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Australia plans four major Antarctic research campaigns

Heiner Kubny 24. September 2026 | Antarctica, Expeditions, Science

The Australian research icebreaker RSV Nuyina cuts a path through thick Antarctic sea ice. As Australia’s most important floating research platform, the vessel will facilitate research into sea ice, the ocean, krill and climate during the upcoming expeditions. (Photo: Pete Harmsen / Australian Antarctic Program)

Australia intends to significantly expand its research in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean in the coming years. Four major campaigns are set to investigate ice, sea ice, krill and marine ecosystems. The research icebreaker RSV Nuyina will play a key role in this.

Dr Patricia Miloslavich, Head of the Antarctic Monitoring Programme at the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD), presented the plans at the Australian Antarctic Research Conference in Hobart. Around 400 researchers from around the world attended the conference.

On the Antarctic continent, the Million Year Ice Core Project is continuing. The aim is to extract ice deep within the East Antarctic ice sheet that preserves at least one million years of climate history. In addition, scientific work is being carried out along the route from Casey Station to the drilling site in the interior of the continent.

Scientists on board the Australian research icebreaker RSV Nuyina are examining organisms and samples from the Southern Ocean. The ship’s specially equipped laboratories enable krill, plankton and other marine organisms to be analysed immediately after sampling. (Photo: Australian Antarctic Programme/AAD)

Focus on krill and sea ice

The 2027/28 season will see the launch of the KaKE – Krill and Krill Ecosystems campaign. Its aim is to investigate the state of the krill-based ecosystem in the Mawson region. Antarctic krill forms a key food source for whales, seals, penguins and numerous seabirds.

The Marginal Ice Zone Expedition 2028/29 will be particularly unusual. The researchers intend to study the marginal zone of the Antarctic sea ice in September – at the time of the annual maximum ice extent. To date, there have been comparatively few direct observations from this time of year.

Finally, the ECCO Expedition – East Antarctic Ecosystems-CCAMLR, Climate and Ocean is planned for 2029/30. It builds on KaKE and aims to provide data on krill, biodiversity, the ocean and climate. Among other things, the results are intended to improve the scientific basis for potential marine protected areas in East Antarctica.

The research team from the Australian Million Year Ice Core Project at Dome C North in the interior of East Antarctica. Using a specially developed deep-drilling system, the scientists aim to extract an ice core more than three kilometres long, which may contain climate data spanning up to two million years. During the 2025/26 season, the borehole reached a depth of 400.68 metres. (Photo: Australian Antarctic Programme)

The new campaigns form part of Australia’s research strategy and are also integrated into the international Antarctica InSync programme, which aims to coordinate international observations of ice, the ocean, the atmosphere, climate and ecosystems in 2027/28 and 2028/29.

Figures from the AAD highlight just how important long-term research voyages are in this context: between 1990 and 2026, Australian, French and CSIRO research vessels undertook a total of 379 voyages, covering almost 2.5 million kilometres and collecting around 137 million measurements.

Heiner Kubny, PolarJournal