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24.01.2022 Our #Antarctic expeditioners heading south on the next plane are more than ready to leave their two weeks of #COVID19-safe isolation in #Hobart. Senior Field Training Officer Maddie Ovens can’t wait to ‘feel the wind on her face’ when she gets to Casey research station, home for the next year. Follow Maddie’s video diary here @AusAntarctic, with a series of clips she’s filming herself

24.01.2022 Catch up on the latest news from the Australian Antarctic Program with the October issue of our online newsletter, Antarctic Insider. Subscribe today at https://www.antarctica.gov.au/news/antarctic-insider/

23.01.2022 Out in the field our #Antarctic expeditioners stick to the distance rules about observing wildlife. But someone forgot to tell the #penguins! On a recent visit to Auster rookery near Mawson station, the humans found themselves the subject of study by curious emperors. Read more about this meeting of minds at bit.ly/386Nzxh. Follow @AusAntarctic on insta for more great images.... Guy Edgar, diesel mechanic

23.01.2022 It’s an exciting time and a challenging one as our #Antarctic expeditioners prepare to head south. Meet Maddie Ovens, the Senior Field Training Officer at Casey research station for the next year. But there’s lots of pre-departure training yet to complete, and our #COVID19 safeguards require two weeks of isolation in Hobart before boarding a ship or plane to #Antarctica. ... You can follow Maddie’s video diary here @AusAntarctic, with a series of clips she’s filming herself. Here’s the first

22.01.2022 Today is Antarctica Day, marking 61 years since Australia and 11 other nations signed the Antarctic Treaty. Australia remains deeply committed to the #Treaty and related agreements, which establish #Antarctica as a natural reserve devoted to peace, science, and environmental protection. We continue to play a leading role in international Antarctic affairs, and on Antarctica Day we join the other 53 Treaty nations in celebrating the successful cooperation to protect and manag...e this unique region. Read more at https://www.antarctica.gov.au/about-antar/law-and-treaty// Michael Keating Kearney

22.01.2022 New Antarctic icebreaker RSV Nuyina will soon be ready for sea trials, with progress on the internal fit-out and systems testing of the ship almost complete. Due to the pandemic, the ship was moved in August from Damen’s Romanian shipyard to Vlissingen in the Netherlands, to enable equipment manufacturers to check and test the installation of its complex systems. The interior design was undertaken by Damen in conjunction with its specialist sub-contractor, Maritime Interiors,... and reflects contemporary builds by Damen. The ship will be ready for sea trials in a few weeks, followed by sea ice trials in the Arctic in late January. Read more at https://www.antarctica.gov.au//nuyina-ready-for-sea-trials/

21.01.2022 Our Antarctic ice core team is busy piecing together their next mission into deep time like this partial assembly of a drill rig tent for the Million Year Ice Core #MYIC project. This 2.5 tonne ‘Big Brother’ is 5 metres high, 8 metres wide and 27 metres long. It’s the ultimate #flatpack construction challenge, with over 500 separate pieces and more than 1200 fasteners. Eventually this will be erected at Little Dome C, 1200 kilometres inland from Casey research station. The... Australian Antarctic Division is gearing up to lead one of the most ambitious and challenging scientific projects yet undertaken in #Antarctica. From 2022, our team plans to start drilling almost 3000 metres into the #ice sheet, to secure a million year record of Earth’s #climate and atmospheric composition. Dan Broun

21.01.2022 For the future of #Antarctica and the #SouthernOcean: 47 people from 19 countries representing biological sciences, physical sciences, earth sciences, humanities, social sciences, policy makers and environmental managers have created a new four-year research program with The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR).

20.01.2022 As #Tasmania's borders reopen to interstate travellers, we’re taking extra precautions at the AAD to ensure #COVID19 doesn’t hitch a ride south with our #Antarctic expeditioners. All staff and visitors are temperature-tested to access our offices each day, with cool stickers to indicate they’ve passed with flying colours. Dan Broun

20.01.2022 After weeks of preparation and #COVID19-safe isolation, expeditioner Maddie Ovens and her wintering colleagues left #Hobart this week. After a 4.5 hour flight, they arrived at Wilkins Aerodrome and caught the ‘snowcoach’ to Casey research station in spectacular weather. More than 3800 kilometres due south of Perth, Casey is the closest of our #Antarctic stations to #Australia and will be their home for the next year.

