Lost and Stranded on the Ice

Imagine you were standing on a treacherous sheet of ice, floating in the North Atlantic Ocean. And your ship and only salvation was impossible to see in the snow storm that surrounded you. And every minute that went by was one minute closer to the frozen night. During which, some of the men with you wouldn’t wake up in the morning. This is the horrifying story of the 1914 Sealing Disaster.

Attributions/Special Thanks for Photographs:
Biodiversity Heritage Library, Wellcome Images, Michael McNicholas

The incredible sculpture at 28: 11 was made by Morgan MacDonald. Check him out here:

Writing and research by Jay Adams

This video contains light dramatic reenactment but no actual footage or pictures of anyone being harmed or who has been harmed.

21: 06 is NOT a real image.

And a huge thank you to the Scary Interesting team of writers, editors, captioners, and everyone else who makes this channel possible.

[ScaryInteresting]

Hey everyone! Just made the last-minute decision to put this out today instead of tomorrow. I figure many people will be busy enjoying time with family etc. In any case, I hope you all have a happy holiday and a great weekend!

[andreajones]

To be so close yet so far from rescue so many times would be absolutely mind shattering.

[baronvonjo]

The ships leaving 3 times would be the most frustrating thing to ever experience. The feeling of desth just over you after that would be so much.

[ripwednesdayadams]

What an excruciatingly painful story. I audibly groaned every time they got close to rescue only to be sorely disappointed. What a nightmare.

[darrendodge]

Born/raised in Newfoundland, and the story of this tragedy was part of our schooling as Cassie Brown’s book “Death on the Ice” was one book we studied. That was a good retelling. My 100yo grandmother is from a small community near where the Kean family lived in Bonivista Bay. Another good story for you to check out would be “A Winter’s Tale, the wreck of the Florizel” also by Cassie Brown..tells of the fate of SS Florizel that was mentioned at the end of the story you just presented. “Standing Into Danger” by C Brown would be another for you to check out.

[ravenvhart]

the amount of times i completely lost my mind at the mention of ships moving AWAY from the survivors because they couldn’t hear them or see them…
so many mistakes could’ve been avoided had they been more cautious. but as always, it was very educational! thank you so much Sean for this video!

[Jadegreif]

"... and then it got worse..."

What a story, never heard of this one before. Excellent storytelling along with your amazing visual presentation this has to be one of your best videos. Thanks for creating it.

[geeegaewlwlwll]

stories like this make you really appreciate modern safety protocols and means of communication...

[Xantilanthi]

What I love about Scary Interesting is the stories have a twist that stay in your head forever. I'll never forget the lady who used the safety rope which ran out 200 feet above the cave floor.

[DerpRulesAll]

Just when you think you've read about all the Arctic disasters, you come up with another one.

[bremenschmidt]

Even though the majority of the stories are devastating, I find these stories and videos to be very educational, very interesting, I'm learning so much!

[alexanderattaie]

The seals are like: That's what you get for beating us with clubs

[doclewis]

Imagine if everyone had a flare to signal a problem...or even a lantern to light to signal an SOS with by having someone stand in front of the light, move, block, move to do the SOS in every direction. It wouldn't be perfect but it would be better than nothing.

[thenobletaco]

A single flare gun could have saved so many lives

[dandychiggins]

This was fascinating and heart breaking... Abraham was the one to blame, the fact that he received no charges is ridiculous.

[ArtChannel]

It's sad to think how many lives, in many many situations, have been lost following orders from uninterested idiots instead of trusting your own instinct.

[KarenAlexandrite-aka-PinkRose]

This was quite distressing! But thank you, Sean, for your respectful telling of this tragic story, which I had not heard before. Wishing you and your viewers a very Happy New Year!

[Jamblesquack]

“Hey guys half of us froze last night… maybe we should sleep together.”

“Nah thats g*y”

[NumbrdDays]

Out of curiosity, I just looked up when flare guns were invented, because if these men had had some, way more of them would have survived. It was 1859, so I'm not sure why they weren't equipped with them in 1914.

[darrylwebb]

Thank you Sean; Shawn, I am from Newfoundland and Labrador, currently reside in St. John’s . We had to read a Novel called “Death on the ice” written by a local author, after reading a book report had to be done. Now I hated literature when I was in school, but this story captures me. Great coverage on it, would be a great book report😅 thanks again:)