Another Doomed Antarctic Expedition or Maybe There's Something to this "Gore Effect" After All

Diary excerpt recovered from the Shokalskiy......

Tuesday, December 10 2013

Great God.  This is an awful place.

I found myself upon the forecastle, the terrible, gale-force wind, surely over 50 mph, mercilessly tore through my raiment freezing me to the very core.  That’s the last time I leave my cabin without my coat on.

We are here in Antarctica, walking in the footprints of Douglas Mawson; our sacred mission to collect more evidence, to prove once and for all, that Antarctic ice is melting at a frightening rate.  We will soon reach Commonwealth Bay, the very spot Mawson reached 100 years ago sailing safely into the welcoming, unfrozen waters.

Our climate change models all continue to tell us, nay, they continue to shout at us:  that the Antarctic ice is receding at an alarming rate!  Soon we will be able to see our computer models validated.  We will see for ourselves vast expanses of open water.  Where ice used to be.

Wednesday, December 11 2013

Faith is sometimes the only thing we have when everything seems to have turned against us.  Douglas Mawson’s shipmates were men of great faith.   They needed that faith to stay strong, to believe in what they knew to be true despite what their senses told them.  That unshakable faith was the one thing that kept them going, that gave them strength when they needed it, when it seemed impossible to take another step.

Well, let me say something right now. Everyone on this expedition, every single person, has every bit as much faith as anyone on Mawson’s team!

And all of that faith is surely being put to the test because, quite simply, the impossible has happened.  The unimaginable.

We are actually stuck in ice. We are surrounded by miles and miles of six foot deep ice.  Our ship can’t move an inch.   It’s impossible for ice to be here.  It wasn’t here 100 years ago.  And after 100 years of man made global warming there’s no way ice can be here now.  It just can’t.  Every single computer model says the same thing.  The ice has melted.

Faith. 

Like Mawson, my faith is unshakable.   My faith in our computer models is based on science. Science!  And 97% of climate scientists will say the same thing.  There can’t be ice here.  The models can’t all be wrong. 

I believe it’s only a matter of time until all this ice melts and we’re back in open water.  Probably a couple of days at the most.   Maybe a week.    We’ll wait here as long as we have to.  Mark my words. Our faith will be vindicated.  The ice will melt.

Sunday, December 15 2013

The ice hasn’t melted.  We remain stuck.

But in the midst of such incredible bad fortune every single person on this ship has shown incredible resilience and remarkable strength of will.  Despite our predicament we have all kept busy and used our time as productively as possible.  Morale is high.

Since this is a scientific expedition I have been giving daily lectures.  My 1:00 pm talk today on “Surface Meltwater” was sparsely attended, however.  Most on board have wisely used our unfortunate circumstances to catch up on much needed sleep.  Taking note of this, starting tomorrow, I’ll move the lecture start time to 3:00 pm..  Hicksby, in truth, was the only attendee today and after initially enthusiastically engaging with me, he, too, succumbed to the too-early start and was unable to remain awake.

Myers, Shelton, Rigolsby, Turner and some others showing tremendous initiative and resourcefulness spent many hours outside today constructing igloos and also an ice-slide! I can only shake my head in amazement at their skill.  Luckily I was able to dash outside and have a video taken of me on the ingenious ice slide and I quickly posted the video on Facebook and was elated to quickly garner several “likes”.

But, on the darker side, today also provided a sobering test of my leadership position.  Smedley and Crothers led a very angry group of eight and forced their way into my cabin.  These people were not very happy and they loudly demanded that the 6:00 opening time for the bar be eliminated and that the bar be kept open all day.  Outrageous!  In no uncertain terms, I firmly advised the group that this was certainly not going to happen and that the earliest, the absolutely earliest, that I would permit the bar to open would be noon.

 Tuesday, December 17 2013

The gods have truly smiled upon us.  After days of lifeless desolation we have been visited by a magnificent rookery of curious Adelie penguins!  Oh joy.

