Chances for Arctic Survival: Greely's Expedition Revisited

Abstract

Greely's historic starvation camp of 1883-84 was revisited from April to June 1998. Our study revealed that the "sea fleas" reported to be the salvation of the expedition survivors were lysianassoid crustaceans Onisimus edwardsi. Expedition diaries reveal that the seven survivors of the 25-member expedition accumulated a huge energy deficit from October 1883 to June 1894. We estimate that their food supply (ship's rations, sparse game, and over 500 kg of carrion-feeding crustaceans collected in spring 1884) added up to about 4.8 million kcal. The minimal energy requirement of the group (5725 man/days and 1200 kcal/person/day) was 6.8 million kcal. The additional 2.0 million kcal might have been obtained from the bodies of victims. Without cannibalism, it seems unlikely that anyone, having attained an individual energy deficit of over 86000 kcal before the rescue in June 1894, could have survived.