You've heard of Jack-in-the-box: enter drone-in-a-box!
This nifty bit of kit has been put through its paces this season to see if it could be used to help researchers study wildlife on this remote and rugged island...
What better way to roll into the bank holiday weekend than with an Easter egg hunt? And we're not talking about the chocolate kind 👀
Can you find the secret page on our new website? Hint: it’s “aww”fully cute...
Let us know if you found it ⬇️
#aww #easteregg #topsecret
An aerial side shot of the Ukrainian research vessel, the Noosfera, in Antarctic waters against an overcast sky with icebergs in the background. Credit: National Antarctic Science Center of Ukraine
Today, the Noosfera is a vital part of not just Ukrainian research efforts in Antarctica, but also our own, as this new collaboration has shown 🤝
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Then, in 2021, that very same ship was sold to our Ukrainian partners to further support their Antarctic research.
It was renamed the Noosfera to honour the work of the world-renowned Ukrainian scientist, Volodymyr Vernadsky.
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Our relationship with Ukraine’s national Antarctic programme goes back a long way. 30 years ago, BAS gifted the Antarctic research station, Faraday Station, to the Ukrainian programme, and kicked off the first Ukrainian expedition to the base via BAS’s research ship, the RRS James Clark Ross.
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A group of ship crew in yellow and red jackets on the deck of the research ship, the Noosfera, against a bright blue sky. Credit: National Antarctic Scientific Center of Ukraine
The partnership has also allowed people and cargo to hitch a ride at Rothera, BAS’s largest research station.
But did you know — the Noosfera is no stranger to making journeys to Rothera, as it used to be the UK’s very own ship!
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The Ukrainian Research ship, Noosfera, on the sea against a bright blue sky. Credit: National Antarctic Science Center of Ukraine
When you need a little help from an old friend…🚢📡
In a new partnership, Ukrainian scientists from the research vessel, Noosfera, have been working together with BAS researchers to take critical ocean measurements that will help us understand the impact of climate change on Antarctica’s coasts
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Caption: Mist-nets were used to capture Band-rumped Storm Petrels at their breeding colony on Egg Island, an islet off St Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. Alt text: The sun is setting over the sea. Mist nets are strung between vertical poles. A Band-rumped Storm Petrel is silhouetted in flight above the net. Credit: Steffen Oppel
New research shows that, as well as breeding at different times of the year, populations of Band-rumped Storm Petrels on St Helena forage in different places.
Read on for a summary
Full paper: doi.org/10.1186/s40462-026-00633-1
@bas.ac.uk
🧪 🌎️ 🪶
#seabirds
Hello Walrus-spotters of Bluesky!
Meet Dr Hannah Cubaynes, who is leading the Walrus from Space citizen science counting project.
Help count here ➡️ geohive.vantor.com/walrus/login
Watch Hannah's talk about her (prize-winning) work tracking animals with satellites 👇
www.youtube.com/watch?v=99YS...
Yeah, we do frozen places, including the Arctic and Himalaya - ignore the name!
Bluesky, we need your help to count walrus! 🦭
Previously on "Walrus from Space", volunteers like you sifted through around 500,000 satellite images to support our conservation research.
Now we're asking the you to help us count the walrus in those images 👀
➡️ geohive.vantor.com/walrus/login
Psst... we have a shiny new website 😍
Those of you who remember the old British Antarctic Survey website will appreciate what a dramatic improvement this is.
Why not have a little explore? ⬇
www.bas.ac.uk
Hey you, just a quick reminder:
On Saturday 21 March, we're throwing open the doors of British Antarctic Survey HQ in Cambridge 🇦🇶 It's a family friendly event exploring all things polar!
Come and see us. You'll need a (free) ticket 🎟️
www.bas.ac.uk/event/open-d...
By the end of the GIANT project, we're delivering:
🌍 major additions to the UK Earth System Model
🚨 contributions to a prototype Early Warning System
It's all part of the Advanced Research + Invention Agency's (@aria-research.bsky.social) Forecasting Tipping Points programme.
giantgreenland.com
Climate models aren't accurate, because the simulated Greenland glaciers don't interact with the warming ocean.
