Part of Old South Pole Base on Display at New Seabee Museum

The new US Navy Seabee Museum has it's grand opening ceremony tomorrow, July 22, 2011. The new museum has an Antarctic exhibit that I really hope to see someday. The exhibit has pieces of the South Pole Geodesic dome base mounted above so you can look up and see it similar to how the base was at the South Pole until the latest South Pole base was completed. The pieces were dismantled in 2009 and brought to the museum in 2010. The Antarctic exhibit also has a subzero polar suit and the control panel from the South Pole base.

Related Links:

US Navy Seabee Museum Website

McVite's Penguin Biscuits Donate £100,000 to WWF

The UK based McVite's Biscuits has supported WWF in the past and continues their partnership this year with another £100,000 donation from their McVite's Penguin brand of biscuits.  The money goes to helping WWF's various conservation efforts with the main focus of the donation being to support WWF's efforts to protect Antarctic penguins.  The funds will help develop and protect feeding grounds in the Southern Ocean.  It will also be used for continued research on climate change and the effect on Antarctic penguin colonies.

McVite's Penguin biscuits are milk chocolate covered biscuits with chocolate cream.  Check out their website for some penguin activities and to learn more about penguins.

Whale Wars Reunion Episode to Air August 12, 2011

Animal Planet will air a special Reunion Episode of Whale Wars featuring Lisa Ling interviewing Captain Paul Watson and his crew.  This is sort of a wrap of up of Whale Wars with the very real possibility that the so called war has been won and it will be their final season of their activities in Antarctica with it seeming that the Japanese will stop their whale hunts.

Learn more about the series (now in its 4th season) here.

New research shows Antarctic krill fertilizes ocean

I just read an interesting article about krill.  Yes, I such small creatures can actually sometimes be fascinating.  The article talks about how Antarctic krill fertilize the Southern Ocean with iron.  I knew krill were a key part of the food chain in Antarctica, as penguins and such eat them, but there role in the ecosystem is much more involved.

The new study shows that krill feed on decaying organisms on the sea floor and then release iron into the ocean as they return to the surface.  This is new information in that krill were once thought to mainly stay on the surface, but the new study shows they regularly go down and feed on the sea floor.  It also shows that krill play a role in improving the ocean's ability to store carbon dioxide and thus are part of the Southern Ocean's natural carbon cycle.

Further Info: "Antarctic krill help to fertilize Southern Ocean with iron"