Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 12/13/2006 - 11:17
Forums
Oden Antarctic Expedition 06

WCA 4th graders want to know if you have any teams of dogs on board for any sled teams.  We know that most scientists use mechanical transportation over the ice, but we wondered if any teams are ever used today.

Sun, 01/07/2007 - 13:35

Allan Miller

Dog teams have played a huge role in Antarctic exploration, they were especially crucial to Roald Amundsen's first successful expedition to the South Pole, allowing him to outrace Scott by a full month.  But they are not used any longer - with the advent of airplanes and other dependable motorized travel they became less important and the last teams were used by the New Zealand team at Scott Base in 1986.  There is a nice article from USA Today about the dogs and their role at:http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/science/cold-science/life-work/2001…
But there are plenty of dog teams in Alaska, Canada and other countries across the Arctic even today - used for hunting, trapping, and recreation like the Iditarod.  Thanks for the great question.
Allan