In celebration of International Women’s Day, we came in contact with Tanganedzani “Tanga” Tshitavhe. She is an Assistant Meteorological Technician, for the South African Weather Service (SAWS), on the sub-Antarctic Marion Island.
This is a strong woman, with passion for her work and the sub-Antarctic environment. She also has a great sense of humour.
This is her message for all women out there:
“Today we celebrate the resilience, strength, grace, and beauty of women all around the world. On this day, let’s remember the importance of equity, work towards creating a more inclusive world, and honour the contributions and achievements of women”.
I mentioned she has a great sense of humour:
Today we are having a clear sky (sunshine) on Marion Island and as the Weather-Lady, here is a Sun pun.
Question:
Why is the Sun not very heavy to carry?
Answer:
Because it is very light
Wishing you all a happy International Women’s Day day filled with joy and laughter.
Text and photos supplied by: Tanganedzani Tshitavhe (Marion79)
Edited: Anche Louw, South African Polar Research Infrastructure (Data, Products and Society Node), 08 March 2023.
Today, 05 March, marks the one-year anniversary of the discovery of the Endurance, the sunken ship of Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton. Two images taken on the Endurance22 expedition were included in the National Geographic Pictures of the Year (2022).
In February and March 2022, a major international scientific expedition explored one of the coldest, harshest and most remote places on earth, to find Sir Ernest Shackleton’s lost ship, the Endurance. The Endurance22 expedition was the first to locate and investigate Sir Ernest Shackleton’s lost ship, which sank in the Weddell Sea in Antarctica in 1915.
What a privilege it is for the South African research and supply vessel, with ice braking capacity, the S.A. Agulhas II, to have been selected as the main infrastructural support for the Endurance22 expedition. The S.A. Agulhas II and its crew is part of this very special day in history and to top it off, National Geographic has included an image of the S.A. Agulhas II in its 2022 Pictures of the Year selection (see image below). The image was taken by Esther Horvath, the official photographer aboard during the Endurance22 expedition. The image shows the S.A. Agulhas II maneuvering among ice floes in the Weddell Sea in stormy weather. National Geographic states that “out of millions of images, just 49 were selected as the best photos of the year”.
Photo of the S.A. Agulhas II maneuvering among ice floes in the Weddell Sea in stormy weather. Credit: Esther Horvath (supplied).
Esther Horvath’s story behind the photo:
The ship was busy for 24/7 as time was tight for the search. I took the photo on the night of February 26, 2022 on the S.A. Agulhas II in the Weddell Sea while the ship was navigating between thick ice floes. Navigation was possible using satellite imagery over the ice floes. During the night after completing one search, the ship was moved to the next search area. I was standing in the snowstorm above the bridge outside on the deck called the “monkey island.” It was very difficult for me to open my eyes because the snow was poking my eyes like needles. I could only stand there for a few minutes because the wind and the very cold temperatures bit into my bones.
Another image selected for the National Geographic 2022 Pictures of the Year is the image of the stern of the Endurance wreck, taken by Nico Vincent and his autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) team.
Stern of the Endurance wreck taken by Nico Vincent and his AUV team. Source: https://endurance22.org/endurance22-news/endurance22-gallery.
Meet Esther Horvath, the official photographer aboard the S.A. Agulhas II during the Endurance22 expedition
Esther Horvath. Credit: Stefanie Arndt
Esther Horvath is a contributor photographer for National Geographic and a photographer for the German Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research. Since 2015, her work has focused on documenting climate research and scientific expeditions in the polar regions with behind-the-scenes science stories. By documenting the work of scientific groups and the lives of scientists who provide important climate data, Esther hopes to help people better understand what is actually happening in the polar regions and, in collaboration with scientists, raise public awareness of this fragile environment. In 2020, Esther won 1st prize at the World Press Photo Awards in the Environmental single category. In 2022, she received the Infinity Award from the International Center of Photography in New York for her work raising awareness about conservation, environmental justice, and climate change. She is the author of “Into the Arctic Ice”, which chronicles the largest scientific expedition to the Arctic Ocean of our time, called MOSAiC.
