Supporting Antarctic science
SUPPORTING ANTARCTIC SCIENCE
We know what an extraordinary privilege it is to visit some of the remote and rarely visited locations on our deep field itineraries and with that privilege comes a responsibility to proactively seek opportunities to support science on a continent which is devoted by international treaty to peace and science. To this end, in 2023 we reached out to a leading Emperor Penguin scientist in our home town of Hobart to see if aerial images of the three Emperor Penguin colonies we are permitted to visit would assist scientists to obtain the first accurate colony size estimates of these recently discovered colonies. A permit was obtained to fly a RPA (remotely piloted aircraft or drone) to obtain aerial images. The permit included 34 conditions to minimise risk of intereference with the penguins among other things. We were able to successfully obtain aerial images from which counts of the chicks of the season can be made to arrive at a colony size estimate. We’re pleased to advise the Lazarev colony is home to around 1100 healthy chicks in early November 2024 and the Astrid colony, 5,600 chicks. We plan to seek permission to repeat this exercise each season so we can assist in building a longer term study of the size of these colonies.
All of the colonies in Dronning Maud Land appear a little precarious owing to the close proximity of open water to the colonies and potential exposure to early sea-ice break-up. If the sea ice breaks up before the chicks have moulted they stand almost no chance of survival. Currently the chicks at the Astrid colony do have access to a many mile long tabular iceberg that has an edge contiguous with the sea ice allowing the chicks to retreat to safety. By contrast, the penguins at the Lazarev and Ragnhild colonies did not have access to safe ground.
Image above is of the Lazarev Emperor Penguin colony. The image was taken from the Twin Otter aircraft as the pilots circled to scope out the approach and landing which was out of screen (bottom left of the image). In the image you can see a group of adults at the ice edge and the bulk of the colony set back from the ice edge. The colony is neatly wedged between two large tabular icebergs which appear to be holding the sea ice in place. The advantage of having the ice edge close is the adults have only a short distance to travel to reach open water and their food source. The disadvantage is the colony is vulnerable to early ice break up. Hopefully the birds have a really good sense of where the strongest most protected ice is. Scientists can observe the exact location of the colony each year through monitoring of satellite imagery. Currently, resolution of satellite imagery is not adequate for conducting accurate colony counts.
Islands & Ice Travel is also:
- in advanced discussions to facilitate and manage a scientific expedition to Dronning Maud Land next season;
- investigating installation of a remote weather station in Dronning Maud Land to help fill a gap in climate data for the region and facilitate better weather forecasts for the region; and
- looking to build slide packs for tourism industry colleagues to assist guides to educate visitors about the extraordinary science being conducted in Antarctica and how this impacts our day to day lives on the other six continents.
In addition, our guests raised US$3,445 for Oceanites and Antarctic Science Foundation on our January 2024 voyage to the Antarctic Peninsula.
We have also tried and failed to facilitate dedicated whale science voyages but don’t see that failure as a setback. It’s an incredibly difficult place to operate and it’s expensive which is why collaboration is critical. We’re always interest to collaborate to assist science and conservation on a continent that we revere, a continent dedicated to peace and science that serves as a beacon and an example for the other six continents.
