Shedding light on lanternfish
25 January, 2017 Geraint Tarling
By Dr Geraint Tarling Lanternfish are found in many of the world’s oceans and get their name from the numerous photophores (light organs) that occur all over their bodies. Also …
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ANTARCTIC BLOG: Arriving at the Polar plateau
23 January, 2017 Holly Winton
A new blog post from atmospheric and glaciochemist Markus Frey who’s just arrived on the Polar plateau as part of the ISOL-ice research project. Read the team’s earlier post here. …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: The Journey South
11 January, 2017 BAS Communications
A new blog post from ecologist Jes Bartlett, who is working at Signy research station for the Austral summer, about her journey South. Read her previous post about pre-deployment training here. …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Journey to the Polar plateau
20 December, 2016 Holly Winton
Our journey to the Antarctic Polar Plateau, where we will be spending the next few weeks as part of the ISOL-ICE research project, began on 7 December. We boarded a …
Drake Passage Blog
24 November, 2016 Yvonne Firing
Follow ORCHESTRA project scientist Yvonne Firing’s amazing fieldwork blog from the Southern Ocean here. On the 2016/2017 Drake Passage cruise on the RRS James Clark Ross, we sail south from …
Diary of a doctor at sea
16 November, 2016 Helen Jones
New blog from ship’s doctor Helen Jones as RRS James Clark Ross arrives at Signy research station in the South Orkney Islands Well, and what a wonderful couple of days …
Polar ecologist prepares for the ice – Blog No 2
13 October, 2016 BAS Communications
New blog from ecologist Jes Bartlett who will be spending the Austral summer working at Signy Island Research station. Here she describes her pre-deployment training. Shortly after the sigh of …
Read more on Polar ecologist prepares for the ice – Blog No 2
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Countdown to sun-up
5 August, 2016 Richard Inman
As the winterers at Halley VI look forward to seeing the sun come up above the horizon again, electrical services technician, Richard Inman describes how they’ve been coping with the …
SCIENCE BLOG:Penguin or sea lemon?
28 July, 2016 Melody Clark
Dr Melody Clark gets excited about sea snails as part of an innovative research programme to investigate how Antarctica’s animals will adapt to life in a warmer world. Penguins or …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Typical week at Bird Island Station
10 June, 2016 Timothy Morley
Tim Morley, Zoological Field Assistant at Bird Island, shares a typical week at Bird Island Research Station as he prepares for midwinter…. With many of our species finishing breeding for …
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SHIP BLOG: Sea ice, science, and wildlife
10 April, 2016 Dani Jones
Investigating the Southern Ocean Oceanographers Dan Jones and Erik MacKie are onboard the RRS James Clark Ross carrying out a hydrographic survey in the Southern Ocean as part of a …
SHIP BLOG: Heading for home
31 March, 2016 Susie Grant
The ship’s science labs have all been packed up and cleaned, kit boxes stowed in the container, cargo paperwork finished and cruise reports written. The SO-AntEco team is ready to …
SHIP BLOG: Rhythm of the night
25 March, 2016 Hilary Blagbrough
Oh look it’s snowing/raining and getting dark… it must be time for the Night Shift. I’m Hilary, the night shift leader on the SO-AntEco scientific cruise to the South Orkney …
SHIP BLOG: Science Week questions answered from the Southern Ocean
23 March, 2016 Susie Grant
Last week was UK Science Week, and we asked schools and anyone else who had burning questions about the Antarctic deep sea to send them to us here on the …
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ANTARCTIC BLOG: The many “hats” of a polar scientist
17 March, 2016 Harriet Clewlow
Life on Signy Island has been pretty hectic for the last couple of weeks with multiple ship visits, saying goodbye to old colleagues, welcoming new base personnel and, in between, …
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SHIP BLOG: Lost in a Sea of Biology
16 March, 2016 Laura Robinson
Lost in a Sea of Biology! Dr Laura Robinson is interested in documenting and understanding the processes that govern climate on time scales ranging from the modern day back through hundreds of …
SHIP BLOG: New Buoy at Sea!
5 March, 2016 Oliver Ashford
New ‘buoy’ at sea Oliver Ashford – a PhD student from Oxford University – is the youngest member of the SO-AntEco research cruise onboard the RRS James Clark Ross. He’s working with …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Ocean meets air #2
4 March, 2016 Thomas Barningham
Thomas Barningham from University of East Anglia shares his voyage and time at Halley Since my last post, a lot has happened – we have arrived and begun work at …
Opening up Signy Research Station after a long winter!
