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)
Imagine how differently this “exhibition” would have been reported on by the MSM, had they not been trapped in the ice. They would have been hailed as “brave scientists” instead of being referred to as “tourists”, and their “findings” showing how much melting etc. had taken place would have been trumpeted far and wide as further “proof” of disasterous manmade climate change taking place. Of course, that was their plan all along, but oh no, that ultimate of all den#ialists mother nature had other plans.
Can the Warmist herds hear the worldwide laughter now?
One thing can be trusted in regard to this matter there local. The Ice. Trust it for it is real.
These others and what they say and do not do much.
If the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. If you are a professor of climate change, every event looks like a result of climate change.
An idea for the UNSW: establish a professorship of season’s change.
JB says:
December 31, 2013 at 8:32 am
“Dirk … there is a fair bit of seismic exploration in the Arctic often involving icebreakers as support vessels. I know, I’ve been there doing it.”
Well of course. They all bet on the warmists being correct, like Turney did. But nobody operates a drilling rig in pack ice. Because it’s not possible.
Besides, you should look into the spill detection systems that are mandatory in Norway and have not been mandatory in the Gulf of Mexico during the Macondo spill.
And BTW, there’s a ton of natural oil spills all the time everywhere. Human caused spills are only relevant if they approach the amount of natural spills. I don’t know if there are natural oil spills in the arctis. But what are you gonna do about them? Quick; panic, protest against natural oil spills in front of Barack H. Obama’s exterritorial swampland compound.
Aah; nothing like a helicopter flight to test the old ‘mal de mer’ resistance. Brisk winds, crowded chopper, bounces for ever gust…
I wonder how many will keep their penguin down for the whole flight?
‘This old ice, broken free elsewhere and blown here just to make us semi qualified parasitic scientists look like bloddy fools…’
Ah, yes Dr. Turkey; did you notice that the old ice is un-melted sea ice? Sea ice is sea ice no matter how many times you try to skate the issue. If it was global pwning AGW, wouldn’t the ice have melted than go on vacation with you?
Now, how much of the ‘fresh water’ below the ice did you drink? This question is more serious than you apparently suspect. Have you noticed any pink ice elephants or flying penguins? Perhaps as your co-sponsor’s hand went numb in the open air and you claimed it was so warm it’s raining, you noticed that the gritty and cold rain bounced?
Has anyone else noticed that the CAGW true faithful are more than a little blind to reality and facts?
negrum says:
December 31, 2013 at 9:18 am
“I wonder if Catastrophic Anthropogenic Climate Change will start replacing Acts of God in insurance contracts?”
Acts Of Climate Change, very good! Like Drones have replaced Zeus’ lightning bolts. Even called Hellfire, how apt. That makes Barack H. Obama the Lightbringer.
heh! Glenncz: Have you noticed the new name on the ship in the picture above?
Good one!
6.30am Wednesday 1st NZT
National Radio reports Xue Long (Snow Dragon) trapped in ice, helicopter uplift delayed indefinitely until Aurora can break through to free Xue Long.
This could never be made into a film, no-one would believe it.
negrum says:
I wonder if Catastrophic Anthropogenic Climate Change will start replacing Acts of God in insurance contracts?
Most likely. And with the treaty they were trying to concoct in Warsaw last month, developed nations will be the underwriters. Just a twist on the usual arrangements tho’ , no premiums, just payouts.
What’s not to like?
Dirk H says:
And BTW, there’s a ton of natural oil spills all the time everywhere.
___________________________
And of course there are the intentional oil spills, millions of miles of them that we call asphalt roads.
“glenncz says: December 31, 2013 at 3:14 am
The saga of the HHS INCONVENIENT TRUTH”
since it’s russian registered merchant vessel that should be
M.V. INCONVENIENT PRAVDA
Background: In a comment over at Climate, Etc. I called Dr. Titley a lair (and explained why) for his comments during the recent congressional climate hearings (also involving Dr. Spencer & Dr. Pielke) and had my comment censored/removed. JC said its was a comment without content and not in keeping with her policy of civil discourse.
So I just posted the following:
————————————
I was hoping to find a thread on the global warming Antarctica “science” expedition stuck in ice and unreachable by three icebreakers to date.
One would be tempted to call out its leader (Dr. Turney) as a liar of sorts, but such observations are of course censored on this site (as Dr. Titley reminds us). Unfortunately, if public discourse continues in the direction of NOT being able call out things as they are, you are left with the party lying believing such behavior is a perfectly workable mode of operation.
