Category: Animals

Do Polar Bears Kiss?

Polar Journal AG Team

A 2026 Ig Nobel Prize went to scientists who redefined what counts as a kiss. Under this new definition, polar bears apparently kiss too.

The first emperor penguin chicks have arrived

Rosamaria Kubny

At the Auster Rookery in East Antarctica, a new chapter in life is beginning for thousands of emperor penguins.

The secret of the narwhal’s tusk has been unravelled

Heiner Kubny

The narwhal’s spiral-shaped tusk is one of the most unusual structures in the animal kingdom. It can grow to more than two metres in length, yet remains almost perfectly straight.

Emperor penguins defy the receding ice

Rosamaria Kubny

Emperor penguins are more dependent on fixed breeding sites than many other seabirds. However, new analyses of decades of satellite imagery show that some colonies are surprisingly flexible in their response to the loss of sea ice.

Krill fishery reaches catch limit months ahead of schedule

Heiner Kubny

The krill fishery in Antarctica has once again been brought to a premature close in 2026. The 620,000-tonne threshold had already been reached in the South Atlantic fishing grounds by 12 August.

Narwhals become research assistants in Greenland

Yana Kirichenko

A group of narwhals has helped scientists fill major gaps in observations of East Greenland's coastal waters, providing measurements from places that research vessels rarely reach.

Penguin fossils become climate archives

Rosamaria Kubny

Millions of years old penguin bones from Seymour Island provide surprisingly precise insights into how the Antarctic climate once changed.

Why krill does not clog fin whales’ baleen

Heiner Kubny

With every gulp, fin whales take in huge quantities of krill and seawater. New research shows that their baleen should actually become clogged in the process.

Bird Flu Threat: Australia Withdraws Team from Macquarie Island

Rosamaria Kubny

Australia is taking an extraordinary precautionary measure on Macquarie Island: Due to the threat of the spread of the highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza, the research station’s staff is to be temporarily evacuated from the sub-Antarctic island.

New Bird Flu Case in Svalbard Polar Bear

Yana Kirichenko

This makes it the third confirmed case of bird flu in a polar bear worldwide, but evidence suggests exposure on Svalbard is far more widespread.