Sedna Epic Expedition 2018

Hello and thank you for visiting my #GoFundMe page!

My name is Breezy Grenier, and I am an Ocean M.E.S.E.
[mariner, educator, scientist, explorer], tourism business manager,  scuba diving and snowboarding instructor, and U.S. Coast Guard Veteran based out of Southern New England, USA. You can say I am a 'Jane of all Trades'.

I am honored and lucky enough to be one of the newest members of the Sedna Epic Expedition, which is comprised of an incredibly talented team of female ocean scientists, explorers, movie-makers, photographers, artists, educators, and polar divers and snorkelers from five countries (including the USA and Canada). We affectionately call ourselves the "sea women."

Sedna Epic Expedition Overview

The all-female 2014-2018 Sedna Epic Expedition is a multi-year underwater project—involving the study of climate change via snorkeling and diving—that takes places in Canada and Greenland’s High Arctic. The Sedna Epic involves an international team of women ocean professionals working with Inuit and Inuvialuit girls and young women in the Arctic with a focus on health, wellness, environment and empowerment issues.

Engaging northern youth and community is critical because Canada’s Inuit communities in the Arctic live with the results of inter-generational trauma. This trauma manifests itself in ill-health, drug and alcohol abuse, poor education, poverty, teenage pregnancy and teenage suicide rates that are seven times the national average.  In the journey towards reconciliation, it’s key to focus on education as a means to heal. As stated by Justice Murray Sinclair of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, “Reconciliation requires deliberate, thoughtful and sustained action.”

From August 4th to 17th, 2018, Team Sedna will conduct an action-packed, 14-day expedition, which includes visiting Inuit communities in Nunavut—Resolute Bay and Pond Inlet and in Western Greenland— to study the impacts of global warming in the Arctic. Our program is ambitious, and we intend to make full use of the 24/7 midnight sun in the High Arctic! This will be Sedna's third arctic dive and snorkel expedition since 2014.

Team Sedna will deliver its innovative ocean outreach program in these communities, bringing the ocean to eye level for Inuit youth and elders via mobile touch aquariums that will be temporarily housed with sea critters, by running underwater robot-building camps, and snorkel safaris, literally "bringing the ocean to eye level." The Sedna Epic Expedition will introduce the Inuit (who are largely non-swimmers) to the incredible biodiversity that lies below the waves in their back yards, so to speak. 

Everyone knows something about climate change. But, few people are familiar with the term "ocean change."
In the Arctic, ocean change involves melting glaciers, disappearing sea ice, warming waters and ocean acidification. Team Sedna will immerse themselves (pun intended) in the issue of ocean change, snorkeling and diving in polar waters around Baffin Island. The sea women will scout, document and record changes in arctic waters.  

The sea women will mentor teenage Inuit and Inuvialuit girls and young women during the expedition, involving them in all aspects of their ocean educational activities and introducing them to careers in ocean science and technology, conservation, fisheries management, seafood harvesting, ocean engineering, marine archaeology, marine geology, climate science, movie-making, photography, and the nascent dive and snorkel ecotourism industry in Nunavut.

A warm up, of sorts...

The Sedna Epic Expedition's ultimate goal: In the summer of 2020, Team Sedna plans to mount a historic snorkel relay of the Northwest Passage—all 3,000 kilometres of it [roughly the distance between Maine and Florida for reference]—bringing global attention to disappearing sea ice in the Arctic. En route, the sea women will visit Inuit and Inuvialuit communties situated along the Northwest Passage, delivering their innovative, hands-on ocean outreach program and empowering the next generation of indigenous female leaders to combat both societal and climate change.

Your Support:

Unfortunately, mounting a dive and snorkel expedition to the High Arctic is very expensive. And, each volunteer participant is paying her own way. We’re mitigating the costs as best we can, but even with key sponsorships the trip will cost $20,000+ per person which includes flights, vessel usage, polar dive equipment, in-water safety: zodiacs and divemasters, expedition expenses: trucking and excess baggage for expedition gear; daily consulting fees for in-community support by Inuit community leaders in Resolute Bay and Pond Inlet; English-Inuktitut translation; long-distance team conference calls, Internet support, hotels and meals, etc.). Itemized breakdown upon request.

I’m hoping that this #GoFundMe campaign will help me raise three quarters of my costs ($15,000) to participate in the expedition, with a deadline of Friday, June 1st.

Your gift, no matter how small, will help lead the way in ocean education and inspire curiosity and action for all who watch, listen to, or experience the Sedna Epic Expedition—above and below the water…
You can also donate via PayPal.

Sedna’s women are on a journey of discovery, We hope to inspire and empower not only young Inuit women but ocean enthusiasts everywhere. I need your help to change lives, shift career paths, alter behavior, and spark a movement.

Check my GoFundMe page for updates! I’ll be posting about Sedna, the inspiration behind the expedition, and what I am doing to prepare for this summer’s upcoming expedition.

Some additional links for you to peruse:

http://www.breezyseas.com/
www.linkedin.com/breezygrenier
www.facebook.com/breezyseas
https://twitter.com/Breezy_seas
https://www.instagram.com/breezy_seas/

http://www.sednaepic.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/sednaepic
www.facebook.com/sednaepic
https://twitter.com/sednaepic
https://www.instagram.com/sednaepic