ANTARCTIC NON-GOVERNMENT ACTIVITY NEWS
Tourism Industry |
Brief news items on Antarctic and sub-Antarctic
non-government expedition activities.
ANAN 83
Wednesday, 9 October 2002
News in this edition:
83-01. Proposed DML tour ops deferred, mountaineering now targeted.
83-02. Quartet plans traverse of the Sentinel Range.
83-03. Buoy deployments to support major oceanographic program.
83-04. Rumours of 'Endurance' search plans continue to circulate.
83-05. Port Lockroy heritage, monitoring ops entering seventh season.
83-06. Video/DVD released on South Georgia 'Ham' operation.
83-07. Coming Events Relevant to Non-Government Activities.
PROPOSED DML TOUR OPS DEFERRED, MOUNTAINEERING NOW TARGETED
[ANAN-83/01]
Plans by South Africa-based company Antarctic Logistics Centre International (ALCI) to fly tourists to a tent-based field camp in Dronning Maud Land (DML) for a series of ‘on-ice’ adventures during the 2002-03 austral summer have been postponed for 12 months. Despite the deferral, ALCI is understood to be hoping to support several groups of mountaineers in the DML region this coming January, although details of the planned program have apparently not yet been finalised.
ALCI’s tourist proposal involved the provision of seats on national program support flights by Ilyushin-76 [IL-76] heavy-lift jet aircraft from Cape Town to a blue-ice runway near Russia’s Novolazarevskaya station. Tent-based camps were to be established a few kilometres from the station and up to 40 tourists at a time were to be provided with a range of experiences in the local area (ANAN-61/01, 5 December 2001).
All equipment, supplies and fuel required for the 2002-03 tourist operations are believed to have been delivered to Novolazarevskaya last June from the resupply ship ‘Magdalena Oldendorff’ before it became beset off DML (ANAN-77/06, 17 July 2002). However, it is understood that (so far) unspecified problems associated with Oldendorff’s besetment have forced ALCI to postpone its tourist camp initiative until the 2003-04 season.
While the field camp concept has been deferred, ALCI is believed to be hoping to fly several groups of mountaineers to DML for 2-3 week visits in January and February. Just which area is being targeted by the climbers is not clear at this stage, however, a series of challenging, spectacular, peaks, many of which are unclimbed, are located in the DML region (ANAN-41/10, 14 February 2001).
Those involved would fly into Novolazarevskaya from Cape Town on the IL-76, although it is not clear how they would travel from there to the climbing areas 100-150 km inland. Given the time available in the region, and the distances involved, flights by a smaller aircraft from Novolazarevskaya appear to be the only option. No details about that operation have been released at this time.
At last month's Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting in Warsaw, Poland, the Russian Federation provided an environmental impact assessment for the reconstructed blue-ice runway at Novolazarevskaya (ATCM-XXV Working Paper 15).
According to the report from the Fifth meeting of the Committee on Environmental Protection, also held in Warsaw during ATCM XXV, Russian delegates said during discussions that their country "had not been contacted by tour companies about using the runway". They did not, however, preclude the possibility that it could be used for tourism purposes in the future.
US-based tour operator Adventure Network International (ANI) has been offering potential clients two three-week mountaineering visits to the Holtedahl Peaks region of DML in November-December this year for climbing and ski touring activities (ANAN-73/02, 22 May 2002). ANI is to use a separate IL-76 on its main intercontinental flight route from Punta Arenas, Chile to the Patriot Hills in Ellsworth Land over the next three months. It indicated earlier this year that its flights into DML would, like ALCI, operate from and back to Cape Town. It is understood, however, that ANI now plans to undertake those flight operations from Punta Arenas.
ANI has a proven track record of achievement in the Weddell Sea sector over the past 15 years and a well-established marketing strategy for its products (ANAN-28/02, 16 August 2000). If it does successfully provide support for mountaineering and other expeditions in the DML region, then ALCI is likely to be in competition with the US company for market share.
Four Chilean adventures are planning to conduct a 400-km, 60-day man-hauling traverse along the Sentinel Range in Ellsworth Land in November-December this year.
