Using Fixed-Wing UAV for Detecting and Mapping the Distribution and Abundance of Penguins on the South Shetlands Islands, Antarctica

Antarctic marine ecosystems undergo enormous changes, presumably due to climate change and fishery. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have an unprecedented potential for measuring these changes by mapping indicator species such as penguins even in remote areas. We used a battery-powered fixed-wing UAV to survey colonies along a 30-km stretch of the remote coast of southwest King George Island and northwest Nelson Island (South Shetland Islands, Antarctica) during the austral summer 2016/17. With multiple flights, we covered a total distance of 317 km. We determined the exact position of 14 chinstrap penguin colonies, including two small unknown colonies, with a total abundance of 35,604 adults. To model the number of occupied nests based on the number of adults counted in the UAV imagery we used data derived from terrestrial time-lapse imagery. The comparison with previous studies revealed a decline in the total abundance of occupied nests. However, we also found four chinstrap penguin colonies that have grown since the 1980s against the general trend on the South Shetland Islands. The results proved the suitability of the use of small and lightweight fixed-wing UAVs with electric engines for mapping penguin colonies in remote areas in the Antarctic.

Download Full-text

Distribution of salps near the South Shetland Islands during austral summer, 1990?1991 with special reference to krill distribution

Polar Biology ◽

10.1007/bf00236121 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 38

Author(s):

Jun Nishikawa ◽

Mikio Naganobu ◽

Taro Ichii ◽

Haruto Ishii ◽

Makoto Terazaki ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Special Reference ◽

Austral Summer ◽

South Shetland Islands ◽

The South ◽

Shetland Islands

Download Full-text

The Bellingshausen-Palmer meeting

Polar Record ◽

10.1017/s0032247414000783 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 51 (6) ◽

pp. 644-654 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Rip Bulkeley

Keyword(s):

Antarctic Peninsula ◽

South Shetland Islands ◽

The South ◽

Shetland Islands ◽

Contentious Issue ◽

Balanced Assessment ◽

Absolute Certainty ◽

South Shetlands ◽

The Antarctic

ABSTRACTThe celebrated meeting between Captain Bellingshausen of the Imperial Russian Navy and the American sealing skipper Nathaniel Brown Palmer, off the South Shetland Islands in February 1821, has often been described by following just one or other of the two men's divergent and in some respects irreconcilable accounts. The most contentious issue is whether or not Palmer told Bellingshausen about the existence of a body of land to the south of the South Shetlands, known today as the Antarctic Peninsula. This note attempts to reach a balanced assessment of the matter by examining evidence from both sides, including several previously unconsidered items. It concludes that, although the truth will never be known with absolute certainty, the basic American account is more plausible, by the narrowest of narrow margins, than the Russian.

Download Full-text

The lichenicolous fungi of the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica: species diversity and identification guide

Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae ◽

10.5586/asbp.3607 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 87 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Vagn Alstrup ◽

Maria Olech ◽

Paulina Wietrzyk-Pełka ◽

Michał Hubert Węgrzyn

Keyword(s):

