More protesters arrived, all equipped with analysis devices to assess the situation on the ground. It was then that the protest signs came out and the protest began. It is difficult to know the origin of the participants, the clothing to protect themselves from the cold makes it difficult to recognize race or gender in the photos found. The only journalistic note that took up the story only gives a very brief description of the event: "group of explorers travels to the ends of the earth and is photographed to commemorate it." However, the note does not refer to any type of political or protest connotation; although we know, from Sergei Normakov's account, that these were the true intentions of the expedition.