My Visit to the Antarctic
Shortly before the Falklands war, I went to the Antarctic with the British Antarctic Survey which is now based in Cambridge. It was a trip which lasted two and a half months and which took me to within 500 miles of the South Pole itself.
The journey started with an overnight flight to Buenos Aires followed by a shorter flight to Montevideo to join up with the ship, the RRS Bransfield (Royal Research Ship). Then came a weeks stay at Stanley in the Falklands followed by a weeks cruise to the islands of South Georgia. These are rich with animal life and provided the opportunity for many photographs.
The journey south from there followed the route used by Shackleton on his ill-fated expedition when his ship the Endeavour was trapped and crushed in the ice. The purpose of the trip was to take out replacment scientists and bring back those who had stayed throughout the Antarctic winter, and also to deliver food and supplies.
After a two week stay at HalleyBay, scientific base on the Brunt Ice Shelf, our final stop was at SignyIsland to complete the same task for the base there. Then came a trip back to Stanley and then on to Punta Arenas on the tip of South American where a small group of us were landed to fly back to the United Kingdom.
This talk not only contains spectacular pictures of animals and birds (like the one on the left) but also covers unusual sites like the deserted whaling station at Gritvyken on South Georgia. It uses around 100 digital images and lasts for about 45 minutes.
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