Tag: British Antarctic Survey

• Thursday, April 25th 2019 - 09:30 UTC

  Thousands of emperor penguin chicks died in 2016 destroyed by severe weather, reports a BAS team

  

  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.

• Friday, March 8th 2019 - 09:07 UTC

  HMS Protector comes across an iceberg of 11 miles long and five wide

  

  The Royal Navy’s Antarctic patrol ship encountered an iceberg the size of Bristol as she began her final scientific mission of the season. HMS Protector came across the enormous mass of ice and snow – 11 miles long and five wide – as she returned to the frozen continent for the last time this winter – or summer as it is in the Southern Hemisphere.

• Monday, October 15th 2018 - 08:29 UTC

  East Falkland, among most plastic contaminated shores in South Atlantic Islands

  

  The amount of plastic washing up onto the shores of remote South Atlantic islands is ten times greater than it was a decade ago, according to new research published in the journal Current Biology. Scientists investigating plastics in seas surrounding the remote British Overseas Territories, including East Falkland, discovered they are invading these unique biologically-rich regions. This includes areas that are established or proposed Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).

• Saturday, September 8th 2018 - 09:05 UTC

  Award for new map of South Georgia and the “Shackleton Crossing”

  

  British Antarctic Survey’s detailed map of the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia featuring the epic “Shackleton Crossing” has won an award at the 2018 British Cartography Society Awards.

• Wednesday, May 2nd 2018 - 08:13 UTC

  UK-US launch Antarctica research program to predict sea-level rise

  

  A new UK-U.S. Antarctic research program to improve the prediction of future sea-level rise was launched on Monday at British Antarctic Survey (BAS), Cambridge. The £20 million 5-year research collaboration, funded jointly by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), brings together over 100 polar scientists from leading UK and U.S. research organizations.

• Friday, February 2nd 2018 - 19:49 UTC

  South Georgia celebrated on 17 January “Possession Day”

  

  On 17th January 1775 a small party of men landed on a beach beneath snowy peaks and tumbling glaciers. In charge was an officer by the name of James Cook; the British Flag was planted, a volley of musket shot was fired, and the land was claimed for His Britannic Majesty. Cook named the bay in which he landed Possession Bay. On the 17th January 2018 (and every year) South Georgia marked ‘Possession Day’ with a bank holiday and reception at Government House.

• Friday, January 12th 2018 - 09:44 UTC

  BAS team doing first scientific Southern right whale survey in South Georgia

  

  An international team of researchers, led by British Antarctic Survey (BAS), travels to the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia this month to carry out the first scientific whale survey since whaling stopped in the 1970s.

• Thursday, December 14th 2017 - 04:30 UTC

  Mt Hope is the tallest mountain in the British Antarctic Territory with 3.239 meters

  

  Britain has a new highest mountain after new data showed measurements from old overland surveys were inaccurate. It was thought until this point that Mount Jackson was the tallest mountain in the British Antarctic Territory at 3,184m above sea level. However, new satellite data by British Antarctic Survey (BAS) shows Mount Hope is the tallest mountain, at 3,239m.

• Sunday, February 26th 2017 - 09:19 UTC

  Argentine-Chilean Antarctic inspectors check BAS Rothera base

  

  A team or Argentine and Chilean experts have visited Czech and British bases in Antarctica as part of the routine inspection of environment and security operations, in the framework of the Antarctic Treaty. The Argentine foreign ministry reported that the inspections took place for the second consecutive year between 19 January and 25 February.

• Saturday, May 7th 2016 - 08:25 UTC

  UK's state of the art polar research ship to be named Sir David Attenborough

  

  The United Kingdom's £200 million state-of-the-art polar research ship is to be named after world renowned naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, the Science Minister Jo Johnson confirmed on Friday. Following a call for suggestions that sparked global interest, Royal Research Ship Sir David Attenborough has been selected as a name that captures the ship’s scientific mission and celebrates the broadcaster’s contribution to natural science.