antarctica

Australian ship seeks out whalers
An Australian patrol ship tasked with monitoring Japans whaling fleet has departed from the western city of Perth for waters off Antarctica. The Oceanic Viking, a customs vessel, left Stirling Naval Base on Tuesday night on a 20-day surveillance mission. It will collect photographic and video material for a possible legal challenge against the whalers, Australian officials have said. Japans fleet began its annual whale hunt in mid-November. It plans to kill about 900 minke whales and 50 fin whales by mid-April 2008 as part of what it calls a scientific research programme. But it has suspended plans to kill 50 humpback whales, amid a storm of international criticism. Legal challenge Acting against the whalers was one of the new Labor-led Australian governments election pledges. An Airbus A-319 will also conduct surveillance flights over the fleet. Evidence from the vessels would be used to help Canberra decide if it could take action against the whalers in international ...

Engine repairs free ice trawler
A British trawler stuck in Antarctic ice for more than a week has been repaired and is set to resume fishing once its engine warms up, crew say. A US air force plane was called in to drop a piston to the Argos Georgia, with an icebreaker due to deliver extra parts shortly. A number of British fishermen are among the 25 crew on board the ship, which lost its power in the Ross Sea. Fish master Shane Jennings said the ship would soon be back up to steam. He had earlier said he was extremely relieved that they would be able to free themselves, having been stranded since 23 December. Boring experience Describing how it felt to be stuck in the remote region, he said: It has been okay - a bit boring for the crew but its just part of the job. We have just been on watch, keeping an eye on the ice and making sure we are not running into any danger, or watching videos and playing cards. New Zealand, which is responsible for co-ordinating rescues in the area and has a research base there, ...

Evidence of a warming climate
A chunk of ice the size of the Isle of Man has started to break away from Antarctica in what scientists say is further evidence of a warming climate. Satellite images suggest that part of the ice shelf is disintegrating, and will soon crumble away. The Wilkins Ice Shelf has been stable for most of the last century, but began retreating in the 1990s. Six ice shelves in the same part of the continent have already been lost, says the British Antarctic Survey BAS. Professor David Vaughan of BAS said: Wilkins is the largest ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula yet to be threatened. I didn expect to see things happen this quickly. The ice shelf is hanging by a thread - well know in the next few days or weeks what its fate will be. Like an explosion BAS researchers were alerted to the break-up by daily monitoring of satellite images. They sent a Twin Otter aircraft on a reconnaissance mission to video what was happening. Jim Elliott, who was on board the plane, said he had never ...

Greenpeace heads off whale ship
Greenpeace conservation activists say they have disrupted the Japanese whale hunt near Antarcticas coast by chasing a factory ship out of the whaling zone. Crew from protest ship Esperanza said they were maintaining the chase as the whalers cannot hunt at the same time. A spokesman for Japans whale hunt said Greenpeaces actions were illegal and people should not treat them as heroes. Japans whaling fleet plans to kill about 900 minke whales and 50 fin whales by mid-April. The hunt is part of what it calls a scientific research programme, permitted under a clause in International Whaling Commission rules. But Australia and other nations say the same research goals could be achieved using non-lethal methods, and call the research programme a front for commercial whaling. The hunt has suspended plans to kill 50 humpback whales, amid a storm of international criticism. Hunting the hunters A number of ships are in southern waters on the trail of the hunters, including an ...