Aerial views of migrating land mammals are not that unusual today, but videos of migrating Arctic marine mammals were—until this past summer.
A camera crew aboard a helicopter captured the summer migration of the narwhal, an elusive, medium-size whale, for a natural history unit of the British Broadcasting Company (BBC). According to a news story […]
Polar News and Notes
Oceans
Camera Crew in the Air Captures Narwhal Migration
Monday, February 23rd, 2009 3:09 pm
Written by: Carolyn Hamilton
Polar Day, March 18, Focuses on Oceans
Friday, February 20th, 2009 2:51 pm
Written by: Carolyn Hamilton
March 18 will be the eighth quarterly Polar Day sponsored by the International Polar Year (IPY) organization to enable schools and other groups worldwide to join in celebration of polar research. The March theme is Polar Oceans.
Ocean-related activities will continue throughout the week of March 17-26. Resources provided by IPY include virtual balloon launches, activities […]
Posted in Topics: Antarctica, Arctic, Education, International Polar Year, Oceans, Polar News & Notes, Upcoming Opportunities
Yellow Submarine Probes Under Ice Shelves
Thursday, January 15th, 2009 11:06 am
Written by: Carolyn Hamilton
Even though they must have known they would be asked about the similarity to the title of a Beatles’ song, British researchers nevertheless painted a new robot submarine bright yellow. Denying the connection, an engineer said yellow makes it easy to spot the robot when it surfaces from under ice shelves in Antarctica.
The seven-foot robot […]
Posted in Topics: Antarctica, Current News, Oceans, Polar News & Notes
Wilkins Ice Sheet at Risk of Breaking Off
Monday, December 8th, 2008 10:26 am
Written by: Carolyn Hamilton
The European Space Agency reports new rifts on the Wilkins Ice Sheet, which is connected to two islands by a strip of ice. The rifts could cause the largest ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula to destroy the strip, or bridge, of ice that has been preventing the shelf from breaking away.
Wilkins Ice Sheet, […]
Posted in Topics: Antarctica, Current News, Education, Oceans, Polar News & Notes
Thousands of Underwater Species Identified, Many from the Polar Regions
Tuesday, November 25th, 2008 12:34 pm
Written by: Carolyn Hamilton
The World Conference on Marine Biodiversity, meeting in Valencia, Spain, in mid-November, received the fourth report on the Census of Marine Life, which is being compiled by 2,000 scientists from 82 nations. It will be officially released in October 2010.
This report revealed some amazing new findings about life in the ocean depths. In a […]
Posted in Topics: Animals, Antarctica, Arctic, Current News, International Polar Year, Oceans, Polar News & Notes, Science
Storms and Drifting Sea Ice Are Linked in Global Warming Study
Monday, October 13th, 2008 8:37 am
Written by: Carolyn Hamilton
Stormy weather in the Arctic may have unanticipated effects on global warming, according to a new study by NASA. Researchers were looking to confirm a theory that a warming climate could cause an increase in storminess. They now believe it may be possible that new sinks for carbon dioxide may emerge from the relationship between […]
Posted in Topics: Arctic, Current News, Oceans, Polar News & Notes
Polar News & Notes: Scalding Hot Water Found Within the Arctic Circle
Wednesday, August 20th, 2008 9:00 am
Written by: Carolyn Hamilton
Well inside the Arctic Circle, scientists have found vents in the submerged Mid-Atlantic Ridge spewing out water as hot as 570 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the farthest north anyone has seen black smoker vents — so called because it appears as if dark smoke is billowing from them. In fact, the “smoke” is actually iron- […]
Posted in Topics: Arctic, Current News, Oceans, Polar News & Notes, Scientists in the field
Polar News & Notes: Pacific Marine Life Expected to Invade the Arctic
Friday, August 15th, 2008 9:00 am
Written by: Carolyn Hamilton
After three million years of being frozen out, mollusks and other marine creatures in the North Pacific will be able to move into the Arctic Ocean thanks to global warming. Researchers from the University of California and the California Academy of Sciences say warmer waters and ice-free conditions will likely allow Pacific species of mussels, […]
Posted in Topics: Arctic, Current News, Oceans, Polar News & Notes
Polar News & Notes: Children’s Author Travels to Antarctica
Friday, May 16th, 2008 9:00 am
Written by: Jessica Fries-Gaither
Nancy Etchemendy
On May 26, 2008, published author Nancy Etchemendy will embark on the journey of a lifetime: the first of two research expeditions to Antarctica. On her blog, Etchmendy describes how an “unlikely series of events” resulted in an invitation to join the marine biology expeditions. The trip in May is a month-long voyage aboard the National […]
Posted in Topics: Antarctica, Current News, International Polar Year, Oceans, Polar News & Notes, Reading, Technology, Upcoming Broadcasts
Polar News & Notes: Taking the Pulse of the Southern Ocean
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008 1:50 pm
Written by: Carolyn Hamilton
On April 17, the RSV Aurora Australis docked in Hobart, Australia, with what the chief scientist aboard called “a remarkable data set of observations from the Southern Ocean, covering a wide range of physical, chemical and biological variables.”
A team of scientists had spent the past four weeks on the research and supply vessel measuring ocean […]
Posted in Topics: Antarctica, Current News, International Polar Year, Oceans, Polar News & Notes, Scientists in the field
Posted in Topics: Animals, Arctic, Current News, Education, Oceans, Polar News & Notes, Scientists in the field
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