ie eae St Wy, Twat Te lal ICIr EDITORIAL BREAKER ICE BREAKER is published independently by The tragic helicopter crash which killed three Malcolm Wallhead and Associates as a quarterly French expeditioners last month is a stark magazine covering Tasmanian Polar and Southern reminder of some of the perils of polar Ocean related topics. exploration and research. However, the knowledge gained from Antarctic expeditions is essential for the understanding of the earth EDITOR MALCOLM WALLHEAD and its climate both in the past and for future generations, and one must praise those people PRODUCTION CO-ORDINATOR who risk their lives in pursuing this ANTHEA WALLHEAD knowledge. I know that all those Tasmanians involved in Antarctic affairs in any way would wish to join me in _ offering Comments and _ contributions for inclusion in condolences to the families and friends of the future editions are most welcome. Please address three men who were killed in the crash. them _ to:- EDITOR, ICE BREAKER MALCOLM WALLHEAD AND ASSOCIATES 240 WATSONS ROAD At the end of January in the year 2000, KETTERING, TASMANIA, 7155 Hobart will be hosting the “International PHONE: 03 6267 4774 Symposium on Cold Region Development.” FAX : 03 6267 4335 (See full story pages 6 and 7.) During the first two and a half days of the conference a Unless specifically stated otherwise, the views commercial exhibition will be arranged at the expressed in this magazine are not necessarily same venue as the symposium. With a captive those of any group, organisation, or institution. audience of about 200 professionals from ICE BREAKER is published in good faith and. contributors should ensure the truth of any facts countries all over the world, this is an opportunity too god to be missed. Unlike arranging an exhibition overseas, there are no freight costs involved, no travel costs to be paid, and no expensive accommodation costs. I hope that all polar-related businesses in Hobart and throughout Tasmania, whether Tasmanian Polar Network members or not, will take full advantage of this rare opportunity, and support this ISCORD-2000 exhibition. MW Cover: From a photograph courtesy Cnigma Hitles- 2 FROM THE PREMIER’S DESK A number of issues are on Tasmania’s Antarctic horizon. How they break will have significant impact on the State’s Antarctic future. By far the most publicised issue in recent times has been the unfortunate mechanical problems on the “Aurora Australis” and the impact this has had on the Australian Antarctic Division’s program of science in Antarctica. On that point, the Australian Antarctic Division should be congratulated on the manner in which it has maintained elements of the program and resupply, in the face of extremely difficult circumstances. From a Tasmanian point of view, the breakdowns have had a positive effect, for they have provided an impetus to the call for a more flexible transport policy. The need for an intercontinental air service between Hobart and Antarctica has been mentioned, as well as the need for a more flexible sea link, possibly involving more than one ship. Obviously the Australian Antarctic Division will need to consider all the options available in the future, when it makes up its mind as to the best combination to meet its future transport needs. My Government considers the evaluation of an air service as a part of this process a positive step. The Eastern Antarctic Air Network involving at least Russia and China is also proceeding well. I understand that a blue ice strip will be constructed at Progress Base, providing its environmental impact is acceptable. The advantage of this strip in the Larsemann Hills is that it could provide a distribution point for other bases using rotary wing aircraft. This raises the possibility of both Russia and China using Tasmania’s resupply capacity to a greater extent than previously. Having Russia, China and Australia all considering intercontinental air services to Antarctica suggests an opportunity for cooperation, that could lead to reducing the establishment and operational costs of the service while, at the same time, increasing its long term viability. The Government, as a part of its State Audit process, will be reviewing its future Antarctic policy over the months to come. The aim of these considerations is to determine the most effective way for Government to commit its resources in this area. I am aware there are a number of opportunities in developmental research, education and training that should be further evaluated. I have been informed that the Tasmanian Polar Network is involved in a similar process, reviewing its past achievements, evaluating future opportunities and identifying measurable targets to monitor progress towards its goals. I applaud you on proceeding down this road, for without an idea of where you are going and how you might get there, it is easy to commit your resources and effort in a less than favourable direction. I would be interested to learn of the final outcomes of your deliberation. I appreciate the opportunity to communicate with members of the TPN through the medium of ICE BREAKER magazine and wish you well with your future deliberations. Jim Bacon Premier