A man has embarked on a 3,000km kayak voyage up the Greenland coast sampling mammal's poo - along with his own.<br /><br />Mike Keen, 53, is a quarte of the way through his three-month paddle from Qaqortoq in the south of Greenland - to Qaanaaq in the north.<br /><br />Along the way, he is collecting poo samples from sea mammals to check the levels of microplastics.<br /><br />He is also only eating a Greenlandic diet - food that can foraged or hunted - as part of a microbiome study.<br /><br />Mike, from Ipswich, Suffolk, said: "I'm a big advocate for eating your environment and what's around you.<br /><br />"The diet took some time to get used to, but I'm feeling good now. I feel like my body's gotten used to the change."<br /><br />Mr Keen, set off on April 20 and expects to finish his journey at the end of July or at the latest, early August<br /><br />He aimed to complete 30k of kayaking a day, although is averaging 41k a day so far.<br /><br />Potential storms and sea ice in the North could hinder his progress, but he is currently six days ahead of schedule.<br /><br />So far, the dad-of-four has been rough camping and relying on the generosity of locals along the way.<br /><br />He has had to haul his kayak across frozen fjords as he makes his journey up the west coast of Greenland - while eating a local diet.<br /><br />Mike, who works as a chef, said: "I crowdfunded £2,000 - £3,000 to help fund my journey.<br /><br />"I've always loved the history side of the Arctic, and how the Inuit survived up here for thousands of years.<br /><br />"It's hard enough finding my way around with a GPS and all the gadgets, so to think they've done it without for so long is crazy.<br /><br />"I'm very much into the local way of eating, so on my voyage I've been sticking to fish, seal, whale, reindeer and occasionally seagull eggs to knock up a tasty omelette.<br /><br />"The diet is purely fat and protein with minimal carbs and minimal fibre."<br /><br />On his journey, Mike is taking samples of mammal's poo from hunters, which will be sent back to laboratories in Greenland's capital - Nuuk.<br /><br />There, it will be analysed to test the spread of microplastic pollution and whether it is concentrating in any sort of areas.<br /><br />Samples of his own faeces will also be sent back to a team of microbiologists to see what effect the diet has on his gut microbiome, his physiology and mental wellbeing.<br /><br />Mike added: "I want to raise awareness of climate change in the Arctic and these two projects are important scientific studies that will help me do that."
