Real Life In Antarctica | Travel Channel 2024

This is Jonathan, part of an incredible family legacy that spans three generations of work and exploration here in Antarctica. Today he is celebrating his 50th year on the frozen continent. My name is Will and this is Olya. We are professional filmmakers who jumped on a sailboat and are exploring the globe in search of inspiring stories and people along the way. We hope you enjoy this series and if so, tap the subscribe button so you can follow our adventure. In our last episode, we left our sa

ilboat in Mexico and flew to Antarctica to document the incredible research being done down here. For this episode, our story delves into the incredible human history of Antarctica, from the tumultuous first expeditions to present day. In 2017, we embarked on our first journey to Antarctica. It was during that trip that we fell deeply in love with the captivating white continent. Even back then, there was a strong urge to someday return here by sailboat. Seeing a sailboat on this current trip se

rved as a reminder of our dream. Little did we know at the time, only three years later we made the decision to live full time on a sailboat, bringing us halfway closer to our inspiration. However, for now we find ourselves aboard the remarkable Norwegian ship, the Roald Amundsen. Named after the legendary explorer who triumphantly reached the South Pole in 1911. It's crazy to contrast the early explorers experience down here to our current one. Antarctica. The coldest, driest and windiest place

on Earth. Experiences average annual temperatures ranging from -10 to -60 degrees Celsius. It can even drop as low as -80. Despite these extreme conditions that make it seemingly impossible to live here, there are some dedicated and brave individuals who reside here year round, enduring nearly 9 months of winter without seeing the sun. But how did it all begin? The history of humans in Antarctica is truly fascinating, filled with heroic stories and unbelievable challenges. In 1772, James Cook b

ecame the first person to venture into Antarctic waters, spending four years down here, although he never set foot on the mainland. However, his discovery of seals led to an era of seal hunters, and many people consider them to be the first to set foot on the frozen land. Today, approximately 30 countries maintain around 82 bases in Antarctica. Many of these bases are abandoned or play a role for history museums. During the summer, the population of Antarctica reaches around 5,000 people, but th

is number drops to just 1,000 continent wide during the long, dark and cold winter. Living in Antarctica would be a significant challenge even today. But what about 100 years ago, when resources were extremely limited and communication was non-existent? During our journey, we met a very special man whose family legacy spans three generations of coming down here to Antarctica. Hello, I am Jonathan Walton. I'm from the UK. I'm 72 years old, and I've been involved in Antarctica for the last 50 year

s. And it's a sort of family thing, because my father before me and my son after me have also been in Antarctica. Throughout our extensive journey, we developed a close bond with Jonathan, who generously shared numerous captivating stories with us. It was truly remarkable to hear about the shared love for Antarctica, from one generation to the next. My son announced at my father's funeral in 2009. I will be going to the Antarctic when the time is right. The last season, my son, Finn, and his fri

end, Tim, drove 800 miles across the snow to the South Pole. And then that's where he phoned me and said, "Dad, we made it. I'm at the South Pole." And I was very, very tearful when I had that phone call. I'll start with my godfather, who was here with a special British expedition in the 1930s, the British Graham Expedition, which was a group of, I think, 12 English gentlemen from Cambridge University. They bought a three-masted schooner sailing boat with a not very good engine, and sailed it al

l the way from the UK to Antarctica. They stayed two years and then sailed home. But it isn't that famous because nothing went wrong. There were no headlines. But it was enough to inspire a young Kevin Walton, Jonathan's father, at the end of the war, dad had volunteered a couple of years earlier to go to the Antarctic. And he got a telegram when he was in the Red Sea on his way home in 1945, saying, "If you're still a volunteer for the Antarctic, basically get home as quickly as you can." So he

got home, and he then had ten days to sort himself out and go off to the Antarctic for two and a half years. Jonathan shared with us that one of the main lessons he learned from his father is to never hesitate with your decisions. Sometimes you just have to go with your gut. As you might remember, the main reason we have come to Antarctica is to document research being done with whales. We were lucky to have many encounters over the course of that trip. But there was one in particular that we s

