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)
Now, I AM concerned for their safety.
Weather will break on Jan 2 around 0000 local time:
http://www.yr.no/place/Antarctica/Other/Commonwealth_Bay/
It is highly unlikely that Xue Long is stuck. At any rate, she would probably be capable of launching her helo.
I am amazed no one has yet come up with the twitter hash tag #shipoffools. it seems so apt. if I was a twit, I’d have done it days ago.
Just had an email exchange with the Public Affairs Office on the Polar Star. There has been no official press release saying the Polar Star is going to be involved. If and when there is one it will be on the Polar Star web page.
http://www.uscg.mil/pacarea/cgcpolarstar/
[Thank you. Mod]
Rob Ricket says:
December 31, 2013 at 5:34 am
Weather will break on Jan 2 around 0000 local time:
http://www.yr.no/place/Antarctica/Other/Commonwealth_Bay/
___________________________
Unfortunately, that weather break is 180 degrees out of phase from helpful.
The weather break 12 hrs later, I meant… gale force winds and temp drop below 0C. Those are the conditions which trapped them.
There is a sufficient window for the required transport of passengers. Once in progress, each trip should only take 30 mins or less. We are talking about distances around 20 miles via helicopter.
“Was it simple incompetence of ignoring the signs and data at their disposal combined with “full steam ahead” fever?”. A fitting anaolgy for the AGW movement.
The fools on board of the Akademik Shokalskiy just can’t refrain from blathering about their spectacular failure. What a season’s greeting for mankind!
Happy AGW-free 2014, World!
The MSM is now reporting the Chinese ship has not moved in a day and their crew might need to be evacuated as well.
Rob Ricket says:
December 31, 2013 at 5:51 am
There is a sufficient window for the required transport of passengers. Once in progress, each trip should only take 30 mins or less. We are talking about distances around 20 miles via helicopter.
________________________________
Good points- the clear sky is probably most important aspect for rescue, now. Maybe crew/passengers have been engaged in finding/marking a safe landing pad nearby. It’s interesting to note that without the cloud cover, the temperature goes down, exactly as one would expect.
BTW, thanks for great link: http://www.yr.no/place/Antarctica/Other/Commonwealth_Bay/
It’s not just polar bears getting drown from Global Warming but people too…
re: redress says December 31, 2013 at 3:39 am
Think this might come back to haunt! et al
Good find! Thanks for the post!
Akademik Shokalskiy should now be thru celebrating the New Year if they are on Sidney time. Hope they have maintained their spirits with the available spirits.
The Guardian is funding, Snowden science? Free the 99%.
Steve from Rockwood says:
December 30, 2013 at 11:36 am
It’s going to be easy predicting the crisis cruise of 2014. Sea-level rise in the Maldives. What could go wrong on a tropical island?
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What could go wrong? They will run aground on a sandbank about 50 nm out and have to be rescued by a villager in a fishing boat – one at a time. Rowed 50 miles to a small island where they will have to be rescued again. There will be much fun; singing, dancing and hugging though.
Alan Robertson says:
December 30, 2013 at 9:53 pm
Felix says:
December 30, 2013 at 9:17 pm
Does any of this refute data, actual measurements, showing that the Southern Ocean is warming?
___________________________
What data showing the Southern Ocean warming?
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=8239
http://rsta.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/364/1844/1657/F1.expansion.html
Rob Ricket says:
December 31, 2013 at 5:51 am
Not if the Chinese icebreaker Xue Long is also stuck in the ice.
From this article at http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25558276 I find this sentence:
“However, if the Chinese vessel is also stuck and the Australian vessel cannot help it reach clear water, there will be no airlift.”
We are now looking at a potentially deadly situation. The Polar Star is at least 10 days out and pack ice may render these ships inoperable before rescue is achieved.
pat says:
December 30, 2013 at 4:44 pm
But Mr Greenfield, or Anthony Watts for that matter, made little attempt to explain the complex science involved with understanding Antarctic sea ice…
According to Skeptic Science article on Why is southern sea ice increasing…
Australian Greens senator elect for Victoria Janet Rice appears in this Guardian Youtube video published 30 December 2013 from on board the Akademik Shokalski. Janet has a scientific background with her honours thesis on where lows around Antarctica were born and died. She will bring to the new Senate a perceptive understanding of climate science and the need for strong climate action.
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It gets funnier … So if these scientists know so much about Antarctica, how come they are all sitting on a boat sticking out of the ice along with with 2 Icebreakers (plus reinforcements on the way) and a helicopter out to rescue them … they must really know a lot. LOL
Xue Long is underway and making 3.6 knots. Captain Wang is smart enough to hold on station without getting trapped by sea ice.
http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:144.4792/centery:-66.72189/zoom:8/mmsi:412863000
@RockyRoad, There is also the question of whether the deck can support weight of the Chinese ‘hele.’
A sad little paper really, on a par with Michael Mann’s tree-temperature work I would say … can’t address it more since this is OT.
.
Xue Long, Its been good to know yuh.
cedarhill says: @ur momisugly December 31, 2013 at 2:40 am
I’m waiting for the group to be interviewed by the MSM when they hit land in Australia.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Remember what happened to the survivors of Benghazi attack.
The anomaly of water research will top quadrillions.