Frithjof participated in several North Pole expeditions between 1898 and 1907 and was also involved in several relief expeditions. Her most frequent commander was Captain Johan Kjeldsen, who was an internationally famous ice pilot. Frithjof was built in 1884 at Stokke on Oslo fjord, Norway. After being employed in the sealing trade for some years, Frithjof was sold to an Icelandic concern. In 1891 she returned to Norwegian ownership and, in 1898, was chartered for Walter Wellman's North Pole expedition of the years 1898–1899. In 1900, she was the expedition ship for the Kolthoff expedition to Greenland, Spitsbergen and Jan Mayen. Between 1901 and 1904 she was engaged in Ziegler's North Pole expeditions both as expedition ship and as relief vessel. In 1903 the Swedish government chartered Frithjof in order to search for the Nordenskjöld expedition in the Antarctic. In 1906–7 the ship was again chartered for Wellman's North Pole airship expeditions. In late September 1907, Frithjof sailed from Tromsø on a relief expedition to search for Laura, an expedition vessel to Greenland that had not been heard of for three months. On 5 October 1907 she was lost in a storm off Iceland and only one man survived from her crew of 17.

At Cape Adare, there are three wooden historic huts in varying condition. Two are the first permanent structures erected in Antarctica for human habitation and were occupied in 1899 by the British Antarctic Expedition (1898–1900) led by C.E. Borchgrevink. The third hut was built in 1911 by the northern party of R.F. Scott's British Antarctic Expedition (1910–13) led by V.L.A. Campbell. Previous research has focused on the unusual wind regime at Ridley Beach, Cape Adare, with the use of an environmental wind tunnel to support field observations, and on the sequence of destruction by wind of the 1911 hut. The present paper focuses on the weathering of timber at some historic huts in Antarctica and presents observations and data collected on three visits to Cape Adare spanning 21 years. The results indicate that over 23% of the timber has been eroded from exposed board ends on one corner of Borchgrevink's ‘stores hut’ and further damage to the huts is being caused by wind blown sand and pebbles which, at two meters above the ground surface, can attain a velocity of 29–203 km/hr−1. This has in places, resulted in severe degradation of the timber.

The small island of Tuppiap Qeqertaa, formerly known as Tobias Ø or Tobias Island, is situated 80 km off the northeast Greenland coast. The island was discovered in 1993 and is approximately 2 km long and 1.5 km wide. Most of the island is covered by an ice cap that rises to 35 m above sea level, as determined by airborne laser scanning. High-quality geodetic GPS measurements determine the position of a small cairn erected on the island to 79°20′34.48′′ N, 15°46′31.23′′ W. Minor parts of the island are ice free, with small hills of gravel. Late Holocene shells of marine bivalves have been found and were presumably brought up by ice floe push. Shell fragments of southern extralimital marine invertebrates point to the presence of pre-Holocene deposits. Three species of moss are the only land plants that have been found on the island.

The need to address the human health implications of northern development is well founded, and the role of health determinants in environmental impact assessment is increasingly recognised; however, there is limited understanding of the nature of health determinants and current practices in northern project assessment and decision making. This paper reports on a study of the nature and use of health determinants in Canadian northern environmental impact assessment, and discusses the key challenges to, and opportunities for, improved practice. Four themes emerged from this study. First, the consideration of health is limited to physical environments and the physical determinants of health, with limited attention to broader social and cultural health determinants. Second, when health is considered in northern project impact assessments such considerations rarely carry forward to post-project approval monitoring of health determinants and evaluation of health impact management programmes. Third, while there is general consensus that health determinants should be an integral part of northern impact assessment, there exist different expectations of the role of health determinants in project evaluation and decision making due in large part to different understandings and interpretations of health. Finally, a broader conceptualisation of health and health determinants in northern environmental impact assessment is required; one that takes into consideration northern cultures and knowledge systems, and is adaptive to local context, geography and life cycles.

