They clean themselves obsessively, and scare away neighbors who encroach by their nests, and fend off troublesome, chick threatening seals and skuas. The chicks, with fluffy brown down, thrust their beaks into their parents’ for food.

The parents are constantly feeding their chicks. When the mother returns with fish from the ocean to a ritual of bows and pecks before the father the goes off for her turn in the icy waters.

Penguins are really not as cute as people believe. They are foul-smelling and noisy but also fascinating at the same time. But still, they’re fascinating and the opportunity to stand amongst them, close enough to be touched by their flippers, draws more numbers of tourists to visit the Antarctic. It really is the vast frozen continent at the bottom of the world.

Penguins aren’t the only attraction. There are other sea birds, albatross, dolphins, whales, seals, and beautiful icebergs that look like mythical creatures and glaciers.

Not too many people have been there before and this is what makes a trip to this place most exciting. A visit to Antarctica is like life?s best dream fulfilled, with nothing left to be desired. The adventure begins right when you begin your journey to reach there. Though a bit on the costlier side, this trip is extremely fascinating. Depending on where in Antarctica they want to reach, travelers need to first take a 20-hour flight to Ushuaia in Argentina, or Punta Arenas in Chile, Cape Town in South Africa, or Christchurch in New Zealand. These are alternative points of embarkation where they board ice-rated expedition cruise ships. Despite the journey lasting several days and the seas being rough, for passengers this is the only option as of now.

The visible part of Antarctica is as we see in maps, is roughly the size of the U.S. and Mexico put together; but considering the icy shelves adjoining the continent, the area is actually the double of that. A two miles thick slab of ice, this continent exerts a huge amount of pressure on the Earth?s surface.

A choice of nine ships and exciting itineraries will be on offer for tourists wanting to visit Antarctica between February 10 and 18. There is only one ship that carries 400 passengers while all the others are small and carry between 75 and 200 passengers. Rather than fun and frolic, the mood on these ships is one of learning, with natural science and history lectures and slide shows about Antarctica.

The ships use zodiac rafts to land passengers near penguin rookeries and seal colonies or put them ashore at Antarctic research stations where scientists study everything from what keeps Antarctic fish from freezing to how the hole in the ozone layer causes global warming.

Research stations are maintained by the U.S., Argentina, Chile, China, Russia and other parties to the Antarctic Treaty. The basic purpose of the Antarctic Treaty is to keep the continent free from nuclear and commercial activity and to use it as a borderless laboratory. A few research stations actually welcome visitors but others feel this hinders their normal functioning.

At Hope Bay, on a frozen plain, there are numerous orange-colored pre-fabricated bungalows that form Argentina?s Esperanza station where tourists can roam about in work areas as well as recreational facilities, church and school. It feels so nice to see the scientific community as well as the military personnel completely at peace with all the animals in the neighborhood including the penguins.

King Georges Island has Teniente Marsh station, the largest base that has been set up by Chile, and it has facilities like provisions shop, restaurant and even a post office. China’s Great Wall Station is a good place to go and buy T-shirts, curios, stuffed penguins and a lot more. Anvers Island houses the United States’ Palmer Station and only certain ships are allowed to come anywhere close. Living quarters and research areas are extremely sensitive areas and are inaccessible to tourists.

The expedition lacked governmental or institutional support, and relied on private loans and individual contributions. It was beset by financial problems and its preparations were hurried . Its ship, Nimrod, was less than half of the size of Robert Falcon Scott’s 1901–04 expedition ship Discovery, and Shackleton’s crew lacked relevant experience. Controversy arose from Shackleton’s decision to base the expedition in McMurdo Sound, close to Scott’s old headquarters, in contravention of a promise to Scott that he would not do so. Nevertheless, although the expedition’s profile was initially much lower than that of Scott’s six years earlier, its achievements attracted nationwide interest and made a public hero out of Shackleton. The scientific team, which included the future Australian Antarctic Expedition leader Douglas Mawson, carried out extensive geological, zoological and meteorological work. Shackleton’s transport arrangements, based on Manchurian ponies, motor traction, and sled dogs, were innovations which, despite limited success, were later copied by Scott for his ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition.

On his return, Shackleton overcame the Royal Geographical Society’s initial scepticism about his achievements and received many public honours, including a knighthood from King Edward VII. He made little financial gain from the expedition and eventually depended on a government grant to cover its liabilities. Within three years his southernmost record had been surpassed, as first Amundsen and then Scott reached the South Pole. In his own moment of triumph, Amundsen nevertheless observed: “Sir Ernest Shackleton’s name will always be written in the annals of Antarctic exploration in letters of fire”.

