Antarctica episode 2: In these icy oceans, falling overboard is a death sentence. Even so, humpback whales, killer whales, seals and a world of sea life roam the waters off Antarctica’s shores. To understand and conserve these fragile ecosystems, scientists must brave the perils and study them. And if the science is to survive, then the US Coast Guard ice cutter Polar Star has to chop a channel through thick ice for a supply ship to traverse before time runs out.
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Antarctica will take you on a journey to Antarctica to experience the world’s most extreme wilderness, to see the massive undertaking it is to support human life there, and to chronicle the world-changing science being done. Embed with missions on the ice, underneath it, and atop some of its peaks, as scientists and survival experts join forces to fight brutal conditions to help change the world.
Antarctica episode 2
Antarctica is Earth’s southernmost continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent, being nearly twice the size of Australia, and has an area of 14,200,000 km2 (5,500,000 sq mi). Most of Antarctica is covered by ice, with an average thickness of 1.9 km (1.2 mi).
Antarctica is on average the coldest, driest, and windiest of the continents, and has the highest average elevation. It is mainly a polar desert, with annual precipitation of 200 mm (8 in) along the coast and far less inland. About 70% of the world’s freshwater reserves are frozen there, which if melted would raise global sea levels by over 60 metres (200 ft). Antarctica holds the record for the lowest measured temperature on Earth, −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F). The average temperature for the third quarter (the coldest part of the year) is −63 °C (−81 °F). Native species of animals include mites, nematodes, penguins, seals and tardigrades. Vegetation consists of tundra.
The continental mass of Antarctica was probably first seen in 1820, when the Russian expedition led by Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev sighted the Fimbul ice shelf. The continent was discovered in January 1840 by the United States Exploring Expedition, under Lieutenant Charles Wilkes; and a separate French expedition under Jules Dumont d’Urville. The Wilkes expedition—though it did not make a landing—remained long enough in the region to survey 1,300 km (800 mi) of the coast. The first confirmed landing was by a Norwegian team in 1895.
During the summer months 5,000 people reside at research stations, a figure that drops to around 1,000 in the winter. Antarctica is governed by about 30 countries, all of which are parties to the 1959 Antarctic Treaty System. According to the terms of the treaty, military activity, mining, nuclear explosions and nuclear waste disposal are all prohibited.
USCGC Polar Star
USCGC Polar Star (WAGB-10) is a United States Coast Guard heavy icebreaker. Commissioned in 1976, the ship was built by Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company of Seattle, Washington along with sister ship, USCGC Polar Sea.
Homeported in Seattle, Polar Star operates under the control of Coast Guard Pacific Area and coordinates her operations through the Ice Operations Section of the United States Coast Guard. After Polar Sea was deactivated in 2010, Polar Star became the US’s only heavy icebreaker. The Coast Guard’s only other icebreaker, USCGC Healy, despite being classified as a “medium icebreaker”, is actually larger than ‘Polar Star’ (13,623 LT versus 16,000 LT). Replacement ships for what is called the Polar Security Cutter program have been ordered for a new generation of USCG icebreakers.
Scott Base – Antarctica episode 2
Scott Base, New Zealand’s only Antarctic research station, perches on a low volcanic headland called Pram Point at the southern end of Ross Island. It is 3800km south of Christchurch and 1350km from the South Pole. Mt Erebus, an active volcano, sits north-east and to the west, across McMurdo Sound, is the Royal Society Range. Here, lies the boundary between the Ross Ice Shelf and the sea ice that forms every winter. From October to February, Scott Base is a bustling hub of scientists, staff and visitors. Up to 86 people can be accommodated at any one time; during the summer season, more than 300 people stay on base.
Scott Base is a New Zealand Antarctic research station at Pram Point on Ross Island near Mount Erebus in New Zealand’s Ross Dependency territorial claim. It was named in honour of Captain Robert Falcon Scott, RN, leader of two British expeditions to the Ross Sea area of Antarctica. The base was set up as support to field research and the centre for research into earth sciences, and now conducts research in many fields, operated by Antarctica New Zealand. The base is 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from the larger U.S. McMurdo Station via Pegasus Road.
Scott Base was originally constructed in support of the UK inspired and privately managed Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (TAE). The New Zealand government provided support for the TAE and also for the International Geophysical Year (IGY) project of 1957, five of whose members were attached to the Expedition. In February 1956, 10 months before the TAE and IGY parties were due to head to the Antarctic, Frank Ponder, an architect at the Ministry of Works (New Zealand), was given the task of designing the base. Ponder’s design consisted of six main buildings and three smaller scientific labs. The main buildings were to be placed at least 7 metres apart because of fire risk but were linked to one another by a covered way of galvanised iron.
Three New Zealand observers who were also given the task of selecting the site for a base went to McMurdo Sound with the United States “Operation Deep Freeze I” in the summer of 1955. After evaluating possible sites, a location near Butter Point was chosen. This was later changed to Pram Point as it provided better access for offloading supplies from the Expedition ship HMNZS Endeavour and also allowed for the operation of the critical RNZAF Antarctic Flight on a nearby ice runway. The base looks out over what is now known as Haskell Strait. Scott Base passed over to New Zealand Government ownership via the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), on 5 March 1958, at the conclusion of the TAE. (all in Antarctica episode 2)
