The Pan-Northern Passage is a eight-month sailing expedition tracing the full northern coastline from the Atlantic to the Pacific via the Northwest Passage, with collaborative work extending into Greenland.

More than a journey, it is a mobile research, documentation, and education platform designed to observe the northern coast as a single, interconnected system — ecological, cultural, and human — at a moment of unprecedented change.

The expedition serves as the delivery mechanism for a multi-disciplinary programme:

The Northern Coastal Observatory is an intensive, mobile research and documentation programme operating across the duration of the Pan-Northern Passage.

Structured as a shared platform rather than a single study, the Observatory enables scientific research, Indigenous collaboration, environmental accountability, and education to operate in parallel while remaining operationally independent.

This structure allows partners and donors to support:

• the Observatory as a whole, or
• specific project tracks aligned with their priorities
   

without compromising scientific integrity or editorial independence.

The Northern Coastal Observatory is designed for repetition, not as a one-time expedition.

The Pan-Northern Passage establishes a comprehensive baseline across the northern coastline. That baseline is intended to be revisited on a 3–5 year cycle, enabling meaningful comparison over time as environmental, climatic, and human conditions continue to change.

Repeat observation cycles allow for:

• detection of long-term trends rather than isolated snapshots
• comparison of biodiversity, ice, and coastal system change
• assessment of cumulative impacts and recovery
• continuity across scientific, cultural, and accountability work
   

Each cycle operates as an independent project while contributing to a growing longitudinal record. Future iterations are contingent on partnerships, conditions, and community collaboration, ensuring the programme remains adaptive, ethical, and responsive.

Focus

• Coastal and near-shore biodiversity baselining using environmental DNA (eDNA) and rapid genetics
• Observation of ice presence, timing, and physical condition across high-latitude waters
• Environmental change detection along a continuous coastal transect
• Providing platform access for independent, next-generation researchers
   

Context
Large portions of the northern coastline remain under-documented, particularly in near-shore and transitional ice environments. Early-career researchers often lack access to platforms capable of sustained, coast-spanning fieldwork.

Activities

• Repeated coastal sampling using standardised eDNA protocols
• Water and sediment collection at defined intervals
• Ice observation and documentation along navigable Arctic routes
• Dedicated berths for graduate students and early-career researchers conducting approved, independent studies
   

Outputs

• Baseline biodiversity datasets
• Ice and environmental observation records
• Documented methodologies suitable for replication in future cycles
• Interim and final technical reports
• Open or shared data pathways where appropriate
• Peer-reviewed or pre-print publications led by participating researchers
   

Public Benefit

• Improved understanding of coastal ecosystem change
• Capacity-building for the next generation of scientists
• Scalable monitoring models applicable beyond 2026
   

Focus

• Anthropological and cultural documentation
• Indigenous knowledge systems and lived climate experience
• Megafauna presence, movement, and behavioural change
• Human–ecosystem relationships under climate stress
   

Context
In northern regions, climate change is experienced first through daily life: altered travel routes, shifting species behaviour, changing ice conditions, and impacts on food security and cultural practices.

Audax Ventus works with communities, not about them, documenting climate realities through respectful collaboration.

Activities

• Indigenous-led conversations and partnerships, by invitation
• Documentation of traditional ecological knowledge alongside scientific observation
• Contextual recording of megafauna sightings and behavioural patterns
• Consent-based storytelling with community control over use and access
   

Outputs

• Recorded oral histories and cultural insights (community-controlled)
• Contextualised climate narratives grounded in lived experience
• Contributions to long-form documentary storytelling
• Materials suitable for educational and policy audiences
   

Public Benefit

• Preservation of cultural knowledge
• Human-centred climate understanding
• Ethical collaboration models for future research
   

Focus

• Investigation of environmental crimes and regulatory blind spots
• Monitoring of illegal, unreported, or unethical activity
• Evidence gathering related to pollution, extraction, and maritime conduct
• Independent, field-based accountability
   

Context
Remote northern waters often experience reduced oversight, creating conditions where environmental harm can go undocumented or unresolved.

RQS operates quietly and independently, prioritising evidence over advocacy theatre.

Activities

• Field observation and documentation of potential environmental violations
• Collection of open-source intelligence and corroborating field evidence
• Cross-referencing findings with regulatory frameworks
• Secure handling of sensitive material
   

Outputs

• Evidentiary documentation packages
• Investigative reports where appropriate
• Data suitable for journalists, regulators, or legal partners
• Contributions to international accountability efforts
   

Public Benefit

• Increased transparency in remote regions
• Deterrence through documentation
• Support for enforcement and accountability mechanisms
   

Focus

• Education and outreach for youth, families, and the public
• Translation of complex fieldwork into accessible learning formats
• Climate and ocean literacy without fear-based messaging
   

Context
Most people will never experience these coastlines firsthand. Education ensures that the benefits of field research extend beyond the vessel and expedition window.

Activities

• Development of age-appropriate educational content derived from expedition findings
• Visual storytelling and short educational films
• School-ready learning materials tied to real-world science
• Public talks, digital engagement, and post-expedition outreach
   

Outputs

• K–12 educational documentaries and learning modules
• Public-facing summaries of scientific and cultural findings
• Long-term educational media assets
   

Public Benefit

• Youth engagement and climate literacy
• Accessible science communication
• Enduring educational legacy
   

Across all divisions, the Pan-Northern Passage includes continuous, professional documentation of research, collaboration, and life aboard.

This documentation is not promotional in nature. It exists to ensure transparency, translate complex work for diverse audiences, and extend public benefit.

Documentation outputs include:

• A long-form streaming documentary chronicling the full Pan-Northern Passage
• An episodic digital and YouTube series focused on field science, life aboard, and regional context
• Short-form K–12 educational documentaries
• Immersive VR content developed for use in children’s hospitals and educational settings
   

Immersive VR assets bring real marine environments into spaces where direct access is impossible, supporting curiosity, well-being, and connection to the natural world.

All work conducted under the Pan-Northern Passage and Northern Coastal Observatory is independent.

Financial support enables operations and access. It does not provide:

• editorial control
• influence over findings
• approval rights
• suppression of results
   

Research outcomes — including uncomfortable or unexpected findings — are published transparently and responsibly.

The northern coast is not a collection of isolated places. It is a connected system — ocean, ice, land, wildlife, and people — undergoing rapid transformation.

Understanding that change requires more than a single moment in time. It requires longitudinal observation, ethical collaboration, and accountability.

The Pan-Northern Passage exists to observe, document, and understand this system as it is changing, while ensuring the knowledge generated is shared, independent, and accessible.

The Pan-Northern Passage is a 2026 sailing expedition delivering the Northern Coastal Observatory — a multi-disciplinary, repeatable programme combining science, Indigenous knowledge, accountability, education, and public documentation across the northern coastline via the Northwest Passage.