Minister for State Development TPN Chairman’s Message On Thursday 4 February a small group of TPN members committed themselves to spend the afternoon and evening in a workshop together under the facilitation of Tony Ibbott in order to determine the way forward for the Network over the years ahead. We particularly focused on setting goals with measurable outcomes in order to be able to determine the success, or otherwise, of the TPN’s activities and endeavours. In seeking to determine future steps, the good past work of the TNP in meeting and greeting international Antarctic visitors to Hobart was both recognised and maintained as a high priority. Particularly we noted the “Unity of Purpose” and “Bipartisan Political and Vice Regal Support and Stability” on key critical success factors for the TPN’s future. The current period of change through which many of Australia’s Antarctic related endeavours are passing, were noted as creating opportunity for significant and effective TPN input if we have the energy and vision to do so as a group. In order to determine this and noting the relatively low numbers of participation in the workshop, it is intended that a canvas of opinion amongst the Network’s full membership be conducted regarding the Workshop’s output before proceeding to define measurable outcomes for our future endeavours. I urge all members to carefully review and consider the summary soon to be forwarded to them, as this will be the last chance to make input to this process before we publicly declare our intentions and plans for their achievement. Finally, I note and commend to all TPN members, the BBQ plan for 5.30pm on 6/3/99 for us to meet and greet our Chinese Colleagues on board the “Snow Dragon”, which is due to visit Hobart for a few days. We will be providing details soon, regarding venue and cost and I ask that as many members as possible attend this function for both the fellowship and the goodwill it will create between our countries. Bill Lawson Chairman 19/2/1999 DESTINATION NORTH Malcolm and Anthea Wallhead will be spending three weeks in Europe and UK this month and will visit nine polar institutes in Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, France and England. All institutes have previously purchased Igloo Satellite Cabins and other polar field equipment, and it is understood that at least two are interested in re-ordering. Appointments have been made for discussions on polar products, ICE BREAKER magazine and the Tasmanian Polar Network Inc, and copies of ICE BREAKER will be distributed to each institute visited. The Wallheads will also be visiting maritime, science and polar museums for new ideas and information useful to Hobart’s polar community. 4 PETER HODGMAN WRITES Hobart-Antarctic Air link Dr Valery Klokov, of the Russian Antarctic Congratulations to Bill Lawson and _ the Expedition (RAE), is currently in Antarctica Tasmanian Polar Network for organising the continuing with preliminary investigations on the Search Conference for the future directions of the development of an ice airstrip. TPN. They, and everyone else who participated, made a great contribution. Dr Klokov has advised that a suitable site for an airstrip has been identified which is 2,500 m long The outcome of the workshop will provide a and 90 m wide. Technicians at the Russian foundation-stone for Tasmania’s future in Progress Station have refurbished one roller and Antarctic affairs. We looked at our successes, and three heavy-wheeled tractors that can be used to our failures, in an open and honest way. grade the airstrip. Antarctic opportunities provide economic and The RAE are completing an Environmental employment benefits for us all, but we are in a Impact Assessment (IEE) as required under the highly competitive marketplace for business. Madrid Protocol which is expected to be South Africa, New Zealand and South America, circulated to Antarctic Treaty countries in March as well as Western Australia, have all tried to take this year. a slice of our Antarctic pie. It is hoped to complete construction of the airstrip Exclusive rights do not exist, and this $100 next season. million industry could be lost to Tasmania if we don’t all lift our game and do it better. Tasmanian Jack Sayers, COMNAP Secretariat must keep selling its Antarctic benefits at the Antarctic Treaty Nations conference and all other Antarctic gatherings. Rest assured that our competitors are!! Chinese Ship Visit The members of the Tasmanian Polar Network should join with the Tasmanian Government in a The Chinese resupply vessel Xuelong is expected joint promotion of our State at the next Antarctic to visit Hobart in early March 1999 following its Treaty Nations conference in Peru, in June of this visit to Zhongshan Station in the Larseman Hills. year. We need to present our “Antarctic Showcase” to all the countries involved in The vessel will be returning with the 1998 Antarctica. This is a “one-stop-shop” opportunity wintering party. Dr Valery Klokov of the Russian that we cannot afford to miss. Antarctic expedition will be returning on the vessel to spend several days in Hobart before The workshop showed we have a lot to be proud flying home to St