News in this edition:
35-01. Seven Traverse Groups Currently En Route To The Pole.
35-02. IL-76 Starts ANI Season, But Weather Causes Significant Delays.
35-03. Mauritius Indicates It Will Act On Illegal Fishing.
35-04. Solo Skier Aims At Trans-Antarctic Journey.
35-05. Couple Attempting Back-To-Back Polar Traverses.
35-06. Kayakers Planning 700 Km Peninsula Journey.
35-07. Schooner 'Seamaster' Planning Peninsula Operations.
35-08. Further Restoration Work On Mawson's Huts Scheduled.
35-09. South Georgia Visitor Numbers Expected To Fall This Season.
35-10. King Edward Point Access Restricted Due Building Works.
35-11. Quebec Yard To Commence 'Polar Star' Conversion This Week.
35-12. Whaling Fleet Heads For Ross Sea.
35-13. Coming Events Relevant to Non-Government Activities.

IN READING PLEASE NOTE: This newsletter is being produced in the interest of improved information sharing in the Antarctic community. Inclusion of information in it should not be taken to imply endorsement, by the publishers of ANAN News, of any company, program or associated activity that is listed, nor that the activity has necessarily completed all environmental impact assessments required under the legislation of the 'home' nation.

Despite frustrating delays to inter-continental flights due to weather, seven non-government traverses made up of a total of fifteen people are now en route from the Ellsworth and Dronning Maud Land (DML) regions of Antarctica to the South Geographic Pole (SGP), the first arrivals there being anticipated just before New Year. Another group of ten from the 'Pole to Pole 2000' expedition (ANAN-33/06, 25 October 2000) is expected to join the seven sometime in early December provided their flight from Punta Arenas, Chile, can operate near to schedule, and there are so far unconfirmed rumours of at least one other SGP journey that may commence around the same time.

Three separate traverses made up of five people have started southwards from DML and face the longest journeys to the SGP. All are climbing the slope up towards the main Antarctic plateau and each of them has experienced delays due to bad weather in the last week.

Rolf Bae and Eirik Sønneland of the Norwegian Antarctic Expedition (NAE) wintered in the region this year and commenced their journey on 21 October, over three weeks prior to the others (ANAN-34/04, 8 November 2000). The other two DML traverses, one the two-women party of Anne Bancroft and Liv Arnesen (ANAN-33/09, 25 October 2000) and the other the solo-skier Stane Klemenc (see ANAN-35/04 following), only reached their starting points at 'Blue 1' from Cape Town, South Africa, late on the afternoon of 13 November; twelve days later than anticipated due to flight delays (see ANAN-35/02 following).

Only limited details are available to ANAN on the progress being made by the NAE pair, the last reliable position report received on 12 November putting them 145 km due south of their winter base Troll. This indicates that they had been able to travel an average of around eleven kilometres each day over the preceding ten days, and that they have almost reached the main polar plateau. They have apparently used their parasails although conditions have not been ideal as the winds have been from abeam. Night time temperatures at that stage are reported to have fallen below -50°C at times.

The latest NAE report on the 18th, in which no position was provided, said that Bae and Sønneland were confined to their tent due to weather and that they were "reading, sewing and listening to music". Their elevation at that time was reported to be 2,700 m, which if correct means that the pair have completed the worst part of the steep climb from Troll. The two Norwegians are travelling southwards close to Longitude 3° East, whereas the other two DML traverses are further east in around Longitude 9° East.

On the evening of the 21st, eight days after setting out from 'Blue 1', Bancroft and Arnesen had reportedly travelled some seventy-five kilometres southwards. Late on the 18th they had just started to ascend a particularly steep part of the Sygyn Glacier when they encountered a crevasse field. As the weather was deteriorating they elected to camp until conditions improved, however they were unable to move again until the 21st due to poor weather. Stane Klemenc was reported to be camped 100 m away during the bad weather delay. Prior to that, during the first few days of their journey from 'Blue 1', the two women were able to use their parasails on several occasions although with mixed success, one sail needing repairs after tearing during a tangled deployment, although another allowed them to move well for a short period until the wind became too strong.

The pair had spent the night of their arrival camped at 'Blue 1' to make a final check of their equipment and set out early on the 14th on their planned 100 day, 3,830 km trek pulling sledges weighing around 113 Kg. Additional supplies for the two are to be depoted at the SGP by ANI (ANAN-22/03, 24 May 2000). A media group accompanied Anne and Liv on the flight to 'Blue 1' to obtain a series of images for use by various media during the pair's trans-Antarctic journey, those involved returning to Punta Arenas, Chile, on the aircraft with their materials which are expected to be used extensively over the next few months for publicity purposes by the 'for profit' expedition.

Given the delay in their arrival in Antarctica and overall timing requirements, the pair apparently decided prior to leaving South Africa that they would reduced their route by around 160 km by starting the crossing from 'Blue 1'. Previously Anne and Liv had intended to travel north from the landing area to the Fimbul Ice Shelf so that they could commence from as near to the coast of Antarctica as possible.