We were all instantly off the ship and began taking picture after picture.  It’s intensely gratifying to imagine the important contribution these photographs will make to the scientific record.  Adelie penguins in their natural habitat!  Hastings beat all of us and was the first to tweet one of these priceless photographic records!  Seeing an Adelie penguin in a zoo is one thing.  But for someone to see a picture of an actual Adelie penguin while actually still in Antarctica?? Words fail me.

It was amazing to see how these noble Monarchs of the Antarctic would come right up to us as if to welcome us to their kingdom! Humbling to imagine that we are the first humans these majestic creatures have ever encountered. 

And then it was the turn of the marine biologists to go to work.

First it was feather samples.  Skin samples.  And even blubber samples.   Who knows what vital contributions to science these samples would one day provide?  The penguins seemed only too happy to give us whatever we needed.

It took a while but Hopkins was able to attach a tag and transmitter to dozens of our new friends.  And a few were even outfitted with cameras on both their front and back.  It was an amazing sight to see a penguin bravely waddle off whilst laden down with all this new gear attached to him.  He has no idea what an important little fellow he is!!

Hopkins needed some more skin samples but inexplicably found it difficult to round up some more of our new friends.  They all frantically waddled off as fast as they could at the very sight of him.  Hopkins, himself a somewhat rotund man, was still able to run some of them down and obtain the much needed skin and blubber samples.  But, still.  Very odd behaviour. 

Something must have spooked the penguins.  I wonder what it was.  

 

Saturday, December 21 2013

There have already been so many parallels on this trip with the challenges faced by the early explorers such as Shackleton and, of course, Mawson.  But nothing could have prepared us for the sheer emotional intensity many of us felt today. Some couldn’t help but break down in paroxysms of sobbing.  I knew this expedition would affect all of us in unknown ways but it definitely restores your faith in your fellow man - and woman - to experience real emotions at the sheer power wrought by this continent!  Will explain shortly.

Today was the day we walked in the very footprints of Mawson and his doomed companions. 

As we all got onto our amphibious all terrain vehicles, we carefully double checked the gear.  Antarctica is the most unforgiving place on the planet.  Forgetting to pack some essential supply could mean death.  The trip to Mawson’s hut could take as long as three hours.  If our Argos broke down we would not have the option of eating sled dog’s like Mawson was able to do.  We had to rely only on what we could carry.  Ice coring equipment, satellite phones, GPS, penguin survey equipment, medical supplies, sleeping bags, thermal blankets, pillow, propane heater, food, Dutch oven, emergency kit, flares, tent, porta-potty, bottled water, recycling containers, hand wipes.  The Argo was fully loaded but I was still able to climb aboard,

It was a frigid minus six degrees Celsius when we finally made it to Mawson’s cabin.  Hard to believe he was able to survive so long here! I couldn’t help but think he should have made the place bigger.

We took pictures in front of the hut, quickly tweeted them, and began our journey back.  We were all starting to get a little cold and a little hungry.  Tonight the kitchen staff was planning roasted lamb with mint jelly topped off with a Lamington.  We wanted to get back before it was all gone.

 But our day held one more incredible, albeit heartbreaking, surprise for us.

Shortly after passing the exact spot where one of Mawson’s men had tragically fell into a crevasse to his death we were startled by loud cracking sounds! Astounding!  Directly in front of us we were observing huge chunks of ice calving off of a glacier.  We moved in closer.  Oh no.  The glacier was directly adjacent to a penguin nesting ground!  Hundreds.  Thousands of penguins.  And even worse.  Penguin eggs!  penguin eggs were being threatened by the huge chunks of ice.  Penguins frantically waddled away to safety.  But the eggs!  The eggs.  We had to save the eggs.  Smathers heroically dove in front of a falling chunk of ice and absorbed the full impact but managed to protect several of the precious eggs.  I quickly tweeted a picture. 

