By surfbirds (*) – Our oceans are in trouble. Globally, poor fishing practices are directly damaging to marine wildlife, and overfishing can deplete food resources for animals such as seabirds and seals. However, research by BirdLife's Marine Program, in association with scientists from the British Antarctic Survey, (BAS) and the RSPB (BirdLife in the UK), shows that under current climate conditions, sustainable fisheries can exist alongside conservation measures for seabirds and seals in a well-managed Marine Protected Area.
A team led by the British Antarctic Survey has just returned from the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, as the last of three expeditions to investigate the recovery of whales a century after they were heavily exploited. After 30 years of protection, large numbers of whales appear to be returning to the region.
BAM Nuttall Ltd, which has been selected by the Falkland Islands Government, FIG, as the development partner to design and build a new port in Stanley Harbour is no adventurer in the South Atlantic and is closely linked to the UK efforts and investments in Antarctica. In effect, BAM Nuttall is involved in the building of the British Antarctic Survey's largest facility at Rothera Research station.
Science and support teams from British Antarctic Survey (BAS) are gearing up for the start of the Antarctic summer field season. The first Twin Otter aircraft have arrived at Rothera Research Station, preparations are being made to reopen Halley Research Station, and the next construction phases of a major program to modernize Rothera and the islands stations are set to begin.
A new technique for analyzing satellite images may help scientists detect and count stranded whales from space. Researchers tested a new detection method using Very High Resolution (VHR) satellite images from Maxar Technologies of the biggest mass stranding of baleen whales yet recorded. It is hoped that in the future the technique will lead to real-time information as stranding events happen.
The Royal Research Ship RRS Sir David Attenborough, has been flagged to the Falkland Islands and officially named in a ceremony at Birkenhead, near Liverpool on Thursday September 26.
Thousands of emperor penguin chicks drowned when the sea-ice on which they were being raised was destroyed in severe weather. The catastrophe occurred in 2016 in Antarctica's Weddell Sea. Scientists say the colony at the edge of the Brunt Ice Shelf has collapsed with adult birds showing no sign of trying to re-establish the population.
The Royal Navy’s Antarctic patrol ship encountered an iceberg the size of Bristol as she began her final scientific mission of the season. HMS Protector came across the enormous mass of ice and snow – 11 miles long and five wide – as she returned to the frozen continent for the last time this winter – or summer as it is in the Southern Hemisphere.
The amount of plastic washing up onto the shores of remote South Atlantic islands is ten times greater than it was a decade ago, according to new research published in the journal Current Biology. Scientists investigating plastics in seas surrounding the remote British Overseas Territories, including East Falkland, discovered they are invading these unique biologically-rich regions. This includes areas that are established or proposed Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).
British Antarctic Survey’s detailed map of the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia featuring the epic “Shackleton Crossing” has won an award at the 2018 British Cartography Society Awards.