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Communication in Antarctica

12 Nov

I am constantly amazed at the current level of communication between the vast snowy wastes of Antarctica and the outside world.

Felicity Aston, who was the first woman to cross the Antarctic alone , an unbelievable achievement, took a combination of Twitter and iPadio. She sent messages from her satellite phone to TwitterMail and her comments appeared as Tweets. iPadio apparently creates podcasts and transcribes them to blogs. It also uploads audio and text files to a website. Felicity just had to ring a number on her satellite phone and talk.

She carried a Yellowbrick Tracker which bleeped her position every eight hours.

In my research on the early Antarctic heroes the fact that strikes me most is their total isolation. They were literally cut of from all lines of communication to the outside world. Scott had an early form of internal communication in that when he set out on his final journey and realized  that he was without Queen Alexandra’s flag. he was able to communicate with Base from the first depot. Mawson broke new ground when his expedition up a communication network between Macquarie Island, Australia and the Antarctic.This painfully ground into some action. The American, Admiral Richard Byrd ,was the first to really master communications in his huge expeditions. Details of his flight over the South Pole were broadcast in Times Square N.Y.

There are stupendous scientific developments in Antarctica now and communication is one of them

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William Speirs Bruce

9 Nov

I am thinking of writing a biography on Bruce, so any information or special anecdotes will be welcome.

Bruce’s  ambitions in relation to Antarctica came up against the formidable hostility of Sir Clements Markham, the geographer and explorer who was Secretary of The Royal Geographical Society in London for 5 years and its President for 12. When Bruce wrote to Sir Clements asking to join the National Antarctic Expedition, Sir Clements apparently did not reply, so Bruce organized the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition. This Sir Clements considered mischievous rivalry.

Due to Markham’s influence no Polar Medals were awarded to the Scottish expedition

Incidentally two attempts to have a Blue Plaque  on Markham’s London house, organized  by Robert Stevenson of the Antarctic Circle have been unsuccessful. Rob wanted to acknowledge  Sir Clement’s role in re-invigorating interest and enthusiasm for Antarctic exploration in the early 1900s and for his role in helping to eradicate malaria.  But both applications were turned down.

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Lady Spy Gentleman Explorer, The Double Life of Herbert Dyce Murphy

29 Oct

I have just read this fascinating book about Herbert Dyce Murphy by Heather Rossiter. I read the edition published by Jane Curry Publishing, Paddington NSW in 2005. However, I have some reservations about the work that I mention below.

Murphy went to Antarctica on the Australian Antarctic Expedition of 1911-1914, led by Douglas Mawson.  It was originally planned that Murphy would be in charge of a base along the Antarctic coastline from the main base. When this proved impossible he became one of Mawson’s men on the Main Base. The book graphically illustrates the privations, difficulties and deaths of that awful expedition. Mawson himself wrote, when searching for a place to land, that the conditions were ‘like the Ice Age, a picture of Northern Europe during the Great Ice Age 50.000 years previously’.

Murphy, an Australian, was educated in England at Tonbridge School and afterwards at Oxford University. His fascination with the Poles (the North originally) began early and between school and university he experienced the harsh training of  ‘below-deck’ seamen, eventually becoming Second Mate on a barque on the London – Adelaide wool cargo run.

Small and delicate looking, when he was at university he was trained as a British spy in World War1. He contributed to the intelligence knowledge of railway systems in Northern Europe, hugely important information. The fascinating thing about this is that, with courage and daring, he went to Europe dressed as a woman. There is an attractive painting of ‘Edith’ Dyce Murphy in this guise.

What is surprising about the book is the subjective and biased comments about Robert Falcon Scott: P.147 Foolish and stubborn man…..Scott took four others with him to avoidable death…..To get to the superficially ordinary place, Scott and twelve (sic) companions, the final four not yet selected for death….. Marching and man hauling death laden sledges towards his fate.    P.145 Ignoring advice from polar heroes such as Nansen and Borchgrevink, he took an inappropriately equipped and selected team south in 1901.With Wilson and Shackleton he trudged 600 km inland but never got off the Ross Ice Shelf, never saw the plateau. (No mention that this was the first expedition ever to get into the Antarctic interior and the three other nations exploring Antarctica at that time did not get onto the Antarctic mainland). P. 236 Foolish Scott

Perhaps Huntford has been swallowed whole. This is a pity because it gives readers, unfamiliar with the Scott story, a completely erroneous impression of Scott’s achievements and does him a great disservice. Readers may believe these comments as the complete, true picture and thus not seek other accounts. If they do, this they will miss excellent objective accounts of Scott’s legacies.

