This will be a top “sticky” post for awhile since interest is high – new stories will appear below this one – Anthony
UPDATE: Josh channels the boat people
UPDATE2: Another irony is discovered, this one doubly deep. See update 2 below.
UPDATE4: AMSA: Helicopter rescue of Akademik Shokalskiy likely to commence shortly
(It’s off again, then now its on again, with report the helicopter has landed)
UPDATE5: All the passengers (tourists and scientists) are off the ship
UPDATE6: Tough questions need to be asked
UPDATE7: Trouble on the rescue ship – reaching open water not so easy
As we reported previously on WUWT here and here, the saga of the “climate scientists/tourists trapped in ice” continues to fascinate many. Now a second ship has given up on rescue, after the Chinese ship “Snow Dragon” gave up two days ago. The Aurora Australis has abandoned rescue of the trapped Russian “research”vessel in Antarctica and a helicopter evacuation in now being ordered. This episode has taken on a heightened comedic fiasco-like quality.
Now, with such a fantastic failure in full world view, questions are going to start being asked. For example, with advanced tools at their disposal (that Mawson never had) such as near real-time satellite imaging of Antarctic sea ice, GPS navigation, on-board Internet, radar, and satellite communications, one wonders how these folks managed to get themselves stuck at all. Was it simple incompetence of ignoring the signs and data at their disposal combined with “full steam ahead” fever? Even the captain of the Aurora Australis had the good sense to turn back knowing he’d reached the limits of the ship on his rescue attempt. Or, was it some sort of publicity stunt to draw attention? If it was the latter, it has backfired mightily.
One might argue that with photos like the one below, this whole “Spirit of Mawson” research expedition, is little more than a media stunt.
Source: [ http://twitter.com/GdnAntarctica/status/412977161323036672 ]
Even after the ship was trapped, these reporters still had a party like atmosphere going on:
Source: [ http://twitter.com/GdnAntarctica/status/416881634273525761/photo/1 ]
Yesterday, Andrew Revkin tweeted something that I agreed with, especially since so many of the people trapped in the ice on the ship seem to have a nonchalant, almost partly-like atmosphere going on.
Scientist on trapped Antarctic ship: "Fantastic-I love it when the ice wins & we don't." http://t.co/UsxA2tiV2i What about rescue risk/cost?
— Andrew Revkin 🌎 ✍🏼 🪕 ☮️ (@Revkin) December 29, 2013
Yes, the cost and risk is significant. These folks trapped on-board don’t seem to be cognizant of that issue, following the #spiritofmawson Twitter feed, it’s like watching reports (with pictures and video) from a high school class party.
And here’s the kicker. Even the public saw through the charade at the beginning. Trying to get crowd funding from the public for this trip failed miserably as this Indigogo campaign shows:
Source: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/help-us-return-to-mawson-s-antarctic-hut-the-home-of-the-blizzard
Maybe it had to do with the ridiculous image of Professor Chris Turney in full cold weather gear standing in the midst of a tropical forest.
Right after the ship got stuck and there was a realization that the world was watching, one scientist on-board, Dr. Chris Fogwill, of the University of New South Wales, decided that it would be an opportune time to hit the public for money again:
Source: http://www.spiritofmawson.com/
And again, the public has seen through this, and today, the campaign remains stuck at $1000 with just a few donors. People are realizing that there’s no real science being done on this trip, and that it seems to be little more than a chartered party boat for Antarctic enthusiasts and media.
Now, with the ship to be evacuated via helicopter, will the Akademik Shokalskiy join the list of recent ships that have been sunk in Antarctic waters?
Ships that have sunk in Antarctic waters in recent years (h/t to David Archibald)
The Brazilian yacht “Endless Sea” sank in Maxwell Bay, Ardley Cove on Saturday 7th April, 2012. It was used for “scientific and educational expeditions”.
The sunken remains of the 76-ft Mar Sem Fin, aka “Endless Sea”, which sunk on April 7, 2012, lies at a depth of about 9 meters (30 ft) in Ardley Cove, Antarctica.
In November 2007, the Linblad Explorer hit sea ice and sank.
In April 2013, the Chinese factory fishing ship Kai Xin caught fire and sank near Bransfield Strait at the Antarctic Peninsula.
And there are others, these are just a few recent ones.