Watch: Endurance podcast by National Geographic about Endurance22
Text by: Esther Horvath, contributor photographer for National Geographic and a photographer for the German Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research.
Edited by: Anche Louw, South African Polar Research Infrastructure (Data, Products & Society Node), 05 March 2023.
Mayibongwe Buthelezi, a PhD student from University of Pretoria, is currently participating in the 30th Atlantic Meridional Transect cruise (AMT-30).
The AMT (Atlantic Meridional Transect) cruises are a series of research voyages conducted annually across the Atlantic Ocean, from the UK to the Caribbean, to study the ocean’s biogeochemistry, ecology, and physical properties. The cruises are multidisciplinary and include scientists from around the world. As part of the cruise, samples are collected at multiple depths and locations along the transect (read more about AMT here and here).
SANAP Project Involved: Enhanced insights regarding the ecology, evolution and function of marine microbiomes
Project Principal Investigator: Prof Thulani P. Makhalanyane
The South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) Chair in Marine Microbiomics has a SANAP funded project focused on understanding microbiomes in the Southern Ocean and South Atlantic. The project titled “Enhanced insights regarding the ecology, evolution and function of marine microbiomes.” As part of this project, we have initiated a series of collaborative activities to access and join international cruises through the EU funded AtlantECO program.
Mayibongwe Butlelezi, a NRF/SANAP funded PhD student from the University of Pretoria, was selected to join this 6-week cruise aboard the Discovery. AMT30 has departed from the Falkland Islands on 21 February 2023. As far as we know, Mayi is the sole South African representee on the cruise. His project is focused on understanding the role played by marine microorganisms in the sulphur cycle. Specifically, Mayi will collect samples using protocols developed as part of the AtlantECO project to study microbiomes along the water column and to specifically quantify DMSP (Dimethylsulfoniopropionate).
Follow the work of Prof Makhalanyane and his team on Twitter:
We are delighted to say #AMT30 has departed to embark upon a 6 week expedition sampling the South and North Atlantic Oceans. This will provide a continuation of AMT measurements since 1995 to enable decadal scale ecosystem changes to be detected. #DY157https://t.co/2ZNv2UyCbepic.twitter.com/fShDHb2rLu
The Data, Products and Society (DPS) Node of the South African Polar Research Infrastructure (SAPRI) is planned to bring together the SAPRI Data Centre, the various types of generated data and downstream products, including modelling and the societal outreach program.
DPS is built on a phased integrating approach. The Antarctic Legacy of South Africa (ALSA) contributed to creating a community ethos, via the creation and administration of the ALSA and South African National Antarctic Programme (SANAP) websites as well as updates on the different social media platforms. The potential for this initiative to become a reference for the South African “polar society” at large is enormous, and it is at the core of the DPS facility. Building on the ALSA experience, and through a complete integration of ALSA within SAPRI, it will bring the infrastructure closer to research/training institutions and stakeholders that have historically been less involved with polar science.
The appointment of the DPS Node Coordinator (Manager), Dr Anne Treasure, and the Digital Marketing and Communications Manager, Anche Louw, were approved by the DPS User Fora and the SAPRI interim advisory committee in March 2022 to ensure the integration of ALSA in phases and to establish data management within SAPRI. The committee and User Fora approved that the DPS node will be hosted at Stellenbosch University and the node was established in November 2022.
Dr Anne Treasure has been part of ALSA for the past 5 years as a collaborator, with a focus on data management, and is currently fulfilling the role of SA representative on the Standing Committee on Antarctic Data Management (SCADM) at the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) as well as on the SA National Committee for SCAR. Dr Anne Treasure was on the SAPRI proposal writing committee, and was responsible for compiling the data management, and the data infrastructure and system requirements that will be implemented within SAPRI. She will have a huge impact on implementing the data management component of SAPRI. The DPS Coordinator is to bring this Infrastructure together with its different components to support the community of SAPRI and all its stakeholders, including all governance structures such as the SAPRI management team, the advisory committee, and the User Fora, as well as the SANAP community, which includes overwintering team members (past and present), scientists and researchers, vessel crew, maintenance crew and take-over personnel. The coordinator will ensure to make the data centre, products, and society available to all stakeholders and a large component will be to inform national and international communities about the work done by South Africa in the polar environment. Anne has overwintered on Marion Island as part of Marion 65 (ALSA Archive) and has participated in many Marion take-overs and other visits to the island. She has also spent time on Prince Edward Island, and has participated in many oceanographic research cruises, including ice experience.
