Steve the sledgedog: an Antarctic adventure right up there with the Heroic Age

29/08/2024

Sledgedogs were used in Antarctica for almost a century. One of those sledgedogs was named Steve. He had an adventure like no other and lived to tell the ‘tail’.

In 1899, Carsten Borchgrevink brought 70 dogs to Antarctica when his expedition became the first to overwinter on the Antarctic mainland. It was the first time, our four-legged friends stepped paw on the continent. It precipitated almost a century of explorers and researchers using dogs for sledge travel across the continent and sea ice as well as recreational purposes.

In 1911, sledgedogs were instrumental in the first successful expedition to the South Pole. Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and his party made use of their expertise with sledgedogs to ensure a rapid and relatively trouble-free journey to the Pole. The practice of using sledgedogs became typical of expeditions during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.

1899: the first dogs in Antarctica at Cape Adare (Credit: Canterbury Museum/Public Domain)

Later, dogs were used by national research programmes including the Falklands Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS) – the precursor to the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). The dogs were initially imported to Antarctica from Labrador, the most easterly province in Canada, in 1945. Initially, 25 dogs were taken to Hope Bay then in 1946, a further 26 dogs were taken to Stonington Island. In 1954, another 15 dogs from the British North Greenland Expedition joined them.

These dogs were used in Antarctica by FIDS and BAS extensively for polar travel and the support of scientific work on the continent. They continued to be bred in Antarctica for generations but were gradually replaced by mechanised transport during the 1960s and 70s as skidoos became the main vehicle for transporting field parties overland.

Dog teams covered thousands of miles for BAS over the years (Credit: BAS Archives)

Over the next 20 years, dog numbers were reduced from around 200 in 1972 to a mere 30 in 1992. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, only a small number of dogs remained at British bases and they were largely used solely for recreational purposes. They were considered good for morale in an environment where people were away from home for long periods.

Eventually, in 1994, a ban on dogs was introduced due to concerns they could introduce transferable diseases and that they could potentially escape and worry wildlife. The last 14 British dogs in Antarctica were removed from Rothera in February 1994. 

Detaille’s pup pen

From 1956 to 1959, Detaille Island was home to Base W. Located in the Lallemand Fjord, off the Loubet Coast, Detaille Island Hut was established in 1956 and used primarily for mapping, geology and meteorology, contributing to the science programmes of the International Geophysical Year in 1957.

The pup pen at Detaille in 2024 (Credit: UKAHT/Dale Perrin)

The base had previously been intended to host dog-sledging parties which would cross sea ice to the nearby Antarctic Peninsula but the ice was particularly unstable in the region. As such, there was initially a breeding program established at Detaille in the kennels – AKA the pup pen – which still stands today. Even though Detaille only operated for three years, its dog teams covered distances of up to 6,400km (4,000mi) during that time. One of those sledgedogs was named Steve.

Meet Steve the sledgedog

In the winter freeze of 1958, solid sea ice formed which allowed safe sledging and made it the most productive year yet. However, when the RRS Biscoe arrived that summer with relief personnel and fresh supplies, it could not break through the ice despite assistance from two American icebreakers. The base did not have enough coal for another winter and the ships were unable to unload essential provisions from the ice edge. Eventually, the master of the Biscoe made the call to shut the base and with little time to spare the men secured the building against the elements, packed the minimum of their belongings and sledged across 50km (31mi) of sea ice to reach the ship.

A sledgedog in Antarctica (Credit: BAS Archives)

After the men had abandoned the base and reached the ship near Horseshoe Island Hut, the dogs were being lifted on board when one of them, Steve, broke free and immediately set off back to Detaille. The drivers who had raised and worked with him wanted to go after him but the ship had to push on and they were forced to leave him to his fate.

Almost three months later, however, the men at Horseshoe were surprised and delighted to see Steve running happily towards them looking quite fit and well. Having made the journey once before the previous season, he had set off on the journey south from Detaille to Horseshoe across the sea ice and over the glaciers of the Arrowsmith Peninsula in search of human company and food.

Of ice and men… and dogs

The following is an extract from Of Ice and Men: The Story of the British Antarctic Survey 1943-73 by Sir Vivian Fuchs:

“At the end of 1958, the base at Detaille Island was closed. Even with the assistance of two American icebreakers, Biscoe could not reach the station. So having secured it against the elements, Brian Foote’s party sledged their belongings out over 30 miles of sea ice to the ship. As the dogs were being hoisted on board, “Steve” escaped and refused to be caught. Instead, he set off for home along the sledge tracks, thus sealing his fate for there was no time to organize a round-up. It was a very sad ending, and the drivers who had loved and worked with him felt it keenly.

Steve's epic route (Credit: Phil Wickens)

Nearly three months later everyone at Horseshoe was astounded to see Steve running happily over the hill, fit and well, and delighted to be the centre of such an enthusiastic welcome. From his good condition, it was clear that he had returned to Detaille and lived on the old seal pile from which the dogs had been fed. As midwinter approached and still his friends failed to return, he must have decided to go and look for them.

He could have gone west to the ice edge or he might have turned north or east. Instead, he surely remembered making the 60-mile sledge journey to Horseshoe the previous season and confidently set off south. Since no vestige of a trail could have remained, he had to remember the intricate route, across the sea ice of Lallemand Fjord, over the glaciers of the Arrowsmith Peninsula, down into Bourgeois Fjord, and so to Horseshoe Island and the base lying in a bay on the west coast. In winter there was no food along the route, and it is astonishing that a dog should take a conscious decision to seek company and abandon his larder on the strength of a past memory. So much for those who believe dogs cannot think.”

Lead image: BAS Archives