I think of Antarctica as the ultimate adventure destination. Those who travel there, who live and work there, are clearly seekers. The early explorers—Scott, Amundsen, Shackleton, Byrd—sought glory, fame, riches back home, and national pride. Edward Wilson and Cherry Garrard were among those who sought knowledge. They visited penguin breeding grounds to gather eggs for research on how birds and reptiles are related. Herbert Ponting sought to film the new world before him, to document it.
And modern visitors? Clearly, there are still those who seek scientific knowledge. They want to understand our planet’s secrets locked in ice, how climate change is affecting the atmosphere and life, or simply find those organisms living in the extreme environments found there. (Lake Vostok, about 2 miles underneath the ice is an untapped wilderness). For the workers there, I can only imagine that they like the cold? They’re seeking out something more ephemeral—bonding with a select group of like-minded adventurers hunkered down in a frozen land or maybe trying to seek a certain calm within their own souls.
Tonight I attended a lecture at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia (about to celebrate its bicentennial—Congrats!) by Ross MacPhee. Dr. MacPhee is curator of mammals at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City and organized an exhibit there last year on the race to the end of the world. I loved the exhibit and was excited to hear the man behind it.
He discussed the two men who made it to the South Pole first—Norwegian Roald Amundsen and Englishman Robert Falcon Scott. If you know anything about this race, you know that Amundsen won and Scott didn’t make it back. This breaks my heart a little whenever I think about it, so I asked him if it made him sad as well. I loved his answer, that to the end he was concerned with his men, that they had known what could happen when they signed on and met their ends with as much dignity and compassion for each other as they could.
His lecture included photos of many of the artifacts from this era. It’s wonderful that we have so much info on the early explorers. We have photographs, film clothing, letters and even some of the scotch (even if it is blended) they would have enjoyed in their hut (oh, yeah, the hut is still there and you can donate to help preserve it).
There is something magical about seeing those early visitors explore the harsh environment, comingling with penguins and fending off walruses from eating the polar birds (something clearly frowned upon today). And the direct connect ion to modern times is clear and direct. Visitors to Antarctica still need to stay warm but how the tech has changed! No longer are people snuggling down in layers of cotton or reindeer fur but in sleek man-made fibers ending in –ex and sold through specialty retailers.
But with all our advances, the frozen continent still makes the rules. Getting to the South Pole today still holds many hazards. Today, dog teams aren’t dying from exhaustion or being eaten along the way, but crevasses, ice storms, sub-zero temperatures can all spell doom in an instant.
Beyond the adventurous, romantic image of Antarctica is the idea of hope. The Antarctic treaty protects this jewel as a treasure for all people. Nations work together here both to protect this pristine land and to further the body of knowledge found here. Wildlife is protected and left relatively undisturbed. Tourists (of which I hope to number one day) are kept in check. Even though it’s a frozen land, Antarctica seems to be a bit of a modern-day Eden.
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