Antarctic base "under control" after researcher accused colleague of assault

[RitcheyRch]

It sounds like the plot of a horror movie. Researchers stuck on a remote research base in Antarctica send an email out to the world, pleading for help as a colleague is accused of assault.

But this was real. An urgent email was sent by a researcher at South Africa's isolated Sanae IV base in Antarctica accusing a man, one of the nine team members, of becoming violent and mentally unstable. In the email sent to a journalist at South Africa's Sunday Times newspaper, the researcher, who has not been identified publicly, requests immediate action to ensure the team's safety.

According to the Times, the researcher alleged that the male team member had physically assaulted a colleague, threatened to kill a different colleague and sexually assaulted another. However, South African officials later said the report of a sexual assault was not correct.

Antarctic base "under control" after researcher accused colleague of assault, South Africa says

A researcher at South Africa's isolated Sanae IV base in Antarctica accused a colleague of attacking coworkers.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[Taboma]

Interesting that somebody sent this email to a journalist. Would seem that a "Chain of Command" security protocol for coping with mental breakdowns, instability or abhorrent behavior was initiated and conducted. Yet this email author chose to then spread this news as a plea to a journalist, requesting assistance.
I'm not sure who lost their shit or exactly why, but I've formed a mental image of this email author that isn't flattering.

 

[81Sprint]

 

[BabyRay]

Interesting that somebody sent this email to a journalist. Would seem that a "Chain of Command" security protocol for coping with mental breakdowns, instability or abhorrent behavior was initiated and conducted. Yet this email author chose to then spread this news as a plea to a journalist, requesting assistance.
I'm not sure who lost their shit or exactly why, but I've formed a mental image of this email author that isn't flattering.

Have you ever watched the documentary “Antarctica: A Year on Ice”? The people who stayed behind in the winter to maintain the facility become very strange, with a little paranoia thrown in, from the isolation and essentially being trapped indoors. Bad decisions are probably no reflection upon an individual in those circumstances.

 

[coolchange]

I can’t spend 45 minutes in a mall without feeling like I’m going bad shit crazy. Locked in a building surrounded by snow with a bunch of people most of whom I probably don’t like, yeah no.

 

[RichL]

Interesting that somebody sent this email to a journalist. Would seem that a "Chain of Command" security protocol for coping with mental breakdowns, instability or abhorrent behavior was initiated and conducted. Yet this email author chose to then spread this news as a plea to a journalist, requesting assistance.
I'm not sure who lost their shit or exactly why, but I've formed a mental image of this email author that isn't flattering.

My initial thought as well.

 

[JDKRXW]

Pffft; that's peanuts.
30 guys spent a year and half on this 130 ft ship locked in ant-arctic ice - before it was crushed and sank - then they were in tents.
They handled stuff on their own.
Maybe it was easier because they had dogs to distract the crazies.

 

[2Driver]

Authorities said, stay calm we are on our way. Should be there around December.

 

[attitude]

I can’t spend 45 minutes in a mall without feeling like I’m going bad shit crazy. Locked in a building surrounded by snow with a bunch of people most of whom I probably don’t like, yeah no.

Isn’t that how everyone spends their winters outside of CA?

 

[BajaT]

 

[Caydens Cat]

I’m on episode II of The Head (on Max). Seems to follow a similar path of shit going sideways at an Antarctic research facility over winter… see where this goes

 

[Taboma]

Have you ever watched the documentary “Antarctica: A Year on Ice”? The people who stayed behind in the winter to maintain the facility become very strange, with a little paranoia thrown in, from the isolation and essentially being trapped indoors. Bad decisions are probably no reflection upon an individual in those circumstances.

February isn't winter in Antarctica (Although today would be the official 1st day of winter). My point wasn't as much about somebody going Bat Shit Crazy, certainly I would in the best of seasons --- but somebody who'd choose to email a journalist with this info as a plea for assistance. That's the very person that would more than likely cause me to lose my shit eventually when I grew tired of their whiny shit.

 

[napanutt]

Isn’t that how everyone spends their winters outside of CA?

Pretty much.
It’s a real good thing me and the wife like each other.

 

[rivermobster]

Beat me to it.

 

[Rajobigguy]

Exactly what popped into my head.

 

[monkeyswrench]

For over a year now, there has been an opening flown for a mechanic position at a DOD facility in Antarctica. The pay looks pretty good. This year they dropped the vaccine requirement too. Still no takers.

 

[TPC]

I can’t spend 45 minutes in a mall without feeling like I’m going bad shit crazy. Locked in a building surrounded by snow with a bunch of people most of whom I probably don’t like, yeah no.

Not unusual.

 

[BoatCop]

I only spent around 3 months on the ice, part of a 6 month adventure in support of US scientific and strategic operations on the continent, '77-'78. I talked a bit with some of the winter over crews. Winter season down there is March through October, with virtually all outside support leaving by the beginning of April and not returning until November. While some emergency flights (mostly air drops) MIGHT be conducted, they are pretty rare, as the weather is so unpredictable and in near total darkness and white-out conditions, that winter flights to the ice are usually not conducted.

Over the years, various Doctors have had to operate on themselves, since they couldn't land aircraft. In the '60s, a Soviet Doctor at Novolazarevskaya Station actually removed his own appendix, and in 1998, an American Dr. @ the South Pole did a breast tissue biopsy on herself, after she found a lump in her breast.

I can see how people can kinda lose it after being cooped up for months at a time, but it's not much different that those on the Space Station, Nuclear ICBM Subs, or even the Ice Breaker I served on. However the difference from years ago to now, is the mental health of a lot of people who go into the sciences in college. A good portion of them are entering the field for "environmental" reasons, and we all know how those people act out. I'm not sure what kind of screenings South Africa does for its Polar staff candidates. I know I had to go through a mental evaluation before I went down there, as did pretty much the whole crew.