19.01.2022 I have always wanted my #art to have a #stamp of approval. Now I have the ultimate one. (John Kelly, painter and sculptor) Discover the new stamps from Australia Post showcasing the work of the #Antarctic Arts Fellowship program, and the #artists behind them. Read more at https://www.antarctica.gov.au//antarctic-arts-grace-new-a/... Australia Post Collectables, ANAT, RMIT University

18.01.2022 You might not expect that fire is an problem in #Antarctica. In fact, fire is a constant risk that presents unique challenges in the coldest, driest, windiest continent on the planet. Our wintering expeditioners undertake specialist training with the Tasmania Fire Service before heading south to form #fire teams on #Australia's research stations. Read more at www.antarctica.gov.au//antarctic-expeditioners-train-to-b/

17.01.2022 What does it take to make Australia’s only blue ice runway ready for landing? Months of painstaking work in the harshest of #Antarctic conditions! Go behind the scenes of this remarkable feat with Wilkins Aerodrome Manager Matt Ryan and his team as they await the first flight of the new season. Not only do they build a 3.5km runway on a glacier, this time they filmed it as well: https://bit.ly/32eyt4M

16.01.2022 There's a long-standing mystery about the timing of ice ages why, almost one million years ago, the cycle of ice ages shifted from a regular 41,000 year cycle to one every 100,000 years? The best way to solve the mystery is to go back in time and find out what the atmosphere was like a million years ago, and since. That’s exactly what we’re going to do in #Antarctica, starting in 2022-23. Can’t wait!... Find out more about #MYIC >> https://www.antarctica.gov.au//anta/million-year-ice-core/

16.01.2022 ARTISTS! Applications for our 2022-23 Antarctic Arts Fellowship are open NOW until 26 March. Thanks to ANAT for their support. Apply now: https://www.antarctica.gov.au/ab/antarctic-arts-fellowship/ M.Passingham, 201920 Arts Fellows, digital artists Dr John McCormick and Dr Adam Nash, gather sound and vision on the Aurora Australis

15.01.2022 Despite blowing snow on the blue ice runway, in minus 20C and 65kmh gusts at Wilkins Aerodrome yesterday, favourable conditions enabled the first round trip for the Airbus A319 this Australian #Antarctic season. Capt Dan Colborne, Deputy Chief Pilot, Skytraders

15.01.2022 Happy #PolarPride Day from #Antarctica, the #SouthernOcean, and #Tasmania. Today is an important recognition of LGBTQ+ inclusion and contribution to #polar #science. Best wishes to our friends in #Australia and around the world! Polar Pride Day #LGBTQSTEMDay British Antarctic Survey

14.01.2022 After 2500 hours of refurbishment each, these eye-catching Hägglunds are ready to roll, transporting Australian Antarctic expeditioners between Wilkins Aerodrome and Casey research station. The @AusAntarctic Mechanical Workshop team worked over the vehicles (which are no longer manufactured), fitting new engines and electrics, remoulding fibreglass skins, and providing new paint jobs. The blue Hägglund served as the fire vehicle at Casey for 30 years before returning to Aust...ralia for a makeover. The purple vehicle swapped its front cab with a NSW Fire Hägg to allow for an easier upgrade. With a top speed of 50 kph and 160 horsepower, each vehicle has twice the torque and 30% more fuel efficiency then their original incarnations. The Häggs will sail south on the first voyage in December.

