marine biology Archives - British Antarctic Survey

Cruising for clues: discovering invasive species in the Arctic with eDNA

11 September, 2025

Scientists have detected the DNA of an invasive marine species in Arctic Canada suggesting the region’s waters are no longer cold enough to be a natural barrier.

Join us for an ‘Antarctic Adventure’ – A family talk by a polar scientist at Cambridge Festival 2025

Come along to ‘Antarctic Adventure – Explore the Frozen Frontier’ – a talk aimed at anyone over 7 years old by British Antarctic Survey polar scientist Kate Hendry and marine …

A close up of a long, cone-shaped species which is coloured white at its tip, tapering down to a beige, then fleshy pink colour at its middle, and returning to a translucent beige at the widest part of its cone. It is pictured in the deep sea, and so the background is pitch black

New deep-sea mollusc species co-habits with anemone

3 December, 2024

A new species of tusk shell, a burrowing marine mollusc, has been discovered in deep, North Atlantic waters by scientists from British Antarctic Survey and the Senckenberg Society for Nature …

Plastic reduces how krill remove carbon into deep ocean

20 November, 2024

New research shows that increased levels of plastic pollution in the Southern Ocean could reduce the ability of Antarctic krill, a tiny shrimp-like crustacean, to help take CO2 from the atmosphere.  The …

DNA Detectives: New ways to spot Southern Ocean hitchhikers

10 July, 2023

How do you spot an invader you can’t see in a harsh and unforgiving environment? A team of international scientists are looking for new methods to defend the frozen continent …

Fish survival in the extreme cold

30 June, 2023

An international team of researchers has sequenced the genomes of 24 Antarctic fish species to investigate how they survive the extreme cold. The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, …

Breaking records and exploring life in the abyss

21 March, 2023 Huw Griffiths

We are marine biologists that study seafloor creatures, Jamie is doing a PhD investigating Antarctic sea spiders in the University of Galway and Huw works at BAS. Both of us …

A body of water with a mountain in the snow

Rothera Marine Team – Overcoming challenges

3 January, 2023 Aurelia Reichardt

Working in Antarctica often means making the best out of what you got. For the Rothera 2022 wintering team, this meant spending a winter without diving, which had to be …

A group of people riding on the back of a boat

Bonner Laboratory featured at Global Biodiversity Festival 2021

16 June, 2021 Aurelia Reichardt

Rothera Marine Biologist Nadia Frontier and Rothera Marine Assistant Ryan Mathews spoke about the work of the Bonner Laboratory and dive facility at Rothera Research Station during the Global Biodiversity …

RRS Sir David Attenborough departs Cammell Laird for technical sea trials

21 October, 2020

BIRKENHEAD. Today (Wednesday 21 October) the UK’s most advanced polar research ship – RRS Sir David Attenborough – leaves Cammell Laird shipyard for two weeks of technical sea trials. In …

A man on a boat with icebergs and the sea in the background

Dr Huw Griffiths awarded SCAR Medal for Education and Communication

7 August, 2020

Please join us in congratulating Dr Huw Griffiths, Marine Biogeographer at British Antarctic Survey, who has been awarded the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) Medal for Education and Communication. …

Blog: South Georgia whale expedition in full swing!

22 January, 2020 Jennifer Jackson

BAS biologist Dr Jennifer Jackson shares updates from the South Georgia southern right whale expedition currently in progress in the sub-Antarctic. During January 2020, the British Antarctic Survey’s wild water …

Warming up the Antarctic: Harder than you think

29 July, 2019 Melody Clark

Professor Melody Clark, Project Leader, discusses the trials and tribulations of undertaking research in Antarctica. Her latest paper published in Nature Communications shows that rising sea temperatures of just 1-2 …

Marine research expedition sets sail for the South Atlantic

12 March, 2019

A team of scientists set sail this week (12 March) for the remote South Atlantic islands of Tristan da Cunha and St Helena. This mission is part of BAS’ commitment …

Brachiopods resilient to past environmental change

14 March, 2018

A new study concludes that a seafloor dwelling marine invertebrate is more resilient to environmental change than expected. The paper, led by researchers at British Antarctic Survey, is published today …

ENGINEERING AT SEA: Supporting Marine Science

9 March, 2018 Carwyn Davies

Mechanical engineer Carwyn Davies, from British Antarctic Survey’s Antarctic Marine Engineering (AME) is working onboard the RRS James Clark Ross with our science team to investigate Larsen C Benthos. Find …

A body of water with a mountain in the background.

STATION SCIENCE: Higher predator monitoring

5 March, 2018 Kieran Love

Kieran Love tells us what it is like to be the Zoological Field Assistant at King Edward Point Research Station (KEP) on South Georgia. So, what does being a zoological …

SCIENCE IN THE SEA: You study what?

