Tuhia he tohutoro mō tēnei wāhanga - I te tīmatanga o te tau 1911, ka haere a Mertz ki Rānana ki te whakatau ki te kairangahau whenua o Ahitereiria me te kairangahau a Douglas Mawson. Ko Mawson, i mahi hei kaimanaaki i te haerenga a Ernest Shackleton 1908<unk>1909 "Nimrod"
, i te whakamahere i tana ake haerenga ki Antarctic.