An expedition team discovered photo negatives dated back in 1914 stuck in the Antarctic ice.
This new discovery became a chilling reminder that the Antarctic has been a bane for many explorers who try to reach the South Pole.
According to CNN, the negatives were believed to be from Capt. Robert Falcon Scott’s expedition hut where he stayed in 1912. Capt. Scott became famous during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, a period in which explorers raced in discovering more of the Antarctic region. His party reached the South Pole in January of 1912 only to see that his rival, Roald Amundsen has already reached the destination 33 days ahead of him. On their journey home in March 1912, Scott and his men died when they got stranded.
A few years after Scott’s part perished, Ernest Shacketon tried to cross the Antartica from Weddel Sea to the Ross Sea, taking the route of the South Pole. He took the photos inside Scott’s hut when he failed to reach the Pole too. Three of his men died during the expedition too.
The New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust found the nitrate negatives stuck to each other inside a small box which was discovered in Herbert Ponting’s darkroom. The negatives were taken the New Zealand town proper where they were processed and revealed to have 22 separate images. Although most of the images were damaged, the expedition team is still able to identify landmarks in the periphery of the McMurdo Sound. The data collected does not show who took the pictures.
Executive Director of the Antarctic Heritage Trust, Nigel Watson, said that these discovered pictures will be regarded as national treasures.
"It's an exciting find and we are delighted to see them exposed after a century," he told CNN.
