Greetings from the Arctic Ocean,

24 July 1997

This is the fourth day at our base camp on Egg Island in the Arctic Ocean near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. A couple of days of fine weather has allowed us to get a closer look at some of the nearby oil operations. Yesterday, we visited a mobile oil drilling platform, which Arco plans to haul east later this summer to explore for oil off the coast of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The edge of ocean ice had just receeded from the platform and we were able to navigate through small icebergs for a close up view.

With the oil rig crew watching from the platform one hundred feet above the water, three of us unfurled a small banner reading: Stop Oil - Go Solar , Save the Climate......GREENPEACE. A second after the banner was up, it began acting as a sail, and the 12 knot wind carried us away from the platform and towards the ice pack rather briskly.

Wind is solar energy, and is captured here at our base camp by a small wind-mill type generator. A good breeze---nearly constant here next to the frozen Arctic Ocean---provides us with the electricity necessary to run the lap-top computer I type on now, as well as other communications equipment and a television. Just kidding, we have no television. In fact, I can't imagine ever wanting such a thing here in this place. Just before sitting down here this evening, I looked out to the north (towards Arco's drilling platform) and watched over 300 oldsquaw ducks float by in a still ocean being lightly patted with rain.

Stay tuned; more from Egg Island tomorrow.....

Doug