site.btaScientists from Bulgarian Antarctic Base Visit False Bay

Scientists from the Bulgarian Antarctic Base visited False Bay for field work, while the Bulgarian naval research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii (RSV 421) spent the night in Emona Anchorage, part of the South Bay of Livingston Island,  near the St Kliment Ohridski Bulgarian Antarctic Base, said BTA special correspondent Milena Ostrovska.

Electronics engineer Dr. Petar Sapundzhiev and nuclear physicist Vasil Gurev visited False Bay, which is located on the southern side of Livingston Island. There, they placed temporary markers and recorded their precise GPS coordinates to georeference images collected by an automatic autonomous system located in the bay, explained Dr. Sapundzhiev. This was part of a long-term project to visually monitor the evolution of the Huntress Glacier located in False Bay. 

Boyan Michev from the Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) conducted an observation and description of the colonies of Antarctic penguins on Cape Miers Bluff.

On the field with the scientists were the boat captain Elka Vasileva, field assistant and photographer Alexander Valchev, mechanic Vladimir Gigov and journalist Milena Ostrovska.

The Bulgarian naval research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii (RSV 421) departed from Varna on its third Antarctic expedition on November 7, 2024, and arrived at Livingston Island on December 28. The St Kliment Ohridski Bulgarian Antarctic Base on Livingston Island opened for the new polar season on November 23, 2024.

BTA has a national press club on the vessel and at the Bulgarian Antarctic base. This is the third year in a row that BTA has sent a correspondent to Antarctica. This year's correspondent is Milena Ostrovska, who arrived at the base on January 17. Her reports can be accessed free in English at Bulgaria-Antarctica BTA's Log on BTA's website and can be used for free by all media with attribution to BTA.