25 February, 2016 Alex Taylor
Since 1996 Signy has been a summer-only station, operating for five to six months each year in support of the biological sciences. When we arrived on the RRS James Clark (JCR) Ross …
Read more on Opening up Signy Research Station after a long winter!
Search and Rescue on Bird Island
23 February, 2016 Jerry Gillham
Bird Island Research Station has a small staff team; no more than 10 in summer and just four over winter. We have no doctor on station though all staff receives …
Life on the sub Antarctic island of South Georgia
19 February, 2016 Jamie Coleman
Life on the sub Antarctic Island of South Georgia working for BAS is an amazing experience. South Georgia has the perfect combination of spectacular landscape and incredible wildlife. We have millions …
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ANTARCTIC BLOG: preparation is everything
15 February, 2016 Huw Griffiths
As the days count down towards departure the dreams about forgetting my passport at the airport become more frequent. My office in Cambridge is a long way from the Antarctic …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Signy season gets underway!
12 February, 2016 Alex Taylor
Despite being one of BAS’s smallest stations, I would argue that Signy is one of the most remote. Situated in the South Orkney Islands, at a relatively northerly 60 degrees …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Extreme Geology #11
12 February, 2016 Joanne Johnson
After our extended period of lie-up, I now have the slightly surreal pleasure of sitting at Rothera writing this, contemplating flying home tomorrow. We flew back from the field on …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: meet Ali – Rothera’s lab manager
8 February, 2016 Ali Massey
I am sat gazing with child-like wonder through my office window at the huge snow-flakes falling outside and, despite the fact that the snowstorm is obscuring my usual spectacular view …
Read more on ANTARCTIC BLOG: meet Ali – Rothera’s lab manager
ANTARCTIC BLOG: BBC arrives at Halley #3
5 February, 2016 Athena Dinar
“I feel like I’m home” says BBC weather forecaster Peter Gibbs as he sets foot on the Brunt Ice Shelf. It’s an emotional moment for him; the last time he …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Extreme Geology #10
4 February, 2016 Stephen Roberts
One of the aims of the ANiSEED project is to find and map evidence that, in the past, ice has covered the mountains here in Marie Byrd Land. To do …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Exploring an island abundant with wildlife
2 February, 2016 James Robbins
Bird Island has undergone several changes since the last diary entry in November. The summer breeding season is in full swing, and in some cases is starting to quieten down …
Read more on ANTARCTIC BLOG: Exploring an island abundant with wildlife
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Extreme Geology #9
29 January, 2016 Iain Rudkin
January the twenty sixth. My pre-deployment brief suggested that I should currently be partaking of all the luxuries Rothera Research Station has to offer. Enjoying that period of self-satisfaction which …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Extreme Geology #8
27 January, 2016 Joanne Johnson
Reflections from the ANiSEED team in Marie Byrd Land Field Guide Al Docherty recounts his most memorable day of the field season so far: “7am the alarm goes off. I look …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Extreme Geology #7
27 January, 2016 Joanne Johnson
Every person who works in Antarctica has a different experience and takes away different memories because our perception is shaped so much by our previous life experiences. The four of …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: BBC enroute to Halley #2
27 January, 2016 Athena Dinar
Ten days ago we left Cape Town on the RRS Ernest Shackleton bound for Antarctica. Today we hit the ice. And quite literally we are hitting the ice! The ship …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Science from the air #5
26 January, 2016 Tom Jordan
Wrapping up I have started several of my blog posts saying I am writing in various odd/unusual/uncomfortable locations…the back of a Twin Otter, or in a mountain tent high on …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: BBC crew enroute to Halley #1
19 January, 2016 Athena Dinar
Antarctica is extraordinary. It is a continent of superlatives – breathtaking, beautiful, hostile, awe-inspiring and life-changing. A trip to the ice always gets under my skin. It somehow puts my …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Science from the air #4
18 January, 2016 Tom Jordan
Culture shock Just over two weeks ago I was writing this blog hunched up in a mountain tent, having not washed for a week, and with the company of just …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Science from the air #3
15 January, 2016 Tom Jordan
One week on from departing Rothera into the field and the first leg of the PolarGAP survey at FD83 is almost over, I get to sit back, relax a bit …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Extreme Geology #6
11 January, 2016 Joanne Johnson
