard, a dip in the pool and hot tub were in order given the warm, sunny day. We left Halifax behind us as we set sail and are now at sea for 2 full days en route to Saguenay, Quebec.

Oct 04 2025 - Newport, Rhode Island

 

Despite some delays leaving New York yesterday, we arrived on time in Newport.

The weather was perfect. Sunny skies and temps in the 20’s. After breakfast It took a while to get ashore because we couldn't dock. Tenders were launched, and there was a bit of a wait.

 

Once ashore had no plan in mind, and ended up walking over to the bus stop where a free shuttle took people around town. We rode it all the way to the end, past countless opulent mansions to the famous Cliff Walk. The walk itself was surprisingly challenging with lots of sections that were over uneven boulders.

 

There was plenty of bird life, including several cormorants, drying their feathers in the sun. I was surprised to see several surfers out trying to catch a wave.

We stopped hiking the trail when we got to the famous mansion at “The Breakers”. Instead of taking the shuttle back, we decided to walk all the way to the harbour where we had an obligatory bowl of New England clam chowder. As we pulled away, the sunset was fantastic, lighting up numerous sailboats that were out on the water.

Oct 03 2025 - Queen Mary 2 Voyage

 

I'm about to board the legendary Queen Mary 2 ocean liner for a 2 week voyage where I'll be giving a series of talks to the passengers on board.

 

The voyage starts and ends in New York with stops in Rhode Island, Nova Scotia, Quebec, and Newfoundland. I have been aboard several other Cunard Lines ships, but this will be my first time on board the Queen Mary 2, I'm looking forward to it. I'll be posting daily updates here.

Oct 02 2025 - Filming

 

Today was another day of on-camera interviews for the series "Mysteries From Above", this time for season 5 (we're making seasons 5 and 6 simultaneously). Stay tuned for more info about where and when these will be available to watch.

 

This one was cutting it a bit close since I have to be in New York tomorrow to board the Queen Mary 2.

Sept 24 2025 - U.N. Climate Summit 2025

 

It is Climate Week, and the United Nations in New York is holding their 2025 Climate Summit. World leaders from all over the world have gathered for the U.N. General Assembly and for various other meetings. Some of my extreme weather video has been used in a climate change video produced by the U.N. to show these heads of state and other world leaders. It is an honour to have my work shown to presidents and prime ministers from around the globe.

 

Link to the video

Sept 19 2025 - Filming

 

I've been doing quite a bit of filming recently for the TV series "Mysteries From Above". We're filming seasons 5 and 6 simultaneously, so I've been getting called into the studio to shoot my parts more frequently than hss been the norm for previous seasons.

 

One thing I love about making this show is that while I've already been to many of the locations that are featured, I get to learn so much about a variety of other weird, amazing, and downright spectacular places. It gives me so many ideas of places to g visit and explore in the future.

Sept 14 2025 - GLEX Wrap-Up - Gatineau Park, Quebec.

 

On Sunday there were a couple of activities to choose from. I went on the guided hike in Gatineau Park, by the Mackenzie King Estate, and we had perfect weather for it.
A huge thanks to all the organizers, speakers and other participants. This year's GLEX was a fantastic success. I know it's been a good weekend of meeting with fascinating people when my voice is raspy by the end of it, and I need to catch up on my sleep.

Sept 13 2025 - GLEX - RCGS Headquarters

 

What a great day at the Global Exploration Summit (GLEX). The main events and lectures were held at 50 Sussex, the Canadian Centre For Geography And Exploration, which is also HQ for Canadian Geographic and the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.

 

Today there was a series of fascinating lectures from so many amazing speakers including Oliver Steeds, Brian Cox, and so many more. It was so great to meet many of the speakers, and to see so many old friends that I don't get to talk to very often.

In the evening there was a dinner at Ottawa's National Gallery, followed by an impromptu after-party at the Chateau Laurier, then an after-after party in the Byward Market.

Sept 12 2025 - Global Exploration Summit - French Embassy In Ottawa

 

GLEX, the Global Exploration Summit is an annual event put on by The Explorers Club. Historically, it has been held in Portugal, but this year it was held in Ottawa, Canada as a partnership between the club and the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. I have been a speaker at GLEX twice in the past (Lisbon & Azores), but this year I was just an enthusiastic participant.

 

The event kicked off tonight with a cocktail reception held at the embassy of France in Ottawa.

Aug 29 2025 - Hurricane Katrina 20th Anniversary

 

It feels like it was just yesterday, but it's been 20 years since I rode out Hurricane Katrina in parking garage in Gulfport, Mississippi. At the time, I had no idea how much devastation was happening around me, or that this would become the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.

 

To commemorate this anniversary, I've been working with The Weather Network on 2 special programs.

 

Katrina: A Storm Like No Other - Storm chasers, meteorologists, and New Orleans residents the events of the storm and what it was like.

 

Katrina 20 Years Later - A live panel discussion, with myself, Mark Robinson and Doug Gilham, expertly moderated by Kim McDonald.

 

Also, here's a link to the video I shot that day. I believe that we got some of the best wind footage from the hurricane.

Aug 19 2025 - The Weather Network

 

With the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina quickly approaching, The Weather Network is putting together a special that looks back on this historic storm. Yesterday we filmed the in-studio panel portion with meteorologist Doug Gillham, Storm Hunter Mark Robinson and myself. The discussion was expertly hosted by Kim MacDonald.

Aug 14 2025 - Hamilton, ON - More Filming

 

Back in Hamilton. I was just here a few days ago, but there's more filming to be done. We're shooting seasons 5 and 6 of Mysteries From Above at the same time, so there's plenty to do.

Lots more cool stories in these episodes. I'm excited for you to see them when they come out.

Aug 08 2025 - Hamilton, ON - Filming

 

I spent most of the day out in Hamilton, just west of Toronto, filming for season 6 of the "Mysteries From Above" TV series. The show airs in Canada on the Smithsonian Channel and Cottage Life TV, and the earlier seasons are now being shown on History Channel in the U.S. We're actually filming seasons 5 AND 6 at the same time. I'll be back in the studio next week, filming more material for some of the season 5 episodes.

Aug 01 2025 - Wildfire Smoke

 

This morning, Southern Ontario including Toronto experienced poor air quality from all the smoke that has propagated from the numerous wildfires burning in western Canada. The smoke was thick enough to act as a solar filter for my camera, and I was able to actually photograph several sunspots on the surface of the sun.

