Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der Schwedischen Südpolar-Expedition 1901-1903

1908-1921

Expeditions (Special Collections) Q115 S966 1901

Stockholm: Lithographische institut des generalstabs…

Swedish Antarctic Expedition, 1901-03 - The Swedish Antarctic expeditionary party, led by Swedish geologist Otto Nordenskjöld (1869-1928), left Gothenburg aboard the aptly named Antarctic on October 16th, 1901, with Norwegian Captain Carl Anton Larsen (1860-1924) at the helm. On the journey south to Antarctica the crew picked up Argentinian naval officer José Sobral who joined the expedition in exchange for help from the Argentinian government. In the winter of 1902 a group of six scientists, which included Nordenskjöld, set up camp on Snow Hill Island off the east coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. The ship, Antarctic, and the remaining crew travelled north intending to spend the winter exploring. The Snow Hill Island group spent the winter making scientific observations. After the icepack failed to open up in the summer of 1903 to allow the Antarctic’s return to pick them up, they realised they would have to spend another winter on the ice and subsequently bagged 400 penguins and 30 seals for their winter food and fuel supplies. During this time the Antarctic, on its trip north, had become stuck in the sea ice and the remaining crew abandoned the sinking ship and trekked, along with the ship’s cat, to Paulet Island (at the north-eastern end of the Antarctic Peninsula). There they built a stone hut and killed over a thousand penguins to supplement their winter food supplies taken from the ship. Eventually both parties were rescued by the Argentinian boat Uruguay in November, 1903.