I'm starting a new Drawing class in Cottenham as of Sept 8 2026 If you are interested, please just let me know! Bookings are going fast.
Peter T Fretwell
@ptfretwell.bsky.social
Scientist at British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge and author. Interest include Science, nature, cartography, Polar regions and satellite imagery/ remote sensing.
Article in the Guardian I'm quoted in highlighting the continued decline of sea ice in West Antarctica, and some of the consequences.
Alec Luhn@alecluhn.com · 2mo agoIt’s winter in Antarctica, and the Bellingshausen Sea is free of sea ice for the third year. “I don’t think we will see sea ice there any more. It’s done,” a scientist says. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
Climate change isn’t waiting for us to finish with culture wars. Antarctica proves that every day.👇🏽 www.lyrebirddreaming.com/post/while-w...
While We Look Away, Antarctica is Melting
If you want a metaphor for our times, you could hardly do better than Antarctica in June 2026. While Pauline Hanson argues about migration and pronouns flags, and everyone gets whipped up into culture...
lyrebirddreaming.com
It's the middle of winter in Antarctica and temperatures have risen to +15 degrees C in some spots. Rain is melting the glaciers when snow should be replenishing them. Signs of accelerating change.
Prof Michael Meredith 🌊🧪🥼❄️@oceanandice.bsky.social · 2mo ago
We can track emperor penguins’ behavior… in the dark! During winter! When it’s just the males incubating eggs! This new tech gives us a leg up in understanding this iconic species 🌎🧪🦉🦑 Press release here: www.canterbury.ac.nz/news-and-eve...
Here's one for you: our paper has been sent to three journals over the course of nine months... without a full review. The first journal found ONE person. The last journal tried 15 times and no dice. What on earth. Anyone want to read a paper about emperor penguins? 🦉🦑🌍🧪
Shrinking Sea Ice Is Ruffling Emperor Penguins’ Feathers eos.org/articles/shr...
Shrinking Sea Ice Is Ruffling Emperor Penguins’ Feathers - Eos
A scientist stumbled upon evidence of penguin molting sites in satellite data, but the sea ice these birds rely on is disappearing.
eos.org
Looking for walrus detectives! 🕵️♀️
British Antarctic Survey 🐧@bas.ac.uk · 5mo agoBluesky, we need your help to count walrus! 🦭 Previously on "Walrus from Space", volunteers like you sifted through around 500,000 satellite images to support our conservation research. Now we're asking the you to help us count the walrus in those images 👀 ➡️ geohive.vantor.com/walrus/login
Emperor penguins were just declared endangered by IUCN. In the face of climate change, these beloved penguins have been losing the sea ice they need to survive. This is another urgent warning that the world needs to end our reliance on fossil fuels.
Passed my viva and (pending minor corrections) am a “Dr of Seals”! Thanks to my supervisors @ptfretwell.bsky.social and Gareth Rees for guiding me to this stage. #academia #phd #cambridge @bas.ac.uk @scottpolar.bsky.social @ukri.org @wwf.org.uk
@bsky.app This weeks Antarctic discovery: The largest lake on the Antarctic Peninsula. Unnamed, as it only deglaciated over the last decade. It's on a place called View Point on the Eastern side of the Peninsula. There are other larger lakes in the region, but this is the largest on the mainland.
🐧❄️🧪🌏🦑🦉 New publication! Led by @rosetazetta.bsky.social, we used satellite imagery to study Ross Sea #emperorpenguin populations over 20+ years & found that spring colony attendance is closely linked to sea ice conditions. Learn more: shorturl.at/joLZA
In new research, @ptfretwell.bsky.social @bas.ac.uk discovered emperor #penguin molting sites in satellite images—sites threatened by the disappearance of sea ice. 🐧🧊🧪 Comments from @drmichellelarue.bsky.social at Univ. of Canterbury; story by @andrewchapman.bsky.social. eos.org/articles/shr...
