Tag Archives: sub-Antarctic

4th International sub-Antarctic Forum – registration opening soon

  Thursday September 5th, 2019 - 07:55 AM | , , , , ,
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The 4th International sub-Antarctic Forum will be held in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia on 29-30 July 2020. Save the date in your calendars, and please feel free to circulate this information with your colleagues.

It will be a short forum over 2 days with opportunity abstract submission for short presentations on research, management, policy and science relevant to the sub-Antarctic. There will also be several keynote speakers, panel and large facilitated workshop on future challenges and opportunities for the sub-Antarctic.

It will be a wonderful Forum for researchers and students alike to come and share their findings and explore future opportunities. Some early career researcher travel assistance will be available.

Stay tuned for more information and updates via the website and Twitter @subant2020

Registrations and abstract submissions are yet to open.

 

Regards

Justine Shaw – Chair of the SCAR Action group “Integrated Science for the sub-Antarctic”

 

FROM THE WEBSITE

There is nothing sub about the sub-Antarctic!


In July 2020 the Tasmanian Government, with the support of the New Zealand Department of Conservation, is hosting the 4th International sub-Antarctic Forum.

Previous sub-Antarctic Forums have been mainly science focused.  The 4th Forum will be multi-disciplinary, encompassing science, policy, management, tourism and fishing, heritage.  It will bring together people passionate about the sub-Antarctic to discuss the challenges and pressures facing this special region, share knowledge and explore connections.

Already there has been international interest, and we are keen to ensure that as many countries, organisations and individuals with interests in the Sub Antarctic as possible hear about the Forum and have the opportunity to attend to make the most of the opportunity to cement existing relationships and develop new ones.

The forum will be held in the Antarctic gateway city of Hobart on 29-30 July 2020, immediately before SCAR/COMNAP, also being held in Hobart in 2020.

More details including registration will come in the next few months.

We would be grateful if you could spread the word within your networks.

Marion75 team photo and logo now uploaded

  Thursday June 6th, 2019 - 09:00 AM | , , , , ,
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Marion75, M75, Marion Island, Overwintering Team

The 75th Marion Island Overwintering team departed on 06 April 2018 (click here to read more) and returned to Cape Town on the 15th of May 2019 (VIDEO).

Click on the link below and view their official team photo among the previous Marion Island overwintering teams.

Also visit the Antarctic Legacy of South Africa Archive to view the team photo or team logo.

Marion Island Team Photos

 

Anché Louw, Antarctic Legacy of South Africa, 06 June 2019.

Welcome home Marion75 and take-over personnel

  Thursday May 16th, 2019 - 12:35 PM | , , , , , , , , ,
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The S.A. Agulhas II arrived in Cape Town yesterday, 15 May 2019, after being away for 34 days.

The vessel returned with the 75th Marion Island overwintering team, all take-over scientists (land-and ship based) and take-over personnel.

Marion75 departed last year on 06 April 2018 and they are now reunited with family and friends after approximately 13 months.

Click here to see who was on this team and more about the different scientific groups (land-and ship based).

Note that there are more institutions involved in take-over science on the island, not mentioned in this video such as the Biocomplexity Project (University of Johannesburg) and Observing Dawn in the Cosmos (University of KwaZulu Natal). These projects does not have personnel overwintering on the island.

Marion75 and take-over personnel, addressed by the Deputy Director-General Oceans and Coasts, Judy Beaumont:

 

Marion75, M75, Marion Island, Overwintering Team

L-R (front): Dakalo Gangashe (Base Engineer), Maliviwe Mnengisa (Medic/Team leader), Zinhle Shongwe (Assistant meteorologist), Stephan Keys (Birder), Dani Keys (Birder), Dineo Mogashoa (Winder/Botanist); (middle) Oyena Masiko (Birder), Vhulahani Manukha (Space Engineer), Mavis Lekhesa (Radio Technician), Michael Taunyane (Diesel Mechanic / Deputy Team Leader). Sechaba Nyaku (Senior Meteorologist). Michelle Thompson (Birder). Monica Leitner (Assistant ECO), Liezl Pretorius (Sealer/Deputy Science Team Leader), Elsa van Ginkel (Winder/Botanist), Bongekile Kuhlase (Botanist); (back) Abuyiselwe Nguna (Geomorphologist/Science Team Leader), Jabulani Thabede (Chef), James Burns (Assistant meteorologist), Charlotte Heijnis (Senior ECO), Sean Morar (Birder). Welly Qwabe (Sealer), Michael Voysey (Killer whaler/sealer), Marike Louw (Botanist).

 

Anché Louw, Antarctic Legacy of South Africa, 16 May 2019.

