Arctic Expedition Special

In this podcast from the Natural Environment Research Council's (NERC) Planet Earth Online collection, Richard Hollingham reports from an unusual and somewhat cold location - onboard the British Antarctic Survey's RRS James Clark Ross which was stuck in the ice for two weeks 1000 kilometres from the North Pole. He talks to researchers on the ship about their work, finds out exactly how dangerous polar bears can be and hears what it's like to dive in freezing cold waters. He also learns that the Arctic isn't the desolate, barren place often imagined. In fact it is full of life. Not only large animals such as bears, seals and gulls, but also algae and microorganisms that literally keep our planet alive. This podcast is dated 5 July 2010. NERC is a part of the Research Councils UK (RCUK) partnership of research councils.