Suffolk man kayaks up Greenland coast in 'poo-centric expedition'

Mike Keen is carrying out two different scientific research projects as he kayaks from the south of Greenland to the north

A man has embarked on a 3,000km (1,864 miles) kayak voyage in icy waters as part of a "poo-centric expedition".

Mike Keen, from Suffolk, is almost a month into his three-month paddle from Qaqortoq in the south of Greenland - to Qaanaaq in the north.

Along the way, he is collecting poo samples from sea mammals to check the levels of microplastics.

He is also only eating a Greenlandic diet - food that can foraged or hunted - as part of a microbiome study.

Mr Keen, who set off on 20 April and expects to complete his journey at the end of July/early August, described his mission as a "poo-centric expedition".

He said the "tough bit" so far had been the cold.

Mr Keen is eating a Greenlandic diet, of food hunted or foraged, to see how it changes his physiology and mental wellbeing

The 53-year-old chef, from Holton St Mary, near East Bergholt, has been rough camping and relying on the generosity of locals along the way.

"Getting up in the morning, putting all your wet gear on for an eight-hour paddle in a kayak is pretty tough going but once you're out on the water it's OK," he said.

The high fat and protein diet of fish, seal, shrimp and reindeer also "took some time getting used to," Mr Keen said

He said he has had to haul his kayak across frozen fjords as he makes his journey up the west coast of Greenland.

The high fat and protein diet of fish, seal, shrimp and reindeer also "took some time getting used to," he said.

Mr Keen said the cold had been the "tough bit" so far

He said getting up after a night rough sleeping was "tough going"

But once he is out on the water, it is OK, he added

The samples of sea mammal poo he is collecting will be sent back to laboratories in Greenland's capital - Nuuk - to be analysed for microplastics.

Samples of his own faeces will be sent back to a team of microbiologists to see what effect the diet has on his gut microbiome, his physiology and mental wellbeing.

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Mr Keen said he was not looking forward to the sea ice as he continues to head north - and added that he "may need to think up a plan B" for getting through it.

He said he wanted to raise awareness of climate change in the Arctic and the two scientific research projects he would be carrying out were "important".