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)
Discover more from Watts Up With That?
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Tallbloke and I are tweeting about the question whether the expedition has made up an order of precedence for the helicopter evacuation. Even if the Chinese can fly, it only can take 12 at a time and needs 6 transfers (plus 3 transfers of the barge from the Aurora Australis to get them over to that ship at 22 people according to @Itsthesunstupid). So I guess it will be interesting to see who arrives on the chinese ship first and, if not all transfers can be made, who was considered least necessary to return to civilisation.
Will the women go first? Random luck of the draw? By age? Alphabetic? By usefulness to the cause? Media before scholar?
U.S. Coastguard ice breaker Polar Star is closing on Sydney at 6.7 kn/258 heading. From Marine Traffic site (2014-01-01 17:17). The ship left Honolulu doing almost 18 kn. Anyone have a guess why the slow down?
@Kaboom: I think they will have to write a computer model to work out the best order. Run it a few dozen times to make sure the results can be reproduced. So the order will be;
1. Computer modelers
2. everyone else
Kaboom, it’s women and children first, of course.
Now the only question is how you define children?
The one wanting his mom’s milkshake should qualify.
“Bruce Cobb says: January 1, 2014 at 7:11 am
Bloody idiots.”
Right on. Can you imagine the impact their “Mitch Miller Sing-Along” video will have if one or more rescuers are injured or killed extricating these buffoons from their folly? We came to party, People died. We partied on! is not an epitaph that will sit well with the public.
Reed Coray says:
January 1, 2014 at 9:46 am
“Bruce Cobb says: January 1, 2014 at 7:11 am
Bloody idiots.”
Right on. Can you imagine the impact their “Mitch Miller Sing-Along” video will have if one or more rescuers are injured or killed extricating these buffoons from their folly? We came to party, People died. We partied on! is not an epitaph that will sit well with the public.
_________________________
On the other hand, it’s the perfect metaphor for the entire warmunist effort.
The slow down of the Polar Star. Perhaps the captain is a skeptic who’s savoring the irony.
richardscourtney says:
January 1, 2014 at 9:16 am
__________________
Haven’t you been the stranger…
faboutlaws says
Ever hear of the Mpemba effect ?
The Guardian has interesting beginnings. From Wiki:
“In August 2013, The Guardian in paper form had an average daily circulation of 189,000 copies, behind The Daily Telegraph and The Times, but ahead of The Independent.[3] The newspaper’s online edition was the third most widely read in the world as of June 2012.[4] Its combined print and online editions reach nearly 9 million readers.[5]
Founded in 1821 by John Edward Taylor in Manchester, the 11 members of the first Little Circle excluding William Cowdroy, Jnr. of the Manchester Gazette decided to advance their liberalist agenda. They helped then cotton merchant John Edward Taylor form the Manchester Guardian, which he edited for the rest of his life and they all wrote for. With backing from the non-conformist Little Circle group of local businessmen, The Manchester Guardian replaced the radical Manchester Observer, which championed the Peterloo Massacre protesters. The paper currently identifies with social liberalism. In the last UK general election in 2010, the paper supported the Liberal Democrats, who went on to form a coalition government with the Conservatives. The paper is influential in the design and publishing arena, sponsoring many awards in these areas.”
@SAsha 4:07.
No you are not alone.
Watch the video of the man child reporter, whining about his bed, having to work and injuring himself…there seems to be a flicker of recognition creeping into his mind, of the actual risk of an icy doom that is so easily acquired at the poles.
That same flicker of cognition is spreading through the TV watchers of the world, viewership is falling, readers/subscribers are leaving, people check the news on the internet.
The word for reporter is Presstitute, by their actions they proclaim themselves.
Canada has CBC and CTV, who act exactly as described by yourself,a selective failure to report, what I would call lying by omission, propaganda in old english.
This ship of CAGW fools and profiteers stuck in the summer icepack, is a gift to any journalist who wishes to entertain and inform their audience, but that apparently is old world journalism, the new and improved journalists are censors for the cult.
We used to call them priests, shills or public relations agents.
Such hopeless rearguard actions by these press agencies, such as avoiding coverage of the absolute irony of this saga,evading the basic facts, are just too funny in the age of the internet.
We cannot get timely situation updates with 5″journalists” on the activist vessel and how many more on the Aurora?
As a side note, democracy had a privileged place for the 4th estate, as it is necessary to have a free press to check the natural excess of politicians(Who by nature do not understand limits of decency). As the press sold themselves and us out, our democracy has morphed into Kleptocracy.
The drama of the ship of tools and the cone of silence by the MSM is a very amusing start to 2014, happy new year.
Speaking of models and songs, somehow a “spirit of ‘I am the very model of a modern Major-General’ ” adapted to the current situation would be in order…same sort of hubris seems to be in unlimited supply with Christmas Turkey & co. I fear that the master of the ship will end up taking the brunt of the blame for this fiasco, even if he’s not at fault (though as master he probably bears responsibility in any case).
If this weather forecast is accurate, the window for a rescue is about to open.
http://www.yr.no/place/Antarctica/Other/Commonwealth_Bay/
Just checked the marinetraffic.com website minutes ago and seeing these values:
2 minutes ago (source AIS: 65)
Speed / Course: 8.6kn / 256 °
About another 24 hrs to get into Sydney if that is the destination.