Should the three DML groups meet their pre-season travel estimates it appears unlikely that they will reach the SGP before the end of the second week of January, several weeks after the first party travelling overland from Ellsworth Land is expected to arrive.

Ellsworth Land based traverses now underway are made up of four groups of ten people. The Sasquatch pair who are aiming to travel 2,200 km from the Patriot Hills to the SGP and back (ANAN-32/03, 11 October 2000) had been given priority and were flown into the Patriot Hills on the first Ilyushin-76 flight of 9 November. The others, whose ventures are primarily shorter one-way journeys to the Pole, did not reach the ice until the second IL-76 flight on the 18th, however they have all now made a start towards the Pole, although some fleetingly. All four parties were originally to have been flown into the Patriot Hills from Punta Arenas, Chile, by ANI 'Hercules' around 3 November however conditions dictated that they travel on the IL-76 (see ANAN-35/02 following and ANAN-33/02, 25 October 2000).

Sasquatch members Marc Cornelissen and Wilco van Rooijen had by the evening of the 20th travelled a distance of 160 km and were in good spirits after having had considerable difficulties pulling their sledges over the first few days of the trek. They set out from the Patriot Hills each pulling loads of around 165 Kg for their journey to the Pole and back is planned as an unsupported venture. They were forced however to depot some supplies to lighten the load and to modify their sledge runners. This assisted considerably and the pair advanced twenty-five kilometres on the 20th, the best daily total to that time. Marc and Wilco estimated prior to leaving Chile that they would take around forty-five days to reach the SGP, which if achieved could see arrival there just before New Year.

Danish trekkers Gregers Gjersoe and Kristian Joos, who are aiming to traverse from Hercules Inlet on the southern coast of the Ronne Ice Shelf forty kilometres from ANI's Patriot Hills camp to the SGP, arrived at their starting point by Twin Otter on 19 November having spent only a day at the camp in order to try and make up time (ANAN-33/10, 25 October 2000). They were handicapped by poor weather however and were not able to make any progress on the 20th, although data from their ARGOS tracking beacon (ANAN-18/01, 29 March 2000) indicates that they moved nine kilometres southwards the following day.

Blind skier Miles Hilton-Barber and his companion Jon Cook (ANAN-30/02, 13 September 2000) are being accompanied on their 'Challenging Horizons' journey by ANI guides Doug Stoup and Damien Gildea. Stoup has previous Antarctic experience having climbed Vinson Massif before descending via snowboard in November last year, as well as a second visit last February climbing and snow boarding in the Peninsula area (ANAN-17/02, 15 March 2000). He is reported to be planning further so-far unspecified ventures on the continent over the next few years. Gildea has not been to Antarctica before although he has extensive mountaineering experience in other parts of the world. He was to have been the leader of the now-cancelled expedition which aimed to climb Mount McClintock in the Trans-Antarctic Mountains this season (ANAN-33/12, 25 October 2000).

After arriving at the Patriot Hills on the 18th the four men spent the next day checking their equipment and at last report were hoping to be flown to Hercules Inlet to start their 1,100 km trek on the 20th. Unconfirmed reports suggest that Hilton-Barber and Cook have little previous skiing experience and that the quartet will be resupplied by air when about halfway to the Pole.

The remaining traverse group heading south from Ellsworth Land is the 'Wearabies' pair of Thomas and Tina Sjorgen (see ANAN-35/05 following).

Personnel from the traverse groups will not be the first non-government people to reach the U.S. national program station Amundsen-Scott at the SGP this season as ANI is expected to undertake its annual series of tourist flights to the Pole from the Patriot Hills over the next six weeks as weather allows (ANAN-12/03, 5 January 2000). During the coming two months ANI should deliver its 200th paying client to the Pole since it first offered the flights over ten years ago. A visit to the Pole from Punta Arenas, Chile, and return this season costs participants $US25,000.

[ANAN-35/01]

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Adventure Network International's (ANI) flight program for the 2000-01 austral summer has been severely disrupted by bad weather over the first three weeks of the season, however the company's chartered Iluyshin-76 (IL-76) transport proved its capabilities in undertaking three key flights between 9 and 18 November in sometimes difficult conditions. Despite the delays all early-season traverse parties have now been able to make a start (see ANAN-35/01 preceding), although the air operator will now be looking to a long period of good weather in the Ellsworth Land region over the next few weeks as it works to catch up with its planned flying program.

While schedules are rarely met in Antarctic flight operations, ANI's pre-season planning called for heavy-lift flight operations into the Patriot Hills, Ellsworth Land, from Punta Arenas, Chile, to start on 3 November, and from Cape Town, South Africa to 'Blue 1' in Dronning Maud Land (DML) on 1 November (ANAN-34/05, 8 November 2000).

Once completed these operations were to be followed by a further series of Punta-Patriot flights using ANI's chartered 'Hercules' aircraft during November-December to deliver ANI's adventure and tourist clients to the Patriot Hills for on-delivery to their various destinations (ANAN-28/02, 16 August 2000). Other flights by the IL-76 carrying aircraft fuel and supplies in support of ANI's continental operations were to have been interspersed with these revenue sorties.