July 29 2025 - CBC - The Nature Of Things 101

 

CBC's "The Nature Of Things 101" The segment I filmed in Edmonton has dropped. I guide hosts Anthony Morgan & Sarika Cullis-Suzuki through the process of how I read the sky when I'm chasing storms. I also give them a few tornado safety tips.

July 25 2025 - Explorers Club Meeting - Prehistoria Museum

 

Many thanks to everyone over at the Prehistoria Museum at the Skull Store in Toronto for hosting our The Explorers Club- Canadian Chapter meeting last night. It was fascinating to hear the stories some of the artifacts they have there.

July 22 2025 - The Debrief - Dubai Eye 103.8

 

I was interviewed for the Dubai radio show The Debrief on 103.8 FM

The entertainment nd information program runs from 4PM to 7PM

July 15 2025 - USA Network & Crave TV - The Mightiest

 

Yet another TV series coming out!
Look for me on the brand new season of "The Mightiest", which starts airing this week on USA Network and Crave TV.
The series centres on the science behind very large transportation vessels such as ships, planes, trains and more. Part of my role is to talk about how these amazing machines interact with their natural environments.

July 10 2025 - Filming At The Weather Network

 

Today I met up with TWN meteorologist and good friend Mark Robinson to shoot an on-camera discussion about our experience in Hurricane Katrina. The 20th anniversary of the historic storm is coming up, and The Weather Network is putting together some special programming to mark the event.

July 07 2025 - National Geographic Kid's Book

 

I was asked by National Geographic to be the expert reviewer/fact checker for their new kids book “Storm: Disaster Alert”.

 

It’s a collaboration between National Geographic and Marvel Comics that uses X-Men characters and other Marvel superheroes to help explain extreme weather and natural disasters to kids. It's available to purchase wherever you buy children’s books. If you have a kid that’s just starting to read on their own that’s likes weather or superheroes (or both!) check it out.

July 06 2025 - Prime Suspect Earth - Season 2 on The Weather Channel

 

The TV series, Prime Suspect: Earth returns to The Weather Channel (U.S.) with season 2. In the show, I'm one of the investigators examining how the weather affected significant moments in history. We use 3D graphic simulations to rewind time, and take a closer look at these events to try to unravel the details of what actually happened.

July 04 2025 - CTV News - Ball Lightning?

 

I appeared on CTV National News on July 04 2025 to comment on a video of alleged "Ball Lightning" that was filmed by a couple in Alberta. After reviewing the footage, I am convinced that what they witnessed was not actually ball lightning, but actually a slow-moving arcing electrical power line that was likely triggered by a nearby lightning strike.

July 02 2025 - Victoria, B.C.

 

Yesterday was a sea day, and I gave my 2nd presentation of the voyage.

 

Today was a nice sunny day, but it was remarkably windy as we pulled into the B.C. provincial capital of Victoria. I didn't have any firm plans for today, so I just decided to walk around the city. I took a shuttle to the city center then wandered about through the waterfront area, then over to Market Square, then over to Chinatown. I managed to catch a nice 22° solar halo that I photographed behind a sculpture near the waterfront. I then walked back towards the provincial parliament building and back to the ship.

 

Tomorrow we arrive back in Seattle, and I head straight home from the ship.

June 30 2025 - Ketchikan

 

Today was by far the worst weather day of the trip. Not too surprising since Ketchikan is known for its rain. As a matter of fact, this town can get up to 12 feet of rain a year! Once ashore I took in the local lumberjack show. Unfortunately, because of the last-minute tickets, I was seated in a spot with not protection from the rain. The good part was that this was the front row, so it kind of worked out, despite getting soaked. The lumberjacks put on a very entertaining show of skills and strength. It really is impressive to see these guy chopping wood, wield chainsaws, climbing the poles and doing the log roll. After the show I grabbed a bite from a local fish place (Ketchikan is the salmon capital of Alaska), but the rain had still not let up, so I went back to the ship rather than stay out in the rain and get even more drenched.

June 29 2025 - Glacier Bay National Park

 

I got up early as we were entering Glacier Bay National Park early, picking up the park rangers at 6 AM. The weather wasn’t ideal with lots of low clouds, some fog, and rain. We could still see what was going on, but visibility was a bit compromised. There was an announcement that we were going to pass an area with steep cliffs where mountain goats can sometimes be seen. We made a close approach, and I did indeed see a goat. I was pretty far, but it was there. We also saw quite a few sea otters floating near the ship as we got deeper into the park.

 

The first glacier we saw was the Lampugh glacier. It came into view from behind a green, mossy hill. This glacier was very dirty, covered in dirt from the moraines, and in particular a landslide that happened a few years back. The rain was coming down, so I alternated between drying off inside, and going out on the top decks to get photos.

 

The visibility at Marjorie Glacier was a little worse due to foggy haze, but its blue colour was still spectacular. There were some small pieces breaking off, and the water surrounding the glacier was full of bergy bits and growlers.

June 28 2025 - Skagway

 

Skagway is an old gold rush town that now is a tourism hot spot in southeast Alaska. It's home to the old White Pass & Yukon Route railway that was originally build for the gold rush, but now takes passengers up into the mountains above Skagway and into the Canadian Yukon Territory & back. I was going to perhaps ride the train, but visibility wasn't great today with low clouds and drizzle, so instead I wandered around the old, historic part of town, taking in the shops and having a bite to eat at the Red Onion, a famous old saloon & former brothel.

June 27 2025 - Juneau & Mendenhall Glacier

 

After getting off the ship in the Alaskan state capital of Juneau, I took a bus excursion to the Mendenhall Glacier in the Tongass National Forest. on the ride there we spotted a stand of trees that was absolutely filled with bald eagles! I don't know how many there were, probably at least a dozen. The last time I was here, there was a glacial outburst flood which closed part of the park, did a lot of damage in town, and even swept away a few houses. Conditions were much calmer today.

 

After getting some photos of the glacier from photo point, I walked along the trail to Nugget Falls and spotted a porcupine high up in one of trees. The falls were roaring away, and I love how you can get right up to the rushing water, no guardrails here.

June 26 2025 - Icy Strait Point

 

The weather really cooperated, and the rain I was fearing never came. I went ashore and walked around, checking out the shops, the fire pit, and the salmon cannery museum. I then did some beach combing along the waterfront, and spotted a bald eagle close by in a tree. I got some pics, then it flew off, joined a second eagle, and the two of them circled around, likely hunting for fish.

 

Continuing on I went to the gondola and took it up the hill. From there I took the walking path through the woods, snapping lots of pictures along the way of the trees, moss, some mushrooms, an eagle’s nest and more. Took some photos of crows along the boardwalk, and eventually circled back to do some more beach combing along the other side of the pier. There were bear caution signs everywhere, but I never did spot a bear. I did briefly see a beaver though.

