The striking images on these stamps are colour enhanced scanning electron microscope (SEM) photographs of four diatom species found in Antarctica. Diatoms are one of the most abundant and diverse groups of photosynthetic algae. That means they use sunlight, water and carbon dioxide to make their own food (glucose) and emit oxygen. As oxygen producers, diatoms are more important than all the rainforests, generating 20-50 % of the oxygen we breathe. Diatoms occur in virtually every aquatic and sub-aquatic environment, anywhere there is sufficient moisture (fresh or saline) and sunlight for photosynthesis. They are also a primary food source, contributing up to 40% of the global oceans primary production and feeding higher organisms across nearly all marine and freshwater habitats.
The global population of southern giant petrels (Macronectes giganteus) is around 50,000 pairs. They are the top avian predator in the Antarctic. This is one of the most sexually size-dimorphic of all seabirds, with males around 20% larger than females and with much more robust bills. Both sexes will feed at sea, sometimes travelling >1000 km from colonies but male giant petrels in particular also target penguin chicks and adults around their colonies, and fight over seal and other carrion on land. Old-time whalers used to call them ‘breakbones’ or ‘stinkers’ because of their frequent blood-stained brawls over carrion meat.
The English Coast of Antarctica lies 600km from the nearest research station – a remote frontier, where the ice cliffs of the Stange Ice Shelf mark the edge of a giant floating, frozen wilderness. It is here that the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) attempted a logistics operation on a grand scale: a rare and ambitious rendezvous of sea, land and air operations, literally in the middle of nowhere.
The Aurora Australis can often be seen from Antarctica and other southern hemisphere locations, particularly near the Antarctic circle. The word “aurora” is the Latin word for lights, “australis” being the Latin word for southern. The Aurora Australis can be seen from southern polar regions, such as Antarctic bases, The Falklands Islands, New Zealand, and southern South America.
Mount Pleasant Airport, formally RAF Mount Pleasant and now the Mount Pleasant Complex, is a UK Ministry of Defence Joint Operating Base in the Falkland Islands. It is operated by the British Armed Forces and is used for air operations, including both military and civilian flights. Opened in 1985, it was constructed following the Falklands Conflict to bolster the islands' defence capabilities and serve as a major airbase. The airport replaced previous RAF facilities at Port Stanley Airport.
In December 2022, the UK Government along with a number of other countries agreed to conserve 30% of the earth’s land and sea through protected areas and other area-based conservation measures at the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), COP15. A review of the protected area network on Ascension (a UK Overseas Territory) was undertaken by the Ascension Island Government in 2023 and several new areas of environmental importance were identified.
In 1943, at the height of the Second World War, the British Government launched a top-secret expedition to the Antarctic. Cabinet approval for the expedition was granted on 28th January 1943 and the expedition set out just 10 months later, in November 1943. To organise such a complex operation in such a short space of time during wartime was a major feat. Code-named Tabarin, the organisation of the expedition involved many late nights and a certain amount of chaos, just like the Paris nightclub it was named after.
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