Antarctica receives almost 50,000 visitors a year, if you count both those who disembark and those who sail or over fly the continent without landing. Is it now for the Antarctic Treaty or the governments involved to regulate Antarctic Tourism? Should we start talking about quotas and/or other measures to protect the most pristine region in the world? Photographer, cruise manager and guide Juan Kratzmaier summarizes a conference talk he gave on the topic at the Institute of Marine Sciences in Barcelona for the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) in ...

Antarctic expedition a success The Prague Post, March 26

In April of 2008 a team of scientists and Canadian Rangers will traverse the northern coast of Ellesmere Island to study the state of the ice shelves and associated ecosystems in this remote region. The Canadian high Arctic is undergoing substantial climate-related changes; ice shelves along Ellesmere's northern coast that have been attached to the shore for thousands of years, some over 30 meters thick, and thousands of square kilometers of land-fast sea-ice have been breaking-up. The loss of these dominant features has dramatically changed the coastal landscape, leading to the drainage of massive volumes of freshwater from fiords previously dammed by the ice shelves and the creation of vast ice islands. These physical changes are altering the habitat of aquatic microbial communities ex...

360-degree panoramas are more and more the rage because they are wonderfully immersive and give users the chance to explore a space themselves. Panoramas of the polar regions are especially interesting, as very few people get the chance to visit these places, so anything that gives us an inkling of what it is like there is welcome. The latest issue of VRMag, an online magazine of panoramic photos, contains a huge collection of polar and ice-themed panoramas. Here is a brief description of what is inside: Jordi Clariana, takes you on a 2 weeks photographic expedition to the Svalbard Island; Witek Katzskin, who lives and works at the Horsund polish Polar station shares his experiences; Dr Matt Nol...

Over 4.5 months, from November 2007 to March 2008, the BELARE expedition built the Princess Elisabeth Station's outer shell and set up the seven remaining wind turbines at Utsteinen, East Antarctica. Princess Elisabeth Station: From Tour & Taxis to Utsteinen After the success it encountered during its pre-assembly and public viewing in Brussels, the elements of the Princess Elisabeth station were dismantled and packed into containers. They were then loaded onto a Russian ice-class cargo ship on November 6, 2007 for their twenty day journey ...