SOUTH POLE, ANTARCTICA-- Now as we approach mid-February, people are leaving by the bundles. A little less than 2 weeks ago we had about 250 people on station. Now we are down to about 125. There are 2 more major passenger flights out of here in which we will lose about 80 more people leaving us with about 48 people for the winter... {Read More »}

CAPE ROYDS, ROSS ISLAND, ANTARCTICA– Since the early 20th century when exploration of the Ross Sea became common, killer whales have been sighted regularly and described as the most abundant whale in the area. Recently, the killer whales... {Read More »}

CAPE ROYDS, ROSS ISLAND, ANTARCTICA– Antarctic Toothfish has become a popular dish, known as Chilean sea bass, in many expensive restaurants around the world. Little is known about this large slow growing fish... {Read More »}

BAY OF SAILS, ANTARCTICA– One of the main goals of SCINI is to explore new areas. Our first target this year is Bay of Sails. I selected this general location because it is an “iceberg graveyard." {Read More »}

ROSS ISLAND, ANTARCTICA-- In this land (Antarctica) and an ocean far away (to most of you), but not long ago (in the past weeks or so), a scenario was played out that in days long past may once have happened, in fact, near by to where you are, but involving penguin cousins... {Read More »}

CAPE ROYDS, ROSS ISLAND, ANTARCTICA-- The penguins at Cape Royds have been challenged in recent years by widely varying extremes of conditions, mostly having to do with how far they have to walk between colony and ocean. That’s a very big deal for them. With the arrival of the big icebergs... {Read More »}

MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA-- Eighth grade science students at Rye Middle School in Rye, New Hampshire, got into the act in Antarctica. Under the direction of their teacher Robin Ellwood, they built a submersible robotic camera that was launched in the Ross Sea... {Read More »}

CAPE ROYDS, ROSS ISLAND, ANTARCTICA-- We’ve made three trips, by helicopter, to Beaufort Island this season. Usually we can’t do this until the end of the season, because the McMurdo helos don’t fly over open water and a ship is not available until the end. It’s a 40 minute helo ride and a 6 hour boat ride. This year, though, fast ice extends out to Beaufort... {Read More »}

MCMURDO STATION, ANTARCTICA-- The last couple of days have been really busy down here at McMurdo. I’ve been going through a lot of training sessions and have had many meetings with our team. We’ve been trying to get all of our equipment together for the long journey across the sea ice... {Read More »}

Although the penguin is the icon of the Antarctic, many penguins prefer lower latitudes. Several species venture as far south as the Antarctic Peninsula, but only the emperors and the Adélies live along the continental coastline. {Read More »}