Behavioural ecology

Chinstrap Penguins

Chinstrap Penguin Tracking

The commercial fishery for Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) operates in the southwest Atlantic, in particular along the west Antarctic Peninsula, and over the shelf breaks of the South Shetland Islands, …

A flock of seagulls are standing in a parking lot.

Gentoo Penguin Tracking

A fishery for Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) operates over the shelf breaks of the South Orkney, South Shetland and South Georgia archipelagos [8]. Krill is an important food source for …

Grey-headed Albatross with chick

Grey-headed Albatross Juvenile Tracking

The grey-headed albatross is listed as Endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species because of a decline since the 1970s of the largest global breeding population, which is …

A close up of a plate of food.

Research priorities for effective krill management

15 October, 2020

An international ‘Krill Action Group’, including experts from the British Antarctic Survey, has identified several research priorities to advance the understanding of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) and improve the management …

Photo of a Sei Whale in the ocean

Stranded whales detected from space

17 October, 2019

A new technique for analysing satellite images may help scientists detect and count stranded whales from space. Researchers tested a new detection method using Very High Resolution (VHR) satellite images …

A close up of an animal.

Antarctic species in the face of a changing ocean

17 June, 2019

A new study reveals how marine life around Antarctica will fare in an ocean which has declining levels of oxygen. Writing in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society …

A close up of an animal.

Study sheds new light on krill larvae survival

14 November, 2017

An international study involving British Antarctic Survey (BAS) scientists has shed light on how the larvae of Antarctic krill – small shrimp-like crustaceans – use sea ice to ensure their …

Krill are at the lower end of the Southern Ocean food chain

Nature’s ocean fertiliser

20 September, 2016

Scientists have discovered that Antarctic krill – a tiny shrimp-like crustacean – plays a key role in fertilising the Southern Ocean with iron, which stimulates the growth of phytoplankton, the …

Black-browed Albatross colony (Thalassarche melanophrys) at Colony Q1 on Bird Island. Black-browed Albatrosses feed on Krill, fish and squid and tend to forage around the edge of the continental shelf of South Georgia.

Albatrosses use different regions when on migration

25 July, 2016

A new study of the movements of sub-Antarctic albatrosses tracked from two remote islands some 5,000 km apart, shows that although the birds from each breeding site take similar routes around the Southern Ocean, they forage in different areas for the majority of the time. The results are published this month in the Nature journal Scientific Reports.

A body of water with a mountain in the background.

NEWS STORY: Changes in seabed communities

16 November, 2015

A new study by an international team of scientists, including from British Antarctic Survey (BAS), has analysed the effects on seabed communities of glacial retreat. Writing in Science Advances this …

NEWS STORY: New study uncovers how petrels co-exist

14 July, 2015

New study uncovers how petrels in sub-Antarctic co-exist during the winter For the first time, scientists understand more clearly how birds living on the remote sub-Antarctic island of Bird Island …

Fur seal pup on Bird island.

NEWS STORY: Antarctic fur seals monitored

1 April, 2015

New study tracks feeding behaviour of Antarctic fur seals in winter During the Antarctic Summer female fur seals feed in the waters around their breeding breaches. In winter, when their …

A flock of seagulls are standing in the snow.

NEWS STORY: Ancestral penguins studied

12 June, 2014

Rise and fall of prehistoric penguin populations charted The British Antarctic Survey has been involved in a study of how penguin populations have changed over the last 30,000 years. This …

PRESS RELEASE: Shellfish and changing oceans

5 August, 2012

New study helps predict impact of ocean acidification on shellfish An international study to understand and predict the likely impact of ocean acidification on shellfish and other marine organisms living …

Wandering albatross pair, nesting on Bird Island, South Georgia

PRESS RELEASE: Breeding habits of albatrosses

30 April, 2012

Antarctic albatross displays shift in breeding habits A new study of the wandering albatross – one of the largest birds on Earth – has shown that some of the birds …