THE BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE SCIENCE THE BIOMEDICAL 26 SCIENTIST Arctic CPD Arctic CPD SCIENTIST 27

Pictures. All photographs “It was a chance taken by Sue Alexander to note how

ome of you may recall an of plants, birds and animals in a polar to all those who did take the plunge and parallel evolution advised by the CDC website about proper article that I wrote in The environment, with lots of health and no one fell prey to any wild life. handling and cooking of meat. Biomedical Scientist on a trip safety and risk management information. Another risk assessment that had to be takes place” The birdlife is highly diverse: there was to Antarctica and the We had to attend a compulsory briefing on considered was ensuring the zodiacs did a chance to see ptarmigan on a lek and opportunities for CPD and safety e.g. getting in and out of zodiacs not go too close to the faces of glaciers in the sadly endangered puffin. Guillemots, risk management on the from the ship and the shore, have the case of getting swamped following a resemble penguins, and flock on huge cliff cruise. It seemed like a good emergency procedures explained and calving from the front of the glacier. We faces and the fulmar is similar to the idea to follow that trip up practiced and, most specifically, have a had an unexpected issue one day when the sky. This is quite disorientating, as you sites where early historic attempts to albatross. It was a chance to carry out with a visit to the Arctic. safety briefing with regard to polar bears. inlet we were in was quickly filled with cannot judge the time of day or directions. reach the North Pole started out, neither comparative biology and to note how SI booked to travel to Svalbard Other than the centre of floating ice and it took a very long, cold On sunny days the landscapes are successful. The expeditions took little or parallel evolution takes place. and to spend a short time there Longyearbyen, the main town time to negotiate our way back to the ship. wonderful: on cold, snowy days it is bleak no regard of the local information So, this was another trip with a real before embarking on a cruise on Svalbard, you cannot walk yet there is still a beauty, even at sites of provided by experts such as Nansen, nor difference, lots of biological and historical round the coast to visit around without an armed Presentations industrial archaeology. of weather conditions and did not carry CPD, quite a lot of risks to consider, plenty historical sites, do some escort or your own rifle. As is common place on any cruise ship, Each day there was a lecture adequate supplies of food. So, useful of health and safety and food for thought hiking and look for wildlife. On all the excursions the there were stations around the ship with presentation about something related to learning to apply to project planning: be about project planning. If you fancy a Svalbard is a Norwegian expedition crew posted look antimicrobial hand gel to avoid the spread the trip: from the complexities of the local properly prepared and take expert advice. diversion into research and don’t mind a territory with research stations outs and carried rifles which were of infections, notably norovirus. We were dwarf reindeer’s circulatory adaptations long, dark winter, Svalbard is the place for and the most northerly inhabited checked in and out of the ship store. advised on a daily basis about the amount to the cold, to birdlife via the historical Seeing wildlife you to apply. settlement in the world, Ny-Ålesund, 790 We also had a Russian polar bear expert of clothing to wear: the weather was truly places visited. The first recorded visit to It was very nice to be able to get close to And to answer the big question: yes, N, which is basically a town dedicated to in the team. The other big risk Arctic and several times the expedition Svalbard was by Willem Barentsz in the reindeer, Arctic foxes hunting and we did see two polar bears, which was research activities. To give context, Svalbard assessment you could do was assessing leader advised us to put on everything we 1596 who named the island, Spitsbergen, dozing walruses on land, while we saw a absolutely amazing. Such powerful and is as far north as the top of Greenland. whether you would like to do a “polar had. We came closer to the pole than we as he landed at an area with pointed number of types of seal at sea and on ice beautiful creatures. plunge”, jumping off the ship into the sea. did in Antarctica and were the first cruise mountains. The first ever whaling station floes. I discovered that polar bears are Opportunity to learn I reckoned this presented an unacceptable ship of the season this far north, so it did set up by the Dutch was the pragmatically prey to a parasite, which also affects other Sue Alexander is the Principal Biomedical The trip to the Arctic was another risk of a possible heart attack, so declined. get rather chilly. At this time of year the named Smeerenburg, or Blubber Town, wild life, Trichinella species, and which Scientist and Pathology Services Manager at

opportunity for learning about the biology As a safety precaution a rope was attached sun does not set and remains high in the PHOTOGRAPHY: SUE ALEXANDER established in 1619. We also visited two can be contracted by man, so hunters are The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. THE SUN DOES NOT SET After last year’s article on a CPD trip to Antarctica, Pathology Services Manager Sue Alexander sets sail again, this time for the Arctic.