by Ria Olivier | Jun 21, 2022 | Antarctica, Current Event, International Days, Marion Island, News, Overwintering Team, Prince Edward Islands, SANAE, SANAP, Southern Ocean, Stations
Midwinter’s Day (21 June) is celebrated by the South African National Antarctic Programme (SANAP) overwintering teams on Antarctica (SANAE 61), Marion Island (Marion 79), and Gough Island (Gough 67).
Midwinter is the shortest day, and for those on Antarctica, the darkest day, of the year.
Overwintering teams from all over the world send greeting cards to each other, to family and friends, and to their national Antarctic program communities. We received greeting cards from the three SANAP overwintering teams, wishing all of you a happy midwinter!
Midwinter greetings from the 79th overwintering team on South Africa’s sub-Antarctic Marion Island.
On Antarctica, Midwinter is the midpoint of a time of darkness and extreme isolation and the SANAE team will also celebrate this today!
Midwinter greetings from the 61st SANAE Overwintering Team, on Antarctica.
Midwinter greeting from the 67th Gough Island Overwintering team!
We asked the teams what their plans are for today:
Marion Island: “We are having a nice braai and midwinter games”.
Gough Island: “We have actually already started our own midwinter tournament knockouts (with our semifinals and finals today)! We have a number of events including pool, table tennis, darts, fuzzball, checkers, chess and Mario Cart (TV game).
Quite an exciting lineup”.
SANAE IV: “We will celebrate with some midwinter games”.
Do you want to know more about the teams?
Click here to meet Marion 79!
Click here to meet Gough 67!
Click here to meet SANAE 61!
Thank you for the greeting cards SANAP teams, have a great day!
Anche Louw, Antarctic Legacy of South Africa, 21 June 2022.
by Ria Olivier | Jun 7, 2022 | Announcement, Marion Island, Overwintering Team, SANAP, sub-Antarctic, Team Photo
The 78th Marion Island Overwintering Team – Official Team Photo.
(L-R) Back: Rodney Phoko Matjomane (Diesel Mechanic), Danielle Conry (Field Assistant: Killer Whaler/Sealer), Frikkie van der Vyver (Field Assistant: Sealer), Charles Thomas (Base Engineer), Siwe Khoza (Radio Technician), Yinhla Shihlomule (Field Assistant: Sealer), Thando Cebekhulu (Field Assistant: O&C Seabirds), Zenande Kabase (Field Assistant: Geomorphology), Tlhoholofatso (Steve) Tebele (Assistant Meteorological Technician), DJ Van Wyk (SANSA Engineer and Science Team Leader); (middle) Sanele Mkhonza (Environmental Control Officer), Fanisa Phakula (Assistant Meteorological Technician), Isabel Micklem (Field Assistant: Seabirds), Nivek Ghazi (UKZN Astrophysics Engineer), Siyasanga Mpehle (Senior Meteorological Technician and Deputy Team Leader), Bubele Nongwejana (Medical Orderly and Team Leader), Sydney Tshilingalinga (Assistant Environmental Control Officer); (front) Eleanor Weideman (Field Assistant: Seabird Conservation).
The team departed from Cape Town, onboard the S.A. Agulhas II, on the 9th of April 2021. Three team members (Thando Cebekhulu, Yinhla Shihlomule, and Frikkie van der Vyver) of the 77th Marion overwintering team stayed behind, forming part of Marion 78. Read more here. Marion 78 arrived back in Cape Town on the 22nd of May 2022.
Click on the buttons below for more about Marion 78
Meet the Marion 78 team
M78 Team Logo
Season’s Greeting Card
Team news published on the SANAP website
Newsletters published by M78
M78 Team buff, badge and other apparel.
Team photo supplied by DJ Van Wyk (M78 SANSA Engineer and Science Team Leader).
Anche Louw, Antarctic Legacy of South Africa, 07 June 2021.
by Ria Olivier | Jun 3, 2022 | Announcement, Research, SA Agulhas II, SA Polar Research Infrastructure, SANAP, SAPolarRI, Science, Southern Ocean, STEM
The South African Polar Research Infrastructure has been recently established through funding from the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI). SAPRI is a consortium of institutions led by the South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON) that enables scientific research in polar sciences. Among the various aims, it will promote and support participation in the South African National Antarctic Program (SANAP) by institutions that have not been historically involved in polar sciences.
As part of this transformation program, SAPRI will support the participation of 10 early career researchers to an upcoming research cruise on the S.A. Agulhas II departing on the 11th of July 2022. The scientific program will cover a variety of polar disciplines, from open ocean sampling to sea ice measurements. The projects are currently part of the SANAP and other NRF-funded projects with topics in the Southern Ocean and are led by internationally renowned scientists, with the participation of international teams.