GIANT (a team of 17 organisations!) are going to fix that, via:
🚢 major fieldwork this summer
📫 huge amounts of new data
💥 cutting edge modelling
🔗 linking tiny changes to huge processes
Greenland’s glaciers are losing ice at an unprecedented pace 🇬🇱
The bad news: vast quantities of freshwater entering the North Atlantic could disrupt major ocean currents - changing ocean ecosystems and European climate.
The good news: this GIANT collaboration is getting to the bottom of it, fast ⬇
A large blue industrial building with a tower on the roof and containers sitting beside it.
The handrails and stairs at the side of a large blue building.
Bright red interior stairwell inside a building.
Bright yellow stairwell inside a building.
Work to modernise our facilities at Rothera Research Station continues. More of the Discovery building is now in use, and several older buildings have been deconstructed as the station transforms. These improvements will support Antarctic science for decades to come:
www.bas.ac.uk/news/6-march...
Scientists have discovered that the shrinking sea ice in the Antarctic force penguins to crowd into smaller patches of stable ice to moult.
On #WorldWildlifeDay, explore how researchers from @bas.ac.uk are studying this phenomenon using satellites imagery: bit.ly/40K4iQI
🎧 New episode of Iceworld
Did you know that Antarctica is the world’s largest desert? ❄️ Meet Zelna and Charlotte, researchers who’ve just returned from two months living in this desert of snow.
Curious what it’s like to live in the middle of nowhere?
Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Here's the full story on our website:
www.bas.ac.uk/news/acciden...
And here's the paper in Communications Earth & Environment:
www.nature.com/articles/s43...
A big group of emperor penguins and chicks photographed at Snow Hill Island (Credit: Peter Fretwell/BAS)
Last year, in 2025, the conditions were much better.
But BAS emperor penguin expert Dr Peter Fretwell @ptfretwell.bsky.social has only spotted a small proportion of the penguins we'd normally see.
These penguins haven't yet been spotted elsewhere, suggesting that thousands of penguins died.
The coastline is Marie Byrd Land, a remote area of West Antarctica which historically has retained its sea ice through the summer.
It's where 40% of emperor penguins migrate to safely shed their feathers.
But 2022-24, sea ice in the region shrank from an area the size of Spain to almost nothing.
A moulting penguin trying to look dignified. There's a big patch of long thick and fluffy looking feathers still attached over its shoulder and back, but underneath are low-profile smooth feathers (Credit: NSF)
Emperor penguins replace their feathers all in one go.
It takes up to 40 days, burns half their body weight in energy, and leaves them completely unable to enter the water until new feathers come through.
If the ice breaks up before they're done, they will likely freeze and die.
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This satellite footage shows the days in early 2023 when the ice literally disappeared from beneath the feet of thousands of emperor penguins.
And here's the issue: they were likely moulting at the time.
Welcome to Marie Bryd Land, Antarctica...
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@bas.ac.uk achieves Silver Carbon Literate Organisation status.🇦🇶👏
From adapting IT systems to integrating carbon accounting into field projects, emissions reduction is built into everyday work.
Proof that climate action is possible anywhere, with the right tools.
Read their story: bit.ly/4ruqs5C
Summer at Halley Research Station in 60 seconds ⏰
Our ice shelf research station has now gone into hibernation for another year! Congrats to the station team for all their hard work through the Antarctic summer months.
Two people in orange cold-weather gear standing beside a red British Antarctic Survey plane on a tarmac under a partly cloudy sky.
🎧 New episode of Iceworld
What does it take to keep aircraft flying at the bottom of the world? Meet Eli and Jeremie, aircraft engineers maintaining our beloved Twin Otters in Antarctica. Think ski landing, sastrugi & snags.
Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
#Antarctica #Podcast #Aviation
This lot are off to have a whale of a time at this year's World Whale Day party 🎉
🐋 Take a moment to watch them go about their business in the knowledge that since commercial whaling was banned in 1986, populations have been bouncing back.
Images collected under scientific permit.
#WorldWhaleDay
📅 Save the date!
Join us on Saturday 21 March 2026 for a free, family-friendly open day as part of the Cambridge Festival lineup.
🎟️ Free tickets dropping soon - watch this space!
📍 British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET
🕙 21st March 10am - 4pm
Archive number/credit: (1-2) BAS, (3) BAS G64/3/2/C/53, Sally Elizabeth Poncet, (4) BAS AD6193Td83, NERC, (5) BAS AD6193Td40, (6) BAS G6432A20, Sally Elizabeth Poncet