13.01.2022 As a safety precaution to help keep #Antarctica free of #COVID19, all our expeditioners stay in isolation for a couple of weeks before heading south. Maddie Ovens will live and work in the splendid isolation of Casey research station over the next year. But first, there’s Day One of iso in Hobart. Follow Maddie’s video diary here @AusAntarctic, with a series of clips she’s filming herself

13.01.2022 Curious about what life may look like in #Antarctica in 2050? The AAD has engaged high profile polar architect Hugh Broughton Architects and planning consultants WSP in Australia to work with us and the Antarctic community to develop a master plan for Davis research station. The master plan aims to address the challenges of living and working in Antarctica so we can enable our scientists to focus on answering questions of global significance.... Read more at https://www.antarctica.gov.au//modernisation-planning-beg/

12.01.2022 Expeditioners heading for Casey research station on the first #Antarctic flight this summer, are now safely in isolation in Hobart to prevent their exposure to COVID-19. The expeditioners will be COVID-tested three times before departure, and for their own safety will wear masks and gloves after leaving the hotel and during transport to the airport. During their isolation the team will be kept busy with online pre-departure training. Care packages and access to exercise equ...ipment will keep up morale and fitness. Take-off is planned for 7 November, weather permitting. Read more: https://www.antarctica.gov.au//antarctic-expeditioners-in/

12.01.2022 POSTCARD FROM FANG PEAK The ice sheet that covers #Antarctica is kilometres thick, covering entire mountain ranges. ‘Nunataks’ are the rocky summits that protrude above the #ice, just the tips of massive #mountains buried below. At their base are usually ancient wind scours carved by relentlessly intense #katabatic winds, and frozen lakes. Fang Peak near Mawson research station is no exception. It is so incredibly clear and eerie at one point you can lie down and look straight below and clearly see the mountain drop further down into the abyss, and other mountain peaks of completely covered mountains. Matt Williams, Mawson station leader

12.01.2022 Wheels up for Snowbird 1! Australia’s 2020-21 #Antarctic season has commenced, with the first flight to Wilkins Aerodrome departing Hobart today. Best wishes to all our expeditioners for a safe and successful season.

11.01.2022 Despite encountering some heavy sea ice (and a spectacular light show) it’s full steam ahead for our last station changeover of the season. With aerial support to and from MPV Everest, incoming Mawson expeditioners are safely on station and ready to pick up the tools for the year ahead. : Wayde Maurer, Adam Leatherbarrow, Matt Williams

11.01.2022 What to do for an underwater survey when you’re short on #scientists? Get DIY-resourceful! Without marine #biologists and their robot mini-sub, Davis station gets the job done with a long pole and a lot of duct tape. Read more here https://bit.ly/3nJ1M7M David Knoff, Davis Station Leader

10.01.2022 Did you know Australia and Switzerland’s #Antarctic connection dates back to Mawson’s Australasian Expedition in 1911? More than a century later, the two countries’ scientific collaboration is growing ever stronger with the (virtual!) signing of a new 10-year Statement of Commitment to expand collaborative research in areas such as ice cores, sea level change and climate science. Read more here: https://bit.ly/2IfMFE5 : Dan Broun

10.01.2022 A giant #Antarctic #krill swarm - 100 metres thick and two kilometres long - attracts giant predators! antarctica.gov.au scientists on board CSIRO #RVInvestigator, trying to recover instruments from the water, could only watch on as more than 63 humpback and 20 fin whales headed for the ‘swarm-o-saurus’ to enjoy a feeding frenzy. Murdoch University researcher Josh Smith captured this prize #whalewatching moment of a humpback up close.... Pew Environment, Antarctic Science Foundation, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies - IMAS, Australian Antarctic Program Partnership

09.01.2022 Australia’s newly completed #icebreaker, RSV Nuyina, has left the Netherlands port of Vlissingen to commence trials in the North Sea. This marks the start of a month-long Sea Trials Phase and an important milestone for all involved in the icebreaker project across the Australian #Antarctic Division, ship managers Serco Asia Pacific and ship builders Damen.

09.01.2022 What does it take to be a true leader in the most hostile environment on earth? Veteran AAD expeditioner and Station Leader Alison Dean knows a thing or two. She’s also a recipient of this year’s Australian #Antarctic Medal. As nominations open for the 2021 award, read more about her remarkable journey here https://bit.ly/3q7gw2D : David Wright / supplied: Ali Dean

08.01.2022 Naming impressive landmarks is one thing, but what about those out of sight, deep beneath the Southern Ocean? Assisted by the AAD, #Australia has secured undersea naming approval for a series of submarine canyons and a valley off the East #Antarctic coast. Find out their names here https://bit.ly/3lBNrZL Geoscience Australia CSIRO Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies - IMAS Macquarie University The Australian National University South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council