Due to weather, ANI was not able to position one of its two Twin Otter at the Patriot Hills until 3 November, and the second at 'Blue 1' until 6 November; both aircraft having left Punta Arenas on 31 October. These aircraft have to be in position prior to the inter-continental flights commencing to provide local weather information, advise on the state of the blue ice landing areas, re-erect ANI's field camp in the Patriot Hills and Polar Logistics facilities at 'Blue 1', and prepare for the influx of the clients.

Early in November when flights were due to start, the blue ice surface at the Patriot Hills was reported to be covered by too much snow, then for four days 40-60 knot winds, well above the acceptable limits for landings, continued unabated. The winds at the Patriot Hills are usually across the ice runway and ANI will not attempt landings there if the cross-wind exceeds 15 knots, although the IL-76 is more robust and can handle cross-winds of almost twice that speed, as well as deeper snow on the runway.

Late on the evening of 8 November conditions eased somewhat and the IL-76 was able to leave Punta Arenas, arriving at the Patriot Hills early the next morning. It delivered what is understood to be over 100 drums of fuel, the remaining ANI base camp staff, and the Sasquatch Expedition pair who were 'bumped up' the flight order due to the length of their planned traverse (see ANAN-35/01 preceding). ANI's chartered 'Hercules' was to have followed soon after the IL-76 completed its flight, however Patriot Hills' weather again deteriorated and it was unable to depart.

After completing the return flight to ANI's base camp, the IL-76 then flew to Cape Town, South Africa, arriving there on 11 November. For two days the Twin Otter stationed at 'Blue 1' reported overcast conditions, light snow and poor surface definition, the latter in particular precluding the inter-continental flight from being attempted. By late morning on the 13th however conditions were satisfactory and the aircraft flew to 'Blue 1', arriving late that afternoon after a 5.5 hour flight. The aircraft spent some six hours on the ground at 'Blue 1' in perfect weather, unloaded personnel and equipment, and was refuelled with over 20,000 litres of fuel from drums. It then directly back to Punta Arenas from 'Blue 1', the first such direct flight on that route, and arrived there on the morning of 14 November to find that the 'Hercules' had still not been able to fly south.

In the period from 9-18 November the weather continued to be unsuitable for flying at the Patriot Hills and the Hercules was forced to remain on the ground at Punta Arenas. Low cloud and poor visibility prevailed for much of the time and heavy snow fell, blanketing most of the sixteen square kilometre blue ice area with a deep layer of snow which made the surface unsuitable for landings by the two wheeled aircraft.

Finally conditions improved sufficiently and ANI staff were reportedly able to clear a sufficient area of snow for the IL-76 to land, although the surface is understood to have still not ben suitable for the 'Hercules'. The Ilyushin landed safely at the Patriot Hills on the 18th, delivering another batch of fuel drums, and the remaining members of traverse groups who had been waiting in Punta Arenas for nearly three weeks (see ANAN-35/01 preceding). They had originally been assigned to the first Hercules flight but were changed over to the IL-76 as the Russian designed and built aircraft was able to undertake the flight in the then prevailing conditions. People travelling to Vinson Massif and the Emporer penguin colony in Coates Land remained assigned to the first Hercules operation.

Reports from the Patriot Hills yesterday suggest that high winds and snowfall are again being experienced. No up-dates on inter-continental aircraft movements have been available over the last few days however and it is not known whether the 'Hercules' managed to make its first flight of the season from Punta Arenas before conditions again deteriorated.

The Basler-67, ski-equipped DC-3 derivative, which was waiting in Punta Arenas for a flight to the U.S. national program station McMurdo on Ross Island, arrived at its destination on the 19th after crossing Antarctica via the Patriot Hills. This indicates that the weather was suitable for a flight from Punta Arenas, however as the aircraft is ski-equipped it does not necessarily follow that the 'Hercules' has been able to land at the Patriot Hills.

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The recently elected government of Mauritius has announced that it intends to assist an international campaign to stop the illegal exploitation of lucrative fish stocks in Antarctic and sub-Antarctic waters, and there have been some signs in recent weeks that it may be taking a firmer approach to inspecting fishing boats visiting Port Louis and their catches.

Port Louis in Mauritius has been an important trans-shipment and provisioning port for vessels who fish illegally in the region around Antarctica which is managed under the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), and the announcement and any concerted, long-term, action by the government is an important step in efforts to stamp out illegal and unregulated fishing operations in the CCAMLR area. Especially promising is the Mauritian declaration that it will participate in the CCAMLR Catch Documentation Scheme for Patagonian toothfish which requires boats to declare the origins of their catch.

The Mauritian move follows sustained diplomatic pressure by a number of CCAMLR nations that port access be denied to illegal operators. The arrival at the south-west Indian Ocean island late last month of a vessel carrying survivors and bodies from the fishing vessel 'Amur' which sank near Kerguelen with the loss of fourteen lives on 9 October may have further influence the government to make its recent decision (ANAN-33/01, 25 October 2000). Police in Port Louis have interviewed the survivors and post mortems were carried out there on the bodies of the eight victims who were recovered following the vessel's sinking. It is understood that a report is being prepared on the incident by Mauritian authorities.

