On the morning of February 17, 1902, Tom Hodgson, a marine biologist and member of the historic Discovery Expedition led by Sir Robert Scott, made his daily pilgrimage out to the edge of the seasonal sea ice covering a small bay in front of Hut Point, McMurdo Sound, Antarctica.

Pulling his “tow net” along the ice edge to capture marine specimens, Hodgson failed to notice that the sea ice had dislodged itself from the shoreline and was drifting quietly seaward with himself an unwitting passenger. Fortunately, the weather was fair that late austral summer day and it was possible to launch a small rescue boat to retrieve Hodgson from the sea ice.

Others have not been so lucky. A little over 10 years ago two British geologists conducting research on the sea ice near Faraday station on the Antarctic Peninsula were similarly caught unawares. What started out as a beautiful day turned suddenly very, very sour as offshore winds raged and visibility vanished.

Perhaps because of the inclement weather the coastal sea ice broke loose and slowly drifted to sea. Sadly, too far from land and caught in near zero visibility, there was no rescue for these two scientists who eventually perished at sea.

Here at Palmer Station, the Ocean Search and Rescue (OSAR) team is headed up by Jeff Bechtel, a self-proclaimed cowboy who found his way from the prairies of Wyoming to Antarctica two years ago. In charge of a fleet of zodiac boats, Jeff teaches the finer art of what not to do when someone gets in trouble offshore in Antarctica.

One of his biggest worries is that “the decision to try and rescue someone in trouble will be the wrong decision, endangering more lives by putting others in jeopardy.” He says there is just not much the OSAR team can do when the weather conditions suddenly deteriorate and a group is caught offshore in a boat. What he teaches us to do in “boating 101" under conditions of severe winds, low visibility, or impenetrable sea ice, is downright counterintuitive.

“First of all, don’t even think about returning to the comfort of the station. Rather, set your immediate sights — if you can see — on one of the small offshore islands that surround the station and land your boat as quickly as possible.”

The implications of strandings on a small exposed Antarctic island have been well considered by the members of the OSAR team. Part of their duties include regular visits to the islands to check the caches of emergency rations, tents and sleeping bags that are stored in a large brightly marked drum on each island.

Included are enough packets of water to keep you going until you can melt snow and ice, radios, freeze-dried foods, a medical kit, a small stove, and a little bit of fuel. Jeff says that if you are marooned on the island longer than two days you’ll have to burn the fuel meant for your boat engine. Good thing the stoves are designed for this contingency.

Stories of strandings on the nearby islands abound. Years ago, a good friend of mine, Sid Bosch, was caught in extreme weather and managed to land his zodiac on the last island in the group before being swept out to sea. He broke into the survival cache and struggled through the night.

Another marooned group of five spent a cold stormy night sharing a two-man tent. It must have been a very long night.

When pressured, Jeff tips his cowboy hat and says that in the event your boat engine breaks down and you are carried out beyond the refuge of the islands, the OSAR team will try their best to come and get you. Provided the weather cooperates.

Should you be cast too far offshore for local rescue, the last ditch effort would involve calling in a rescue ship. Unless there happens to be a nearby tourist ship, this may involve a three-to-five day wait for a ship to cross the Drake Passage from South America, a long time to be adrift in the southern sea in a zodiac without food or water.

During the late winter and early spring when the sea ice near Palmer Station is thick enough to walk upon, scientists often collect their samples by diving through holes in the sea ice. Jeff keeps a zodiac ready for immediate launch. One can never predict when the ice may go out to sea, and a rescue be required.

Indeed, earlier this field season, as you may have read about in one of Maggie’s journal entries, Kevin, Bill, Chuck, Maggie, and Katrin had to leap across widening gaps between ice flows to return to station after a dive. They made it just in time. As Tom Hodgson discovered on that Antarctic summer morning in 1902, they have a renewed appreciation for just how fickle the sea ice can be.