Leaving nothing but footprints, taking nothing but memories

Penguin colonies, wandering albatrosses with an 11-foot wingspan, minke whales, humpback whales, killer whales, a world of ice and snow and frozen seas are just some of the sights to be savoured by an expedition of second-level students which sets out for Antarctica next month.

Any teenage fan of National Geographic documentaries will be salivating at the mere thought of boarding an icecutter and ploughing through pack ice. However, adventure, excitement, wildlife, science and environmental studies at the pole come at a price. In this case, each student must raise more than £5,000.

This may seem like a lot of money, but it's actually a very low price, says Antarctic historian Jonathan Shackleton (who is related to famed Irish explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton) He will be a member of the staff on the trip, which leaves on December 16th.

Run by a Canadian company, which took the first group of students to the Antarctic last year, this trip will include at least six Irish students and two Irish teachers.

The trip came to the attention of the Irish contingent via the President's Awards, which encourages young people to set and achieve demanding challenges. Participants in this trip will qualify for a gold medal in the adventure category.

However, it is debatable whether such severe financial pressure is appropriate for students at such a young age. The trip is, after all, an educational luxury that will be enjoyed by the very few. When EL spoke to participating students and teachers, they were extremely excited about the trip, but also expressed worries about fundraising.

Two schools in Drogheda, Co Louth, St Joseph's CBS and St Oliver's Community College, are taking part in the trip. Donal O'Boyle, a maths teacher at St Oliver's, says he had first got excited about the realities of life in the Antarctic from talking to two canteen workers and a chaplain who had worked there. When this trip came up, it offered him the chance to experience "the remoteness, the natural environment" for himself. In doing so, he will miss Christmas at home and his sister's wedding.

O'Boyle will accompany sixth-year students Ben Maguire-Boyle and Cian Nolan on the trip. Ben's brother, Sam, who is a first-year geography student in UCD, is also going. Ben wants to go "for the adventure. I want to go somewhere not many people have been. I'm interested in the environment and this is where the first ozone hole was found."

In St Joseph's CBS, 24-year-old geography teacher S∅neβd Callaghan will add gender balance to the Irish group. "Jonathan Shackleton came and gave a slide show to the school and I knew I wanted to go. We'll be travelling on a Canadian icebreaker, getting off ship every day on a Zodiac dinghy and landing.

"We'll have lectures and seminars everyday. We'll see glaciologists taking icecores. The climate is recorded in time through the ice... the only problem is the money."

Fifth-year student John Allen, who fundraised successfully for a trip to India last year, is more ebullient about the prospects of raising the money. Transition-year student Noel McVeigh and sixth-year Mark Cassidy complete the CBS party.

Both schools were just over halfway through their fundraising efforts when they spoke to EL recently. Activities to raise money range from drama performances to selling postcards that will be posted back to Ireland from the Antartic (cost £5). Meanwhile, a fifth-year student of Old Bawn Community School, Tallaght, Co Dublin, Karl Ward is busy bag-packing, and fundraising, in hopes of joining the group.

For those who make it, the trip promises to be of the highest quality. The education team includes a senior scientist and curator of mammals at the Smithsonian, a research scientist from the Canadian Museum of Nature, a glaciologist, a historian, a professor of aquatic sciences, an oceanographer, an ornithologist and a permafrost geomorphologist.

Jonathan Schackleton, who lives in Co Meath and who participated in last year's trip, says it's not a dangerous expedition but students should be reasonably fit. "It will include at least one opportunity to swim in the Antarctic, in an old volcanic crater, where the water is warm," he says.

He waxes lyrical about the Antarctic: "It's the most extraordinary landscape, red-stained snow (where very specialised algae are growing), millions of penguins in breeding colonies, seals, whales..."

He says the first student expedition last year was an "amazing success. I was interviewed on RT╔ television in January and was then contacted by the Gaisce awards people. I gave a talk to a couple of schools and, this year, we have Irish participants. In all, there will be about 50 students, Canadian and Irish, and about 20 staff."

The organising company, Students on Ice, is an associate member of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators, which was founded in 1991 to "advocate and practice safe and environmentally responsible private-sector travel to the Antarctic". All activities will adhere strictly to Antarctic visitor and environmental guidelines. The website promises the students "will take nothing but photographs and memories and leave nothing but footprints."

More information: www.studentsonice.com; Jonathan Shackleton can be contacted at jshack@indigo.ie.