With so much concern for the pristine environment of Antarctica, one wonders how much environmental damage these sinkings are doing.
And when the trip is nothing more than a party for your friends and media, disguised as a “scientific expedition”, one wonders if there shouldn’t be some moratorium on such trips.
Richard Tol summed it all up nicely with one sentence:
There has been a strong and statistically significant upward trend in climate-change-related public-relations disasters #spiritofmawson
— Richard Tol (@RichardTol) December 30, 2013
UPDATE:
The #spiritofmawson hashtag is now getting competition from the hashtag #ClitanicDisaster in honor of the trapped climate scientists that the MSM won’t mention as being climate scientists.
========================================================
UPDATE 2:
reader Aphan writes on 2013/12/31 at 7:16 pm
I don’t know if anyone was posted this yet, but the IRONY just gobsmacked me.
The British “explorers” on board the MV Explorer who were “commemorating the Spirit of Shackleton” found themselves repeating HIS adventure when their ship struck a piece of submerged ice and then SANK in the Antarctic in November of 2007! None of the passengers or crew were lost. But HOW AMAZING is it that both the “Spirit of Mawson” trip AND the “Spirit of Shackleton” cruise trips ended in disaster from sea ice?????
http://www.jamescairdsociety.com/shackleton-news-104519.htm
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/news/explorer-sinks-antarctica.html
I mean…come on. What are the odds?
============================================================
Related articles
- Saving the Antarctic scientists, er media, er, activists, er tourists trapped by sea ice (wattsupwiththat.com)
- Antarctic rescue mission fails to reach trapped ship (theguardian.com)
Looks like the helicopter option is now in doubt – from the Beeb…
Rescue for Antarctic ice-bound ship under threat
“Fifty-two passengers and four crew members were due to be evacuated by helicopter from China’s Xue Long ship as soon as conditions allowed.
However, the Xue Long has barely moved in a day and may be stuck in the ice.”
Seems that conditions in the Antarctic are far worse than being reported by the MSM. Careful ignoral???
I feel really sorry for those who have been suckered into believing the CAGW meme. Perhaps their experience will help change their views?
It seems that the scientific head of this expedition did more than just help setting up green technology business as a hobby:
http://joannenova.com.au/2013/12/antarctic-ice-swallows-boat-media-spin/#comment-1362280
his vested interests in the CO2-scare seem to be expand beyond his academic career…
What does a fire on a Chinese fishing vessel have to do with sea ice? Also, if you think the guy in the “tropical forest” has “full cold weather gear on” then you don’t know much about cold weather!
What really matters is this phenomenom:
http://arctic.atmos.uiuc.edu/cryosphere/IMAGES/seaice.recent.antarctic.png
GregM says:
December 31, 2013 at 3:53 am
Hope that the crew on US icebreaker Polar Star, which is on its way for rescue, didn´t forget to bring 85 hockey sticks for the trapped research team.
@Greg, I’d guess they have a boatload of sticks but nary a puck.
BTw this again proves that Australian Higher education has got a serious problem producing these second rate “agenda” scientists. Hopefully they will simply disappear with the Abbot administration slowly but surely LOL
“Since 2010 it has not been possible to access Mawsons Huts by sea so there is some chance that we will also be stopped from accessing the huts. However we do have remote controlled drones and over-ice vehicles onboard our vessel to improve our chances of access…….In other words the outcome is highly uncertain……..”
http://expeditionsonline.com/tour-44/spirit-of-mawson-akademik-shokalskiy
“climatereason says:
December 31, 2013 at 3:50 am
There is nothing new under the sun, the depressing thing being that many of the polar changes in the last century were very well documented. Bartlett made a career as a movie star by appearing on Pathe news reel film in cinemas about his arctic exploits, some of his journeys being funded by National Geographic..
tonyb”
What is “NEW” and different from those times and since the advent of the internet is mobile communications and instant access, Twitter and Viber etc. The internet was a major explosion in “information age”, BUT mobile access to information is instant and vastly larger in coverage. It’s technology!
The Bible was hand-written at one time thus limited access. Then the printing press was invented enabling many more people to have access to it.
While speaking to the missing BBC correspondent, the expedition exhibition by Prof. Christmas Turkey says that the Academic Shockski became immobilized on remobilized very old ice.
Many thanks to all I have plagiarized.
