The First People To Explore Antarctica
Friday, March 26th, 2010In 1912, Captain Robert Falcon Scott was making the long trek back from the South Pole, when he and his companions met their doom.Suffering from hypothermia and starvation, Captain Scott and the individuals accompanying him, met their death.Scott showed great courage facing his unfortunate demise, following the extreme disappointment at losing the race to the South Pole, and this increased his popularity, and branded him a national hero.
Only now after researchers have spent years running studies are we able to offer information concerning the brutal Antarctica conditions facing anyone traversing the area.Winter air temperatures could reach minus 90 degrees Celsius. Winds traveled about 67 kilometers per hour.These are the conditions that Scott faced, and without our current knowledge of the dangers lurking on this continent. antarctica cruises
Scott’s letters to his wife convey the extreme isolation that he and other scientists working in the Polar Regions often experienced.Even these days scientists will feel loneliness and isolation regardless of the technology available to them to communicate. Scott’s memories were carried on by his wife and young son.
The letters he wrote to his wife were discovered when his body was found months after he died.Scott died 11 miles away from his supply post.It wasn’t until Scott’s wife was in New Zealand waiting for his return that she was notified of his death.
There is a lot historians can get out of the letters found on Scott’s body. In the first days of his exploration he wrote of feeling healthy and happy.There was little mention of bitter temperatures. Instead, he spoke of how a hot meal allowed the body to recoup.antarctica vacations
The mood of the letters changed, though, as the journey progressed and the food supply started to dwindle.Scott began to focus on the fact that the frigid weather was challenging and unrelenting.The men rationed their food and allowed themselves one hot meal followed by two days of cold meals. They had only a little food to survive during their last 11 miles.
Although Scott was a pioneer in the field of exploration, he had bad luck twice over with this trek. On the race to arrive first at the South Pole, Scott was eclipsed by Norway’s Roald Amundsen.History shows that Amundsen arrived on the 21st day of December, 1911, and Scott made it on the 18th day of January, 1911.
Scott had already become a true hero in his country before making his last journey due to a previous attempt at the South Pole from 1902-1904.Two of his men, Lieutenant Henry Bowers and Dr Edward Wilson, hoped for survival as well as Scott during their trek home. Captain Lawrence Oats and Petty Office Edgar Evans weren’t so lucky.
The expedition packed away supplies when they were only twenty miles from a storage area.They were almost out of food and fuel. Already fearing the worst, Scott’s letter to his wife details the bitter cold of seventy degrees below zero with nothing but a tent for shelter and stating that she may remarry if he should die.
In his parting letters he expressed that he did not regret the expedition that ultimately ended his life.He would rather have been there than doing nothing in the comfort of home.Many British youngsters have learned a lot and have been inspired by the story of Scott’s journey.
It was unfortunate that Captain Robert Scott’s group failed to beat Roald Amundsmen to the South Pole.Captain Robert Falcon Scott perished on March 29th of 1912.In 1913 his journal and letters were published in a book titled Scott’s Last Expedition.