Mark Stratton

The multi-award-winning travel writer and radio broadcaster Mark Stratton has spent many exhilarating days sailing frozen seas, viewing wildlife, and discussing the environment of both polar regions. From numerous Antarctic sailings, including the Weddell Sea and South Georgia, to sailing the North West Passage twice and exploring Greenland and Svalbard. His words, photographs, and British and American national media recordings are almost as numerous as the bergy bits floating in a frozen Antarctic bay.

He draws inspiration from the remoter corners of the Earth, not least where the natural world has space to breathe from humanity’s onslaught. Seeing these environments by small ships committed to sustainable travel can offer unintrusive and exhilarating close-ups. Mark believes every journey must add value to these fragile environments. He has written extensively about the importance of citizen science performed on voyages, his passion for whales, and their intrinsic value to global ecosystems. He feels the sense of being on an expedition instead of just a holiday will foster greater curiosity and empathy for where we travel.

‘If the most powerful energy of a human dimension I have ever experienced came from my first time standing before Shackleton’s grave in South Georgia, that moment has been equaled by wondrous natural encounters,’ says Mark.

‘I will never forget watching humpback whales bubble-net feeding in Alaska while our small vessel was surrounded by blue bioluminescence or the first time an immense wandering albatross swept low over my zodiac dinghy in the Southern Ocean’.

When Mark isn’t on the road, he finds quiet calm living in Dartmoor National Park in Southwest England. There, he writes, reflects upon his travels, and then packs and plans his next great adventure.