The challenges of glacier travel The ANiSEED project field area lies between two of the most rapidly changing glaciers in Antarctica, the Smith and Kohler Glaciers. These have thinned more …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Science from the air #2
6 January, 2016 Tom Jordan
The altimeter in the front of the Twin Otter aircraft is showing 8500 ft as we cruise due south from Rothera research station for the next leg in our PolarGAP …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Extreme Geology #5
5 January, 2016 Joanne Johnson
Greetings from Marie Byrd Land! The waiting is over….we finally arrived at our field site on 11th December, after a 4 hour flight from Sky Blu one of BAS’s fuel …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Polar guide tackles the long wait #6
4 January, 2016 Ashly Fusiarski
Life in Antarctica can be difficult but strangely the more difficult it is, the easier it becomes. Life starts to be simple. One only has to do whatever it takes. The …
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ANTARCTIC BLOG: Ocean meets air #1
23 December, 2015 Thomas Barningham
Welcome to my blog. My name is Thomas Barningham and I’m currently in the third year of my PhD at the University of East Anglia. My work aims to understand …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Extreme Geology #4
12 December, 2015 Joanne Johnson
Geologist Jo Johnson waits patiently to go deep-field
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Science from the air #1
7 December, 2015 Tom Jordan
Tom Jordan is part of the PolarGAP project, an ambitious international collaboration which will use airborne geophysics to explore one of the last known frontiers on our planet – the …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Polar guide arrives on site #5
2 December, 2015 Ashly Fusiarski
As we finally approached our input site I could see our future home in the distance, a little black dot on a frozen white ocean, slowly growing in size as …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Polar guide flies into the field – #4
25 November, 2015 Ashly Fusiarski
A week after iBeam departed, our aircraft arrived at Sky-Blu from Rothera to take us further into the field, to our winterised vehicles, to our start point. The call sign …
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ANTARCTIC BLOG: Changing of the seasons
20 November, 2015 Thomas Welsh
New summer season starts at Halley
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Extreme Geology #3
19 November, 2015 Joanne Johnson
Being a parent working in Antarctica
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Extreme Geology #2
12 November, 2015 Joanne Johnson
A long drive ahead….update from polar guides preparing for a geology project in remote Marie Byrd Land Whilst Steve Roberts and I are preparing to depart the UK for Rothera …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Polar guide reaches the ice – #3
10 November, 2015 Ashly Fusiarski
The FISS project is huge on a logistical scale. Drilling through an eight hundred meter ice shelf and providing support and equipment for several seismic, radar and instrument inputs and …
Read more on ANTARCTIC BLOG: Polar guide reaches the ice – #3
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Breeding season begins on Bird Island
10 November, 2015 Alastair Wilson
October is another busy month for bird work, with the feathered residents of Bird Island all returning and starting to breed. Almost all of the Northern giant petrels are now …
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ANTARCTIC BLOG: The journey South is long – #2
6 November, 2015 Ashly Fusiarski
“Goodbyes” get harder each time so I avoid them by saying “See you later” as if I’m just going to the shop. The journey South is long and for me …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Busy month for leopard seal sightings!
27 October, 2015 Sian Tarrant
Leopard seal peak The penultimate month of the lep round has been by far the most exciting. September has been the busiest month yet for leopard seal sightings. It has …
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ANTARCTIC BLOG: Tales from a polar guide – #1
26 October, 2015 Ashly Fusiarski
It’s four AM and I’m wide awake, staring at the deep blue and black shadows on the ceiling of my bedroom. I allow myself just this once to indulge in …
GUEST BLOG: Ready for Antarctic trip number five!
21 October, 2015 Sian Henley
Find out about NERC Research Fellow Dr Sian Henley’s preparations for her fifth visit to Rothera Research Station and what she looks forward to onboard the RRS James Clark Ross.
Read more on GUEST BLOG: Ready for Antarctic trip number five!
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Extreme Geology #1
7 October, 2015 Joanne Johnson
Science team goes deep field to Marie Byrd Land
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Leopard seals, wanderer chicks and…superheroes?!
22 September, 2015 Lucy Quinn
When I last wrote a web diary, back in April, it was at the end of the summer season and the first few intrepid weeks of winter. It’s hard to …
Read more on ANTARCTIC BLOG: Leopard seals, wanderer chicks and…superheroes?!