June 25 2025 - Endicott Arm Fjord & Dawes Glacier

 

The weather was questionable at first with foggy, cloudy conditions as we entered the Endicott Arm Fjord and cruised southeast. We started to see small icebergs, a clear sign that the Dawes glacier has been active recently, as well as a fine delineation in the water where the sea water and the silty, glacial fresh water didn't mixed.

 

The steep walls of the fjord were dramatic with wispy clouds, and the occasional glimpse of snow-capped peaks. I tried going out to the bow on deck 5 but there was a heavy rain coming down, and the wind was too strong, so that plan was abandoned, and instead I went up to the Commodore club on deck 10 to enjoy the view from there. As we got deeper into the fjord, I went topside and got some great views of waterfalls, more icebergs, sea birds, and quite a few harbour seals, who shelter on the icebergs in the fjord from the orcas that don't like the silty glacial-fed water.

 

We were able to get quite close to the glacier (for a cruise ship), but who knows how long that will remain possible as the glacier has been retreating about a half mile a year, so the sea floor closer to the glacier is uncharted. The ship spun around and all sides of the ship got some great views. This was the first time in a couple of years that the Queen Elizabeth has been able to get this far up the fjord due to the iceberg conditions. The weather got better, the rain stopped but the clouds remained, really enhancing the blues in the ice.

June 24 2025 - Aboard the Queen Elizabeth

 

I'm currently aboard the Queen Elizabeth (for the 3rd year in a row) and we're en route to Alaska now. I boarded the ship in Seattle yesterday and in the early evening we started sailing north.

 

My role on board is as one of the lecturers in the Royal Court Theatre, and since today was a full day at sea, I gave my first presentation for the passengers.

 

As we sailed north, was were able to catch glimpses of Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii in the distance. Tonight was also the first of 2 formal gala nights, which was fun.

 

Tomorrow we head into the fjords of the Alaskan Inside Passage.

June 22 2025 - Returning To Alaska

 

Once again I've been invited aboard Cunard Lines' Queen Elizabeth on an Alaskan cruise as a lecturer representing the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. This will be my third time going up to the Alaskan Inside Passage, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what it looks like in June and early July. The past 2 times have been a little later in the season. In the past, I've boarded the ship in Vancouver, but this time I depart tomorrow from Seattle, a city that I've never been to before.

 

I'll be posting updates from the voyage so stay tuned.

May 28 2025 - Hamilton, ON Filming

 

Production has begun on season FIVE of “Mysteries From Above”. Lots of cool new stories to tell about wild & unusual places on our planet that can only be appreciated with a view from above.

More details about release dates etc. to come later this year.

May 28 2025 - Toronto

 

Finally back home. It's been an epic journey of 12,850 km (about 8000 miles), and while this season didn't quite pan out the way we wanted, we still had a great time. We chased during the right weather pattern, but difficulties in forecasting and strategy made for a few frustrating days where we missed the best storms and tornadoes. That is part of storm chasing. Trying to predict the future, especially when you're dealing with something so complicated as our atmosphere is a real challenge.

May 25 2025 - Dickens, Texas

 

Our last chase day. Started in Weatherford, OK with the plan to chase down near Childress, Texas. We blasted south and ended up in the middle of a chaser convergence at a gas station in Paducah. It was only about 1:30 in the afternoon when the first storm formed, close by, near Matador. It was a beacon for all the nearby storm chasers to go there.

 

We approached the storm and it had a good rotating updraft and we barely moving, basically almost stationary. We turned south past Roaring Springs to get out of the path of it and the traffic was terrible. So many chasers on Hwy 70 north of Afton. The storm became tornado warned and took on a really menacing look on Radar.

 

Just northeast of Dickens, we noticed another storm was really cranking up. This storm kicked up a huge plume of red dust and it started wrapping around the circulation. It was very dramatic, and we believed there was a tornado in there, pulling that dirt around it. It was later confirmed by other chasers and the Storm Prediction Center that there was indeed a brief tornado in there.

 

We continued east to Guthrie and got some wider shots of the approaching storm, then pushed on towards Haskell, where to storm’s lightning really ramped up. We got out of the car to shoot the dramatic lightning, but it soon became a bit too dangerous when the bolts started to hit nearby in front of us AND behind us. We bailed out of there and relocated to a nearby cemetery, but the lightning had tapered off in our area by then.

 

It was starting to get dark as we approached Leuders, and we pulled over to watch the tornado warned storm. It was dark and menacing, but we couldn't see well enough underneath it to tell if it was actually producing a tornado or not. We ended up saying goodbye to the rest of our group (Chris, Alethea & Jason) before driving on through the storm to our hotel in Wichita Falls.

May 24 2025 - Arnett, Oklahoma

 

We spent most of the day sitting at a gas station in Seiling, Oklahoma, along with dozens of other storm chasers. It looked like there was good potential today, but it was likely to be a late show. After what felt like forever, a storm started to pop up to our south near Putnam. We blasted down that way and watched a few storms struggle to grow. We met up with good friend Daniel Shaw from Australia, and we had some fun totally taking over his live stream.

 

Eventually, there was another, more potent cell that went up farther southwest, near Arnett. Unfortunately, it was already dark by now, but we went for it. It didn't take long for us (and hundreds of other chasers) to reach it. A tornado watch was issued, but because of where the storm was in relation to the radar sites, it was difficult to get a good idea of what it was doing. Soon they issued a tornado warning for our storm, and we spent quite some time peering into the darkness, trying to see if there was actually a tornado illuminated by lightning. We couldn't see anything and the storm was slowly drifting towards us. We repositioned near Strong City and found a dark spot away from the headlights to try and shoot some lightning.

 

The storm died quickly and we called off the chase to drive to our hotel in Weatherford for the night.

May 23 2025 - Kirk, Colorado

 

Departing Elk City early, we blasted north and west, knowing that the computer models had predicted pretty good tornado potential in northeastern Colorado into northwestern Kansas. Unfortunately for us, mistakes were made and it turned into a frustrating failure.

 

We made it into the general target area, and a good looking storm formed up north where the models said it would, but we were still too far south. We could have reached it, but some other, closer storms fired up near the town of Kirk, CO. We watched those for quite some time, until tornado reports started coming in from the northern storm. We storms we were on were not looking great, so we bailed and blasted north up towards the Yuma area. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, that storm was dying, so we missed the tornadoes.

