In a chilling drama straight out of the movies, a team of scientists who are completely cut off from the rest of civilisation are now living in fear in the most inhospitable environment on Earth.
Researchers at South Africa’s Sanae IV base in Antarctica have sent an email begging to be rescued after one member of the team’s behaviour “has escalated to a point that is deeply disturbing”.
The scientists are expected to have to remain in isolation for at least another 10 more months, as the frozen continent’s extreme weather will make getting in or out impossible.
The scientists’ desperate plea for help in an email was shared with South Africa’s Sunday Times. It said that “regrettably”, one un-named member of the team’s behaviour has escalated to a point that is deeply disturbing. Specifically, “he physically assaulted [a member of the team], which is a grave violation of personal safety and workplace norms”.
The message continued: “Furthermore, he threatened to kill [another member of the team], creating an environment of fear and intimidation. I remain deeply concerned about my own safety, constantly wondering if I might become the next victim.
“His behaviour has become increasingly egregious, and I am experiencing significant difficulty in feeling secure in his presence.”
The email concluded with a demand for “immediate action” to remove the renegade member of the team.
South Africa’s environment minister, Dion George, said that he would be taking a personal interest in the crisis: “There was a verbal altercation between the team leader and this person,” he explained.
“Then it escalated and then that person did physically assault the leader. You can imagine what it’s like, it is close quarters and people do get cabin fever. It can be very disorientating.”
Antarctica is a remote, desolate continent where temperatures can plummet to -90°C (-130°F) during winter. Explorer Alan Chambers, who himself took part in a 700-mile trek to the South Pole last year, told The Times that the bleak isolation of Antarctica can have a profound effect on a visitor’s mindset.
He explained: “From a psychological perspective it’s a very very lonely place. There’s very little interaction with humans or animals so if you’re in a camp or a research centre you’re with those people for six months, if not a year.”
He added that small grudges can be magnified and intensified in that remote environment, which has been compared to the isolation of travelling in deep space.
It’s not unknown for researchers in those desolate environments to go “stir crazy” and exhibit bizarre behaviour. In 2017, a researcher at a South African meteorological and biological research station on Marion Island, roughly midway between South Africa and Antarctica, reportedly attacked a colleague in the kitchen with a frying pan and went on to demolish his room with an axe.