ARCTIC BLOG: Life on the Petermann Ice Shelf, Greenland
11 September, 2015 Mike Brian
Basically, it was riches beyond my wildest dreams. There’s nothing financial about it, but the feeling of a shower and knowing that your next meal will be a three course …
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ARCTIC BLOG: Life on ice in the High Arctic
10 September, 2015 Victoria Sleight
Hello! We are 16 students and early career scientists who had one thing in common: we do polar research, but had never been to the poles! Now that’s all changed and …
BLOG: A New Frontier – exploring the Himalaya
9 September, 2015 Michael McCarthy
Earlier this year I spent two months doing fieldwork in the Hindu-Kush Himalaya mountain region in South and Central Asia. It hosts the largest volume of ice and snow outside the polar regions and, for this reason, …
ARCTIC BLOG: Students learn skills required for polar science
26 August, 2015 Thomas Clay
Hello! This is the first blog about the upcoming NERC Advanced Training Short Course run by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) between 26th August and 8th September 2015. We are …
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ARCTIC BLOG: Hot water drilling on Petermann Glacier
24 August, 2015 Keith Nicholls
Standing anywhere on Petermann ice shelf, the overriding sense you get is the proximity of water. A lot of water. Standing water, ranging from small ponds, up to lakes hundreds …
Read more on ARCTIC BLOG: Hot water drilling on Petermann Glacier
ARCTIC BLOG: It’s not all plain sailing at the top of the World
21 August, 2015 Kelly Hogan
A scientist’s view from Petermann Fjord, NW Greenland Three-and-a-bit days is what it takes to get from London to Thule air base in northwest Greenland. A quick flight to Copenhagen …
Read more on ARCTIC BLOG: It’s not all plain sailing at the top of the World
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Winter on Bird Island – a guide to passing the time!
21 August, 2015 Robbie Scott
How do you go from a life where you are constantly around many other people, going from one place to another, to a life where you have only three …
Read more on ANTARCTIC BLOG: Winter on Bird Island – a guide to passing the time!
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Life on Bird Island
1 June, 2015 Alastair Wilson
Located at the Western end of South Georgia, Bird Island sits directly in the path of approaching weather, and is often enveloped in cloud and mist. My 3 year old …
ANTARCTIC BLOG: Wild Life!
1 May, 2015 Sian Tarrant
Birds Lucy has been busy at the colonies checking black brow albatross and grey headed albatross nests for failures and fledglings. The black browed albatross chicks have all gone now, …
Bird Island Diary – April 2015
5 April, 2015 Lucy Quinn
April has been an extraordinarily busy month both work-wise and base-wise. It’s also been a month of change as we have gone from 10 people down to just 4, reflecting …
ARCTIC BLOG: Setting foot back on land
27 March, 2015 Markus Frey
Diary entry: Friday 27 March 2015 Time: 2200 hrs UTC Position: 78° 13′ N / 15° 33′ E Air Temperature: +1.5 °C Wind Speed: 8 knots We made it! After 38 days onboard the …
ARCTIC BLOG: Total solar eclipse
20 March, 2015 Markus Frey
Diary entry: Friday 20 March 2015 Time: 1200 hrs UTC Position: 81° 44.23′ N / 19° 36.9′ E Air Temperature: −27.4 °C Wind Speed: 14 knots Nature is displaying a magnificent and …
ARCTIC BLOG: Enduring an Arctic storm
18 March, 2015 Markus Frey
Diary entry: Wednesday 18 March 2015 Time: 2237 hrs UTC Position: 82° 34.7′ N / 22° 43.6′ E Air Temperature: −32.6 °C Wind Speed: 12 knots The storm lasted not even 48 hours, …
ARCTIC BLOG: Climbing to the Crow’s Nest
13 March, 2015 Markus Frey
Diary entry: Friday 13 March 2015 Time: 1400 hrs UTC Position: 82° 52.1′ N / 21° 15.1′ E Air Temperature: −25.6 °C Wind Speed: 4.9 knots Since more than two and a half …
Bird Island Diary – March 2015
1 March, 2015 Jerry Gillham
March on Bird Island feels very like autumn; the days are getting noticeably shorter, more mornings are greeting us with ice and snow, and the summer residents are preparing to …
ARCTIC BLOG: Shimmering lights in the polar night
22 February, 2015 Markus Frey
Diary entry: Sunday 22 February 2015 Time: 2220 hrs UTC Position: 82° 35′ N / 29° 24′ E Air Temperature: −26.1 °C Wind Speed: 19.3 knots The Norwegian research vessel, …
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King Edward Point Diary – February 2015
10 February, 2015 BAS Bloggers
What a busy month! The rat eradication team had arrived at the end of January aboard RSS Ernest Shackleton so, by February they had settled in and the final phase …
Bird Island Diary – February 2015
3 February, 2015 Cian Luck
February has been a pleasant and productive month for the humans and animals of Bird Island. The beaches have quietened down enough for us to get out and about along …
Bird Island Diary – January 2015
2 January, 2015 Robbie Scott
After a fantastically festive celebration of Christmas & New Year, Bird Island is carrying on with its busy summer season. The saving grace of this very busy period was the …
