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.
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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?
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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 have an ear worm from this 🙂
Apparently Turney is saying that warming is the reason for the ice.
Pity the record does not support that. The French station west of the ship, shows no trend since 1950. The trend is negative since 1980.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NASA_T%C2%BA_D%27Urvi_1950-2012.gif
SST? Nope, southern ocean temps are also declining. The sateliite record for the south polar troposhere shows no trend.
http://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2013/12/30/no-antarctic-warming-since-1979/#more-6225
Ok, the third vehicle into the harbor is faked, but it is a good analogy to the bigger and bigger icebreaker:
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/c/cranetrouble.htm#.UsM8ivRDt8E
After cruising generally in a North or North East direction the last day, according to the web cam, the a Aurora Australis now appears to be heading South West direction, perhaps they are heading back to the party.
Someone a few posts back asked about the cruise speed of the Polar Star in thick ice, answer is it does not have a cruise speed. The ship has a pair of high powered gas turbine engines that can drive the ship up onto the ice, the ship’s mass then breaks it. They back off and do it a agin, so the forward speed is going to be pretty slow. My impression was that this is mostly to break through pressure ridges, not continuous thick ice. I would also think this could not be done close to another ship.
I got to tour one of the two breakers years ago, forgot which one now, but the steel in the hull seemed really thin to me at the time. It does have a lot of reinforcing ribs which helps.
Pretty good summary with lots of pictures from Daily Mail Online here . Now that I have a better idea of where they are relative to McMurdo Station, it looks like the Polar Star wouldn’t have to divert too far from present course to reach them. The Star was last reported leaving Honolulu on Dec 18 (presumably after refueling). She could take on more fuel at Invercargill, NZ if needed and then head roughly 1,500 km South to reach the trapped ships. Of course this takes time away from her scheduled duties at McMurdo.
As others have noted, the efforts to rescue the Akademik Shokalskiy have already taken three other ships from their scheduled activities and forced other parties to curtail or abandon planned research as a result. Diverting the Polar Star would screw up a fourth set of schedules.
The Akademik Shokalskiy, the Xue Long, the Astrolabe, the Aurora Australis, possibly the Polar Star, and why not also the Akademik Fedorov…
Party time!
negrum says:
December 31, 2013 at 12:01 pm
I disagree, according to http://www.improbable.com/ig/ , “The Ig Nobel Prizes honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then makes them think. The prizes are intended to celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative — and spur people’s interest in science, medicine, and technology.” I.e. the prize is awarded to research that ultimately is worth doing, but superficially trivial or silly. The best candidates are research efforts that put the proper amount of work and yield useful results.
This exhibition does not meet those lofty criteria.
Amazing ain’t it, there are 5 media people, as in paid press staff, yet updates are contradictory and sparse.
Poor wee presstitutes, must be tough, can not report without admitting what everyone else already knows?
Did the IPCC cliche invent CAGW or was it all orchestrated by the same media and PR hacks who are hiding this fiasco?
Xue Long ( or Snow Dragon) is making very slow progress but is on the move – headed North now.
http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:144.4367/centery:-66.68307/zoom:8/mmsi:412863000
Let’s hope there is no repeat of the 1871 Whaling Disaster. The US whaling industry was already in decline at that point due to the discovery and refining of petroleum, but the loss of 22 ships from New Bedford, Massachusetts gutted the industry in that town.
Although shipowners were devastated, no doubt the whales were happy.
btw, as the MSM seems reluctant to list the names of Australian & New Zealand scientists on board, apart from Turney & Fogwill on the Shokalskiy, & Grant Hose on the Aurora Australis ice-breaker, check those listed here as being a part of “Leg Two”, which is what the ship is on at present. whether this indicates they are on the Shokalskiy or the Aurora Australis, who knows:
AAE Science Team
Both Legs
http://www.spiritofmawson.com/aae-science-leaders/
for the record:
Wikipedia: Aurora Australis (ice breaker)
Aurora Australis is an Australian icebreaker. Built by Carrington Slipways and launched in 1989, the vessel is owned by P&O Maritime Services, but is regularly chartered by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) for research cruises in Antarctic waters and to support Australian bases in Antarctica…
Aurora Australis is served by a crew of 24[3] and carry up to 116 passengers accommodated in three or four-bunk cabins with attached bathrooms…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_Australis_(icebreaker)
They have there priorities in the right place with no mention of the time money and risk to rescue them. Also seem to be more concerned about being rescued by a dry ship.
