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)
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this is as good a summation of the Clitanic debacle (and the whole warmist scam) as I’ve seen.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/in-the-icy-grip-of-fear-that-global-warming-is-claptrap/story-fni0cwl5-1226793282194
To those who have responded to my initial post and whom I have not replied to yet, I will try to get back to each of you tonight. I’m off to make the kids dinner
Here is a wonderful example of how global warming alarmism and grand standing has been married to stupidity. The predicted demise of the polar icecaps has been greatly exagerated by ALGOREIANISM!
Yes Zeke, Interesting prose.
Hemispheres v realms are important. Which light bulb works well, which carries no warning lable for Hg disposal and costs only a dollar?
We could always discuss differences between the Parthenon and Pantheon. I’ve drawn them since childhood.
Cat still named Zeke.
@Glenn Skankey, It depends upon your definition of “actual children.”
May I quote you? Please?
I betcha Glenn’s day job is promoting Obamacare.
According to nav. positioning, the Xue Long is making for the A.S., albeit very slowly, as one would expect. Can’t tell about the Aurora Australis- info unavailable now.
http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:144.4372/centery:-66.68253/zoom:8/mmsi:412863000
Glenn says:
January 1, 2014 at 1:50 pm
…….”The recent trend over the last few decades is that there has been less and less sea ice in the arctic ocean during the summer months.”……
NASA states clearly that the most recent summer sea ice minimum was the sixth
lowest – hardly consistent with “less and less sea ice”. – http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/arctic-sea-ice-minimum-in-2013-is-sixth-lowest-on-record/#.UsSPjNJdUVU
Glenn.
OK. One by one then. I thought you were just joining in the fun but if you were serious…
1 Nope, the fact that they are aware that the total polar ice is increasing and that the ice is increasing in Antarctica is not an excuse for blundering into it. That is still funny. And it is ironic because they didn’t publicise that the polar ice is not declining.
Yes. I agree. They did know that the ice was there but in trying to deceive, with their press releases, they were hoist by their own petard. And I note you didn’t answer my question “How many journalists did you take on your science research trip?” Because (unless you also are a deceiver, which I doubt) I guess you took none.
2 But you say that non-scientists are not there to influence the presentation of the “science”. They are just tourists or something else? Alas, you are wrong. The press were there to report on the science – with the help of the scientists who did press interviews beforehand. The “scientists” were not there to find out new things, analyse, discuss and report. It was Real-Time Science. Like Reality TV, e.g. fake.
3 True. The captain is the scapegoat for getting stuck. And the interviewers are not asking his opinion so he has no defence (except on Russian TV where he has said the “scientists” were slow in coming back when he called them). But the risks that are taken to save the fools is not just his responsibility. It is also the responsibility of the fools who went there.
4 Point 4 is irrelevant. This boat is in the ANTarctic not the Arctic (caps lock mine).
5 The implication that “no real science is being done” is covered by point 2. But also by the fact that the penguins under investigation live on land, not sea-ice, and so they won’t find anything of value unless they go back 100years to when the sea-ice wasn’t there.
6 Your last point is outrageous. I hope it was made in ignorance. The mission was in honour of Mawson. That man suffered for science (GOOGLE, caps lock mine). He didn’t have a party, get drunk and call on others to risk their lives to bail him out. Do some research and stop dishonouring heroes of science by tarring them with the same brush as a load of tourists and publicity seekers.
And, please do me the respect of an answer, How many journalists did you take to Greenland when you did research?
The Australian is reporting a rescue may happen soon.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/antarctic-ship-rescue-of-passengers-on-akademik-shokalskiy-set-to-begin/story-e6frg6so-1226793515910
Seems hopeful given the wind speed forecast.
http://www.yr.no/place/Antarctica/Other/Commonwealth_Bay/
Glenn says:
January 1, 2014 at 1:57 pm
To those who have responded to my initial post and whom I have not replied to yet, I will try to get back to each of you tonight. I’m off to make the kids dinner
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
??? Are you on the ship too?????
From the Australian article.
”
Attempts to hold an airborne rescue were called off yesterday because of adverse weather conditions.
But in a message posted early today on its official Twitter account, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said a rescue effort could soon get under way.
“Akademik Shokalskiy has advised RCC (Rescue Coordination Centre) Australia that weather conditions have improved and rescue operations are likely to commence shortly,” AMSA said, adding that further information would be issued “throughout the morning”.
The announcement will be a source of much needed cheer for the mixed group of scientists, journalists and tourists on board the stranded vessel.”
