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The Aurora Australis is now less than 1,000 nautical miles from home port in Hobart, having almost completed the longest of the summer season's continental Antarctic resupplies, extending from Hobart to Davis and Mawson Stations. The vessel has a confirmed arrival alongside at the berth in Hobart of 1400 Sunday 4 March 2018, with the expeditioners expected to clear Customs and depart the vessel, making their way out of the secure TasPort facilities around 1530.
The crew and expeditioners aboard the Aurora have adjusted relatively well to Australian Eastern Summer Time following yesterday's single four-hour jump, although some decided to stay up until midnight in the old time-zone (4am AEST) to play cards and ensure they slept solidly through til mid-morning.
Although sea conditions for the vessel remain very favourable (particularly now that we're well & truly into the 'Roaring Forties' latitudes), the weather has been largely uncooperative as far as sea-views are concerned, with passing showers and sea fog restricting visibility from the upper decks most of the day. Personnel aboard have therefore been quick to secure a seat at the presentations which are made voluntarily by crew and returning or round-trip expeditioners in the D-Deck cinema each evening from 1900.
This evening, Mr Robb Clifton (outgoing Station Leader for the Davis summer season, and full-time Operations Manager at the Australian Antarctic Division), provided a two-staged presentation on the extraordinary, visually stunning and isolated Australian sub-Antarctic territory of Heard Island. As briefly noted in yesterday's SITREP, Heard Island is perhaps the most remote and least-visited of Australia's external territories, located deep in the Southern Ocean over 4,000 nautical miles to the South West of the nearest Australian port of Fremantle. Although over 20 km long and reaching to over 2,700 metres above sea level (making it Australia's tallest peak, and the location of Australia's only active volcano), Heard Island's isolation left it undiscovered until around the mid 1800's, when sighted and named by 'Captain Herd' master of a whaling vessel.
Disappointingly, the island's isolation, even in those early days, wasn't enough to save many of its mammals and seabirds from being plundered, and for many years the island's large populations of seals and penguins were hunted for oil and other products. As the trade in such animal-based products dwindled, so did seasonal visits by humans, with only a handful of calls to the island being made under the more peaceful banner of the 'ANZARE' (Australian & New Zealand Antarctic Research Expeditions) over the next several decades, including one by Sir Douglas Mawson's team earlier last century. A small station established during those early expeditions was closed soon afterwards, as Australia's presence and focus on continental Antarctica grew. The island's isolation, unique environment and unconquered peaks continued to draw some interest through the remainder of the 20th century however, with Government and privately funded expeditions attempting to summit Mawson Peak, the highest point on the island (some 700 metres further above the smoking caldera of 'Big Ben') all largely unsuccessful due to the extreme conditions, unpredictable weather and the steep icy slopes of the volcano.
Enter Robb Clifton & team. In the early 2000's, Robb and three of his close friends (all experienced outdoor adventurers and mountaineers), identified Heard Island and it's 2,745m peak as a considerable challenge but one worth taking-on, and after several months of planning mounted their own expedition to the island. Just getting to Heard Island proved difficult enough, with the Australian Antarctic Division rarely visiting the territory, and few other vessels aside from Southern Ocean fishing ships navigating the far reaches of the Southern Ocean. The team eventually located a large fishing vessel whose Master agreed to take them to Heard Island in-between its fisheries activities in the region. The team had originally expected to depart from an Australian port in the West, but with only a few weeks' notice they were informed that they'd need to pile their equipment (including two inflatable rubber boats) into a shipping container bound for Mauritius, where they were also required to board the ship. Several weeks were then spent aboard where they worked in with the vessel's crew, gutting cleaning and packing tonnes of Orange Roughy for sale.
The vessel eventually did make it to Heard Island, and after a brief stay, deposited Robb & team with their equipment before returning to sea with the understanding that the ship would return on an agreed date to the same delivery location and sound its horn every six hours for 48hours, after which it would either leave with the team or depart anyway!
