ANTARCTICA ~ British Territory - Port Lockroy ~

... Great postcard coming from the most Southerly post office of the world the 🐧"Penguin Post Office"🐧... Antarctica’s most-visited tourist spot.... each year, seasonal staff send roughly 70,000 postcards to more than 100 countries, and the revenue helps fund the UKAHT...  Port Lockroy is a sheltered harbour at the meeting point of three seaways which offer some of the most dramatic mountain and glacier scenery on the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula.... for cruise-ship passengers and adventurers, exploring Port Lockroy is an unforgettable experience.... with penguins, ice caps, snowy mountain ranges, and a cool museum, the town’s full of surprises... I love special the penguin postmarks... Thanks a lot Rena!!【ツ】

Photographs courtesy BAS archives and SPRI "The United Kingdom Antarctic Heritage Trust aims works to conserve Antarctica's buildings and artefacts, and to promote and encourage public interest in Antarctic Heritage. The Trust is custodian of historic site no. 6, Port Lockroy 64° 49' S, 63° 29' W."
Port Lockroy is part of the Palmer Archipelago and situated on the northwestern shore of Wiencke Island, one of the islands of the archipelago. It was named after Étienne-Auguste-Édouard Lockroy, a politician who funded the expedition that led to the site's discovery in 1904.

It is a former British military base and the first permanent base in Antarctica established during World War II. After the war, it was used as a research station until the mid-1960s. In 1996, Port Lockroy was renovated and turned into a museum and post office.The staff looks after the post office and museum from November to March and receive about 18,000 visitors a year.

There is an ongoing study of the gentoo penguin population. There were no gentoo penguins in the area when the base was founded. The existing colony is believed to have popped up around 1985, establishing a bigger colony on Port Lockroy. The UKAHT has monitored the population’s breeding habits since 1996, including the effects of tourism; as part of the study, half of the island is off-limits to visitors.

Stamp:

Birds - Life Cycle of the Gentoo Penguin
(Issued 13-11-2013)

ANTARCTICA ~T.A.A.F ~

...Amazing postcard...one of the last true untouched wildernesses on the planet....but also sadly enough in the top 10 of most endangered places in the world...with the whole back of the card scanned to show all the stamps and beautiful cancellations...¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Big thanks to Corentin, Julien and Manu!!

© Maxime Aimetti The French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF) are an overseas territory which has been created in 1955 and which comprises the Crozet and Kerguelen archipelagos, the islands of Saint-Paul and Amsterdam, the Adélie Land on the Antarctic continent, and, since 2007, the Scattered Islands (Europa, Glorieuses, Juan de Nova, Bassas da India and Tromelin).

The TAAF are not part of the European Union, but do enjoy a special status as an associated Overseas Country and Territory (OCT).

The territory has no permanent civilian population. Those resident consist of visiting military personnel, officials, scientific researchers and support staff.

Stamps:

Paul-Emile Victor, 1907-1995 (Issued 07-03-2015)

Logos of French South and Antarctic Territory - Year 2015
(Issued 1903-2015)

AUSTRALIA ~The Dogs that Saved Macquarie Island -UNESCO~

...As being a dog lover and owner this fantastic postcard is such a wonderful new addition to my collection...a stamp honour for dogs who saved the island...eleven dogs, mostly springer spaniels and Labrador retrievers, worked tirelessly to hunt and eradicate rabbits and rodents...the island owed its pest-free status to the dogs... an important part of their training was to teach the dogs not to disturb native animals...the postcard also shows the bad conditions that the dogs had to work in...Thanks so much Xue!!❣◕ ‿ ◕❣

Gary Bowcock and his hunting dogs -Photo by Chris Crerar- © Tasmania Parks&Wildlife Service. Macquarie Island is a subantarctic island located in the Southern Ocean, approximately half way between Australia and Antarctica.

Macquarie Island or “Macca” as it is often called is a Nature Reserve managed by the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service. The island and surrounding waters out to 12 nautical miles were inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1997 as a site of major geoconservation significance, as an island of unique natural diversity and one of the truly remarkable places on earth. The land under the sea, all flora and fauna including fish and marine plants are completely protected.

Macquarie Island was listed as a UNESCO WHS site in 1997.

A maxicard is a prepaid postcard with a stamp affixed and postmarked on the view side. The subject matter of a maxicard is common to the card, stamp and postmark.

 On 9th of September Australia Post issued a set of four maxicard on Macquarie Island and its dogs.

TAAF ~ Crozet - Île des Pingouins et le Marion Dufresne ~

Today a bit of mystery postcard...but such a fabulous surprise to find in my mailbox...I think I have to thank my friend Johan for this "again" amazing^_^ surprise...I don't know about the link with Antwerp???

With fantastic matching stamp and cancellation:
TAAF stamp featuring Gentoo penguins
(Issued 15 June 2011)

©Taaf François Lepage

The Territory of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (T.A.A.F.) is an overseas territory of France.

 The Crozet Islands are a sub-antarctic archipelago divided into two groups: L'Ocidental and L'Oriental in the southern Indian Ocean. They form one of the five administrative districts of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands.

The Crozets has one of the highest concentrations of breeding seabirds anywhere in the world, they are home to seven species of albatros and half of the world's king penguins.

 The highest point is MT Marion-Dufresne at 1050m. There are no glaciers and they have been a National Park since 1938.

