Australian Screen

Teacher’s notes

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This clip shows a graphic of planet Earth revolving and moving as the narrator describes Antarctica. An outline of part of the coastline shows the two bases Kloa and Mawson with the location of the emperor penguin rookeries to indicate the journey to be taken by the scientists and sled teams. The husky team and sled is shown travelling over the ice. The two scientists drive the team and run alongside the dogs. The men talk about the way the dogs work and their relationship with them.

Educational value points

• The husky dogs shown in the clip are descended from the wolf and have a number of characteristics that enabled them to provide the main form of Antarctic transport for many years. Huskies are strong dogs and willing workers, capable of hauling 50 to 90 kg. Their thick double-layered coats provide them with protection against the intense cold.

• The clip shows the huskies pulling the sled laden with supplies and, at times, the men. Being pack dogs, huskies are well suited to working together as a team. The dogs’ strength and endurance enable them to run for up to 50 km a day.

• The clip refers to the strong bond that develops between the men and the dog teams. Despite their wolf ancestry, and the fierceness they can display to one another, huskies relate well to humans. As well as transport and, on occasion, food, the dogs provided companionship and entertainment to the men and women working in Antarctica, who expressed feelings of sorrow and regret when the dogs left the bases.

• The title of the documentary, The Last Husky, refers to the ending of a long relationship between Australian scientific endeavour in Antarctica and the use of husky dog teams. In 1954, when Australia established its first permanent Antarctic station at Mawson, huskies were introduced as sled dogs and remained until the 1991 Madrid Protocol required that non-indigenous animals (except humans) be removed from Antarctica.

• The ending of the use of husky teams in Antarctica also reflected the need for technological advances to support scientific endeavour in this harsh environment. Even before the last husky left Antarctica their role had been largely superseded for transport by motor-powered vehicles.

• Australia was an initiator of and one of 43 signatories to the 1991 Madrid Protocol, which, among other requirements, called for the removal of the husky dogs from Antarctica by 1994. The protocol was the result of an initiative led by the then prime minister of Australia, Bob Hawke, who opposed mining in Antarctica and sought stronger protection for the continent’s environment.

• The experiences of legendary Antarctic explorers such as Scott, Amundsen, Shackleton and Mawson are inextricably linked with the history of the dog teams. The use of a dog team for transportation and food significantly contributed to Amundsen’s successful journey to the South Pole as compared with the tragic fate of the Scott expedition, which eschewed the use of dogs and relied on manpower alone.

• The landscape of Antarctica depicted in the clip shows both its beauty and its inhospitability. More than 99 per cent of Antarctica is covered in ice that contains about 70 per cent of the world’s fresh water. This thick ice cover makes it the highest of all continents and in the summer months its total surface area is approximately twice the size of Australia. In winter Antarctica doubles in size due to the sea ice that forms around its coast.