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Planning a scientific expedition is not an easy task and does not end with supplying the ship with coal and food. It requires personal and scientific equipment specially designed for harsh conditions. From the letters preserved in the archives, we learn how meticulous the search and purchase of these devices, utensils, or pieces of clothing were.
The outfit worn by the expedition members consisted of a sweatshirt and trousers made of thick khaki wool. The hood, embroidered on the edges with natural fur, tightened tightly around the neck. The same system was used on the sleeves to protect as effectively as possible against the cold.
Naturalist Emil Racoviță invested months in documentation and acquisitions, looking for the most advanced equipment – from a state-of-the-art microscope and a monocular magnifying glass to crates, tubes and vials for collecting and preserving biological material.
The expedition box that belonged to him contains the utensils used by the scientist in his research. Inside, you can find almost all the tools needed by a naturalist in the field: tubes of various shapes and sizes for collecting biological samples, jars and envelopes for flying insects, tweezers and dissecting needles, cloth bags, cardboard boxes, labels and pencils. The box is divided into several levels and equipped on the outside with a closure system consisting of two leather straps designed to prevent the contents from being lost.
Approximately 1,200 zoological specimens (some preserved in alcohol, others dried – skins, bones of seals and birds), as well as over 400 botanical specimens (mosses and lichens), preserved in bags, were collected during the expedition. Dozens of journal pages accompany these collections, written with remarkable scientific rigour, providing a vivid picture of the southern polar world.
It is no wonder that so many samples were collected. In summer, the ice floe "blooms" with life: seals and birds appear in large numbers. The "land" mammals of Antarctica – seals – become the primary source of food during the polar night. Birds, however, dominated the landscape. Attracted by the seal carcasses thrown onto the ice, flocks of gulls, terns, cormorants, and petrels (giant and snowy), "cape pigeons" surrounded the ship. The penguins conquered the sailors: funny, noisy, irresistibly cute, and they quickly became the stars of the expedition. The crew even had a pet penguin – Bébé.