This Wednesday 17 January, the flag of UK Overseas Territory South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands proudly flew over King Charles Street in London to celebrate South Georgia Possession Day. English explorer captain James Cook aboard HMS Resolution named the Island 'Isle of Georgia' in honor of the then Monarch, King George III of Great Britain and Ireland.
Crew of Royal Navy Falklands patrol ship HMS Forth helped scientists understand the global impact of bird flu as the ship resumed South Atlantic duties after nearly a year away. The ship transported an expert to the island chain of South Georgia to see if the disease had reached the sub-Antarctic for the first time.
The presence of High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza (HPAI) was confirmed on Thursday 11 January for the first time in mammals in sub-Antarctica. The disease was detected in elephant and fur seals on the island of South Georgia by experts from the UK’s world-leading Animal Plant Health Agency (APHA).
The Falkland Islands patrol vessel HMS Forth, has paid a visit to the island of South Georgia, where it met some of its permanent residents, penguins and seals, to look after their well being and the environment.
In a significant step towards supporting marine conservation efforts in the South Atlantic, the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI) has announced the successful transition of ownership of Pharos Marine Limited (part of the Falklands based Byron group) to Workboat Services Limited, WBS, ensuring the continued operational presence of the vessel MV Pharos SG in the South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands Maritime Zone.
Scientists aboard the Falklands flagged RRS Sir David Attenborough collected samples of seawater around the A23a mega iceberg, the largest iceberg in the world. New video footage shows the enormous iceberg, some 3,900km2 and 400m tall, twice the size of Greater London stretching out into the distance beyond the research vessel.
Last month, October 2023, Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) was confirmed on Bird Island, South Georgia in the brown skua populations. Since then, a number of other cases of symptomatic birds and above baseline mortality have been reported to the Government of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI).
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) has been confirmed in brown skua populations on Bird Island, South Georgia. In response to the situation on Monday, the Government of South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI) has introduced a comprehensive Management Plan and new regulations to further protect terrestrial habitats and the remarkable animals and plants found in those islands.
The highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) has been confirmed in brown skua populations on Bird Island, South Georgia – the first known cases in the Antarctic region, reported British Antarctic Survey, BAS.
While commercial whaling in the twentieth century killed big whale populations, it also appears to have had a long-term impact on the genetic variety of today's surviving whales, according to a piece by Nature World News extracted from Journal of Heredity.