Antarctica 100 years ago on this date.

One hundred years ago during the later months of 1911 three major expeditions were underway in Antarctica. Two were seeking to reach the south pole and the other was a major mapping and scientific expedition. The following are the daily situation reports (SITREP)* from each expedition marking their progress.

The three parties:-

1.   The Norwegian South Pole Party (Framheim to Pole 1400km). (Amundson, Bjaaland, Whisting, Hannson and Hassel.
The Norwegian party led by Roald Amundson had departed their base at Franheim at the Bay of Whales on September the 8th 1911 only to return because of freezing weather. They finally departed 20th October. They had reached the polar plateau at 10,000’ altitude on 21st November after ascending steep and crevassed glaciers through the Trans Antarctic Mountains over the previous four days (10 days had been expected). Once at the polar plateau they had planned to leave one of the four sleds behind. The meat from the surplus dogs was to supplement the diet of men and the remaining dogs…

2.   The British South Pole Party. (Hut Point to Pole 1400km) Scott, Oats, Wilson, Bowers and Edgar Evans.
On 1st November the South Pole march began for Scott. Sixteen men set out with ponies and dogs for the Barrier stage of the journey to the Beardmore Glacier. The motor-sledges had been used to lay depots and had been abandoned on the 2nd November at Corner Camp after irepairable breakdown. The drivers continued on laying depots by man-hauling the sleds. Here the plan was to have the dogs return to base. The ponies would be shot for food. Then twelve men in three groups would ascend the glacier and cross the polar plateau man-hauling. Only one group would carry on to the pole. The composition of the final polar group would be decided by Scott during the journey.
In the days leading up to the 22nd Scott’s ponies were troublesome but managing but because of the later start Scott was 580 km behind Amundson….

Sledging Ration for British Party (per man per day).
450g biscuits
340g Pemmican (beef extract with 60% pure fat cooked into a thick tasty soup)
85g Sugar
55g Butter
20g tea
17g cocoa

3. The First Australian Antarctic Expedition – Douglas Mawson and Party.
The MS Aurora with Captain John Davis, had arrived at Hobart from England on 4th November. The ship was busy being provisioned and repaired for the sailing date of 2nd December. Mawson supervised newly arrived expeditioners packing and labelling stores and equipment and loading. Coal was also bunkered.  Key equipment loaded included an air –tractor sledge, two wireless plants, a motor launch and sufficient petrol and benzene.
The objective of the Mawson expedition is to establish a radio station at Macquarie Island and scientific studies, investigate more than 3000km of unmapped Antarctic coastline including establishing 3 stations from which expeditions can be launched.

Air-Tractor Sledge (Grasshopper)

SITREP of each expedition .....

South Pole Party party!

On Saturday the 17^th December 2011 at Mawson station we celebrated the success of the race to reach the South Pole between Robert Scott’s British party and Roald Amundsen’s Norwegian party. 

The setting.

On the snow near the living quarters a Polar Pyramid tent was erected and a dog sledge brought out of mothballs was placed nearby. Tables were set and a memorable outdoor dinner was held in bright sunlight. The menu was heavily influenced by rations available to Antarctic Explorers 100 years ago – pemmican, seal, horse and dog. Our own ‘Captain Scott’ the Chef presented a memorable meal that would have had Amundsen and Scott queuing up for seconds. The weather was perfect for the day - sunny, positive temperatures and light winds.

The date coincided with the success of the Norwegian party 100 years ago. The Norwegians arrived a month ahead of the British party. 

Flags flying an the Mawson 'Polheim'

Amundsen took three days to be satisfied with their astronomical fixes resolving the position of the pole. The North Pole, claimed to have been reached by Frederick Cook in 1908 and Robert Peary 1909, was strongly disputed. Amundsen did not want his success at the South Pole challenged.  

