This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/science/antarctica-live/2013/dec/17/end-world-antarctica-expedition-douglas-mawson
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| We've reached the end of the world: Antarctica | We've reached the end of the world: Antarctica |
| (about 17 hours later) | |
| It only took 10 days to reach the end of the world. Two days of sea sickness, five days on a boat that swung like a pendulum, three days of picking and smashing our way through ice-encrusted ocean and, much sooner than anyone had expected, we were cruising along the coastline of Antarctica, a few tens of metres from the edge of the ice. Although our clocks showed it was past 5pm, the sun was high and warm, the air was still, and the cold, dark water was flat and calm. | It only took 10 days to reach the end of the world. Two days of sea sickness, five days on a boat that swung like a pendulum, three days of picking and smashing our way through ice-encrusted ocean and, much sooner than anyone had expected, we were cruising along the coastline of Antarctica, a few tens of metres from the edge of the ice. Although our clocks showed it was past 5pm, the sun was high and warm, the air was still, and the cold, dark water was flat and calm. |
| The weather on our arrival was so clement that you might have confused this for a tropical beach, except that the landscape was covered with snow and ice, several icebergs dotted the horizon and the only visible living things apart from us were a phalanx of penguins that came to inspect the ship when we stopped nearby. | The weather on our arrival was so clement that you might have confused this for a tropical beach, except that the landscape was covered with snow and ice, several icebergs dotted the horizon and the only visible living things apart from us were a phalanx of penguins that came to inspect the ship when we stopped nearby. |
| Penguin welcoming party for our ship on Antarctic coast https://t.co/OmZBAzGLKd | Penguin welcoming party for our ship on Antarctic coast https://t.co/OmZBAzGLKd |
| We had reached Commonwealth Bay in East Antarctica. To be precise, our ship, the MV Akademik Shokalskiy, was at the edge of an ice sheet that has been stuck fast to the entrance of the bay ever since a giant 75-mile-long iceberg, called B09B, grounded itself in the bay four years ago. | |
| This is a historic part of the Antarctic, near the place where the great British-Australian Antarctic explorer and scientist, Douglas Mawson, landed in 1911 when he led the first Australasian Antarctic Expedition. A century on, our expedition is following in Mawson's footsteps, sailing through the same seas, visiting the same coastline and planning to repeat many of his scientific measurements to build a picture of how this pristine part of the world has changed in the past 100 years. | |
| Mawson was an innovator. He was the first to send back daily wireless signals from the Antarctic and the first to transport an airplane to the continent. His was an exploration programme steeped in science – two-thirds of his crew were scientists and he collected two years' worth of data on everything from weather to wildlife and the Earth's magnetic field. | Mawson was an innovator. He was the first to send back daily wireless signals from the Antarctic and the first to transport an airplane to the continent. His was an exploration programme steeped in science – two-thirds of his crew were scientists and he collected two years' worth of data on everything from weather to wildlife and the Earth's magnetic field. |
| He also faced tragedy and horror on the ice: during a three-man trek to map a portion of the interior of the continent in the winter of 1912, he lost two of his closest colleagues. Bellgrave Ninnis fell into a crevasse 500km from base camp, along with most of the food supplies and best sledging dogs. Later, Xavier Mertz died as a result of poisoning. Starved of provisions, they had started to eat their dogs and neither knew that dog livers contain toxic levels of vitamin A. After Mertz died, Mawson endured a month-long solo trek back to his base camp at Commonwealth Bay, arriving just days after his ship, the Aurora, had left for the winter. | He also faced tragedy and horror on the ice: during a three-man trek to map a portion of the interior of the continent in the winter of 1912, he lost two of his closest colleagues. Bellgrave Ninnis fell into a crevasse 500km from base camp, along with most of the food supplies and best sledging dogs. Later, Xavier Mertz died as a result of poisoning. Starved of provisions, they had started to eat their dogs and neither knew that dog livers contain toxic levels of vitamin A. After Mertz died, Mawson endured a month-long solo trek back to his base camp at Commonwealth Bay, arriving just days after his ship, the Aurora, had left for the winter. |
| Mawson was stuck on the ice through the dark Antarctic winter and ended up staying a year longer than planned. He continued to make his scientific measurements the whole time, however, and his meticulous records are one of the most valuable scientific data sets in existence. | Mawson was stuck on the ice through the dark Antarctic winter and ended up staying a year longer than planned. He continued to make his scientific measurements the whole time, however, and his meticulous records are one of the most valuable scientific data sets in existence. |
