Antarctica

• Friday, March 22nd 2013 - 21:20 UTC

  British Antarctic Survey has a new director: climate expert Professor Jane Francis

  

  Professor Jane Francis has been appointed as the new Director of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). Ms Francis, a geologist by training, is Professor of Palaeoclimatology at the University of Leeds where she is currently Dean of the Faculty of Environment.

• Tuesday, March 19th 2013 - 13:22 UTC

  South Georgia completes first phase of reindeer eradication: 1.900 animals

  

  The Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (GSCSSI) has announced the completion of the first phase of the eradication of reindeer from the island of South Georgia.

• Tuesday, March 12th 2013 - 14:52 UTC

  Britain and Argentina share stringent environmental duties in Antarctica

  

  Divers from Royal Navy ice patrol ship HMS Protector have been exploring beneath the waves of the Antarctic to ensure stringent environmental guidelines are being followed in the region. In the process the diving team on board HMS Protector has been busy capturing rare underwater footage of the Antarctic.

• Monday, March 11th 2013 - 08:04 UTC

  Falklands and South Atlantic environment and geography information management system

  

  The South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute (SAERI) announced a new program: the South Atlantic Information Management System and GIS Centre, which officially brings together the UK South Atlantic Overseas Territories in SAERI’s South Atlantic scope that ranges from the equator down to the ice. The Centre is funded by the FCO via the UK’s Joint Nature Conservation Committee.

• Friday, February 22nd 2013 - 17:38 UTC

  Foreign Office pledges more marine protected areas in the Southern Ocean

  

  The Foreign Office said that the UK is striving to ensure that all fishing undertaken in the Southern Ocean is carefully managed and sustainable and that the current FCO focus is supporting international work to establish a network of Southern Ocean Marine Protected Areas.

• Thursday, February 21st 2013 - 05:46 UTC

  Royal penguin being cared in New Zealand after stranding 2.000km from Antarctica

  

  A royal penguin is being cared for at a New Zealand zoo after being found stranded on a beach 2,000km from its Antarctic home. The young male bird, which was dehydrated and starving, is thought to be only the fourth royal penguin to wash up there in more than a century.

• Saturday, February 16th 2013 - 20:25 UTC

  Argentina supplies Antarctic base by air with contracted Russian aircraft

  

  The Argentine Ministry of Defence announced it had successfully finished the supply of provisions to the Antarctic Base Belgrano II, the most austral of the country’s outposts. The two-week operation in nine legs, depending on weather conditions, was done by air parachuting provisions.

• Wednesday, February 13th 2013 - 20:43 UTC

  Dr. Kim Crosbie named Executive Director of Antarctic tour operators

  

  The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) announced on Wednesday a restructuring of its Secretariat, re-establishing the post of Executive Director, with Dr. Kim Crosbie named to the position.

• Monday, February 11th 2013 - 21:18 UTC

  Australian/UK team complete re-enactment of Shakleton’s epic Antarctic expedition

  

  Nearly 100 years after Sir Ernest Shackleton’s legendary Antarctic survival journey, a team of British and Australian explorers have completed their expedition to recreate it. Team leader Tim Jarvis and climber Barry Gray arrived at the Stromness whaling station in South Georgia on Sunday, despite extreme weather over the weekend that had put the expedition in jeopardy.

• Tuesday, February 5th 2013 - 01:10 UTC

  A repeat of Shackleton’s epic Southern Ocean crossing reaches South Georgia

  

  An expedition replicating Ernest Shackleton's 1916 perilous crossing of the Southern Ocean from Antarctica in a small boat has made landfall after a 12-day journey. Led by renowned adventurer Tim Jarvis, the team of six reached Peggotty Bluff on rugged South Georgia, where they landed their vessel in the same place Shackleton and his men beached the James Caird nearly 100 years ago.