Antarctica news

Read the latest news about our Antarctic research and voyages.

Because we can only go to Antarctica if the waters are ice-free, this section of our website is generally updated in during the southern hemisphere's summer months.

Social media

A lot of our Antarctica-related news, images and videos feature on our events page and social media channels.

Scientists say methane emitted by humans ‘vastly underestimated’

Media Release

20 February 2020

NIWA researchers have helped unlock information trapped in ancient air samples from Greenland and Antarctica that shows the amount of methane humans are emitting into the atmosphere from fossil fuels has been vastly underestimated.

Scientists brave winter in Antarctic waters

Media Release

14 November 2019

The New Zealand ship Janas has recently returned from a six-week winter research voyage to the Ross Sea where scientists made the first observations of developing Antarctic toothfish embryos.

Ambitious NIWA-led Antarctic Ocean project gets go-ahead

Media Release

18 June 2019

Understanding how the Antarctic oceans work is vital to predicting the world’s future climate and the implications of climate change for humankind and the planet.

Scientists discover solar heat drives rapid melting of Ross Ice Shelf

Media Release

30 April 2019

Part of the world’s largest ice shelf is melting 10 times faster than the overall average and solar-heated waters beneath the ice shelf are to blame, NIWA research has found.

Scientists return from Antarctic voyage

Media Release

14 February 2019

After travelling almost 12,000km in the past six weeks, a group of scientists returns to Wellington at the weekend with new knowledge about life in the Ross Sea of Antarctica.

NIWA's Hotspot Watch for 13 February 2019

Hot spot

13 February 2019

Across the North Island, soil moisture levels continued to decrease nearly everywhere during the past week. Across the South Island, soil moisture levels decreased nearly everywhere during the past week with little rainfall in the north, south and east.

Māori carvers head to Antarctica

Media Release

30 January 2019

Two Māori carvers head to Antarctica next week to complete and install a traditional carving at Scott Base, New Zealand’s headquarters on the ice.

Scientists voyage into the Antarctic unknown

Media Release

7 January 2019

A group of intrepid scientists leaves Wellington for Antarctica this week on board NIWA’s research vessel Tangaroa for what their leader calls “a voyage of discovery”.

Ross Sea Environment and Ecosystem Voyage 2019

Seal-mounted cameras give scientists a glimpse of life under the ice

Feature story

19 December 2018

A NIWA-led team of marine ecologists are using seal-mounted cameras to get a first-hand view into the behaviour and movements of Weddell seals under the Antarctic ice.

Scientists studying Weddell seal behaviour in Antarctica

Media Release

29 October 2018

Scientists will be trying to understand how Antarctic-based Weddell seals see the world when they head to the ice next week.

Busy season for NIWA scientists in Antarctica

Media Release

24 September 2018

The new science season at Antarctica is just a few days away from opening and NIWA researchers are busy packing containers and shipping them to the ice where they will be reunited with them in the coming months.

NIWA ship returns from Antarctica with ‘pieces of a puzzle’

Media Release

21 March 2018

The absence of sea ice near Antarctica over the past six weeks has astonished scientists undertaking research aboard NIWA’s flagship research vessel Tangaroa.

Tangaroa Marine Environment and Ecosystem Voyage 2018

Tangaroa heads to Antarctica on six-week voyage of discovery

Media Release

31 January 2018

Forty intrepid adventurers leave Wellington next week for a six-week scientific voyage to Antarctica.

Summer series 2017 - Sailing the Southern Ocean - a scientific odyssey

Media Release

11 January 2018

NIWA’s research vessel Tangaroa sets off for a six-week voyage to Antarctica in February. Six of those aboard explain what they’re doing, what they’re worried about and the one thing they wouldn’t be without.

Dramatic sea ice decline limits NIWA’s Antarctic research

Media Release

18 October 2017

A dramatic change in sea ice this year is likely to hamper a NIWA-led research project aiming to better understand how ice shelves will melt as the ocean warms.