Polar Research Vessel Gets Nav System Refit
of the bridge system, supporting safe navigation even under the most challenging polar conditions.Built by British shipyard Cammell Laird, the RRS Sir David Attenborough is among the world’s most advanced polar research vessels. Measuring 129 metres in length, the vessel operates in Antarctica under the stringent requirements of Polar Code ice class 4 and the LR NAV1 IBS notation.Following the initial delivery of navigation systems in 2017, Anschütz has now completed a comprehensive refit of both the radar systems and the INS. This included the installation of the latest generation
New Map Reveals Terrain Below Antarctic Ice Sheet
Scientists have devised the most detailed map to date of the terrain hidden below the vast ice sheet blanketing Antarctica, uncovering an exuberant landscape of mountains, canyons, valleys and plains while discerning for the first time tens of thousands of hills and other smaller features.The researchers used the latest high-resolution satellite observations and a method called ice-flow perturbation analysis, which estimates subglacial topography and conditions based on surface features, to map the full continent including previously uncharted parts.Improved knowledge of the subglacial bedrock landscape
2025: Fascinated with Subsea Discovery
;critically flawed.” However, the Coast Guard in conjunction with multiple partners responded to the Titan distress notification with ingenuity and resourcefulness.On January 13, 2025, an iceberg the size of Chicago, named A-84, broke away from one of the massive floating glaciers attached to the Antarctic Peninsula ice sheet, and a few days later an international team on board Schmidt Ocean Institute’s R/V Falkor (too) became the first to investigate an area that had previously been inaccessible.The expedition was the first comprehensive and interdisciplinary study of the geology, physical
BAS Secures Antarctic Station Resupply for the Next Decade
The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) has joined forces with the Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI) and Germany’s Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) to share an ice-capable vessel that will resupply three Antarctic research stations for the next 10 years. The Silver Mary will visit Halley VI station every other season, along with Norway’s Troll station and Germany’s Neumayer station.The partnership builds on the successful UK-German partnership that resupplied Halley in 2023-24. The first call to Halley VI under the new agreement is planned for January 2026. NPI will operate annual voyages
Antarctic Mountains Could Boost Ocean Carbon Absorption
Research led by polar scientists from Northumbria University has revealed new hope in natural environmental systems found in East Antarctica which could help mitigate the overall rise of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere over long timescales.As Antarctica's ice sheets thin due to climate change, newly exposed mountain peaks could significantly increase the supply of vital nutrients to the Southern Ocean which surrounds the continent, potentially enhancing its ability to absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide, according to the research published in Nature Communications.A team of scientists with expertise
Watch: Sleepy Joes Found Together Again in their Hundreds
Scientists have again found aggregations of hundreds of Port Jackson sharks – sometimes known as Sleepy Joes.Scientists from the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies of the University of Tasmania found the sharks when they revisited the depths of Beagle Marine Park in Bass Strait using a custom-made Boxfish ROV.Most were females. Males and females often live apart except when mating, but it’s unknown why they are gathering in such numbers.Sleepy Joes usually lay their eggs in the coastal waters of Victoria and mid-to-southern NSW from late winter, so it might be a mating aggregation
Researchers Link Antarctic Ice Loss to Subsurface “Storms”
Researchers at the University of California, Irvine and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have identified stormlike circulation patterns beneath Antarctic ice shelves that are causing aggressive melting, with major implications for global sea level rise projections.In a paper published recently in Nature Geoscience, the scientists say their study is the first to examine ocean-induced ice shelf melting events from a weather timescale of just days versus seasonal or annual timeframes. This enabled them to match “ocean storm” activity with intense ice melt at Thwaites Glacier and Pine
Scientists Discover Six Million Year Old Ice in Antarctica, Offers Unprecedented Window into a Warmer Earth
A team of researchers, including those from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), has discovered the oldest directly dated ice and air on the planet in the Allan Hills region of East Antarctica, according to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.A 6-million-year-old ice sample—the oldest sample from Allan Hills dated by researchers—provides an unprecedented window into Earth’s past climate, where abundant geological evidence indicates much warmer temperatures and higher sea levels compared to today.The research was led by Sarah Shackleton
CCAMLR Talks End Without Consensus on Krill Fishing
After two weeks of negotiations in Hobart, the 44th annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) has closed with little progress toward long-delayed goals to protect the Southern Ocean.Yet a growing group of members are standing strong for the protection of Antarctica, refusing to bow to pressure to expand industrial fishing in one of the planet’s most fragile ecosystems.“This year, conservation-minded countries showed that the future of Antarctica cannot be dictated by those who put fishing before protection,” said Claire
December 2025
