Antarctic scientist ‘attacker’ will obtain psychological assist and apologise to sufferer, officers reveal after remoted crew begged for assist over his ‘deeply disturbing’ conduct
The South African scientist alleged to have assaulted and threatened a colleague at a remote Antarctic research station will receive psychological help and apologise to the victim, officials have revealed.
The South African environment ministry said that the alleged ‘perpetrator’ has ‘willingly participated in further psychological evaluation, has shown remorse and is willingly cooperative to follow any interventions that are recommended’.
The ministry said that the unnamed scientist had ‘written a formal apology to the victim and is willing to verbally apologise to all members at the base’ after a whistleblower raised concerns for their safety in an email last week.
A government official said that the scientist had snapped after the expedition team leader at the Sanae IV research centre had decided to change their work schedule.
The author of the email assessed that the alleged perpetrator’s ‘behaviour has escalated to a point that is deeply disturbing’. They judged that an alleged threat to kill an unnamed member of staff had created ‘an environment of fear and intimidation’.
Staff require a series of background checks and mental and physical health assessments before moving to the isolated site. But experts have said the conditions and time away from civilisation put intense psychological strain on the scientists.
Nine researchers set out last month for a ten month ‘overwintering’ season at the remote base some 2,500 miles from the tip of South Africa.
An image shared on social media showed researchers believed to be those making the expedition to the base in February 2025
Scientists on South African Antarctic research base Sanae IV have pleaded for help
A group of scientists trapped in a tiny base in Antarctica have sent an email pleading to be rescued after they say a member of their team threatened to kill another colleague. The base is located in Vesleskarvet, Queen Maud Land, Antarctica (file photo)
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 in an email shared last week.
‘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,’ George acknowledged.
‘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.’
The ministry has said it is responding to the concerns with ‘utmost urgency’ and noted it was ‘not uncommon’ for individuals to have an adjustment period when they arrive at the station.
The ministry noted that people can struggle to adjust even if the rigorous background checks do not flag any causes for concern.
The department also said it was investigating allegations of sexual harassment, adding that reports of sexual assault were incorrect.
‘The department has also implemented a longer term sustained intervention process through trained professional counselling services in order to restore the relationships and build a healthy working environment,’ the ministry said in the statement.
But the team are now pleading to be rescued, though an emergency evacuation operation would take at least two weeks to reach them – if weather conditions remain stable.
‘I remain deeply concerned about my own safety, constantly wondering if I might become the next victim,’ the author of the email wrote.
MailOnline 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.
Researchers at the Sanae base only have each other for company in the absence of animals, other humans and society as they know it. Pictured is a different team of scientific researchers who were stationed at the base in 2014
In January 2013, a different group of scientists at the Sanae base launched 20 balloons up into the air to study an enduring mystery of space weather
Footage from 2021 shows the dining room inside the remote hub in Antarctica. Video shows another team on a tour of the facility in 2021.
Snowmobiles pictured inside the hanger. Video shows another team on a tour of the facility in 2021.
Ahead of their expedition to the base, members of the group shared pictures together and described their excitement at partaking.
One of the team members posted on social media about their ‘adventures’ at the remote base in recent days, and previously described the ‘thrill’ at spending months the base with the small team.
A South African government official confirmed that one of the team member’s threatening behaviour was triggered by ‘a dispute over a task the team leader wanted the team to do – a weather dependent task that required a schedule change’.
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.’
The station was completed in 1997 and houses dozens of scientists on rotations. Video shows another team on a tour of the facility in 2021.
The Barrel team that was station at the SANAE IV research centre in January 2013 celebrates their final launch in the Antarctica sun
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.
Antarctica is known for its vast icy terrain and isolated location, characteristics that mystify and intrigue most people – but also characteristics that have led to a rampant culture of sexual abuse
A US Antarctic research base was exposed by an AP investigation in 2023 that uncovered dramatic rates of sexual assault and harassment – amongst other claims that women’s outcries were not taken seriously
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.
