The most dramatic part of the expedition began when Belgica reached Antarctica and remained trapped in the ice of Bellinghausen Sea, near Peter Island. Despite their efforts, they had no option but to spend the polar night (which lasts for six months!) there. Although they had a lot of time to study the Antarctic ecosystem, plenty of problems occurred. They suffered from cold, scurvy (caused by the lack of nutriments having the C Vitamin) and some of the crew members reached the brink of insanity. Emile Danco, the ship’s first mate died, despite his comrades’ efforts to save him. Finally, in February 1899, they succeeded in making a breach in the ice, for which they had worked a couple of weeks, and made their way back to Belgium, where they arrived in November 1899.

The results of research the scientists from Belgica performed in Antarctica were more comprehensive than everything that had been done before. Emil Racovita alone brought 1270 Zoological and 481 Botanical samples. To this day, some species he discovered bear his name: a sort of fish – Racovitzia Glacialis; a sort of sea shell – Rhynconella Racovitzae; some sorts of insects – Thynnus Racovitzai and Antarctica Racovitzai. His observations on the life and behavior of whales, penguins and other Antarctic birds were very appreciated by the science community.

In 1904, during a research in the cave Dueva Del Drach from Mallorca (Spain), he discovered a new species of crustaceans and became fascinated with the underground ecosystems. In 1907, he published “Essai sur les problems biospeologiques” (Essay on Bio-Speology problems), the first study ever to deal with this issue. He initiated an international research program called “Biospeologica” and, in 1920, he founded the first Bio-Speology Institute in the world at Cluj-Napoca. Several renowned scientists, such as Jules Guiart, Rene Jeannel and Alfred Chappuis joined him.

Emil Racovita was headmaster at the University from Cluj, Senator in the Romanian Parliament and Chairman of the Romanian Academy from 1926 – 1929. It is said that, after he was forced to move to Bucharest in 1940, when a great part of Transylvania was transferred to Hungary, under German political and military pressures, he could be found working at a candle light, in an unheated room which served as an improvised laboratory, in the middle of the night.

Photo from Plural Magazine

Author: Iulian Fira

Pages: Page 1 Page 2

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