Jameson Adams, Frank Wild and Eric Marshall (from left to right) plant the Union jack at their southernmost position, 88°23', on 9 January 1909. The photograph was taken by expedition leader Ernest Shackleton.

Emperor Penguins in Ross Sea, Antarctica. (NOAA Photo Library)

Invertebrate life includes microscopic mites like the Alaskozetes antarcticus, lice, nematodes, tardigrades, rotifers, krill and springtails. Recently ancient ecosystems consisting of several types of bacteria have been found living trapped deep beneath glaciers. The flightless midge Belgica antarctica, just 12 millimeters (0.5 in) in size, is the largest purely terrestrial animal in Antarctica. The Snow Petrel is one of only three birds that breed exclusively in Antarctica.

A variety of marine animals exist and rely, directly or indirectly, on the phytoplankton. Antarctic sea life includes penguins, blue whales, orcas, colossal squids and fur seals. The Emperor penguin is the only penguin that breeds during the winter in Antarctica, while the Adélie Penguin breeds farther south than any other penguin. The Rockhopper penguin has distinctive feathers around the eyes, giving the appearance of elaborate eyelashes. King penguins, Chinstrap penguins, and Gentoo Penguins also breed in the Antarctic.

The Antarctic fur seal was very heavily hunted in the 18th and 19th centuries for its pelt by sealers from the United States and the United Kingdom. The Weddell Seal, a “true seal”, is named after Sir James Weddell, commander of British sealing expeditions in the Weddell Sea. Antarctic krill, which congregates in large schools, is the keystone species of the ecosystem of the Southern Ocean, and is an important food organism for whales, seals, leopard seals, fur seals, squid, icefish, penguins, albatrosses and many other birds.

The passing of the Antarctic Conservation Act in the U.S. brought several restrictions to U.S. activity on Antarctica. The introduction of alien plants or animals can bring a criminal penalty, as can the extraction of any indigenous species. The overfishing of krill, which plays a large role in the Antarctic ecosystem, led officials to enact regulations on fishing. The Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), a treaty that came into force in 1980, requires that regulations managing all Southern Ocean fisheries consider potential effects on the entire Antarctic ecosystem. Despite these new acts, unregulated and illegal fishing, particularly of Patagonian toothfish (marketed as Chilean Sea Bass in the U.S.), remains a serious problem. The illegal fishing of toothfish has been increasing, with estimates of 32,000 tonnes (35,300 short tons) in 2000.

A census of sea life carried out during the International Polar Year and which involved some 500 researchers is due for release in 2010. The research is part of the global Census of Marine Life (CoML) and has disclosed some remarkable findings. More than 235 marine organisms live in both polar regions, having bridged the gap of 12,000 km (7,456 mi). Large animals such as some cetaceans and birds make the round trip annually. More surprising are small forms of life such as mudworms, sea cucumbers and free-swimming snails found in both polar oceans. Various factors may aid in their distribution – fairly uniform temperatures of the deep ocean at the poles and the equator which differ by no more than 5 °C, and the major current systems or marine conveyor belt which transport egg and larvae stages.

Antarctica from Satellite

Centered asymmetrically around the South Pole and largely south of the Antarctic Circle, Antarctica is the southernmost continent and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean; alternatively, it may be considered to be surrounded by the southern Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans, or by the southern waters of the World Ocean. It covers more than 14,000,000 km2 (5,400,000 sq mi), making it the fifth-largest continent, about 1.3 times as large as Europe. The coastline measures 17,968 km (11,165 mi) and is mostly characterized by ice formations.

Antarctica is divided in two by the Transantarctic Mountains close to the neck between the Ross Sea and the Weddell Sea. The portion west of the Weddell Sea and east of the Ross Sea is called West Antarctica and the remainder East Antarctica, because they roughly correspond to the Western and Eastern Hemispheres relative to the Greenwich meridian.

About 98% of Antarctica is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet, a sheet of ice averaging at least 1.6 km (1.0 mi) thick. The continent has about 90% of the world’s ice (and thereby about 70% of the world’s fresh water). If all of this ice were melted, sea levels would rise about 60 m (200 ft). In most of the interior of the continent, precipitation is very low, down to 20 mm (0.8 in) per year; in a few “blue ice” areas precipitation is lower than mass loss by sublimation and so the local mass balance is negative. In the dry valleys the same effect occurs over a rock base, leading to a desiccated landscape.

