Absolute Antarctica

30/11/2022

What better to share on this day but some of Stu’s cracker shots.

Thanks Stu

30/11/2022

Happy Antarctica Day!

24/11/2022

I’ve talked about Clive and his work with elephant seals a couple times before, but this time it’s a little different. This seal tracking unit retrieved from Macca will deliver some super high quality data not normally captured by satellite! The female seal this tracker was on was tagged on 31/01/2010. Pretty exciting stuff.

In the 9 months the tracker was active she completed 7,400km of diving to a maximum depth of 1,500m.

Thanks to Clive and everyone for letting me share!!

04/11/2022

The Aiviq has just departed Hobart……next stop Davis. Happy sailing guys and gals!!

Thanks cliffy for the pics

02/11/2022

Wisey spied the Happy Diamond making her way up the Derwent whilst she had her coffee this morning.

The Happy Diamond is part of BigLift Shipping Happy D fleet and will be used to support the Australian Antarctic Division’s shipping operations this season. Welcome to Hobart Happy Diamond … time to load up for Davis!

21/10/2022

Today the Aiviq departed Hobart destined for Macca starting the shipping season for the Australian Antarctic season.

Lucky for me Wisey and Arlo were at home to get some photos as she headed towards the Southern Ocean.

Fair winds and following seas to all onboard.

08/10/2022

Stu has taken some great shots on his home. Thanks for the pics over the last year and HAPPY birthday!!! I did think you were older though buddy!!!

25/09/2022

Alana at Mawson was concerned that people wouldn’t like her shots as they were taken on a iPhone and they are a little grainy. What do you think, want to trade her places?????

Thanks Alana

07/09/2022

Massive congrats to Scott Base and in particular Stu for the stellar effort in “Batman likes train racing” and his hat trick of wins!

07/09/2022

Recently one of the pages good friend made a visit to the “Explorers Club” in New York and well no better way to explain but in Jays own words……….

I was impressed that by the AAD expeditions map that Dr Philip Law gave to them, definitely wasn’t expecting that.

The sled is from Hubert Wilkins when he took the historic flight to the Arctic in 1928 (they also have a bookcase of his here donated by his wife but it doesn’t look as impressive of course so I didn’t send the photo).

They also got a massive bunch of Arctic stuff as the club initially used to be The Arctic Explorers before they expanded.

The paintings are fascinating as they were the first ones painted there as the painter figured out how to paint without the paint freezing as was commonly the case.

You might have to zoom in on some of the other things.

The Explorers Club flag which Wilkins took with him.

The current president, a former NASA astronaut, is a massive Shackleton fan and the sexton and other Shackleton memorabilia are from his personal collection.

They hold events open to the public usually like once a week/month, I’m sure a few people that we know are members, I know of 1 so far.

If someone is visiting NY, worthy to stop past here. They have awesome stuff by a lot of astronauts, Arctic stuff too. It’s impressive!

Massive thanks for the download Jay!!!!!

17/08/2022

Today on all Australian Stations flags are flying at half-mast in honour of Kenneth Wilson who passed away at the Mawson in 1972.

05/08/2022

Today on all Australian Stations flags are flying at half-mast in honour of Geoffrey Reeve who passed away at the Casey in 1979.

21/07/2022

Today on all Australian Stations flags are flying at half-mast in honour of Reginald Sullivan who passed away at Wilkes on this day in 1968.

10/07/2022

We want to hear from you!
Are you currently or been to Antarctica? Maybe getting ready to go? This page is great because of you and without you its nothing.
Send me a message tell us a story send pics and I’ll post them for everyone to see. Comment and tell us where you’ve been, your participation is what make this page great.

Thanks - Goldie

10/07/2022

Scientists have identified a bacterium living in sea squirts near Palmer Station that has the potential to treat the most nasty of skin cancers, melanoma’s.

First isolated palmerolide in 2006 researchers suspected the compound must be produced by symbiotic microbes living in the sea squirt's tissues but couldn't identify the specific microorganism that was producing it.

https://antarcticsun.usap.gov/science/4719/?fbclid=IwAR1y0DrdoF-NVdjgDAYyARTVwyx7a1hvnNree1FuvKe_mF40GKCE75LcYXQ

09/07/2022

Looking like I was right in relation to the inter station dart competition with Davis beating Mawson 3-0 last night…. Congrats

Thanks Tim for the pics!!

