Antarctica

• Wednesday, November 6th 2019 - 09:44 UTC

  CCAMLR fails to designate marine protection areas in East Antarctica, Pew regrets

  

  The Pew Charitable Trusts expressed disappointment that for an eighth consecutive year, the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) ended its annual meeting without designating marine protections in the waters off East Antarctica. Member governments also failed to reach consensus on the designation of marine protected areas (MPAs) in the Weddell Sea and Antarctic Peninsula.

• Saturday, October 26th 2019 - 08:51 UTC

  BAS gearing for the Antarctic season: Halley station to reopen and modernization of Rothera to continue

  

  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.

• Friday, October 18th 2019 - 09:44 UTC

  BAS technique to detect stranded whales from space

  

  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.

• Wednesday, October 16th 2019 - 08:41 UTC

  First China built icebreaker begins its maiden voyage to Antarctica

  

  China's first domestically built polar icebreaker Xuelong 2, or Snow Dragon 2, will start its maiden voyage to the Antarctic from the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen this week.

• Thursday, October 10th 2019 - 08:46 UTC

  Brazil will reopen its Antarctica base Comandante Ferraz next January

  

  The Brazilian Navy will inaugurate its new 4,500 m² Comandante Ferraz Antarctic Station (EACF) in January 2020, the head of the Navy Programs Management Directorate (DGePM), Vice Admiral Petronio Augusto Siqueira de Aguiar, said earlier this month.

• Wednesday, October 9th 2019 - 09:50 UTC

  Ushuaia anticipates an exceptional cruise season with 431 calls

  

  Ushuaia, extreme south of Argentina and the hub which handles most Antarctica bound cruises are expecting an exceptional 2019/20 season with some 431 calls, up from the 392 of the previous season, according to provincial port authorities.

• Friday, October 4th 2019 - 14:57 UTC

  Falklands flagged, BAS latest incorporation: RRS Sir David Attenborough”

  

  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.

• Wednesday, October 2nd 2019 - 09:50 UTC

  Giant 350bn tons of ice calve from the Amery shelf in Antarctica

  

  For nearly 20 years, researchers have closely watched a “loose tooth” of ice dangle from the edge of the Antarctic ice sheet, waiting for it to detach.

• Thursday, September 26th 2019 - 21:24 UTC

  Chilean helicopter rescues Polish scientists stranded in a Zodiac

  

  What was to be a simple shift of scientists from the Polish station Henryk Arcotowski in the Antarctica Peninsula turned out into a dramatic rescue operation, involving the Chilean Air Force, after the three were stranded in a Zodiac for over three hours five miles offshore surrounded by ice and freezing winds.

• Tuesday, September 24th 2019 - 08:22 UTC

  Polar expedition experts meet for international Field Guide Conference

  

  Polar field guides are descending on Sturbridge, Massachusetts for the third bi-annual International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) and the Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators (AECO) joint Polar Field Staff Conference.