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Antarctica

Environment, Sustainable Travel

The Last Great Antarctic Untold Story: Meeting Mark Reed and The Quest for Shackleton’s “Last Cache”

We often fall into the trap of thinking that the golden age of exploration is a closed chapter in a history book. We imagine that the great maps were all filled in during the early 1900s, leaving nothing left for the modern world to uncover.

But this past May, while attending the bi-annual James Caird Society dinner at Dulwich, I was seated at a table that completely shattered that illusion. Another reason why I just love being a member of the that Society, you meet such interesting people, doing incredible things…

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July 7, 2026
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Environment

The ‘Environmental Responsibility Disconnect’: Why Individuals Say One Thing and Do Another

Have you ever noticed a strange gap between what we know about what needs to be done to preserve our planet and how we actually live our daily lives?

It’s a psychological puzzle. As humans, we can be deeply moved by the plight of the environment, yet completely blind to how our own small, daily choices contribute to the bigger picture when in fact individuals can have such a positive impact.

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June 19, 2026
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Environment

The Krill Conflict: Starving the Southern Ocean

Today, I need to talk about something that’s been weighing heavy on me – the “Krill Crisis.”

It’s easy to think of Antarctica as an untouched wilderness, but beneath the waves, a silent battle is unfolding. As we move through 2026, the status of Antarctic krill – those tiny, shrimp-like “superheroes” that hold the entire ecosystem together – has reached a critical tipping point.

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March 30, 2026
4376
Environment

Detective Work from 400 Miles Up: Tracking Antarctica’s Icons with “Penguin Poop”

In my previous post, I talked about the incredible feat of mapping the mountains and canyons hidden beneath Antarctica’s ice. But as I learned during Dr. Peter Fretwell’s presentation, some of the most vital work the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) carries out, involves looking at what is happening right on the surface.

While the bedrock mapping tells us how the ice might move, Dr. Fretwell’s “Wildlife From Space” project tells us how the animals are coping. And it all starts with something rather unexpected: penguin poop.

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February 26, 2026
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Environment

The High Stakes of Mapping Antarctica’s Hidden World

Deep beneath the vast, white expanse of Antarctica lies a world few will ever see – a landscape of jagged mountain ranges, deep-cut canyons, and ancient valleys. For decades, scientists have been working to “peel back” the ice to understand what lies beneath. Recently, a monumental milestone was reached with the release of Bedmap3, the most detailed map of the Antarctic continent to date.

I was fortunate enough to attend a presentation by Dr. Peter Fretwell where he shared some of the results of this groundbreaking work. Listening to the sheer scale of the data collected by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and their international partners, it’s clear that this research is far more than a cartographic achievement. It is a vital tool for understanding our planet’s future. What I love about this type of research is it’s all about facts with little hype and conjecture!

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February 1, 2026
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Environment, Sustainable Travel

Reflections on 2025. Fragility, Resilience and the Lessons of the South

As the final days of 2025 drew to a close, I found myself looking back on a year that has been as challenging as it has been illuminating. Through the lens of this blog, we have explored everything from the quiet biodiversity of our own gardens in Dove Park to the staggering, icy majesty of the Antarctic Southern Ocean.

While the tone of environmental news can often tilt toward the “doom and gloom,” my journey this year – both through research and my own travels – has reinforced a singular truth: sustainability is not a static goal, but a series of deliberate, conscious choices.

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January 5, 2026
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Environment, Sustainable Travel

The Pulse of the Planet: Why Your Choices in the Shopping Aisle Matter in Antarctica

How do you describe a place that feels like the very edge of the world? Antarctica is a vast, frozen wilderness – a land that has famously claimed the lives of explorers who dared to challenge its silence. But step off a Quark Expeditions vessel at Snow Hill, as I recently did, and you’ll realise that “barren” is the last word you’d use.

Watching the stoic Emperor penguins against the sheer white horizon, you realise this place isn’t just surviving, it is teeming with life. Yet, this fragile splendour is under siege. We often think of the threats to Antarctica as distant, monolithic forces – global warming, industrial overfishing and historical whaling – that only governments can solve.

But after walking among the colonies, the truth becomes clear: The fate of the ice isn’t just in the halls of parliament; it’s in your shopping basket.

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December 17, 2025
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Environment, Sustainable Travel

From Ambassador to Trustee: An Unexpected Voyage

I’m incredibly excited – and frankly, a little speechless – to share with you all, I was invited to officially joined the Board of Trustees of the South Georgia Heritage Trust (SGHT) as of September 2025!

If you’ve followed my adventures here, you know how profoundly my first trip to South Georgia Island in November 2019, affected me. It was a place of astonishing beauty and humbling conservation success. I wrote about it in “How this all started,” my emotional reaction to Gold Harbour, and the need to “celebrate the return of the whales but not forget our past.” That voyage wasn’t just a holiday; it was a call to action.

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November 10, 2025
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Environment

Krill-y Good News for the Antarctic Crew

I’ve got some genuinely fantastic news from the world of health retail.

Holland & Barrett, a big name on our UK high streets, has just announced they are phasing out all products containing krill and krill oil. I know, I know—it might sound like a minor ingredient switch, but trust me, this is a monumental win for the world’s wildest and most fragile ecosystem: the Antarctic.

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November 5, 2025
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