Nuuk’s children show researchers new ways of looking at the sea

Two-way communication 

For outreach officer Anne-Claire Bihan-Poudec at the Forel Heritage Association, it is not the first time organising activities in Greenland. During her chat with Arctic Hub, she recalls talking with a group of children about fish and discovering that the children had plenty to teach her. 

“They explained to me how to open the fish and how to handle it. They were so happy to show me,” she says. Their familiarity with fish and the sea differed markedly from what she had encountered among children in France, who might hesitate touching a fish. 

“They share knowledge about the way to interact with the marine environment. We do not have quite the same relationship with it,” she says.  

The ship’s captain, Jean-François Levasseur, had a similar experience during a visit to Narsaq. While FOREL was sailing through a fjord with a group of school children on board, a teenager began pointing out seals among the ice. The crew could not see them at first. The young guest then showed them what to look for, teaching the experienced sailors how to spot the animals against the water and ice.  

In other words, as experienced as the FOREL sailors and scientists are in their fields, they recognise that Greenlanders of all ages can provide knowledge of Greenland’s marine environment that they have acquired through daily life, family practices and long experience.  

Science in Kalaallisut 

To satisfy curiosity and create genuine exchanges, people need to participate in a language in which they are comfortable. The Forel Heritage Association recognises this. For the Open Ship event, they invited marine biologist Malou Platou Johansen from Ilisimatusarfik aboard to interpret conversations to and from Kalaallisut.  

According to Anne-Claire Bihan-Poudec, this was not an optional addition. “We want to translate what we do because we have to do it. It is not a question,” she says. 

She describes outreach as the link between the visiting researchers and the communities where the vessel stops. Scientists are often absorbed in their specialist work, but Forel Heritage Association requires them to consider how it can be understood and made relevant. 

Scientists joining the vessel agree in advance to take part in public engagement. Before the Nuuk stop, the outreach team worked with the current researchers to decide what they could prepare and show visitors.  

Public engagement is one of the Forel Heritage Association’s core missions. The organisation produces educational comics about research aboard the vessel. They also invite local communities to visit FOREL at its ports of call. The goal is to connect scientists with the wider public and with Indigenous communities directly affected by climate change in Arctic environments.  

Reading the history of a seabed 

On deck in Nuuk, several long grey tubes created curious questions from the visitors. Inside were sediment cores collected from the seabed in Greenlandic fjords. 

The layers of material deposited over time can be read almost like pages in a book, explained Samuel Toucanne, IFREMER (the French Institute for Ocean Science). By studying differences between the layers, researchers can reconstruct changes in glaciers, rivers and sediment transport over decades or centuries. This helps understand the effects of climate change on Sermersuaq, the Greenland ice cap. 

FOREL’s modest size is particularly useful for this kind of work. Unlike much larger research vessels operating offshore, it can enter fjords and work comparatively close to glaciers. 

“I am used to working on big vessels far from the coast,” says Brandon Finley, Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, University of Lausanne. “Here, we can be very close to the glaciers and acquire data that we cannot collect with a large research vessel.” Being able to see the glacier, mountains and rivers surrounding a sampling site also helps connect the sediment in a core to the landscape that produced it, he explains. 

More than a single visit 

FOREL carries six crew members and up to six scientists. While sailing and carrying out research, the vessel can also record depth measurements and collect data used to produce detailed maps of the seabed. These data can be shared and help fill gaps in the mapping of waters around Greenland. However, Forel Heritage Association hopes its connection with Greenland will extend beyond collecting and sharing data. 

Outreach officer Anne-Claire Bihan-Poudec would like to develop long-term relationships with Greenlandic schools, researchers and institutions. She also sees possibilities for local sailors to contribute knowledge of navigating the ice-filled waters around Greenland — expertise that visiting crews cannot acquire simply through instruments or formal training. 

The Forel Heritage Association hopes future collaborations could bring Greenlandic teachers, students, young researchers or sailors aboard, not only for a tour but as participants in sailing and carrying out scientific work. “I would love to have a real exchange,” she says. “We could share knowledge and, when we come back, make sure we continue something over a longer period.”  

On the open ship day, that ambition could already be seen in miniature. Researchers showed visitors how they study the fjords beneath the water’s surface. In return, Nuuk’s children showed them that the people growing up beside those waters already know how to observe them. 

After calling in Nuuk, the FOREL continued its summer expedition around Greenland. It has visited Ittoqqortoormiit on the east coast, and at the end of August, the FOREL was in Sermilik Fjord, near Tasiilaq. It will continue to Narsaq before returning to Europe at the end of September.