The four men, who are operating under the 'Expedition Antarctica' banner, are Rodrigo Jordan, Eugenio Guzman, Ernesto Olivares and Pablo Guttierrez. Jordan climbed Vinson Massif, Antarctica's highest peak, and located in the Sentinel Range, in 1995, and says that it was during that expedition that the traverse was conceived. It has taken until now though to raise the funds required for the venture.
The group expects to be flown from Punta Arenas to the Patriot Hills in Ellsworth Land by US tour company Adventure Network International's (ANI) chartered Ilyushin-76 on 1 November. If weather permits, an ANI Twin Otter is to fly the group 250 km north to the planned starting point of their trek on the Newcomer Glacier at the northern end of the Sentinel Range four days later.
A small-scale map of the route the men plan to follow shows a zig-zag course along the 200-km length of the Range. The map suggests that while they are in the mountains the traverse will primarily follow glaciated-valley areas between the main ridge lines.
The expedition's web site says, however, that they also "plan to climb to the highest [points]" in order to prepare "an accurate map of the mountains for future expeditions", although good maps of the region are already available.
After the quartet leaves the mountains, the last part of their planned journey will be across open terrain back to the Patriot Hills where they are due around 5 January. ANI is to provide search and rescue cover for the trekkers, but it appears that the traverse is to be conducted without depots as the men expect to pull "heavy sledges". ANI is to fly the four back to Punta Arenas at the end of the expedition.
Expedition Antarctica's web site (http://www.antarcticaexpedition.cl/index.htm) says that near real-time information will be available on the men's progress. Satellite communications will be maintained with expedition headquarters in Santiago, Chile, and daily reports with digital images are expected to be available on line shortly after they are prepared from the field.
Organisers say that they plan to produce a television documentary on the venture, prepare educational materials on Antarctica, and publish two books sometime in 2003.
The tourist ship 'Akademic Shokalskiy' is to deploy 'high-tech' oceanographic buoys in sub-Antarctic and Antarctic waters in support of a major international research program during the 2002-03 austral summer. Data collected by the buoys and others like them are expected to provide key information to researchers studying just how the world's oceans and atmosphere interact to drive the climate of our planet.
'Shokalskiy' is expected to deploy around 30 buoys during two voyages. The first voyage is to operate in Indian Ocean sub-Antarctic waters in November-December (ANAN-59/05, 14 November 2001) and the second involves a visit to the Ross Sea from Hobart, Australia, next January (ANAN-75/04, 19 June 2002). The vessel will not have to deviate from its pre-planned track to deploy the buoys, over 700 of which are expected to be deployed world-wide during 2002 and in each year over the remainder of this decade.
The buoys, which operate automatically once released, are part of a broad-based international program known as 'Argo' whose aim is to monitor the world's oceans on a near continuous basis for the first time. When the 'Argo' system is fully operational in 2005, about 3,000 buoys located around the world are expected to provide some 100,000 ocean profiles every year. Raw data from those already deployed are already available on a near real-time basis via internet-based systems, while quality-controlled information is being provided to scientists within a few months of the collection date.
The first 'Argo' buoys were released two years ago, and over 550 are currently operational. While on-line data reveal that a few tens of buoys are in sub-Antarctic waters at the present time, the great majority are in either northern hemisphere or equatorial waters. Shokalskiy's deployment program will therefore contribute to improving the coverage in southern waters, and illustrates how Antarctic tour ships can sometimes be used to support science programs.
Once they are released from 'Shokalskiy', the buoys automatically 'dive' to a pre-programmed depth of around 2,000 m where they drift in the current for 10-14 days. They then commence an hour-long ascent to the surface, gathering information on the temperature and salinity 'profile' of the ocean as they rise, much like a weather balloon collects soundings in the atmosphere. At the surface, the profile obtained is transmitted to satellites orbiting overhead and from there it is passed on to ground stations for dissemination. After the data have been 'up-loaded' the buoy descends again to its deep drift level to start the sequence all over again.
