Europa has a skillful crew of sailors year-round making sure the ship is sailed professionally, the rigging is maintained and the voyage crew learns to sail safely. On the Antarctica voyages we need extra crew with different skills – guiding and science. Antarctica is a unique, 
relatively untouched ecosystem. In order to keep it that way, every visit to Antarctica in an International Association of Antarctica Tour 
Operators (IAATO) member vessel like Bark Europa, is accompanied with professional guides who have completed an IAATO certification and are experienced in polar guiding. Their main task is to promote and educate on the conservation of the southern continent and ensure safety of the visits on land.

Here is a more thorough introduction to our current polar guiding team.

Annukka is a marine biologist by education and has been researching for example the blue whales on coast of Sri Lanka. She has recently shifted her career more towards scientific communication, mapping technology and geospatial research – and has a passion for history of mapping and charting of Antarctica. She could talk hours and hours about the polar expeditions. Rest of the year she works in various research projects and runs a charter sailing family business in Iceland and Greenland together with her husband. This is Annukka’s fourth season on Europa as a guide and now part of the expedition leading team together with Beth.

Beth is a geologist from Scotland who has been working on Europa in many roles including deckhand, guide and now an expedition leader. She has worked in engineering geology where she spent most of her time working on slope stability along the Scottish road and railway network. In more recent years, Beth has decided to committed her time to just one of these jobs: guiding in the Arctic and Antarctic. Between her time on ships she enjoys spending time outdoors particularly in the mountains as well as seeing friends and family.

Benja is a Chilean marine biologist who specializes in field work on marine birds and mammals of the Southern Ocean research. For the last eight years, together with a team of artists and biologists, he has been dedicated to build a natural history museum in the city where he grew up, Punta Arenas, in order to promote education and conservation of the natural heritage of Patagonia.

Arnoud studied physics and works for the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) to collect data for weather, climate 
research and air quality at the Dutch atmospheric research station in Cabauw, and to apply these data in collaboration with researchers 
worldwide. He likes talking to and discussing with a wide range of audiences about complex issues such as climate change, air quality, the 
ozone hole, interaction of aerosols with clouds and satellite validation. Joining in Citizen Science projects is part of that. He joined Bark Europa for the first time in 2004 as voyage crew to Antarctica and could not resist giving a lecture about the ozone hole during the trip to his fellow voyage crew and crew members. So rejoining Bark Europa in 2018 as a guide on an Antarctica expedition and the Cape to Cape voyage came as a dream come true. Being able to bring a camera to record the beauty of the environment and share the pictures makes 
this all the better.