Researchers at Antarctic station where team member ‘threatened to kill colleague’ previously made a horror film

The current team, which includes engineers, a mechanic, a doctor and a meteorologist, face a long winter in Antarctica at South Africa’s remote Sanae IV base

Antarctic researchers made a short horror film at the remote station which has since been rocked by allegations of a death threat, assault and sexual harassment.

One member of the nine-person South African team of scientists and Antarctic experts has apologised to a college over the physical assault allegations, after one of the researchers sent an email back to Cape Town begging for help.

Now it has emerged that a previous expedition, that included one of the crew members currently at the base, made a three-minute, tongue in cheek clip shot at Sanae IV.

The Sanae IV research station in the Antarctic (Dr Ross Hofmeyr/Wikipedia)

The short video shows members of an Antarctic expedition running out of the Sanae IV base as alarms blare. Dressed in full winter protective gear, three people flee into the white landscape as snow whips around them, and fail to return.

Their ghosts then return to haunt the remaining crew, rattling doors, moving chairs, and disappearing some of the unfortunate team members.

“The creepy events that occur around the station frightens the remaining members causing them to run out of fear leaving the station,” the film’s description said.

The current Sanae IV crew arrived in the Southern Hemisphere’s summer, and they will be alone on the base through months of extreme cold, lengthy stretches without any daylight and no contact with the outside world until December.

The team will be in the base until the end of the year

Celebrating their arrival, the South African National Antarctic Programme (Sanap) said that each member would play “a crucial role in ensuring the success of South Africa’s Antarctic research programme”.

“These dedicated individuals will brave the extreme conditions of the Antarctic winter, conducting essential scientific research and maintaining the operations of the base,” Sanap said last month.

Sanap said the team will conduct important research including climate monitoring, geological surveys, and atmospheric studies, while also maintaining the base.

“Overwintering in Antarctica is both a privilege and a challenge. The team will face months of extreme cold, isolation, and 24-hour darkness during the winter period,” Sanap said.

“Their resilience, teamwork and dedication are essential in continuing South Africa’s scientific contributions to global research efforts.”

But within weeks of the summer crew leaving there were problems, with one member of the team writing back to Cape Town that they feared for their safety in one team member’s presence.

The South African Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) said the team member in question has undergone new psychometric testing, and the person also offered to apologise to the rest of the crew for their actions.

DFFE said it “immediately activated” a response plan to help “mediate and restore relationships at the base”, and all nine crew members were being given daily support.

“This process has been ongoing on an almost daily basis in order to ensure that those on the base know that the department is supportive and willing to do whatever is needed to restore the interpersonal relationships, but also firm in dealing with issues of discipline,” DFFE said.

An allegation of sexual harassment is being investigated, the DFFE added.

The base is located roughly 2,500 miles from South Africa’s nearest point, the team will be alone at the base until December. Most missions last between 12-15 months, Sanap said.