| Sailing through the Southern Ocean this past week, the modern incarnation of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, led by Chris Turney of the University of New South Wales, has been measuring the temperature and salinity of the surface layers of the ocean. Ornithologists have been counting bird populations and oceanographers have deployed a series of robotic probes and buoys to map ocean currents and temperatures. | Sailing through the Southern Ocean this past week, the modern incarnation of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, led by Chris Turney of the University of New South Wales, has been measuring the temperature and salinity of the surface layers of the ocean. Ornithologists have been counting bird populations and oceanographers have deployed a series of robotic probes and buoys to map ocean currents and temperatures. |
| In the coming week on the ice, the team of scientists will study the marine life in the shallow waters around Commonwealth Bay using remote-operated underwater vehicles, monitor penguins and seals, and drill through the sea ice in Commonwealth Bay to study the temeprature and saltiness of the water underneath. | In the coming week on the ice, the team of scientists will study the marine life in the shallow waters around Commonwealth Bay using remote-operated underwater vehicles, monitor penguins and seals, and drill through the sea ice in Commonwealth Bay to study the temeprature and saltiness of the water underneath. |
| The Shokalskiy was lucky to have made it to Commonwealth Bay so fast. After making it through the rough waters of the Southern Ocean – so rough that a planned stop at Macquarie Island, half way between New Zealand and Antarctica, had to be abandoned – we hit a particularly dense patch of pack ice over the weekend. This ice, formed at sea around the Antarctic and blown around by the wind, can collect into thick patches across the ocean that make it difficult for ships to find a way through. Mawson's ship, the Aurora, encountered thick pack ice but managed to find a quick route through. | The Shokalskiy was lucky to have made it to Commonwealth Bay so fast. After making it through the rough waters of the Southern Ocean – so rough that a planned stop at Macquarie Island, half way between New Zealand and Antarctica, had to be abandoned – we hit a particularly dense patch of pack ice over the weekend. This ice, formed at sea around the Antarctic and blown around by the wind, can collect into thick patches across the ocean that make it difficult for ships to find a way through. Mawson's ship, the Aurora, encountered thick pack ice but managed to find a quick route through. |
| Our ship managed to slice through the young, thin ice relatively easily at lower latitudes but, after 65º South, the ice got too thick and the ship had to go backward and forwards around the perimeter of the ice cover, looking for an opening. The expedition leaders called a meeting, informing us that the pack ice had been exceptionally thick this year and so it might take the best part of a week to find a suitable route. | Our ship managed to slice through the young, thin ice relatively easily at lower latitudes but, after 65º South, the ice got too thick and the ship had to go backward and forwards around the perimeter of the ice cover, looking for an opening. The expedition leaders called a meeting, informing us that the pack ice had been exceptionally thick this year and so it might take the best part of a week to find a suitable route. |
| Late on Monday, however, we had some good luck. A south-westerly wind in the Southern Ocean had shifted some of the pack ice around and the latest satellite maps now showed a possible route through to Commonwealth Bay. All being well, we would arrive within 24 hours. | Late on Monday, however, we had some good luck. A south-westerly wind in the Southern Ocean had shifted some of the pack ice around and the latest satellite maps now showed a possible route through to Commonwealth Bay. All being well, we would arrive within 24 hours. |
| In the end, it took a little longer than that. We arrived within the Antarctic Circle (latitude 66º South) to dark, glassy waters that were calm and clear of the surface ice we had been picking our way through for the past three days. The last 40 miles before we stopped in Commonwealth Bay, we passed a succession of enormous icebergs on all sides, easily fifty or more. Most of them were flat-topped mountains of ice with sheer vertical faces that glinted fiercely when angled just right against the sun. Others had more interesting shapes: topped with acute slopes or, once in a while, more amorphous and bulbous in shape, resembling something living rather than the regular cubic crystals of ice. Whatever their shape, they were all colossal. | In the end, it took a little longer than that. We arrived within the Antarctic Circle (latitude 66º South) to dark, glassy waters that were calm and clear of the surface ice we had been picking our way through for the past three days. The last 40 miles before we stopped in Commonwealth Bay, we passed a succession of enormous icebergs on all sides, easily fifty or more. Most of them were flat-topped mountains of ice with sheer vertical faces that glinted fiercely when angled just right against the sun. Others had more interesting shapes: topped with acute slopes or, once in a while, more amorphous and bulbous in shape, resembling something living rather than the regular cubic crystals of ice. Whatever their shape, they were all colossal. |
