Here is a selection of short video clips taken on board of RV Polarstern on its actual expedition to East Antarctica. The video material is kindly made available by the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research. They are in .flv format and can be viewed using VLC software. AW...

Mabel's recovery from the ocean floor off Antarctica. [Update 2007-02-20: The recovery attempt was not successful, reports Polarstern. Mabel will stay on the ocean floor for another year.] The joint German-Italian project "Mabel" (Multidisciplinary Antarctic BEntic Laboratory) is the first scientific project to be conducted during the current Antarctic Polarstern Expedition ANT-XXIII/9. Mabel is...

The goal of SPARC-IPY, who's full title is: The Structure and Evolution of the Polar Stratosphere and Mesosphere and Links to the Troposphere during IPY, is to document the dynamics, chemistry and microphysical processes within the polar vortices during IPY, with a focus on the stratosphere-troposphere and stratosphere-mesosphere coupling. One of the key outcomes will be a collection of analysis products from several operational centres and several research centres, which will be archived at the SPARC Data Center. The analysis products will cover the period of IPY (March 2007 to March 2009) and will represent the best available self-consistent approximations to the state of the atmosphere during this period.

After a short period in the harbor of Punta Arenas, the German research icebreaker Polarstern will start for its next Antarctic Expedition. More than 40 scientists, students and technicians will be working on board until the middle of April. The two days stay in Punta Arenas were used to get all preparations done for the upcoming 12 weeks on sea. Containers were put on board or taken off, provisions were topped up and the fuel tanks were filled with 2,800 tonnes of diesel at the bunker pier "Cabo Negro" — rnough to keep the "Polarstern" running for 12 weeks and more. On February 1st all scientists and technicians finally arrived in Punta Arenas, and all were on board Polarstern by the next day. Passports were checked and collected by the first mate S...

For the participants of the Polarstern ANTXXIII/8 Antarctic Expedition, Punta Arenas means the end of an exciting journey through the everlasting ice. However, for the scientists, explorers and technicians of the upcoming Polarstern ANTXXIII/9 Expedition, this place stands for the beginning of their travel in the very eastern part of Antarctica — a place Polarstern has never been before and which only few scientists have ever put foot on. In addition to the various scientific programs, the ship and its crew will supply the German scientific station Neumayer, and a huge measuring program will be undertaken, in cooperation with the Russian Research Icebreaker Akademik Alexander Karpinsky. ...

STELLA ANTARCTICA is a 9-nation IPY project to investigate the feasibility of establishing an observatory at Dome C in Antarctica – potentially the best astronomical site in the world. The team will conduct several small-scale astronomical experiments at Dome C, as well as holding international discussions that could pave the way for an ambitious, multi-million Euro observatory at Dome C.

The Permafrost Young Researchers Network (PYRN) is hosting its kick-off meeting at the Abisko Scientific Research Station, Sweden on the 22nd to 24th of February 2007. PYRN (www.pyrn.org) is an international effort under the patronage of the International Permafrost Association (IPA) to bring young permafrost researchers together during the international polar year and beyond. The first phase of the PYRN project saw more than 300 young researchers from 31 countries join the network. It rapidly became the largest young researcher-driven network in the field of cryospheric science. PYRN offers, news, information and support to its members. It has sent 17 monthly newsletters since its start in 2005, maint...

The five members of the Svalbard Scientific Skiing Expedition, colloquially known as the “Frozen Five”, met in Grenoble last week for the final preparations before embarking on their 11 week voyage through the Arctic wilderness on the 29th March. We’re a group of graduate students of various geosciences that met at UNIS in Longyearbyen during our diverse university careers. From March-June 2007, we will be skiing across the length of Spitsbergen, Svalbard’s largest island. The route, measuring about 1000 km, will take us over numerous glaciers, patches of sea ice and through the territory of the polar bear. Through this expedition, we wish to share our passion for the Arctic regions with the general public and, in particular, high school students. Blo...

A few years ago thousands of icebergs calved from the Larsen A/B area. The fauna inhabiting the seafloor in this region was probably not disturbed on a large scale, but further north, where the icebergs ran aground with a higher frequency, iceberg scouring is now apparent. We reported earlier that the seafloor in the region where the collapse of the Larsen A and B ice shelves happened shows very little damage. However, in order to evaluate the specific conditions beneath the ice shelf we had to i...

Cetacean surveys by helicopter turned out to be a particularly efficient technique to identify the poorly known beaked whales and thus extend our knowledge of their geographical distribution in Antarctica. Have you ever heard of “Ziphiids”? This term refers to the cousins of dolphins which belong to the most mysterious family of all cetaceans. This family, also known as beaked whales, is one of the biggest among cetaceans. In the Southern Ocean, their size varies from five meters for the smallest to twice as long for the Arnoux’s Beaked Whale. Despite their enormous size, these 20 species are still very poorly known. Some of them have never been seen alive, and most of the information about their biology has been gained by investigating stranded specimens. Beaked whale...