 

To make matters worse, a couple of new storms had gone up back to the south, near where we were earlier. One of them was starting to look really good, so we circled back and tried to reach it. On the way there, we saw reports of that storm now producing at least one tornado. Are you kidding me?! Being stuck between two good targets is an awful feeling.

May 22 2025 - Palo Pinto, Texas

 

Today’s target was southern Oklahoma/Northern Texas, so we blasted out from Amarillo and drove along 1-40, then south to Altus, OK for lunch. We weren't expecting much today, messy storms at best, but Mother Nature gave treated us to something very nice. An isolated cell popped up south of the Red River in Texas, and it was relatively slow moving. We had our target.

 

 

We caught up to the storm near Seymour and it didn't look too remarkable at first, but as we continued to chase it to the town of Olney, it really began to take shape. It was an isolated storm, out ahead of the rest of the messy convection, so it had the opportunity to hold its strength. Near the town of Graham, it really started to take on a classic “stacked plates” appearance. We repositioned to try and get a better view near Palo Pinto. It was a gorgeous, low-precipitation supercell, and while it basically had no chance of dropping a tornado, it was clearly rotating like a top with a spiral, corkscrew updraft. We stopped for more photos and posed for an amazing group shot in front of the storm.

 

 

We reluctantly had to leave the storm in order to get some miles underneath us for our target area tomorrow up in Kansas near the Colorado state line. As we departed, the setting sun lit up the storm’s mammatus clouds with a pastel, almost purplish hue. We continued into the night, arriving at around midnight in Elk City Oklahoma.

May 19 2025 - St Jo, Texas

 

We stopped for lunch at a great little BBQ place in Paul’s Valley, as a tornado watch was issued. Storms started to fire up to the southwest that looked interesting, so we headed out and eventually made it down to Marietta, OK, near the Red River. One of the storms had a nice shelf cloud on it, but there was more development further south. We found a bridge crossing and dropped down into Texas to the town of St Jo. We found a good spot where we could see above the trees, as a lowered area got our attention. These storms however, remained in clusters, and not individual discrete cells, which made for a messy chase.

 

We backtracked to Marietta and let one of the tornado-warned storms overtake us at a truck stop. There was heavy rain, and some small hail & that’s about all. We were getting frustrated and decided to blow off these storms and head north to grab some dinner in Ardmore. We found a great Mexican place (El Tapatio) there. After dinner, the sky was looking really nice with the backside of these storms lit up by the setting sun. We found a spot out near a local football field to shoot some photos.

May 18 2025 - Medecine Lodge, Kansas

 

Another moderate risk with a 15% hatched tornado area. Today had a lot of potential with a relatively small target area, but it proved to be a lot more complicated than we'd expected. From Weatherford, we targeted Medicine Lodge, Kansas. Once there, we waited at the Casey’s gas station for hours, along with a huge number of other chasers that were all thinking the same thing. The conditions at our location were overcast, cool and drizzly. We hoped for that to move off, but it never really did. Some storms started to fire up in the northeastern Texas Panhandle. Eventually, we had no choice but to go for it. As the main storm moved from Texas into Oklahoma, it produced at least one tornado but we were still far away, trying to get into position. By the time we caught up to the storm it was too late. It had pretty structure and there was hail covering the ground, but the tornado threat had vanished.

 

I'll be posting daily updates on the Chase 2025 page.

May 14 2025 - Storm Chase 2025

 

I have started my 2025 storm chase trip to the "Tornado Alley" region of the central United States. Like before, I am teaming up with longtime friends Dave Lewison and Scott McPartland. I'm not exactly sure how long we'll be out for, that will depend largely on the weather pattern. It does look god for the next week or so.

 

I'll be posting daily updates on the Chase 2025 page.

May 08 2025 - Empowerment Day Guelph ON - Audience of 5000

 

Today I was one of the speakers at a huge event held at the Sleeman Centre in Guelph Ontario. Empowerment Day is put on by the Upper Grand District School Board, and is largely organized by the students themselves. What a rush it was to be on stage in front of 5000 students. The theme of the event was "Push Beyond" and I shared stories from some of my most extreme expeditions and the lessons I've learned along the way.

 

Many thanks to the organizers, student volunteers and the thousands who attended.

May 05 2025 - National Geographic Explorer Spotlight - Ottawa

 

I was invited by National Geographic to attend a special event in Ottawa at the Canadian Centre for Geography and Explration, the headquarters for the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. About 30 Canadian National Geographic grant awardees were in town for a multi-day training program and on this evening, each one gave a quick 2 minute presentation about their field work in the Alex Trebek Theatre.

 

It was great to see this new batch of Nat Geo explorers, and it was also wondeful to see a bunch of old friends and colleagues who were also in attendance.

 

After the presentations, there was a meet & greet where I got to spend some time with many of the presenters, learning more about the details of their projects.

 

Tomorrow I drive back to Toronto.

April 28 2025 - New Novel: Satan's Banyan

 

So check this is fun. I’m a villain in a new novel that just came out.

 

Synopsis: An underground coal fire in Centralia, Pennsylvania could lead to an extinction level crisis. Why is a TV daredevil trying to hide this threat? Follow two researchers’ race down an alternate path of evolution to save the planet.

 

Marc Rothstein applies a lifetime of science experience and imaginative storytelling in this fast-paced tale. Based on actual extremophile research, Satan’s Banyan raises a chilling What if?

 

Many thanks to George Kourounis, a world renowned television presenter famous for exploring the most dangerous forces of nature. He graciously advised on the backstory and feats performed by the story’s daredevil villain.

April 23 2025 - Classroom Virtual Session

 

Thank you so much to Exploring By The Seat Of Your Pants and the good folks at Nelson Classroom for having me present to well over 2500 students today, talking about volcanoes and geothermal power.

There were LOTS of great questions (as always)

April 12 2025 - Explorers Club Gathering, Toronto

 

I had a great evening last night at the Toronto meet-up of The Explorers Club Canadian Chapter. It's been a while since the last one and there just wasn't enough time to catch up enough with everyone. Good friend and primatologist Travis Steffens gave an informative (and hilarious) presentation about his work with lemurs and local communities in Madagascar.

April 11 2025 - Los Angeles

 

I was only back home from Greenland for 2 days, then blasted down to Los Angeles for one night, did some on-camera interviews for a new History Channel show, then straight back to the airport to head home.

 

Whew! What a crazy travel schedule its been for the past month or so... Edmonton, England, Iceland, Greenland, Los Angeles. It looks like things might quiet down for a little bit. We'll see.

