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The diet and incidence of scurvy and adopted preventative measures in the two branches of Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition 1914–1917

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 July 2019

David L. Harrowfield  and
Bill Alp
David L. Harrowfield*
Affiliation:
The Polar Room, 70 Awamoa Road, Oamaru 9401, New Zealand
Bill Alp
Affiliation:
The Polar Room, 70 Awamoa Road, Oamaru 9401, New Zealand
*
Author for correspondence: David L. Harrowfield, E-mail: dh.adelie@gmail.com
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Abstract

Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (ITAE) 1914–1917, consisted of two parties – a Weddell Sea party led by Shackleton with Endurance, and a supporting Ross Sea depot-laying party, led by Captain Aeneas L.A. Mackintosh with Aurora. The purpose of this research paper is to consider why the Ross Sea party contracted scurvy and the Weddell Sea party did not. The authors suggest that for the Ross Sea shore party there was ineffectual leadership, insufficient medical care and sledging with excessive loads, and an inadequate diet for sledging, in both energy and vitamin C content. In their second season, depletion of vitamin C was again evident with one person dying. The Weddell Sea party, ably led by Shackleton, not only faced the arduous task of sledging heavy stores and moving camps in thick snow, but also had to haul three boats over pressure ridges, before reaching open water and rowing to Elephant Island. Here, the men lived almost exclusively on a fresh meat diet and were not affected by scurvy. This is the final paper for the trilogy commemorating the Ross Sea party centenary (the others are Harrowfield, 2013, 2015).

Keywords

ScurvyTrans-AntarcticShackleton
Type
Research Article
Information
Polar Record , Volume 55 , Issue 2 , March 2019 , pp. 82 - 92
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019 

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