In 2014 Albert Bargués set off with the Tern heading for latitude 80 in the glacial Arctic Ocean, in search of the longest summer. Ploughing through the poles, Bargués was following the sun, never losing sight of it in 365 days. Goroka signed up with him to carry out the Latitude 80 project...
Sterna paradisaea is the scientific name for the Arctic Tern, a seabird that completes the longest known migration in the animal kingdom: 71,000 km annualy. After breeding in the boreal regions, it flies to the Antarctic ocean before setting off on the long return journey. Always in latitudes where the sun never sets. Scientists have calculated that this tiny bird weighing only 100 grams, flies in its lifetime the equivalent of three return trips to the moon.
The story of great expeditions tend to start like this: with the outlandish idea of someone who – most times without the necessary resources – sets themselves an over-the-top goal, and only then starts thinking of ways to reach it.
Latitude 80 tells us of the rise and fall of a company that wanted to sail to the frozen poles of the planet, and allows us to reflect on the motives and obsessions that make us want to dive into the unknown.
Javier Argüello
80º Latitude Teaser
My fascination with adventure comes from when I was young, Reading Tintin comics, and continued thanks to Melville, Conrad and Stevenson. That’s why when I hear Albert talk of “the places on Earth that can only be reached by sail” I’m instantly hooked.
Guille Cascante, director
On this trip – from Barcelona, passing through Tromso, the fjords of Finnmark, North Cape, Bear Island and Svalbard- the crew members run into the wildest conditions nature can throw at them, and will experience a trip beyond the past, a timeless voyage penetrating the toughest environment on the confines of this Earth. Not only must they cheat the forces of nature, they must fight destiny, which sometimes conspires against us. And difficulties and exhaustion can at times beat us into submission.
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