April 05 2025 - Nuuk, Greenland

 

Time to get off the ship. The past 2 weeks have been amazing, and I'm really going to miss being aboard Le Commandant Charcot. I hope to be back aboard soon. We docked in this morning in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, and after breakfast walked down the gangway one last time and boarded a bus that gave us a tour of the town before heading to the brand new airport that's only been open for less than a year.

 

I'm certain that I will end up back in Greenland again, this place just keeps calling me back. This was my 3rd time here in the past 9 months.

 

Read the more detailed daily reports.

April 04 2025 - Eternity Fjord

 

We arrived early at Eternity Fjord and the plan was to do our first (and only) Zodiac cruise. We were out at about 9 AM and the first thing we did was head to the left side of the Evingheds Glacier where it is more active and still reaching the water. There's a small beach there with numerous growlers that are beached. We only had about 10 minutes because the tide was rising and the other groups also needed to visit. It was amazing! Huge beautiful blue pieces of ice on the small beach. Got lots of great pics there. I've been here several times before, and this was the first time I've ever set foot on the beach.

 

We then got back in the Zodiacs and worked our way along the glacier to the less active side. The weather was great at first, around 0C with sunny patches, but it started to deteriorate rapidly. Soon, it was overcast, windy and choppy. We all got pretty wet when the waves splashed over us. It was a cold, wet ride back to the ship. Once back aboard I took a long hot shower, and got a burger for lunch.

 

I gave my last talk (Arctic Weather) in the afternoon.

April 03 2025 - Baffin Bay At Sea

 

I got up early and noticed the crescent moon had risen, so I grabbed some photos from my balcony, then got dressed and went up to deck 9. The sunrise was really nice with clear skies, sea ice, and one really great iceberg that perfectly aligned with the rising sun.

 

I gave my "icebergs" talk in the morning, which was well attended, and afterwards the scientists on board presented their results, then at lunch on deck 9 they served up some lobster! I've been totally spoiled on this ship.

 

In the afternoon there was a talk on bowhead whales, then the captain decided to show off by demonstrating how the ship can break ice while in reverse. He used the aft bridge and spent quite some time chewing up the ice. Very impressive.

 

Read the more detailed daily reports.

April 02 2025 - Baffin Bay

 

We sailed west out into the middle of Baffin Bay about halfway to Canada, looking for wildlife and hoping to get into the sun for an afternoon ice floe landing.

 

It didn't take long before 2 polar bears were spotted on the ice. There was also a seal in the water. The mama & cub wandered around at a distance for a while, occasionally rolling in the snow to dry off after being in the water. They got curious and started to walk towards the ship. Mama stopped and was sniffing the air. The wind was blowing towards them, so she definitely smelled us. She didn't run, but decided that we were not worth checking out, and they wandered off.

 

In the afternoon we made a sea ice landing. It was bitter cold, but totally worth it to go out on the ice. It was over a meter thick and there were all kinds of hummocks and pressure ridges everywhere, with amazing blue ice piled up. We went for a walk on the ice and almost immediately came across very fresh polar bear tracks. It is a bit unnerving to be standing on ice, in the middle of Baffin Bay, knowing that there are bears out here too, and that we are suddenly not at the top of the food chain.

April 01 2025 - Disko Island, Greenland

 

Woke up this morning positioned at the southern tip of Disko Island, near Qeqertarsuaq.

 

It was foggy with very light snow. The expedition team went out and evaluated the sea ice, but it wasn't good enough for us to go out. It was about 10cm thick, but not of great density. They had scouted the location with the ship's helicopter yesterday, but from the chopper it's hard to tell the thickness and quality of the ice.

 

It got cold, windy and foggy with wind chills around -23. After lunch we repositioned to the west side of Disko Island and into Disko fjord, just south of a small island, west of the little town of Kangerluk. There we stopped in the sea ice, making sure to not go too far into the fjord, as locals use the fast ice for hunting.

 

It was overcast and snowing & cold (about -8 or so). I left the ship and went skiing across the sea ice with a small group. We skied north to the edge of the island where the tidal movement had caused the sea ice to heave and buckle. We ended up doing about 7km or so. It was fun to be out on the ice on skis. The atmosphere was moody and the snow really deadened the sounds.

 

Back aboard, I noticed that the sky had the potential for a nice sunset, so I quickly grabbed my camera and headed for the observation lounge. The sunset got nice, and then some Bowhead whales showed up right ahead of us.

March 31 2025 - Eqi Fjord & Ilulissat, Greenland

 

We had a pretty good sunrise over the mountains at the entrance to Eqi fjord. The pastel colours were reflected in the sea and the windows of the ship.

We tried to get into the fjord, but there was too much fast ice, and the captain wanted to leave it alone for the local hunters. We did manage to park the ship pretty close to shore, at another point at the fjord entrance.

 

A small group of us (4 plus 2 guides) did a long hike with crampons across the sea ice, then onto land and up the hillside on the old lateral moraine. Even though it was cold out, I got too hot and stripped right down to my shirt. We came across lots of arctic fox & arctic hare tracks. In total we walked about 7km with about 250 meters of elevation gain. The powdery snow glinted with colourful iridescence and the light was constantly changing. At one point the iridescence in the clouds around the sun was spectacular. We had a great view of the ship, and the track it left through the ice. The Charcot's helicopter did a couple of operations while we were away as well, and I got some nice shots of it near the ship.

 

After that I spent a bunch of time up in the observation lounge on deck 9 as we approached the icebergs around Ilulissat. It was interesting to see this place in the winter. I had been here several times before, but only in the summer months.

 

Read the more detailed daily reports.

March 30 2025 - Qasigiannguit, Greenland

 

 

Plenty of uncertainty today. There was a lot of sea ice in Disko Bay, so our options were kind of limited. We were near the small town of Qasigiannguit and we kept trying to nudge the ship into the ice in a way that would allow us to have some kind of off-ship excursion. By the afternoon, a plan had been formed. We got close enough to town for the expedition team to check out the ice, and they determined that we could go ashore.

 

It was about a 1 km walk across the sea ice to the town. The weather was amazing. Blue skies, and not too cold at all. Really pleasant, and there was a layer of fresh, glinting powder snow. In town, we visited the local museum, then walked around, checking out the brightly coloured homes..

 

We walked back to the ship and they had a table set up with some local food, including dried and raw minke whale, reindeer jerky and caiplin fish.

 

Things got a bit wild when some of the locals were invited onto the ship. It turns out that 350 showed up. There was a choir group that sang for a bit in the theatre and there were kids running around everywhere.