ANTARCTICA ~ Chilean Antarctica ~

Received two totally different beautiful places today qua scenery and most of all qua temperatures... But still ... I would love to visit them both! :):)

Isla Peterman is a lonely island with a sheltered harbour.This little outcrop of Antarctica is known for its red and green algaes in the snow and hosts a "bazillion" of penguins.

UNIQUE SOUTH POLE SOUVENIR POSTMARKED AT THE PRINCESS BASE

Today is May 1 Labour Day here, everyone has a day of from work and all our shops are closed..

Finally my VERY VERY speciale ordered souvenir sheetlet arrived yesterday... And I like it a lot!! Everything about Antarctica fascinates me and I'm proud of this Belgian achievement...

On the occasion of the official opening of the new Belgian Antarctic base "Princess Elisabeth" on 15 februari 2009 the Belgian Post, in cooperation with Polar Foundation brings out a unique "Antarctic Souvenir". Pictured on it is the new Belgian station, and it is stamped (postmarked) on Antarctica at the day of the official opening. It is a limited edition!!

This Belgian project is the only polar base that runs completely on renewable energy sources. It will be a place where the impact of climate change and Antarctics impact on the global climate is studied under the leadership of Alain Hubert!(The souvenir is signed by Alain Hubert)
http://www.antarcticstation.org/



Once back in Belgium they received an extra postmark on the back side.

STAMPS ~Preserve the Polar Regions and Glaciers~

Went today to my local post office to buy new issued stamps.The sheet is looking great. There are two stamps on with a value of 1.05euro each for sending outside Europe....

I think they are a bit speciale because Belgium has over a century of tradition and expertise in polar exploration.
On the 16 August 1897 Adrien Victor Joseph de Gerlache (lieutenant in the Royal Belgian navy) and his multinational crew set sail from Antwerp to Antarctica. It was the first scientific and most cosmopolitan expedition of the Heroic Age of Antarctic explorations. Two of its members subsequently became world famous; second officer Roald Amundsen the first person to reach the South Pole in 1911 and Doctor Frederic Cook who claimed to have reached the North Pole in 1908.

In 2009 about 40 countries will issue stamps on climate change. The common theme is Preserve the Polar Regions and Glaciers. The international stamp campaign is being coordinated by Itella’s Philatelic Centre in Finland.
Each participant country will issue its stamps on its own schedule in the period January-March 2009. Each country will also decide independently on the illustration theme for its issue. A shared feature for the issues is the crystal insignia, shown on the left.

ANTARCTICA

Some fine examples of Sea Lions and Chinstrap Penguins. Both species can easely spotted in the South Island and the Antartic Peninsula.

ANTARCTICA THE WHITE CONTINENT

The name Antarctica comes from the word 'Arktikos' meaning 'Ursa Minoris' or 'Little Bear', the northern hemisphere constellation, whereas 'Antarctica's' means 'Ursa Major' or 'Great Bear', the southern hemisphere constellation where the Antarctica is located.

The Antarctic continent has an area of 14.107.000 square km (about 5.5 million square miles) with the barriers of ice. It surrounds the South Pole. The Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Ross Sea, and the Weddell Sea ring the continent.

It lies 60° south latitude, and encompasses the Antarctic Ocean, archipelagos, islands and the continent, which is somewhat circular in shape and has 4,500 kilometres in diameter, and two sharp inlets that form a narrow S-shaped peninsula, toward the austral part of the South American continent.

Virtually divided into two portions -known as West and East- Antarctica has impressive mountain chains. Mount Wilson - 4.900 metres high (16,000 ft.), in the Ellsworth chain - and the volcano Erebus that has an elevation of more than 3.700 metres (12,440 ft.), located near the Ross Sea, are the most important.

It is the world's highest continent, with an average elevation of 2,000 metres (6,500 ft.) above sea level. The average thickness of the ice that covers the continent is 2.500 metres (8,200 ft.) - the record was 4,800 metres (15,740 ft.)-, which is equal to some 5 kilometres of ice on some of the rocky formations of the Antarctica.

Sometimes these masses of ice break off, forming icebergs that slide outward to the sea. But as ice does not break off easily, ice barriers form on the coasts, making access difficult.

Due to the forming of icebergs, navigation in this area in extremely dangerous. It's important to mention that the Antarctic is a continent, that is to say, there is a bedrock beneath it (unlike the Arctic that is only ice).

The continuous falling of snow thickens the layers of ice of more than 2000 metres (6,500 ft.) and causes the accumulation of snow on the coasts, provoking the ice to break off. Due to its weight, the bedrock begins to bend out of shape.
Information from: http://antarctica-way.com/

Gentoo Penguins. Asstonishing divers which can reach dephts of 100 metres. They generally live in small colonies, and are renowned for being docile and fairly timid. Found throughout the Antartic Peninsula and the sub-Antartic islands

ANTARCTICA ~Bahia Neko~

I couldn't find anything about Bahia-Neko. Any help is welcome.....
Would love to know more about the place....

ANTARCTICA ~~Gentoo Penguin~

Gentoo Penguin. Astonishing divers which can reach dephts of more than 100 metres. They generally live in small colonies and are renowned for being docile and faidy timid. Found throughout the Artartic Peninsula and the sub-Antartic islands.