A South African scientist who allegedly assaulted and threatened to kill a colleague at a remote Antarctic research station snapped after the expedition’s team leader decided to change their work schedule, according to a government official.
The team of nine scientists are currently stationed at Sanae IV base, a research centre located on the northern tip of Antarctica some 4,000 kilometres from their South African homeland.
Extreme weather makes leaving and entering nearly impossible, and they were set to remain on mission until at least December.
The long stretches of isolation and working in close quarters means that each researcher must undergo a series of background checks, physical and medical assessments and a psychometric evaluation before they are cleared for the expedition.
But last week, one of the researchers sent a worrying email claiming one team member had attacked them and was issuing death threats. The man in question is also accused of sexually assaulting another researcher.
The team are now pleading to be rescued, but an emergency evacuation operation would take at least two weeks to reach them – if weather conditions remain stable.
The author of the email, which was shared with South Africa’s Sunday Times, wrote: ‘Regrettably, his behaviour has escalated to a point that is deeply disturbing.
‘Specifically, he physically assaulted [X], which is a grave violation of personal safety and workplace norm. Furthermore, he threatened to kill [X], creating an environment of fear and intimidation.
‘I remain deeply concerned about my own safety, constantly wondering if I might become the next victim.’
has contacted several members of the expedition and approached the Antarctic Legacy of South Africa, an organisation working with the South African National Antarctic Programme (SANAP), for comment.
A South African government official confirmed that the team member’s threatening behaviour was triggered by ‘a dispute over a task the team leader wanted the team to do – a weather dependant task that required a schedule change’.
The author of the email seen by South Africa’s Sunday Times expressed immense concern over their colleague’s ‘increasingly egregious behaviour’ and called for immediate action to ensure their own safety and that of the team as a whole.
‘I am experiencing significant difficulty in feeling secure in his presence,’ the author wrote.
Neither the author nor the accused have been named.
South Africa’s environment minister Dion George said he would speak personally with the team to assess the situation.
‘There was a verbal altercation between the team leader and this person. Then it escalated and then that person did physically assault the leader.
‘You can imagine what it’s like. It is close quarters and people do get cabin fever. It can be very disorientating.’
Living in harsh conditions among a remote landscape and staggering temperatures of minus 23 degrees, the team rarely, if ever, leaves the base for their own safety.
Mr George said that researchers are required to undergo rigorous psychological evaluation to determine their suitability for the mentally demanding environment.
Craig Jackson, a professor of workplace health psychology, told the BBC that the psychological impact of working in isolation in a small group can see ‘tiny issues blow up into conflict’.
‘Issues about hierarchy, about workload allocation, even small things about leisure time or rations or food portions can rapidly flare up to become something much larger than they typically are,’ he concluded.
Alan Chambers, an explorer who completed a 700-mile skiing expedition in the region last year, said that from a ‘psychological perspective’ the South Pole is a ‘very very lonely place’.
‘There’s very little interaction with humans or animals so if you’re in a camp or a research centre you’re with those people for six months, if not a year,’ he told The Times.
‘Everything becomes heightened. It’s all white – there’s no colour, no noise and nothing you would see as normal so everybody’s behaviour – including your own – gets magnified and the little things become the big things.’
Mr Chambers warned the ‘loneliness of the continent’ majorly impacts behaviour and said that those who are stationed in Antarctica ‘really have to be happy with yourself’.
He claims that due to the fact that one spend ‘lot of time inside your mind’, small issues with others can escalate into larger problems.
There has not yet been any word of a rescue operation to evacuate the research team.
Most research missions to the desolate wastelands of Antarctica and the Arctic go off without a hitch, thanks to the extensive preparation time, background checks and physical and psychological evaluations to which team members are subjected.
But there have been several instances in which scientists have suffered attacks at the hands of their colleagues, along with reports of sexual abuse taking place in isolated research centres.
In 2023, American authorities launched an investigation after it emerged that more than half of the women working at the US’ McMurdo research base in Antarctica had experienced sexual violence.
McMurdo is stationed on the south tip of Ross Island and hosts up to 1,200 residents over the summer – a large majority of Antarctica’s population.
At least a third of those residents are women. In the winter, the number dwindles to about 200 people.
An AP investigation uncovered dramatic rates of sexual assault and harassment as several researchers came forward with complaints.
The probe was triggered after a marine diesel mechanic confessed she kept a hammer in her sports bra to protect herself because she was crippled with fear that she was going to be sexually assaulted or killed.
Liz Monahon, 35, spoke out against the raging harassment she and many other women on the US base had faced.
Monahon described being trapped in the toxic and dangerous secluded environment, she said: ‘No one was there to save me but me. And that was the thing that was so terrifying.’
The National Science Foundation published a report in 2022 which revealed 59% of women said they’d experienced harassment or assault while stationed in Antarctica, and 72% of women said such behaviour was a problem on the bases.