hared with Jonathan that will stay with us for the rest of our lives. We saw nature at her best. It was amazing until nature came directly at us. He looked like so close to us. Oh, he's right underneath us. Oh, he's right underneath us. Thankfully we weren't as interesting as this poor little guy. That was insane. What a morning. We had probably the best Orca experience we've had. We've had him go under our boat before, but that male was massive. Kind of scary, eh, John? The one that went straig

ht under us. That was a close encounter by any stuntman. It's always just one of those, you realize how small you are when something that big goes underneath you and says, "I could have you." What did we see, four or five? At least. More than that. I would have said something right. Yeah, I would have said that. Despite growing up hearing his father's stories about Antarctica, Jonathan initially had no desire to visit for himself. It wasn't until he reached university that a sudden realization s

truck him. And everything in my life fell into place. I knew what I had to do. Except his engineering degree was fairly useless to achieve his new dream. And so I went to a different college in the University of London and did a master's degree in surveying. And one day he had a phone call. And said, "Jonathan, I see you've got an application to be a surveyor in the Antarctic." And I said, "Yes, I have." "Well, I'm the head of glaciology and I'm looking for a surveyor to be a glaciologist." "Wou

ld you be interested?" "Well, at the time he rang me, it was quite late at night. I was having a party." And I was a little bit under the weather under the influence of alcohol, so I said, "What's a glaciologist?" And he said, "Well, we study ice." From that point on, he dedicated several winters and numerous summers to work as a glaciologist and researcher in various stations. Presently, he shares his knowledge and insights by delivering lectures on cruise ships, emphasizing the significance of

Antarctic science. So, the Antarctic is a wonderful international laboratory for all humankind to understand what is happening to the world and how we might be able to cure it. I mean, I could give you lots of examples such as the ozone layer, the big hole in the ozone layer. Without the ozone layer, humans cannot exist. In a small office in the Antarctic, they discovered that the ozone layer had a hole in it. But once we found out about it, we found out what was causing it, we then found out h

ow to reverse it. And as a result of scientists working in the Antarctic, we're actually filling up that hole in the ozone layer, and by 2050, it'll be back to where it was before we damaged it. And it's things like that that actually make Antarctic science so incredibly important. And one of my missions is to tell people how important the Antarctic is to everybody in the world. Jonathan was referring to the chlorofluorocarbons, CFCs, which were used in refrigerators, aerosols, and some plastics

. After the Antarctic ozone hole was discovered, governments around the world quickly banned these chemicals. It was a great example of how when we work together as one planet, we can make changes quickly and effectively. Another unique aspect of the 7th continent is that no single entity owns the land, yet we all recognize the importance to protect it. As a result, you will find only research bases from 30 different countries across Antarctica, each serving a specific purpose. However, there is

one particular research base that holds a special significance for our dearest friend. I'm really excited to get on this cruise because this cruise is actually going somewhere that I haven't been on a cruise ship before, and that is going to Stonington and Marguerite Bay, which is where Dad spent two and a half years. Most cruises typically explore only a specific part of Antarctica without crossing the Antarctic Circle. However, this particular expedition made the decision to venture further s

outh to Stonington Island, is the main draw for Jonathan to make this journey. [Music] How do you feel? A bit emotional. Yeah, it's very exciting Very exciting. Keep on swinging, swinging, swinging, swinging, swinging, swinging, and touchdown! Nice! Alright, isn't this beautiful? The last time I was here was 49 years ago when it was an active base with lots of Huskies and full of life. And nearly 80 years ago, my father landed here with his team in 1946 and built the first hut on the British hut

on Stonington Island. So this is a very special place for me. It is like a dream. I never thought I'd ever see this place again. [Music] The hut that Jonathan's dad built was accidentally burned down in 1972, but this is the hut that Jonathan remembered from his visit. This was the lounge and behind here was the bar. The bar was taken out in 1975. This is the table where everyone ate. About 10 people would spend the winter on this base. What did they eat mostly?? They certainly ate, in the earl

