Antarctica

• Friday, May 27th 2011 - 08:16 UTC

  South Georgia marine biodiversity richer than the Galapagos Islands

  

  Sea spiders the size of dinner plates and two-meter-long ribbon worms that eat prey several times their own size were among the 1,400-plus species cataloged by the British Antarctic Service in a comprehensive study of marine life around South Georgia Island.

• Monday, May 23rd 2011 - 15:57 UTC

  Next RN Ice patrol in Portsmouth; in June she becomes HMS Protector

  

  The next Royal Navy Ice patrol vessel is expected this week in Portsmouth where she will be taking over the navy’s Antarctic mission in November following the accident suffered by HMS Endurance in 2008.

• Monday, May 23rd 2011 - 00:09 UTC

  Argentina and Chile organize winter land SAR operation in Antarctica

  

  Argentina and Chile Antarctic organizations are planning this year’s edition of the Search and Rescue training operation which is scheduled to take place sometime between August and September in the Antarctic Peninsula

• Sunday, May 22nd 2011 - 22:16 UTC

  Chile plans a museum in Antarctica to honour pioneers and attract tourism

  

  The Magallanes regional authorities in Chile’s extreme south are planning to open a museum in the country’s Arturo Prat Antarctic base. Objects and images of Chile’s national presence on the continent will be on display.

• Tuesday, May 10th 2011 - 20:53 UTC

  Memorials in London, Cambridge and Falklands remember Britons lost in Antarctica

  

  Two memorials dedicated to Britons who lost their lives in the service of science in Antarctica are unveiled this week. Since 1948, a total of 29 people have died in the British Antarctic Territory, one of the most extreme, inhospitable and uncharted places on Earth.

• Monday, May 9th 2011 - 19:12 UTC

  Australia submits Japan’s Antarctic whaling program to the International Court

  

  The Australian government filed a written submission at the International Court of Justice in Netherlands calling for an end to Japan's Antarctic whaling program on the grounds that it breaches the international ban on commercial whaling. Australia made the official presentation of its case Monday at the ICJ.

• Thursday, May 5th 2011 - 08:18 UTC

  South Georgia rodents’ eradication campaign gets world headlines

  

  Conservationists say they are pleased with early efforts to kill rats on South Georgia, in what is the biggest rodent eradication campaign in history. No-one really knows how many rats inhabit the island in the South Atlantic, but it could be millions.

• Thursday, April 21st 2011 - 03:20 UTC

  Chile looking for a new icebreaker to strengthen presence in Antarctica

  

  The Chilean Navy icebreaker is scheduled to be decommissioned in four years time so “we are in the task of considering a replacement” revealed Third Naval Zone Commander Rear Admiral Rafael Gonzalez during a press conference in Punta Arenas to review results of the last Antarctic season.

• Tuesday, April 12th 2011 - 20:20 UTC

  Antarctica penguin species suffering from declining krill availability, says NOAA

  

  A number of penguin species found in western Antarctica are declining as a result of a fall in the availability of krill, a study has suggested. Researchers, examining 30 years of data, said chinstrap and Adelie penguin numbers had been falling since 1986.

• Tuesday, April 12th 2011 - 17:08 UTC

  The Lynx Mk3 takes off from HMS Ocean for the last time

  

  After more than 30 years’ service one of the mainstays of Britain’s Fleet Air Arm, including the Ice Patrol, has made its final appearance at sea, reports the Royal Navy. Nearly four decades to the day that the very first Lynx helicopter took to the skies, a Mk3 variant lifted off from the sprawling flight deck of HMS Ocean.