King Edward Point Diary – December 2014
31 December, 2014 BAS Bloggers
December in King Edward Point began with the arrival of the Royal Research Ship James Clark Ross (JCR). She brought down all the supplies and the doctor (me) for the …
Signy Diary – November 2014
30 November, 2014 Iain Rudkin
In the small hours of the 15th November the James Clark Ross slipped her moorings at the fuel bunkers of Punta Arenas and headed out into the Straits of Magellan, …
Rothera Diary – November 2014
20 November, 2014 Christopher Evans
October saw the arrival of the first Dash 7 of the season containing the first of the summer staff, and quite a few other planes from different Antarctic programs. It …
Bird Island Diary – November 2014
12 November, 2014 Cian Luck
November’s been a busy month on Bird Island as there’s no longer any denying that summer has arrived. On the first of November I started my daily visits to the …
King Edward Point Diary – October 2014
31 October, 2014 BAS Bloggers
Greetings from the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia where spring has finally sprung. September finished with the visit of two warships and then on the 1st October our fisheries biologist, …
Bird Island Diary – October 2014
11 October, 2014 BAS Bloggers
October Diary day is here, and I’m very sorry to have to say this will be my final entry as the Bird Island base technician. I have both seen and …
Rothera Diary – October 2014
9 October, 2014 Belinda Vause
The End is Nigh! In 12 days the first planes will arrive, invading us with who knows what? Well we have a pretty good idea. We are looking forward to …
Bird Island Diary – September 2014
9 September, 2014 Jessica Walkup
September started with a celebration – Jerry’s birthday on the 1st! It is hard to keep secrets and plan surprises on a small base where everyone knows what everyone else …
Rothera Diary – August 2014
24 August, 2014 Petra Mildeova
August has been another busy month on and off the base, with the second round of winter trips starting at the beginning of the month. Mine and Andy’s winter trip …
Bird Island Diary – August 2014
9 August, 2014 Jerry Gillham
Film Festival The first weekend of the month brought us the eagerly anticipated Antarctic 48-hour film festival. This annual event brings together all the bases on the continent and islands …
King Edward Point Diary – July 2014
23 July, 2014 Matthew Phillips
With seven BAS and one Government officer on the island life has been quiet at KEP. Everyone has stayed on base, mainly because we don’t have the numbers to let …
Bird Island Diary – July 2014
8 July, 2014 Cian Luck
The winter months have picked up pace now and July flew by on Bird Island. We’ve been blessed with temperatures that have hovered at or below freezing, transforming the island …
King Edward Point Diary – June 2014
20 June, 2014 BAS Bloggers
Salutations from South Georgia. June is a very special month in the Antarctic because it is midwinter on 21st June. The Winter Solstice is a time of celebration on base …
Bird Island Diary – December 2014
1 June, 2014 Adam Bradley
The first day of December was a memorable one for me: after nearly 3 long weeks of sailing the Southern Ocean on the James Clark Ross, I finally made it …
Bird Island Diary – June 2014
1 June, 2014 BAS Bloggers
June began with the monthly Albatross census on and around the whole of the island. Great to have everyone helping out to have the experience of getting up close to …
King Edward Point Diary – May 2014
27 May, 2014 BAS Bloggers
Hello and welcome to an exciting, edge of your seat, month of May diary. It was the first proper month of winter for all of us here at KEP with …
Halley Diary – May 2014
18 May, 2014 John Mann
May was another busy month at Halley with the loss of the sun and the temperature dropping even further making our everyday tasks down here that little bit more challenging. …
Rothera Diary – May 2014
17 May, 2014 Malcolm Airey
May has been a busy month at Rothera, with the weather starting to get a bit more wintery and Antarctic – less rain(!) and more snow and darkness. We are …
Bird Island Diary – May 2014
1 May, 2014 Jessica Walkup
May began, as most months begin on Bird Island, with a census of all the wandering albatross nests on the island. Everyone helps out with the wanderer census as the …
Halley Diary – April 2014
18 April, 2014 BAS Bloggers
With the first round of Winter Training Trips concluded April saw the wintering team here at Halley VI settling in for the long, cold winter to come. You could say …
Rothera Diary – April 2014
17 April, 2014 Mairi Fenton
The RRS Ernest Shackleton left us on the 21st of March this year so April saw the first month of winter here at Rothera. We are getting used to a …
Bird Island Diary – April 2014
1 April, 2014 Jerry Gillham
April on Bird Island feels like a real transition from summer to winter. The changes in the weather and the wildlife are gradual, but looking back to the start of …
King Edward Point Diary – March 2014
20 March, 2014 Matthew Phillips
Well hello, Matthew (boaty) here again! It was deemed that my blog from last month was of a standard that could not be matched, by any of the mortals on …