This paper describes observations made on visits to Beechey Island in 1999, 2002, and 2005. These visits were made in order to examine the memorials on this very important site for Arctic exploration and to make an extensive photographic record of them. Their history and present condition are described. There are some inconsistencies and confusion in the scattered literature concerning their history and this paper seeks to resolve these matters. It is hoped that further investigations to resolve the few remaining problems, will be conducted and that a systematic nomenclature, which is suggested in the paper, will be adopted for the memorials. Restoration, repair, and regular maintenance of the memorials are becoming necessary and appropriate funding for this is required before it is too late. Close regulation of the erection of more modern memorials and burials, some of which, in the author's view, detract from the significance, solemnity, and appearance of the island is desirable. With the growing number of airborne and ship borne travellers and tourists visiting Beechey Island, a degree of supervision may become necessary in order to ensure that the memorials remain intact. Beechey Island is one of the most important heritage locations in Canada and in the history of Arctic exploration by the Royal Navy in the nineteenth century.

The South Shetland Islands were discovered in 1819. Almost immediately the fur seal population was intensively exploited and this lasted through the early years of the 1820s, by which time seal numbers had been so depleted that sealing became uneconomic. Sealing was revived for both fur seals and Elephant seals at several periods later in the century. Sealers were put ashore in gangs and built makeshift shelters in which to live. Many of these have been identified on the South Shetlands, and a number have been excavated, though few with archaeological method. Fifty known sites are identified. The paper outlines the survey and excavation of two sites on Rugged Island by archaeologists from Australia and from the Chilean National Natural History Museum. One site relates to the sealing era of the 1820s, while the second may be associated with a marooned sealing gang in the 1870s. The nature of the occupation sites on the South Shetlands is analysed in relation to the social and operational context of the merchant navies of Britain and the USA in the nineteenth century. This is seen as a more directly relevant context for assessing physical evidence than is the application of theories of global capitalist systems.

The current lack of a specific policy regime for Antarctic biological prospecting (bioprospecting) has emerged as a focus of recent discussion. Consideration has been given to the interface of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS). This paper aims to introduce the potential for industry accreditation to address existing regulatory uncertainty. The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) accreditation for sustainable fisheries and the accreditation scheme being developed for Antarctic tour operators provide examples of industry accreditation that interplay with the Antarctic Treaty System. Accreditation may provide an avenue for industry to promote legitimate activities, demonstrate willingness to comply with existing principles and established regulations while the perception of being over-regulated is potentially reduced. Accreditation may also serve as an interim solution while more binding measures are developed. While Antarctic bioprospecting accreditation is not without its limitations, it does provide an avenue for the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties (ATCPs) to engage industry stakeholders, clarify existing obligations and promote a regulatory initiative in conformity with the principles of the Antarctic Treaty System.

Giacomo Bove, an Italian participant in Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld's 1878–1880 Northeast Passage expedition, and Cristoforo Negri, director of the Italian Geographical Society, drew up plans for an Italian Antarctic expedition to depart from Genoa in 1881. The plans were for a three-year, single-vessel expedition with two winterings, one in the Ross Sea and the second in Enderby Land. They were drawn up in considerable detail and proposed a lavish budget. The expedition never took place because of failure to secure sufficient funds from public subscription and because of the unwillingness of the Italian government to provide support. However, Bove was employed by the Argentine government to put into effect expeditions that had some elements of his plans.

This note reports on a project concerning the wreck of Belgica, in 22 m of water at Bruvik, Norway. A society has been founded with the aims of protecting the wreck, conducting a feasibility study on the possible raising and preservation of it, and for promoting education concerning the polar regions.

The Gough Island scientific survey (GISS) of 1955–1956 contributed greatly to knowledge of the natural history of that remote island in the south Atlantic. This note commemorates the expedition and provides information concerning it and its achievements. An outline is also given concerning the research that has since been undertaken on the island.

Angus Erskine died in Edinburgh on 15 April 2006, aged 77 (Fig. 1). He was one of fewer than a dozen people to hold the Polar Medal with Arctic and Antarctic clasps.