Scott Expedition Explorer's Daughter Dies on Way to Antarctica

Here is a sad story about the daughter of one of the support team for Scott's ill-fated 1912 expedition to the South Pole dying on her way to her father's field laboratory in Antarctica. Her father was Edward Nelson, who traveled to Antarctica with Scott, but was not one of the ones that went to the pole and thus was among one of the survivors of that expedition. Barbara Johns, 93, died on Wednesday, February 18, 2009, on a cruise ship to the Antarctic after falling and hitting her head on board the ship during a storm. Her son, Andrew Hays, 65, was on the trip with her. The ship is continuing as planned and a moment of silence will be observed in her honor when they get there.

Encounters At the End of the World Nominated for Oscar

Encounters at the End of the World, which is a documentary about Antarctica and the people that work down there, is one of the five movies nominated in the Documentary Feature category for the 81st Annual Academy Awards. The Awards/Oscars are being given out tomorrow night, February 21, 2009. The show will be shown during prime time on ABC. I do not tend to pay much attention to this award, but this year if I am not busy when it is on I might just check it out to find out if this movie wins. Of course, I can just as easily wait until the info is online, so if I have something more interesting to do/watch at that time I will probably do that instead. Anyways I am still totally rooting for the Antarctic documentary to win, especially since it is a great one that shows that there is way more to Antarctica than penguins.

Germany's Neumayer III Antarctic Station to be Deicated Tomorrow

Here is an article about Germany's latest Neumayer station. It seems pretty common for stations to have numbers after them, as they do not always last long and then are replaced by new buildings that are named the same with a new number after them. The latest one is expected to last longer, though, because it is built on hydraulic to help keep it from being buried in snow for a longer period of time than the previous ones. It will be dedicated tomorrow, February 20, 2009, by phone from Berlin by the German Minister of Education and Research, Annette Schavan.

Video Games with Penguins: Endless Ocean for Nintendo Wii

Endless Ocean is a sort of relaxing diving simulation game. You basically just go scuba diving and interact with different ocean life. This is a make believe ocean that combines a variety of real life creatures. The creatures included in the game include several penguin species.

Whale Wars 2008-2009 Ends

This year's Whale Wars between the Japanese and the Sea Shepherds has ended. The Sea Shepherds are returning to port because they have used up their fuel and resources for this year. They hope to return next year and stop whaling for a longer part of the season with a bigger and faster vessel. Read more about this news here.

Whale Wars 2008-2009: Activists and Japanese Collide

The latest news related to the Whale Wars in the ocean around Antarctica is that things have heated up some more. The Sea Shepherds' ship, the Steve Irwin, collided into one of the Japanese harpoon ships. It sounds worse than it actually was (i.e. it is not as aggressive as it may sound). They were following one of the harpoon ships when another harpoon ship got in their way and they could not maneuver the Steve Irwin in a way to avoid the collision. The Japanese were preventing the Sea Shepherds from getting in the way of them bringing a dead whale aboard the other ship (the one not hit). Neither of the boats were seriously damaged.

TV Shows with Penguins: The Penguins of Madagascar

The Penguins of Madagascar is a new Nickelodeon animated cartoon based on the characters from the Madagascar movies with a particular emphasis on the penguins and their missions. The sneak peak of this show first aired back in November. I watched it then, but never got around to posting about it on here. I noticed the sneak peak is airing again this Saturday, February 7, 20009, on Nickelodeon and Sunday, February 15, 2009. The show really starts airing with new episodes starting March 28, 2009. I am kind of excited for the show to start with some new episodes, but not as expectantly as before I saw the preview. The preview kind of took the hopes of a fun show because it has too much of the annoying Julien character. I thought it would be more like the penguins Christmas Caper short that came with the first Madagascar movie. Now that short was great and the show could have been great if they had just kept the annoying Julien out of it or at least made him a very very minor recurring character.

Whale Wars 2008-2009: Japanese Deny Using Weapons

Here is an article about the Japanese saying they did not use weapons against the anti-whaling activists. The activists have claimed that the Japanese injured two of their crew by using a "water cannon, concussion grenades, acoustic weapons and threw brass and lead balls." The Japanese only admit to using hoses on the activists after issuing a warning. The Japanese claim that the activists threw dye and strong smelling liquid at the boats and that is the only thing I am sure is true, as that is a known tactic of the activists.

Whale Wars 2008-2009: Activists Closing in on Japanese

Here is a recent news article about the anti-whaling activists having spotted the Japanese fleet, including two harpoon vessels. They just recently returned to the Whale Wars after having to stop in Tasmania to refuel. Now that they have spotted the fleet they are on their tails and probably going to end up with some confrontations.