March 29 2025 - Sisimiut, Greenland Eclipse & Dog Sled Race

 

It was overcast when I woke up, so I had low hopes of capturing the partial solar eclipse this morning, but it cleared up enough to be able to see it with filters and photograph it. I set up on deck 9 and passed around the couple of pairs of glasses I brought.

 

After that, it was straight ashore via Zodiac and back to the cultural center on a shuttle bus. We had another food tasting, then we walked all the way outside of town for the big dogsled race that’s been in the news lately. The one that U.S. vice president J.D. Vance was supposed to attend. Anyway they weren’t there. We got a good viewpoint up on some rocks and as they started the race.

 

It was absolute chaos at the starting line. Most of the teams stayed on target, but:

Some of the dogs got into fights with the other team’s dogs.

One dog’s rope snapped and he ended up wandering through the crowd.

Two of the teams’ dogs decided that they wanted to go in the completely opposite direction, and there was no convincing them otherwise! It was hilarious.

March 28 2025 - Sisimiut, Greenland

 

We arrived in Sisimiut in the late morning, and because of the sea ice situation, it was unclear if we would be able to actually go ashore. The harbour in town isn't deep enough for us to dock, so Zodiac is the only way to get ashore. It was a very cold morning with reports of wind chills to -25.

 

Luckily we were able to take Zodiacs ashore at a beach just outside of town.

 

We met up with a local guy with a team of 10 sled dogs. We did a bit of dog sledding, which got pretty chaotic. I often had to run alongside the sled when going up hills, then jump back on once we were up to speed. After that we got a snowmobile ride around in the mountains. We stopped at a photogenic spot for some pics, then continued on to an area where some tents were set up. There we had some musk ox soup which also had pasta and veggies & some hot chocolate.

 

We rode back to the cultural centre and from there we walked into town. This is the first time I've seen Sisimiut with snow. It was nice, like a completely different place.

March 26 2025 - Prince Christian Sound & Sea Ice

We continued east down Prince Christian Sound where we encountered an area of fast ice (sea ice that is frozen to the shoreline). The channel was covered in it, but there was evidence that a ship had broken through it recently. It was actually the Charcot from when it came through here about 10 days previous. We slowly pushed through the sheet of ice as an arctic fox trotted by on the ice. We also passed several beautiful blue glaciers along the way.

 

We spotted fresh polar bear tracks in the snow, and eventually we found it at the floe edge, the bear was resting on the ice. We slowed to a crawl and kept going forward. The bear eventually got up and jumped into the water. It kept a close eye on us as it swam away.

 

We turned around and back-tracked to the bigger glacier (not sure of the name) and pushed through the ice until we got pretty close. We then got to exit the ship onto the sea ice, and of course I did the cliche “pushing the bow of the ship” shot.

 

In the evening, the captain announced there were more northern lights. I grabbed my camera and headed out to the heli-deck. There were nice greens and purples in the sky straight ahead as we continued down the sound.

March 26 2025 - Uunartoq, Greenland

Woke up early and caught a nice sunrise in the mountains, including some alpenglow as the warm sunlight hit the distant high peaks. It was windy and very cold this morning. The weather improved dramatically and we had sunshine for our visit to the town of Aappilattoq. It was tiny, but tucked away in a natural harbour. The streets were very icy, so we wore slip on crampons which worked great. The town was completely surrounded by massive, sharp mountains, really gorgeous. We walked around and took photos for a while, then made our way to the little red local church where 8 residents sang some hymns and songs for us.

 

The ship’s helicopter took off to go scout ahead in our planned direction of travel this afternoon. and another helicopter took off from town to do a polar bear patrol.

 

Getting into the Zodiac to go back to the ship, we noticed a bunch of seal carcasses in the water. The locals hunt them, then temporarily store them in the cold water to keep them fresh.

March 25 2025 - Prince Christian Sound

In the afternoon we turned north into Prince Christian Sound, a long fjord. The mountains on either side were spectacular, reminding me of the Lemaire Channel in Antarctica. The wind had really picked up, that’s why we were seeking shelter in there. Eventually the weather cleared and the seas got calm. We went all the way up to the tiny town of Aappilattoq, which has a population of 83.

 

We stayed here for the night and at about 1:30 AM it was announced that there were really good northern lights. They were quite spectacular with undulating greens and reds.

March 25 2025 - Uunartoq, Greenland

We went ashore to a spot that has thermal hot springs that have been in use since at least the Viking days. The day was overcast with gentle snow, and once we were ashore it was a short hike to the hot spring. The water felt great, nice and warm with a few bubbling hot spots. The scenic landscapes around us were spectacular with dramatic mountains and icebergs.

Back on board we were treated to some really great sea ice & more icebergs as we exited the fjord back out into open water. In the thick ice we encountered numerous harp seals, many of them newborn pups. At least one still had its umbilical cord attached, meaning that it was no more than a day or two old. We probably saw at least 50 of them, lying on the pack ice that had been pushed in from the recent storm. Southern Greenland is not a place that is really known as a spot for harp seals to give birth, making this encounter extra special.

 

Read the more detailed daily reports.

March 24 2024 - Eqaluit, Greenland

 

We had afternoon plans to visit the tiny village of Igaliku, but the weather conditions did not cooperate. It was too windy and the seas too choppy to land the Zodiacs, so instead we continued on to the more sheltered area of Eqaluit in a more protected fjord.

 

We went ashore to an area that sees a lot of sheep farming. Here in the south of the country is the only place in Greenland where the locals can do this kind of farming.

It was the most picturesque sheep farm I've ever seen!

March 24 2025 - Qaqortoq, Greenland

 

The town of Qaqortoq, is the most populous in southern Greenland. It is home to about 3000 people is the capital of the Kujalleq municipality. The area around Qaqortoq is quite historic, having been inhabited since prehistoric times.

Conditions going ashore were a bit tricky with 25 knot winds, but once we were there, we got to visit the local museum, tasted some local food including crab, shrimp, cod, lamb & muktuk narwhal skin & blubber), and walked along the waterfront.

March 23 2025 - Denmark Strait

 

I boarded Le Commandant Charcot on the 21st, and we set sail from Reykjavik. the scenery was really nice as we pulled away. In the evening, the captain made the announcement that the northern lights were out. I brought my tripod, but trying to take steady shots of the aurora borealis on a moving ship in the north Atlantic with the wind howling and waves crashing was near impossible.

 

The next day we continued sailing southwest towards the southern tip of Greenland. There was some bad weather coming, and the wind and swell would be bad if we tried to go to east Greenland, so our plans to go there changed, and we made a dash for Greenland's south coast.

