Off the record: Mawson's long trip home
There were others who played important parts in the opening up of the Antarctic, all of them obsessive and driven individuals. They include: Erich Dagobert von Drygalski, a University of Berlin geography professor; Swede Nils Otto Gustav Nordenskjöd Scotsman William Spiers Bruce; Frenchman Jean Charcot; the great Irishman Ernest Henry Shackleton; Japanese Nobu Shirase; and Bavarian Army lieutenant Wilhelm Filchner. Then came WWII and the era of the private Antarctic expedition was over. After the war only governments could afford to mount Antarctic expeditions, and in 1943 the British began the permanent occupation of the continent.
In 1946, the US Navy Antarctic Developments Project, or `Operation Highjump', was launched and it was perhaps the biggest single event that the continent had ever seen. It was the beginning of the Cold War and the exercise was designed to give US troops experience in polar conditions - 4700 men, 33 aircraft, 13 ships and 10 caterpillar tractors were deployed, and helicopters and icebreakers were used for the first time in Antarctica. In February 1954, the Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions (ANARE) established Mawson station. This was the first permanent scientific station and the only one outside the Peninsula.
The International Geophysical Year (IGY), which lasted from July 1957 to December 1958, brought together the research activities of 66 countries. As part of this, 12 countries - Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the UK, the USA and the USSR - established more than 40 bases on the Antarctic continent and a further 20 on the subantarctic islands. It was the spirit of international cooperation promoted by the IGY that lead directly to the signing of the Antarctic Treaty, which has administered Antarctic affairs since 1961.
The Norwegian invention of the exploding harpoon in 1870 revolutionised whaling and its impact was felt in the Antarctic waters as much as anywhere. Between 1904 and 1966, when the majority of whaling ceased, a total of 41,515 blue whales were caught along with 87,555 fins, 26,754 humpbacks, 15,128 seis and 3716 sperm whales - a total of 175,250 animals! And today around 300 whales are still taken from the Antarctic waters by the Japanese for `research'; that is, they sell the flesh to fund their marine research programmes (whale meat is highly prized in Japanese eateries). Krill is harvested by the Japanese (and a small amount by Russia) at around 100,000 tonnes per anum. The long-line trawling techniques used for catching tuna in the Southern Ocean also manage to snare and drown about 40,000 albatrosses that steal bait from the lines. Iron ore, coal and other mineral deposits have been found on the continent but their quantities and qualities are unknown. Oil and natural gas are said to exist under the continental shelf but commercial exploitation is uneconomic.
Approaching the locals (16K)
Since 1988, two international conventions have been signed to protect the Antarctic from commercial mineral exploitation. The first was the Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resources Activities (CRAMRA) signed by all 26 members of the Antarctic Treaty. Australia and then France repudiated their signatures preferring instead the Protocol on Environmental Protection signed in Madrid in 1991 again by all 26 members of the Antarctic Treaty. This protects the continent from all mining activities for 50 years. The convention requires that all 26 countries enact national legislation to make it international law, and this is yet to happen.
Culture
The isolation of permanent station staff is long and profound. According to recent studies, returning expeditioners who've spent a year or more on the continent display characteristics similar to returning prisoners of war. As the last resupply vessel pulls away the wintering expeditioners, faced with 8 or 9 months' isolation with their comrades, can feel a mixture of dread and elation, but being cut off from the rest of the world is part of what's attractive for these hardy types.
Typically, station staff will be made up of a team leader, a doctor, chef, a handful of meteorological observers, a seismologist, upper-atmosphere physicist, a few diesel mechanics, a carpenter, plumber and an electrician. Over the years there have been a number of incidents that illustrate just how difficult it can be to be trapped on the ice with 15 or so imperfect human beings winter long: recently on Casey, the `tradies' (tradespeople) mutinied, got wildly drunk on home-brew and terrorised the other station staff. The ringleaders were sent home prematurely. During Mawson's 1911-13 expedition, a radio operator had a breakdown and dispatched bogus wireless messages. On Wilkes, years later, a diesel mechanic suffered a breakdown and began wielding a knife - he was confined to a makeshift padded cell for 5 months until he could be taken away aboard spring's first ship. A doctor on an Argentine expedition burnt down the base to force his evacuation, a Soviet scientist once killed a colleague with an axe over a game of chess and FBI agents were sent to the US McMurdo Sound base after two cooks were attacked with a hammer.
Bases often exhibit a distinct national character and typically have video rooms, billiard tables, libraries and bars. Concert evenings are common. Expeditioners have a penchant for clubs: the 300 Club, at the US Amundsen-Scott South Pole base, requires initiates to step naked into a sauna, heated to 200° Fahrenheit (93° Celsius), and then immediately step outside to run around the pole that marks the South Pole (there is one) at -100deg; Fahrenheit (-73° Celsius). The Vanda Swimming Club, at the New Zealand summer base, is made up of those who've broken through the ice of Lake Vanda, bared all and taken the plunge. They probably have a chess club too.
There are no indigenous peoples of Antarctica, but that doesn't mean that visitors shouldn't be respectful of fragile societies that do exist there. Antarctic bases are places of work and researchers need to take time out of their work to accommodate tourists. There's a desire amongst the Antarctic communities to be hospitable to visitors, but they are often pressed for time to complete their work before the season ends. Never enter any building unless you're specifically invited - you may interfere with scientific work or invade someone's privacy, a precious thing in a crowded base. Always take your shoes or boots off when you enter a station building - 90 tourists trudging mud into a base can take a long time to clean up. Never ask to use the toilet in a base: it's environmentally unsound to leave your waste on Antarctica when the facilities on your ship are available, and the onerous task of emptying or cleaning the toilet on the base is made all the worse when a bunch of unthinking tourists fill it to the brim. Perform your ablutions before you leave the ship.
Events
Antarctica's most important holiday is Midwinter Day, on June 22, when the long polar night is half over. There are celebrations in all the bases which include feasting, games, songs and even local theatre productions. The last day of the sun and the first day of the sun are also important dates in the Antarctic calendar, although they fall on different dates depending on latitude. Visitors are unlikely to experience any of these festivities, however, because they occur during the long winter, but Christmas and New Year's Eve are celebrated with much enthusiasm and all the kooky style that a group of scientists and researchers can muster.