The twenty-six survivors and the bodies of eight of the victims arrived in Mauritius on board the vessel 'Lena' on 28 October. The fishing vessels 'Avriza I' and the 'Grand Prince' had originally picked-up the survivors and recovered the eight bodies at the site of the sinking, however French rescue authorities say that both craft left the scene straight away and failed to respond to offers of medical and other aid that was available on Kerguelen only a few hours steaming away. Survivors were eventually transferred first to what is understood to be another fishing vessel, the 'Sadav', and then to the 'Lena' for delivery to Mauritius.

At last month's 19th annual meeting of the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) held in Hobart, Australia, last month, Chile reported that its marine authorities had inspected the 'Amur' earlier this year and that the Sao Tomé and Principe registered vessel had insufficient safety equipment for all crew members. 'Amur' was not permitted to leave Chile until a "substantial overhauling and refitting of its safety devices" had been undertaken. CCAMLR expressed its concern at this tragic incident and said that fishing vessels who were engaged in illegal, unregulated and unreported operations in the ocean around Antarctica were often of a very poor standard and represented a threat to the lives of their crew members.

In another fishing matter the owners and Captain of the U.K. flagged fishing vessel "Mila" pleaded guilty in Stanley on 6 November to charges brought under Falkland Islands law of fishing illegally in CCAMLR waters.

'Mila' was sighted well inside the Heard Island Exclusive Economic Zone on 10 September by an Australian Fisheries Management Authority Observer and the crew on board the authorised Australian fishing vessel 'Austral Leader'. Heard Island waters lie within the CCAMLR area and Australia, which strongly supports CCAMLR's management objectives, had not authorised the vessel to fish in the region. When discovered 'Mila' claimed to be a Uruguayan vessel of another name and obscured its identity markings under banners; its true identity only being discovered after a two hour chase by the 'Austral Leader'.

Following the return of 'Austral Leader' to Australia, statements and other evidence were provided by Australian authorities to the Falkland Islands Government to assist them in their prosecution. The owners and the Master were convicted and fined the equivalent of $US200,000 and $US7,150 respectively, and some ninety tonnes of Patagonian toothfish found on board the vessel, estimated to have been worth around $US300,000 was forfeited. The "Mila" was also disqualified for holding a CCAMLR licence for two years.

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Slovenien skier, Stane Klemenc, set out from 'Blue 1' in Dronning Maud Land on 14 November on a planned 100 day, 3,840 km solo traverse across Antarctica to Ross Island via the South Geographic Pole (SGP) after a two-week delay due to flight delays (see ANAN-35/02 preceding). Klemenc, who is an experienced alpinist who has the fastest climb of Antarctica's Vinson Massif to his credit, hopes to utilise wind power and a unique chair-like device to help speed him on what is planned as an unsupported journey.

Klemenc's web site, which is written primarily in Slovenien, indicates that he plans to follow a route across the continent very similar to that targeted by Anne Bancroft and Liv Arnesen. The skier says however that he will decided on whether to attempt the full crossing when he reaches the SGP, and may instead head north from there to the Patriot Hills in Ellsworth Land from where Adventure Network International (ANI) would fly him to Chile. One observer has suggested to ANAN that such a change of route is likely given the high costs that would be involved in returning him from Ross Island on the other side of the continent.

The solo-skier's key piece of equipment is a carbon-fibre, chair-like, device which has been designed to allow Klemenc to utilise parasails from a sitting position. The parasails are attached to, and controlled from, the chair, his sled with supplies and other equipment being harnessed behind the seat. When conditions are not suitable for use of parasails Klemenc will pull the sled behind him with the chair following on behind that.

During the past week daily reports now available in English indicate that the solo skier has been travelling in the close vicinity of Anne Bancroft and Liv Arnesen (see ANAN-35/01 preceding), although he appears to be having trouble with his Orbcomm satellite communications system (ANAN-32/06, 11 October 2000) as no up-dates of his progress have been promulgated over the last three days. There have been no reports to date as to whether Stane has been able to try his sail-chair system. Information of his progress is being passed to his web site via Polar Logistics' field camp at 'Blue 1'.

It seems likely that ANI, which flew Stane to 'Blue 1' from Cape Town in mid-month, is providing search-and-rescue cover during the crossing and may return him from Ross Island by air to Punta Arenas, Chile, via the Patriot Hills, although no confirmation of such an arrangements is available to ANAN.

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U.K./U.S. couple Thomas and Tina Sjorgen, who set out from Hercules Inlet in Ellsworth Land on 19 November on an unsupported, 1,100 km traverse, to the South Geographic Pole (SGP), plan to complete a similar journey across the Arctic Ocean to the North Geographic Pole (NGP) by early May next year. The pair's two-pole venture, which goes under the title 'The Pole Wearables Expedition 2000-01', has as one of its aims the testing of a new, light-weight, 'wearable' communications system which has been designed to provide what are described as "un-limited global communications" from small mobile parties operating in remote areas, including the polar regions.