Species Diversity ◽

Literature Survey ◽

South Shetland Islands ◽

The South ◽

Lichenicolous Fungi ◽

Shetland Islands ◽

Identification Guide ◽

South Shetlands

This paper contributes 96 species to the biota of lichenicolous fungi in the South Shetland Islands archipelago. New to science are the following genera: Antarctosphaeria Alstrup & Olech, gen. nov., Dahawkswia Alstrup & Olech, gen. nov., Lichenohostes Alstrup & Olech, gen. nov., Llanorella Alstrup & Olech, gen. nov., Phaeosporodendron Alstrup & Olech, gen. nov., and Prostratomyces Alstrup & Olech, gen. nov. Additionally, 31 species are described as new to science. These are: Antarctosphaeria bireagens Alstrup & Olech, sp. nov., A. lichenicola Alstrup & Olech, sp. nov., Arthonia dufayelensis Alstrup & Olech, sp. nov., A. livingstonensis Alstrup & Olech, sp. nov., A. massalongiae Alstrup & Olech, sp. nov., A. pertusariicola Alstrup & Olech, sp. nov., A. rakusae Alstrup & Olech, sp. nov., Carbonea austroshetlandica Alstrup & Olech, sp. nov., Cercidospora pertusariicola Alstrup & Olech, sp. nov., Dactylospora antarctica Alstrup & Olech, sp. nov., D. haematommatis Alstrup & Olech, sp. nov., Dahawkswia lichenicola Alstrup & Olech, sp. nov., Dendrophoma acarosporae Alstrup & Olech, sp. nov., Didymellopsis antarctica Alstrup & Olech, sp. nov., Lichenohostes citrinospora Alstrup & Olech, sp. nov., Lichenostigma corymbosae Alstrup & Olech, sp. nov., Llanorella ramalinae Alstrup & Olech, sp. nov., Metasphaeria verrucosa Alstrup & Olech, sp. nov., Micarea lichenicola Alstrup & Olech, sp. nov., Phaeospora antarctica Alstrup & Olech, sp. nov., P. convolutae Alstrup & Olech, sp. nov., Phaeosporodendron badiae Alstrup & Olech, sp. nov., Phoma acarosporae Alstrup & Olech, sp. nov., Prostratomyces leprariae Alstrup & Olech, sp. nov., P. ochrolechiae Alstrup & Olech, sp. nov., P. rhizocarpicolae Alstrup & Olech, sp. nov., Rhagadostoma antarctica Alstrup & Olech, sp. nov., Sphaerellothecium placopsiicola Alstrup & Olech, sp. nov., Stigmidium placopsiicola Alstrup & Olech, sp. nov., Taeniolella frigidae Alstrup & Olech, sp. nov., and Tetramelas caloplacae Alstrup & Olech, sp. nov. Furthermore, a literature survey was undertaken, which resulted in the preparation of an identification guide for the lichenicolous species occurring in the South Shetlands Islands.

Download Full-text

Microbial biogeography during austral summer 2007 in the surface waters around the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica

Aquatic Microbial Ecology ◽

10.3354/ame01650 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 70 (2) ◽

pp. 131-140 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

LM Olsen ◽

MV Ardelan ◽

CD Hewes ◽

O Holm-Hansen ◽

C Reiss ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Surface Waters ◽

Austral Summer ◽

South Shetland Islands ◽

The South ◽

Shetland Islands ◽

Microbial Biogeography

Download Full-text

Variation in the biomass density and demography of Antarctic krill in the vicinity of the South Shetland Islands during the 1999/2000 austral summer

Deep Sea Research Part II Topical Studies in Oceanography ◽

10.1016/s0967-0645(04)00088-8 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 51 (12-13) ◽

pp. 1411-1419 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

R HEWITT ◽

S KIM ◽

M NAGANOBU ◽

M GUTIERREZ ◽

D KANG ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Antarctic Krill ◽

Austral Summer ◽

South Shetland Islands ◽

The South ◽

Biomass Density ◽

Shetland Islands

Download Full-text

Nineteenth century sealing sites on Rugged Island, South Shetland Islands

Polar Record ◽

10.1017/s003224740600564x ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 42 (4) ◽

pp. 335-347 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Michael Pearson ◽

Ruben Stehberg

Keyword(s):

Nineteenth Century ◽

Early Years ◽

South Shetland Islands ◽

The South ◽

History Museum ◽

Shetland Islands ◽

Fur Seals ◽

Fur Seal ◽

The Usa ◽

South Shetlands

The South Shetland Islands were discovered in 1819. Almost immediately the fur seal population was intensively exploited and this lasted through the early years of the 1820s, by which time seal numbers had been so depleted that sealing became uneconomic. Sealing was revived for both fur seals and Elephant seals at several periods later in the century. Sealers were put ashore in gangs and built makeshift shelters in which to live. Many of these have been identified on the South Shetlands, and a number have been excavated, though few with archaeological method. Fifty known sites are identified. The paper outlines the survey and excavation of two sites on Rugged Island by archaeologists from Australia and from the Chilean National Natural History Museum. One site relates to the sealing era of the 1820s, while the second may be associated with a marooned sealing gang in the 1870s. The nature of the occupation sites on the South Shetlands is analysed in relation to the social and operational context of the merchant navies of Britain and the USA in the nineteenth century. This is seen as a more directly relevant context for assessing physical evidence than is the application of theories of global capitalist systems.

