Antarctic Lore & Legend

Antarctica, Lore, Legend & Stories

One of the concepts I tried to write about in the finding home series is that of the incredibly small world I seem to have found myself part of. A couple of recent events have really highlighted that fact. First; a legendary Polie who was working in Greenland at the time became lost in a blizzard – remained lost from Wednesday to Saturday (I’ve heard the number 54 hours tossed out there), then found – The far-reaching community was abuzz during the time and many have pulled together to assist the man during his recovery from surgery (frostbite). Second, apparently a U.S. serviceman opened fire in a Baghdad, Iraq combat stress clinic killing five. One of the victims was a former winter-over Polie, Dr. Matthew Philip Houseal. Again, the community is affected.

I didn’t know Dr. Houseal, but I know people who did. I only vaguely know the man who was rescued in Greenland. But I have learned about both of these people through the anecdotes that are told about them; and that’s the way it is in “The Program” (the United States Antarctic Program). More and more I learn about people and events through the stories that are told about them. The stories in and about Antarctica and the USAP are some of the best you could ever hope to hear. I know I’m not the first to think it would be a good idea to start writing these stories down and put them together in a book; and in fact, this has been done on a couple of different occasions with varying degrees of success. Trouble is, many of these stories are only funny or interesting if you have inside knowledge. Things that are bizarre on The Ice are, oddly, normal in much of the world…it’s the context of events that make them funny or interesting here. Nonetheless; I’m going to try to put together and pass along a story about the name of a McMurdo band.

In order for this story to make any sense at all, you first have to understand that, in accordance with the Antarctic Conservation Act and surely parts of the Antarctic Treaty (are they one in the same…???…I digress) all waste generated by those engaged in scientific research must be removed from the continent. In certain conditions, human waste is disposed of locally – but by and large everything that is taken in will eventually be taken out – “pack it in, pack it out” on a Brobdingnagian scale. The Program has a group of people who are in charge of facilitating the removal of all of the waste. Trash at McMurdo is sorted into several categories with much of it eventually being recycled once it does get back stateside. One category of trash is “mixed paper” – pretty self-explanatory and mostly what you would expect; a great deal of office-generated waste with a smattering of domestic waste-paper thrown in for good measure. Discarded magazines belong in the “mixed paper” trash category.

The next thing that you must understand for this story to make much sense is that McMurdo is pretty much a man camp. Sure, over the years it’s been toned down quite a bit, much to the chagrin of a few old-timers but probably, really for the best. It may be a kinder, gentler kind of man camp, but it’s man camp nonetheless – you will see things at McMurdo that you certainly wouldn’t see at your workplace back in the states. In man camp, there is a reduced level of outside stimuli. Days run together until they’re all the same….hopefully I’ve done a fair job of setting the tone here.

Imagine a group of people tasked with sorting trash in a stimuli poor man camp. Certain items are removed from the waste stream to be “recycled” locally. If you’re tasked with sorting “mixed paper” and the odd porno mag passes in front of you from time to time, given the environment you’re in, you’d be fairly likely to remove it from the waste stream and save it for later. Imagine this same thing happening over and over again until eventually you have a massive box (tri-wall [20 cubic feet maybe?]) full of porno mags – eventually it all has to go away.

The Program’s waste management team becomes intimately aware of where “away” is when something is thrown away. Every year a couple of them go to (at the time of this story, Port Hadlock, WA) meet the ship and ensure that the waste goes where it needs to go. All of the tri-wall boxes and drums and other containers of waste are put inside of large shipping containers for transit across the ocean. At the other end, these boxes and drums are removed from the shipping containers.

On one particular waste run, one particular box happened to break open during transit and when the shipping container was then opened and a mountain of porno mags came spilling out, the phrase “Porn Spill” was born as the occurrence was reported over the radio. The term has lived on in infamy and each year the McMurdo waste department forms a band with the name “Porn Spill” – many years the line-up varies and includes members from other departments, but the name lives on and the story is told and re-told and has become a part of Antarctic Lore.

Will @ May 19, 2009