The Sjorgens arrived in the Patriot Hills, Ellsworth Land, on 18 November, their Adventure Network International (ANI) flight from Punta Arenas, Chile, having been delayed over two weeks by bad weather (see ANAN-35/02 preceding). Their original schedule called for them to arrive at the SGP around 3 January, although this is now more likely to be closer to mid-January.

After flying back to the Patriot Hills and Punta Arenas, Chile, with ANI, they were anticipating arriving in either northern Canada or Russia for their NGP attempt on 23 February. Start of the NGP traverse is currently listed for 3 March and arrival at the top of the world as around 3 May; although just what effect the delayed start of their present traverse will have on their Arctic timetable is unknown at this time.

The pair were flown the forty kilometres from ANI's Patriot Hills camp by ANI's Cessna 185 late on the 19th, and while they are believed to have made around ten kilometres by yesterday evening, poor weather had kept them in their tent for at least a day.

In the lead up to their double-expedition the pair have been working with a number of telecommunications companies and individuals to develop the new communications systems which will be tested during their journey. In addition to the hardware, which consists of a head-mounted eye piece, a small computer worn on the waist and a 'mouse' attached to a finger, work undertaken has included the development of new software designed to allow the transmission of images via the Orbcomm text-message satellite system (ANAN-32/06, 11 October 2000).

Each Orbcomm messages is limited to a maximum of 200 characters and the Sjorgens say that their software divides each image into individual text-message packages which after passing through the satellite system are reassembled at the receiving point using related software. A major challenge during the south and north polar journeys will be to protect the equipment from low temperatures.

Tests of the system and software have reportedly been successfully from places as diverse as Venezuela and the Mount Everest Base Camp, although some trials conducted to date in Arctic regions have been unsuccessful. An image from the vicinity of Hercules Inlet in Ellsworth Land was successfully transmitted via Orbcomm yesterday and has already been posted on their web site under the 'poles' section.

Thomas and Tina are both reported to have been involved in a number of adventure activities over the past five years, including climbing in the Himalayas, several major ocean crossings by yacht, and ventures in tropical jungle areas. Thomas was born in Sweden and is now reported as a resident of the U.K., while Tina, who was originally from the former Czechoslovakia and then lived in Sweden, nowadays resides in the U.S.

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Three New Zealanders are proposing to undertake a self-supported, 700 km journey by sea kayak down the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula in January-February under the 'Adventure Philosophy' banner. While it will not be the first independent kayaking journey in the region, it is certainly the most ambitious, with plans calling for a circumnavigation of Adelaide Island at the end of the journey in late February should ice and other conditions allow.

The three planning the venture are Graham Charles, Marcus Waters and Mark Jones, all of whom are understood to be experienced white water, and long distance sea kayakers, although only Charles has been to Antarctica before. The kayaks to be used for the journey are 5.9 m in length, have a Kevlar hull, a reinforced bow, and lifting points via which they can be hoisted on and off support yachts or ice floes. A second hatch has beenadded in the rear of each craft which will allow the team to carry just over a cubic metre of food and equipment between them for the six week journey.

The trio are scheduled to leave Ushuaia, Argentina, on 10 January on board the yacht 'Sea Master' (see ANAN-34/07 following), and plan to start their kayaking journey at Hope Bay in the north-east of the Peninsula about a week later as conditions allow. From Hope Bay they are proposing to paddle around the northern tip of the Peninsula then south along the coast of the Bransfield, Orleans and Gerlache Straits, camping ashore overnight where possible en route.

During the first 300 km of their journey along the eastern shore of Bransfield Strait, the three men will be particularly exposed to the elements. Few shore landings will be possible and the trio will have to find shelter at sea, or on an island, for overnight stays or in the event of bad weather. Graham Charles told ANAN that the most critical task for he and his companions will be anticipating changes in weather and staying together, the latter being particularly difficult when gale force winds blow and each paddler have their hoods fully up.

If the journey is proceeding well as they head south, the three plan to cross the middle part of Gerlache Strait to undertake "some fjord exploration" on both Brabant and Anvers Islands, and will then head for Paradise Bay which they expect to reach by mid-February. After leaving Paradise Bay they hope to travel through both the Lemaire and Grandidier Channels, and on across the Antarctic Circle into Crystal Sound, and even into Margeurite Bay and "around Adelaide Island ... if ice conditions allow". The three acknowledge how difficult ice conditions can be south of the Grandidier Channel even at the height of summer (ANAN-14/03, 2 February 2000), however they are hopeful of reaching at least the Antarctic Circle.

The kayakers propose travelling on their own during the first month of the venture although it is understood that they will maintain radio contact during this period with 'Sea Master' and the commercially operated yacht 'Tooluka' (ANAN-33/12, 25 October 2000), which will be supporting a separate three man group in the area during January and early February (ANAN-33/08, 25 October 2000). When 'Tooluka' has completed that task it will return to Ushuaia, and then travel south again around 12 February with a three-person film crew who are to document the last few weeks of the kayaking venture.