Hearty broth w/ pemmican

Amundsen, who initially left Norway destined to be the first to the North Pole, changed his mind shortly after because the race was over before he started. So with eyes to the South Pole he advised his men and invited all to join him, offering to have any who did not wish to embark on this new adventure the chance to leave the ship. All agreed to stay on.

Enjoying the moment.

Antarctic Seal liver roll for 'Little Dog'.

From Diary entries of both parties the jubilation and despair of each of the parties can be seen.

Norwegian Party - 15th December 1911

‘So we arrived and were able to raise our flag at the geographic South Pole – King Hakon VII’s Vidda. Everyone was together when we planted the flag. Thanks be to God. The time is 3pm when this happened.’

Roald Amundsen

Amundsen spent 3 days at the pole making sure his astronomical fixes were correct. Scott is 670 km behind.

English Party - 16th January 2012

‘We found a black flag tied to a sledge bearer, nearby the remains of a camp, sledge tracks and ski tracks going and coming and the clear trace of dogs paws – many dogs. This told us the whole story. The Norwegians have forestalled us and are first at the pole. It is a terrible disappointment, and I am terribly sorry for my loyal companions...’

Robert Scott

Birth of an iceberg - calving new scenery.

East Bay before.

East Bay after 29th November

The gap remaining after calving.

Normally one packs and goes somewhere else to get a change of scenery. However on the morning of the 29th November when Mawson station staff came down for breakfast and looked out on the familiar view across the sea ice of East Bay it was all different. Where previously there was a clear view to the east toward Macey Island out across the sea ice, today there were new icebergs and a tumbled mass of ice around their edges. 

The leading edge of the outflow of ice. Photo C Wilson.

Jumble of rafted ice on the shore

Stranded ice

Algae on underside of sea ice

The low islands close to station now had towering icebergs behind them. All this change had happened silently overnight as a massive slab of ice calved off the nearby glacier. As it broke into pieces, large and small, the larger ones became icebergs. Their orientation was random some tilted, some turned over and others retained their balance. However the amount of smaller pieces of ice the size of a large family car that are now strewn around the edges of these new icebergs is surprising. The extent of the new ice field is in the order of a square kilometre.

Marooned Antarctic Cod

Witness marks from tsunami.

Stranded Starfish

With such a large piece of ice crashing into the water there must have been some wave motion that would have radiated from the site right? Well a small tsunami went unnoticed however evidence along the shore close to the station in a direct line from the fall indicated that the water level reached about 50cm above the previous sea ice level. The wave action violently broke the ice along the shore and rafted it up in jumbled piles. Marine animals were washed ashore and the Skuas were eagerly searcing the edges for food. There was an Antarctic cod and a starfish stranded by the retreating wash.  

Fire Ready at Mawson Station.

Mawson Power house fire 1959  Photo: J Bechervaise

 The risk of fire hazards in Antarctica are high. The air is very dry due to low humidity. That dryness desiccates building materials etc. At Mawson the wind is almost always blowing so if a fire starts it is fanned by strong wind. Fighting a fire anywhere is always dangerous but in the antarctic there are added hazards. Fighting fires in sub zero conditions has the added complication of needing protection both from excessive heat as well as cold. 

Mawson Fire Station (EVS)

Fire Hag ready for action.

 Water for fire fighting must be kept warm so it doesn’t freeze. Once water is sprayed it freezes when it contacts frozen surfaces such as rocks and concrete and dangerous black ice forms.

Site services enclosed in insulated piping.

Mawson station is built on a rocky outcrop and there is very little flat ground. Large slabs and boulders often make up the ground surface so getting the fire hag to a fire can be challenging. Site services such as water for heating, potable water and sewerage as well as electricity and communications cables all run above ground.

Fire suites plus breathing apparatus.

There are 3 concrete bridges on station crossing site services, in the event of a fire the fire hag follows the rough tracks to the closest hydrant but may travel quite a distance to get to it. The living quarters are located very close to the emergency vehicle store (EVS) which is the station fire station.