The “SAPRI trainees” can be either early career researchers with an interest to grow their career in the polar sciences or more established researchers that would like to broaden their horizons. It is aimed at people who are early career (post-MSc) or established scientists and technicians who will remain in the system either through a Postdoc or being employed. They will participate in seminars on board the ship and will be exposed to the science done by the various projects, with direct hands-on experience through job shadowing and direct sampling. This is an opportunity to expand your current research topics and to build a network that would be helpful for your own projects. The group of SAPRI trainees will eventually become leaders of individual projects in their own universities.
This is a last-minute call specifically addressed to institutions and topics that have not been traditionally part of the SANAP. This includes aspects of social and economical sciences that are relevant to the polar sciences. As such, we require a prompt response from researchers and postgraduate students (MSc, MPhil, PhD). Participants will need a valid passport and be ready to go through a quarantine period of 7 days prior to departure.
Chief Scientist: A/Prof Marcello Vichi (MARiS)
KEY DATES:
8 June 2022: Applications Close
5 July 2022: Quarantine in dedicated hotel
11 July 2022: Departure at East Pier, Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, Cape Town Harbour.
31 July 2022: Arrival at East Pier, Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, Cape Town Harbour
COSTS: The SAPRI will cover the costs for transportation, quarantine stay and medicals. Ship costs will be covered by the NRF.
Expression of Interest: Click here!
To view the SCALE Crusie Report of 2019:
Click here!
DEADLINE: 08 June 2022
by Ria Olivier | Jun 1, 2022 | Announcement, Antarctica, Engineering, News, Newsletters>SANAE Newsletters, Overwintering Team, SANAE, SANAP, Stations, Team member
In this edition:
- Sunsets on Antarctica
- Birthday celebrations
- Get to know the team’s SANSA (South African National Space Agency) HF Radar/ VLF Engineer – Mfezeko Rataza, who celebrated his birthday on 16 April.
What do you find most challenging about being in Antarctica?
Mfezeko: “The job involve learning about climbing techniques and rope work, because we have to go up these 30 meters antenna to service them whenever there is a breakage sometimes in very cold conditions ( -15 degrees). Imagine trying to tighten a nut with your bear hands when frostbite start to occur after 2-3 minutes exposure”.
Want to read more? Click here to download the April 2022 issue.
Images from S61 April Newsletter. “Fez (Mfezeko) with his SANSA team by the Antennas”.
Birthday Card to Mfezeko Rataza (S61 SANSA Engineer) from Antarctic Legacy of South Africa – 16 April 2022.
Click here to view all the newsletters SANAE 61 has published to this date.
Anche Louw, Antarctic Legacy of South Africa, 01 June 2022
by Ria Olivier | May 31, 2022 | Announcement, Gough Island, Marion Island, News, Prince Edward Island, SANAP, Science, Southern Ocean, sub-Antarctic, Tristan da Cunha
Congratulations to Prof Peter Ryan, awarded with the BirdLife South Africa Gill Memorial Medal, for an outstanding lifetime contribution to ornithology in southern Africa.
Prof Ryan, an A-rated Ornithologist and Director of the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology at the University of Cape Town, has been part of the South African National Antarctic Programme for more than two decades, doing research on seabirds breeding on Marion Island and the Tristan archipelago, which includes Gough Island. Prof Ryan’s latest research within SANAP is focused on “Avian scavengers as indicators of recovery of an island biota”, co-led with Dr Maëlle Connan (Research Fellow in the Marine Apex Predator Research Unit, Nelson Mandela University). Click here to read more about this project.
He is the author and co-author of a number of books on seabirds and the sub-Antarctic islands. Here is his latest publication: Guide to Seabirds of Southern Africa.
The Citation for Prof Ryan’s award – Click here.
In 2012, John Cooper, who was extensively involved in long-term seabird monitoring studies on Gough and Marion islands since the 1980s, received this award for his outstanding contribution to ornithology in southern Africa.
Featured Image: Prof Peter Ryan at the 5th SANAP Symposium (2018) in Hermanus, where he presented his work on “Plastics in Antarctica – preliminary findings from the Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition (ACE).
Anche Louw, Antarctic Legacy of South Africa, 31 May 2022
by Ria Olivier | May 18, 2022 | Announcement, Discover, Gateway cities, International Days, Prince Edward Island, Prince Edward Islands, Research, SA Agulhas II, SANAE, SANAP, Science, Southern Ocean, Stations, sub-Antarctic
Free entrance to Iziko Museums of South Africa today, 18 May 2022.
Visit the Sentinels of the South Exhibition at Iziko Museum of South Africa, Cape Town.
This exhibition will give you insight into the history, discoveries, and current role of South Africa’s Antarctic and Southern Ocean exploration. Read more here.
Anche Louw, Antarctic Legacy of South Africa, 18 May 2022