It is anticipated that 'Tooluka' could meet up with the kayakers somewhere in the area south of Paradise Bay. The expedition's web site says that the yacht's "biggest job will be to find [the kayakers] in the ice", although they will have both VHF and HF radios. After the rendezvous, plans call for 'Tooluka' to shadow the paddlers over the last parts of their journey and when they have travelled as far south as is practical, or around 26 February at the latest, 'Tooluka' is to take them on board and return to Ushuaia. Arrival in the southern Argentinian port is due around 10 March.

A contract has been signed with U.S. film maker American Adventure Productions (AAP) for the production of the film on the venture. AAP's products are normally distributed to a range of markets, including free to air television, cable networks, movie theatres, and home video outlets. The film crew will be led by N.Z. film producer James Heyward.

The type of problems kayakers can experience in the Peninsula region with sea ice has been detailed by Australians Wade Fairley and Angus Finney who travelled from the South Shetland Islands to the vicinity of Weincke Island in November-December 1993.

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The Channel Islands registered, New Zealand crewed, Schooner 'Seamaster', is to visit the Antarctic Peninsula region in January and February for filming and other programs, may also support the proposed reinactment of Sir Ernest Shackleton's 1916 open boat journey planned for April-May next year (ANAN-32/04, 11 October 2000).

'Seamaster', which is skippered by N.Z. yachtsman Sir Peter Blake, is scheduled to leave Ushuaia, Argentina, on its first voyage to the Antarctic Peninsula on 10 January, its first task being to deploy three kayakers in the Hope Bay region (see ANAN-35/06 preceding).

Details of just what activities are planned in the Peninsula or just where the yacht will attempt to go after it reaches Hope Bay are not currently available. Blake's project is said to be affiliated to the United Nations' Environmental Program however ANAN has not yet been able to confirm this or just what the work proposed involves, although so far unconfirmed media reports suggest that whales will be the prime focus. It is understood that a film crew will accompany the yacht to the Peninsula and that a television series is planned in what Blake has reportedly described as "in the genre of the old Jacques Cousteau undersea shows". Blake has been linked with the Cousteau Society in recent years, however that association apparently no longer applies.

'Seamaster', which was built in 1988, flies up to 400 square metres of sail and has a rounded, 2.5 cm thick, hull and retractable centreboards; the latter features enabling it better cope with difficulties should it become best in pack ice. Its original name is not known but last year it was renamed 'Antarctic Explorer' and was to be used by the Cousteau Society for "expanded missions to polar regions" with Blake at the helm. Sir Peter was at one time being described in some media reports as a 'joint leader' of the Society with President Francine Cousteau. Since then the two have gone their separate ways and Blake change the yacht's name to 'Seamaster' and is now operating it under the banner 'Blake Expeditions'.

Sir Peter was quoted in New Zealand Herald newspaper on 10 November as saying that after returning from the January-February Peninsula voyage, 'Seamaster' is to accompany a "British exploration team replicating one of the Antarctic voyages of Sir Ernest Shackleton in the early 1900s". This appears to be a reference to the 'Shackleton 2000' expedition which is proposing to reinact Shackleton's famous 1916 open boat journey in April-May next year (ANAN-32/04, 11 October 2000), although this has yet to be confirmed. Indications are that 'Seamaster' will undertake further expedition activity in the Amazon region later in 2001, however there are apparently no plans for the yacht to winter in Antarctica next year.

'Seamaster' left Auckland, NZ, on 11 November and is due to reach Ushuaia, Argentina, by mid-December. It is not known if Blake has any plans to operate the yacht in Antarctica after the 2000-01 season.

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The Australian non-government group the AAP Mawsons' Huts Foundation (AMHF) is preparing to mount its second and final expedition to Commonwealth Bay, George V Land, to conduct conservation work on the historic huts at Cape Denison used by Sir Douglas Mawson's Australasian Antarctic Expedition of 1911-14.

AMHF's eight-person party is to depart from Hobart, Australia, on 12 December on the first Antarctic voyage of Ocean Frontiers' vessel "Sir Hubert Wilkins" (ANAN-28/10, 16 August 2000). Plans call for the party to spend three weeks at Cape Denison while the vessel carries out other tasks in the George V, Adelie Lands region.

Since its inception in 1996, the AMHF has been working closely with the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) and the Australian Heritage Commission (AHC) to formulate and carry out conservation work. Both agencies are part of the Australian Government which has management responsibility for the Cape Denison site.

AHMF conducted a reconnaissance at Cape Denison in 1996-97, then sent an eleven-person conservation party there in 1997-98, transport being provided by N.Z. tour company Heritage Expeditions on the vessel 'Akademic Shokalskiy' under a AMHF contract. Over a period of seven weeks the group stabilised the internal structures of the Main Hut, repaired the roof of the workshop section, and completed other priority work that had been approved by the AAD and AHC. Electronic environmental monitoring sensors were installed inside the hut and they have been collecting temperature and humidity data since that time (ANAN-8/05, 10 November 1999).