JB says:
December 31, 2013 at 4:09 am
What does a fire on a Chinese fishing vessel have to do with sea ice?
=============================
Nothing at all. But you knew that, didn’t you, because, conveniently just below the photograph, appears this paragraph (helpfully reproduced here so it’s right in front of your eyes).
‘We had to destroy the Antarctic in order to save it’ works for you, does it?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25558276
BBC now saying: “However, it may now be that all of those on board may have to wait for the US icebreaker, the Polar Star,” due to arrive in 10 days time. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25558276
I just love that penguin in the lead photo at the above link to the BBC story. It’s as if he’s saying to camera, “Just look at these loons will you?”
From Expeditions Online – Tours / Spirit of Mawson: Akademik Shokalskiy:
“Day 28 – 4 January 2014
Port Of Bluff
We expect to arrive in the Port of Bluff early in the morning. After breakfast and completion of customs formalities, we will disembark, transfer by coach to downtown Invercargill or to Invercargill Airport. Please make your reservations for travel out of Invercargill after midday.
And so our expedition comes to an end. Less dramatically than Mawson and his men perhaps but we know that Antarctica will have touched you.”
I’m afraid that Antartica will have more than touched you…
Latest: “rescuing” Xue Long now appears herself to be stuck:
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25558276
I cannot think of a better send-off to 2013 and climate change alarmism with this fiasco expanding across to 2014. How many icebreaking ships now are trying to rescue 1 ship? How many ships rescued Mawson?
The BBC article (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25558276) goes to similar pains to emphasise the crew are in no danger. Given 3 failed rescues – and counting – this seems a stretch.
I repeat: these statements appear to be coming from the same people who said there wouldn’t be any ice there in the first place.
Happy New Year from the Akademik Shokalskiy.
Two quick points: Just watched the ABC 24-Hour News Channel and found out that the passengers of a ‘tourist ship’ stuck in ice in Antarctica have been rescued. Whew, that’s a relief, now let’s hope they can do the same for the Russian ship with our scientists on board concocting alibis and fraudulent explanations that blame CO2.
Secondly, I watched the video of the wimp who misses his milkshakes. Antarctic heroes, just ain’t what they used to be.
“Makes you wonder if climate scientists put water in the oven at home to try to make ice cubes.” – See more at: http://notrickszone.com/2013/12/29/veteran-meteorologist-calls-climate-scientists-claims-that-more-sea-ice-proves-global-warming-just-really-despicable/#sthash.f9sywiuI.dpuf
If everybody involved in this crisis is not very careful, this could be heading for a worst case scenario nightmare version of:
I assume all the professionals are fully aware of the risks and this is why they are sending in the heavy icebreakers.
From : http://expeditionsonline.com/tour-44/spirit-of-mawson-akademik-shokalskiy
“This AAE expedition has assembled a team of scientists who are world experts in the natural and physical sciences while also being passionate about science communication. ”
Passionate about science communication. Reminds me of the WUWT thread on science ethics.
It seems the scientists really did know what to expect. My apologies. These startlingly prescient statements are from the expeditions online page, all written into the itinerary well before setting sail.
“Extended period in the Commonwealth Bay, East Antarctic coastline area.”
“A truly white Christmas and Boxing Day”
“Given that we are closing in on the South Magnetic Pole we may see the lights of the Aurora Australis”
http://expeditionsonline.com/tour-44/spirit-of-mawson-akademik-shokalskiy
Thanks to mfo (31st Dec 2013 4:16 AM) for the link!
Felix says: @ur momisugly December 30, 2013 at 9:17 pm
Does any of this refute data, actual measurements, showing that the Southern Ocean is warming?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
What warming? Graph Since 1990 the temperature has dropped like a rock.
Graph from: <a href="http://bobtisdale.wordpress.com/2008/07/24/southern-ocean/"Southern Ocean by Bob Tissdale. He has been looking at the ocean data for years.
His post HERE shows whre you got the idea the Southern Ocean is warming.
Bob goes on to prove that point and provides links to the paper and other discussions of the paper.
Note: Bob started as a believer until he started smelling something fish and began to investigate. Bob, like me is a retiree and receives no funding from the bureaucrats who are after your money or from Big Oil who is also after your money. )
Thankfully, at this point, the ill- fated voyage of the A.S. remains an incomplete metaphor for AGW.