Ice chunks continued to fall but, thank Providence!, out of the hundreds of penguin eggs, perhaps only twenty or thirty fell victim to Mother Natures fury.  Some of us became overcome with emotion as we collected the broken shells.  It was so unfair.  Why should these innocent penguin eggs perish because we as a species have not yet done everything possible to stop global warming? Melting glaciers destroying penguin eggs! The guilt, and yes, even rage overwhelmed us.  Smathers was inconsolable.  His cries of agony could be heard for miles.

Tonight’s summer solstice ceremony that we were all looking forward to has just taken on an even deeper meaning.  These penguin eggs, these unborn chicks, will never be forgotten!

Wednesday, December 25 2013

Drat and confound it! The bad luck we have encountered staggers the mind!

My studies have finally revealed the reasons for this completely inexplicable presence of sea ice.  We are all quite right and have been right all along: the ice should not be here.  No doubt about that. But due to the unanticipated confluence of several factors – the pervasive deep low pressure systems, 50 mph winds, the funnelling effect from the ice sheet – we are experiencing a once in a century reconfiguration of thick multi-year sea ice!  No one could have guessed this could happen.

I have just received vital satellite images that confirms what I have been suspecting all along.  A large iceberg known as B09B, calved from the continent and collided in spectacular fashion with the extended tongue of the Mertz Glacier (of all the confounded luck!).  The resulting knock-on effect has filled Commonwealth Bay and completely surrounded us with thick sea ice.

Can you believe the luck?  The very time we come to Antarctica totally expecting open waters and what goes and happens?  The loss of the Mertz Glacier tongue causes a massive reconfiguration of sea ice!  Mother Gaia has played quite a trick on us.  We are completely and hopelessly stuck.

I have, therefore, sent out an SOS.

Friday, December 27 2013

Three different ice breakers are slowly but surely making their ways toward us.  

Despite the incredibly adverse conditions, morale remains incredibly high.

But as conditions deteriorate will we be able to cope?

Wednesday, January 1 2014

The situation is very bleak indeed.  Half of us are too weak to even get out of bed, Peacock doing the best he can with the meagre supplies at his disposal.  Oates unable even to open his eyes.  Bowers continues to vomit uncontrollably. Wilson lies completely motionless, the slightest sound causing him unspeakable pain.  I found Evans unconscious outside his cabin, he unable to summon the strength even to reach shelter.  Dear Lord.  Had I only known that such wide spread suffering could have been prevented!  By God!  Mark my words!  Next year’s New Years Eve party will have strict limits on alcohol consumption.

Friday, January 3 2014

I am trying to see the silver lining.  But it’s difficult.

Helicopters are on the way and we will soon be airlifted to safety.  The immediate danger is over.  The helicopter ride should be fun.  And I hope I can get a picture of me in the helicopter for my Facebook page.

But I can’t deny that some real damage has occurred.  The plight of our expedition has become well known to the entire world and right on cue all of the denialist bloggers out there are having great sport with our predicament.

And no matter how many times I try to explain that we are not trapped in new ice, that we are trapped in OLD ICE, they refuse to listen.  The satellite images prove it beyond a doubt.  And I have ice cores galore to show them.  In fact, one ice core is eight feet long.  What more proof do you need?  I just hope I can get it on the helicopter.

This is always the problem dealing with climate change deniers.  No matter how much you explain.  No matter how much proof you provide.  IT’S NEVER ENOUGH!!

We are not trapped in NEW ice!  None of this is our fault.  The computer models are all perfectly correct.  Why can’t they understand about the iceberg colliding with the Mertz glacier tongue?  Don’t they know that sometimes old ice can reconfigure? 

This is what I’m always faced with.  I’m sick of it. The planet continues to get warmer.  End of story. So we got stuck in the ice.  Big deal.  If anything, our expedition is even more proof that the Earth is getting warmer. Why won't the denialists listen? I've done all I can.  I can’t deal with these idiots anymore.

It seems a pity, but I do not think I can write more.