Introducing Marion 82 Overwintering Team
World Oceans Day 8 June 2025
One Ocean, One Climate, One Future – Together
On 8 June 2025, the SANAP community celebrates World Oceans Day under the powerful theme: One Ocean, One Climate, One Future – Together. At the heart of this theme lies a call to protect our blue planet through collective research, and deepened understanding of the critical role our oceans play in shaping the Earth’s climate and supporting life.
For the South African National Antarctic Programme (SANAP), this is more than a celebration—it’s a reaffirmation of our mission – Understand, Develop and Conserve. Our Southern Ocean research efforts are driven by the urgent need to understand the links between ocean health, climate change, and the wellbeing of future generations. South Africa, as a gateway to Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, plays a key scientific and logistical role in advancing global knowledge of polar and marine systems.
Sometimes called the lungs of the planet, the Southern Ocean absorbs vast amounts of carbon dioxide and heat, making it one of the most crucial regulators of Earth’s climate. It drives ocean circulation, supports unique ecosystems, and connects all major ocean basins. However, it is also one of the fastest-changing regions due to climate change—warming waters, shifting ice dynamics, and altered ecosystems pose challenges that demand urgent scientific attention.
SANAP’s Research Footprint
Through SANAP, South African researchers from various institutions are contributing world-class science to understand and protect the Southern Ocean:
- The University of Cape Town (UCT) leads long-term monitoring programs on carbon fluxes, ocean-atmosphere interactions, and ecosystem responses to warming. MARiS includes the Antarctic MIZ Observations: Interdisciplinary approaches to resolve seasonal sea-ice variability. The SEAmester floating classroom initiative also trains young scientists at sea, combining education with real-time research.
- Stellenbosch University contributes cutting-edge work in marine microbiology and ocean biogeochemistry, studying the role of microscopic life in global carbon cycling and nutrient dynamics.
- Nelson Mandela University focuses on marine top predators, such as seals and penguins, to track ecosystem health and food web shifts in response to
- South African Weather Service project includes the decoding the mercury cycle in the Southern Ocean: in situ observations and advanced modelling
- CSIR – Smart Places – SOCCO has two projects focusing on the Southern Ocean Carbon-Heat Nexus: mixed-layer processes & feedback for improved climate projections and emergent constraints on Southern Ocean phytoplankton physiology (ECOSOPHY)
Jobs available: Gough Overwintering Team 2025-2026
The South African National Antarctic Programme (SANAP) invites applications for the next Gough Island Overwintering Team, who will be stationed at Gough Base from September 2025 to October 2026.
Gough Island, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, lies over 2,500 km from South Africa and is known for its rugged beauty, unique wildlife, and critical role in weather and climate observation. The island is uninhabited apart from the small overwintering team stationed at Gough Base, which plays a vital role in supporting South Africa’s meteorological and environmental research.
Now Recruiting for the 2025–2026 Team
We are looking for skilled, motivated individuals to fill the following overwintering positions(click on position for detailed information:
- Senior Meteorological Technician
- Assistant Meteorological Technician
- Medical Orderly
- Diesel Mechanic
- Communications/Electronics Engineer
- Electrician
CLOSING DATE 16 JUNE 2025
Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment on High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza suspected on sub-Antarctic Marion Island
High pathogenicity avian influenza suspected on sub-Antarctic Marion Island
High pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) virus is suspected to have reached Marion Island, one of South Africa’s two sub-Antarctic islands in the southern Indian Ocean and is possibly responsible for causing mortalities in at least three breeding seabird species.
After an initial suspected case in a Brown Skua in mid-September 2024, another five suspected cases were found in early November 2024, involving three Wandering Albatross chicks and two Southern Giant Petrel adults. The virus can be transported long distances by migrating birds, and this is likely how the virus arrived on Marion Island.
Having spread across the globe since 2021, HPAI (H5N1) was detected in seabirds and marine mammals in South Georgia, southeast of South America, in October 2023. It reached Antarctica in February 2024 and suspected cases were reported from Southern Elephant Seals at Possession Island in the Crozet Archipelago, east of Marion Island, on 21 October 2024.
The Prince Edward Islands, comprising Marion Island and Prince Edward Island, are breeding and moulting sites for millions of seabirds, including almost half of the world’s Wandering Albatrosses and hundreds of thousands of penguins, and are home to large numbers of Southern Elephant Seals and Sub-Antarctic and Antarctic Fur Seals.
The situation is being closely monitored by the 11-field personnel overwintering on the island, who have been trained to recognise possible HPAI signs in birds and seals, and in the necessary monitoring and mitigation methods. They will be taking all precautions to ensure they do not spread the virus, and they are collecting information to assist with decisions about the appropriate response.
The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, the management authority for the Prince Edward Islands, has developed a Protocol for the Management of High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza in Seabirds together with the Western Cape Veterinary Services, marine ornithologists, marine mammal biologists, disease experts and colleagues overseas with similar experience, and will continue to work to monitor and hopefully limit the spread of the virus on the island.
For media queries contact Peter Mbelengwa on 082 611 8197
Gough Bunting – Gough 69 newsletter now available.
Gough 69 Overwintering team newsletter now available. A bumper issue, you’ll get a glimpse of what life on Gough is like—the team’s unforgettable experiences, their personal growth, and the bonds they formed.
A word form the leader: “it’s my pleasure to reflect on the incredible journey we’ve shared over the past months, experiencing both the beauty and the challenges of this remote island. Overwintering on Gough Island has been an extraordinary adventure. Each of us came to this island with our own motivations and expectations, but we’ve grown together into a cohesive team—a family, really.” – Matshediso Meshack Mogorosi
Arrival of vessels on Gough Island’s shores is a momentous occasion, eagerly anticipated by the expedition team due to the island’s extreme remoteness.
Congratulations to South Africa Team at SCAR2024
Well done to all that represented South Africa at XIth SCAR – Open Science Conference & Biennial Meetings in Pucón-Punta Arenas – CHILE during
August 2024.
More posts to follow
