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| Species | Dog |
|---|---|
| Breed | Jack Russell Terrier |
| Sex | Male |
| Occupation | Polar explorer |
| Owner | Ranulph Fiennes and Ginny Fiennes |
Bothie, also known as Bothie the Polar Dog, was a long-haired Jack Russell Terrier who was the only dog to travel to both the South and North Poles. Bothie was owned by Ranulph Fiennes and Ginny Fiennes and accompanied the team on the circumpolar Transglobe Expedition from 1979 to 1982.
The Transglobe Expedition (1979–1982) was the first successful longitudinal (north–south) circumnavigation of the Earth using only surface transport, traversing both the South and North Poles. [1] [2] The expedition was conceived by Ginny Fiennes and led by her husband Ranulph Fiennes. [3]
Bothie, a stray long-haired brown-and-white Jack Russell Terrier, was given to the Fiennes couple in 1977, two years before the expedition. [4] [5] He was flown to join the Transglobe crew following the Africa segment, which was considered too hot for him. [6]
Bothie accompanied Ginny Fiennes throughout the rest of the expedition. This included enduring an Antarctic winter during his nine-month stay on the continent, and spending six weeks at the pole. During this period Bothie participated in the first cricket match ever held at the South Pole. [7] To help him with the cold temperatures Bothie was kitted with tailor-made red coat, balaclava facemask, and boots, though he was said to consider these as "seldom needed". [8] [9]
From Antarctica the team sailed north on the MV Benjamin Bowring to Canada. [10] After travelling through the Northwest Passage Ranulph Fiennes and Charles Burton made the trip to the North Pole by powered sledges arriving 10 April 1982, before signalling to base camp that they had arrived. To celebrate their achievement, a Twin Otter aircraft was sent out to deliver the two men supplies, including champagne, as well as Bothie. [11] At this point Bothie became the first dog to ever "set paw on both the South and North poles". [2] [12] [5]
During the three-year expedition, Bothie was considered by members of the team as "a friend and welcome distraction to everyone", bringing a "sense of home and normality" to the venture. [13] [5]
Upon return to Great Britain, following a six-month anti-rabies quarantine, Bothie achieved a level of celebrity including featuring on the Blue Peter TV programme, being voted Great Britain's Pet of the Year and presented a prize at Crufts in 1983, inspiring a soft-toy range, and entry into the Guinness Book of Pet Records. [5] [14] [15] In 1984, Ranulph and Ginny Fiennes released a best-selling [12] book on his adventures called Bothie The Polar Dog. [16]
Following his return, Bothie retired from polar exploration aged 7 years. [5]
No other canine is expected to match Bothie's achievement of visiting both poles after the Antarctic Treaty of 1994, which has subsequently forbidden dogs from the Antarctic continent to protect the native seal population. [14] [17]
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole, Terrestrial North Pole or 90th Parallel North, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Magnetic North Pole.
Captain Robert Falcon Scott was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery expedition of 1901–04 and the Terra Nova expedition of 1910–13.
Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical body. This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth.
Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 3rd Baronet, commonly known as Sir Ranulph Fiennes and sometimes as Ran Fiennes, is a British explorer, writer and poet, who holds several endurance records.
The Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (CTAE) of 1955–1958 was a Commonwealth-sponsored expedition that successfully completed the first overland crossing of Antarctica, via the South Pole. It was the first expedition to reach the South Pole overland for 46 years, preceded only by Amundsen's expedition and Scott's expedition in 1911 and 1912.
The Polar Medal is a medal awarded by the Sovereign of the United Kingdom to individuals who have outstanding achievements in the field of polar research, and particularly for those who have worked over extended periods in harsh climates. It was instituted in 1857 as the Arctic Medal, and renamed the Polar Medal in 1904.
Sir Walter William Herbert was a British polar explorer, writer and artist. In 1969 he became the first man fully recognized for walking to the North Pole, on the 60th anniversary of Robert Peary's disputed expedition. He was described by Sir Ranulph Fiennes as "the greatest polar explorer of our time".