At Mawson there have been a number of fires over the years resulting in damage, inconvenience and the loss of buildings. The Mawson power house burnt down in a fire on 3 April 1959. A fire in the 90's badly damaged the kitchen. The oven had to be rebuilt on station to enable the chef to cook. In November 2003 a fire broke out in Biscoe Hut, one of five buildings constructed at Mawson when the base was established in 1954. Biscoe Hut is is on the heritage register and has been progressively restored since the fire.

Tas Fire trainers demonstrating extinguishers.

Pre-departure Training.
For us fire training started in early December 2010 at The Tasmanian Fire Service training facility at Cambridge. At ‘Tas Fire’ we attended an intensive one week course that included oil and gas fires, vehicle fires, fire rescue from smoke filled burning buildings, use of breathing apparatus (BA), confined space rescue and more.

Mist shield against high pressure gas cylinder fire

Rod operated the fire pump.

Muz - confined space rescue

Fire chief directing traffic.

BA rescue from burning building

Liquid fuel fire suppression.

Because fire is such a risk at Antarctic stations most station staff are on the fire team.  A Fire Chief is selected for each station who coordinates training and a response to each incident. The Fire Chief (Rolf) has two fire teams. One team is on standby for 2 weeks at a time while the other is off duty. Being on standby means that members need to be in a state of readiness to be able to respond to a fire alarm quickly.
 Being on fire team standby means limitations on drinking and leaving the station. In reality if wanting to leave the station it is a matter of arranging for someone from the other team cover while away. The fire teams are tagged on the fire board located in the mess. This is also the principle muster point for any fire or Search and Rescue (SAR) alarm. The Green Store is the muster point if there is a fire in the living quarters.

Fire board - red tags indicate off station.

On Station Training.
On station there are regular training scenarios and exercises that sometimes involve other emergency teams such as the medical or SAR team. There are also the occasional false alarm to keep us on our toes.

Fire alarms ring inside buildings and sirens wail outside being audible all around the station and beyond, there is no chance of missing a fire alarm! Each alarm requires a full response from all station personal.

BA gear ready for action.

Training exercise - Rushing to BA rescue.

The fire team is made up of 6 members and there are 2 fire teams. Including the fire chief that is 13 out of 19 station staff. There are also medical and SAR teams that have overlapping membership.

Obscured BA mask - search exercise Red Shed.

Each fire team has two members allocated to breathing apparatus (BA) if a smoke filled building needs to be entered. There are  2 members on the hoses who also backup on BA if required. The BA members back up on the hoses if required. . All on the team are trained on BA.

Debrief after BA exercise

The fifth member is the Fire Hag driver who operates the fire pump on the Hag at the fire ground and there is a tank house operator who ensures there is water available to the hydrants from fire water storage tanks at the top of the station.

My position on fire team 2 is BA2 (the second BA person)

There have been a number of training scenarios on station that have required the fire team to turn out including a couple of BA exercises, an outdoors fire and a fire in the incinerator building. Some of these also included a search and rescue and also a medical component.

Weddell Seals pupping.

Tide crack near iceberg

The first Weddell Seal pup has been sighted near Mawson, unfortunately it hadn’t survived.

A small colony of Weddell seals (about 10) have maintained an exit hole in the sea ice along a large tide crack near a large iceberg a short distance from the station. The pup was born between visits on the 8th and 11th September.  A further visit on the 24th September revealed no more pups.

First seal pup did not survive.

Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) belong to a group of seals known as Phocidae or true seals. The most commonly known example of the group is the harp seal.Weddell seals are large animals with both adult males and females about three metres long and weighing around 400–500 kg.

Pregnant female.

The head is small relative to body size and the colour is usually dappled grey and black on the back with a mostly white under-belly.Weddell seals have a circumpolar distribution and are coastal, staying around the fast ice and venturing only 15–20 km into the Southern Ocean to feed.