Green Party Senator Janet Rice’s video blog aboard the A.S. said:
“100% certain there’s going to be a helicopter rescue… in the meantime having fun…”
Glenn says:
January 1, 2014 at 1:50 pm
“This is like taking an ice cube tray out of a freezer for two hours, then placing it back in the freezer for an hour before taking it back out again for another two hours. ”
Thanks for the explanation of how it works. That means the ice gets less every year amirite?
Did you know that WUWT actually has a sea ice resource page?
http://wattsupwiththat.com/reference-pages/sea-ice-page/
We use it to see whether the warmists are right when they claim things like you just did. You can also reach it via the head menu.
Glenn, your lack of basic research is there for all to see. Professor Turkey has his wife and children (I forget their ages, but they are well under 18) on board.
OLD DATA says:
January 1, 2014 at 1:59 pm “Which light bulb works well, which carries no warning lable for Hg disposal and costs only a dollar?”
It is a fine, inexpensive bulb of most common and harmless materials, which has the added advantage that it has a cheery light, and shines in the IR portion of the spectrum, like sunlight and candle light. It is not like its government mandated replacements, which are dreary, cold, contain Hg, and are known to leak or spontaneously combust.
But what about these mortals who protest the light and warmth afforded by incandescent bulbs and fossil fuels, who are now trapped in the ice?
ref: Steve Goddard @SteveSGoddard 10h
Fossil fuels keeping tens of millions of Canadians from freezing to death. http://www.findlocalweather.com/weather_maps/temperature_canada.html … pic.twitter.com/50tj4RkHGO
ref: http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/energy-ban-government-rights/2013/12/31/id/544637?ns_mail_uid=5249321&ns_mail_job=1551685_01012014&promo_code=16174-1
PS, cheers to your cat Zeke. I had one named Zeke also, who was older and used to trick the younger, burlier Toms into a tree if they came into his yard. I never saw how he did it, but there they would be, stuck on a limb while he sat nonchalantly down below.
Glenn, everyone is entitled to ther opinion and this is one place where you will be able to express your opinion. An opinion of a Real Climate Scientists in Casey in Antarctica expressed the following opinion about this debacle.
—
Greetings from Casey Station on the East Antarctic coast. I’ve just returned from the deep field site at Aurora Basin where the Australians are drilling a new 400-meter ice core which we will analyze in my lab in Reno.
I’m writing with regards to the rescue effort for that tourist ship stuck in the ice near Commonwealth Bay and the enormous impact of the rescue effort on Antarctic science programs. The Australian ice breaker Aurora Australis was here at Casey in the process of unloading the coming year’s supplies for the station, as well as a number of researchers and their science gear for this summer’s activities, when the emergency response request was issued. The Australians shut down the unloading very quickly and left within a few hours after the request arrived but only about a third of the resupply was completed and a lot of that science gear was still on board. Before they left they at least were able to get the passengers including six Aurora Basin researchers off the ship. Otherwise I’d still be at Aurora Basin and would have had to stay to the end of January since my field replacement was in that group.
The short- and long-term impacts on the Australian science program are pronounced as you can imagine and I understand it is the same for both the Chinese and French programs since their icebreakers were diverted, too. I’ll be sitting down to New Year’s Eve dinner in a few minutes with a number of Australian researchers including the director of the Australian Antarctic Division Tony Fleming – many of these guys can’t complete the research they’ve been planning for years because some or all of their science gear still is on the Aurora.
——-
Source: http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/31/rescue-effort-for-trapped-antarctic-voyage-disrupts-serious-science/?smid=tw-share&_r=1
So, real Antarctic Scientists do not consider this as serious research and he is entitled to have this opinion as real research is suffering those fools.
Glenn, like you, I’m a salty sea dog and I’ve been on lots of marine science trips too (more than 20) – in Antarctica and I can assure you that this *is* a fiasco.
By the way, very large icebergs fall of the shelf every year. This is a completely natural process and has nothing to do with “climate change”. This can and does cause disruption to local coastline features and invariably impacts on long established penguin colonies.
http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/02/pr0291.htm
Chris B says: January 1, 2014 at 10:26 am
The Guardian has interesting beginnings. From Wiki:
Did Wiki tell you that it makes a huge loss and is kept alive by state advertising and the sale of ‘Autotrader’ (the clue is in the name) via an elaborate offshore tax reduction strategy. Irony anyone?