The Terra NovaExpedition, officially the British Antarctic Expedition, was an expedition to Antarctica which took place between 1910 and 1913. Led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott, the expedition had various scientific and geographical objectives. Scott wished to continue the scientific work that he had begun when leading the Discovery Expedition from 1901 to 1904, and wanted to be the first to reach the geographic South Pole.
The Transglobe Expedition (1979–1982) was the first expedition to make a longitudinal (north–south) circumnavigation of the Earth using only surface transport. British adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes led a team, including Oliver Shepard and Charles R. Burton, that attempted to follow the Greenwich meridian over both land and water. They began in Greenwich in the United Kingdom in September 1979 and travelled south, arriving at the South Pole on 15 December 1980. Over the next 14 months, they travelled north, reaching the North Pole on 11 April 1982. Travelling south once more, they arrived again in Greenwich on 29 August 1982. It required traversing both of the poles and the use of boats in some places. Oliver Shepard took part in the Antarctic leg of the expedition. Ginny Fiennes handled all communications between the land team and their support, and ran the polar bases.
Virginia Frances, Lady Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, known as Ginny Fiennes, was an English explorer. She was the first woman to be awarded the Polar Medal, and the first woman to be voted in to join the Antarctic Club in recognition of her research work for the British Antarctic Survey and University of Sheffield into very low frequency radio propagation. Her husband was adventurer Ranulph Fiennes.
Top Gear: Polar Special, also known as the Polar Challenge, is a special edition episode of BBC motoring programme Top Gear that was first broadcast on 25 July 2007 on BBC Two. The episode follows presenters Jeremy Clarkson and James May in their successful attempt to be the first people to reach the 1996 position of the North Magnetic Pole in a motor vehicle. They did not, however, reach the actual position of the North Magnetic Pole at the time which in 2007 was 150 miles away. They were also 1200 miles away from the geographical North Pole. For added drama and competition, they raced against presenter Richard Hammond who travelled by dog sled, the traditional means of transport around the Arctic. This was the first episode ever aired in HDTV.
Between December 1911 and January 1912, both Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott reached the South Pole within five weeks of each other. But while Scott and his four companions died on the return journey, Amundsen's party managed to reach the geographic south pole first and subsequently return to their base camp at Framheim without loss of human life, suggesting that they were better prepared for the expedition. The contrasting fates of the two teams seeking the same prize at the same time invites comparison.
The Southern CrossExpedition, otherwise known as the British Antarctic Expedition, 1898–1900, was the first British venture of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, and the forerunner of the more celebrated journeys of Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton. The brainchild of the Anglo-Norwegian explorer Carsten Borchgrevink, it was the first expedition to over-winter on the Antarctic mainland, the first to visit the Great Ice Barrier—later known as the Ross Ice Shelf—since Sir James Clark Ross's groundbreaking expedition of 1839 to 1843, and the first to effect a landing on the Barrier's surface. It also pioneered the use of dogs and sledges in Antarctic travel.
Charles Robert Burton known as Charlie Burton was an English explorer, best known for his part in the Transglobe Expedition, the first expedition to circumnavigate the globe from pole to pole. Serving as cook, radio operator, and mechanic, he was the only member of the team to accompany the expedition's leader, Ranulph Fiennes, on the entire route.
Oliver Shepard is a British explorer. He participated in the Transglobe Expedition, the first expedition to circumnavigate the globe from pole to pole.
The British Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott became the subject of controversy when, more than 60 years after his death on the return march from the South Pole in 1912, his achievements and character came under sustained attack.
Nigel Cox is an Irish figurative artist.
The Coldest Journey was a 2013 Commonwealth-supported expedition to Antarctica with the aim of becoming the first team ever to cross the Antarctic land mass during the polar winter. The endeavour aimed to raise more than $10 million for Seeing is Believing, a global charitable initiative which aims to eradicate avoidable blindness in developing countries. The team used cloud-based web technologies to connect with schools across the world as part of an educational programme designed to inspire a new generation towards high achievement. The project also performed scientific research and collected climate and weather data from Antarctica during the expedition to further the understanding of the effects of climate change on the polar regions.
Explorer is a 2022 biographical documentary film about the life and exploits of British explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, directed by Matthew Dyas. It was critically acclaimed as a "compelling portrait" of Fiennes.
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