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Baumgartner’s amazing achievement

22 Oct

The BBC News Magazine of 15/10/2012 reports on this unbelievable feat.

Interestingly, the article draws attention to previous flights, and describes Scott’s balloon flight over the Barrier on the ‘Discovery’ expedition. Other flights are mentioned, including Yuri Gagarin.

Although Scott was fascinated by science and new innovations, I do not think he would have claimed that this venture was anything particularly extraordinary: except of course that it could have ended in disaster as he plummeted to earth!!

Shackleton went up too. He went a bit higher. But after this the balloon was put away

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Scott’s medals

22 Oct

Ursula Wells has written to me to draw attention to the article on the British Museum website (dated 19 Oct 2012), about the museum having acquired the 24 medals awarded to Captain Scott during his life and posthumously.

Scott was hugely admired for years, then the pendulum swung in the other direction. This has been redressed magnificently this year, the centenary of his death.

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The Times Cheltenham Literary Festival 2012

2 Oct

I am one of a discussion panel on ‘Captain Scott’s Men’ at the Cheltenham Festival next week. David Wilson will speak on Edward Wilson. Anne Strathie on ‘Birdie’ Bowers, Patrick Cordingley on ‘Titus’ Oates. I will contribute on Edgar Evans. It should be good; we have all written on our subjects.

The event is L167 at The Town Hall, Main Hall

There are many other fascinating topics being discussed at the festival

You should come along!!

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Sir Ranulph Fiennes; His Winter Trans-Antarctic Expedition

27 Sep

 Sir Ranulph Fiennes plans to lead a team across the Antarctic Continent in the coming polar winter. This would be an unbelievable feat, the first winter expedition ever since Edward Wilson’s trek across Ross Island in search of Emperor Penguin eggs in 1911. Like that early venture the expedition will take place in darkness, in temperatures that could reach minus 90 degrees Celsius and will attempt to break new scientific grounds. Unlike 1911, the expedition will take place at elevations of 11,000 feet; a level that can cause altitude sickness and will cover nearly 4,000 kilometers, starting from the Russian base Novolazareskaya and traveling via the Pole to Ross Island.

It is an amazing venture. Can it possibly succeed? The team will have to be self-sufficient, there will be no search and rescue – aircraft can’t fly inland in winter, because of the darkness and the risk of fuel freezing.

Shackleton planned this journey in 1914. His team was caught in the Weddell Sea and although they got tantalizingly close to the continent, ‘Endurance’ was carried onward around the Weddell Sea until finally the expedition famously got back to habitation after grueling and heroic exploits. Sir Vivian Fuchs finally crossed the continent in 1958. Neither of these expeditions was planned for the winter

There are to be six members in the team. Ranulph Fiennes is quoted as saying that this is his greatest challenge to date -and he has had plenty – and that it will stretch the limits of human endurance, a unique opportunity to carry out scientific tasks in the extreme polar environment, which will make contributions to our understanding of polar warming on the Antarctic continent.

Remarkable! It will be wonderful if they pull it off.

 

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ARCTIC ICE

12 Sep

The Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific is becoming more accessible. The sea ice is disappearing fast. This summer it has shrunk to its lowest since measurements began.

Apparently in 1979, the ice covered nearly 14 million square kilometers. This year it measured 4.1 million sq km.

This has one indisputable effect. The Northwest Passage is becoming more accessible, for navigation and exploration.

As is well known, in 1845 Sir John Franklin led a Royal Naval expedition that was to chart northern Canada and attempt to discover a route through the Northwest Passage, the ‘shortcut’ from the East to West. Sir John perished along with the crews of ‘Erebus’ and ‘Terror’ (the names that had been given given by Ross to the two volcanoes on Ross Island in Antarctica). Searches to discover conclusively what happened to the expedition have regularly failed. There is now a traditional annual summer search for the remains of the ships.  At the rate the sea ice is disappearing, the chances of finding them improve each year.