28 February, 2018 Mel Mackenzie

Dr Mel Mackenzie, a Collection Manager of Marine Invertebrates at Museums Victoria in Melbourne, is living and working on board the BAS research ship RRS James Clark Ross for the …

SCIENCE IN THE SEA: The adventure begins

22 February, 2018 Rowan Whittle

British Antarctic Survey (BAS) palaeobiologist Dr Rowan Whittle is a member of the Larsen C Benthos research cruise onboard the RRS James Clark Ross. Rowan’s primary role is to assist …

SCIENCE IN THE SEA: Studying Southern Right Whales

13 February, 2018 Layla Batchellier

Find out what the South Georgia Right Whale Expedition team have been up to during their first few weeks sailing in the waters around South Georgia. Firstly, Susannah Calderan tells …

First expedition to newly exposed Antarctic ecosystem

12 February, 2018

A team of scientists, led by British Antarctic Survey (BAS), heads to Antarctica this week (14 February) to investigate a mysterious marine ecosystem that’s been hidden beneath an Antarctic ice …

A group of people standing on top of a snow covered mountain.

Celebrate International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2018

11 February, 2018 Zoe Waring

To celebrate International Day of Women and Girls in Science (11th February), Zoe Waring, the Marine Assistant at Rothera Research Station, has written a blog about her work at British …

SCIENCE IN THE SEA: Rolling, rolling, rolling

7 February, 2018 Jennifer Jackson

Whale ecologist Dr Jennifer Jackson, who is leading the first expedition to ‘health-check’ southern right whales since whaling stopped in the 1970s, describes how she and the team prepared for …

Life in the slow lane

19 January, 2018

A new study from British Antarctic Survey shows how five common Antarctic marine invertebrates (animals without a backbone) use less energy to feed, grow and reproduce than their temperate and …

Lanternfish reveal how ocean warming impacts the twilight zone

12 January, 2018

A new study from the British Antarctic Survey shows how lanternfish, small bioluminescent fish, are likely to respond to the warming of the Southern Ocean. Lanternfish are one of the …

SCIENCE IN THE SEA – Part 2: Busy biologists!

12 December, 2017 Ryan Scott

First thing I learn as I begin my trip aboard the RRS James Clark Ross is that, scientist on research cruises need to be able to adapt quickly! Within two …

Plastics in the Ocean: Challenges and Solutions

British Antarctic Survey is hosting a workshop in Cambridge to bridge science, policy and business to explore solutions for reducing and mitigating ocean plastic pollution. Read the report from the …

SCIENCE IN THE SEA: Ocean sampling day at Rothera

27 July, 2017 Zoe Waring

Zoe Waring, the Rothera Marine Assistant provides us with an account of the recent Ocean Sampling Day at Rothera. Since 2012, the Rothera Marine Assistant has been collecting samples for World …

Continuous Plankton Recorder

Contemporary research has shown that the Southern Ocean is warming. Summer surface temperatures have risen by more than 1 degree Centigrade in the last 80 years and a strong upper-layer …

Angelika brandt et al. standing around a table.

SHIP BLOG: Heading for home

31 March, 2016 Susie Grant

The ship’s science labs have all been packed up and cleaned, kit boxes stowed in the container, cargo paperwork finished and cruise reports written. The SO-AntEco team is ready to …

A group of people standing in front of a crowd posing for the camera.

SHIP BLOG: Science Week questions answered from the Southern Ocean

23 March, 2016 Susie Grant

Last week was UK Science Week, and we asked schools and anyone else who had burning questions about the Antarctic deep sea to send them to us here on the …

ANTARCTIC BLOG: preparation is everything

15 February, 2016 Huw Griffiths

As the days count down towards departure the dreams about forgetting my passport at the airport become more frequent. My office in Cambridge is a long way from the Antarctic …

SO-AntEco

The South Orkney Islands is a small archipelago located in the Southern Ocean, 375 miles north-east of the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. The seafloor around the South Orkney Islands …

Impacts of Ocean Acidification on Sea-Surface

In order to assess the impact of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) on the oceans today we are investigating the effect of decreasing upper ocean pH on calcifying zooplankton. Pteropods, …

Aquarium

Discover the UK’s only cold water research aquarium

ASCCC

The ASCCC Project has been funded by ACE (Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition) to investigate, quantify and understand the role of polar and subpolar seabeds in the carbon cycle, particularly in response …

RRS James Clark Ross iced up in heavy seas

PRESS RELEASE: Oceans and biofouling

28 January, 2015

Ocean acidification changes balance of biofouling communities A new study of marine organisms that make up the ‘biofouling community’ — tiny creatures that attach themselves to ships’ hulls and rocks …

Bird Island Research Station

Bird Island Research Station is an important centre for research into bird and seal biology. Lying off the north-west tip of South Georgia, Bird Island is one of the richest …

NEWS STORY: Icebergs leave their mark

16 June, 2014

Climate related iceberg activity has massively altered life on the seabed Researchers from the British Antarctic Survey have found evidence that climate change has fundamentally altered the way that life …

Research outputs