Understanding Antarctic and Arctic marine ecosystems by exploring biodiversity and resilience to environmental change is critical for making policy decisions that will lead to effective stewardship and sustainable management of marine resources. This strand of research combines existing long-term data with new field-based and experimental observations to explore the impact of environmental change on marine ecosystems.

South Georgia Pelagic Biodiversity

The South Georgia Pelagic Biodiversity project is a Darwin-funded project, led by BAS, and in partnership with the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI) and the …


KANG-GLAC

The Greenland Ice Sheet is decaying at an accelerating rate in response to climate change. Warm ocean waters moving through the fjords eventually meet the faces of marine-terminating glaciers, increasing …



HEXPLORES

The HEXPLORES project aims to explore for active hydrothermal vents in the Red Sea Rift. Although the Red Sea Rift hosts the world’s largest submarine metalliferous sulphide deposit, no active …


Winter Krill at South Georgia

The Winter Krill project is a Darwin Plus project, funded by Defra, and its activities are focussed on South Georgia (SG), which is part of the UK Overseas Territory (OT) …


Spatial Segregation of Seabirds at South Georgia

Seabirds are amongst the most globally threatened birds, often as a consequence of incidental mortality (bycatch) in fisheries [1] [2]. At South Georgia, wandering albatrosses have declined since the 1970s [3], and are listed …


Black-browed Albatross Juvenile Tracking

Until the last decade, South Georgia held the third largest population of black-browed albatrosses at any island group (Phillips et al. 2016) [4]. However, assuming trends at surveyed sites are …


CUPIDO

CUPIDO aims to address: what is the role of zooplankton in promoting the transport of plastic in the ocean?
and how this plastic transport interferes with zooplankton’s ability to store carbon in the deep ocean?


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, …



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 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 …


Larsen-C Benthos

On 12 July 2017, the Larsen-C Ice Shelf calved one of the largest iceberg originating from the Antarctic Peninsula ever recorded. As iceberg A68 moves north, it  leaves behind an …


Higher Predators – Signy Island – Penguin monitoring

Three species of penguin breed on Signy Island: Adélie penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae), chinstrap penguins (Pygoscelis antarcticus) and gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua). These species have contrasting breeding and foraging strategies and …


Higher Predators – Bird Island – Penguin monitoring

Two species of penguin breed on Bird Island: macaroni penguins (Eudyptes chrysolophus) and gentoo penguins (Pygoscelis papua). These species have contrasting breeding and foraging strategies and ranging behaviour. Gentoo penguins …



Modelling Movement of Antarctic Krill

The MMAK project is using state-of-the-art ocean-sea ice models to improve our understanding of processes that influence the distribution of krill in the South Orkney Islands region.


Higher Predators – Long-Term Science

The British Antarctic Survey carries out Long Term Science that measures changes in Antarctic ecosystems and seeks to understand the underlying drivers and processes. Marine predators are sensitive to changes …


Impact of Plastic in the Polar Regions

An estimated 75% of all the litter in our oceans is plastic, and around 5 million tonnes of plastic waste enter the ocean annually. Scientific observations of a significant concentration …



Data As Art

DATA AS ART is an ongoing science & art project in development at NERC’s British Antarctic Survey (BAS). It visualises science data (in its widest definition), to create stunning and …


POETS-WCB

The main deliverable of the Western Core Box (WCB) is a consistent unique time series of mesoscale distribution and abundance of macro-zooplankton and micronekton, and an understanding of the physical …


SO-AntEco Biodiversity

In this collaboration with the Natural History Museum (NHM) and the University of Liverpool, we have developed novel methods for using existing data to contribute to marine conservation and fisheries …



Continuous Plankton Recorder

Contemporary research has shown that the Southern Ocean is warming. Summer surface temperatures have risen by more than 1 degree Centigrade in the last 80 years and a strong upper-layer …


Krill Hotspots

Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) are a key component of the food chain throughout much of the Southern Ocean. These small, shrimp-like animals occur in dense swarms, but their distribution is …