West Antarctica is covered by the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. The sheet has been of recent concern because of the real, if small, possibility of its collapse. If the sheet were to break down, ocean levels would rise by several metres in a relatively geologically short period of time, perhaps a matter of centuries. Several Antarctic ice streams, which account for about 10% of the ice sheet, flow to one of the many Antarctic ice shelves.

East Antarctica lies on the Indian Ocean side of the Transantarctic Mountains and comprises Coats Land, Queen Maud Land, Enderby Land, Mac Robertson Land, Wilkes Land and Victoria Land. All but a small portion of this region lies within the Eastern Hemisphere. East Antarctica is largely covered by the East Antarctic Ice Sheet.

Vinson Massif, the highest peak in Antarctica at 4,892 m (16,050 ft), is located in the Ellsworth Mountains. Antarctica contains many other mountains, both on the main continent and the surrounding islands. Located on Ross Island, Mount Erebus is the world’s southernmost active volcano. Another well-known volcano is found on Deception Island, which is famous for a giant eruption in 1970. Minor eruptions are frequent and lava flow has been observed in recent years. Other dormant volcanoes may potentially be active. In 2004, an underwater volcano was found in the Antarctic Peninsula by American and Canadian researchers. Recent evidence shows this unnamed volcano may be active.

Antarctica is home to more than 70 lakes that lie at the base of the continental ice sheet. Lake Vostok, discovered beneath Russia’s Vostok Station in 1996, is the largest of these subglacial lakes. It was once believed that the lake had been sealed off for 500,000 to one million years but a recent survey suggests that, every so often, there are large flows of water from one lake to another.

There is some evidence, in the form of ice cores drilled to about 400 m (1,300 ft) above the water line, that Lake Vostok’s waters may contain microbial life. The frozen surface of the lake shares similarities with Jupiter’s moon Europa. If life is discovered in Lake Vostok, this would strengthen the argument for the possibility of life on Europa. On 7 February 2008, a NASA team embarked on a mission to Lake Untersee, searching for extremophiles in its highly alkaline waters. If found, these resilient creatures could further bolster the argument for extraterrestrial life in extremely cold, methane-rich environments.

Flag of Antarctica

Antarctica has no government, although various countries claim sovereignty in certain regions. While a few of these countries have mutually recognised each other’s claims, the validity of these claims are generally not recognised universally.

New claims on Antarctica have been suspended since 1959 and the continent is considered politically neutral. Its status is regulated by the 1959 Antarctic Treaty and other related agreements, collectively called the Antarctic Treaty System. Antarctica is defined as all land and ice shelves south of 60° S for the purposes of the Treaty System. The treaty was signed by twelve countries including the Soviet Union (and later Russia), the United Kingdom, Argentina, Chile, Australia, and the United States. It set aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve, established freedom of scientific investigation and environmental protection, and banned military activity on the continent. This was the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War.

In 1983, the Antarctic Treaty Parties began negotiations on a convention to regulate mining in Antarctica. A coalition of international organisations launched a public pressure campaign to prevent any minerals development in the region, led largely by Greenpeace International which established its own scientific station–World Park Base–in the Ross Sea region and conducted annual expeditions to document environmental effects of humans on the continent. In 1988, the Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resources (CRAMRA) was adopted. The following year, however, Australia and France announced that they would not ratify the convention, rendering it dead for all intents and purposes. They proposed instead that a comprehensive regime to protect the Antarctic environment be negotiated in its place.[58] The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (the ‘Madrid Protocol’) was negotiated as other countries followed suit and on 14 January 1998 it entered into force. The Madrid Protocol bans all mining in Antarctica, designating the continent as a ‘natural reserve devoted to peace and science’.

The Antarctic Treaty prohibits any military activity in Antarctica, including the establishment of military bases and fortifications, military manoeuvers, and weapons testing. Military personnel or equipment are permitted only for scientific research or other peaceful purposes. The only documented military land manoeuvre was Operation NINETY by the Argentine military.

The United States military issues the Antarctica Service Medal to military members or civilians who perform research duty in Antarctica. The medal includes a “wintered over” bar issued to those who remain on the continent for 2 six-month seasons.

