Scientist who just returned from Antarctic SANAE IV base where assault occurred reveals harrowing details of living in extreme isolation: Lot of unknowns

A scientist who just returned from the remote Antarctica base where a crew member reportedly snapped and threatened to kill the team leader has opened up about the extreme, “unpredictable” environment on the frozen continent that can push many to their mental limits.Dr Herman Van Niekerk, a geologist at the University of Johannesburg, has just come back from a two-month expedition to SANAE IV, the Antarctic base where a South African team of scientists have pleaded for help following the “deeply disturbing” behavior of a crew member.“The Antarctic is often romanticized, but when people realize what’s waiting for them, well, there’s not a lot of people who feel they’re up to it,” Van Niekerk told The Telegraph.“I’ve taken students out there and some of them just can’t handle the isolation, the extreme and frightening weather conditions, the perspective you lose when you can’t judge distances in the whiteness.”In a situation described as a “real-life horror movie,” one of the nine trapped crew members sent a desperate email about a coworker they said violently beat, threatened and sexually harassed at least two others on the base, as first reported by South Africa’s Sunday Times newspaper.They described their colleague’s descent into “deeply disturbing” behavior, saying it had created “an environment of fear and intimidation.I remain deeply concerned about my own safety, constantly wondering if I might become the next victim.”All crew members undergo “psychometric tests” before heading to the base, Van Niekerk explained, “but you just can’t predict how that will affect people in reality when there’s no life for miles.”Despite close vetting, Van Niekerk described the moment when one student freaked out.“People only reveal who they are when they’re exposed to the extreme conditions,” he said, describing how the student refused to leave their tent on the expedition while they were stranded some 124 mil...