| When it was time to stop, the captain of the Shokalskiy did not have the luxury of pulling into a harbour; so he rammed the ship as hard as he could into the ice sheet. He tried this several times, in several locations, before finally dropping anchor near a colony of a few hundred Adelie penguins. Each collision left a V-shaped gouge in the ice where the Shokalskiy's ice-strengthened hull had made its mark. In retaliation, the ice at each gouge had shorn off some of the blue paint on the Shokalskiy's hull. | When it was time to stop, the captain of the Shokalskiy did not have the luxury of pulling into a harbour; so he rammed the ship as hard as he could into the ice sheet. He tried this several times, in several locations, before finally dropping anchor near a colony of a few hundred Adelie penguins. Each collision left a V-shaped gouge in the ice where the Shokalskiy's ice-strengthened hull had made its mark. In retaliation, the ice at each gouge had shorn off some of the blue paint on the Shokalskiy's hull. |
| After a few hours while the scientists unloaded their equipment – including quad bikes and specialised all-terrain vehicles that are part buggy, part boat – and a check by the ship's crew that the ice sheet was safe, we were allowed to walk down the gangplank and onto a new continent. The ice sheet was four years old and several metres thick, though the top foot or so was deep, yielding snow. In the distance, icebergs lined the horizon to the north and mountains to our south. In every direction, the ground stretched out in a flat, uninterrupted, blinding white. | After a few hours while the scientists unloaded their equipment – including quad bikes and specialised all-terrain vehicles that are part buggy, part boat – and a check by the ship's crew that the ice sheet was safe, we were allowed to walk down the gangplank and onto a new continent. The ice sheet was four years old and several metres thick, though the top foot or so was deep, yielding snow. In the distance, icebergs lined the horizon to the north and mountains to our south. In every direction, the ground stretched out in a flat, uninterrupted, blinding white. |
| At first the quiet, unrelenting white landscape and huge skies are disorienting – as if you have stumbled across an expanse of blank paper that is waiting for someone to come along and paint on the scenery. Of course, the emptiness is part of the appeal: after 10 days on a boat, the peaceful ice is welcome. | At first the quiet, unrelenting white landscape and huge skies are disorienting – as if you have stumbled across an expanse of blank paper that is waiting for someone to come along and paint on the scenery. Of course, the emptiness is part of the appeal: after 10 days on a boat, the peaceful ice is welcome. |
| I sat among the Adelie penguins at the water's edge, the closest I'd ever been to these creatures without the glass of a zoo enclosure between us, and watched them waddling around, jumping in and out of the water and sliding around on their bellies. They were inquisitive animals, coming up to meet us as the ship hit the ice. But they kept their distance when we set foot on the ice. If we wandered too close and they would slink away. Some of them looked as though they were trying to sleep, but they always seemed aware of the non-penguins in their midst. Anyone trying to sidle up to a sleeping penguin to take a picture was quickly detected by the prone, sleepy bird, which would soon slide away. | I sat among the Adelie penguins at the water's edge, the closest I'd ever been to these creatures without the glass of a zoo enclosure between us, and watched them waddling around, jumping in and out of the water and sliding around on their bellies. They were inquisitive animals, coming up to meet us as the ship hit the ice. But they kept their distance when we set foot on the ice. If we wandered too close and they would slink away. Some of them looked as though they were trying to sleep, but they always seemed aware of the non-penguins in their midst. Anyone trying to sidle up to a sleeping penguin to take a picture was quickly detected by the prone, sleepy bird, which would soon slide away. |
| We came back on board the ship at almost midnight but, since the sun never goes down here in the summer, it was hard to tell it was so late. Early tomorrow the scientific research teams will spread out across Commonwealth Bay and begin their projects. | We came back on board the ship at almost midnight but, since the sun never goes down here in the summer, it was hard to tell it was so late. Early tomorrow the scientific research teams will spread out across Commonwealth Bay and begin their projects. |
| My own trip into the interior of the continent will begin as well: around 70km from here are the remains of Mawson's huts, the square wooden dwellings where he and his men lived for the two years they were on the ice and which are still standing a century later, in the face of incessant winds and the ravages of snow and ice. If all goes well, later this week we should be standing, with Mawson's intellectual and adventuring heirs, in the exact place from which Mawson himself led the discovery of a brand new world. | My own trip into the interior of the continent will begin as well: around 70km from here are the remains of Mawson's huts, the square wooden dwellings where he and his men lived for the two years they were on the ice and which are still standing a century later, in the face of incessant winds and the ravages of snow and ice. If all goes well, later this week we should be standing, with Mawson's intellectual and adventuring heirs, in the exact place from which Mawson himself led the discovery of a brand new world. |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. | Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |