we see are easily 20 or 30 meters high , most of their volume is below water . Only about one third of their entire volume is visible above water . This means you have to stay well clear of them because they may spread out under water , like an upside down mushroom . We 've also started thinking about what we 've experienced and learned this summer . By far the most impressive feature of the Arctic has been its people . In every town we visited we met complete strangers who offered us help , welcomed us into their homes and provided us with hot showers and food . So many people showed genuine interest in our journey and generously told us about their lives , and we left nearly every town with a few fish or other wild game in our fridge . Our mission when we left Victoria , British Columbia in June was to find out how climate change is impacting Arctic communities . We saw and heard about the impacts , from slumping land due to the melting of permafrost to hunter stories about the northward migration of species and the challenge that
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- There are several definitions of where the Northwest Passage begins and ends , but using the Arctic Circle is certainly the most encompassing , so we 've been holding our breath until we crossed this line . The crew has negotiated some stunning and treacherous waters to sail the Northwest Passage . The Arctic Circle -LRB- 66 30N -RRB- marks the lowest latitude at which the midnight sun is ever seen . We 've had some stormy weather along the Baffin Island coast . We had waves up to 8m high and winds over 40 knots . Silent Sound was being tossed around a lot , and I was thrown clear across the cabin on one occasion , suffering a minor concussion that kept me in my bunk for several days . Now that we 're out of the Arctic Archipelago and into the open sea , we are seeing more icebergs , instead of ice floes . Ice floes are frozen seawater while icebergs are chunks of ice broken off glaciers in the High Arctic . Bergs begin as snow falling on land , which is then compressed into ice . Even though the icebergs