White-chinned Petrel Tracking

The white-chinned petrel is the most common bird species recorded as fisheries bycatch in the Southern Ocean [1]. Although currently listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN, limited population trend data …



SO-AntEco

The South Orkney Islands is a small archipelago located in the Southern Ocean, 375 miles north-east of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. The seafloor around the South Orkney Islands …


The Heated Settlement Panels

How will life and biodiversity on Earth will respond to climate change? This information is particularly urgent for the waters along the Antarctic Peninsula, which are experiencing rapid regional climate …


EC Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service

The Copernicus marine environment monitoring service provides regular and systematic reference information on the state of the physical oceans and regional seas. The observations and forecasts produced by the service …


CACHE-ITN

Pushing forward our understanding of calcium production in the marine environment


SONA

The Southern Ocean Network of Acoustics (SONA) represents a group of scientific institutes and industrial partners who have united to measure an under-sampled component of the ecosystem – the mid-trophic …


ASCCC

The ASCCC Project  has been funded by ACE (Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition) to investigate, quantify and understand the role of polar and subpolar seabeds in the carbon cycle, particularly in response …


Antarctic tipping points

1 June, 2023

Concern is rising about tipping points in the Antarctic region (Armstrong et al., 2022). Recent heatwaves, changes in the Southern Ocean, and a reduction in the extent of Antarctic sea …






















































































Tackling climate change and biodiversity loss together

21 April, 2023

Climate, biodiversity, and societal challenges are intrinsically linked and yet are usually viewed in isolation. A new review study, published in the journal Science this week (21st April 2023), focusses …


Microplastic found in Antarctic krill and salps

29 March, 2023

A new study led by researchers at British Antarctic Survey (BAS) discovered microplastics in krill (Euphausia superba), a small shrimp-like crustacean, and salps (Salpa thompsoni), a gelatinous marine invertebrate. The …




New kit enables study of microplastics in the ocean

8 September, 2022

New equipment designed by British Antarctic Survey is helping scientists to study the impact of microplastics in the ocean. The Ocean Plastic Incubator Chamber (OPIC) exposes various types of plastics …


New resource for Marine Protected Areas

10 June, 2022

A new Data Portal is being launched today by the British Antarctic Survey and the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI), which will help to enhance the management of one of the world’s largest Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).


Whale images aid crucial research

8 June, 2022

A new dataset featuring hundreds of satellite images of whales has been published to support the development of artificial intelligence systems which will aid crucial conservation work.









Do your PhD with British Antarctic Survey in 2021

25 November, 2020

Applications for PhD projects with British Antarctic Survey (BAS) are now open for October 2021 admission. There are currently over 100 PhD students associated with BAS, working on a huge variety …




Fellowship success for leaders of the future

23 April, 2020

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has announced its latest round of Future Leaders Fellowships today (23 April 2020). Congratulations to Dr Dan Jones and Dr Clara Manno of British Antarctic …



Protecting seabirds and mammals

8 January, 2020

A new study published this week (7 January 2020) identifies a need for fishery managers to adopt clear objectives for the protection of seabirds and mammals. It is published in …



Krill’s influence on CO2 and global climate  

18 October, 2019

A new study involving British Antarctic Survey researchers highlights the influence of krill (Euphausia superba) on atmospheric carbon levels. It is published in the journal Nature Communications today (18th October …


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 …



New funding uses seabirds as sentinels of South Atlantic

21 January, 2019

British Antarctic Survey scientist Professor Richard Phillips has been awarded funding to use newly developed radar-detecting tags to track the interactions between wandering albatrosses and fishing vessels in the South …


Scientists join policy makers to discuss conservation

22 October, 2018

BAS marine researchers join nearly 300 international delegates at the annual meeting of the Convention on the Conservation or Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) beginning in Hobart today. For the …








New study puts shells under spotlight

11 November, 2016

A new study on how molluscs build their shells in the sub-zero waters of Antarctica is published today (Friday 11 November) in the journal Scientific Reports. A team of European …





