THE PUBLICATION of the NEW ZEALAND ANTARCTIC SOCIETY Vol 29, No
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THE PUBLICATION OF THE NEW ZEALAND ANTARCTIC SOCIETY Vol 29, No. 4, 2011 29, No. Vol RRP $15.95 Vol 29, No. 4, 2011 Issue 218 www.antarctic.org.nz Contents is published quarterly by the New Zealand Antarctic Society Inc. ISSN 0003-5327 The New Zealand Antarctic Society is a Registered Charity CC27118 Please address all publication enquiries to: PUBLISHER: Gusto P.O. Box 11994, Manners Street, Wellington Tel (04) 499 9150, Fax (04) 499 9140 Email: [email protected] EDITOR: Natalie Cadenhead P.O. Box 404, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand Email: [email protected] 64 ASSISTANT EDITOR: Janet Bray INDEXER: Mike Wing PRINTED BY: Format, Wellington NEWS Antarctic round up 61 This publication is printed using vegetable- based inks onto media gloss, which is a stock Dog experience at Bottle Lake Forest Park, sourced from sustainable forests with PEFC Christchurch 63 (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification), EMAS (The EU Eco-Management & Audit Scheme) & ISO accreditations. Antarctic is distributed in flow biowrap. BOOK REVIEW Daughters of Erebus by Paul Holmes reviewed by Lester Chaplow 70 Patron of the New Zealand Antarctic Society: Patron: Professor Peter Barrett, 2008. EVENTS Shackleton‘s Captain 67 Immediate Past Patron: Sir Edmund Hillary. NEW ZEALAND ANTARCTIC SOCIETY HISTORY Austrians in the Antarctic 62 LIFE MEMBERS The Society recognises with life membership, those people who excel in furthering the Gateways to the Pole 64 aims and objectives of the Society or who have given outstanding service in Antarctica. An Antarctic Love Story 68 They are elected by vote at the Annual General Meeting and are restricted to 15 life members at any time. TRIBUTES Philip Jon Stephenson 71 Current Life Members by the year elected: 1. Bernard Stonehouse (UK), 1966 Austen Deans 72 2. John Claydon (Canterbury), 1980 3. Jim Lowery (Wellington), 1982 4. Iris Orchard (Canterbury), 1990 ARTS Poem – Not Enough Information 5. Robin Ormerod (Wellington), 1996 by K. Lietva Back cover 6. Eric Gibbs (Wellington), 1997 7. Baden Norris (Canterbury), 2003 8. Bill Cranfield (Canterbury), 2003 9. Randal Heke (Wellington), 2003 10. Bill Hopper (Wellington), 2004 11. Malcolm Laird (Canterbury), 2006 Cover photo: 12. Arnold Heine (Wellington), 2006 Ernest Joyce on the deck of the Aurora, 1917, Middleton collection, Canterbury Museum: 1974.117.13 13. Margaret Bradshaw (Canterbury), 2006 14. Ray Dibble (Wellington), 2008 15. Norman Hardie (Canterbury), 2008 Issue 218 NEWS Antarctic Round Up September 2011 Ancient whale jawbone found in Scott Statue Latest News The Last Ocean Short Film Antarctica The Christchurch City Council has Competition In October Argentine scientists announced engaged a heritage engineer to work that they found a jawbone of an ancient with conservator Emily Fryer on the The awards ceremony for the whale in Antarctica that they think earthquake damaged Scott statue. He competition was held on 15 September is perhaps the oldest fully aquatic is beginning work soon and will be in Christchurch. There were several whale yet discovered – estimated at 49 undertaking the engineering required for categories. Simon Havas from Western million years. Marcelo Reguero of the the treated statue to stand up again. Springs College in Auckland won the Argentine Antarctic Institute, who led High School Category and the People’s the expedition, said that the relevance Choice award while Bill Morris won 50 years of Research at the of this discovery is that it’s the oldest both the Open Category and Best Film University of Canterbury known completely aquatic whale found with his film titled Captain Scott and A function was held in the Antarctic yet. The team included Argentine the Last Ocean. The films of both Gallery at Canterbury Museum to paleontologist Claudia Tambussi and the winners and the finalists can be celebrate Antarctic research done over Swedish paleontologists Thomas Mors viewed at http://www.lastocean.co.nz/ the last 50 years by researchers from and Jonas Hagstrom of the Natural News/Last-Ocean-Film-Competition- the University of Canterbury. Bryan History Museum in Stockholm. The Winners__I.9405 Storey from Gateway Antarctica gave find could mean that the earliest a summary of some of the highlights whales evolved more quickly from their S.T Lee Lecture in Antarctic Studies of this research and a look into future amphibian precursors than previously research priorities. After this he The Victoria University Foundation thought. presented a crampon on behalf of the in conjunction with the Antarctic NZ TABS team (see Antarctic Vol 29 Research Centre of Victoria University no 1 2011) related to Richard Byrd’s of Wellington hosted a lecture by Steven second Antarctic expedition. Chown from the Centre for Invasion Biology, Stellenbosch University, South Africa. The lecture titled Lion Griefs in the Shade: Global Change Biology in the Antarctic