The blue ice covering Lake Fryxell, in the Transantarctic Mountains, comes from glacial meltwater from the Canada Glacier and other smaller glaciers. The freshwater stays on top of the lake and freezes, sealing in briny water below.

Antarctica is the coldest place on Earth. The coldest natural temperature ever recorded on Earth was −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F) at the Russian Vostok Station in Antarctica on 21 July 1983. For comparison, this is 11 °C (20 °F) colder than subliming dry ice. Antarctica is a frozen desert with little precipitation; the South Pole itself receives less than 10 cm (4 in) per year, on average. Temperatures reach a minimum of between −80 °C (−112 °F) and −90 °C (−130 °F) in the interior in winter and reach a maximum of between 5 °C (41 °F) and 15 °C (59 °F) near the coast in summer. Sunburn is often a health issue as the snow surface reflects almost all of the ultraviolet light falling on it.

East Antarctica is colder than its western counterpart because of its higher elevation. Weather fronts rarely penetrate far into the continent, leaving the center cold and dry. Despite the lack of precipitation over the central portion of the continent, ice there lasts for extended time periods. Heavy snowfalls are not uncommon on the coastal portion of the continent, where snowfalls of up to 1.22 metres (48 in) in 48 hours have been recorded.

At the edge of the continent, strong katabatic winds off the polar plateau often blow at storm force. In the interior, however, wind speeds are typically moderate. During summer, more solar radiation reaches the surface during clear days at the South Pole than at the equator because of the 24 hours of sunlight each day at the Pole.

Antarctica is colder than the Arctic for two reasons. First, much of the continent is more than 3 kilometres (2 mi) above sea level, and temperature decreases with elevation. Second, the Arctic Ocean covers the north polar zone: the ocean’s relative warmth is transferred through the icepack and prevents temperatures in the Arctic regions from reaching the extremes typical of the land surface of Antarctica.

Given the latitude, long periods of constant darkness or constant sunlight create climates unfamiliar to human beings in much of the rest of the world. The aurora australis, commonly known as the southern lights, is a glow observed in the night sky near the South Pole created by the plasma-full solar winds that pass by the Earth. Another unique spectacle is diamond dust, a ground-level cloud composed of tiny ice crystals. It generally forms under otherwise clear or nearly clear skies, so people sometimes also refer to it as clear-sky precipitation. A sun dog, a frequent atmospheric optical phenomenon, is a bright “spot” beside the true sun.

An Iceberg dwarfs a ship in this 1920s English magazine illustration of a whaler in the Antarctic <br> This picture is the copyright of the Lordprice Collection and is reproduced on Wikipedia with their permission<br> Source URL http://www.lordprice.co.uk

Belief in the existence of a Terra Australis — a vast continent in the far south of the globe to “balance” the northern lands of Europe, Asia and North Africa — has existed since the times of Ptolemy (1st century AD), who suggested the idea to preserve the symmetry of all known landmasses in the world. Depictions of a large southern landmass were common in maps such as the early 16th century Turkish Piri Reis map. Even in the late 17th century, after explorers had found that South America and Australia were not part of the fabled “Antarctica”, geographers believed that the continent was much larger than its actual size.

European maps continued to show this hypothetical land until Captain James Cook’s ships, HMS Resolution and Adventure, crossed the Antarctic Circle on 17 January 1773, in December 1773 and again in January 1774. Cook in fact came within about 75 miles (121 km) of the Antarctic coast before retreating in the face of field ice in January 1773.

The first confirmed sighting of Antarctica can be narrowed down to the crews of ships captained by three individuals. According to various organizations (the National Science Foundation, NASA, the University of California, San Diego, and other sources), ships captained by three men sighted Antarctica in 1820: Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen (a captain in the Russian Imperial Navy), Edward Bransfield (a captain in the Royal Navy), and Nathaniel Palmer (an American sealer out of Stonington, Connecticut).

Von Bellingshausen saw Antarctica on 27 January 1820, three days before Bransfield sighted land, and ten months before Palmer did so in November 1820. On that day the two-ship expedition led by Von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev reached a point within 32 kilometers (20 mi) of the Antarctic mainland and saw ice fields there. The first documented landing on mainland Antarctica was by the American sealer John Davis in West Antarctica on 7 February 1821, although some historians dispute this claim.

In December, 1839, as part of the United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–42 conducted by the United States Navy (sometimes called the “Ex. Ex.”, or “the Wilkes Expedition”), an expedition sailed from Sydney, Australia, into the Antarctic Ocean, as it was then known, and reported the discovery “of an Antarctic continent west of the Balleny Islands”. That part of Antarctica was later named “Wilkes Land”, a name it maintains to this day.

