It has been almost 127 years since the expedition led by Salomon August Andrée came to a tragic end.
Although the expedition’s three participants had warm clothes, provisions and working rifles, they died and were found 33 years later on the Arctic island of Vitön in Svalbard.
To this day, no definite conclusions have been made regarding the causes of death for the three men.
KI researchers use skeleton detection dogs
The mystery has eluded the researcher, as well as the doctor, Bea Uusma an entire career and this summer she has received permission to do an archaeological excavation on the island.
To help her, she has hired Malin Svensson from Älghult in Småland as a dog handler. Her hunting Labradors Breeze and Puredy are unique in searching for human bones.
– I know that Bea Uusma was worried that I wouldn’t say yes to something like this. But it’s obvious to say yes – this is a “once in a lifetime thing”, says Malin Svensson.
On August 1, they head to Vitön, where the dogs’ task is to sniff out the 200 human bones believed to be left behind by the members of the Andrée expedition in 1897.
It is hoped to find enough bones to determine who the remains belong to and what caused their death.
– We can gain knowledge about possible fractures, disease states, poisoning states, and find out if damage to the bones has occurred before or after death, says KI researcher Bea Uusma in a press release.
“Are we going ashore on Vitön?”
Vitön, where the expedition is now going, is an island in the Arctic Ocean that belongs to Svalbard and which is surrounded by drift ice and snow for large parts of the year.
Even storms and potential dangers from polar bears can become a problem for the expedition.
– It is still the last thing left. Are we getting ashore at Vitön? says Malin Svensson.
When SVT reaches Bea Uusma, it is too close to departure for her to be able to give a comment in front of the camera.
See in the clip below – Andrée’s polar expedition in 60 seconds.
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Salomon August Andrée, Nils Strindberg and Knut Frænkel set off on a polar expedition in 1897 but never returned home. In the video you get a summary of what happened – in 60 seconds. Photo: The Technical Museum