looked at the signals of rapid environmental change in the apparently pristine biological systems of the terrestrial Antarctic. Chown has worked in the Antarctic region for more Scientists uncovering whale jawbone. than 25 years, with much of his research focusing on biodiversity and its response to climate change, biological invasions, December 2011 and their interactions. Race to the Pole October 2011 This season two British Army teams are competing against each other in the 2011 Sustainable Awards Scott-Amundsen Centenary Race, 1911– Antarctica New Zealand was announced 2011. One will follow Scott’s route from as a finalist in the environment category Cape Evans up the Beardmore Glacier, of the 2011 Sustainable 60 Awards, the second one will take Amundsen’s run by Fairfax Media Business Group route from the Bay of Whales up the and PwC, which showcase sustainable Axel Heiberg Glacier. The organiser is business practice in New Zealand. Lt Col Henry Worsley (who completed The winners were announced at the Shackleton’s journey to the Pole in Sustainable 60 Awards evening in 2007/08, manhauling up the Beardmore) Function to celebrate 50 years of Antarctic Research. Auckland on 30 November, 2011. For who will also be leading the team up the Images courtesy Wolfgang Rack. more information on the awards see Axel Heiberg. For more information www.sustainable60.co.nz see: www.scottamundsenrace.org Vol 29, No. 4, 2011 61 HISTORY Austrians in the Antarctic By Ursula Rack January 2011, was the 25th anniversary of an attempt by six Austrians, to reach the Antarctic and to climb Mount Minto (4,163 m) the highest mountain of the Admiralty Range, Victoria Land. Their attempt failed. They lost their ship in the ice and the ship and their dreams sank to the bottom of the Southern Ocean. ustria has a tradition in polar exploration. Carl Weyprecht, Aa German who served in the Austrian Navy in the mid nineteenth century, invented the first International Polar Year (1882-1883). Austrians were often participants, mostly as mountaineers, on polar expeditions. In 1914, an Austrian explorer, Felix König, tried to investigate the Weddell Sea. In Left: Aboard the Southern Quest (left to right): Steve Broni, Giles Kershaw, Graham Phippen, Peter Malcolm, Rebecca contrast to Sir Ernest Shackleton who Ward, John Elder, Ted Addicott, Kurt Czech, Sarah Robert-Tissot, Edi Frosch, Bruno Klausbruckner, Peter Robb, Lynn Davis (sitting), Thea de Moel, Wolfgang, Axt, William Fenton, Ric Mason (front), Andrew Robert-Tissot, David Iggulden, Daryl did his Endurance expedition at the same Jones, Ed Saunier, Tim Lovejoy. Image from: In the Footsteps of Scott, 1987:83 time, König’s plans were destroyed by the Right: The Southern Quest sinking with the crew and all equipment sitting on the sea ice. Image from: In the Footsteps outbreak of World War I. of Scott, 1987:89 Nearly 70 years later, Bruno kilometres separated the ship from the 1986, at the position 76° 56, 8’ South, Klausbruckner and his five companions Antarctic mainland but, not being able 167° 13’ East. One hour later, ironically, prepared an expedition in the Antarctic. to land the ship continued on to Beaufort the ice broke and the passage was free for Expedition leader, Klausbruckner was Island. They had to unload a plane on shipping again. The crew erected a camp accompanied by Wolfgang Axt, a an ice floe which was risky, but on 10 on the ice floe and activated a salvaged mountaineer and photographer; Kurt January, the plane, a Cessna 185, made radio. Personnel at McMurdo Station, Czech, a mountaineer and physician; its first observation flight. The pilot, Giles only 80 km away from the scene of Eduard Frosch, a scientist and second Kershaw, hoped to reach the South Pole. accident, heard the radio message. navigator; Werner Hölzl, a cameraman They headed North towards Cape A day later helicopters from the and mechanic; and Leopold Krenn, the Hallett. On 11 January at about 8 pm United States Coast Guard flew the crew second in command, first navigator and the Southern Quest became trapped to Beaufort Island and then to Cape radio operator. in the ice. Three and a half hours later, Bird on Ross Island and from there to The preparations for the Austrian heavy ice put pressure onto the ship. The McMurdo Station. The operation took expedition to Mount Minto started men tried to free the ship with ineffective about four hours. The 23 crew members in 1982 with an exercise expedition attempts like removing the ice around and the Austrians were safe but they in Greenland to test the equipment the ship or winding it back to the open lost all their equipment and could keep and the condition of the participants. sea with a capstan against an iceberg. only few personal items. On 15 January They reached, in the same year, Heard Nothing worked. the six mountaineers were brought to Island in the sub-Antarctic and this At 10.15 pm the ship was damaged Christchurch and they flew back to gave them their first experiences of the and water penetrated the storage area.