BE STILL AS A LEOPARD SEA Check out this cute leopard seal sunning on ice. Even polar explorers on a boat do not bother him at all😌

During the current season, several of these 🦭 hunt near Vernadsky station as there were 7,000 of 🐧 🐧 to catch.

Our r/v 'Noosfera' again got into a storm – in the Atlantic Ocean, on the way between King George Island 🇦🇶 and Cape Town 🇿🇦. The 🌊 height reaches 6 meters, and the wind speed is 25 m/s. In such conditions, the Ukrainian scientific flagship has been moving for 2 days.

In March-April 2024, NASC scientists took samples from different matrix (air filters, soil and moss, sediments, phytoplankton and krill) in frame of a large international study of the possible occurrence of cyclic volatile methyl siloxanes in Antarctica

Watch a juveline humpback🐋 jumping out the water. Why do whales jump?
🔹️ to get rid of parasites that live on their skin, reduce irritation from them and 'scratch' against the water;
🔹️ to communicate with each other. The sound of the jump can be heard quite far away.

3 🐧 species are the most frequent near Vernadsky station.
📍The largest are subantarctic 🐧 with a red beak
📍Antarctic 🐧 are smaller with a thin black stripe crossing the white chin.
📍Adelie 🐧 are the most miniature with black head and white-blue eyes.
Happy 🐧 day!

Ukraine took part in the 1st POLARIN General Assesmbly📝'We are very happy to join such an unprecedented opportunity to explore both polar regions. For Ukraine, this is also an opportunity to attract additional funds to its Antarctic program,' said NASC director E. Dykyi #Polarin

Ukrainian scientists managed to meet rare whales🐳 and record their sounds. It is southern fin whales (Berardius arnuxii). This is one of the least studied species of whales in the world. In Jerlash Strait, Antarctica, they met 5 groups of the 🐋 and recorded them.

On the way from 'Vernadsky' to Chile, r/v 'Noosfera' passed through one of the most stormy Drake Straits 🌊 during the entire time of its Antarctic missions. The waves reached 10 m! How does it feel when you are on the vessel? It's as if you went to ride the coolest swing🎢

Today r/v Noosfera docked in the port of Punta Arenas. The way from the Vernadsky station to Chile was 1,140 miles (2,111 km) long and took 9 days. Noosfera passed through the stormy Drake Passage. The height of the waves reached 9-10 meters, and the wind speed was 30 m/s.

In the Atlantic Ocean, our 'Noosfera' was accompanied by Commerson's 🐬 They dived next to the vessel for several hours, catching its waves. Watch how it was. These 🐬 are one of the smallest among all cetaceans and reach a length of about 1.5 m. Video: A.Torgonenko

Ukrainian scientists took 7 columns of bottom sediments at 7 points in the Ocean (Penola and French Straits). Further, the samples will be studied in the laboratories of Kyiv and Odesa. This survey will 'tell' about the change in the planet's climate over the past 20,000 years.

5 facts about 'Noosfera'
5️⃣ 'Noosfera left its home port of Odesa on January 28, 2022, actually a month before the start of a full-scale war. When the vessel was passing the Bosphorus, Captain Pavlo Panasiuk just saw Russian warships entering the Black Sea.

As prior 2007, no 🐧 lived at Galindez island. In 2020, the number of subantarctic 🐧🐧 there was 3500, and in 2024 - over 7000!!! It is a clear sign of climate change in the Antarctic, leading to greening of the continent.

Look at the fur seal our polar explorers met on the island of Deception😊 He chose an old wooden boat for rest. Seals come to this area at the end of summer or beginning of autumn just to relax. But they usually do it on flat rocky areas or beaches. 📹: A.Torgonenko

5 facts about 'Noosfera'
4️⃣Among the options for renaming 'James Clark Ross' were:
🔸️ 'Iron Belly' - based on the novels of Joan Rowling. This is a dragon living in Ukraine and is the largest of all dragons.
🔹️ 'Ruthenia' - the one of ancient names of proto-Ukraine.

As we told you, on April 2-3 at the rotation of annual expeditions of Ukrainian polar teams took place. Now 29th expedition will manage the station for a year 🇺🇦🇦🇶
Watch key moments of the handover in a short video. Enjoy watching☺️
Video: Anna Torgonenko

5 facts about r/v 'Noosfera'
3️⃣ It is the first Ukrainian vessel equipped with a dynamic positioning system. It allows to keep the vessel in one spot for hours without using anchors with a deviation of several cm. Thanks to this, we can fix very precisely the places of sampling.

Some traditions during annual handover Vernadsky station to Nnew wintering team:
- to sign acceptance act and transfer the 🔑
- to replace one Ukrainian flag with another one
- to share the last advices of work and life in Antarctica and
- to make a joint 📸
Good luck!

5 facts about r/v 'Noosfera'
2️⃣This r/v delivered the first part of the 1st Ukrainian Antarctic expedition to the station at the end of November 1995. For 2 months, our polar explorers took over affairs from the British, and on February 6, 1996, the ceremonial handover took place

Polish and Ukrainian scientists took samples of bottom animals in the Southern Ocean. The main goal of the study is to investigate bioaccumulation of metals in their shells and skeletons, which is being increased with the ocean acidification. Photo: A. Iglikowska, D.Matyushenko