Scientists from the Institute of Marine Biology of Kotor (IBMK), Dr. Vesna Mačić and Dr. Aleksdandar Joksimović, are continuing their mission as part of the 34th Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition.
After arriving on December 25 on the Bulgarian research ship "St. Cyril and Methodius" (RSV-421) at Livingston Island, where the Bulgarian research base "St. Kliment Ohridski" is located, and which the ship supplied with necessary supplies and building materials for its further expansion, Joksimović and Mačić continued sailing on this ship through the waters of the Southern Ocean and the islands of the South Shetland Archipelago, which is located about a hundred kilometers north of the land mass of the Antarctic continent.
Our scientists, among others, have visited Sniježno, Deception and King George Islands in recent days. On these islands, as well as on Livingston, IBMK scientists have begun field research and work that is generally focused on examining the presence of microplastics in the water column and marine organisms, as well as studying the living world of the seabed. Sampling was carried out from the seabed with a grab at various depths, and the underwater world was filmed with Go-Pro video cameras. In addition to the marine fauna and flora (fish, crustaceans, shells, snails, echinoderms, algae) that are the focus of their research, Mačić and Joksimović had the opportunity to observe birds that live in these remote areas, such as penguins and cormorants, and marine mammals such as various species of seals, including the southern elephant seal, which can reach a length of up to seven meters and weigh up to four tons.
The 34th Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition, in addition to scientists from Montenegro and Bulgaria, also includes researchers from Romania, Saudi Arabia, Portugal and the United States of America (USA), with more expected to arrive. Most of them are stationed at the Livingston Island research station, while others, including Joksimović and Mačić, spend most of their time on the research ship "Sv. Kiril I Metodii" cruising this part of Antarctic waters.
Livingston Island is part of the South Shetland Archipelago and lies at 62 degrees and 36 minutes south latitude in the so-called Southern Ocean. It was discovered in 1819 as the first land south of the 60th parallel in the southern hemisphere, which has since become the boundary of the area covered and protected by the international Antarctic Convention. Livingston lies only 110 kilometers from the northernmost part of the land mass of the Antarctic continent itself, and over 500 nautical miles away from Cape Horn in the very south of the South American continent. On the island, which has a climate of the so-called polar tundra, there are currently four scientific research bases and stations: Bulgarian, Spanish, Chilean and Argentine, which can accommodate about a hundred people together, but they are inhabited only during the Antarctic summer, which lasts from late December to late March. Antarctica, as an uninhabited continent, is exclusively intended for scientific research and during the summer season, around 4.000 scientists reside there within approximately 80 research stations, and the number of tourists visiting it is also increasing.
The mission of our scientists in Antarctica lasts until the end of February, and the ship "St. Cyril and Methodius" will be in Kotor on its return to Bulgaria on April 8th and 9th, when a press conference will be organized and the results of joint research by Montenegrin and Bulgarian experts will be presented.
Bonus video:
