ANTARCTICA ending Eight Below

In February 1958, the Second Cross-Winter Expedition for the Japanese Antarctic Surveying Team rode on the icebreaker The Soya to take over from the 11-man First Cross-Winter Expedition. Due to the extreme weather conditions in Antarctica, Soya could not get near enough to the Shouwa Base and they decided not to proceed with the stay-over.

The First Cross-Winter Expedition retreated by helicopter, but they had to leave 15 Sakhalin Huskies at the unmanned Shouwa Base. The dogs were left chained at the base, as the team thought that they would be returning, but they did not due to fuel shortages. The team was worried about the dogs, as the weather was extremely cold and only one week of food was available.

Nearly a year later, on 14 January 1959, Kitagawa, one of the dog handlers in the first expedition, returned with the Third Cross-Winter Expedition, wanting to bury his beloved dogs. To everyone's surprise, they were greeted warmly at the base by two dogs, Taro and Jiro, brothers who were born in Antarctica.

It is still unknown how and why the brothers survived, because an average husky can only live in such conditions for about one month.

When they were found at the base, the food left there was found largely intact too. It was conjectured that they hunted penguins and seals, and even ate the excrement of seals as food.

In the movie, the director used the data available, together with his imagination, to reconstruct how the dogs struggled with the elements and survived.

Eight Below is a 2006 American adventure film directed by Frank Marshall and written by David DiGilio. It stars Paul Walker, Jason Biggs, Bruce Greenwood and Moon Bloodgood. It was released theatrically on February 17, 2006 and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures in the United States.