Much as Obama continues to lie without recourse, there have been several recent events in the media that reflect where such unbalanced “civil” discourse leads. AGW has built an entire movement on the belief that it is acceptable to manipulate the truth, data and even history for its own objectives. Many who sat on the fence during this period in history now want only “civil” discourse to ensue.
In other words, when you follow the Mawson expedition of 100 years ago where historic records/pictures show no ice and clear access to the shore for his wooden ships by and expedition 100 years later to observe the igreat loss of sea ice in an unprecedented [global] warming world and become trapped in ice of sufficient thickness that even three icebreakers can’t rescue you…
..It’s still not “ok” in civil discourse to call out the AGW movement as a lie and those who foster its underpinnings as liars.
Compare these two statements from the latest BBC report:
“The Australian icebreaker, the Aurora Australis, is holding its position in clear water beyond the mass of pack ice trapping us. Its two attempts to reach us yesterday failed.”
“However, the Chinese ship, the Xue Long, may now be trapped itself. It has barely moved position in a day, according to one of the leaders of the Australian Antarctic Expedition 2013, Prof Chris Turney.”
The notional reports the Chinese ship is stuck is nothing more than poor speculation by Turney, because it hasn’t moved much, which is exactly what one would expect it to do in bad weather with no clear course of action.
Hope that all ends well and with little drama – else we could be looking at GLOBAL WARMING’S FIRST MARTYRS! And that would be a bad, bad, thing.
These Fools out to be made to ROW home, once they hit open water.
@Felix
How did Prof. Turney’s “old ice” survive your “warming” Southern Ocean for “a few years”, as he states? Just wondering.
According to the video blogs here
http://www.youtube.com/user/christurney/videos
One called “A day in the life on the Shokalskiy”, there are children on-board this ship (or at least one). Now I’m beginning to get angry at the hubris and carelessness of Turney and the other “scientists”.
E.M.Smith says:
December 31, 2013 at 8:51 am
Yep, will be keeping an eye on this for as long as I’m around, but may not make it to 2050 myself – but at least the kids know what to ‘look out’ for when the tax and power grabbers conspire on their next scare tactics.
In the Arctic, sea ice is melting because of global warming; in Antarctica, sea ice is not melting because of global warming. Simple no?
Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. . . . . . They have met their enemy, and They are Them. It’s a damn shame that their necks aren’t depending on wind and solar powered Icebreakers and Helicopters.
This is how the Gene Pool becomes polluted – they will be saved.
In an Ayn Rand novel, they would be less fortunate.
How does Prof. Turney’s “old ice” grow from 1-2 meters thick when his boat got stuck to about 5 meters now? Just wondering.
This link presents a map of the Southern Ocean showing the trend in SST from 1982 to 2010.
http://www.hindawi.com/isrn/oceanography/2013/392632/fig5/
The authors conclude that ” From both these images, a very important observation can be made; that is, the part of the Southern Ocean in the East Antarctic sector is experiencing a significant warming while the West Antarctic sector, a more significant cooling, in general. However, as a whole, the area experiencing cooling over the entire Southern Ocean is larger than that experiencing warming.”
OLD DATA says:
December 31, 2013 at 4:11 am
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.
OK then, 84 hockey sticks will probably do. They could always use that Turkey for puck?
Stand by for new Paper: “Molecular Alteration of Water by Global Warming Increases Temperature at Which Ice Forms” Shityunot & Konstantlie, et. al.
Why don’t they just keep cool and enjoy the Antarctic summer before it gets really hot come late January? Shouldn’t the ice be melting by then?
BCC is now reporting that the Chinese vessel appears to also be stuck in the Antarctic sea ice so a helicopter transfer to the Chinese vessel is no longer a viable plan. Plan C is to wait until the US icebreaker the Polar Star comes in roughly 10 days to free both ships.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25558276
“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.
The research vessel Akademik Shokalskiy has been trapped for nearly a week with 74 scientists, tourists and crew.
However, if the Chinese vessel is also stuck and the Australian vessel cannot help it reach clear water, there will be no airlift.
Under the initial plan, the remaining crew members would have stayed on board until another, more powerful US icebreaker arrived in up to 10 days’ time, the BBC’s Andrew Luck-Baker reports from on board the Akademik Shokalskiy
However, it may now be that all of those on board may have to wait for the US icebreaker, the Polar Star, he adds.“