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The South African National Antarctic Programme
Conserving and Safeguarding The Environment of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean
By Shumirai Chimombe
South Africa has long had an Antarctic research programme and is the only African country with a base on that continent.
There are three research stations that fall under the South African National Antarctic Programme (SANAP) - the SANAE IV which is based in the Antarctic, and one station each on the subantarctic Gough Island and Marion Island. The stations are managed and administered by the South African government’s Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE). Voyages to transport researchers and supplies to the stations take place annually on the S.A. Agulhas II - a well-equipped icebreaking polar supply and research ship owned by the DFFE. The vessel was built in 2012 by STX Finland and it was designed specifically to carry out both scientific research and supply the stations in the Antarctic. The ship replaced the S.A. Agulhas, which was retired from SANAP duty after more than 30 years of service (1978 - 2012), but it has continued to function as a training vessel with the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA).
All expeditions leave from Cape Town which is one of the five Antarctic gateway cities in the world.
Annual departures to the stations are usually as follows:
Sanae IV - December
Marion Island - April
Gough Island - September
The Environmental Research Value
The SANAP recognises the global and national importance of conserving and safeguarding the environment of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean, a ‘living laboratory’ that is known as the coldest, windiest and driest place on Earth. Despite the desolation and extreme conditions of this region, it is also environmentally vulnerable, and a substantial part of the South African research work here is aimed at protecting this delicate wilderness and its marine and terrestrial ecosystems.
Studies conducted in the Antarctic are linked to understanding the entire Earth system, and the signals that are identified in Antarctica indicate past and future global changes. The scientific data that is collected during voyages is critical to understand issues of global significance such as the impacts of climate change and weather information associated with extreme events.
The Research Stations
Sanae IV
The SANAE IV station in Antarctica is built at Vesleskarvet - a nunatak which is a rocky outcrop which protrudes from an icefield or glacier. The research conducted at the base is divided into four programmes:
• Physical sciences
• Earth sciences
• Life sciences
• Oceanographic sciences
Only the physical sciences programme is conducted year-round, while the other three are conducted during the short summer period when the temperatures and weather permit field work and the extent of the sea ice is at its minimum.
Marion Island
Marion Island is 19 km long and 12 km wide and is the larger of the two Prince Edward islands (Marion and Prince Edward) which politically form part of South Africa’s Western Cape province. The islands are volcanic in origin, with Marion having many hillocks (secondary craters) and small lakes. Prince Edward Island has spectacular cliffs that reach up to 490m high on its south western side.
The Marion Island station focuses primarily on biological/environmental research and weather data collection. The research has resulted in an enormous output of scientific papers and postgraduate theses, and the long-term biological monitoring programmes provide valuable research potential and insight into the rate and impacts of climate change as a result of global warming.
The research focuses mainly on the following themes:
Weather and climate studies
The interactions between marine and terrestrial systems
The life histories of seals, seabirds and killer whales
The structure and functioning of terrestrial ecosystems
The structure and functioning of nearshore ecosystems
Gough Island
Gough Island (also known historically as Diego Alvarez) is a volcanic island rising from the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a dependency of Tristan da Cunha, which in turn is a dependency of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena. It is a remote place about 400 km southeast of the other islands in the Tristan da Cunha group and 2600 km from Cape Town.
South Africa has been operating a weather station on the island since 1956. This weather office operates similarly to stations in South Africa with hourly climate observations and upper-air ascents. The 8 to 10 expedition members who maintain the weather station are the only inhabitants of the island.
Gough and Inaccessible Islands form a protected wildlife reserve, which has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. It has been described as one of the least disrupted ecosystems of its kind and one of the best shelters for nesting seabirds in the Atlantic.
Interesting fact
• 1 December is International Antarctica Day to commemorate the signing of the AntarcticTreaty in 1959 by 12 countries including South Africa in which the signatories undertook to ensure that the Antarctic region will be used for peaceful and scientific purposes only, and to protect and preserve the environment.The treaty, which now has 53 parties.
