1. REFLECTIONS THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2013
Antarctica Expedition
2006
Project 2779: Response of Sea ice Algae towards Oxidative Stress around Casey
Station, Antarctica
Expedition to Casey Station, Antarctica with Australian Antarctic Division (AAD)
scientists
October 5th
, 2006 to January 19th
, 2007
“Nominated and sponsored by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) as a
represent of Malaysian Antarctic Research Centre to present oral presentation at SCAR
International Open Science Conference at St. Petersburg, Russia”

2. Shamala is a lady of many parts. She still looks like a studious undergraduate, but
appearances are deceptive. Shamala is a very important part of our Production Team in KL,
handling many responsibilities with élan. She graduated from the University Malaysia
Terengganu and did her Master’s at University Malaya, Malaysia’s premier university
Shamala comes from Seremban in the neighbouring state of Negeri Sembilan where she
went to school. She is an avid sportsperson as well, netball being her favourite game. She is
also trained in Bharatanatyam, of which she is an expert exponent.
In addition to all this, she has been part of a dream expedition to Antarctica. This happened
during her graduate school days when she was selected to be part of a Malaysian scientific
team to the Frozen Continent. She is one of the handful of people in the world who have had
the privilege of working and living for months as part of an Antarctic Expedition. This is her
story told in her own words.
While pursuing my Master’s in the University of Malaya (UM), I was lucky enough to get an
opportunity to travel to a place where not many people in the world dare to visit. Antarctica is
the place of many mysteries and I was fortunate in getting an opportunity to venture to this
place during my Masters education. My journey to this enigmatic place was a result of
research collaboration between UM and University of Tasmania under Australian Antarctic
Division (AAD). Initially, my parents were very reluctant to let me go, as they were very much
worried about my survival in extreme cold weather conditions. Even my niece asked me, will
you be staying in an Igloo... Finally, I managed to convince them and they realized that it
was a signal honour, and rare opportunity to visit Antarctica, the Frozen Continent.
Antarctica is Earth's southernmost continent, containing the geographic South Pole. It is
situated in the Antarctic region of the Southern Hemisphere, almost entirely south of the
Antarctic Circle, and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean. Antarctica, on average, is the
coldest, driest, and windiest continent, and has the highest average elevation of all the
continents.
My adventurous expedition started on 12th October 2006, during summer season. (In the
Southern Hemisphere, summer comes at the end of the year). AAD was committed to
ensuring that all those who travel to Antarctica are well prepared with the knowledge and
skills they require to stay safe. Therefore they conducted a 3 day Pre-departure Training
Programme in Hobart, Australia on from 9th to 11th October which included additional skills
and knowledge required to work and live in Antarctica, such as quad bike use, care of

3. clothing and field equipment, field trip procedures, survival techniques, self-rescue, safety
around stations & aircraft, environmental responsibilities, sea ice travel, glacier travel,
crevasse rescue and GPS navigation. We sailed on the Aurora Australis, an ice breaker ship
that took us from Hobart, Australia on 12. Oct.06. It took 12 days for the voyage to reach the
base. We were in total 25 expeditioners from various fields. 15 of us were scientists. Only I
and Dr. Ng Kim Yong were from Malaysia and rest of the group was from Australia. The
major scientific program undertaken was a study on human impacts, space and atmospheric
science, biology, glaciology, geosciences, meteorology and climate change. While sailing, I
was terribly ill with sea sickness especially during the Southern Ocean crossing, one of the
roughest bodies of water in the world. This is a really a hard core adventure, and a great
attraction for anyone who is interested in long distance sailing. My sickness magically
disappeared once my feet touched the base camp which is revealed itself as a pure white icy
surface. Though I was far away from home and family members, Deepavali for that particular
year was an unforgettable one as I celebrated it with my expeditionary and crew members. I
was the youngest among the 25 expeditioners, and they really took good care of me.
When we still 1000M away, the ice- breaker was unable to break the ice any more.
Therefore, we were flown by a helicopter to the base. That was the most exciting moment.
First time out of the country, by air-plane, ship and helicopter. What excitement!!!
Antarctica is incredibly white, pure white. Casey station is located in the Windmill Islands,
just outside the Antarctic Circle. It is the third Australian station to occupy a site on
Vincennes Bay. We experienced the contrast of warm sunshine, snow squalls and fog
whiteouts and up to 20 hours of daylight. Each and every day we admired the beauty of the
scenery. Amazing scenery! Even though it was the summer season, the temperature was
between 0 to -20oC. It was freezing cold. I can’t imagine anyone surviving here without the
proper clothing with multiple layers. I was so surprised to see the station. The station was
fully equipped with an accommodation dome, science building, clinic and outdoor activities
and the most important person here was the trained chef for cooking. He was trained on how
much of calories of food at he needed to serve for us every day.

4. As for my project, I collected sea ice samples using ice core, and analysed the oxidative
stress using Superoxide anion scavenging (SOD) assay and Free radical scavenging activity
was analyzed using 1,1-di-phenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH). In situ chL fluorescence of the
sea ice algae was measured using a Pulse-Amplitude Modulated (PAM) fluorometer. Cored
sea ice was taken to the lab and sampling and analyses was done in the lab. We practically
cored the ice to get the sample at the bottom of the core. Even though it big challenge to get
the samples, we managed to get the samples and worked day and night to successfully
complete the study. One day, while working in the field, we experienced a blizzard and
snowstorm. Somehow we could survive with the survival kit and the training.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

5. We had good fun time during Friday’s and Saturday’s. We also had Karaoke night, zombie
night, and ASEAN Nite. I was forced to cook some delicious Asian food. Somehow I
managed to prepare Chinese dumpling and Roti Canai and all my base members liked it
very much. Most of them had not tried good Asian food before, I guess...... For the first time
in my life, I experienced snowing and celebrated Christmas in a foreign land as well. Another
interesting part was, weather balloon. Weather balloons would be released two times a day.
I have launched the balloon with meteorologist staff. As the balloon rises 100,000 feet above
the sea level, it collects atmospheric pressures, temperatures and various other things used
for forecast of South Pole weather. The balloon is attached with a GPS and a weather
measuring computer.
The remoteness and uniqueness of the Antarctic landscape and wildlife created a sense of
adventure in our mind, where on weekends we travelled with quad bike to penguin rookery
and other places. We were inspired with the sight of seals, snow petrels, skua birds and
penguins. I was really amazed and excited to see a penguin for the first time. But, it ran
away from me, perhaps it was so scared to look at me. Maybe I looked like an alien to it.
Later, however, it was a routine to deal with penguins every day while working in the field.
We spent around 2 months in the base. It was really an incredible and memorable
experience in my life and I had no heart to leave the place .But every journey has an end so
too, my journey to the Antarctica. Finally, the day came and we left from the base on 4th
January, 2007.

6. The research outcome was presented at Expo on Research, Invention and Innovation at
UM, 2007 and won Gold Medal for the research. A Book entitled Antarctica- Malaysia
Journey to the Ice was launched by former Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir
Muhammad in University of Malaya on 6th February 2013.