Most of us imagine Antarctica to be a frozen wasteland full of penguins.
But the continent – nearly 10% of Earth ’s total land mass – has a rich history.
Ahead of the 250th anniversary of the first crossing into the Antarctic Circle, the icy land is explored in Antarctica: A History in 100 Objects.
The book, which starts with James Cook’s 1773 crossing, tells the story of Antarctica through 100 objects from collections around the world.
Here, authors Jean de Pomereu and Daniella McCahey share a few of the fascinating finds – which include a surprisingly placed bust of Lenin.
Antarctica: A History in 100 Objects is published by Conway, out now (hardback, £25).
Fish specimen
In 1899, Adrien de Gerlache’s Belgica had been stuck in sea ice for over a year.
For months, the men had tried in vain to free their vessel before winter and the crew were getting scared.
After weeks of labour and cutting deep trenches in the ice, they sailed into clear water on March 14, 1899.
Among the specimens the expedition retrieved – from a depth of 2,800m – were two Coryphaenoides lecointei, a deep-sea cod-like fish. This one was the first of its species ever recorded.
Today, the interest in Southern Ocean fish is driven as much by consumption as research.
It has resulted in stringent regulation of Patagonian and Antarctic toothfish – often referred to as “white gold” because of their popularity in restaurants, where they are sold as Chilean sea bass.
Pony snow shoe
Ernest Shackleton’s Nimrod expedition was the first to use ponies in Antarctica but upon arrival, the animals proved ill-suited to the bitter conditions.
Despite Shackleton’s previous experience in 1908 and 1909, Robert Falcon Scott believed that ponies could be more useful than dogs, especially if equipped with equine snow shoes.
These were put to use during his ill-fated Terra Nova expedition of 1910–1913. Scott mused: “There is no doubt that these snow shoes are the thing for ponies.”
But after more than a year in the icy conditions, the ponies deteriorated so much that the snow shoes no longer helped.
On December 9, 1911, Scott ordered they be shot. He wrote: “Poor beasts! They have done wonderfully well considering the terrible circumstances.”
Polar Star
Crossing Antarctica became the next big prize in the continent’s exploration during the 1930s.
Lincoln Ellsworth, the son of a Chicago coal magnate, was anxious to be the first to fly across it.
After two failed attempts, his plane – the Northrop Gamma Polar Star – departed from the Antarctic Peninsula on November 23, 1935, and headed for Little America, an abandoned station more than 2,000 miles away. Ellsworth and his co-pilot encountered several storms during their journey, forcing them to land and camp. They made their final landing 25 miles short of Little America on December 5.
The flight they had expected to make in 14 hours took 14 days.
The exhausted men completed their first crossing of Antarctica on foot, reaching Little America on December 15.
Statue of Lenin
At the height of the Cold War, the United States declared its plans to build a station at the Geographic South Pole.
The Soviet Union’s response was to bag a double consolation prize consisting of the Geomagnetic Pole and the Pole of Inaccessibility.
Located at the furthest point from any coastline, the Pole of Inaccessibility was significantly colder and more hostile than the Geographic South Pole.
But the Soviets were keen to demonstrate that their explorers could operate in much harsher environments than those occupied by the Americans. Once in situ, the Soviets established a small hut.
During a short ceremony that included the firing of rockets and the raising of the Soviet flag, the men erected a bust of Lenin on the chimney rising from the now-abandoned station. It still stands today.
Massey Ferguson tractor
Over the years, tractors replaced horses when it came to exploration.
In 1957, British geologist Vivian Fuchs began the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition, aiming to make the first overland crossing of Antarctica. His plan, like Ernest Shackleton’s 40 years earlier, depended on a supporting party from New Zealand.
Led by Edmund Hillary, after his 1953 ascent of Everest, the party would lay supply depots to support Fuchs’ journey. Hillary set out on October 14, 1957, with three modified Massey Ferguson tractors.
He made good time, but Fuchs’ team was slow to cross the continent.
Seeing an opportunity after establishing his last depot, Hillary continued on to the South Pole and reached it on January 3, 1958.
He was the first person to do so using overland vehicles.
The media characterised the expedition as a “race to the pole” rather than as a unified expedition.
Shipwreck
In 1915, Ernest Shackleton’s crew knew they were in trouble when he shouted out that their ship, the Endurance, was sinking.
A diary entry, from the Weddell Sea, Antarctica, on November 21 recounts: “This evening, as we were lying in our tents we heard the Boss call out, ‘She’s going, boys!’”
Shackleton would have been amazed to know that 107 years later, a private expedition would find the Endurance. It was just over four miles from where Frank Worsley, Shackleton’s navigator, had estimated it to be.
The Endurance, preserved by the 0.1C water, was in much the same state as when she was when last seen on the ice-covered surface.
The shipwreck, designated a Historic Site by the Antarctic Treaty, was documented using video and 3D radar, but remains untouched.
Frozen beards
A polar explorer with an ice-encrusted beard is a quintessentially Antarctic image.
In the early days of exploration, when water was short, men rarely shaved. Outside, the moisture from their breath or eyes streamed downwards and froze.
Ernest Shackleton once commented: “Our beards and moustaches are masses of ice.”
Frozen beards were sometimes painful, as face coverings would stick to them, pulling out hairs when removed.
So much ice on a face also made it prone to frostbite.
Although regular shaving became more practical over time, Antarctic personnel still grow beards. Indeed, when you are far from “civilisation”, beards are regarded as an emblem of frontier spirit and masculinity.
Autonomous Underwater Vehicle
This yellow submarine bears an unusual name, thanks to a public vote.
In 2016, the British public voted overwhelmingly to call a new polar research vessel Boaty McBoatface.
The Natural Environment Research Council, which was not bound by the poll results, gave a nod to popular opinion by giving the submarine the comedy name.
But sensibly, it opted to call the vessel itself the RRS Sir David Attenborough. Despite their high costs, AUVs – autonomous underwater vehicles – are indispensable tools for oceanographic and glaciological research in Antarctica.
They monitor the effects of global warming on the ice shelves that surround the continent. This is crucial work, as the melting of Antarctic ice has the potential to raise global sea levels by many metres.
