450 small wooden boats, painted in bright colors by students, have now begun their journey across the Arctic Ocean. Together, they formed a large heart on the ice – a symbol of both curiosity and care for our planet.

This is part of “Float Your Boat”, an outreach program run by the University of Washington’s Polar Science Center. The aim is to better understand Arctic ocean currents – and to spark young people’s interest in polar research.

Most of the boats were painted by schoolchildren in the U.S., but students from Gullmarsgymnasiet in Lysekil as well as the crew and scientists aboard the icebreaker Oden also contributed with their colorful designs. Each boat is marked with a unique serial number and the project’s web address, so it can be identified if it one day washes up on a beach somewhere in the world.

Along with the boats, a buoy from the International Arctic Buoy Programme was also placed on the ice. It records air pressure and temperature both at the surface and in the atmosphere. The buoy’s position can be tracked live here: iabp.apl.uw.edu/IABP_Maps.

As the ice floe eventually breaks apart and melts, each little boat will follow the ocean currents on its own. With some luck, they may reach distant shores far from the Arctic – where someone might find them and report the discovery. On floatyourboat.org/find-my-boat there is a map that gathers all reported finds.

Cristina Bernárdez Marti, participant in the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat’s teacher program