08/07/2022

Got a message from Tim at Davis and felt they had better Auroras yesterday there than Mawson! Might be a little friendly banter as the inter station darts competition is about to start!

Either way cracking shots Tim, Thanks for letting me share.

08/07/2022

Alana is one lucky SOB. Nacreous clouds by day and Aurora by night!!

My envy levels are increasing!!!

Thanks Alana

08/07/2022

Alana at Mawson witnessed some Nacreous cloud (polar stratospheric cloud) near station yesterday afternoon. She says “These clouds play a pretty big role in the formation of the ozone hole by encouraging chemical reactions that break down our ozone layer. 🌏

In basic terms, while these clouds are sitting looking pretty, they are actually eating a hole in the ozone layer. 😱”

Thanks Alana for letting me share!

07/07/2022

Was great catching up with the current winters at Macquarie Island tonight . The Anare Club arranged a hook up for a belated mid winters celebration.

Thanks MacGyver for the pic and thanks the ANARE Club for organising!

07/07/2022

How does ship of the year to the newest addition to the Australian Antarctic Program sound, sounds good to me.

The jury of the Maritime Award: KNVTS Ship of the Year 2022 has nominated three ships for the Netherlands’ most prestigious maritime award. The award will be presented for the 24th time during the Maritime Awards Gala 2022. This year, the battle is between icebreaker Nuyina, dredger Spartacus and superyacht Viva.

Congratulations to all involved in the conception of the RSV Nuyina to her build and fit out.

Thanks Kat for this find!!

https://swzmaritime.nl/news/2022/06/30/nuyina-spartacus-and-viva-compete-for-knvts-ship-of-the-year-award/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook&fbclid=IwAR2jWX-A-pt9xxZHvOV5EEplu9Wz3-9nSrpXF8qs2aBBUIQOpxeCokc6q-4

06/07/2022

Today on all Australian Stations flags are flying at half-mast in honour of Hartley Robinson who passed away at Wilkes on this day in 1959.

03/07/2022

Today on all Australian Stations flags are flying at half-mast in honour of Charles Scoble who passed away at Macquarie Island on this day in 1948.

01/07/2022

Happy Friday!!! What better way to spend Friday night to have your mind twisted by the mystifying Aurora down south.

Have a look at this one from South Pole Skies amazing work and have a look at the page also make sure you put it on the big screen!!!!

https://www.facebook.com/southpoleskies

This is Part IV of IV of the South Pole timelapse series shot by Robert Schwarz. Shot in the winters of 2018 and 2019. Processed and graded in HDR by Martin ...

29/06/2022

Looking like the Australians have a new ride down south this season with the delivery of a BK in preparation for this season.

23/06/2022

Oceanographer’s that can out work, swim, monitor and find the critical links in the southern ocean far quicker and easier than traditional methods. That’s because they are animals and they know where the intresting stuff is! Interesting article and great work even if I am slightly bias. Dr Clive and his crew at IMOS Animal Tracking Facility have done some really great work capturing what has been logistically very difficult, costly and time consuming in the past.

https://nautil.us/what-oceanographers-can-learn-from-their-animal-colleagues-20421/?fbclid=IwAR2ddOwjIKDflYxvpNrcoHhrZ7ZsTQyYqeoYdy2KfldLEAnBbuNBDr2_zGw

When you need good data in rough seas, send in the elephant seals.

22/06/2022

From a recent trip to see the nieces……think pride of place on the fridge is a great place for it!

22/06/2022

Bit of a weird one shot by Dr Dane at Macca the other day. No it’s not photoshopped it’s how is looked…… turns out it’s a weird phenomenon created by A SpaceX launch in New Zealand.

Thanks Dr Dane, Tracker and Ferret for the info and pic must have been incredible to see in real life!!! For more info check comments!!

20/06/2022

Both Wisey and myself would like to wish a Happy Mid Winters to my fellow Antarcticans where ever you are!! If you South have a great day if your not your probably like me and wishing you were there!!!

Pic from Wisey on her way home on the MPV Everest 2021