08.01.2022 What a day at Australia’s Wilkins Aerodrome! Perfect for the offloading of the latest custom-designed #Antarctic tractor for the AAD’s million-year ice-core mission. ‘Bungle Bungle’ artwork by the timeless Ken Done. #kendonegallery #RAAF #opsoutherndiscovery #YourADF #MYIC Royal Australian Air Force Dane Riley, Aerodrome Plant Operator

05.01.2022 Critically endangered Antarctic blue whales are making a comeback to the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, 50 years after whaling all but wiped them out. Whale surveys between 1998 and 2018 resulted in just a single sighting. But a survey this year recorded 58 blue whale sightings, and detected numerous calls. It’s great to see the collaborations and techniques for studying Antarctic blue whales, developed and refined at the Australian Antarctic Division over the past 1...0 years, continue to yield new and hopeful information about their recovery. Brian Miller, marine mammal acoustician (and an author of a new report at https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esr/v43/p359-373/) SOUND UP! Here’s a recording Brian made of male #Antarctic blue #whales communicating over vast distances (Z-calls sped up 8x to make them audible)

05.01.2022 We always plan for the worst and hope for the best. In the lead-up to the start of each Antarctic season, our Polar Medicine Unit works around the clock with our station doctors and specialists from Royal Hobart Hospital (RHH) and Ambulance Tasmania to be ready for #medical emergencies. Of course, the hope is never to use equipment like a portable isolation chamber to transport a #COVID19 patient from #Antarctica but the team is definitely prepared to if needed.... Read more at https://www.antarctica.gov.au//portable-isolation-chamber/

04.01.2022 About 750,000 southern elephant seals live in the #SouthernOcean, spending most of their time at sea. These ‘living submarines’ dive for fish and squid to depths of 1-2km for more than an hour. Learn more about these remarkable animals in the #Antarctic Treaty Area, in a new review by an international #science team from antarctica.gov.au, Alfred-Wegener-Institut für Polar- und Meeresforschung, University of Pretoria, and Bernardino Rivadavia Museum of Natural Science in ...Argentina >> bit.ly/3fvWFVH SOUND UP! Listen to the snores of a southern elephant seal dozing on Macquarie Island The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, Antarctic Environments Portal

04.01.2022 These spectacular ‘mammatus’ clouds only lasted about an hour ...time enough for our serendipitous scientists to gather valuable data about a cloud formation that's not well understood. Learn more and see pictures at www.antarctica.gov.au//mammatus-cloud-show-captured-by-lu/ Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies - IMAS, Australian Antarctic Program Partnership, CSIRO, Bureau of Meteorology

02.01.2022 Close encounters of the orca kind at Macca. Excitement for our expeditioners, a nervous time for elephant seals! Straight from the phone of William Seal, senior diesel mechanic at Macquarie Island research station (more video in the comments). Find out more about killer whales at www.antarctica.gov.au/about-antarcti//whales/killer-whale/... Whale Spotting Tasmania, Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service

02.01.2022 The first #RAAF C17A Globemaster flights of the new #Antarctic season have safely touched down at Australia’s Wilkins Aerodrome, carrying precious cargo including, one of five custom-designed tractors destined for the future million-year ice core mission. #OpSouthernDiscovery #YourADF #MYIC Flying Officers Carsten Reimers/Ashley Kissock, Dean Ahern

01.01.2022 The antarctica.gov.au #krill voyage on CSIRO #RVInvestigator is a bit like a Hollywood movie what goes on behind the scenes is critical to its blockbuster success. Find out how our in-house innovators with skills in engineering, deck handling, instrument design and fabrication, IT, and more have helped kick scientific goals and achieve a range of firsts in krill research for the Australian Antarctic Program. https://www.antarctica.gov.au//behind-the-scenes-of-a-kri/

01.01.2022 #Antarctica is in my view the most beautiful yet challenging workplace on the planet incoming Casey Station Leader Kyle Williams is gearing up for his third deployment south with the AAD. And he says in this COVID world new normal, it’s sure to be a year unlike any other. Read more about his journey here: https://bit.ly/3p0N79F