A South African scientist who reportedly attacked and threatened to kill a colleague at a remote Antarctic research station Brak after the team leader of the expedition decided to change their work schedule, according to a government official.
The scientists are currently stationed on Sanae IV Base, a research center on the northern tip of Antarctica about 4,000 kilometers from their South African home country.
Extreme weather makes the departure and entering almost impossible, and they would stay on a mission until at least December.
The long pieces of insulation and working in narrow quarters means that every researcher has to undergo a series of background controls, physical and medical assessments and a psychometric evaluation before they are released for the expedition.
But last week, one of the researchers sent a disturbing e -mail and claimed that a team member had attacked them and killed threats. The team is now advocating to be saved.
The author of the E -mail, which was shared with the Sunday Times of South Africa, wrote: 'Unfortunately his behavior has escalated to a point that is deeply disturbing.
'In particular, he attacked physically [X]What a serious violation of personal safety and workplace standard. He also threatened to kill [X]Creating an environment of fear and intimidation.
“I am very worried about my own safety and I constantly wonder if I could become the next victim.”
Craig Jackson, a professor of health psychology in the workplace, said the BBC that the psychological impact of working on a small group of 'small problems in conflicts can see.
“Queries about hierarchy, about the allocation of workload, even small things about leisure time or rations or food portions can quickly flare to something much bigger than they are usually,” he concluded.
A group of scientists who are stuck in a small basis in Antarctica has sent an e -mail to be saved after they say that a member of their team threatened to kill another colleague. The base is located in Veseskarvet, Queen Maud Land, Antarctica (file photo)
Researchers on the Sanae -Basis only have each other for company in the absence of animals, other people and society as they know it. Depicted is another team of scientific researchers who were stationed at the base in 2014
In January 2013, another group of scientists launched 20 balloons in the air to study a lasting mystery of space weather
A South African government official confirmed that the threatening behavior of the team member was caused by 'a dispute about a task that the team leader wanted the team to do – a weather -dependent task that required a planning change'.
The author of the e -mail seen by the Sunday Times of South Africa expressed the enormous concern about the 'always serious behavior' of their colleague and called for immediate action to guarantee their own safety and that of the team as a whole.
“I have a lot of difficulty to feel safe in his presence,” the e -mail went on.
Neither the author nor the suspect are mentioned.
Milieu van Zuid -Africa, Dion George, said he would speak with the team personally to assess the situation.
“There was a verbal fight between the team leader and this person. Then it escalated and then that person physically attacked the leader.
'You can imagine what it is like. It's close and people get cabin fever. It can be very disorienting. '
Living in harsh conditions between a remote landscape and stunning temperatures of minus 23 degrees, the team rarely or never leaves the basis for their own safety.
George said that researchers are obliged to undergo rigorous psychological evaluation to determine their suitability for the mental demanding environment.
Alan Chambers, a explorer who completed a 700-mile ski expedition in the region last year, said that from a 'psychological perspective' the South Pole is a 'very lonely place'.
“There is very little interaction with people or animals, so if you are in a camp or a research center, you are with those people for six months, if not a year,” he told The Times.
'Everything is being raised. It is all white – there is no color, no noise and nothing that you would see as normal, so that the behavior of everyone – including yours – is increased and the little things become the big things. '
The Vat team that was station in January 2013 at the Sanae IV Research Center celebrates their last launch in the Antarctica Sun
Scientists in South African Antarctic research base Sanae IV have committed help
Mr. Chambers warned the 'loneliness of the continent', has a major influence on behavior and said that those who are stationed in Antarctica must 'really be happy with yourself'.
He claims that because of the fact that someone spends a lot of time in your mind, small problems with others can escalate in greater problems.
There has not been a word of a rescue operation yet to evacuate the research team.
Most research missions for the abandoned Woestenijen of Antarctica and the Arctic area go without hitch, thanks to the extensive preparation time, background controls and physical and psychological evaluations to which team members are subjected.
But there have been several cases in which scientists contracted attacks by their colleagues, together with reports of sexual abuse that take place in isolated research centers.
In 2023, the American authorities launched an investigation after it turned out that more than half of the women who worked on the MCMurdo research basis had experienced sexual violence in Antarctica.
McMurdo is stationed at the southern point of Ross Island and houses up to 1200 inhabitants in the summer – a large majority of the population of Antarctica.
Antarctica is known for its enormous icy terrain and isolated location, characteristics that mystify and intrigue most people – but also characteristics that have led to an unbridled culture of sexual abuse
An American Antarctic research base was exposed by an AP examination in 2023 that revealed dramatic percentages of sexual violence and intimidation – including claims that the outings of women were not taken seriously
At least one third of those residents are women. In the winter the number to around 200 people drops.
An AP investigation discovered dramatic percentages of sexual violence and intimidation when various researchers found complaints.
The probe was activated after a marine diesel engineer confessed that she held a hammer in her sports bra to protect herself because she was lame with fear that she was sexually abused or killed.
Liz Monahon, 35, spoke against the furious intimidation that she and many other women had confronted on the American basis.
Monahon described that she was imprisoned in the poisonous and dangerous remote environment, she said: 'Nobody was there to save me except me. And that was the thing that was so frightening. '
The National Science Foundation published a report in 2022 that showed that 59% of women said they had experienced intimidation or abuse while they were stationed in Antarctica, and 72% of women said that such behavior was a problem with the bases.
