
The Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators (AECO) and the International Association for Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO), in cooperation with Lindblad Expeditions, have found a way for cruise operators to share years of depth soundings from the Arctic and Antarctica.

The South Georgia Patagonian toothfish fishery renewed its five-yearly Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification for the third consecutive time. The fishery, which was first MSC certified in 2004, received an average score of 96 out of 100 in the latest assessment, said the government of South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI).

Claudia Holgate, Environmental Manager for the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO), has decided to step down from the position, which has grown to become full time.

The number of cruise ship visits to South Georgia is set to increase by at least 10% in the forthcoming 2014/15 season, according to the July edition of the South Georgia Newsletter.

During the upcoming Antarctic season, from November through March, 36,545 tourists are expected to visit, according to estimates compiled by the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO). That’s a slight dip from the 37,405 who visited in 2013-14, which was a 9 percent increase from the previous year.

A massive earthquake that struck Chile in 2010 caused glaciers thousands of miles away in Antarctica to calve, a study published Sunday in the journal Nature Geoscience found. Seismic surface waves radiating away from the earthquake’s epicenter traveled some 4,700 kilometers before passing through Antarctica’s ice sheets and causing small tremors, or “icequakes.”

One hundred years ago this month Sir Ernest Shackleton set sail from Plymouth on HMS Endurance at the beginning of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1914-17), also known as the Endurance Expedition.

In the Government of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands’ annual address to the tourism industry at the IAATO (International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators) meeting in Providence, Richard McKee, GSGSSI Executive Officer summarized the 2013-14 season as incredibly busy and diverse given the 55 cruise ship calls.

The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) has commended the Nord-Troms District Court for convicting Jarle Andhøy of violating the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty.

Global warming will cut Antarctica's 600,000-strong emperor penguin population by at least a fifth by 2100 as the sea ice on which the birds breed becomes less secure, a study said on Sunday.