Petersburg. of - quality Antarctic commodities, a proven ability to cater to the needs of different countries, Jack Sayers, COMNAP Secretariat quality travel and tourism opportunities - to name just a few. Now it is time to go out and sell this!! Clk, Peter Hodgman MHA BREAKER Shadow Minister Antarctic Affairs ISCORD 2000 The International Symposium on Cold Region Development The Board of Directors of International Association for Cold Region Development Studies (ACORDS) approved the choice of Hobart as the venue for the Sixth ISCORD. Known as ISCORD 2000 it is to be held from 31 January 2000 to 6 February 2000. IACORDS is an organisation that promotes the advancement of science and technology in cold regions and contributes to the further development of the economy and society of cold regions. It operates through communication among members and exchanges of scientific and technical information related to cold region development. One of its major activities is to sponsor ISCORD every three years. The Fifth International Symposium on Cold Region Development - ISCORD 1997 was held in Anchorage, Alaska from 4 to 10 May 1997. ISCORD conferences are international events held in co-operation with governments and professionals in the scientific and business sectors, for the purpose of promoting the exchange of information and experience in order to advance economic and technical progress in cold regions. Approximately 150 Northern Hemisphere delegates, along with an additional 50 from Australia and New Zealand, are expected to attend ISCORD 2000 with accompanying families and colleagues. Previous conferences have taken place in: Sapporo, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan (1983) Harbin,, Heilongjiang Province, People’s Republic of China (1988) Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (1991) Espoo, Finland, (1994) Anchorage, Alaska (1997). ISCORD 2000 will be the first time this prestigious conference has come to the Southern Hemisphere. Since Hobart received the nomination in 1997 a web site has been produced at the University of Tasmania. The web site was funded by the Government through the Office of Antarctic Affairs and can be viewed at http://www.antcrc.utas.edu.au/iscord. A preliminary program has been designed and includes the following topics: A) General Development Policy and Projects. B) Building, Housing and Construction. C) Regional Development. D) Logistics, Infrastructure, Transport and Communication. E) Rural, and Energy Resource Development. F) Environment, Recreation and Tourism. Because of Hobart’s current association with Antarctica an overlying theme of Arctic/Antarctic management and scientific development will be encouraged. Subjects such as international co-operation, global climate change, alternative energies, management of international fisheries, human impacts and tourism could provide common themes in this area. Exhibition At the same time as the Conference, a commercial exhibition supporting the main themes will be arranged at the symposium venue. The exhibition will be open to all interested companies and organisations. The cost of exhibition space will be $1,500 per space and the program will be arranged so events such as tea breaks and cocktail evenings will be held in conjunction with the exhibition. The exhibition will last for the first 2.5 days of the symposium. A stand at the exhibition would provide the TPN with the opportunity to meet with cold climate professionals from most of the Northern Hemisphere countries. At Anchorage were representatives from Japan, Norway, Russia, China, India, Australia, USA, Switzerland, Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The Convenor of ISCORD 2000 is Tony Hughson with help from Dr Mike Pook of the Antarctic CRC and Chris Patterson of AAD. "T'M LOOKING FOR A NICE, MEDIUM DRY CHAMPAGNE SUITABLE FOR LAUNCHING A TWENTY THOUSAND TONNE ICEBREAKER." KITES IN ANTARCTICA Zealand - Campbell Island. I never did find out why she went there apart from learning to fly a kite! During the Summero f 1994-5 we had a softly spoken lady come into the kite shop, here in Since that time we have sold not only two line Hobart, saying she would like to buy a stunt kite. stunt kites but also the newer Quadline Power She said she hadn’t flown one before, but that Traction Kites - but why oh why do they leave it wasn’t unusual as sport kite flying had taken its until the day before they sail to want to make a time getting to our shores. purchase? “It’s very windy where we are going,” she told me. Lines seem to be the biggest problem, not only the “King Island?” I suggested. rewinding but actually being able to see, or not to “No, to sub-Antarctica,” was the reply. see them, laying on the ice. I suggested beetroot juice but I guess the idea hasn’t taken on. Some months later she appeared again, very The photo was sent by Maria de Denge from briefly, and left some photos with us. I’m sure that Mawson Base in February 1998 of a one and two kite flew only to get away from the novice flyers. The one thing you don’t do when flying a two line metre square Quad purchased from us that Summer. These kites are not only of a high kite is hold your arms above your