Sedna Epic Expedition

Since 2014, Sedna’s ocean knowledge sharing & mobilization program has brought the ocean to eye level for 1, 000 Inuit youth, girls and elders in the Arctic.

During the summers of 2018 and 2019, Team Sedna will boldly go where no man has gone before, mounting a snorkel relay of the 3, 000-kilometer-long Northwest Passage. The sea women will study climate change and ocean change in the snorkel zone, a dynamic land-air-sea-ice interface where charismatic animals interact with snorkelers. And, they'll reach out to Inuit and Inuvialuit women and girls along the way, inspiring them with female role models and empowering them with knowledge on how to combat societal change and climate change in their communities.

Team Sedna will immerse itself in the issue of disappearing sea ice, snorkeling the Northwest Passage in 100 days and translating its findings into educational awareness programs. The Expedition will serve as a "call to action" for citizens of the world, including youth, providing aboriginal and scientific knowledge to inform governments of the world on implementing science-based policies to mitigate global warming. The Expedition will also serve to inspire women and girls to think "big, " and to follow their dreams, no matter how out-of-the-box they may appear. . .

Befor Trackling the epic crossing of the Northwest Passage, Team Sedna mounted a successful proof-of-concept expedition from July 10-27, 2014—where they traveled on a 116-foot expedition ship from Nain, Labrador, to Pangnirtung and Qikitarjuak, Baffin Island, and, across the gnarly waters of the Davis Strait, to the glacier filled bays of Disko Bay and Ilulissat, Greenland. Along the way, we conducted scientific research on climate change and ocean change by deploying a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). We also conducted sea trials of the equipment needed to snorkel the Northwest Passage, demonstrating that snorkelers—using diver propulsion vehicles otherwise known as "scooters"—can travel great distances in often ice-infested waters. Carrying mobile aquariums on the expedition vessel, we visited Inuit communities en route, delivering an innovative educational outreach program to Inuit women, girls and youth which showcases the animals that lie hidden below the waves in their back yards. The mobile aquarium program—which is experiential in nature— incorporates the subjects of marine biology, oceanography, ocean change and sustainable fisheries.

The namesake of our expedition, "Sedna, " is the Inuit goddess of marine mammals from Greenland to Alaska. Sedna will snorkel with us daily: One day, she'll take the form of a tusked narwhal or a 200-year-old bowhead whale; the next day, she'll be a ringed seal or an orca and so on. . .


Team Sedna currently is comprised of ten women, aged 26 to 56, from various counties Canada, the US, Italy, Mexico, and Switzerland: marine biologists; a marine geologist, environmental conservation specialist; an earth scientists; geologists, maritime archeologists; a long distance solo hiker and kayaker, a physician specializing in hyperbaric (scuba diving) medicine; two National Geographic explorers; two underwater movie makers, one of whom recently won 8 Emmy Awards; an underwater robot pilot, a scuba dive shop owner; five dive instructors; an investment banker; a graphic artist; and a journalist. Obviously, given the diversity of skills described in the preceding sentence, these women wear more than one hat.