The request to deploy buoys from 'Shokalskiy' was made by Yuri Volkov, Director of Russia's Far Eastern Hydromet Institute (FERHRI) that owns both that ship and the former Antarctic tour ship 'Professor Khromov'. New Zealand tour company Heritage Expeditions, who are sub-chartering 'Shokalskiy' for both of the voyages involved, readily agreed to the proposal.
FERHRI conducts scientific research that is of Russian origin, as well as research that is part of co-operative studies with Korean, Japanese and US researchers. Shokalskiy's buoys have been provided by the University of Washington in the US, FERHRI's contribution being to arrange deployment and to undertake subsequent data analysis.
Many nations are involved in the Argo project and an international science team coordinates planning of sampling and technical issues. Countries participating can do so in a number of ways, depending on the resources available to them. These include buoy procurement, logistical support for deployments, or data analysis and assimilation of data into the world-wide ocean observing system.
Each Argo buoy costs $US15,000 and consists of a float cylinder around 1.5 m high and 12 cm in diameter, that weighs around 27 kg. Aerials and sensors protrude from the top of the $US15,000 floats, each of which has been designed to have a lifetime of around 80 to 100 cycles over four to five years.
Further details of the Argos program, including near real-time information on where the floating buoys are located, can be obtained on line at either http://www.argo.ucsd.edu or at http://argo.jcommops.org/.
Unconfirmed reports are circulating in the UK that a syndicate is hoping to locate and photograph the remains of Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship 'Endurance' on the floor of the Weddell Sea, possibly as early as next February. ANAN has been approached about these reports and has contacted those said to be involved in the attempt. Although no outright denials were issued, they did not confirm the UK reports and they must therefore be treated with some degree of caution at this stage.
Any search for 'Endurance' would face major challenges. In addition to the factors involved in operating thousands of metres below the ocean surface, the work will have to be undertaken in a region that is frequented by heavy pack-ice and poor weather. While what is left of 'Endurance' when she sank may be well preserved, because of the cold waters, given the nature of her sinking, some doubt exists as to just what could be found by any proposed search. The optimum time to hunt for Shackleton's ship would normally be February when ice conditions in the area where the ship sank are often near their minimum.
Earlier plans for an expedition to find 'Endurance' were announced by US underwater expert, and 'Titanic' "discoverer", Dr Robert Ballard, two years ago (ANAN-27/01, 2 August 2000). However, that operation was eventually deferred as all of the funds required could not be raised (ANAN-48/02, 6 June 2001).
The latest person to be linked to 'Endurance' is UK-based deep-ocean expert David Mearnes, Director of the private company Blue Water Recoveries Limited (BWR). BWR, which operates the survey vessel 'Challenger 1', has extensive experience in deep-water trans-ocean cable surveys, salvage, mineral mining and marine accident investigation.
'Challenger 1' is 51m long, of 650 gross registered tonnes, can carry up to 17 passengers, and is capable of operating at sea for 30 days without resupply. It carries a sophisticated remotely operated vehicle (ROV) that can be lowered from the ship to photograph anything of interest located by the ship's side-scan sonar. Further details of BWR are available on line at: http://www.bluewater.uk.com/.
Mearns told ANAN last week that he was "unable to comment" on rumours about the 'Endurance' "at this time". He is, however, known to have a strong interest in, and to have conducted considerable research on the project. Mearns may be reluctant to reveal his plans at this point to avoid providing information to any potential competitors who may also be attempting to locate the wreck. If Mearnes is planning to use 'Challenger 1' for the 'Endurance' search, then he is likely to need a second vessel, probably an ice breaker, to support the operation.
Last year, 'Challenger 1' was used for an expedition to the North Atlantic to locate and photograph the wrecks of the World War II battleships 'Bismark' and 'Hood'. That venture was funded by the UK-based Channel Four television company which produced documentaries on the endeavour and also streamed live video from the wrecks onto the internet.
'Bismark' was initially located in 1989 by a team led by Ballard, however, its precise seabed position, in 4,700 m of water, was kept a secret and had to be relocated by Mearns using side-scan sonar. Using this technology, and painstaking archive research and navigational analysis, Mearns also located the 'Hood' which had not previously been found.