The aim of this season's work is to complete tasks that were on the works plan for the first expedition but which could not be completed, and which were originally scheduled last year (ANAN-2/04, 18 August 1999). These including repair of the collar ties in the workshop hut to stabilise the roof, and cleaning up the general area of the historic site to restore its appearance to the view Mawson had when he departed Cape Denison for the last time in 1931. Additional environmental monitoring equipment will be installed inside the huts to continue the already highly successful monitoring program which is providing important data which can be used in support of future conservation planning and research.

AMHF is a private group and its marketing initiatives have raised considerable monies for the conservation work. The Australian Government has also assisted the project, providing the equivalent of $US280,000 to support the work over the last three years. Attempts have been made by other private groups and the AAD/AHC to addresses Mawson's Huts conservation issues for many decades, however AMHF's venture has been the most successful to date.
 
As part of its work the Foundation commissioned the Sydney-based heritage specialist company Godden Mackay Logan Pty. Ltd. to prepare, in consultation with a steering committee which included AAD and AHC staff, a long-term Conservation Management Plan (CMP) for the huts. Contributions from a 1998 public seminar, which was attended by many heritage specialists from Australia and overseas, have also been used in the preparation of the CMP.

Public comment on the draft plan is now being sought and those wishing to make submissions should forward their comments by 31 January 2001 to Rob Easther, the leader of this season's program, at: Rob.Easther@aad.gov.au. Copies of the CMP are available on the Foundation's web site.

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The number of commercial tourists who are expected to land on South Georgia this austral summer appears likely to fall by around 13% from the 2,629 of the record 1999-2000 'Millennium' season, although the overall figure for 2000-01 is expected to continue the long-term up-wards trend of the last decade.

Data collated by ANAN indicates that twelve ships with a capacity of between 36 and 164 passengers expect to make a total of twenty-eight visits to the island over the next four months, and it is estimated that around 2,300 passengers could make landings at various points on the island. In addition to the ships, four yachts are currently thought to be planning visits to the island, two of them conducting science projects for the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands' (GSGSSI), while another is to visit in association with the Whaling Museum at Gytviken. Last season thirty-five ship and four yacht visits are believed to have occurred, visitor numbers then jumping by 23% on those for the previous 1998-99 summer.

Gordon Liddle, the GSGSSI's Operations Manager, told ANAN last week that one of the most important issues that arises from a study of 1999-2000 visitor figures is the number of tour staff and ship's crew who accompany paying passengers landing on the island. Liddle says that while actual tourist numbers for last season totalled 2,629, some 320 tour staff and 300 ship's crew brought the total number who landed from tour vessels to 3,249. At one site, Possession Bay in the island's north-west, half the visitors recorded were ship's guides and crew; which is a significant factor that must be borne in mind when studies of 'tourist' impacts are undertaken.

Information collected on tourist visitors is an important component to the three-year, GSGSSI-funded, Environmental Baseline Survey and Tourist Impact Assessment study which is to enter its second phase on the island this season. The aim of this work is to protect the island's natural values while ensuring sustainable management of economic resources and developments (ANAN-6/06, 13 October 1999). Researcher Sally Poncet will again head the study and is to be assisted from late December by Dr Jenny Scott, who last week finished a month-long study on sub-Antarctic Heard Island in the south-west Indian Ocean with the Australian national program. The Falkland Islands based yacht 'Golden Fleece' (ANAN-21/03, 10 May 2000) is to be used to support the research program and it arrived at the island earlier this month to start the season's operations.

A second management study, whose aim is to conduct a preliminary assessment into the possibility of eradicating rats from islands and discrete sites on the mainland bounded by glaciers, is scheduled this season. The work is to be undertaken by Andy Cox from the Department of Conservation (DOC) in New Zealand. DOC has considerable experience in eradicating introduced species from some of the N.Z. sub-Antarctic islands, and is also involved with Australian authorities on a cat-eradication project on Macquarie Island. Gordon Liddle says that if the rat study proves successful, and provided monies are found for on-going work, he believes that the benefits to management of the island would be significant.

In addition to the management work the Falkland Islands Government is planning to remove around 120 reindeer fawns from South Georgia and transport them to the Falklands to begin a breeding program for commercial farming. While the GSGSSI has approved the work it is not an active participant in the program. The project has reportedly stimulated a great deal of interest in the Falkland Islands.

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Visits by tourists and other visitors to the King Edward Point (KEP) area on South Georgia will be carefully managed for health and safety reasons over the next five months as U.K. authorities undertake a building program on the site. The aim of the work, which heraldsthe return of British Antarctic Survey personnel to the Grytviken area and the departure of the military garrison, is to provide scientific and other support facilities for GSGSSI-directed fisheries management in the South Georgia region.

Tour ship and other expedition leaders wishing to provide passengers with the opportunity to visit KEP and the Shackleton memorial cross on Hope Point, are required to obtain prior permission from the island's Marine Officer, Pat Lurcock. Pat will coordinate visits to KEP by small groups and arrange appropriate escorts. KEP lies across King Edward Cove from the former Grytviken whaling station and its museum where most visitors land; the walk between the two areas taking around half an hour.

