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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, April 26th 2024 - 07:48 UTC

Antarctica

  • Sunday, December 10th 2023 - 11:31 UTC

    Bird flu expanding in Antarctica, high mortality among elephant seals

    Health experts say that even penguins are vulnerable to the bird-borne virus since they cluster together during the onset of the breeding season

    Mass elephant seal deaths have been reported in the Antarctic region after a high level of mortality has been detected among elephant seal pups at three sites around South Georgia. Animals have shown symptoms that are consistent with Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), and the outbreak affects particularly the southern elephant seal species (Mirounga leonine).

  • Tuesday, December 5th 2023 - 10:40 UTC

    RRS Sir David Attenborough meets mega iceberg A23a drifting towards South Georgia

    New video footage shows the enormous iceberg, some 3,900km2 and 400m tall, twice the size of Greater London stretching out into the distance

    Scientists aboard the Falklands flagged RRS Sir David Attenborough collected samples of seawater around the A23a mega iceberg, the largest iceberg in the world. New video footage shows the enormous iceberg, some 3,900km2 and 400m tall, twice the size of Greater London stretching out into the distance beyond the research vessel.

  • Friday, December 1st 2023 - 09:46 UTC

    Uruguayan scientific, military team flies to Antarctica

    Uruguay's deployment in Antarctica will deepen cooperation with Spain, Colombia, The Netherlands, Ecuador, Germany, Argentina, the United Kingdom, and Chile, among others

    A group of over 40 Uruguayan military and scientific personnel were flown to Antarctica aboard an Ururuguayan Air Force Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport aircraft in a move to promote 14 projects in the areas of geosciences, life sciences, social and human sciences, as well as environmental monitoring, it was reported Thursday in Montevideo.

  • Wednesday, November 29th 2023 - 14:12 UTC

    Using a new AI tool to track the life cycle of icebergs in Antarctica

    Icebergs in the Southern Ocean have calved off the Antarctica Ice Sheet. They can take decades to melt into the ocean.

    Researchers are using a new AI tool to detect icebergs in the Southern Ocean. This is the first step towards scientists being able to track the complete life cycle of most icebergs across Antarctica from satellite data. The study published in the journal Remote Sensing of the Environment points out a report from the British Antarctic Survey.

  • Tuesday, November 28th 2023 - 20:30 UTC

    South Georgia Marine Protected Area review and workshop in December

    The workshop will allow experts and stakeholders to consider the current management measures, including the outcomes of the PAME, alongside the scientific research conducted in the region

    The South Georgia South Sandwich Islands, SGSSI, Marine Protected Area is currently undergoing its second 5-year review. Following on from the highly successful science symposium held in June 2023 and an internal Protected Area Management Evaluation (PAME), GSGSSI will be hosting a review workshop in December.

  • Saturday, November 25th 2023 - 10:49 UTC

    International scientific team to research Antarctic ecosystems on RRS Sir David Attenborough

    RRS Sir David Attenborough sees ice for the first time. Credit: Rich Turner, BAS

    A team of international researchers set sail on the Falklands flagged RRS Sir David Attenborough last Monday, 20 November to answer some of the big questions about how Antarctic ecosystems and sea ice drive global ocean cycles of carbon and nutrients.

  • Thursday, November 23rd 2023 - 09:12 UTC

    Chile's new ambassador to Buenos Aires chosen

    Chile and Magallanes are the gateway to the world to Antarctica, Boric also said Wednesday

    Chilean President Gabriel Boric Font Wednesday chose José Antonio Viera-Gallo to fill the vacancy as Ambassador to Argentina, which would mean the appointee's return to a position he held between 2015 and 2018, Undersecretary of the Interior Manuel Monsalve announced.

  • Wednesday, November 22nd 2023 - 23:27 UTC

    Concern over the ozone layer hole evolution in austral mid spring, NZ report

    The ozone hole over Antarctica usually opens in September and lasts until November, taking in the Southern Hemisphere’s spring.

    The hole in the Antarctic ozone layer has been getting deeper in austral mid-spring over the last two decades, according to New Zealand researchers working with scientists from Otago University and published in a new study in the journal Nature Communications.

  • Wednesday, November 22nd 2023 - 08:14 UTC

    Avian Influenza outbreak in South Georgia expanding, GSGSSI and BAS survey

    Avian flu has been tested in kelp gulls. Photo credit_Lloyd Peck.

    Last month, October 2023, Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) was confirmed on Bird Island, South Georgia in the brown skua populations. Since then, a number of other cases of symptomatic birds and above baseline mortality have been reported to the Government of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI).

  • Friday, November 17th 2023 - 10:10 UTC

    South Atlantic sovereignty a great challenge ahead, says Massa

    Massa spoke of “the new challenge of these times in terms of sovereignty” during the launch of the new Antarctic campaign

    During his participation Wednesday at the ceremony marking the commencement of the 2023-2024 Antarctic campaign, Economy Minister and presidential candidate Sergio Massa praised the role he envisions for the Armed Forces “in the defense of Argentine sovereignty” which constitutes a big challenge for the years to come from a “bicontinental” viewpoint.