“We are preparing for evacuation to a dry ship so a few drinks seems reasonable, but we also have to be ready at a moment’s notice for the helicopter arrival so staying sober is important,” he told AFP.
The ship has two weeks’ worth of fresh food, but Peacock said drinks are becoming sparse, with “just enough alcohol left” to ring in 2014.
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Actually, he proposed aircraft carriers to cover what was, at the time, a dead zone in the Atlantic during WW2 to defend against u boats. More practical answers developed but he did build a (small) successful prototype.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-01/youtube-new-years-video-from-stranded-antarctic-ship/5180674
Words fail me…..and the ABC try and implicate the crew in the accompanying article.
Of Penguins, Peacocks and Mann.
Ones and zeros were funny things. So were digits.
pat says:
December 31, 2013 at 1:40 pm
.
***Her teacher, Nicole [b]De Losa[//b], wins an expedition to Antarctica to bring knowledge back to her students…
Priceless. You made my day.
Greg says:
December 31, 2013 at 7:50 am
Not be deterred by reality Grauiad gets 2014 off to a flying start with “at least 4C by 2100″.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/dec/31/planet-will-warm-4c-2100-climate
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Isn’t that a “-4c” I see? So the Grauiad thinks we are heading into an ice Age. /snark
Probably WAY more than you want to watch, but here’s a good source of Professor Turney describing the purpose of the expedition. The first video is a long story of Antarctic exploring history, but at the end he starts to explain why this group is going. Then a bunch of Q/A from his audience. I liked video 2 of 31 where he explains that as long as he can drum up the cash, he can do whatever he wants.
http://nfsa.gov.au/schoolscreen/nfsa-connects/chris-turney-antarctic-ex/
“Ulrich Elkmann says:
December 31, 2013 at 3:10 pm
pat says:
December 31, 2013 at 1:40 pm
.
***Her teacher, Nicole [b]De Losa[//b], wins an expedition to Antarctica to bring knowledge back to her students…
Priceless. You made my day.”
Too bad there’s so little knowledge to bring back….
Great satire….. ” Ice deniers on Antartic mission find themselves in an unexpected jam: Kevin O’Brien” http://www.cleveland.com/obrien/index.ssf/2013/12/ice_deniers_on_antartic_missio.html
This is almost getting too funny to be true. Read the latest from the Sydney Morning Herald…
http://climatesanity.wordpress.com/2013/12/31/akademik-shokalskiy-reality-is-stranger-than-satire/
how can Daily Mail be publishing this BS from the UNSW at this moment, without even mentioning their current Expedition? i am beyond bewildered, tho the readers look like they’re filling in the cracks:
31 Dec: UK Daily Mail: Sarah Griffiths: Earth’s temperature could rise by more than 4°C by 2100, claim scientists
Research by the University of New South Wales found that the global climate is more affected by carbon dioxide than previously thought
The scientists believe temperatures could rise by more than 8°C by 2200 if C02 emissions are not reduced
The research, published in the journal Nature, found that the global climate is more affected by carbon dioxide than previously thought…
It could also solve one of the mysteries of climate sensitivity – the role of cloud formation and whether it has positive or negative effect on global warming.
Researchers now believe that existing climate models significantly overestimate the number of clouds protecting our atmosphere from overheating…
Professor Sherwood told The Guardian that a rise of 4°C would likely be ‘catastrophic’ rather than just dangerous.
‘For example, it would make life difficult, if not impossible, in much of the tropics, and would guarantee the eventual melting of the Greenland ice sheet and some of the Antarctic ice sheet’ he said…
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2531706/Earths-temperature-rise-4-C-2100-claim-scientists.html
compare with a good news story Down Under today:
31 Dec: JoanneNova: Skeptical view makes Australian front page: climate madness, dishonesty, fraud, deception, lies and exploitation says Maurice Newman
http://joannenova.com.au/2013/12/skeptical-view-makes-australian-front-page-climate-madness-dishonesty-fraud-deception-lies-and-exploition-says-maurice-newman/
Warren in New Zealand says: December 31, 2013 at 9:36 am ‘This could never be made into a film, no-one would believe it.’
If they ever filmed it their New Year party could be based on the dinner party in Carry On Up The Khyber.
holts says:
December 31, 2013 at 1:35 pm
“Earlier passengers and crew rang in the New Year with dinner, drinks and song, congregating in the bar they sang a song about their adventures”…
– – – – – – – – – –
Known as breaking out the rum in order to distract/placate the mutinous on board.
BTW, what about the tourists on medication? Medical emergencies looming when their personal supplies run out?