Thousands of bus-sized humpback whales are currently on their way to Australian waters. They’ve spent the summer feeding in the cold waters of Antarctica before heading north to breed and calve. Read more at The Conversation
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One of 88 women from 19 countries, Ms Salmond's 19-day journey aboard an ice-strengthened expedition ship completed a year-long leadership program with the Homeward Bound project. Read more at ABC
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The RV Investigator allows scientists to monitor climate change, map the sea floor and discover new marine species. But a $34 million funding shortfall will see its research operations slashed by a third in the coming years. Read more at ABC
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Failure to limit average global temperatures to 2°C above pre-industrial levels by 2100 will likely lead to a ‘regime shift’ in the Weddell Sea, and potentially a tipping point where the 430,000km2 Filchner Ronne Ice Shelf melts rapidly. Read more at COSMO
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Scientists are concerned about the impact of a deadly strain of bird flu, which has finally reached mainland Antarctica, leaving Australia as the last continent to be conquered. Read more at the ABC
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27 scientists spent the summer in Antarctica to unearth the secrets of the Denman Glacier and better help protect the area vulnerable to climate change. Read more at the ABC
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If tests are successful, Windracers Ultra UAV will be used for research such as surveying marine ecosystems and studying glaciers. Read more at The Guardian
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Emperor penguins are the largest but least prevalent Antarctic penguin species, with scientists estimating a total population of about 600,000. Read more at The Guardian
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Exclusive: Prof Matt King says accelerated melting could transform country and affect viability of some agricultural industries. Read more at The Guardian
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Climate scientists don’t like surprises. It means our deep understanding of how the climate works isn’t quite as complete as we need. But unfortunately, as climate change worsens, surprises and unprecedented events keep happening. Read more at The Conversation
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If we want to understand the future, it’s often useful to look at the past. And even more useful if you use octopus DNA to peer into worlds long gone. Read more at The Conversation
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Scientists say numbers of world’s second-largest animal have slowly improved since 1970s whaling ban but sightings in Antarctic feeding grounds are rare. Read more on the Guardian
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The ACEAS elephant seal tagging team are aboard the icebreaker that departed this week for Macquarie Island. Once the team arrive, they will spend the next few weeks in relative isolation at Bauer Bay, gathering data on the world’s most mysterious ocean—the Southern Ocean—via elephant seals. Read more at ACEAS
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Now, penguin experts say these birds that move like tuxedoed toddlers are showing us the hidden hazards of burning coal and other fossil fuels by the way they march. And as global warming changes the survival-of-the-fittest game at the bottom of the world, one particular species of Antarctic penguin is modelling a poignant lesson for humanity. Read more on CNN
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As nations meet in Uruguay to negotiate a new Global Plastics Treaty, marine and forensic scientists publish new results this week that reveal the discovery of synthetic plastic fibres in air, seawater, sediment and sea ice sampled in the Antarctic Weddell Sea. Read more at EurekAlert
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Using octopus DNA, octopus scientists have discovered that 125,000 years ago a bunch of Turquet's octopus (Pareledone tuerqueti) travelled from one side of the Antarctic to the other side to have octopedal relations with each other. Read more on the Guardian
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This winter has confirmed what scientists had feared — the sea ice around Antarctica is in sharp decline, with experts now concerned it may not recover. Earlier this year, scientists observed an all-time low in the amount of sea ice around the icy continent, following all-time lows in 2016, 2017 and 2022. Usually, the ice has been able to recover in winter, when Antarctica is reliably dark and cold. Read more on the ABC
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The health of these moss beds is declining due to changing climate conditions, ozone depletion and heatwaves. Yet our understanding of the problem is limited. Conducting research in Antarctica is difficult. Periods of data collection are short, and there can be years between each research opportunity. Fortunately, new technology offers solutions. Read more at Cosmos
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Humans have only recently begun to think about using hydrogen as a source of energy, but bacteria in Antarctica have been doing it for a billion years. We studied 451 different kinds of bacteria from frozen soils in East Antarctica and found most of them live by using hydrogen from the air as a fuel. Read more on the Conversation
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