Download Full-text

Early life history traits of Harpagifer antarcticus (Harpagiferidae, Notothenioidei) from the South Shetland Islands during austral summer

Polar Biology ◽

10.1007/s00300-017-2093-4 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 40 (9) ◽

pp. 1699-1705 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Mario La Mesa ◽

Javier Vera-Duarte ◽

Mauricio F. Landaeta

Keyword(s):

Life History ◽

Early Life ◽

Life History Traits ◽

Austral Summer ◽

Early Life History ◽

South Shetland Islands ◽

The South ◽

Shetland Islands

Download Full-text

Abundance of Antarctic Fur Seals in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, During the 1986/87 Austral Summer

Antarctic Ecosystems ◽

10.1007/978-3-642-84074-6_30 ◽

1990 ◽

pp. 265-270 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

J. L. Bengtson ◽

L. M. Ferm ◽

T. J. Härkönen ◽

B. S. Stewart

Keyword(s):

Austral Summer ◽

South Shetland Islands ◽

The South ◽

Shetland Islands ◽

Fur Seals ◽

Antarctic Fur Seals

Download Full-text

Bridgeman Island, Antarctica, ‘burning mount’ or old eroded volcano?

Polar Record ◽

10.1017/s0032247421000152 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 57 ◽

Author(s):

Karen Louise Williams

Keyword(s):

Nineteenth Century ◽

Volcanic Activity ◽

South Shetland Islands ◽

Deception Island ◽

The South ◽

Shetland Islands ◽

Short Period ◽

South Shetlands ◽

Volcanic Islands

Abstract Deception, Bridgeman and Penguin are the three most recently active volcanic islands in the South Shetland Islands. Since the discovery of the archipelago in 1819, Deception Island has erupted on frequent occasions, most recently in August 1970. A number of nineteenth-century observers reported fumarolic or volcanic activity from Bridgeman Island. No eyewitness accounts of activity from Penguin Island have been found. A chronological list detailing the historic reports from Bridgeman Island was compiled to compare and establish their veracity. This process revealed a consistency of observation from independent observers. An effort has been made to consider if any of these reports of activity may have belonged instead to Penguin Island volcano, 60 km (32 NM) away. A review of the timing of discovery and availability of the first charts of the South Shetlands was also examined to narrow the period when mariners might have mistaken one island for another. Only the three earliest observations of activity from an unnamed volcano, during the short period when no maps were available, may be questioned. A useful chart of the region was published in 1822, and all subsequent observations of activity were from Bridgeman, not Penguin Island.

Download Full-text

Conserving the oldest historic sites in the Antarctic: the challenges in managing the sealing sites in the South Shetland Islands

Polar Record ◽

10.1017/s0032247409008389 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 46 (1) ◽

pp. 57-64 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Michael Pearson ◽

Ruben Stehberg ◽

Andrés Zarankín ◽

M. Ximena Senatore ◽

Carolina Gatica

Keyword(s):

South Shetland Islands ◽

The South ◽

Shetland Islands ◽

Fur Seals ◽

Fur Seal ◽

Seal Population ◽

Animal Activity ◽

South Shetlands ◽

The Antarctic ◽

Management Issues

ABSTRACTThe fur seal population of the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica, was intensively hunted by sealers from the discovery of the islands in 1819 to the early 1820s, by which time the seal numbers were so depleted that sealing became uneconomic. Sealing was revived for both fur seals and elephant seals at several periods later in the century. Sealers were put ashore in gangs and built makeshift shelters in which to live, and also occupied caves. Many of these have been identified on the various islands of the South Shetlands, and a number have been excavated. The paper addresses some of the management issues facing the conservation of these sites, which include accelerating tourism, disturbance by scientific researchers, disturbance by animal activity, burial or erosion by drifting sand, and climate change.

Download Full-text