Arrangements for visits to the former whaling station Grytviken are unchanged, the usual restrictions applying because of the dilapidated, dangerous condition of some of the buildings and other structures there.

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Conversion work planned by Canada's Karlsen Shipping to prepare its vessel 'Polar Star' for Antarctic tourist operations in 2001-02 is scheduled to commence in Quebec, Canada, this week.

Karlsen Shipping President Martin Karlsen told ANAN that the vessel sailed from Halifax on Canada's east coast to Quebec early this month, and went into dry dock on arrival at the Verrault Navigation Company's yard. Since then bilge keels have been installed and a number of Class inspections undertaken. Specifications for the conversion, including drawings and other items, have been approved by the authorities concerned, and the vessel has successfully entered class.

Verrault Navigation was awarded the contract for the conversion and is to start the work this week and completion is expected on time in late April or early May 2001. Modifications proposed include adding three-decks to the vessel's stern section for fifty new self-contained double passenger cabins, a panoramic lounge, lecture facilities, redesign and refurbishment of the dining room and galley, and other general alterations (ANAN-28/09, 16 August 2000). The vessel will be capable of carrying up to 94 passengers and six expedition staff when the work in finished. It is not known what the conversion work will cost, although earlier this year Canadian newspaper reports put it at around $US5M.

Norwegian company Polar Star Expeditions Pty. Ltd., which was established earlier this year, is to charter the ship for Antarctic operations in 2001-02, eleven voyages currently being planned between 7 November 2001 and 12 March 2002 (ANAN-32/01, 11 October 2000). The vessel will also conduct similar operations in the Arctic, the first of which is due in mid-2001. Those operations will be undertaken by a different, but related, tour company however.

Karlsen purchased 'Polar Star' as the 1969 built 'Njord' from the Swedish government last April. The vessel was laid up at the company's Halifax yard from its arrival there on 19 May until its departure for Quebec this month.

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A four-vessel whaling fleet which left the south-eastern Japanese port of Shimonoseki last weekend, is expected to conduct operations in the Ross Sea region south of New Zealand for four months from mid-December.

This season's fleet is the same that operated last austral summer, and consists of the factory ship 'Nishin Maru' of 7,575 gross tonnes, and three catcher ships with a gross tonnages between 720 and 812 tonnes. A Special Permit issued by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (JMAFF) for the operation states that the vessels can catch up to 400 Minke whales, but goes on to say that up to 440 of this species can be taken should it be necessary.

Whaling operations are being undertaken despite a resolution of the International Whaling Commission last July which asked the Japanese government to refrain from issuing any Special Permits for whaling in waters around Antarctica this season. In August fifteen nations are reported to have protested to Japan through diplomatic channels. Greenpeace and other non-government conservation groups have also expressed their opposition to continued whaling in Antarctic and other waters.

It is not known whether Greenpeace, which last year mounted a voyage in opposition to the fleet's activites with the vessel 'Arctic Sunrise" (ANAN-14/08, 2 February 2000), plans to shadow the fleet again this season. The non-government group, which harassed the whaling fleet for a month last December-January, obtained world-wide publicity for its actions. Despite that the fleet apparently returned to Japan from the south Indian Ocean region earlier this year just one Minke whale short of the quota of 440 allocated to it by the JMAFF for the 1999-2000 Antarctic season (ANAN-11/16, 22 December 1999).

Some media reports have suggested that Greenpeace's finances are being stretched by the wide range of activities the organisation undertakes, and some observers have told ANAN that they may not be in a position to mount further expeditions this year. Greenpeace was not prepared to comment publicly on whether it has any plans for any operations in Antarctic waters over the next few months.

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YEAR 2001

5 February (King George Island, Antarctica)
Fourth Antarctic Marathon and Half Marathon.
Contact: marathon@shore.net (Thom Gilligan)

May [Date to be set](St Petersburg, Russia)
Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting XXIV

July [Dates to be set] (Washington, D.C., United States).
IAATO year 2001 annual meeting.
Contact: iaato@iaato.org (Denise Landau)(invitation required).

20-24 August (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)\
COMNAP XIII (including the sub-committee on Tourism and Non-Government Operations).
Contact: jsayers@comnap.aq (Jack Sayers).

YEAR 2002

February [Date to be set](King George Island, Antarctica)
Fifth Antarctic Marathon and Half Marathon.
Contact: marathon@shore.net (Thom Gilligan)

July [Dates/location to be set] (Europe).
IAATO year 2002 annual meeting.
Contact: iaato@iaato.org (Denise Landau)(invitation required).

13-18 July (Shanghai, China)
COMNAP XIV (including the sub-committee on Tourism and Non-Government Operations).
Contact: jsayers@comnap.aq (Jack Sayers).

YEAR 2003

July [Dates to be set] (Seattle, United States).
IAATO year 2003 annual meeting.
Contact: iaato@iaato.org (Denise Landau)(invitation required).

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