Long Antarctic Winter Gives Rise to a Yearning to Communicate
21 Jun 2006 - Interviews, Logistics
Brendan Grunewald, at the 2006 BEPOLES workshop, was interested in Belgium's proposed Antarctic research station
© IPF / IPF
Brendon Grunewald overwintered in 1993 in Antarctica at South Africa's Sanae research station in Dronning Maud Land. Since then he has worked ceaselessly to disseminate knowledge about and stimulate interest in all things Antarctic - notably through his website 70 South.
Originally a researcher himself, Grunewald addressed the public session of the 2006 BEPOLES workshop about the psychology of overwintering in Antarctica. SciencePoles spoke to him to find out more about spending months in isolation in extreme conditions.
So just how isolated was "isolated" when we're talking about Antarctica in 1993?
When I overwintered in 1993 I spent 14 months with only intermittent radio contact with the outside world. Whether or not you reached anyone on the high frequency radio depended on how much solar interference was affecting the ionosphere. On good days you could make contact with much of the globe. On bad days we might be lucky to pick up a couple of ham radio operators - bizarrely this could be anywhere from Norway to Hawaii, depending on the vagaries of the ionosphere, but often not anywhere relatively nearby like Capetown!
Not everyone would have been as isolated as I was though. Our station was 26 metres below the ice, after being progressively buried by layers of snow. I got to live above ground - but in a kind of ship container about a kilometre away from the station itself. I had to conduct my research there to avoid the station's light and electrical noise pollution. There were moments of luxury though - I could walk back to the station for showers! I also had emergency food supplies in case of being cut off by weather.
Those conditions must involve a lot of psychological pressure?
When people think about endurance in the Antarctic they tend to think about the polar explorers and adventurers, who set records for crossing the Antarctic and the like. But it's also amazing what scientists go through in just getting on with the job under these conditions. They depend on each other for survival and for nearly their only human interaction.
These are extra-"ordinary" people. Not polar heroes, but nonetheless demonstrating stamina and endurance. Polar scientists have been responsible for some of the most important discoveries about the nature of the planet - not least the recent findings on climate change. Even now, not enough people know about their efforts.
So how many people do stay for the winter?
The number of people staying in a typical Antarctic station is only a fraction of those that stay during the summer months. As few as a dozen people might be involved. Working in close confinement with each other over six to eight months, with only occasional radio communication with the rest of the world, these people have to dig deep to find the resources to stay focused on their research tasks and on working together well as a team.
It's no wonder that NASAis now looking hard at the coping strategies such people employ, in relation to its thinking about possible manned interplanetary missions and stations.
So presumably they never want to see each other again at the end of that time?
On the contrary! The spirit of international cooperation between scientists who've worked in Antarctica is remarkable. Antarctic research's great strength is that so much of it is conducted in a collaborative spirit. Personally, I stay in touch with many of the people I knew during my stay there. Strong bonds are certainly forged under these circumstances.
Have things changed over the last decade? Are more people prepared to overwinter?
Things certainly have changed. Rumour has it that something like 3000 people arrive in the USA's McMurdo Station in the summer - they've even got an ATM installed there! It's a major support hub for numerous expeditions - a small town in fact - but even there the winter population shrinks to a few hundred when the half-year-long night finally falls.
More typical stations, such as those in Dronning Maud Land, have only a handful of staff in winter. People are still heavily dependent on each other to survive. It's a matter of everyone sharing round the tasks - cooking, cleaning and even making water by shovelling snow. Sometimes there are very anxious times waiting for supply ships, and connecting transport to inland stations, both of which can be held up by bad weather.
What do people need to prepare themselves for if they're going to Antarctica?
In addition to the physical rigours, one of the most surprising things is that colour doesn't really exist there. As you get deeper into the Antarctic it's black, white and blue. In the endlessly flat, still isolation of the Antarctic "desert" you get an experience which is completely unlike anywhere else on earth.
How did 70 South come about?
When I came back from overwintering in Antarctica in 1993 there were no websites on Antarctica, in fact there weren't many websites at all. I wanted to create a website to stay in touch with everything going on there and to let others know how fascinating a place it was.
I was amazed how little the general population really knew about Antarctica. Some of the most basic facts, such as that you'll find penguins and not polar bears there, are still news to many people. Here in Belgium, for example, where I've lived for some years, they are generally unaware that it was a Belgian research expedition, on the Belgica, which was the first to overwinter in the Antarctic and that Raoul Amundsen, the Norwegian who first reached the South Pole, was on board for that epoch-marking expedition.
Why a website?
Websites are undoubtedly the best modern medium for mass communication. The largest part of the website is now the "news section". I've got a great network of people passionate about the Antarctic feeding me the latest on what's going on down on the white continent. Visitor traffic figures are growing rapidly - the public's appetite for knowing more about Antarctica is as big as the continent itself!
By: Richard de Ferranti
