… with a rescued young researcher on board
The Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition (ACE), the first project run by the Swiss Polar Institute (SPI). The Akademik Treshnikov is a Russian research vessel that has been chartered for this expedition. The imposing Russian research ship carries over 120 people: some 60 researchers from 30 different countries and about the same number of crew members. Besides, there is one additional passenger – a young researcher, who has been rescued with suspected spinal injury by the team of Akademik Treshnikov at the Marion Island scientific station several days ago. Now she will be delivered to a hospital of Hobart on the 19th of January.
The Akademik Treshnikov departed from the port of Cape Town (South Africa) for a three month Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition (ACE) a month ago. Frederik Paulsen, a businessman and major philanthropist, came up with the idea. He is also providing the ACE expedition with logistical backing, drawing on his extensive experience in Arctic explorations. Additional support is being provided by Presence Switzerland, a unit of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.
The idea behind the ACE expedition is to measure and quantify the impact of environmental changes and pollution in the Southern Ocean. This region plays a key role in climate regulation: currents of deep icy oceanic water travel from the poles toward the equator, while warm water and air move towards the cold regions. The earth’s climate can thus be compared to a huge heat engine. This process of heat transfer between polar and tropical regions is also an important component of the carbon cycle and a key factor in the oceans’ ability to store CO2.
“The poles are essential for climate balance, but they are also the regions where changes are most apparent: that’s where the largest temperature differences have been recorded,” said Philippe Gillet, vice president of EPFL, director ad interim of the SPI and a specialist in Earth and planetary science.
An unplanned event happened to the Expedition on Marion island (South Africa) in the Indian ocean, where the meteorological station of the South African national Antarctic program is located. Ornithologist Jesse Berndt, member of the expedition team, fell from a 6-meter-high cliff and injured her spine. The scientist and her colleague went on a regular inspection when a young woman fell off a cliff and was injured. Frederick Paulsen and the expedition team contacted the South African government, which, in turn, sent an official request to Valery Lukin, Deputy Director Arctic and Antarctic research Institute (AARI), head of the Russian Antarctic expedition. He gave his consent to have Jesse transported to the Russian ship.
22 research projects will be run during this trip by teams from Switzerland, the UK, France and Australia, to name a few. The projects were selected by a panel of international experts following a call for proposals organized jointly by the polar institutes of eight countries: South Africa, France, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, Norway, Russia and Switzerland. Australian researchers will lead seven of the 22 projects planned for the voyage which were selected through a competitive scientific assessment process following a world-wide call for applications.
The Akademik Treshnikov will depart from Hobart on 21st of January.
Anna Manὀshina
