Petermann Island
Petermann Island is a small island off the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula of Antarctica, located at 65°10′S 64°10′W.
The 2 km (1.2 mile) long, low-lying island is home to the world's southernmost colony of Gentoo Penguins, and also hosts a number of Adelie Penguins.
History
The island was discovered by a German expedition of 1873-74, who named it after geographer August Petermann. The French Antarctic Expedition of 1908-10 wintered over aboard ship in a cove on the southeast side of the island, named Port Circumcision because it was spotted 1 January 1909, the traditional day for the Feast of the Circumcision.
Swims
Lewis Pugh first swam 1 km in the waters off Petermann Island in 2005 in 18 minutes. He explains, "We expected extreme conditions. At 65° South the sky was grey, the clouds were ominous, and the water was 0°C. The aim was to document what happened to my body during the southernmost long-distance swim ever undertaken. At the start it was snowing heavily; on the way back from the half-way-mark (an iceberg) it was coming down in chunks. Tim Noakes was on the boat under a blanket watching the monitor, while Jonathan Dugas wrote vital statistics on a whiteboard to keep me informed. Suddenly, the information stopped coming. (I didn’t know it, but the pen had frozen!)"
It was also site of the Antarctic Circle Ice Challenge by Ram Barkai, Andrew Chin, Toks Viviers, Kieron Palframan, Ryan Stramrood, and Gavin Pike.
Open Water Swimming in Antarctica
- Lynne Cox was the first human to swim in Neko Harbor and in Antarctica without a wetsuit when she swam 1.2 miles in 2°C (35°F) waters in 25 minutes in 2002
- Ryan Stramrood, Ram Barkai and Kieron Palframan attempted an Ice mile in Neko Harbor in Antarctica in -1ºC (30.2ºF) waters on 4 March 2014
- Andrew Chin completed a 1 km swim while Toks Viviers and Gavin Pike completed an ice mile in Paradise Harbour in Antarctica in -1ºC (30.2ºF) water also on 4 March 2014
- Lewis Pugh has swum 1 km in 0°C waters off Petermann Island and 1 mile in 2°C (35°F) waters near Deception Island in 30 minutes 30 seconds, both in 2005
- Ram Barkai swam 1 km at 70º south latitude, near Maitri, the Indian scientific research station in Antarctica, in Long Lake in 1°C (33.8°F) waters in 2008.
- Bhakti Sharma swam 1.4 miles in 41.14 minutes in 1ºC water in the Southern Ocean in January 2015
- Site of the Antarctica Off The Beaten Track Expedition in November 2018.
Video
External links
- Arctic, Antarctica, BiPolar Ice Swimmers Announced by the International Ice Swimming Association
- Lewis Pugh's Swims In The Southern Ocean
- When Ink Freezes Over, You're At The End Of The Earth
- Lewis Pugh's Swims In The Southern Ocean
- Swimming to Antarctica by Lynne Cox, Alfred A. Knopf, 2004 ISBN 0-15-603130-2
- Lynne Cox's Swim In Antarctica
- Where Landmarks Are Pure Snowy White
- Fearless And Frozen At The Bottom Of The World
- How Low Can They Go?
- Antarctica, Site Of The Off The Beaten Track Expedition
- The Effects Of Speedo Diplomacy
