Australia’s icebreaker ship scrapes sea floor in Antarctic region

Australia’s icebreaker* ship has scraped the sea floor during a research mission to the Antarctic.

The incident happened on October 13 near Heard Island, 4100km southwest of Perth, and is the first time in almost 20 years Australian researchers have visited the island.

The ship RSV Nuyina was on the way to restock Australia’s Antarctic bases, and was mapping the sea floor around Heard Island, which is an Australian territory*.

An Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) spokesman said the ship was mapping the sea floor near the coast of Heard Island on Monday when it “made contact with the sea floor”.

“Expeditioners* on board Nuyina felt a small vibration through the ship when the contact occurred,” the spokesman said.

“There were no injuries to anyone on board and there is no danger to any of the passengers or crew.”

The ship then moved into deeper waters off Heard Island and the crew were checking the vessel and its underwater scientific equipment for damage.

“The AAD is working with the Australian Maritime Safety Authority as part of the assessment and response,” the spokesman said.

“The safety of the expeditioners and crew remains the highest priority and all operational activity has paused while the assessment is underway.”

The icebreaker ship left Tasmania last month for a planned 52-day research and resupply trip. The vessel is carrying 99 expeditioners, just under 40 crew members, three inflatable boats and two helicopters.

The ship will fly supplies and crew into Australia’s Antarctic stations. It will also “park” in thick ice 1km from one of the stations, the Davis research centre, in order for trucks and trailers to carry 500 tonne of eggs, bacon, cheese and water to the base as well as 140,000 litres of water and 800,000 litres of fuel.

NEVER HEARD OF HEARD ISLAND?
If you have never heard of Heard Island, it’s for good reason. Both Heard Island and the nearby McDonald Islands are isolated Australian external territories* and World Heritage-protected wildlife havens. Here are some interesting facts about the two islands from the Australian Antarctic Program:

* Heard Island is about 1700km north of Antarctica and is about 40km long and 20km wide.

* Heard Island has the tallest mountain in Australian territory, excluding Antarctica, which is also an active volcano known as “Big Ben.”

* About 70 per cent of Heard Island is covered in glaciers but recent research shows Heard Island’s glaciers have lost 22 per cent of their size in the past 70 years

* Recent volcanic activity in the McDonald Islands has caused the main island to double in size and get taller during the 1990s as well as lose all of its vegetation

* Heard Island was discovered by a British sealing vessel in 1833 and claimed under British control. It was handed over to Australia in 1947

* No humans live on the islands, aside from small numbers of scientists who occasionally set up temporary bases on Heard Island, but they are home to large numbers of penguins, petrels, elephant seals and fur seals

POLL

GLOSSARY

• icebreaker: a special ship that can break through icy waters to create a safe passage for other vessels
• Australian territory: land that is under Australian control and law
• Expeditioners: people who go on expeditions, usually to remote places, for scientific research
• external territories: land under the rule of a country that is not within the geographical boundaries of that country but is situated overseas

EXTRA READING
Aussie ceo's sleepout in Antarctica
World’s biggest iceberg sets sail
Life on remote Goudier Island, Antarctica

QUICK QUIZ
How far away is Heard Island from Perth?
How did it become an Australian territory?
What was the icebreaker ship doing when it scraped the sea floor?
How many people are on board the ship?
What is the name of the volcano on Heard Island?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. A day aboard the icebreaker
Imagine that you are one of the crew on the icebreaker ship. Write a diary entry for a typical day on your voyage to Heard Island. Use information from the story to help you.

Time: allow at least 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Science

2. Extension
What other research projects could be carried out in Antarctica? What could scientists study? Brainstorm as many detailed ideas or topics as you can.

Time: allow at least 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Science

VCOP ACTIVITY
To sum it up
After reading the article, use your comprehension skills to summarise in a maximum of three sentences what the article is about.

Think about:

• What is the main topic or idea?
• What is an important or interesting fact?
• Who was involved (people or places)?

Use your VCOP skills to re-read your summary to make sure it is clear, specific and well punctuated.