Happy Birthday to Marion75 Team member – Bongekile Kuhlase

  Saturday May 4th, 2019 - 07:00 AM | , , , , ,
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Marion Island, Sub-Antarctic, South African Islands

On behalf of ALSA and all involved in the South African National Antarctic Programme, we would like to wish Bongekile Kuhlase (Botanical Field Assistant of M75) a Happy Birthday today.

Marion Island

Anché Louw, Antarctic Legacy of South Africa, 04 May 2019

Marion Island March 2019 newsletter now available

  Tuesday April 16th, 2019 - 08:00 AM | , , , , , ,
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Greetings from the M75 team to all our friends and families!

Where have the days gone?! March, our last full month alone on Marion, has flown by! For many of the field assistants, the work has slowed down substantially as the final tasks are being ticked off. For others, there is still quite a lot that needs to be squeezed into these final days. And, on the other hand, there are some (including the sealers) whose work has continued uninterrupted as is the case with base personnel who need to keep the ball rolling until we’ve boarded the ship home.

In between our duties however, the big clean-up has begun. All the huts have been tackled by the field assistants and back at base everyone is pitching in to make sure that everything is ready for take-over. Apart from the general base skivvy, we have all been busy packing up our own rooms too; as the total population of Marion explodes from 24 to over a hundred (with all the scientists and maintenance crew), we will soon be bunking with each other and the new M76 team while they find their feet.

Outside, island life goes on, oblivious to our bustling preparations. The wandering albatross which dot the landscape continue with their inredible life cycle and the fur-seal pups are venturing further and further from comfort as they grow at a rate. The winter leaves sap in the fading sunlight and the mountains are beginning to try on their winter coats.

We are sad to announce that this edition of The Wanderer (March 2019) will in all likelihood be our last. The next few weeks are undoubtedly going to be very chaotic and there will be little time to spare before we board the S.A. Agulhas II to go home. It has been a massive privilege to bring you these insights to our fantastic adventure in this paradise! We hope that you’ve enjoyed them as we have and that these newsletters can become part of M75’s legacy and serve to inspire future expeditions and explorers!

Authors: Elsa van Ginkel (Editor) and James Burns (Co-Editor), 75th Marion Island Overwintering Team, 16 April 2019 (received 13 April 2019)

Click here to view all the Marion Island newsletters available on the Antarctic Legacy of South Africa Archive.

Marion76 and take-over personnel about to depart from East Pier

  Friday April 12th, 2019 - 03:39 PM | , , ,
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Marion Island, M76, Marion76

Meet the Marion Island Overwintering team here.

See below some photos of the departure, more detail regarding the take-over to follow.

Videos

Meet the M76 Team Leader

https://www.facebook.com/AntarcticLegacySA/videos/vl.672218773213196/266214177591900/?type=1

Meet the M76 Deputy Team Leader

https://www.facebook.com/AntarcticLegacySA/videos/2336099149952432/

Meet the M76 Science Team Leader

https://www.facebook.com/AntarcticLegacySA/videos/342967963233207/

 

All photos and videos taken by Ria Olivier, Antarctic Legacy of South Africa.

Anché Louw, Antarctic Legacy of South Africa, 12 April 2019

Happy Birthday to Marion75 Team member – Melford Mnengisa

  Friday April 5th, 2019 - 07:00 AM | , , , , ,
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Marion Island, Sub-Antarctic, South African Islands

On behalf of ALSA and all involved in the South African National Antarctic Programme, we would like to wish Melford Mnengisa (Medical Orderly of M75) a Happy Birthday today.

Marion Island

Anché Louw, Antarctic Legacy of South Africa, 05 April 2019

Meet Marion76 (2019/2020 overwintering team)

  Wednesday March 20th, 2019 - 04:43 PM | , , , ,
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Marion Island, Overwintering, Team

The 76th Marion Island Overwintering team training started during the second week of March and will end Friday, 29 March.

The team training is intended to give the team a good background of the South African National Antarctic Programme and the history of South Africa’s involvement in the Southern Ocean. The team will also get an idea of what to expect of their year on Marion Island, learn what they can and can’t do and get a better idea of what to pack. During training the team can mingle with each other and learn how to work together during First Aid and Fire Fighting training, during the packing of containers and the cooking class. Each member’s dental health will also be assessed and attended to, as there is no way of returning home for an aching tooth. Each member on the team will also be kitted out with the necessary protective clothing for living and working in the sub-Antarctic.

The current expected time of departure for the vessel, S.A. Agulhas II is 11 April 2019. Click here to view the S.A Agulhas II Voyage Schedule.

Marion76 (M76)

Featured Image: M76 team during the first day of training, with Ria Olivier, Antarctic Legacy of South Africa (back, 4th from left) and  Adriaan Dreyer (far right), Assistant Director – Logistics and Support of Expeditions (Southern Ocean and Island Support Division, Department of Environmental Affairs).

