Antarctica

• Tuesday, October 19th 2021 - 09:09 UTC

  Humpback whales recovering on their feeding grounds in the South Atlantic

  

  Humpback whale populations are strongly recovering on their feeding grounds in the South Atlantic, with over 24,543 whales now estimated to use polar waters in the Scotia Arc each summer.

• Tuesday, October 19th 2021 - 09:00 UTC

  Widespread collapse of West Antarctica’s ice sheet is avoidable if we keep global warming below 2℃

  

  By Dan Lowry, Mario Krapp, Te Herenga Waka (*) – Rising seas are already making storm damage more costly, adding to the impact on about 700 million people who live in low-lying coastal areas at risk of flooding. Scientists expect sea-level rise will exacerbate the damage from storm surges and coastal floods during the coming decades. But predicting just how much and how fast the seas will rise this century is difficult, mainly because of uncertainties about how Antarctica’s ice sheet will behave.

• Thursday, October 14th 2021 - 09:25 UTC

  Argentina votes funds for the construction of a Logistic Pole in Ushuaia

  

  The Argentine government has earmarked some 70 million dollars, in three years, for the construction of an Antarctic Logistic Pole in Ushuaia, capital of the extreme south province of Tierra del Fuego. Some US$ 25 million will be invested next year to begin the development of the strategic project aimed at consolidating Ushuaia as the support hub for scientific research in Antarctica.

• Saturday, October 9th 2021 - 21:58 UTC

  Chile eliminates five-day quarantine for travelers arriving to Punta Arenas by air

  

  Given the favorable results that the Magallanes Region, extreme south of Chile is showing in its battle against the Covid 19 pandemic, Chilean authorities have decided to lessen the restrictions both for incoming domestic and international travelers arriving at Punta Arenas airport.

• Saturday, October 9th 2021 - 09:09 UTC

  Ushuaia confirms 243 cruise calls and National Geographic Endurance will open the 2021/22 season November 7

  

  The port of Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego province confirmed that this cruise season 2021/22, a total of 37 vessels will make 243 calls between November and March next year. The National Geographic Endurance will inaugurate the season when it arrives next November 7 with 126 passengers.

• Saturday, October 9th 2021 - 04:12 UTC

  Tierra del Fuego extreme south vertex to become the Mitre Peninsula Protected Area

  

  Argentina Tierra del Fuego province lawmakers from all parties have agreed to resurface a project to create the Mitre Peninsula Nature Protected Area, an idea born over thirty years ago and which covers the extreme end landmass of Tierra del Fuego and the States Island.

• Friday, October 8th 2021 - 17:14 UTC

  Last Man Standing: A talk with the captain who spent 688 days on board a longliner

  

  688. That is the number of days that the captain of the FV Nordic Prince, Arvid Olai Mjønes, spent on board the vessel without returning home. On the final leg of the voyage, the Norwegian captain spoke to MercoPress on board the vessel in the port of Montevideo and shared his experience during the Patagonian Toothfish fishing season in the Ross Sea during the Covid-19 pandemic.

• Friday, October 8th 2021 - 09:44 UTC

  Antarctica cruises Atlas Ocean Voyages will operate from Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego celebrates

  

  An Antarctica cruise company, Atlas Ocean Voyages will begin operating from Ushuaia, the capital of the extreme south Argentine province of Tierra del Fuego. According to local media reports, the first call out of fifteen will take place next November.

• Friday, October 8th 2021 - 09:10 UTC

  Falklands' decisive in supplying Covid-19 vaccines to BAS Antarctic base Rothera

  

  The BBC has reported that nine months after it was rolled out, the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine has finally reached the Antarctic. It was flown in, via the Falkland Islands, this week to immunize the 23 staff members who've been keeping the British Antarctic Survey, BAS, Rothera research base running through the polar winter.

• Friday, October 8th 2021 - 09:00 UTC

  Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty 30th anniversary

  

  By Professor Klaus Dodds (*) – The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty was agreed in 1991 and came into force in 1998, once it had been ratified by all 26 (currently 28) Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties. Professor Klaus Dodds explores the extensive and delicate negotiations that made this possible.