Ice Hole.

Weddell seals are incredibly placid sedentary animals. They can be approached without much apparent stress to the animal. They haul-out onto the stable fast-ice to rest and moult, and for females to pup, returning to the same area each year. Females of six years and over give birth in October to one pup per year. Pups weigh 25–30 kg at birth and mothers care for them for six weeks by which time they have grown to 110–140 kg. Pups learn to swim and haul-out of the water from one week old.

Seal returning to the colony after feeding.

Weddell seals are the most southerly ranging mammal to permanently inhabit the Antarctic continent. Sightings of the seals have been made in New Zealand and Australia, though they are very rare.

A visit on quads.

Weddell seals are carnivores. Their food varies with time and location but mid-water (pelagic) and bottom dwelling (benthic) fish, squid, octopus and prawns are common.

Sun through alto stratus cloud

Weddell seals are very capable divers, remaining under water for up to 45 minutes and reaching depths as great as 720 m in search of prey. (Source AAD)

Large tide crack near seal colony

looking for new pups.

Go Cats!!

An article that appeared in the Geelong Advertiser that featured Scott the Mawson Chef, an AFL aficionado who cleaned up first prize in the Mawson station as well as the Antarctic Division footy tipping competition at Hobart.
 

Geelong fan's chilling tale of devotion

Noel Murphy   |  September 24th, 2011

GREAT GRAB: Geelong supporter and Mawson Station chef Scott Bryce takes a mark over plumber Rodney McCulloch as electrician ``Muzza'' Murray comes in for a late tackle. Looking on are electrician Lisa O'Conner and carpenter Tim Kerr.

 PRELIMINARY finals used to be played at Arctic Park, out Waverley way, but today it's Antarctica where one of the Cats' most enthusiastic fans will be whooping, hollering ... and shivering.
And Mawson Station chef Scott Bryce says the West Coast Eagles don't have a snowflake's chance against the Cats.

The South Pole expeditioner the Cats' very own Scott of the Antarctic grabbed his Sherrin and donned his best, furriest, blue and white hoops before venturing into very crisp blue skies and white snow to encourage another Scott's charges to victory.

Looking resplendent in bespoke neck-to-knee and beanie, he apologised for not wearing a regulation Cats guernsey. "Just too cold down here for a sleeveless jumper minus 20 today. Thought I would manufacture a 'winter' uniform instead," he said.

That minus 20 was in fact minus 50 with the chill factor, while the wind was belting a tidy 40 knots.
Bryce has his work cut out following the Cats from the faraway frozen reaches but he's nothing if not dedicated.

"Following footy down here, well, it's not that easy but if you are keen you find a way," he said. "We can get games downloaded in Tassie then sent via satellite. "Unfortunately for me, I can't wait a day so I tend to stream radio in live over the net. Not great, I know, and I am certainly missing my regular live footy fix.
"Still, I manage to keep in pretty good touch with what is going on ... couldn't bear to think of a year without footy."

Bryce's home is in Brisbane but he hails from the Riverina and has been following the Cats since his university days in Canberra in the early '80s. Naturally, he's confident as to today's outcome. "I think we will win and comfortably at that," he said simply. "The Cats have been playing outstanding footy coming into the finals and I don't think West Coast hold any real surprises for us. "I feel that we have the better skills and pace to carry the ball out of defence. We have been great at this all year."

Giving credit where it's due, Bryce said West Coast rucks Dean Cox and Nick Naitanui were "hard to match up" but he he felt the Cats' midfield would counter that and dominate the centre regardless. Similarly, he said shutting down Shannon Hurn's ability to drive the Eagles forward from the backline would be key.

And not getting ahead of himself or anything, but he's confident about next week, too. No pretending to keep the lid on down south. "Chalk another one up for the Cats," Bryce said.