 

As we got closer, it got very windy (gusts up to 70 knots) and some wild waves. We started to get into the sea ice, which was awesome. The ship is really stable. Even with the stabilizers off (which we did for a while) it wasn't too bad. I had some concerns about this crossing, as I often get seasick. We spotted our first icebergs too, and at one point, the sea ice was pretty intense. In the afternoon, I gave my first talk of the trip (Exploring Earth’s Extremes).

 

Read the more detailed daily reports.

March 20 2025 - Reykjavik, Iceland

 

I spent the day wandering around the streets of Reykjavik.

 

My overnight flight got me in pretty early, so I had the day to explore the city. It’s been many years since the last time I was here, but I've always been drawn to Iceland.

 

I arrived in Reykjavik in early morning and dropped bags at the hotel and had a bit of breakfast, then went for a walk around the city. First up, I visited the iconic Hallgri´mskirkja Church, the tallest building in Iceland. After that I walked along the shoreline and saw the famous Sun Voyager sculpture. In the afternoon I visited the Penis museum (Which was actually pretty amazing), and had an Icelandic hot dog for lunch from a street vendor. In total I spent about 4 or 5 hours walking around the city.

Tomorrow I head down to the port to meet up with the Ponant team and get aboard Le Commandant Charcot. From here we head west to Greenland.

March 18 2025 - Headed Back To Greenland

 

My next adventure is quickly approaching.
Tomorrow I’ll be flying to Reykjavik to get on board Le Commandant Charcot, Ponant’s flagship icebreaker. I’ll be giving talks on board as part of Ponant’s partnership with The Explorers Club as we head west from Iceland to east Greenland, then around the south coast and north up into Baffin Bay.

This is going to be amazing! I’ll be posting plenty of photos while on this epic voyage.

March 13 2025 - Bristol, U.K.

 

Yesterday was a long, 12 hour day in front of the cameras at a virtual production studio in Bristol, U.K.

Lots of different (and cool) TV projects this year! I'll share more information when I can.
My voice is totally toast right now, and I can barely speak, but it went very well, and after an insane travel schedule, I'm on my way home to rest up... But not for long. In less than a week, I'm travelling again...

March 11 2025 - Bristol, U.K.

 

I just arrived in Bristol, U.K.

I'm here for a few days, filming season 2 of "Prime Suspect Earth" for The Weather Channel. This is actually my second session filming for season two, there was a large break between the the first session and this one, but it's good to see that the show is moving forward. It is great fun to work on.

When I arrived in the U.K. it was too early to check in to my hotel, but i was quite a lovely day for a walk along the river.

March 10 2025 - In The Eye Of The Storm

 

I just found out that the new series "In The Eye Of The Storm" has been released.

 

I served as a consultant on this 6 part Discovery Channel program that showcases eyewitness video and stories from the middle of natural disasters.

March 07 2025 - Twister Truck

 

Today was fun. I met up with Mark Robinson from The Weather Network and we filmed a segment at the Motorama car show in Toronto, featuring one of the original screen-used Jeep Honchos from the movie Twister. It sat uncared for for years, then was lovingly refurbished. In the bed of the truck was also one of the original, screen-used Dorothy tornado probe units.

 

If you know the movie, this was the truck that was owned by Helen Hunt's character, Jo. Her and Bill Paxton used it to chase the first tornado that the chase team intercepts. In the movie, it ends up getting lifted by the tornado and dropped in the middle of the road.

March 03 2025 - Edmonton, Alberta

 

I flew out to Edmonton, Alberta yesterday to appear on CBC's The Nature Of Things 101.

 

We filmed today, and had a great time. This show is filmed kind of like a video podcast with the hosts and I sitting around a table, chatting. This episode was all about clouds, and learning how to read the sky to understand what's going on. The sky can actually tell us quite a bit if you know what took for.

 

We also got into how tornadoes form, and what signs to look for in the sky that precede tornado formation.

 

The show is hosted by Sarika Cullis-Suzuki, a marine biologist and daughter of long-time Nature Of Things host David Suzuki, and Anthony Morgan, who I've known for years. He used to work at the Ontario Science Centre, and over the years I've done numerous talks and events with them. It was great to see him again and to meet Sarika.

 

I also had the opportunity to meet up with Timm Dobbert and Leanna Carriere, who I know through The Explorers Club and the RCGS. We had a great dinner, and went for a walk along the North Saskatchewan River.

Feb 22 2025 - Outdoor Adventure Show

 

It was great to be at the Outdoor Adventure show in Toronto this weekend. I ran into so many friends and colleagues.

 

I attended with my good friend and frequent expedition partner, Robin Brooks.

 

We met up with the folks at the Polar Adventure Company.

 

I ran into Rick Stanley from Ocean Quest in Newfoundland. He helped me out tremendously on the 2 occasions I did iceberg climbing out there in the Atlantic.

 

The craziest was when I stopped at the booth for a helicopter company. The pilot working the booth recognized me from when we filmed together almost 20 years ago, back in 2006. I was in Thunder Bay, Ontario, filming with the forest fire fighters there, and we took an insane chopper flight as they did a prescribed burn. I was hanging out the side of the helicopter with the door off, filming a second chopper that was using a drip torch with napalm to burn out a huge section of forest. It was one of the most epic flights I'd ever taken. The fact that he recognized me from that brief time together was mind boggling.

Feb 17 2025 - New York City Filming

 

Travel chaos! I was supposed to be filming a new TV series in Los Angeles on Friday, however the big snowstorm here in Toronto caused 4-hours lines at security at Pearson Airport. The shoot was rescheduled for New York today (Monday).

 

It almost didn't happen a second time. There was an even bigger snowstorm here on the weekend, and on Monday, just a few hours after my plane took off, there was a plane crash at Toronto airport where a Delta Airlines flight flipped upside down when it tried to land. I got lucky and managed to thread the needle between the 2 events that each caused chaos at the airport.

 

The shoot went well, and I'll provide more details when I can later.

Feb 02 2025 - New History Channel Show

 

Watch for me in the new History Channel series History’s Most Shocking, where I am one of the on-camera contributors, providing insight and context to the video clips presented.

 

"Split-second choices between disaster and survival shape history. Watch shocking footage of accidents, disasters, and close calls, with survivor stories and expert insights revealing what went wrong and how to prevent it."

Jan 31 2025 - Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

 

Our last stop on this voyage. We were greeted by rugged mountains & islands.

