Penguins are the uncontested cutest birds worldwide. In the great colonies of the Emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) in the high Antarctic it happens often that young chicks die a natural death. This provided a unique opportunity for us (Sven Klimpel and Markus W. Busch) to analyse the parasitic fauna and stomach contents of these fascinating birds. Such investigations are important because they provide information on the life of the parasites and also on the habitats and general trophic status of the penguin hosts within the Antarctic ecosystem. The Emperor penguin colony close to the German Neumayer Station is one of approximately 35 known colonies in Antarctica. We collected 12 dead chicks for parasitological and feeding ecology examinations on board. It was found th...

So far, spawning grounds of most Antarctic fish species are not known. Nevertheless, there is a great deal of interest to locate these places and to protect them by international law. Rüdiger Riehl from the Institute of Zoomorpholgy, Cell Biology and Parasitology of the University of Duesseldorf might have found a way to do exactly that. During his research on fish eggs, which spans over 30 years, he has found that most of these eggs possess microstructures that allow the identification of specimens to the family level, genus level and even species level. The tool of choice is a scanning electron microscope (SEM), which is used to capture minute differences on photographs. He is using differences in the microstructure of the egg surface, for example the presence or absence...

ICEFISH: International Collaborative Expedition to collect and study Fish Indigenous to Sub-antarctic Habitat.

The Antarctic and the sub-Antarctic offer natural laboratories for understanding the evolutionary impact of climate changes on the marine polar fishes, but there has been lack of access to sub-Antarctic fishes, critical for understanding evolution, population dynamics, eco-physiology and eco-biochemistry of their Antarctic relatives. ICEFISH, the first comprehensive international survey of the Sub-Antarctic marine habitat, is designed to fill these gaps.

SCAR-MarBIN supports the Antarctic science community by giving free and open access to an unprecedented mass of data relevant to understand Southern Ocean biodiversity. SCAR-MarBIN will leave a valuable legacy for future generations, in the form of an information tool that will provide a baseline reference for establishing a State of Antarctic Environment, and predicting the future for marine communities around Antarctica, which are currently facing global change.

Microorganisms – including algae, bacteria, fungi and viruses – are numerically by far the most important group of organisms in polar aquatic ecosystems. As well as being the main drivers of biogeochemical cycles and the major producers and consumers of greenhouse gases, they are also sensitive barometers of environmental change. Yet very little is known about their role in ecosystems or their response to change. Working in both the Arctic and Antarctic with a broad range of techniques, including state-of-the-art molecular methods, this project will assess the diversity and make up of this microbial world. It will significantly advance understanding of the diversity and activity of these organisms and their role in climate and global environmental change.

Polarstern’s biggest fish catch in 24 years of research in Antarctic waters. New hope for commercial fisheries? Quite the opposite, a good catch doesn’t necessarily mean that depleted stocks have recovered. Five tons of marbled Antarctic cod (Notothenia rossii), now that was surely a big surprise to scientists and crew alike considering that previous and subsequent hauls barely ever reaped such plentiful harvests. Their shimmering silver and dark blue bodies, which can grow up to 70cm, were piled on the aft deck of Polarstern. In combination with previous stock assessments, fisheries biologists onboard interpreted the catch as a sampling of a discrete, small-scale aggregation of this fish species. ...

Polarstern’s biggest fish catch in 24 years of research in Antarctic waters. New hope for commercial fisheries? Quite the opposite, a good catch doesn’t necessarily mean that depleted stocks have recovered. Five tons of marbled Antarctic cod (Notothenia rossii), now that was surely a big surprise to scientists and crew alike considering that previous and subsequent hauls barely ever reaped such plentiful harvests. Their shimmering silver and dark blue bodies, which can grow up to 70cm, were piled on the aft deck of Polarstern. In combination with previous stock assessments, fisheries biologists onboard interpreted the catch as a sampling of a discrete, small-scale aggregation of this fish species. ...

The overall objective of IPY Arctic GOOS to develop and implement operational monitoring and forecasting systems in the Arctic Ocean and adjacent seas. The systems will be based on state-of-the-art remote sensing, in situ observations, numerical modelling, data assimilation and dissemination techniques. Several components of Arctic GOOS are presently in operation, producing daily information that can be downloaded from web sites.