Anche Louw has been part of ALSA for the past 9 years, first on part-time basis and later as Communicator, Assistant Project Manager and Co-Investigator. Anche specialises in digital marketing and has built a huge social media presence for ALSA and SANAP. She is a SA representative on the Standing Committee on Humanities and Social Sciences (SCHASS) at SCAR and on the SA National Committee for SCAR. She is a member of the action group for Public Engagement with Antarctic Research (PEAR) at SCAR and was nominated for the SCAR medal on outreach and awareness in 2022. Her current position at ALSA will now be carried on within SAPRI as part of the integration of ALSA in phases. Her role as the Digital Marketing and Communications (DMC) Manager is to maintain the relevant websites related to SAPRI, SANAP and ALSA. A huge role is keeping track of digital marketing trends and to ensure that SAPRI and its stakeholders have a social media presence on a daily basis, on a national and international level. The DMC Manager is to bring the awareness and outreach together with its different components to support the community of the South African Polar Research Infrastructure and all its stakeholders, as well as the SANAP community, which includes overwintering team members (past and present), scientists and researchers, vessel crew, maintenance crew and take-over personnel. Anche has overwintered on Marion Island as part of Marion 70, participated in take-overs to Marion Island and has visited SANAE IV during the 2019 take-over. Anche has represented SA at various international conferences and has visited four of the five Gateway Cities to Antarctica (Punta Arenas, Chile; Ushuaia, Argentina; Cape Town, South Africa and Hobart, Australia).
The DPS Manager, DMC Manager, together with ALSA need to manage a space that makes the community feel it is their own, and to showcase the work done by all those in the community. The DPS node has a cross-cutting role and the DMC Manager needs to engage with the other SAPRI components to transform the perception of the polar environment in society. The DPS node will play a major role in transforming, consolidating, and strengthening polar sciences.
SAPRI proposal has been approved by the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) as part of the South African Roadmap Infrastructure (SARIR) in 2021. As Principal investigator of the Antarctic Legacy of South Africa (ALSA) Project I have been involved since the start of the SAPRI proposal. SAPRI is also based on the Antarctic and Southern Ocean plan (2014) and the Marine and Antarctic Strategy (2016).
Ria Olivier, Antarctic Legacy of South Africa, 17 January 2023
The appointment of the DPS Node Coordinator (Manager), Dr Anne Treasure, and the Digital Marketing and Communications Manager, Anche Louw, were approved by the DPS User Fora and the SAPRI interim advisory committee in March 2022 to ensure the integration of ALSA in phases and to establish data management within SAPRI. The committee and User Fora approved that the DPS node will be hosted at 
Dr Anne Treasure has been part of ALSA for the past 5 years as a collaborator, with a focus on data management, and is currently fulfilling the role of SA representative on the Standing Committee on Antarctic Data Management (
Anche Louw has been part of ALSA for the past 9 years, first on part-time basis and later as Communicator, Assistant Project Manager and Co-Investigator. Anche specialises in digital marketing and has built a huge social media presence for ALSA and SANAP. She is a SA representative on the Standing Committee on Humanities and Social Sciences (
The DPS Manager, DMC Manager, together with ALSA need to manage a space that makes the community feel it is their own, and to showcase the work done by all those in the community. The DPS node has a cross-cutting role and the DMC Manager needs to engage with the other SAPRI components to transform the perception of the polar environment in society. The DPS node will play a major role in transforming, consolidating, and strengthening polar sciences.