y days, they certainly ate some seal meat because they had to eat kill seals for the dogs. And the choice cuts of meat. They did eat, but after the 1960s really, that didn't happen anymore. And then they had lots of tin food, lots of dry food and of course lots of frozen food because you could just leave it in a cage outside because no one was going to, it was going to stay frozen. And so the food was very good. But most of the time the people living on this base were not here. They were actuall

y out with the dog teams travelling all around the peninsula, many, many hundreds and thousands of miles. They might be out for seven months, eight months. They could be resupplied by the small aeroplanes that we use down here. So I remember going in an aeroplane and had some boxes of food for dogs and for men and some kerosene. You open a door with your feet and then you push the boxes out. We didn't even land. We just air dropped them. Unbelievable. Really good fun. Really good fun that was. W

ell I think I need to write my name in the visitor's book, don't you? I think that would be a good thing to do. Second of February, 2023, Jonathan Walton, a FID. My father spent two winters on Stonington in the 1940s, E.W. Kevin Walton. I spent two winters and innumerable summer seasons with BAS as well. There we go. Will decided that we should do something really crazy in honour of signing the book. I'm cold and I have no idea why we decided to do it. I can't believe I'm cold. No, no, no, no, n

o, no, no, no, no. It's so darn cold! It's less pleasant than I thought it would be. (water splashing) Just a few minutes walk on the other side of the island, there is a US station that operated almost the same years as the British station. - Officially, they were not supposed to come and mix with the British at all. The leader of the Americans had no fraternization. They used to come, just knock on the door and say, "Is it four o'clock? Is it tea time?" (laughing) And by the end, it was a very

good working relationship. The Americans had lots of airplanes and expertise. The British had lost their airplane with a small accident. And then the British had lots of dogs and the Americans didn't have dogs. So the combination working together worked extremely well. And they did a lot of really good work together. - A lot can be achieved over a cup of tea. - Yes, they certainly can. Very good peacemaker. People say to me, "Are you a loner that you come to the Antarctic?" And I say, "No, it's

the opposite. I love being with people because when you're in the Antarctic, you're with people." I shared a base in the winter with three young men. It hadn't been built as a hut to spend the winter in. It was six meters long and four meters wide and it had four beds in it and a stove that burnt coal and did the cooking and the little area to wash up. And if we really worked hard, we can make a small shower in one corner. And that's all we had. It was a very small hut. And we were completely i

solated. The nearest people were about 400 kilometers away. And in the winter, for nine months, we had no possible way of physically reaching them. I won't say we never got annoyed with each other, but if you get annoyed, we had a pet husky. And if you said, "I just want to go for a walk with Rasmus the husky," it meant, "I just want to get out of this hut for 10 minutes because I'm feeling a bit angry." But we never actually had angry words with each other. - I feel you, Jonathan. Living full-t

ime on a sailboat, I understand how challenging it can be to share a small space with someone. However, in my case, it's a bit easier since we are husband and wife. Living with a stranger could indeed present an entirely different scenario. - When you're back at home, you have lots of social circles, lots of family circles. If you don't like someone, you'll go to talk to somebody else. In the Antarctic, sometimes your put in a position, you are allocated a bed in the same room as somebody else,

but you didn't choose that person. And sometimes you don't get on very well with them for the first three months, maybe six months. And you're not sure, but then after nine months, you suddenly think, "Oh, this person is a really decent person." And actually, you get a bigger and better understanding both of other people who you might not feel normally sympathetic with, then it involves a deeper understanding of yourself and what makes you tick. And I think if we all understood ourselves better,

the world would be a better place. - After our enlightening conversations with Jonathan about the early history and his own experiences here in Antarctica, we are filled with a renewed sense of adventure and an eagerness to explore. The tales of endurance and courage from the early explorers have left an indelible mark, inspiring us to embrace the vast world and seek out our own knowledge and experiences. Who knows? Perhaps someday we will sail back to this breathtaking part of the world on our

own boat, continuing the legacy of discovery and carrying the spirit of wonder that has forever fueled our curiosity.