Category: Uncategorized

The time Polynesians lived in the subantarctic

NOTE: This is an AI-generated image, created to ilustrate what Polynesians on Enderby Island might have looked like. There is no scientific accuracy in their clothing or the landscape behind them. Source: Stable Diffusion prompted by Polar Journal AG

Ole Ellekrog

A new study shows that Enderby Island, 500 kilometers south of New Zealand, was settled by Polynesians for about 70 years.

The Polar Retrospective - A Canadian apology, a new airport, and a French-Chilean friendship

Administrator

This week, we look at a mass-slaughter of sled-dogs, an airport expansion, and a French-Chiliean cooperation that may extent to Antarctica.

When AI reinvents the polar regions

Mirjana Binggeli

With the proliferation of AI-generated videos on the internet, a false and stereotypical image of the polar world is spreading, with the risk of replacing the discourse of polar experts.

The Polar Retrospective - A slowing ocean stream, an Antarctic cure for bananas, and whales colliding with ships

Administrator

The Polar Retrospective looks at recent scientific publications from the world's polar regions. This week, we look at studies on bananas, whale-ship collisions, and an important Atlantic ocean stream that may soon slow down.

Albatross chicks, freed from Amsterdam rats?

Camille Lin

A deratting and mouse eradication team has just returned from the French Southern and Antarctic Lands after five months of operations. While we wait to be sure that the birds are free of these introduced predators, let's take a look back at the implementation of this mission, the great success of South Georgia and the Mouse-Free Marion project.

Chile has strengthened the application of Antarctic law

Camille Lin

Over the past year, Chile has taken steps to enforce its Antarctic Law, adopted in 2020, by including behaviors prohibited in Antarctica in the list of acts subject to sanctions, defined in a 2023 law on economic crimes. Interview with Catalina Sepúlveda, Antarctic law expert.

New election for the Sami Parliament, a blow to the self-determination of this people in Finland

Camille Lin

After giving in to the pressure of around a hundred appeals, the Finnish Supreme Court invalidated the 2023 elections organized by the Electoral Commission of the Sami Parliament. Seventy-two people will be forcibly added to the electorate for the upcoming elections in June. According to international organizations that fight for respect for the rights of indigenous populations, this is a means of influencing the vote in favor of non-Sami people.

Caroline Mikkelsen - the first lady in Antarctica?

Christian Hug

Caroline Mikkelsen was probably the first woman on the Antarctic mainland. But actually only by chance.

Sonobuoy study suggests Antarctic blue whale population is increasing

Researcher Dr Susannah Calderan about to deploy one of the sonobuoys used to record blue whale calls and songs. Photo: Dave Allen, Australian Antarctic Division

Ole Ellekrog

The study analyzed data across the Southern Ocean from 2006 until 2021.

When polar bear research comes to zoos

Mirjana Binggeli

An emblematic animal of the Far North, the polar bear is regularly the subject of scientific research, notably in zoos, to better study and understand the King of the Arctic.