head. standard of manufacture but are soft cell, with no spars, and are easily packed into minimal space. The land in the photos was covered with what I would call tussocks of grass and outcrops of rock half to one metre high which sloped down Genevieve Duhig and Allan Parish towards the distant sea. We had had the old Enigma Ketes . Hobart school atlas out previously but there were no E-mail: [email protected] signs of this island, so off we went to the reference library. Sure enough, there it was, a small dot south of the South Island of New POLAR NEWS If krill are unable to adapt to the warmer air temperatures and reduced ice cover, or are massively harvested by an American corporation ICE CORE TO BEDROCK (which conservationists fear), the impact on the quantity of krill available for seals, penguins, After three years of drilling through ice near Siple whales and sea birds could be disastrous. Dome, 800 kms north of the South Pole, scientists have at last reached bedrock more than 1 km beneath the surface. TOOTHFISH PATROLS An almost complete column of ice, 12.7 cm in New Zealand is taking direct action against illegal diameter, was pulled up in pieces 1-5 metres long, fishing in the Southern Ocean by sending ships containing a record of 80,000-100,000 years of and planes to search Antarctica’s Ross Sea for climatic changes locked in bubbles of air, dust, fishing boats unlicensed to catch Patagonian volcanic ash and other chemicals. Toothfish. The Siple Dome project, sponsored by the NZ Air force long-range Orion surveillance planes National Science Foundation in Washington, is flew over the area in January this year and a Navy designed to help determine whether the ice cap, frigate patrolled waters near the Ross Ice Shelf in which lies partly over solid rock and partly over February, but unfortunately no signs of pirate the Southern Ocean, ever disintegrated entirely, at fishing boats were found. least in W. Antarctica. These patrols are at least a positive move to try There is already existing evidence that the ice did and control illegal fishing, which was estimated by vanish about 125,000 years ago and it is believed some people last year to be half the total catch of it may do so again if the present ice cap continues 60,000 tonnes worth $85 million. to break up as the world’s climate warms. SOLAR POWERED PRIZE OZONE HOLE STILL ENLARGING This year’s Australia Prize winners, Martin Green Last year the hole in the ozone layer over and Stuart Wenham of the University of NSW, Antarctica was the largest and most intense ever addressed a lunchtime meeting in Hobart on measured. Tuesday February 23, 1999. Argentinean meteorologists reported that the hole The meeting was attended by over 50 people who lasted a month longer than the previous year and viewed a video on the making and usage of solar that the area covered by low ozone values was cells developed by the two researchers. Martin larger than 10 million square metres for more than and Stuart are responsible for creating the world’s 100 days. most efficient solar cells and their record stands at 24.5% of received sunlight converting into electricity. ANTARCTIC FOOD CHAIN THREATENED Information on the existing solar powered Dr Steve McNichol, a marine biologist at the equipment available included some examples used Australian Antarctic Division, has discovered that in Antarctica, where the cold temperatures krill are highly sensitive to the ultraviolet light increase the efficiency of sunlight received by the from the hole in the ozone layer. solar cells. MEMORIAL SEVICE FOR THE FRENCH Three French expeditioners killed in a helicopter representative, Honorary Air Force aid-de-camp crash in Antarctica were mourned at a memorial Flight Lieutenant Alan Robertson assisted at the service at the “French Memorial” in Cornelian ceremony. Bay Cemetery, Hobart. Malcolm and Anthea Wallhead were nominated by The three men killed in the accident were all in the chairman of the Tasmanian Polar Network to their 30s. They were the pilot, Bruno FIORESE, represent those members who could not attend the chief engineer Dario LATTANZI, and the the memorial service, and most of Hobart’s polar logistics officer Pascal LEM AUGUEN. community were represented at the service. The bodies were brought back to Hobart on the Behind the “French Memorial” plaque containing research ship L’Astrolabe and arrived on the names of 70 Antarctic expeditioners who had Wednesday the 17th of February. The memorial passed before, the French national flag flew at half service was held at 11-30 the following morning. mast. The coffins of the three men were also Afterwards the bodies of the three men were draped in French flags and lined up, side by side in flown home to France for burial. front of the memorial while the haunting notes of “The Last Post” were played by a lone bugler. The service was conducted by the Honorary State French Consul, Bill Ayliffe, and the French Consul Rollon Mouchel-Blaisot said that the names of the -General from Melbourne, Rollon Mouchel- three men will be added to the plaque of the Blaisot, with more than 100 locals and crew “French Memorial”. members attending. The Tasmanian Governor’s 10