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Lenin Greets Antarctic Adventurers
Sydney (AFP) Jan 23, 2007 A team of British and Canadian adventurers has described the "surreal" experience of arriving at the most remote point in Antarctica -- only to find a bust of Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin. The team was the first to reach the Pole of Inaccessibility (POI), the point on the Antarctic continent that is farthest from all surrounding seas, on foot. But an expedition from the former Soviet Union, using huge mechanised snow vehicles, reached the pole in 1958 and set up a small camp there. "When we were within six kilometres of the position signalled on the GPS we noticed a black dot on the horizon," Teamn2i said on their website. "As we got closer an outline of (a) bust started to appear -- we could not believe it as we were expecting at the very best a mound of snow from when Lenin was left there 48 years ago. "He is standing on a chimney of the old Soviet hut about two meters above the snow line -- he is a shoulder bust of Lenin larger than life size. "It is made of some plastic composite -- he is totally frost free as if he was put there yesterday. "It (is) so so very surreal. We are all so exhausted that we have only just put up the tent with Lenin's stern gaze over us!" Britons Rory Sweet, Rupert Longsdon, Henry Cookson, who together won the 2005 Scott Dunn Polar Challenge, and Canadian Paul Landry reached the POI last Friday after a seven-week trek across the ice. They had walked or used kite skis to cover more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometres) dragging 120 kilogram sleds. Details of the journey can be found on http://www.teamn2i.com/.
Source: Agence France-Presse Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Beyond the Ice Age Beyond the Ice Age
Melting Artic Draws Killer Whales That Threaten Inuit Fishing
Montreal (AFP) Jan 20, 2007Killer whales are migrating farther north as the Arctic Ocean's ice cover melts, threatening the livelihood of the native Inuit who traditionally depend on fishing for their food, Canadian researchers said Saturday. "We found a really direct correlation with decreasing ice in the Arctic and more observations of killer whales so we think they are moving further into the Arctic because of less ice," Steven Ferguson, a scientist at the arctic division of the Canadian fishing ministry, told AFP. |
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