Glenn says: January 1, 2014 at 1:50 pm
The recent trend over the last few decades is that there has been less and less sea ice in the arctic ocean during the summer months. This is well established fact
No, the “recent trend” is that
The point that Anthony is making is that Arctic Sea Ice Extent is currently within two standard deviations of the 1981 – 2010 average;
National Snow & Ice Data Center (NSIDC) – Click the pic to view at source[/caption]
National Snow & Ice Data Center (NSIDC) – Click the pic to view at source[/caption]
Cryosphere Today – Arctic Climate Research at the University of Illinois – Click the pic to view at source[/caption]
Cryosphere Today – Arctic Climate Research at the University of Illinois – Click the pic to view at source[/caption]
Cryosphere Today – University of Illinois – Polar Research Group – Click the pic to view at source[/caption]
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="640"]
whereas Antarctic Sea Ice Extent is currently above two standard deviations of the 1981 – 2010 average:
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="640"]
Looking at this another way, Northern Hemisphere Sea Ice Area is currently .497 Million Sq Km below the 1979 – 2008 average;
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="640"]
whereas Southern Hemisphere Sea Ice Area is currently 1.529 Million Sq Km above the 1979 – 2008 average;
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="622"]
thus Global Sea Ice Area is currently over 1 Million Sq Km above the 1979 – 2008 average:
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="578"]
The reason for this is not because of seasonal variation, and it is not because “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”, but rather it is because Earth has not warmed in the last 17 years:
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/11/04/rss-reaches-santers-17-years/
Are you familiar with “The Pause”? i.e.:
“Over the past 15 years air temperatures at the Earth’s surface have been flat while greenhouse-gas emissions have continued to soar.” The Economist “Global warming stopped 16 years ago, reveals Met Office report quietly released… and here is the chart to prove it.” Daily Mail “Twenty-year hiatus in rising temperatures has climate scientists puzzled.” The Australian “Has the rise in temperatures ‘paused’?” Guardian “On Tuesday, news finally broke of a revised Met Office ‘decadal forecast’, which not only acknowledges the pause, but predicts it will continue at least until 2017.” Daily Mail “RSS global satellite temperatures confirm hiatus of global warming, while the general public and mainstream press are now recognizing the AWOL truth that skeptics long ago identified…global temperatures are trending towards cooling, not accelerating higher” C3 Headlines
Glenn says:
January 1, 2014 at 1:50 pm
As far as Arctic Sea Ice, tell me why this is confusing. In the winter, sea ice in the Arctic Ocean (note we are talking north polar region here, not south polar where this research group currently is) increases and in the summer a bunch of it melts. The recent trend over the last few decades is that there has been less and less sea ice in the arctic ocean during the summer months. This is well established fact, and has lead to renewed significance of the region for Russia, the US and others (The Arctic Ocean would become a significant global shipping lane, and there is also a ton of oil and other resources that may be uncovered). However, in the months of September through December, the melting stops and there is a temporary increase in ice again for obvious reasons. This is like taking an ice cube tray out of a freezer for two hours, then placing it back in the freezer for an hour before taking it back out again for another two hours. Obviously in that one hour you place it back in the freezer, you would expect the amount of ice to increase over that time period, while the overall trend over that 5 hour period will be for a decrease in ice. Follow?
———————————————————————
In case you do not recall, it was predicted that the arctic would be ice free by 2013. What happened instead is that there was more ice in 2013 than in 2012. It remains to be seen what will happen in 2014, but I would bet on another increase in ice cover at this point.
http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/
Among other things, “The Spirit of Mawson” Expedition declared:
We are going south to:
“gain new insights into the circulation of the Southern Ocean and its impact on the global carbon cycle”
“explore changes in ocean circulation caused by the growth of extensive fast ice and its impact on life in Commonwealth Bay”
“determine the extent to which human activity and pollution has directly impacted on this remote region of Antarctica”
Werner Heisenberg is laughing.
Zeke, please enjoy your ski trip.
Glenn says:
January 1, 2014 at 1:50 pm
—-
Glad to see you have taken some of my advice. You might be taken more seriously now. Try not to relapse and you will encounter a minimum of negative reception on your style. Your approach gave the impression of trolling or PR and the more charitable assumption of PR seems to have been made by most readers. I am content to consider you merely mistaken in your beliefs 🙂
I am very much interested in your claims of flaws in the arguments of the host of this blog, since I have not yet found these purported flaws myself. I am not so interested in the rest of your points, which seem to be subjective opinion rather than fact and can be debated forever. For clarification on your point #4, could you cite the link of the post that you are referring to? This will help me to ensure we are talking about the same thing.
Please pardon my lack of comprehension on matters you consider crystal clear, but I work rather slowly. I will do my best to understand your explanation of the faults in the argument once I have examined the actual post.
Whilst I don’t wish these Christmas Antarctic turkeys any harm, i cannot but hope they endure some degree of hardship so as to perhaps bring about some understanding of the expense, inconvenience and danger that they have have exposed their rescuers to.
I hope that when they return to dry land that the authorities examine whether they pursued their expeditions goals in a manner of reckless negligence.
I wouldn’t be surprised if some of their $8k passengers sue for refunds and damages. I wonder how ice proof the contracts are they would have signed.