'Scobie' Day

Sunday October 29th 2023
'Scobie' Day
At Sea to South Georgia - Cruise Expedition Day 7

This ship has declared today as 'Scobie' Day.  They really are in awe of what he has achieved in the Antarctic including conservation and tourism.

A Manchunian, he left school with little in the way of qualifications. He did several small jobs before gaining an apprenticeship to a joiner.

In 1971, the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) were assembling a summer building team for South Georgia and 'Scobie' was successfully recruited.  He sailed down to South Georgia, as I did, on the RRS Bransfield in that October.  BAS were so impressed with him that when the other builders returned to the UK at the end of the Austral summer, He was invited to stay on over winter as a General Assistant (GA) - one of just 23 overwinterers that year.  This was repeated the next year.  After returning to the UK, he worked on the building project to replace the base at Halley Bay before returning south to work on its installation.

Later, he moved to Australia (Tasmania) where he joined the Australian Antarctic Division and spent four winters on their bases, clocking up an impressive total of 9 winters in Antarctica.

It was during his time on South Georgia, where scientists and non-scientists intermingled and socialised, that he became interested in conservation down here, particularly the detrimental effect of non-native rodents (mice and rats).

Whilst in Tasmania, he was encouraged to enroll in the University of Tasmania as a mature student where he gained a Masters Degree.  He was about to start a PhD when one of the tour companies he had worked for in both polar regions, asked him to join them in a more permanent capacity. 
Scobie opted for the polar job.

In 1978, the British Government awarded Scobie the Fuch's Medal for his outstanding contribution to the British Antarctic Survey.

This tour company invited him back in his 75th birthday year to celebrate his 48 years of contribution to the conservation and management of the sub-Antarctic islands, the impact of introduced mammals and developing sustainable tourism.

Last year, one of this ship's Zodiacs was named in his honour.

Before our evening meal, we all assembled in the lounge where Scobie entertained us with some (embellished?) stories from his time spent working for BAS..

Images:
Main Scobie entertaining us. The extra is from the beach on Bleaker Island yesterday