Anché Louw, Antarctic Legacy of South Africa, 20 March 2019

 

SANAP Project News: SOCCO (follow-up)

  Wednesday March 6th, 2019 - 08:24 AM | , , , , , ,
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SOCCO, SANAP, Southern Ocean

SOSCEX-Storm II Experiment Wave Gliders heading to Cape Town from the Antarctic waters

Following up on the story of the our Liquid Robotics Wavegliders returning home to Cape Town from the Southern Ocean (click here) we have now completed the first half of the journey. Waveglider WG052 will arrive at its intermediate waypoint 43°S 9°E on Saturday 2nd March.  It has completed the first 1200km of its journey in 17 days at an average of 70km per day during which it sailed through 3 storms and crossed both the Polar and Sub-Antarctic fronts (see photo below).

SOCCO, Gliders, Wavegliders

On Sunday 3rd March WG052 will meet up with its twin WG027 that has been making its own CO2 and physics measurements at our long term observation station SAZ-1 since early December 2018. They will return together in the second 1200km stretch of sub-polar and sub-tropical waters but separated by about 50 – 100km to test some ideas about the correlations length scales for pCO2.  Both units continue to provide almost real time observations of ocean physics and CO2.  You will see from the attached pic (earth.nullschool.net), which is derived from almost real time satellite observations-based surface ocean circulation product OSCAR of the mesoscale features around the south of Africa, that we are aiming to use one of these “jets” to propel both gliders towards Cape Town across the turbulent cauldron west of the Agulhas current retroflection.  It shows very nicely how the ocean is not made up of large homogeneous currents but a series of high speed jets and eddies.  We are exploring how the interaction of storms with these features influence the seasonal variability and ultimately the climate sensitivity of the air – sea fluxes of CO2 in the Southern Ocean.

 

– Dr. Pedro M. Scheel Monteiro & SOCCO & SA-RobOTIC team, 01 March 2019 (posted 06 March 2019)

Marion Island December newsletter now available

  Tuesday February 5th, 2019 - 11:22 AM | , , , , ,
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Marion Island, Newsletters, sub-Antarctic, Overwintering Team

Greetings to the friends, families and followers of the M75 team!

Marion Island, Newsletters, sub-Antarctic, Overwintering Team

The last month of 2018 was a memorable one! Starting the festivities early in the month with decorations, the excitement built up steadily to Christmas day and we had an amazing time! Movie marathons, fun teamwork in the kitchen, potjies, presents, a secret santa and more made for a jolly season indeed. Unfortunately no snow on Christmas but we enjoyed some great sunny and calm days instead, summer finally arrived!

The team hasn’t stopped working and, between all the celebrations, fieldworkers have been out and about with lots to be done as the breeding season continues. Everything is still running smoothly at base although there is a definite mindset shift in the team as takeover approaches.

We apologise for the delayed distribution but we hope you all enjoy our latest edition of the Wanderer (December 2018)! We wish everyone the best for the upcoming year and thank you once again for supporting us from afar!

Kind regards,
the Wanderer Editing team

Click here to view all the Marion Island newsletters available on the Antarctic Legacy of South Africa Archive.

Author: James Burns, 75th Marion Island Overwintering Team (Meteorological Observer), 05 February 2019 (received 12 January 2019)

Welcome to the new SANAP Platform

  Tuesday March 20th, 2018 - 11:54 AM | , , ,
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See below a few useful aspects of our website

This is your gateway to the South African National Antarctic Programme.

On the Home page, the latest news will be published and older news articles will be located in the News page, where you can also view the calendar for the announcements of upcoming events.

STATIONS

Want to know more about South Africa’s research stations in the Antarctic region? Navigate to Stations. Here you can view photos, videos and a map of the chosen research station.

EXPEDITIONS

Want to see photo’s of previous overwintering teams? Navigate to Team structure and make sure you press the ‘team photos‘ icon.

Are you getting ready for an expedition and want to make sure you know what to pack and what not to pack? Navigate to Own Supplies, Prohibited Supplies or Issued Supplies (if you want to see what will be supplied by DEA). Another page highly recommended before an expedition is ‘Advice for Overwinterers‘.

RESEARCH

Are you aware of the current or previous SANAP projects, funded by the National Research Foundation? See Current Research Projects or Previous Research Projects.

JOBS

Are you interested in working on Antarctica, Marion or Gough Island. See Jobs, for all available overwintering positions.

Please do not hesitate to fill in the contact form or email directly for any queries.

Anché Louw, Antarctic Legacy of South Africa, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, 18 May 2018.