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Lake Ellsworth, Antarctica

25 Aug

The topography of Antarctica is truly fascinating. BEDMAP shows a three dimensional images of subglacial mountain and lakes, a vast panoply. Only a small percentage is visible above the snow/ice level.

With ice penetrating radar surveys, Lake Vostok, a huge body of water was located in the 1990s. It is now known apparently that there are hundreds of lakes under the ice. They have been undisturbed for millions of years.

Now ground- breaking work to investigate Lake Ellsworth in West Antarctica is about to reach fruition. In December 2012. Professor Martin Siegert of the University of Edinburgh leads a team that will use hotwater drilling to access the lake that lies under 3 km of ice.  A probe will be lowered through the drill-hole to obtain specimens from the lake base and the lake water. High definition cameras will record the underside of the ice sheet. Microbiological, chemical and geophysical analyses will be done.

This approach has the advantage that it is a CLEAN approach that leaves a minimal footprint (the access hole will freeze over, leaving, it is anticipated, no residue from the invasion).

Aims include a search for life in extreme conditions — is it true that wherever there is water there is life? Has any creature managed to survive thousands of years in the dark and cold? If not, has the edge of the envelope of life been reached?

Also the sediment may give clues about past climate changes in the lake bed, possibly new forecasts will be made about future climatic changes.

Robert Scott, Edward Wilson and all the scientists on both the Discovery and the Terra Nova expedition would have been thrilled and excited to know that their efforts contributed so significantly to the beginnings of the opening of the doors on these important mysteries.

 

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Wreck of ‘Terra Nova’ found off Greenland

20 Aug

It is great to hear that the wreck of the trusty ‘Terra Nova’ has been found . She was the wooden whaling ship that carried Robert Scott and his team to the Antarctic on Scott’s second expedition in 1910. Although the British reached the South Pole, they were about five weeks after Amundsen. The British team all died on the return journey. The expedition was known as the Terra Nova’ Expedition.

 

‘Terra Nova’ started her Antarctic journey from Cardiff. This was because of the huge backing given to the expedition by the people of Wales. Funds were short and the Welsh gave money and resources to an extent that exceeded any other town or group in the United Kingdom. Scott was initially initially dubious but he became so appreciative of the Welsh support that he announced that Cardiff would be the return port of call from the South. This happened, but sadly without Scott and his four brave companions, amongst them Chief Petty Officer Edgar Evans, a man from nearby Gower, who had given a rousing speech at the farewell banquet in the Royal Hotel in Cardiff. ‘Terra Nova’ sailed with the Welsh flag, plus a couple of large leeks, proudly hoisted at the mizzen.

 

She nearly came to grief before she reached the far South. She was very  over-laden and the Southern Ocean is amongst the stormiest in the world.   Engulfed by force 10 gales, ‘Terra Nova’ pitched and plunged for three days, as waves broke with increasing fury over her decks washing all before them. The pumps failed and the engines were shut down as the ship drifted at the mercy of the elements. Her survival owed much to the sturdy construction of the Scottish whaler.

 

When she had disembarked her cargo of men, animals and equipment, ‘Terra Nova’ returned to New Zealand, sailing back to Ross Island in early 1912 carrying relief supplies (which included dogs and fourteen mules). The final relief voyage was in early 1913 when she was decked out for a joyful celebration. When the tragic news was transmitted, the flags was hauled down and mail, which had been eagerly sorted for the returning heroes, was quietly sealed.

 

After her return, ‘Terra Nova’ was re purchased by her former owners. She making a quiet and lonely departure from Cardiff in August 1913; no cheering crowds, just huddled groups of onlookers. She recommenced sealing duties. In 1918 she was transporting coal and in 1942 she was charted to carry supplies to base stations in Greenland.

 

Her end came in September 1943.  A report in the Lloyd’s Weekly Casualty Reports of August 1943 stated that she was extensively damaged (by ice) and repairs were impossible. There was a fire on board. ‘Terra Nova’ sank. Her crew was saved and her figurehead was sent to the National Museum of Wales.

 

Now a crew from the Schmidt Ocean Institute has located her with their echo-sounding equipment. It is wonderful that she has been located; a century after the Pole w

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