Explorer James Clark Ross passed through what is now known as the Ross Sea and discovered Ross Island (both of which were named for him) in 1841. He sailed along a huge wall of ice that was later named the Ross Ice Shelf (also named for him). Mount Erebus and Mount Terror are named after two ships from his expedition: HMS Erebus and Terror. Mercator Cooper landed in East Antarctica on 26 January 1853.

During the Nimrod Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton in 1907, parties led by T. W. Edgeworth David became the first to climb Mount Erebus and to reach the South Magnetic Pole. Douglas Mawson, who assumed the leadership of the Magnetic Pole party on their perilous return, went on to lead several expeditions until retiring in 1931. In addition, Shackleton himself and three other members of his expedition made several firsts in December 1908 – February 1909: they were the first humans to traverse the Ross Ice Shelf, the first to traverse the Transantarctic Mountain Range (via the Beardmore Glacier), and the first to set foot on the South Polar Plateau.

An expedition led by Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen from the ship Fram became the first to reach the geographic South Pole on 14 December 1911, using a route from the Bay of Whales and up the Axel Heiberg Glacier.] One month later, the ill-fated Scott Expedition reached the pole.

Richard Evelyn Byrd led several voyages to the Antarctic by plane in the 1930s and 1940s. He is credited with implementing mechanized land transport on the continent and conducting extensive geological and biological research. However, it was not until 31 October 1956 that anyone set foot on the South Pole again; on that day a U.S. Navy group led by Rear Admiral George J. Dufek successfully landed an aircraft there.

The first person to sail single-handed to Antarctica was the New Zealander David Henry Lewis, in a 10-meter steel sloop Ice Bird.

Antarctica

Antarctica is Earth’s southernmost continent, underlying the South Pole. It is situated in the Antarctic region of the southern hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle, and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean. At 14.0 million km2 (5.4 million sq mi), it is the fifth-largest continent in area after Asia, Africa, North America, and South America. About 98% of Antarctica is covered by ice, which averages at least 1.6 kilometres (1.0 mi) in thickness.

Antarctica, on average, is the coldest, driest, and windiest continent, and has the highest average elevation of all the continents.[2] Antarctica is considered a desert, with annual precipitation of only 200 mm (8 inches) along the coast and far less inland. There are no permanent human residents but anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 people reside throughout the year at the research stations scattered across the continent. Only cold-adapted plants and animals survive there, including penguins, seals, nematodes, Tardigrades, mites, many types of algae and other microorganisms, and tundra vegetation.

Although myths and speculation about a Terra Australis (”Southern Land”) date back to antiquity, the first confirmed sighting of the continent is commonly accepted to have occurred in 1820 by the Russian expedition of Mikhail Lazarev and Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen. The continent, however, remained largely neglected for the rest of the 19th century because of its hostile environment, lack of resources, and isolation. The first formal use of the name “Antarctica” as a continental name in the 1890s is attributed to the Scottish cartographer John George Bartholomew. The name Antarctica is the romanized version of the Greek compound word ανταρκτική (antarktiké), feminine of ανταρκτικός (antarktikos), meaning “opposite to the north”.

The Antarctic Treaty was signed in 1959 by twelve countries; to date, forty-six countries have signed the treaty. The treaty prohibits military activities and mineral mining, supports scientific research, and protects the continent’s ecozone. Ongoing experiments are conducted by more than 4,000 scientists of many nationalities and with various research interests.

Dr Phil Law (AAP)

The father of Australia’s scientific presence in Antarctica has died, leaving a legacy which has cemented Australia among the world leaders in polar research.

In the 28 expeditions Phillip Law made to Antarctica – the last aged 91 – and more than four decades of work, he established Australia’s three Antarctic bases and laid the foundation for the country’s modern program on the continent.

He died in Melbourne on Sunday, aged 97.

“He was once the be and all of Australia’s Antarctic program, but his legacy is still with us,” said Tom Maggs general manager of policy at the Australian Antarctic Division.

“The modern program sets dead set squarely on the program Phillip Law set up.

“He set up our scope, our reach, our international reputation. It was on his watch we developed the organisational culture, initiative, problem solving, teamwork, endurance and everything else.”

While Sir Douglas Mawson established the Australian Antarctic Territory in 1936, Dr Law followed in his snow shoes and took it to the next level after a hiatus either side of World War II.

