Get our news on your inbox! x

Remember me Forgot password

MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, November 27th 2024 - 18:55 UTC

Antarctica

  • Monday, January 25th 2021 - 09:40 UTC

    Falklands' majestic King penguins at Volunteer Point

    Volunteer Point is a nature reserve of around 10,000 acres. Photo: Derek Pettersson

    STANLEY, Falkland Islands – The Falkland Islands have become a paradise for wildlife enthusiasts. Decades of good management and conversation policies have helped the different species to advance under this shield. One of those, emblematic, and identified to the image and spirit of the Falklands are penguins. Although not included in the Islands' crest they are virtually everywhere, souvenirs, stamps, badges, pictures, T shirts, and particularly in Volunteer Point, relatively close to Stanley, where the majestic King penguins enjoy a growing rookery, shared with their Gentoo and Magellanic cousins.

  • Monday, January 25th 2021 - 09:07 UTC

    Work starts at Antarctica's Rothera Research Station Discovery Building

    Rothera with the RRS James Clark Ross

    The next stage of building a scientific support facility in Antarctica has started and to avoid the risk of introducing COVID-19 to the British Antarctic Survey’s (BAS) Rothera Research Station, the construction team spent two weeks in quarantine and had three Covid-19 tests prior to making the 11,000-kilometer voyage by ship.

  • Monday, January 25th 2021 - 08:59 UTC

    South Georgia Patagonian toothfish fishery recertified with flying colors

    Chilean Longliner, MV Mar Del Sur III hauling longliner.

    Following its five-yearly Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) assessment, the South Georgia Patagonian toothfish longline fishery has, for the third time, been certified as a sustainable and well-managed fishery, according to the newsletter from the government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

  • Monday, January 25th 2021 - 08:51 UTC

    Gentoo penguins in South Georgia enjoying an enlarged no-fishing zone

    South Georgia is home to important colonies of penguins, including Gentoo. Their main diet is krill – a small shrimp-like crustacean – that is abundant in the area.

    Gentoo penguins are benefiting from a newly enlarged no-fishing zone (known as a No-Take Zone NTZ) around the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia following British Antarctic Survey (BAS) tracking research commissioned by the RSPB.

  • Monday, January 25th 2021 - 08:15 UTC

    Two earthquakes and confusing alert messages, shake Chile

    Following this first alert residents in continental Chile received a message on their mobile phones requesting they evacuate all beaches due to risk of tsunami

    Two earthquakes of 7 and 5.9 degrees of magnitude on the Ritcher scale shook Chile on Saturday, just thirty minutes apart, at Antarctica and in the center of Chile, with Chilean authorities calling to evacuate the coastal areas due to the risk of a tsunami, as a consequence of confusing alert messages.

  • Saturday, January 23rd 2021 - 09:23 UTC

    Germany denies change of policy regarding the Falklands dispute

    “The activities of private companies cannot be attributed to the Federal Republic of Germany and have no international consequences,” said the spokesperson

    Germany said that its position on the Falkland Islands dispute has not changed, following claims by Argentina that Lufthansa's request for two flights to the Islands, in support of a polar research expedition, implied recognition of the archipelago as Argentine territory.

  • Friday, January 22nd 2021 - 09:43 UTC

    Argentina rejoiced with Germany's position on the Falklands/Malvinas dispute

    Lufthansa is planning two charter flights directly from Hamburg to the Falkland Islands with scientists and a fresh crew

    Argentina is rejoicing because Germany's flag carrier Lufthansa formally requested the Civil Aviation National Administration and the Tierra del Fuego, Antarctica and South Atlantic Islands provincial government over flight and landing authorization for two charter flights to the Malvinas Islands from Hamburg.

  • Thursday, January 21st 2021 - 00:48 UTC

    Lufthansa to fly nontop to Falklands carrying German scientists

    The Airbus 350 registered D-AIXN is to transport researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute to the Islands on their way to Antarctica.

    German carrier Lufthansa Wednesday issued a press release confirming plans are underway for a nonstop charter flight between Hamburg and Mount Pleasant in the Falkland Islands for scientific purposes. The airline highlighted the trip will be one of its longest nonstop stretches ever.

  • Tuesday, January 19th 2021 - 09:10 UTC

    Falklands Conservation advises on penguins’ 'catastrophic' moulting period

    Penguins come ashore to moult over a 3-4 week period; they are unable to go to sea to feed and sometimes restricted to their water intake. Photo: John Buckingham

    Unlike all other birds, penguins go through what is called a “catastrophic” moult. For the penguin, it is probably as bad as it sounds. Falklands Conservation recalls that every penguin must moult once a year, normally between December to March, by drastically shedding all their feathers and re-growing new feathers in one go – hence the “catastrophic”.

  • Tuesday, January 19th 2021 - 09:07 UTC

    Icebreaker HMS Protector is back to sea after £14m revamp

    Protector, unique in the Navy’s fleet, spent five months out of the water and was originally due to return in the autumn before heading south

    The HMS Protector, the only Royal Navy's ice patrol ship, has returned to sea after a £14m revamp to improve her ability to work in Antarctica. Extra weight was added to the vessel during the work has improved her ice-breaking capability, the Navy said.