Vacations Blog

It was only a hundred years ago that the first wailing ship, called the Antarctic, landed off the coast of this wind-battered, volcanic coast and sent a part on a longboat through the rough Ross Sea to explore the shore and surrounding area. January 24, 1895 marked the first time humans set foot on the continent of Antarctica when the landing party, headed up by Captain Leonard Kristensen, stopped during their voyage to hunt whales in waters that were unclaimed by any other country. When you would like to get more information on antarctica cruise check out this site.

The continent of Antarctica’s baptism was bloody. Millions of seals were slaughtered and their fur was collected. Penguins and whales were killed for their precious oils, which were used in the machinery used by the Industrial Revolution. A harrowing process took place on Macquarie Island where hundreds of thousands of helpless penguins were herded into boiling cauldrons of oil in order to render the sought-after oil of these peaceful animals.

It is only now, after centuries of abuse of Antarctica’s resources, that this Frozen Continent is being appreciated for it’s natural and scientific wonders.  Humans have made the decision to forgo the easy money made through destruction of Antarctica’s resources, and instead chosen to treat it as a preserve of nature and science. There has even been discussion about a world park being established. It is on this continent that evidence of environmental threats such as ozone depletion and the greenhouse effect, can be observed by scientists. Our perspectives on Antarctica have changed rapidly, when you consider our minimal, but violent, presence in the area. Small areas of the coastline, some trails to the South Pole and a few islands were explored up until 1958.

It is shocking to look at the hundred years of ferocity, nationalism, idealism, and constant killing that fills Antarctica’s history since people first landed on this continent. There have only been occasional attempts to perform scientific research here. The artillery shells of World War One required oil from whales to operate, so whaling increased during this period. Post-WWII, the Soviet Union and the United States both hunted the oil from sperm whales, as this was used for jet engines. It was not until the International Geophysical Year that Antarctica was referred to as anything but “Terra Incognita,” a term used by medieval mapmakers to describe this undiscovered southern continent. To get a closer look on antarctica vacation visit this site.

It is important to note that even the first person to be born in Antarctica, who is still not an adult, was born here for the sake of patriotic affectation. It was 1978, on Argentina’s Esperanza Base, that the pregnant mother of Emilio Marcus Palmer was flown in to give birth to him on location, specifically to underscore Argentina’s claim to a large portion of Antarctic territory.

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin had planted the American flag on the moon’s surface nine years earlier, as a show of America’s dominance. Norway’s Roald Amundsen 1911 race to the South Pole was done explicitly to honor King Haakon VII, and make a direct claim on the territory. For the honor of the British Empire, a similar trek was made by Robert F. Scott and a team of explorers, who themselves, collected and physically hauled rock and fossil samples employing the use of sledges.

After discovering that despite all their hard work, Amundsen had beaten them to the Pole by an entire month, Scott’s party perished in Antarctica due to a combination of bad luck, the pain of hauling massive amounts of rock, and poor diet.  This made them the first team of martyrs for the cause of science in Antarctica. America’s claim to the South Pole was entrenched when Richard Byrd flew a Ford Trimotor over the Pole in 1929. In 1821, the soviets utilized Russian Admiral Thaddeus Bellingshausen’s voyage passed Antarctica in 1821 to justify their interests in the continent.