At the Little Dome C site, the European Beyond EPICA project has achieved a historic milestone by successfully drilling a 2800m-long ice core, consisting of ice which is more than 1.2 million years old.[4]
The Canadian patrol vessel HMCS Margaret Brooke has departed Halifax on Operation PROJECTION 2025. This is the first-ever Antarctic visit by a Canadian military vessel.[8] The mission is supporting a team of 15 Canadian climate scientists.[9]
On February 6, the French icebreaker L’Astrolabe has returned to Hobart after its 4th rotation of the season.[20]
Researchers on board the spanish oceanographic ship RV Sarmiento de Gamboa have observed massive columns of methane emerging from the Antarctic seabed. The CSIC vessel has been cruising the Antarctic seas for almost a month and its mission ended on February 7.[21]
Japan's icebreaker Shirase has made a port call at Fremantle Harbour, Australia to reload supplies and replace personnel between its missions to Antarctica.[30] On February 26, the vessel departed for Antarctica again.[31]
On March 1, the Italian icebreaker RV LauraBassi returned to the port of Lyttelton in New Zealand, concluding the 40th scientific expedition to Antarctica as part of the National Programme for Research in Antarctica (PNRA).[33]
On March 10, the most detailed map yet of the landscape beneath Antarctica’s ice sheet, known as Bedmap3, has been published by a team led from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) in the journal Scientific Data.[38][39]
On the weekend of March 15/16, the Australian icebreaker RSV Nuyina has arrived near the Denman Glacier and during the following week the researchers focused on a CTD transect across the front of the Denman Glacier tongue.[44]
The Ukrainian icebreaker Noosfera has deployed six oceanographic Argo buoys into Antarctic waters, the first such operation for Ukraine.[45]
On March 23, the Ukrainian icebreaker Noosfera left Antarctica for Punta Arenas, Chile with the departing crew of the 29th Ukrainian Antarctic Expedition and a seasonal crew on board.[48]
The snow coachIvan the Terra Bus was decommissioned after 30 years of service at the McMurdo Station, and in March 2025, it was shipped to Christchurch, New Zealand.[49]
The 11th Antarctic expedition of Colombia, counting 34 researchers from seven institutions, concluded after three months of research on the Antarctic Peninsula.[50]
NASA and NSIDC reported that in 2025, summer sea ice extent around Antarctica tied for the 2nd-lowest minimum ever recorded in the 47-year record of satellite measurements.[51][52]
Researchers aboard the RSV Nuyina reported on their collection of marine invertebrates in the vicinity of the Denman Glacier, including a pteropod which subsequently laid eggs, allowing the first direct observation of pteropod egg development.[55]
On April 11, the 33rd Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition concluded when the naval research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii RSV 421[56] arrived in Varna after its third 5-month mission to the Southern Ocean and Antarctica.[57][58]
On 1 May, New Zealand announced a renewal of Government investment to extend the Antarctic Science Platform's research into Climate Change in Antarctica for another seven years.[62][63]
On 2 May, there was a magnitude 7.4 earthquake in the Drake Passage at 9 am local time. Chilean authorities mandated the evacuation of coastal areas in the Magallanes region and the Chilean Antarctic Territory due to tsunami threats but canceled the evacuation orders later in the afternoon after no serious damage to infrastructure or harm to people were reported.[64]
On 3 May, the MODIS instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite captured an image of the A-23a iceberg that has remained at a standstill less than 100 kilometers off South Georgia since early March 2025. The new image shows that the iceberg's surface area has declined substantially in preceding two months. It lost more than 360 square kilometers between 6 March and 3 May and its northern side is showing signs of edge wasting, a type of iceberg breakup where small pieces calve from many places along its edge.[65]
On 9 May, the Canadian Arctic and offshore patrol vessel HMCS Margaret Brooke arrived back in Halifax after completing its four month mission to Antarctica.[66]
On 9 May, the Denman Marine Voyage concluded when the Australian icebreaker RSV Nuyina returned to Hobart after spending two months near the Shackleton Ice Shelf. This was the vessel's first dedicated marine science voyage.[67]
The Arête Glacier Initiative[68] was launched. This is a non-profit research organization aimed at coordinating and funding projects for better forecast and mitigation of sea-level rise caused by ice loss, especially focused on the Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica.[69]
The Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) signed an agreement with an industry consortium to upgrade Davis research station. The works will start in November 2026 with the installation of a reverse osmosis plant and later continue with the construction of a new utilities building including the main powerhouse and various workshops.[70]
On 28 June, American pilot and social media influencer Ethan Guo was detained by Chilean authorities after landing without authorization at Lieutenant Rodolfo Marsh Base on King George Island.[73]
July
Six Australian expeditioners traveled 90 km across the sea ice from Mawson station to Colbeck Hut to conduct the annual population census of the Taylor Glacieremperor penguin colony and to collect images captured by automated cameras monitoring the colony.[74]
Satellite observations by the European system Copernicus revealed that the A23a iceberg, now north of South Georgia, was half of its size from the beginning of 2025 and was breaking up dramatically.[79]
September
Ethan Guo, who has been stuck at the Chilean Lieutenant Rodolfo Marsh base on King George Island for two months after landing a plane there without permission, was released and on 6 September, he arrived in Punta Arenas aboard a navy ship.[80]
Predicted and scheduled events
In September and December, the Australian icebreaker RSV Nuyina will conduct two scientific expeditions to Heard Island. These will be the Australian Antarctic Program's first visits to the Island in more than 20 years.[81]
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