Yang Jing smiled bitterly and said, "With you here, I'm not worried about any catastrophic consequences. I'm just worried about the speed."
The Blue Whale's current speed is the safest 3 knots, which is a little over 5 kilometers per hour. This speed is about the same as a normal human walking speed. From here to Cape Columbia, the northernmost tip of Ellesmere Island, it is still more than 500 kilometers. If it continues to sail at this speed, it will take at least four days.
Andre smiled and said, "Don't worry, this temperature can't last for a long time. You have never been to the polar regions, so you may not understand some of the situations. I go to the South Pole or the North Pole twice a year, so I am quite familiar with the polar climate. Don't worry, the temperature will rise again in less than a day after this cold wave passes. And I just observed that the temperature drop of this cold wave is not that severe. If it were a severe temperature drop, it would not be uncommon for the temperature to drop by 40 degrees in a few hours. It has only dropped by less than 30 degrees, which is a normal temperature drop. Don't worry."
Well, since Andre said so, Yang Jing could only choose to believe it. Although this guy had only taken over as the captain of the Blue Whale not long ago, he was an old sailor after all, and he had much more experience in this area than himself.
Things turned out just as Andre had predicted. At around nine o'clock in the evening, Yang Jing actually felt that the wind direction had changed.
The north wind, which was as sharp as a knife just now, turned into a southwest wind quietly after raging for more than ten hours, and the outdoor temperature rose from minus 17 degrees Celsius at noon to minus 6 degrees Celsius.
The most important thing is that the sea ice conditions have not worsened much, and the Blue Whale has now increased its speed to seven knots again.
Time passed quietly, and two days later, when the Blue Whale emerged from the northernmost section of the Smith Sound, which was only about 20 kilometers wide, the view ahead suddenly became clear.
"We've reached the Arctic Ocean!" Captain Andre said with a hint of excitement. Although the view was still white, compared to the narrow strait, this breadth was undoubtedly more exciting.
"Is this the Arctic Ocean?" Gege asked Captain Andre.
"Yes, the real Arctic Ocean is ahead. But the sea water temperature is still a bit low now. By August, the ice here will melt and break, revealing the sea water."
"So fast?" Yang Jing was also a little surprised. "The ice layer here is about half a meter thick, right? Can this half-meter thick ice layer be melted in more than 20 days?"
"No, it's not completely melted." Captain Andre smiled and shook his head. "Don't forget that we are now at sea. The seawater under the ice is constantly moving. When the thickness of the ice is less than 20 centimeters, there is a high probability that it will break under the strong fluctuations of the seawater. Once these ice layers break, the melting speed will accelerate."
Yang Jing nodded to show his understanding.
Andre walked to the chart room, looked at the chart and said, "Let's go. We have entered the Arctic Ocean now, so we should visit the northernmost settlement of mankind."
"The northernmost settlement?" Gege was stunned for a moment, then he said excitedly as if he had thought of something: "Captain Andre, do you mean Alert?"
Captain Andre snapped his fingers and laughed, "Yes, it is the northernmost settlement of human beings on this planet."
Yang Jing asked Gege in a low voice, "Is that Alert very famous?"
Gege nodded and said, "Of course it is famous. This is the northernmost permanent settlement in the world. It is located at 82 degrees and 28 minutes north latitude, only more than 800 kilometers away from the North Pole."
Yang Jing slapped his forehead and exclaimed: "There are actually people living in such a northern place?"
"It's not a permanent settlement. Alert is just a permanent settlement, but most of the people living there are temporary residents. More than a decade ago, there were five permanent settlers there, but since 2011, no one has settled there permanently. However, there are people there every year. There is a weather station, a military forward base and a simple airport, so there are still a few people on duty there every year."
Andre praised, "Mr. Yang, I have to say that your fiancée knows a lot about this. She is right. Alert is the northernmost settlement along the Arctic Ocean. When we scientific researchers came to the Arctic in the past, whenever we passed by here, we would usually go over to meet and have a meal with the people on duty there. It's really not easy for them."
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