For U.S. Navy Day, a remarkable image from Antarctica in 1965. USS Glacier, USS Atka and USS Burton Island work together to move a huge iceberg from the shipping route through McMurdo Sound. Keeping the route open was vital to Operation Deep Freeze and the annual supply of McMurdo Station, the main U.S. logistics hub in Antarctica. Mount Lister and the Royal Society Range rise behind the ships. Read more here: antarcticreport.com Photo: @USNavy #Antarctica #USNavy #OperationDeepFreeze #USNavyDay

West Antarctica from space. Captured by the #Copernicus #Sentinel-3 satellite, this austral spring image shows the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands. Standing out against the dark, ice-free ocean is Elephant Island, one of the most famous locations in Antarctic history. After the loss of Endurance, Ernest Shackleton's stranded crew spent months there in 1916 before being rescued when Shackleton returned aboard the Chilean naval cutter Yelcho, commanded by Captain Luis Pardo @Armada_Chile. To the east, large floes drift north out of the Weddell Sea. Photo: @CopernicusEU @esa @eumetsat #Antarctica #EarthFromSpace #SeaIce #Shackleton

New research suggests Thwaites Glacier could continue retreating even if ocean melting stopped. Why? Because retreat may now be driven by the glacier's own instability as it moves into deeper inland terrain, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of ice loss. A reminder that in Antarctica, some changes may be difficult to reverse once critical thresholds are crossed. Read more here: antarcticreport.com/articles… Photo by Nicolas Bayou: Thwaites Glacier flowing into the Amundsen Sea as a floating ice tongue. #Antarctica #ThwaitesGlacier #ClimateScience

On this day in 1911, Roald Amundsen and four companions left the Bay of Whales to begin their historic journey to the South Pole. With 52 Greenland dogs, four sledges and meticulous planning, they set out across Antarctica's frozen wilderness. Less than two months later, they became the first humans to reach 90° South. More at antarcticreport.com #OnThisDay #Antarctica #SouthPole #RoaldAmundsen #PolarHistory #TheAntarcticReport

#OnThisDay in 1999, the first C-17 Globemaster III to land in Antarctica touched down at McMurdo Sound. The flight marked the start of a new era in Antarctic airlift, eventually replacing the long-serving C-141 Starlifter fleet. Today, C-17s continue carrying scientists, equipment and vital supplies between Christchurch and the ice. Read more at: antarcticreport.com Photo: @NSF #Antarctica #C17 #OperationDeepFreeze #AviationHistory

Norwegian zoologist Nicolai Hanson died at Cape Adare #OnThisDay in 1899, while serving with the Southern Cross Expedition. His grave became the first recorded human burial on the Antarctic continent. More than 125 years later, it remains at Cape Adare, protected as Antarctic Historic Site and Monument No. 23. Hanson should also be remembered for his science. The British Museum described him as an “indefatigable collector and taxidermist,” whose work contributed to early understanding of Antarctic natural history. Read more: antarcticreport.com Map: LINZ / Photo: Public Domain #Antarctica #AntarcticHistory

#OnThisDay in 1902, Reginald Skelton of Robert Falcon Scott's Discovery Expedition observed adult emperor penguins with well-developed chicks on the sea ice at Cape Crozier. It was the first emperor penguin breeding colony ever recorded by humans and one of the most significant discoveries in Antarctic wildlife history, revealing that emperor penguins breed during the harsh Antarctic winter. Photo: Sara Labrousse #Antarctica #EmperorPenguins #PolarHistory #DiscoveryExpedition #CapeCrozier #Wildlife #OTD

Antarctica's ozone hole remains unusually large in 2026, reaching around 25 million km² in September. Scientists say a strong polar vortex has kept the stratosphere exceptionally cold, accelerating ozone depletion. Researchers stress this does not halt long-term ozone recovery, but shows how variable the process remains. Map @NOAASatellites #Antarctica #OzoneHole #PolarVortex #ScienceNews

China has proposed a 127,000 km² Marine Protected Area in East Antarctica's Cosmonauts Sea. The proposal would allow seasonal krill fishing, expire after 20 years unless renewed, and could signal a new direction for Antarctic conservation policy. As CCAMLR heads to Hobart, the debate will be about more than conservation alone. The Cosmonaut Sea (Море Космонавтов), owes its name to a Soviet decision in 1962 to celebrate the first generation of cosmonauts. Not everyone agrees, however: the International Hydrographic Organization does not formally recognise the name. In Antarctica, even the map can tell a political story. antarcticreport.com/articles… #Antarctica #CCAMLR #Conservation #SouthernOcean

Antarctic science makes Nobel history. Physicist Francis Halzen has been awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics for leading the creation of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory beneath the South Pole ice. By detecting elusive neutrinos, IceCube has opened an entirely new window on the universe and transformed modern astronomy. 🔗 Read more: antarcticreport.com/articles… Photo: Benjamin Eberhardt @NSF @uw_icecube #Antarctica #IceCube #NobelPrize #Physics #Neutrinos #SouthPole #Science

Before Antarctica had research stations, Deception Island briefly became a scientific laboratory. In 1829, Henry Foster's HMS Chanticleer expedition conducted pendulum experiments on the shores of an active volcano to help measure Earth's gravity and refine knowledge of the planet's shape. Their charts and observations are still helping scientists understand how Deception Island has changed nearly 200 years later. 🔗 antarcticreport.com/articles… Watercolour: depicting gravity pendulum inside hut, Deception Is, by Lieut. E.N. Kendall RN 1828; Science Museum Group #Antarctica #PolarHistory #ScienceHistory

Scientists are increasingly focused on East Antarctica's Wilkes Subglacial Basin, a vast ice-covered depression that contains enough ice to raise global sea levels by an estimated 3-4 metres if widespread retreat occurred. Map: Agnieszka Gautier @NSIDC #Antarctica #SeaLevelRise

China has announced plans for a sixth Antarctic research station in remote Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica. Photo: Polar Research Institute of China. Read more here: antarcticreport.com/articles… #Antarctica #PolarScience #ClimateChange #China #WestAntarctica

Antarctic winter sea ice has reached its third-lowest maximum extent on record. Sea ice peaked at around 17.6 million km², roughly 1 million km² below the long-term average. Read more: antarcticreport.com/articles… Map: @NSIDC #Antarctica #ClimateChange #SeaIce #PolarScience

Shackleton & party celebrated Midwinter's Day in 1915 on Endurance (the ship sank 5 months later crushed by sea ice in the Weddell Sea). Most of the people in this photo would spend a miserable Midwinter’s Day in 1916 (alive nevertheless!) huddled in stone huts on Elephant Island

On the same day in 1911, 600km away, Scott and his party celebrated Midwinter's Day at the Cape Evans Hut on Ross Island #Antarctica. The following year, five would perish on the return journey from the Pole; pic @scottpolar #Solstice #ShortestDay

Here’s Amundsen (4th from right) and his party celebrating Midwinter's Day in 1911 at their Framheim base, Bay of Whales #Antarctica. Six months later, five of them were standing at the South Pole @FramMuseum @NorskPolar #Solstice #ShortestDay

Solstice! Happy midwinter’s day to everyone in #Antarctica! The Sun is over the Tropic of Cancer; the greatest geographical extent of the southern polar night has been reached, radiating out from the South Pole, 90°South, as far as the Antarctic Circle, 66°33′South #Solstice