Several famous deep shipwrecks like the 'Titanic', 'Bismarck' and 'Hood', have been located and photographed by ROVs over the last 15 years. A new phase of operations to such vessels has recently begun and paying passengers have descended 4-5 km in special vessels to view 'Titanic' and 'Bismarck'. Over 50 people have now seen 'Titanic' up close. Dives to the sea floor at the North Geographic Pole are being planned for 2004 or 2005 by the company Deep Ocean Expeditions (http://www.deepoceanexpeditions.com).
Monitoring and heritage programs are to continue at Port Lockroy in the Antarctic Peninsula region in 2002-03, the seventh straight austral summer of operations there since the facility was restored in 1996. The historic station is scheduled to be open from 6 December to 17 March, a similar period to that of recent years (ANAN-59/02, 14 November 2001).
Three UK national program personnel from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) are scheduled to work at Lockroy during the season, although only two will spend the entire summer at the station. Those involved will again welcome visitors to the base, operate the Post Office and small gift shop, carry out further maintenance work on the buildings, and continue the long-term program to monitor the Gentoo penguin population in the vicinity of the site (ANAN-3/09, 1 September 1999).
This season's project leader will be Pete Milner. He and Amanda Lynnes will be at the station for the full season, while Dave Burkitt, who has worked there on six previous occasions, will only stay until early January. All three are to arrive on the UK national program vessel 'RRS James Clark Ross', while Milner and Lynnes are to leave on the 'RRS Ernest Shackleton' three-and-a-half months later.
Additional historic artefacts have been donated for display at the station this year. They include the flag used at the base when it was closed in 1962, a 1953 Midwinter's Day celebration menu, clothing from Operation 'Tabarin' in the mid-1940s, and a mail bag used at the station in the late 1950s. In addition, a modern custom-built 'WR4' receiver is also be installed so that visitors can listen to, and learn about 'whistlers', electronic noises emanating from the upper atmosphere that produce 'musical notes' in communication systems. The first 'whistler' detected in the Antarctica was recorded at Port Lockroy in 1957.
The historic UK station, which is operated over summer by BAS with guidance from the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT) and the British government, was derelict until a UKAHT survey in 1994-95 led to a decision to save and conserve the buildings. A major restoration and clean-up program was undertaken in February 1996 and the facility has been operated each summer since then (ANAN-6/07, 13 October 1999). Lockroy was the most 'popular' Antarctic tourist site in five of the nine austral summers from 1992-2001 (ANAN-28/04, 16 August 2000).
In the 97 days that the station was operational in 2001-02, BAS staff recorded visits there by 6,423 people who landed from a total of 77 tourist ship visits, 8 by national operator vessels, and 25 by yachts. BAS visitor data indicate that total numbers were slightly up on those in the 2000-01 season, but were well below the almost 8,000 who went ashore there in 1999-2000.
Visitor data for Port Lockroy collated by the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) and the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) for 2001-02 (from reports filed by tour ship expedition leaders) are similar when allowance is made for national program visitors and those from non-IAATO yachts.
IAATO/NSF data for 'Goudier Island' (on which the station is located) and 'Port Lockroy', show the same total number of tour ship visits as does the BAS data, although visitors from IAATO vessels were slightly lower at 5,854. IAATO/NSF data also show 22 landings involving 2,796 people at Jougla Point, 100 m to the south-west of the UK station on the mainland of Wiencke Island.
A video and DVD about a ham radio expedition to South Georgia on board the 36-m vessel 'Braveheart' in January-February this year was released late last month. A dozen 'hams' from five nations spent 11 days at the island, making close to 43,000 contacts during a seven-and-a-half day period of operations (ANAN-67/03, 27 February 2002).
The documentary, entitled 'VP8GEO South Georgia 2002', is the second to be produced by the 'Braveheart' group, the first, 'VP8THU South Sandwich 2002', that detailed ham operations on Southern Thule in the South Sandwich Islands in mid-January, was released earlier this year (ANAN-72/04, 8 May 2002).