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 …


FEATURED PAPER: Battling bryozoans

13 June, 2016

This paper shows that, contrary to long-held ideas, the intensity of competition (density of direct, physical spatial contests) differs little with latitude. However, the severity of competition (contests with a …




NEWS STORY: New polar ship bidder selected

12 October, 2015

Government announces preferred bidder to build new polar ship Minister of State for Universities and Science, Jo Johnson announced today that the preferred bidder to build a new polar research …



NEWS STORY: Patagonian toothfish fishery

16 September, 2014

South Georgia Patagonian toothfish fishery recertified with flying colours Following its five-yearly Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) assessment, the South Georgia Patagonian toothfish longline fishery has, for the third time, been …


PRESS RELEASE: New marine life atlas

25 August, 2014

New Atlas of Southern Ocean marine life A new atlas, providing the most thorough audit of marine life in the Southern Ocean, is published this week by the Scientific Committee …


PRESS RELEASE: Fur seal genetics and climate change

23 July, 2014

Genetic study shows major impact of climate change on Antarctic fur seals Genetic analysis of Antarctic fur seals, alongside decades of in-depth monitoring,* has provided unique insights into the effect …


NEWS STORY: Icebergs leave their mark

16 June, 2014

Climate related iceberg activity has massively altered life on the seabed Researchers from the British Antarctic Survey have found evidence that climate change has fundamentally altered the way that life …


NEWS STORY: Bridging the gap in the krill debate

9 June, 2014

Event: Understanding the objectives for krill fishing and conservation in the Scotia Sea and the Antarctic Peninsula Region Convened by the British Antarctic Survey, ICED and WWF WWF’s Living Planet …


PRESS RELEASE: New whale subspecies

21 May, 2014

Humpback whale subspecies revealed by genetic study A new genetic study has revealed that populations of humpback whales in the oceans of the North Pacific, North Atlantic and Southern Hemisphere …


NEWS STORY: Funding announced for new ship

25 April, 2014

New polar research ship for UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon George Osborne MP announced this week (Friday 25 April 2014) that the Government has earmarked more than …



NEWS STORY: Dutch research lab opened

28 January, 2013

New Research Laboratory opened at Rothera Research Station A new scientific laboratory has been built at the UK Rothera Research Station in Antarctica as a result of an international collaboration …


PRESS RELEASE: Effects of ocean acidification

25 November, 2012

First evidence of ocean acidification affecting live marine creatures in the Southern Ocean The shells of marine snails – known as pteropods – living in the seas around Antarctica are …


PRESS RELEASE: Penguins surveyed from space

13 April, 2012

Scientists count penguins from space A new study using satellite mapping technology reveals there are twice as many emperor penguins in Antarctica than was previously thought. The results provide an …


PRESS RELEASE: Krill’s key role in oceans

4 July, 2011

Antarctic krill help to fertilise Southern Ocean with iron A new discovery reveals that the shrimp-like creature at the heart of the Antarctic food chain could play a key role …


PRESS RELEASE: Deep sea mystery solved

13 June, 2011

New discovery – Copepods share “diver’s weight belt” technique with whales A deep-sea mystery has been solved with the discovery that the tiny 3 mm long marine animals, eaten by …


PRESS RELEASE: Island haven for sea life

24 May, 2011

Study reveals most biologically rich island in Southern Ocean The first comprehensive study of sea creatures around the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia reveals a region that is richer in …


PRESS RELEASE: Census of Marine Life

4 October, 2010

Event: A Decade of Discovery: Census of Marine Life — News Conference Venue: Royal Institution, London Date: Monday 4 October: 12.30 – 16.30 Findings from a major international investigation into …


PRESS RELEASE: How marine animals crossed continent

31 August, 2010

Marine animals suggest evidence for a trans-Antarctic seaway A tiny marine filter-feeder, that anchors itself to the sea bed, offers new clues to scientists studying the stability of the West …


PRESS RELEASE: Diversity of marine species detailed

18 February, 2010

Understanding global climate change through new breakthroughs in Polar research The latest findings from research on Antarctica’s rich marine life are presented this week at the American Association for the …