Rob discovered that there is an interactive museum about Antarctica located at the airport in Christchurch. Christchurch is the launching place for many international groups headed to Antarctica.
They no longer use sled dogs, not because machines are better. It is because dogs are not a native species and the international community was afraid they would somehow get loose and wreak havoc on the penguin and seal population.
Greenland dogs can withstand a temperature of -70 F whereas the Siberian huskies can handle up to -45 F.
This sled dog trainer spent two years with Inuit and 52 dogs as the Inuit are the world’s best at knowing how to handle dogs in harsh wintery conditions.
Shackleton took 98 dogs and a cat. Only 11 came home as they had to be sacrificed to feed his crew. However, the men all survived.
In 1957 machinery was unreliable. Researchers took breeding pairs of dogs instead, and for 39 years those dogs knew nothing but Antarctica.
Sled dogs have two types of fur. One traps warm air for insulation. They put their backs to the wind and use their tail to cover their face. They will bury themselves in the snow and make a dogloo where their breath will keep them warm. The gogs can go five days without food and water.
In 1958 a Japanese exhibition team was sad to abandon their sled dogs at the research base. They returned later to find that some of them had survived despite being four months in total darkness. There was a Japanese movie made about it in 1983 called Antarctica and an English remake was made in 1998 called Eight Below.
Sled dogs need to run 3 to 6 miles everyday. They need to pull and be part of a pack. They are pack animals so an owner must have more than one. The dogs are good with kids and will snuggle up to them to keep them warm. A three-dog-night means it is very cold as it takes more dogs to stay warm.
The 2019 movie Togo was recommended as a realistic sled dog portrayal based on a true story, and I am certainly eager to watch March of the Penguins.
We were waiting in a packed house of Asians to see a penguin show. An announcement was made that the penguins would not be diving into the water because there was too much chlorine. No one moved … not even Rob who was looking at his phone. The Chinese didn’t understand the English announcement and Rob ignored the announcement much like he ignores audible GPS instructions!!!
When I told Rob, he said, “Who’s responsible for that? If it is your job to maintain water for the penguins, how do you mess this up?”
Penguins jump in and out of the water. That’s what they do. They have the water fenced off. I am thinking that some animal mental health specialist will need to be called in!
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