I did my part to help rescue them
I took an unnecessary drive inmy SUV
Maybe the extra global warming that caused will help free these deluded fools
Here is the latest SITREP from the AA: Last night we raised over $500 for Camp Quality from a Quiz Night run by a couple of our expeditioners. There was much bribery and corruption with the ability to buy answers if you wished. This option was very advantageous for Camp Quality. If you were deemed to have transgressed in any real or perceive way you were sent to the sin bin and required to listen to Justin Bieber for 5 minutes – the same song on repeat. It was a great way to celebrate New Year’s Eve and we thank the organisers. Excitement has been growing this afternoon as we are moving closer to the Xue Long. At time of writing we are 4 nautical miles away. This is a slow process as we zig zag through the pack creeping ever nearer. It is amazing seeing what an icebreaker can do. Good news is that the Akademik Shokalskiy can see us. Cheers Leanne and Mark
Jonathan Hampton says:
January 1, 2014 at 11:26 am
I did my part to help rescue them
I took an unnecessary drive inmy SUV
Maybe the extra global warming that caused will help free these deluded fools
_______________________
Good Lord, man! Don’t you know you just made things worse? Everyone knows that Man-made Global Warming has caused more sea ice to form in the Southern Ocean, because the Climate Change Scientists have told us so. If you don’t believe me, go have a look at Skeptical Science, where they’ve even posted a scientific study as proof (Zhang, 2007). http://www.skepticalscience.com/Why-is-Antarctic-sea-ice-increasing.html
Don’t you know that warmer water means more ice forms?
What have you done?
/
Mr. Watts, as someone who has actually been on a research expedition (to Greenland) I find your ignorance on these matters quite surprising for someone who holds themselves up as a strong critic of climate science.
– First off, this doesn’t fit the definition of irony. A group of scientists who (despite what you lead your readers to believe) are aware of increasing sea ice in that part of Antarctica, got caught in the sea ice they knew was there. You also appear to completely miss (intentional or otherwise) their reasoning for visiting this particular area. This leg involved studying why sea ice was getting trapped in this particular area, and the possible effects the presence of one of the world’s largest icebergs was having. That is a far cry from them simply being on a “propaganda tour” to show people that ice is disappearing.
– #2 The presence of non-scientists on such boats has absolutely nothing to do with the scientific merits of such an expedition. Since there are limited opportunities to see Antarctica, and many people have interest, having individuals fill space on a vessel who are willing to pay their way is a common and understandable practice. These people are along for the ride. Given your obviously non-expansive experience on these matters, perhaps you can attempt explaining why you think this somehow discredits the expedition?
– #3 Re your criticism of the scientists for getting themselves stuck: the scientists don’t drive the boat. The owner provides a crew and captain who presumably has experience navigating such waters. The expedition leader can set the desired course, but the scientists are not experienced mariners and it is up to the captain to determine when and where it is safe to proceed. In Greenland I saw disagreements between the expedition leader and the boat captain over whether it was safe to proceed into a large iceberg field. The captain is responsible for the boat.
– #4 In your separate blog post on the matter, you refute the claim of these scientists that sea ice is increasing in the Arctic by using a plot with a timescale from September-December of this year. This is pretty blatantly taking the scientists out of context, as no one argues that sea ice in the Arctic does not increase as we head into winter. The obvious point they were making is that we have been seeing a trend of less and less sea ice each year in the Arctic., not that ice doesn’t increase between the end of summer and beginning of winter.
-#5 You imply that “no real science is being done on this trip”. Do tell how you reach this rather emphatic conclusion? I see nothing but speculation on your part, and it is clearly the speculation of someone who does not sound like he has ever been on any scientific expeditions.
-#6 People on the boat snapping pictures of themselves for twitter does not imply that this is some sort of party boat. People going to Antarctica tend to bring cameras and like to document the experience. The fact that they are keeping high spirits while stuck upsets you why? Would you rather them tweet pictures of themselves bitching like the passengers on those stranded Carnival cruise lines? Would chaos be the proper response?
In conclusion, this episode is not some scientific “fiasco”. They went into a situation they knew was risky, and got stuck. If they truly were expecting there to be no sea ice, and this happened, you’d have a point. Of course their own words point out that they were more than well aware of the fact, THEY WERE THERE TO STUDY IT!
Hey Glenn…while the episode did not start as a fiasco, it certainly has developed into one.
conservation of Shackelton’s hut : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MjS0YRBwPg
oh and the 114 year old whiskey they found there:…
http://whiskythaw.canterburymuseum.com/
fiasco…noun… a thing that is a complete failure, esp. in a ludicrous or humiliating way.
IMHO it sounds very accurate in describing how this expedition has SO FAR developed.
Glen: you are correct. They are serious scientists, who are in danger, and putting their rescuers in danger.
The seriousness of the situation is pointed out by the ships doctor. They are running low on alcohol, but they need to stay sober to be evac’ed, and horrors! they will be evac’ed to a dry ship!
Oh, the humanity!
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/12/31/helicopter-rescue-needed-for-passengers-on-icebound-ship/
Wonder if the likes of Greenpeace, WWF, Suzuki foundation, Hollywood rich warmers, IPCC etc. will come up with money to help cover recue expenses? What silence.
hi Glen
why are the kids there ?