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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David Ball says:
December 30, 2013 at 10:24 am
——————————————-
Too late. The Australian Taxpayer is already footing the bill for both the original expedition and all three rescue attempts.
Prince Harry (one of the family despised by the Left) walked all the way to the Pole. These guys couldnt even raise the idea of walking 6 miles to the other icebreaker. So they just spent the good weather taking photos and waiting for the helicopter to take them where?? Another icebreaker?
Nobody can find the “missing” heat from the climate but this group has found the “disappearing” Antarctic ice.
This fiasco reminds me of a South Park episode (32nd – “Rainforest Schmainforest”), where a choir goes on an environmentalist tour in the Costa Rican rainforest. The objectives of the tour are, of course, to encourage awareness of nature’s frailty and to discourage its destruction by evil human interests. But the tour turns into a fiasco when the group leader gets eaten by a coral snake, the group gets lost, runs into guerilla rebels and then gets captured by hostile natives only to be rescued by construction workers who had been tearing down trees.
Mark says:
December 30, 2013 at 12:13 pm
The tone of these articles makes it seem like you’re rooting for these people to drown. They’re in real danger, I hope they get rescued. After they’re safe, I’ll join in making fun of them.
————
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25547703
Seems like now is the perfect opportunity for a teachable moment.
No main stream media has reported how Antarctic sea ice levels are at historicly high levels.
The average PBS NYT reader doesnt have a clue whats happening with sea ice.
Perhaps some respected skeptics could do press releases.
Instead of twittering the whole day, they should spare the time and read “The Home of the Blizzard”
Quite an interesting book…understanding it might help them…
OMG ‘The Old Lady Who Swallowed the Fly’ – GOOD IDEA … I haven’t laughed so hard for days! That was funny Gail!
.
.
Muppet version
Leaving a crew of 18 will mean the supplies hold out longer, as will the space in the holding tank.
http://notrickszone.com/2013/12/30/russian-itar-tass-global-warming-boatpeople-to-be-air-lifted-from-sea-ice-surrounded-akademik-shokalskiy/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
#ClitanicDisaster
I parsed that incorrectly on first reading and was seriously worried. Too many of the wrong kind of movies and pictures I guess.
Morale is good…enforced gaiety, like happy clapping etc. It’s mostly spin. These passengers need to get off this ship, & it’s entirely weather dependent. It’s not a positive situation, & they cannot at this stage afford to have anything else go wrong.
How big is the bar on that ‘party barge’? Only the quartermaster (or seaman equiv) knows how well stocked it was …
.
Way back in this thread I suggested WUWT should make a donation towards their rescue. I was joking of course, but just consider the impact of the BBC/Guardian being bailed out (pun intended) by their nemesis WUWT.
tonyb
mkelly
December 30, 2013 at 12:21 pm
Tom J says:
December 30, 2013 at 11:03 am
‘The Coast Guard Cutter Mackinac sits pier side in sight of the Mackinac Bridge in Mackinaw City, Michigan.
131 South Huron Avenue
Mackinaw City, MI 49701
themackinaw.org’
Yes, and it’s now open as a museum; a perhaps fitting retirement for a well regarded workhorse and savior on the lakes. I’d love to visit it someday.
Thanks
Well I hope they’ll be buying carbon credits to make up for the CO2 ‘pollution’ from the rescuing ice breakers and the helicopter that will be picking them up. Let’s see if they put their money where their mouths are and expose them for the hypocrites they are.
Media ‘hub’ or media ‘tub’? (Eyes are seeing one thing, the brain another …) It’s not quite clear from what I’ve read so WHAT their purpose down there was!
.
Stuck in the ice, too much ice… http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2531159/Antarctic-crew-build-ice-helipad-help-rescuers.html
In this meme, I thought I would pass along a little tid bit I picked up while watching a doco on SBS Australia about the sun. Sunday 30 December 2013 8:30-9:30 pm Qld time.
They did the usual things on how they think the sun works etc, then in the last 5 minutes of the show, they talked about how the solar minimum caused the little ice age in England. Then said more or less, that scientists know so little about the sun, they just don’t know how much effect it has on our weather.
Why is this important? Well, usually they start to throw doco’s out a couple of years before they bring it into the “public” forums.
So my simple predictions is, they will still say CO2 is the problem, but it is now exacerbated by the solar maxim / minimum. The CO2 will cause increased heat when the solar maximum is happening, and we will have excess ice buildup when the solar minimum happens.
Hey Anthony, as you seem to be a good writer (far better than I could put out by miles), perhaps you should look at doing parody article to show this is what they will come up with, in say about 18 months, then we can all go back, have a reread and laugh at their stupidity and gullibility.
The Infidel
@Mark
‘The tone of these articles makes it seem like you’re rooting for these people to drown. They’re in real danger, I hope they get rescued. After they’re safe, I’ll join in making fun of them.’
I think people are laughing in the same way they laugh at the Black Knight in Monty Python. ‘Come back its only a scratch’
It’s a sort of ‘does this guy have any connection with reality’ type of laugh
I hope they get out. but that does not stop me shaking my head in disbelief. and laughing in disbelief
Is this finally just-ice for the warmest hoaxers?
Rob Gappa says: December 30, 2013 at 10:51 am
It’s interesting to note that its the peak of summer down there and the ice is increasing not receeding. Maybe they should start studying Gobal Cooling!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
That’s a scary thought. Before you know it there’ll be a new consensus with all 97% accounted for, and full scale junk science around it, and sorry to inform you – no room for you or any real scientist. The next IPCC will be full of nitrogen capturing plants and nitrogen tax incentives. Basically same bullshit – different pile.
You did say Global Warming, didn’t you?
If they were smart they would claim victory.
Don’t underestimate them. They have written many press releases, and they know that “There is no danger” really means “run for dear life”.
With ice 4 meters thick, even if the ship sinks, they may camp on ice for quite a while. But they would miss a well supplied bar.
rubberduck says:
December 30, 2013 at 12:10 pm
Refresh button will fix that.