Mission Antarctica set up by Robert Swan after walking
\nto both South & North Pole. Antarctica is a truly
\nunique place, but not as white and pristine as you would
\nfirst imagine, and Robert was amazed at the rubbish
\nproblem.<\/p>\n
Antarctica is not owned by anyone, however 44 signatory
\ncountries administer the continent. The treaty was set up
\nso that it could be looked after for the future and states
\nthat everything brought in to the continent must be taken
\nout, but obviously this was not happening.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/pictures\/200312-ma001.jpg\")
In 1992 Robert was the keynote speaker at the
\nfirst Earth Summit in Rio and spoke about the rubbish
\nproblem in Antarctica. With their approval he then set up a
\nproject to do something about it, choosing the Russian Base
\nof Bellingshausen, as it was one of the worse areas. Also,
\nit was accessible to visiting ships and had a runway
\nnearby, allowing both easy access for research into the
\nremoval and aiding the difficult logistics.<\/p>\n
For a number of years a team of Russian volunteers cut,
\ncompacted and moved the scrap onto the beach, stockpiling
\nit to ease the removal later.<\/p>\n
During December & January 2001\/2002 the Ship “Anne
\nBoye” was chartered and sailed to King George island to
\nremove the scrap. A small team of 5 from the UK, together
\nwith the Russian volunteers then managed to move 1,000 tons
\nof scrap from the beach onto the ship, all within 3
\nweeks.<\/p>\n
The site was then levelled by JCB and within that week,
\nthe penguins and seals were back on the beach, oblivious to
\nits former history. The waste was then taken to Uruguay for
\nrecycling, with the Dangerous waste like Asbestos, fuels
\nand oils, taken to the UK for specialist disposal.<\/p>\n
The Yacht “2041” (so named as this is the renewal date
\nof the Antarctic Treaty) played an important role in the
\noperation, as the main aim of the project was worldwide
\neducation.<\/p>\n
For the first time ever, crew would be flown into the
\nAntarctic to join the yacht for 8-10 day voyages,
\nexperiencing firsthand the cleanup, together with the
\nawesome beauty in areas, as yet, untouched or visited by
\nman.![\"\"](\"\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/pictures\/200312-ma002.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Young people and teachers from 19 different countries
\nsailed onboard Voyages 1 and 2. The aim was to get young
\npeople interested now, in preserving Antarctica, which
\nwould mean that in their later years when they were working
\nand in possible leadership roles, they would remember this
\nand take positive action to look after the Continent.<\/p>\n
Voyage 3 allowed Robert, together with the sponsors, to
\nobserve firsthand the cleanup in operation. Voyage 4 was
\nespecially for young underprivileged South Africans. They
\nhad never even seen the sea before, let alone ice, when
\nthey visited the Continent. The final voyage sailed much
\ndeeper into the southern peninsular regions, observing how
\nother bases are dealing with their waste. New territories
\nwere explored, before returning to S. America ahead of the
\nwinter, now closing in. The yacht had now sailed over
\n4,000M during our 3-Month Antarctic Expedition.<\/p>\n
After resupplying in Argentina, the yacht sailed 1,400M
\nto South Georgia, for a two week Expedition to see how the
\nwildlife was coping with the waste left in the numerous
\nabandoned Whaling Stations.<\/p>\n
From the near extinction of the seals during the whaling
\nera, they have made a spectacular recovery, and now they
\nrule the very stations that nearly pushed them to the brink
\nof extinction on South Georgia. There are now estimated to
\nbe over 1.5 million Fur seals resident on the Island, as
\nwell as thousands of Elephant Seals.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"\/\/globetrotters.co.uk\/newsletter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/pictures\/200312-ma003.jpg\")
South Georgia is truly one of the world’s
\nmost spectacular wildlife habitats. This is mostly due to
\nits desolation and the fact that man finds it so very hard
\nto reach it – even in this day and age.<\/p>\n
King penguins gather to breed in massive numbers, due to
\nits year round access to the sea. On this beach alone there
\nwere estimated to be over Half a Million penguins!<\/p>\n
On arrival in Cape Town, after a round trip of over
\n12,000M, the yacht was lifted out the water to be
\ntransported overland to Johannesburg, for The World Summit
\non Sustainable Development, where Robert addressed the
\nUnited Nations on the success of the project in Antarctica.
\nThe yacht become a “floating petition” containing the names
\nof thousands of young people who have pledged their support
\nto the project on preserving & managing Antarctica<\/p>\n
During all the Expeditions the crew filmed 25 hours of
\nDV footage, using high quality digital video, together with
\nover 5,000 digital images and 5,000 film images on
\nTransparency. The images were complied, using the onboard
\nvideo edit suite, onto CD’s for the Participants, to take
\nback to their respective countries to show how the project
\nhad succeeded in the waste removal.<\/p>\n
Andrew Dare is now conducting multimedia presentations,
\nwhich explains the whole project from it start in Africa,
\nthe cleanup in Antarctica & the return to Africa, via
\nSouth Georgia.<\/p>\n