Despite the bleak weather, today has been a day full of firsts! To start with we had safety briefings on the use of a rifle, a compulsory part of health and safety before carrying out fieldwork due to the presence of polar bears, before beginning our rifle training in a remote shooting range. For all of us this was the first time firing a rifle using live ammunition, and for first timers our aim wasn't too bad at all, with everyone passing the training.
After lunch back at UNIS we headed out for some more survival training involving swimming around in giant orange survival suits in the Arctic Sea. This is in preparation for 2 of our group members undertaking a trip in a small boat to the Marine Terminating glacier Tunabreen. We all looked dashing and it was great fun, lets just hope the guys on the Tunabreen trip don't end up going for another swim!
Tomorrow we are hoping to head out to 2 of the glaciers we hope to research, Longyearbreen and Larsbreen to "reccy" the area, fingers crossed for some sunshine!
