Capt Henry Wemyss Feilden RA, an amateur naturalist with particular interests in ornithology, was appointed by the Royal Society of London to serve as one of two naturalists with the British Arctic Expedition of 1875–76, which wintered off northern Ellesmere Island under the command of Capt G. S. Nares RN. Feilden took part in several sledging journeys, and made important collections and observations, especially on the geology and biology of the region.

Born in Neptune, N J USA of immigrant stock in 1891, Issac Schlossbach became a graduate of the US Naval Academy and a pioneer in naval submarines and aviation. Invalided from the navy after the loss of one eye, he served with Sir Hubert Wilkins in the Nautilus submarine expedition to the Arctic in 1931, with Richard Byrd in Antarctica in 1933–35, and as navigator, pilot or observer in eight further north and south polar expeditions, He made his final visit to Antarctica with Operation Deepfreeze in 1960–61 at the age of 70, dying in his home town after a long and active retirement in 1984.

From austral autumn to spring 1986 the West German research ship RV Polarstern made three consecutive cruises to Antarctica in 1986; of these the second and third (27 June–14 December) made up the Winter Weddell Sea Projet, the first detailed winter survey of the pack ice, oceanography and biota of the offshore and eastern coastal Weddell Sea south to 76°S. This article briefly describes the ship and outlines the scientific programme, which involved 137 scientists and technicians from 12 German and 16 non-German institutions. In the cruise of 27 June–17 September research was centred on physical and chemical investigations of the structure and dynamics of water, ice and lower atmosphere, including growth and movement of the icefield. The ship penetrated almost to the coast of Dronning Maud Land, failing, however, to find the Weddell Polynya which had appeared on satellite imagery in 1976–78. The cruise of 28 September–14 December added biological investigations to the programme; crossing the main body of pack ice to investigate the eastern coastal polynya, the biology of sea ice, plankton, fish and bottom fauna, and the breeding and feeding of seals and penguins were investigated. Use was made of a field station established on the mainland ice cliff. Helicopters extended the range of the work on both cruises.

This article summarizes voyages in the western Arctic of North America during four summers 1983–87, in an 18.3 m cutter-rigged steel motor cruiser, for the purpose of research into the history of commercial whaling, sealing and fur trading. Use of a small, self-sufficient sea-going boat allows access into the small harbours and coves where relics of commerce from the sailing-ship and early steam-ship eras are mostly found.

From 14 November to 12 December 1986 a five-man team surveyed Ile des Pingouins, an islandin the lies Crozet archipelago only once previously visited by scientists. Supported by Terres Australes et Antarctiques Francaises (TAAF), the team investigated the geology, climate, botany, invertebrate zoology and ornithology of the island.

Remains of three whaling stations on small islands south of Edgeøya, Svalbard, are described. They are believed to be British stations dating from the 17th century. Construction of tryworks and dwellings may represent an intermediate stage between that of Basque whaling stations in southern Labrador and of west European stations on the west coast of Spitsbergen.

During a late winter and early spring oceanographic voyage south into the Weddell Sea the icebreaker RV Polarstern first encountered patches and bands of loose floes in 58°S; these increased over the next 150 km to form closed ice pack which extended 1000 km to the coast. Along the coast the ship encountered almost continuous shore leads and polynyas that formed repeatedly despite persistently low air and sea temperatures. These areas of open water, which are generally visible in USA NOAA and USSR METEOR satellite photographs, form under the action of strong offshore winds that carry the main body of pack ice west and southwest. Grease ice, pancake ice and nilas spreading over the open water are rafted and ridged by windgenerated stresses to double thickness or more; these kinds of ice were continually driven westward, accumulating in a distinctive zone along the eastern edge of the pack ice. Polynyas and leads narrow and disappear temporarily only when winds with northerly or westerly components bring the pack ice toward the land, and reform as soon as offshore winds predominate. Open water, often more than 15 km wide, was present close to the ship throught the spring voyage, facilitating oceanographic work as far south as 77°S. Polarstern's full icebreaking capacity was needed only occasionally when winds temporarily pressed the pack ice against the coast. The presence throughout early spring of both fast and pack ice, separated by a zone of thin ice or open water, is essential to large populations of Weddell seals, emperor penguins and whales in the area. The transect from the continent included ice pack that was undergoing early summer decay, characterized by differential expansion and melting which brought about a gradual decrease in concentration toward the ice edge.

Antarctic Airways, an independent commercial airline, operated one DC-4 and two Twin Otter aircraft during the 1987–88 summer season. The DC-4 made twelve direct flights between Punta Arenas, Chile, and the Ellsworth Mountains. The Twin Otters were used for onward flights to destinations including the South Pole. The significance of this development is that scientists from countries that do not have ships or bases in the Antarctic can now work on the continent without either.

An occupational health unit has been established by British Antarctic Survey (BAS) which utilises the philosophy and principles employed to provide health care for offshore workers on the UK continental shelf. The central problem is the distance and time which separates the remote worker from the sophisticated diagnostic and specialist services which other sections of the community enjoy. BAS has resolved this by the establishment of a coordinating medical unit and by setting up special training programmes for the population at risk, together with the provision of increasingly effective systems of communication. The ultimate aim is the provision of full diagnostic and specialist services at the remote work-site in the Antarctic through the medium of the resident doctor or health care worker and through increasingly sophisticated communications. A retrospective study of Antarctic morbidity has been undertaken to provide a base-line, and a prospective database has now been set up to provide ongoing surveillance of the system and an evaluation of the effectiveness of this approach to the health care of remote communities.

Between 1851 and 1877 Stephen Pearce (1819–1904) painted, among many other subjects, portraits of most of the distinguished 19th century British Arctic explorers. This article outlines Pearce's life, presents his most celebrated painting ‘The Arctic Council discussing a plan ofsearch for John Franklin’, and catalogues the 25 Arctic portraits held by the National Portrait Gallery. A selection of four portraits spanning the artist's working life is illustrated.

Place names in the Hughes Bay area, Danco Coast, Antarctica well illustrate naming problems that give rise to confusion or ambiguity. This note shows the origins of conflicting place names, providing a warning to scientists and others and a key of foreign equivalents to some of the names accepted for British official use.

In 1974–75 30 muskoxen Ovibos moschatus were introduced to the tundra of Poluostrov Taymyr, ten from Banks Island NWT, Canada and 20 from Nunivak Island, Alaska. Originally enclosed in large corrals near a special research station in the Bikada valley, at the east end of Ozero Taymyr, the animals were released in 1980/82. The first calf to survive infancy was born in 1978; since then the death rate has been extremely low. By July 1987 the population had risen to 230, running in 10–12 herds. Most of the animals still range close to the Bikada valley, but one herd of 40 animals has moved noth across the main range of Byrranga Gory. Bachelor bulls wander even farther afield, up to 300 km from the release site. In August 195 two bulls appeard at Mys Chelyuskina, the northernmost tip of the continent.

A method has been developed for deducing the variation with height of the atmospheric temperature, using the observed form of a mirage as the input. This method is applicable to the class of mirages in which the object appears undistorted, although magnified, vertically displaced, and quite possibly inverted: here applied to an observation of this class of mirage made by Dr William Scoresby in 1822, it is used to deduce the nature of the temperature inversion prevailing on that occasion.