After checking out some of the historic buildings and artefacts from the earlier expeditions, the team commenced their ascent of Mawson Peak, encountering hazardous terrain most of the way including large glaciers, and even worse weather. At one point, the team awoke to find themselves snowed-in within their tents high on the slopes of Big Ben, with early morning efforts to dig themselves out on the steep and slippery perch resulting in Robb's impromptu reconnaissance of the slope some 200 metres below. The team made several attempts to proceed higher, often in freezing, blizzard-like conditions, in most instances only being able to set markers and anchor points to assist them when the weather cleared. And clear it eventually did, finally after almost 10 days since they'd commenced the ascent the four expeditioners reached the peak in clear conditions, observing the enormous shadow of Big Ben across layers of cloud far below. Despite the clear conditions, fumes emitted from several volcanic vents they'd walked past made staying at the peak uncomfortable, so after a short stop to take in the view they descended again, covering the same route (over 20 kilometres) in less than a day.
Robb's first challenging encounter with Heard Island didn't deter him from returning just a few years later however, this time as part of the logistic team supporting an Australian Antarctic Division scientific expedition. Travelling South in around 2004 aboard another P&O Maritime vessel (the Aurora Australis at the time being occupied with the regular summer resupply of the Division's four stations), the team of around thirty scientists and support personnel took tank-huts, tents, man-portable and larger inflatable rubber boats, scientific and meteorological equipment and supplies to Heard Island for a season lasting several weeks. The team comprised marine mammal, seabird, glaciological, meteorological and terrestrial ecosystem specialists, including current staff Dr Nick Gales (now Director of the Division), Dr Barbara Wienecke (penguin expert) and Dana Bergstrom, amongst others. Multiple sites were setup around the island, in addition to the main encampment at Atlas Cove. Extensive field research and exploration was undertaken throughout the island's various ecosystems, investigating predator/prey relationships amongst the fur seal population, foraging habits of the seabirds (e.g. Black Browed and Light-mantled Sooty Albatross and King penguins), as well as mapping the distribution and diversity of plant life across the island, with a new endemic plant species being identified as a result.
Over several weeks, the glaciological teams alone ascended and descended thousands of metres in altitude as they explored and examined some of Heard's eighteen glaciers, with names as diverse as the 'Fiftyone', 'Gotley', 'Lied', 'Baudissin', 'Challenger' and 'Mary Powell' glaciers.
The main and satellite camps were all established with the assistance of the large amphibious 'LARC' watercraft, which look something like a cross between a medium-sized truck and a boat. These capable craft are employed for resupply each season at Macquarie Island, can carry up to 5 tonne on their decks and can operate in wind and swell conditions which would see operations in smaller boats such as the inflatables (IRBs), quickly shut down. This capability made them the perfect workhorse for the deployment of the expedition's huts, tents, supplies and even personnel ashore, as Heard island's dynamic coastline and unpredictable weather presented many challenges to the watercraft crews.
As the various scientific parties traversed the island, they encountered rapidly changing landscapes, particularly towards the coast where glacial tongues often met the beach, crevasse fields and constantly shifting melt rivers and lagoons. Field training staff, watercraft operators and other support personnel were always on hand to help them navigate these dangers. After a busy and productive season, the expedition was packed up and Heard Island and its residents were again left in peace.
Visits to the island under official expeditions remain periodic, in no small part due to the significant logistic and financial constraints associated with supporting operations to such a remote location. Heard Island (and its companion McDonald Island group), therefore remains one of the most pristine and well-protected amongst Australia's external territories, with no permanent human presence and no introduced pests having yet been identified (unlike its sub-Antarctic sister - Macquarie Island
where an extensive eradication programme in recent years finally removed rats, mice and rabbits from that landscape).
Heard Island endures as an exceptional and unique environment, now entirely a National Park, and while it will remain high on the list of ‘desirable destinations’ for many of our existing Antarctic expeditioners (particularly after tonight’s presentation!), in reality – few if any are likely to have the opportunity to visit. That reality will undoubtedly prove disappointing for many, but having now witnessed the stunning and overwhelming nature of the Antarctic or sub-Antarctic themselves, most will at least appreciate - that with the exception of periodic caretaker visits - Heard Island is just one of those places that should perhaps remain undisturbed.
Cheers
Mark & Fred
Map
A map showing Australia and Antarctica. The map shows the journey of one voyage that has occured in the season, with each route highlighted in a distinct colour.