 

Since Cindy and I were getting off here in Cabo, but the ship is continuing onwards to San Francisco, we had to deal with Mexican customs & immigration on board the ship. Once we were cleared, we went ashore, dropped our bags off at our cute local hotel, then spent the rest of the day walking around town. We spent quite a bit of time exploring the marina and we walked most of the entire beach and back, even running into our friend Lawrence (one of the other speakers on the ship). We had some lunch then kept walking. There were plenty of sea lions waiting for the fishing boats to come back from their day at sea. We spotted several of them by the marina where they watch the boats coming back, identify the fishing boats, the dive under the water and pop up behind the boats and jump up onto the back deck, hoping for a fish snack from the fishermen. They did this over and over, competing with each other and the hordes of pelicans. Tomorrow we fly back to Toronto and the reality of Canadian winter.

Jan 28 2025 - Pacaya Volcano, Guatemala

 

I've been really looking forward to today for a while. The ship stopped in Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala where we were greeted by towering volcanoes. I had plans to join the excursion to go to Pacaya volcano today. Pacaya is a place I've been before, in fact I was the first person to ever set foot at the bottom of its summit crater back in 2016 when I filmed a TV commercial inside, so it was nice to go "visit an old friend" today. We took a coach to the national park and started the hike. Most of it was through the jungle, and it was much cooler than I was fearing, along the coast it was a real scorcher. From time to time we would get glimpses of the other volcanoes in the area, including Fuego, the most active in the country. There was a consistent plume of steam and gas coming from the summit, and from time to time round lenticular clouds would form over the nearby peaks.

 

Once we got to our Pacaya viewpoint, I was reminded of how massive the volcano is. I couldn't believe that I had not only been to the summit, but down inside the crater! I could see a little bit of sulfur dioxide gas coming from some vents, but other than that, Pacaya was quiet. I was also hoping that Fuego would have an explosion while I was there, but Mother Nature did not provide today. The hike back down was great fun. The ash and scree on the steep slopes were fun to "surf" down. I've done this on many volcanoes. That stuff is hard to hike up, but so much fun to slide down. The only problem is the tremendous amount of ash and rocks in my shoes!

 

Back at the dock, I took some time to look around, and there were lots of iguanas sunning themselves on the rocks along the ocean. I spent some time photographing then until it was getting close to final call for getting back on board the ship.

 

This evening, I was treated to a Green Flash at sunset. This was the second one of this voyage. The colour of the sky was a brilliant orange as the sun briefly turned green as it dipped below the horizon. We also had a good view of the Earth shadow shortly after sunset. A good day.

Jan 25 2025 - Panama Canal

 

The big day. Since the Queen Anne is a brand new ship that has only been sailing since about last May, it has yet to pass through the Panama Canal. Well today was her maiden voyage through it, and it was an honour to be on board for it. The captain opened up the bow access on deck 5 so that we could have a great view as we passed through the locks from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

 

The process took all day, basically from sunrise to sunset, which felt slow, but compared to the weeks it would take to sail around Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America, this was the express route!

 

The engineering is remarkable. We passed through the newer set of locks that were built in 2016 that can accommodate wider ships. Once you get through the ascending locks, we cruised along on Gatun Lake, then descended down through the Pacific set of locks back down to sea level by Panama City.

Jan 24 2025 - Cartagena, Colombia

 

This was my first time visiting the country of Colombia (country # 82 for me), and although we didn't have a lot of time here, it was a great day ashore. Right at the ship terminal, they have a pretty amazing aviary that you have to pass through. It was filled with so many birds... Flamingos, peacocks, parrots, toucans and many more. They also had several types of monkeys, reptiles, and even a couple of giant anteaters. From there we shared a mini-van cab with a random group of people we met and headed over to the old walled city. We spent the rest of our time wandering around the narrow streets, looking in the many shops, and walking along the old ramparts that once defended the city from invaders.

Jan 21 2025 - Miami, Florida

 

We've really been lucky. As a historic winter storm sweeps across North America bringing frigid temperatures and heavy snow to places as far south as Houston, New Orleans, and northern Florida, we've been in nice warm weather due to our location just south of the extent of the massive polar vortex.

 

We arrived in the port of Miami early this morning, and were greeted by dull, gray skies and rain. It didn't look very promising, but it didn't take long for conditions to improve. We ended up with partly cloudy skies, sunshine, and a high of about 27 degrees C. In the afternoon we took the shuttle to the Bayside Market area and walked around there for a few hours. It was nice to get off the ship for a bit and do a little browsing around in the shops, and soak up a bit of sunshine for the first time in days.

Jan 18 2025 - New York City

 

Got up early to catch my flight to New York City. There were a few flight delays, but we made to JFK with time to catch an Uber and head over to Brooklyn Pier 12 to board the Queen Anne. This is the newest ship in the Cunard fleet, less than a year old. It had just arrived after crossing the Atlantic from Southampton in the U.K. It was a gray and dreary day with the New York skyline partially obscured by low clouds and rain. Joining me on this trip is my long-time friend and frequent travel partner Cindy Burgess. Once we boarded, we took some time to get ourselves acquainted with the layout of the ship.

Jan 15 2025 - New Adventure

 

This weekend I depart on my latest adventure. I will be teaming up with Cunard cruise lines to give a series of talks aboard their newest, most modern cruise liner, the Queen Anne.

 

This voyage will take me from New York, to Miami, Cartagena Colombia, then through the Panama Canal to Guatemala, then I'll be getting off the ship in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

 

I will post updates when I can. Day to day updates will be found here.

Jan 14 2025 - I Heart Radio

 

Yesterday I was interviewed by Shane Hewitt for the program The Night Shift on 1010 NewsTalk Toronto and elsewhere on the I Heart Radio Network.

 

We chatted about recent volcano eruptions and how big eruptions can affect a wide geographical area.

 

Shane Hewitt And The Night Shift

Jan 03 2025 - BBC World Service

 

Many thanks to BBC World Service for having me on as a guest on the What In The World podcast. We discussed the Darvaza flaming gas crater in Turkmenistan and my expedition that was the first to reach the bottom.

 

Watch the video on YouTube.

Dec 31 2024 - Arctic Research Foundation Article

 

Check out the latest article on the Arctic Research Foundation website. I was interviewed by Melody Wren while we were travelling through the Northwest Passage this summer with Adventure Canada.

Dec 30 2024 - Wrapping Up 2024

 

I hope you all had a great 2024 full of adventures. It was definitely a year to remember for me with travel to Alaska, Greenland (twice!), the Canadian Arctic, New Zealand & Australia and more. There were storms, northern lights, a comet, and eclipse, icebergs, glaciers, and many other amazing natural phenomena that I was fortunate enough to witness and share.

 

Quite a few talks, television appearances, and I even recieved the King Charles III Coronation medal!.

 

See you all in 2025.