We leave Tasiilaq and continue southwards. Our destination for today: a sheltered bay off Hornemann Island. We intend to drop anchor there.

Towards evening, we make our way cautiously into the bay: numerous icebergs have drifted in here, requiring skilful evasive manoeuvres. We also have to keep a close eye on our depth gauge at all times – the water depth would only allow us to anchor close to the shore cliffs, but it drops off sharply there. The rear part of the bay is still completely frozen over, with a sheet of ice around 60 cm thick resting on the water’s surface. It quickly becomes clear that the best mooring spot for tonight is the ice edge. We glide slowly towards the edge with Dagmar Aaen, haul the anchor onto the ice, dig it in – and the ship is securely moored.

Now is the time to take a closer look at this bay. Around 20 seals are lying on the vast expanse of ice before us. Curiously, they glance over at us every now and then. But as idyllic as this may seem at first glance, where there are seals, polar bears are usually not far away – for them, this is a perfect place to hunt. And we cannot rule out the possibility that they might pay a visit to our ship. This means we’ll be keeping watch over the anchor and on the lookout for bears tonight.

Inland ice within sight

When we turn round, we can see the Greenland ice sheet about 15 kilometres away. This vast mass of ice glows white before us. We stand before a magnificent natural phenomenon and, at the same time, before a highly sensitive climate system, the condition of which has serious consequences for the global climate.

The ice sheet covers more than 80 per cent of Greenland’s total area and measures around 1.8 million square kilometres. The ice is on average around 2,000 metres thick – in some areas it is as much as 3,000 metres. It stretches more than 2,500 kilometres from north to south, which is as far as the distance from northern Germany to North Africa. The ice stores enormous quantities of fresh water; its volume is estimated at 2.8 million cubic kilometres. A quantity that is almost impossible to imagine. The average annual temperature at the ice surface is -32 degrees; the altitude and the reflection of thermal radiation protect the ice.

In the Inuit language, ‘Sermeq’ means glacier and ‘suaq’ means large. ‘Sermersuaq’ – the great ice – is the Greenlandic name for the inland ice sheet, as far back as people here can remember.

Melting process already underway

But how long this will remain the case is uncertain. Between 2011 and 2014 alone, the ice sheet lost an average of around 269 billion tonnes of ice per year, according to a study by Malcolm MacMillian published in 2026. Climate researchers warn that global warming of more than three degrees could lead to the complete melting of the Greenland ice sheet. Sea levels would then rise by approximately 7.20 metres. One consequence of this melting would be, amongst other things, a significant reduction in the inflow of warm water into the North Atlantic, as the increased influx of melted ice would raise the proportion of fresh water, thereby disrupting thermohaline circulation and the Gulf Stream system.

The timeframe over which the melting process will unfold, and whether stabilisation can even be achieved once critical thresholds have been exceeded, depends on many factors. The fact is that the inland ice is already shrinking and its thickness is decreasing – more ice is melting than is being replenished by annual snowfall. And as it is not as cold at lower altitudes, this process is likely to accelerate further and further. Furthermore, dust and dirt particles settle on the ice and hinder heat reflection – with the result that the dark regions on the ice melt significantly faster than the gleaming white ice surface.

Observe, analyse, understand

These are just two alarming processes, alongside global warming, which pose a massive threat to the existence of the Greenland ice sheet. The ice off our anchorage is an important piece of the jigsaw in a highly complex and sensitive climate system. We are observing these changes and collecting scientific data to draw attention to these processes and to understand them.

But for tonight on the Dagmar Aaen, the order of the day is: bear watch!

Uli Weih