Adventure Brothers

Brothers Tim and Chris Lyons, who grew up in Sea Girt, shared a childhood environment that encouraged curiosity, an interest in science, the idea of helping others, and a love of film. That blend of interests eventually led them to create a feature film about a major scientific exploration in the Arctic Ocean.

Tim Lyons, now 33, earned a degree in philosophy from Columbia University. His brother, Chris, 28, studied computer science at Stevens Institute of Technology. Tim was the traveler of the two, and his wanderlust led him to many places around the world. Along the way, he became interested in photojournalism and looked for stories as he traveled. Chris stayed closer to home, developing his skills and founding OMMA Immersive Media, a 3D scanning business specializing in art, architecture, and real estate. He grew as both an artist and a digital 3D designer.

The Expedition

In early 2022, their lives took a turn. Tim, always curious about the origin of all things, learned about Expedition 403, a two-month voyage to the Arctic Ocean. The mission took place aboard a modified commercial oil exploration ship that had operated as an ocean research vessel for 40 years.

“This expedition might be compared to an international space station, but instead of exploring outer space, it was about exploring secrets from deep in the ocean floor,” Tim says.

When Tim told Chris about the project, Chris was immediately enthusiastic. As they researched the exploration, the brothers decided the best way for them to qualify and contribute would be to utilize their combined skillsets to make a feature film about it.

The preparation took two years. As their film plans developed, they realized they needed a professional filmmaker and called on friend Khyber Jones, a seasoned cinematographer and documentary filmmaker.

“Khyber jumped on board with great enthusiasm,” Chris says. “Our trio became known as The Tripod.”

Preparation and Personal Journeys

Tim, Chris, and Jones underwent months of meetings and intense physical, intellectual, and psychological preparation. The film itself required background shooting in places as diverse as Sicily and Texas before they boarded the vessel to travel to the Arctic as part of the official two-month expedition crew.

While in Sicily, the brothers realized they were close to the village where their beloved grandfather served during World War II. They hold many fond memories of him from their childhood in Sea Girt. The village, Bompietro, was just a few miles from where they were filming. They visited one day to honor the man who had been awarded the Purple Heart and the Silver Star medal for bravery. It was a touching moment for the Lyons brothers.

The Arctic Voyage

The trio finally sailed from June to August in 2024. The voyage began with a combined crew of 120 people, including renowned international scientists. Once they reached the Arctic, scientists dug core samples and gathered geophysical data through a system of interconnected pipes to the sea floor. The project was part of JOIDES (Joint Oceanographic Institutions for Deep Earth Sampling).

Tim noted the challenging conditions. “Two months living on a ship in the constant daylight of the Arctic Circle with its rough seas, cold weather and persistent threat of sea ice, was not a simple life,” he says.

The brothers and Jones shared bunks at the bow of the ship. When the seas were rough, which was quite often, they rocked up and down and back and forth in the high swells. But Chris recalls the motion with a smile, “It was like being rocked in a cradle.”

When asked about the food, he says: “Because it was an international voyage, we were served foods from different cultures. It was all good. One day the chef served a French-themed dinner that included frogs’ legs. I hesitated to try them, but they actually tasted very good.”

The Film’s Purpose

According to The Tripod, they have two major goals for the film. The first is to take the viewer along on a journey through paleoclimate research, traversing geological eras with scientists as they collected and tested data from the ocean floor. The film will move from tree coring to ice coring, to giant salt deposits, to sea sediment samplings.

The second goal is to highlight science as a large-scale collaborative endeavor. The crew and scientists involved in this shared mission came together from diverse cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds.

“Our purpose is to create a feature film on this and other voyages utilizing hard science and themes of landscape, time, science fiction, and adventure to contextualize the complex question of how we know what we know about climate change in the present day,” Tim says.

Expedition 403 to the Arctic was the final undertaking of this powerful vessel. The Lyons brothers and Jones documented the project so that others can see and appreciate the scientific exploration, teamwork, and creativity. When Tim, Chris, and Khyber talk about their adventures and the film, they do so with passion, enthusiasm, and big smiles.

To learn more and support the project, visit www.redfordcenter.org/films/the-time-travelers.

Photograph courtesy of the Lyons Family