Mawson Medical Team

Australian Antarctic stations have a medical doctor and 4 lay surgical assistants who make up the medical team. If there is a medical emergency or a significant patient management need the doctor calls upon station staff who have been trained as surgical assistants, to help. Two staff at each station are trained as lay scrub nurses and 2 are trained as lay anaesthetic nurses.

Lay surgical assistant trainees - Macquarie Island and Mawson

Training of lay surgical assistants takes place at Royal Hobart Hospital in the surgical ward over 2 weeks prior to departure for Antarctica. My role in the medical team is as one of the anaesthetic assistant.

 During training at Royal Hobart Hospital lay surgical assistant nurses learn, in a polar medicine context, about infection control procedures, maintaining a sterile field, scrubbing and gloving, operating theatre procedures, anaesthetic procedures including drugs, setting up and monitoring machines that beep and alarm, remote emergency medical response etc.

Mawson lay surgical assistants at Royal Hobart Hospital.

The anesthetic assistant helps the anaesthetist (station doctor) manage a patient during an operation. This learning included theory and practical sessions using dummies, models and simulations. We also had time in various operating theatres working alongside surgeons and anaesthetists learning and understanding their role and what would be required of us in Antarctica for an emergency.

Emergency Muster on Helicopter deck.

 Fire and Medical emergency on the Aurora Australis.
These new medical skills are then practiced during emergency exercises involving the Fire or Search and Rescue (SAR) teams.

Burns patient safely to the surgery

Our first medical exercise was on the Aurora Australis during our voyage to Mawson. A galley explosion and fire set off the alarms and resulted in an unconscious burns victim. All on board were required to muster on the Helicopter deck in full kit ready to abandon ship if necessary.

The ships fire team quickly suppressed the fire and the medical team provided first response treatment and helped transfer the patient in a stretcher up the flights of stairs to to the ships surgery and then assessed and treated the patient.

Mawson Medical Facilities. 

Emergency resuscitation bay

Medical facilities at Mawson include a consulting and examination room, a small operating theatre and dental suite, a resuscitation bay for emergencies, a well stocked pharmacy, a 2 bed ward and small diagnostic laboratory.

Dental suite

Operating Theatre

Rod the Plumber in the resuscitation bay. (C Wilson)

Assessing a patient (C Wilson)

Fire and medical emergency exercise.

Our first training exercise at station included a fire incident at ‘Warren’ (the industrial incinerator) where Rod the plumber was seriously burnt. The exercise required the fire team to turnout in full fire gear with the fire Hagglund and manage the fire as well as rescue the burn victim and transport him to the surgery for emergency care. Rod made a miraculous recovery. The exercise was a success and highlighted areas to be improved.

Assessing the patient. (C Wilson)

Rich and Lisa on the job.

Lisa monitoring the ECG

Debrief

SAR and Medical Exercise.
Our 2nd exercise had Cotty (another plumber) failing to arrive for lunch triggering a SAR search. The outdoors search resulted in him being found cold and semi conscious potentially suffering hypothermia and from fall injuries.

Plastering a broken leg

He was located on a rock near the tank house. Doctor Rich administered first aid and managed the patient while he was stretchered to the surgery. The rest of the medical team set up the surgery for the arrival of the patient. Rich then assessed and managed the patient in the resuscitation bay with the support of the lay surgical assistants.

The patient was diagnosed with a broken leg and mild hypothermia. The break was set and plastered. After the exercise a debrief was held to determine what worked well and what could be improved.


Ongoing training.

Suturing a tendon.

Fortnightly training sessions are held for the medical team by the doctor. Training activities include setting up the surgery for an operation, setting the anaesthetic machine and ventilator, drawing up the drugs required for a particular operation, setting out the instruments and simulating procedures. Various people volunteer to be patients. Other medical training activities include practicing suturing, injections etc. The aim is that the medical team is familiar with the processes and equipment in case of an emergency. To date there have been no medical emergencies at Mawson.

Plastering practice - Lisa and Tim.

Now where is the vein.