Expedition to Tromso in Norway, November 2015
"The expedition in November to the north of Norway has changed my life." Written by Peter Meyer, founder of Swiss Advance
"I put my fins on and glide into the deep turquoise colored sea. The first cold shock wave reaches my face. An incredible feeling of happiness, clear blue water, silence. I hear the whales singing. I see a big shadow. For one second I feel like I want to run away. There is no point. I won’t have a chance. He slowly swims towards me. He is coming closer and closer. Around 15m long and 30t heavy he slowly glides towards me, like an unstoppable train. As we make eye contact I feel overwhelmed by his curiosity and serenity. A living being that can reach 100 years of life. This is unbelievably inspiring. It is a huge privilege being able to get so close to those magic creatures.
The more time I spend with these mammals the more I understand how intelligent and mindful they are. I am waiting on the water surface until they appear and then dive down only 5-10 meters and wait for them. They can probably hear my pulse with their ultra sensitive hearing and know exactly where I am. I must look like an awkward clumsy fish to them. Full of curiosity they come closer to see if they can be of help.
Through experiences like this you learn to change your perspective. Your value system is changing a lot. A small piece of plastic seen on the sea floor, make you dive 20 meters down to clean it up because you are thankful and feel deep respect towards nature. Status symbols are changing and diluting.
Luckily we had Jacques de Vos in our team. He is a fantastic free diver and photographer. I was also delighted that Jörg Rychen, an experienced mountaineer and swimmer with a large brain mass (he is a Mathematician and Physicists) had joined the expedition. Professor Richard Hahnloser, who joined the team for the scientific field of our tour, was the perfect completion."