The South Georgia feature runs for 60 minutes and, in addition to ham radio operations, provides details of the island's history. It is available in both video and DVD formats, both being 'open coded' so that they can be used on video players and computers world-wide. The South Sandwich film is also now available as a DVD; both it and its video also having the 'all region' format.
A single video or DVD costs $US25, a price that includes priority shipping by air, while the 'two island' set is available for $US40.
The video and DVDs have been produced by ham James Brooks, a professional film-maker. They can be purchased via e- mail using a credit card from: jamesb@pacific.net.sg, or on line at: http://home1.pacific.net.sg/~jamesb/vp8geovideo.htm.
Images of the expedition's activities on both islands, taken by US ham George Fremin, can also be viewed on line at: http://www.kkn.net/~k5tr/vp8/.
Please forward notice of events via e-mail to: tourism@aad.gov.au. Up-dates are made to ANAN's web site at: http://www.antdiv.gov.au/goingsouth/tourism/Research/BibConf/Confer/default.asp as soon as new information comes to hand.
YEAR 2002
16-28 December (South Geographic Pole)
High Plateau Marathon (see ANAN-79/10, 14 August 2002).
Contact: general@adventure-network.com
YEAR 2003
3 March (King George Island, Antarctica)
Sixth Antarctic Marathon and Half Marathon (see ANAN-68/09, 13 March 2002).
Contact: marathon@shore.net (Thom Gillian).
9-20 June (Madrid, Spain)
Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting XXVI.
8-11 July (Brest, France)
COMNAP XV (including the sub-committee on Tourism and Non-Government Operations).
Contact: jsayers@comnap.aq (Jack Sayers).
[Dates to be finalised] (Seattle, United States).
IAATO year 2003 annual meeting.
Contact: iaato@iaato.org (Denise Landau)(invitation required).
18-20 September 2003 (Cambridge, U.K.)
Conference on the future of South Georgia (see ANAN-77/07, 17 July 2002).
24 November (Queen Mary and Dronning Maud Land regions).
Total solar eclipse (See ANAN-79/09, 14 August 2002).
YEAR 2004
Sometime around mid-year [Dates to be set] (Christchurch, New Zealand).
IAATO year 2004 annual meeting.
Contact: iaato@iaato.org (Denise Landau)(invitation required).
November-March 2005 (Single-handed Around-the-world via the Southern Ocean)
Vendee Globe 2004 Yacht Race (see ANAN-79/11, 14 August 2002).
December-February 2005 (Circumnavigation of Antarctica).
Antarctica Cup yacht race (see ANAN-79/11, 14 August 2002).
YEAR 2005
November-March 2006 (Around-the-world via the Southern Ocean)
BT Global Challenge Yacht Race
Next edition issued on Wednesday, 16 October 2002 @ 0600 UTC.
Deadline for items: Sunday, 13 October 2002 @ 2359 UTC.
ANTARCTIC NON-GOVERNMENT ACTIVITY NEWS (ANAN)
IN READING PLEASE NOTE: This newsletter is produced in the interest of improved information sharing in the Antarctic and sub-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 concerned.
Links provided in ANAN stories are working at the time of first publication.
AVAILABLE ON LINE TWENTY-FOUR HOURS A DAY:
ANAN archive (including this issue with its built in links):
http://www.antdiv.gov.au/goingsouth/tourism/News/default.asp
Coming events related to non-governmental activity:
http://www.antdiv.gov.au/goingsouth/tourism/Research/BibConf/Confer/default.asp
Links to tourist industry web sites:
http://www.antdiv.gov.au/goingsouth/tourism/Industry/default.asp
EDITOR: Dave Moser (David.Moser@aad.gov.au).
POSTAL: Australian Antarctic Division, Kingston, Tasmania, Australia 7050
TELEPHONE: +61-3-6232-3347 (2200-0600 UTC).
FACSIMILE: +61-3-6232-3357.
RESEARCH/WRITING: Martin Betts (Martin.Betts@aad.gov.au)
TELEPHONE/FACSIMILE: +61-3-6267-4790 (2200-1100 UTC).
FACSIMILE: +61-3-6232-3500.
© Commonwealth of Australia 2002
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