The Antarctic travel season may still be months away, but responsible Antarctic tour operators from across the globe experienced their busiest day of the year on Tuesday, June 5, as the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators’ (IAATO) Ship Scheduler opens.
The ship has spent time in Antarctica supporting scientists and surveying the channels and waterways. HMS Protector has returned to Plymouth for the first time in four years. The ship spent a lot of her time in Antarctica supporting scientists and surveying the channels and waterways around the frozen continent.
World Penguin Day is observed annually on April 25 recognizing the aquatic birds. In the world, there are 17 species of penguins with Southern hemisphere as their natural habitat. April 25 was chosen as World Penguin Day as it marks the date when Adelie penguins begin their migration northward toward Antartica.
Thousands of emperor penguin chicks drowned when the sea-ice on which they were being raised was destroyed in severe weather. The catastrophe occurred in 2016 in Antarctica's Weddell Sea. Scientists say the colony at the edge of the Brunt Ice Shelf has collapsed with adult birds showing no sign of trying to re-establish the population.
China's “insatiable appetite” for seafood is straining the limited abilities of South American countries to enforce their maritime boundaries, according to an article in Dialogo, a website run by US Southern Command. Countries on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts have been affected, and most of the illicit fishing activity in those areas is done by Chinese vessels.
Following on from Penguin News’ interview last week with Islander Mensun Bound, who was involved in the search for the Argentine submarine Ara San Juan, Mr Bound spoke of his current project, the search for Shackleton’s ship Endurance.
A 33-year-old American man has become the first person to cross Antarctica alone and unassisted. Explorer Colin O'Brady finished in 53 days, ahead of British Army Captain Louis Rudd, 49, after an epic race across the ice. Both men set out on 3 November to complete the journey, which killed a British ex-Army officer two years ago.
Marine conservationists Sea Shepherd are claiming Japan's decision to abandon whaling around Antarctica as a victory, though their battle will go on with the Asian nation moving to resume hunting elsewhere. On Boxing Day, Japan announced it was leaving the International Whaling Commission so it could resume commercial hunting of the marine mammals in their territorial waters.
Thousands of British sailors and Royal Marines stand ready to respond to events at home and abroad this festive season. While many enjoy a well-earned break over Christmas and New Year, nearly 2,000 men and women of the Naval Service are on active duty, while over 2,500 personnel are on standby at home in the UK.
The United Kingdom Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT) is delighted to reveal details of the quintet who will live and work at Port Lockroy on a remote island off the Antarctic Peninsula during the 2018/19 Austral Antarctic summer (November – March).