November 2, 2009 - Discovery Hut and My First Seal

So after the last post of Halloween- here's a more serious post.
Some Antarctic History.


Went for a hike/tour of Discovery Hut, which is a ~15 minute walk from McMurdo. Discovery Hut was used by the early explorers of Antarctica (erected in 1901 by Robert Scott and the Discovery party) and many remnants of these expeditions still remain. See the date imprinted on the crate in the first picture above. Here's some pics.

Boxes of food stuffs:


This is a toilet... (FG and CH would be screwed!):






I bet they probably ate these at points:




This is the stove they had with a kettle of seal blubber chunks still in it - I believe they ate these as well as used them for heating/fuel:

My first seal! Kind of, but not really. Mummified. Was right outside of the Hut:

One interesting thing about the hut was that there was anthrax cultured from it. This was not considered a serious health threat, but warning was given and we weren't allowed to touch anything and must clean out boots when entering/exiting the hut.