“He started out with nothing. All of that vision, energy, drive to set the Antarctic program up started with him,” Mr Maggs said.

“The father is a good term, because that would make Mawson the grandfather and it works that way.

“When Law started in 1947, again sending ships south, it was rebirthing Australia’s Antarctic presence, but in a way we had never seen before. What he did was much bigger than we’d ever had.

“Mawson’s was an expeditionary thing. Law’s was a more station-based foothold on the continent – we’d arrived. It is now a world leader.”

He was an explorer, expedition leader, scientist and lobbyist who won crucial government support to expand the program.

But, among the massive respect from expedition veterans, is also some light-hearted mockery.

“Phil always liked to be second off the landing craft and the first off was always the photographer – he was a shameless publicist,” Mr Maggs said.

“But he capitalised on that and it gave him the prominence and clout to be able to walk into the politicians’ office and be who he was.

“But whatever people might say, you come back to his record and his achievements.”

Which are significant.

Dr Law led the expedition party that founded Australia’s first Antarctic station in 1954.

Three years later, he founded the Davis Station and, in 1959, negotiated the transfer of the United States-owned Wilkes station into Australian hands, later initiating construction of the replacement Casey Station.

He also helped map more than 5000 kilometres of Antarctic coastline and said he stared death in the eye on 25 of his 28 trips.

He was appointed the first director of the Antarctic Division in 1949, retiring in 1966.

He was made a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1995 for his contribution to Australian achievement in the Antarctic.

Escape from Elephant Island by Frank Hurley

Sir George Hubert Wilkins MC (and Bar) and Captain Frank Hurley OBE

Two great Australians born within three years of each other, lived lives full of rich adventure and to this day serve as inspiration for Australian travellers. The two men lived almost parallel lives, but held contrasting views on their craft.

Frank Hurley c.1914

James Francis (Frank) Hurley was born in Glebe, Sydney on 15 October 1885 and showed an early interest in photography, joining a local postcard company in 1905, a trade he would later fall back on.

Hurley joined the 1911 Australasian Antarctic Expedition of Douglas Mawson as photographer and upon return in 1914 set out again with Shackleton on his now legendary Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition that became marooned in the Weddel Sea ice. When the survivors finally abandoned ship, he fought with Shackleton to retain his precious glass plate negatives, arguing that they would be needed to tell the story – should they survive or not. His famous documentary film and book, South, are the results.

Hurley was a showman who made full use of the available technology and travelled widely exhibiting his films. Some of his methods were controversial, but nevertheless, he received both critical acclaim and commercial success for his adventurous exploits, including the sensational Pearls and Savages filmed during his two extensive trips into Papua New Guinea in primitive floatplanes between 1920 and 1923.

Hurley clashed with the new wave of daring filmmakers who saw him as old-fashioned and eccentric, but he continued to produce everything from government documentaries to landscapes. A self-styled loner, he retained the title of captain to enhance his profile. He died of heart failure in Sydney in 1962.

Sir George Hubert Wilkins

Born near Adelaide in 1888, Wilkins was the youngest of a large pioneering rural family and, disheartened by the cruel farm life, set out for Sydney, then England to find his fortune. By 1912, he was on the front line of the savage Balkan War filming for the Gaumont Film Co.

From that moment on, Wilkins’ life was one of almost non-stop adventure, exploration and discovery. After returning from a controversial arctic expedition, he worked under Hurley in the trenches of WWI, often photographing forward of enemy lines and having many narrow escapes. Described by Australian Commander General Sir John Monash as “the bravest man I have ever seen”, Wilkins was awarded the Military Cross and Bar.

Wilkins returned to exploration and aviation, making numerous daring and ground breaking flights at both ends of the Earth. He also spent many months living with uncontacted tribes of Australian Aborigines while under assignment from the British Museum. For this and his other work, he was knighted by King George V in 1928.

His collaboration with media mogul, Randolph Hearst, saw him travel around the world on the German airship, Graf Zeppelin, attempt to take an old US submarine under the ice to the North Pole and make yet more trips to the Antarctic with his buddy and benefactor, Lincoln Ellsworth.

A man of enormous integrity and honour, Wilkins’ lack of fame was described by one contemporary as a result of “his aggressive modesty.” He died quietly and suddenly of heart failure in his hotel room in 1958 and his ashes were scattered at the North Pole by US submariners as a mark of respect.

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