NAVY NEWS, MARCH 2008 37
Emperors and explorers
GO ON, tickle his tummy.
You know you want to.
These creatures
A crabeater seal (they actually
are (apparently) the second
gorge themselves mainly on krill,
most numerous mammals on
not crabs, despite the name),
earth... but once again it’s pingu
rolls about on a small iceberg
and friends who seem to have
near the British Antarctic
occupied the ice ship’s sailors
helicopters
Research Base at Rothera,
and her scientists.
spied the birds
with HMS Endurance
We thought there couldn’t
waddling around
anchored in the
possibly be more penguins in
on pack ice.
background.
this world, but we were wrong.
A new colony of the birds has
The British Antarctic
been found a good 300 miles
Survey scientists – being
from their nearest ‘colleagues’.
carried by Endurance to
It’s been 13 years since
a southerly research post
Endurance last ventured so
– decided the birds needed
far south of the Western
further investigation, so the
Peninsula (73˚S to be
icebreaker nudged her way
precise) – and penguins
through.
were notable by their
What they found around
absence.
Ronne Entrance, between
But in the austral
the Beethoven Peninsula and
summer of 2008,
Smyley Island, was a small
miles
one of the
colony of emperor penguins –
inland in the
Red Plum’s
between 50 and 75 birds in all.
intervening 13
two Lynx
The colony was a good 300
years – a fact which
miles south of the nearest
might explain the new
penguin populace (according
colony. The BAS scientists are
to the Woehler SCAR penguin
carrying out research to learn
compendium, the bible of
more.
colonies in and around the
Another unexpected fi nd for
frozen continent).
Endurance was the wreck of the
The new emperors were not
polar cruise ship MS Explorer
is 62˚ 24.2929’S,
the only surprise for the Red
– victim of an iceberg last
57˚ 11.7748’W – resting
Plum since her last visit to
November.
1,130 metres (3,700ft)
these waters.
The liner’s last resting place
beneath the sea. The current
The sailors found
was found by the hi-tech sonars
carried her more than 2½ miles
the ice shelf had
and scanning equipment of the
from her last-reported position.
retreated eight
Royal Navy’s ice survey ship.
The Explorer had been taking
Before departing for frozen
more than 90 passengers and 60
waters, the survey team
crew in the footsteps of Ernest
reckoned fi nding the hulk would
Shackleton when she struck a
be a task akin to fi nding a needle
submerged object on November
in a proverbial haystack.
23. All tourists and the ship’s
After one unsuccessful sweep
crew were safely evacuated.
of the area where the Explorer
Despite a gash no larger
went down early in January,
than 25cm by 10cm, the ship
the Red Plum returned to
foundered within 20 hours.
the spot later in the month
Today there is no trace of her,
– this time meeting
save for a slight oil slick on the
success.
surface of the ocean near her
Explorer lies at the
last position.
north-western end
The Foreign and
of the Bransfi eld
Commonwealth Offi ce asked
Strait – the
Endurance to search for the
actual position
Explorer’s wreck in line with
the survey ship’s annual
mission to improve charts
of hazardous Antarctic
waters and to record the
environmental impact
of the cruise liner’s
demise.
picture: la(phot) kelly whybrow, hms endurance
0037_NN_Mar.indd 137_NN_Mar.indd 1 119/2/08 14:10:129/2/08 14:10:12
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