Sunday 26 February 2017

Top of the World

1994: Centenary of Greenwich Meridian
Our Sunday Stamps journey to the four corners of the earth ends at the top of the world and it is winter...
2014: 'Norden' The North by the Sea Part III: Ships (Designers: O. Nilsson and Norbert Tamas/Engraver: Martin Mörck)
The shipping lanes have to be kept open and here icebreakers are doing their work, these two cut through the ice of the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia. The souvenir sheets depicts two sister ships, the Atle and Ymer.  I suspect the Ymer was named after the Swedish icebreaker of the same name built in 1932 and the first icebreaker in the world to have a diesel electric engine. Both vessels on the sheet were built in the 1970s at the Wartsila Shipyard in Finland and they have undergone a refit in recent times to extend their working lives. Sweden has five icebreakers of the Atle class (which I think translates as athlete) and when they were built the crew accommodation was considered some of the best.
2009: Preserve the Polar Regions and Glaciers
I like Canada's choice to highlight species at especial risk due to global warming on this sheet and issued as part of the multi-country stamp initiative on the theme of preserving the polar regions and glaciers. (List here)  The PPRG logo is on the top right.  I always think the migration of the Arctic Tern or Sea Swallow from the arctic to the antarctic sounds like something from legend rather than reality. This little 100 gram bird during an average life time of thirty years will fly the distance of to the moon and back three time. This statistic is from the Arctic Tern Migration Project who tracked the terns 70,000+ kilometre pole to pole journey from Greenland to the Weddell Sea with surprising results. If you have time the follow the journey video is well worth watching.

An entry to Sunday Stamps II theme - Northern Hemisphere - head north to See It On A Postcard         

4 comments:

FinnBadger said...

I like your selection for today - the ice breaker stamps are an unusual topic (I wonder if their jobs are at risk due to planetary warming?), and of course wildlife stamps are always a favorite.

Bob Scotney said...

The Canandian stamps really caught my attention too.

Maria said...

Love the Canadian stamps! All stamps are very appropriate for the northern hemisphere theme

John's Island said...

Hi Joy, By now you probably know I love ships. I really like your post here with the souvenir sheets depicting the two sister ships, Atle and Ymer. And I love the 2009: Preserve the Polar Regions and Glaciers sheet! Very nice post here and thank you for info about the Arctic Tern Migration Project.