Shrinking Sea Ice Is Ruffling Emperor Penguins’ Feathers - Eos
A scientist stumbled upon evidence of penguin molting sites in satellite data, but the sea ice these birds rely on is disappearing.
eos.org
🦑🦉🧪🌎
Jonathan Tonkin@jdtonkin.bsky.social · 5mo agoNew paper out from @rosetazetta.bsky.social Evidence of emperor penguins’ sensitivity to sea ice fluctuations We used very-high res satellite imagery to study the Ross Sea emperor penguin population over 20+ y, revealing potential sensitivity to sea ice fluctuations @drmichellelarue.bsky.social
Hello Walrus-spotters of Bluesky! Meet Dr Hannah Cubaynes, who is leading the Walrus from Space citizen science counting project. Help count here ➡️ geohive.vantor.com/walrus/login Watch Hannah's talk about her (prize-winning) work tracking animals with satellites 👇 www.youtube.com/watch?v=99YS...
Whales & walrus from space | Dr Hannah Cubaynes Law Prize Lecture | British Antarctic Survey
YouTube video by British Antarctic Survey
youtube.com
Hannah Cubaynes@whalesfromspace.bsky.social · 5mo agoLooking for walrus detectives! 🕵️♀️
If your in London tomorrow come along to the Shackleton Store to hear about "Penguins in Peril" and the Penguin Book of Penguins at a free event.https://shackleton.com/pages/events
Bluesky, we need your help to count walrus! 🦭 Previously on "Walrus from Space", volunteers like you sifted through around 500,000 satellite images to support our conservation research. Now we're asking the you to help us count the walrus in those images 👀 ➡️ geohive.vantor.com/walrus/login
I can announce that my Antarctic Atlas will be re-issued in paperback in September. I am just in the process of reviewing a retrospective work on the first ever Atlas of Antarctica published by the USSR 60 years ago. It took 10 years and 265 scientists, cartographers and reviewers to compile it!
🇦🇶Antarctica 👍👏🏻 Rather too small for official names; but now maybe "Fretwell Islands"👍 📸🛰 #Sentinel2 2016 - 2026 @ptfretwell.bsky.social link.dataspace.copernicus.eu/5lc8
Peter T Fretwell@ptfretwell.bsky.social · 5mo agoYou might think that we have the world pretty well mapped. But Antarctica we are still finding new islands. Here are the locations of five islands and a larger island groups I discovered last week!
You might think that we have the world pretty well mapped. But Antarctica we are still finding new islands. Here are the locations of five islands and a larger island groups I discovered last week!
Scientists have discovered that the shrinking sea ice in the Antarctic force penguins to crowd into smaller patches of stable ice to moult. On #WorldWildlifeDay, explore how researchers from @bas.ac.uk are studying this phenomenon using satellites imagery: bit.ly/40K4iQI
Check compare visualization here: link.dataspace.copernicus.eu/w2h6 (Antarctica is covered by Extra-Wide Swath data, you have to choose HH+VV polarization in the Browser, and use HH Decibel Gamma to see ice and open water)
The ice shelf connecting Rothschild Island to Alexander Island has disintegrated. 100 km2 of shelf, a remnant from the Wilkins Ice shelf, broke up on the 1st March, making an 11km wide channel between the two islands. Images from Sentiel-1
Here's the full story on our website: www.bas.ac.uk/news/acciden... And here's the paper in Communications Earth & Environment: www.nature.com/articles/s43...
Accidental discovery reveals grim future for emperor penguins - British Antarctic Survey
Scientists studying satellite images of Antarctica have stumbled upon a discovery that sheds new light on moulting emperor penguins – and reveals a troubling threat to their survival.
bas.ac.uk
Our latest paper is now out, and it's not good news www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Emperor Penguins must change their feathers - it may now be killing them
The birds moult to protect themselves, but in a warming world, it could be endangering them.
bbc.co.uk
Love this paper title: A roadmap towards monitoring walruses from space academic.oup.com/icesjms/arti... From @bas.ac.uk / @ptfretwell.bsky.social / and others
A roadmap towards monitoring walruses from space
Abstract. Walruses (Odobenus rosmarus) are experiencing rapid habitat change, concomitant with dramatic sea ice declines in the Arctic. Reduction in sea ic
academic.oup.com