The only woman scientist at Britain's mainAntarctic research base has been
killed in an attack by a leopard seal. Kristy Brown 28, drowned during a
snorkelling expedition on Tuesday when the seal attacked without warning and
dragged her underwater.
The incident was seen by her male snorkelling “buddy” and a two-person team
watching from the shore. A boat was launched immediately to attempt a
rescue. Ms Brown was pulled from the water after several minutes and
colleagues tried to revive her on the way back to the British Antarctic
Survey’s Rothera research station, which has a fully equipped medical
centre.
After attempting cardio-pulmonary resuscitation for nearly an hour, the
station’s doctor pronounced her dead.
The incident, near the base on the Antarctic Pensinsula, is the first time
that a leopard seal is known to have fatally attacked a human being. The
animals, which can weigh up to half a tonne and grow to between 12ft and
15ft long, are powerful carnivores that hunt penguins, fish, squid and
krill, but, while inquisitive towards human beings, they are rarely
aggressive unless provoked.
Ms Brown, from Horsham, West Sussex, was a marine biologist and fully
qualified diver who had been in Antarctica since October. She was due to
stay until the spring of 2005, studying the effects of icebergs on the
ecosystem of the inshore seabed. She was one of three women among the 22
British Antarctic Survey (BAS) staff spending the Antarctic winter at the
Rothera base, and the only woman scientist: the two others are the station’s
doctor and its site manager and chef.
Ms Brown’s parents, Tim and Judith Brown, and their other children, Didi,
Camilla and Duncan, were told of the attack yesterday morning, as soon as
news reached the BAS Cambridge headquarters. Mr Brown said last night:
“Naturally we are devastated — it all seems quite unreal. Kirsty was a great
girl and we are all very proud of her. Right now we are looking to spend
some quiet time at home.”
Colleagues at the BAS, which Ms Brown joined last summer on a 30-month
contract, said that she was a brilliant scientist with an exciting future.
“Kirsty was such a vibrant and dynamic young scientist, completely dedicated
to her work and her diving,” Chris Rapley, the BAS director, said. “It is a
huge loss. My heart goes out to her family and her colleagues at Rothera.”
Ms Brown was snorkelling at her study site, photographing the sea floor, when
the seal attacked at about 3.20pm local time. The boat recovered her at
3.35pm; she reached the Rothera surgery at 4pm. She was declared dead at
4.50pm.
Researchers always swim in pairs for safety when diving or snorkelling.
British Antarctic Survey rules state that scientists should not swim if they
know that leopard seals are in the area, so as not to disturb the animals
rather than for safety. There is no suggestion that Ms Brown or her
colleague knew that the seal was there.
A survey spokeswoman said that scientists onshore who had witnessed the attack
said that there had been no warning. “It happened very quickly. She may not
have seen it coming,” she said.
The pair had been snorkelling for about 15 minutes and were about 20m (66ft)
away from the shore when Ms Brown was attacked. “Without any warning a
leopard seal dragged her underwater,” Professor Rapley said. “Her colleagues
on the shore immediately launched the rescue craft and were able to find her
and recover her after a period of a few minutes.”
It was daylight at the time and weather conditions and visibility were good.
As she was on a snorkelling trip, Ms Brown was wearing a neoprene wetsuit,
but had no breathing equipment. She was carrying a diving knife as well as a
waterproof camera, but the 5ft 2in woman would have stood little chance of
fighting off a seal twice as long and many times heavier. The cause of death
has been given as drowning.
Professor Rapley said that Ms Brown’s colleagues could have done nothing more
to save her. “They are, however, shaken by the loss of a colleague and will
need our support.” BAS announced an inquiry.
An inquest will probably be conducted by Nick Sanders, the most senior
magistrate in the Falkland Islands, who is also the coroner for the British
Antarctic Territory. However, Professor Rapley said that there was a
possibility that the inquest might be held in Britain.
As it is the middle of the Antarctic winter, no supply flight to Rothera is
scheduled before October. The survey hopes, however, to arrange an emergency
flight to return Ms Brown’s body. The scientist, who was born in Horsham in
September 1974, took a 2:1 in geology at Royal Holloway, University of
London, in 1995, then went on to complete an MSc in oceanography at the
University of Southampton in 1997. She began a PhD at Adelaide University in
Australia in 1998, on which she continued to work after joining the BAS last
summer.
She was an experienced diver and snorkeller, with a BSAC dive leader
qualification and a commercial HSE Part IV professional diver’s certificate.
She had dived in the Arctic, in Greenland. This was her first trip to
Antarctica.
Dan Bosence, Ms Brown’s former tutor at Royal Holloway, said last night that
her death was a great loss to the scientific world. The geology professor
added: “She was a very determined and ambitious girl. She was also a very
enthusiastic sport and scientific diver. She learnt and achieved a lot when
she was at university and we were very proud of her. The whole department is
very sad at hearing this terrible news.”
'Sunsets here are like no other'
Kirsty Brown arrived at Rothera in October 2002. These are excerpts
from her internet diary for May:
Birthdays are a good excuse for a party. For Adam’s (one of the team) birthday
it was decided that a Centurion Evening was just the ticket. Preparation was
intense: hours spent in the chippie shop, garage or rooting around for
something suitable to wear. We feasted upon a meal sumptuously produced by
our ever-wondrous chef (Issy) and then the games commenced.
Sunsets in Antarctica are like no other. The sun has been getting noticeably
lower as we get closer to mid-winter. At the beginning of the month there
was a clear distinction between sunrise and sunset. By the middle, the two
had merged into one. Now, at the end of the month, neither occurs, as the
sun no longer rises above the horizon.
Getting up in the mornings in the dark is not so abnormal, particularly for
those of Scottish tendencies. However, to have smoko (coffee break) in view
of the stars and moon is a little on the strange side.
If you’re lucky you can spot the occasional whale (a pod of 40 were sighted
the other day).
