Little is known about the Type-B species of killer whales that live in Antarctic waters. Their isolation and relatively small population size have been tremendous barriers to research. This year, two NOAA scientists are traveling aboard National Geographic Explorer using our ship as a platform for research. Fen Montaigne, senior editor of Yale Environment 360, also joined us as a guest speaker in Antarctica this season, and upon his return filed this excellent story about ongoing killer whale research: Mysteries of Killer Whales Uncovered in the Antarctic.

The West Antarctic Peninsula is one of the most rapidly warming places on Earth. Even though Antarctica is remote, the melting ice on this continent is of concern to all of us. As our planet’s ice melts, sea levels are rising steadily. This increases the risk of storm surges, coastal floods, diminished supplies of drinking water for billions of people, and hundreds of millions of climate refugees.

Al Gore and The Climate Reality Project, along with Lindblad Expeditions, have just launched a voyage to Antarctica to document and better understand the many impacts of climate change.  Business leaders, activists and concerned citizens from all over the world are being joined by the world’s leading climate scientists and Antarctica experts to see firsthand how the climate crisis is unfolding in Antarctica.

You can follow our progress at climaterealityproject.org.

The Climate Reality Project is also encouraging concerned citizens to launch their own expeditions in their own neighborhoods. Learn more and start your own.

You may also learn more by following Richard Branson as he blogs during the voyage. Plus, you can read Daily Expedition Reports from National Geographic Explorer’s expedition team as they post. Sign up here.

 Photo: Jim Richardson

An old wooden cabinet shoved into a gloomy corner of the massive British Geological Survey was found to contain scores of fossils collected by the legendary naturalist while he sailed aboard the Beagle. A paleontologist poking around the building with a flashlight found one of the slides and noticed it was labeled “C. Darwin Esq” when he held it up to the light. In all, they found 314 more slides of specimens Darwin and John Hooker collected while on expedition.

If you’re interested in visiting the very islands that Darwin explored and seeing them in them in the same state he observed them — join us for a Galápagos expedition.

Two killer whale researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are traveling aboard National Geographic Explorer in Antarctica right now. Whenever killer whales are spotted the pair of scientists leaps into a Zodiac with one of our crew to approach them for satellite tagging, photo-identification and biopsy sampling. They’re posting daily updates about their time in Antarctica on NOAA’s website, and our Video Chronicler shot a short piece with them last week.