Ever since the early explorers realized that the Arctic sea ice is continually moving, breaking and shifting, it has been the subject of scientific curiosity. Beginning with Fridtjof Nansen's crossing of the Arctic Ocean in 1893–96, knowledge has been accumulated about the ocean, the ice, and the atmosphere in the Arctic by means of some 30 drifting ice stations, and numerous aircraft landings and submarine crossings.

The Arctic Ocean covers an area of roughly 10 million km2. The terrain, in reality an ocean of ice, varies in altitude from sea level to pressure ridges and floes up to 60 m high, in which extensive leads of open water may well be encountered. In the short summer period the temperature can rise significantly above freezing point but during winter the air temperature will drop to levels well below —48°C. During the winter, high winds will buffet radio antenna installations and ice storms render an aerial array virtually useless. In the Arctic basin, periods of mist and fog frequently occur, and during these it will be impossible to determine bearing or position by conventional navigation methods. During any extended journey beyond the land mass surrounding the Arctic Ocean it is important, therefore, to establish communication with base headquarters at an early stage and at regular intervals thereafter to ensure adequate re-supply, provide a homing aid for the re-supply aircraft and to call for assistance or instructions in the event of an emergency.

Each year, more and more of Canada's vast northern territories are being explored in the search for untapped mineral resources. But the area is covered with snow for seven to ten months a year, which hampers most activities connected with mineral exploration. Snow cover also affects changes in albedo and temperature and hydrologic forecasting. The surface hydrology in most areas is only active for two to five months a year. Historically, snow hydrologists have been limited to the use of ground source measurements for estimating the spatial and temporal variability of snow cover. In the Yukon and Northwest Territories hydrometeorological stations are few and tend to be clustered around settlements. Moreover, the ground source data are subject to error and do not necessarily provide a complete picture of current conditions. The synoptic view provided by satellite images presents an economical way to monitor the retreat and advance of the snow-line and of mapping snow cover in remote and sparsely populated areas. The information may eventually be useful for extrapolating conventional ground source data more effectively over the entire Yukon and Northwest Territories.

This expedition to Iceland was concerned with ice depth soundings of the largest ice cap in Europe and involved both the development of impulse radar systems and the use of satellite survey equipment for locating experimental stations and ice depth traverses (Fig 1). Vatnajökull, which translated means ‘water-ice’, is a temperate ice sheet and measures approximately 140 km east to west and 100 km north to south, thereby occupying more space than all other glaciers in Europe combined. Ice depth studies had previously been limited to seismic experiments conducted during the French-Icelandic expedition of 1951 when some 33 individual soundings were recorded. A few gravitational studies have also been made. It was not until 1976, however, that a first glacier base profile was obtained by a joint Cambridge-Icelandic expedition using electronic equipment developed at the University of Cambridge (see Polar Record, Vol 18, No 115, p 375–77). From that expedition some understanding of the electrical properties of ice was deduced and it became possible to design equipment that, theoretically, could measure the deepest parts of the ice cap. It was agreed in Reykjavik, in July 1976, to carry out a joint expedition in 1977 using a Mark II British instrument to survey Vatnajökull, at least in part, time and weather permitting. Owing to unforseen difficulties it was only possible for Cambridge University members to carry out this work.

Independent of latitude, scattered populations all over the world need specially designed health and social services with much higher per capita costs than in densely populated parts of the world. This is particularly true of the Arctic region with its harsh environmental conditions and constraints apply. Indeed, it is even more important to establish the nature of numerical highly individual native cultures. In spite of its northerly position, Svalbard (77–80°N) has a relatively mild climate which offers an environment less inhospitable than might be expected at this latitude. The climate, especially on the main island, Spitsbergen, is influenced by an extreme tail of the North Atlantic Drift which keeps the waters of the west and north coasts open for half the year. Extreme Arctic temperatures are rare. Spitsbergen's temperature fluctuates by about 20°C, whereas in castern Siberia the range can be three times as great. The annual average temperature on the west coast is −5°C, seldom falling below −30°C. July is usually around +5°C with an occasional maximum of +20°C. Therefore, the health problems often associated with extremely cold climates are not common in Svalbard.

A Cambridge expedition was in Svalbard during late June, July and August 1977 and undertook geological field work concerning late Precambrian/Palaeozoic stratigraphy. One party of the expedition completed a small scale exploration drilling contract for a German industrial concern. Members of the expedition were: W. B. Harland (leader, geologist); C. A. G. Pickton (geologist/driller with Party D); N. J. R. Wright (Party D, geologist); K. Swett and D. Johnson (Party A, geologists from the University of Iowa); M. J. Hambrey and P. Waddams (Party C, geologists); S. R. Larter and B. Bowler (Party D, drillers/geoscientists from the University of Newcastle); J. Gammage, R. Hanks, D. Burkitt, P. Doughty, and G. Thwaites (Party B, boat captains and crews). The activities of the expedition were divided into two phases.

During the austral summer 1977–78 the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) conducted a fifth season of airborne radio echo sounding in Antarctica as part of a joint project with the US National Science Foundation Division of Polar Programs (NSF-DPP) and the Technical University of Denmark (TUD). In addition, trials were undertaken of a magnetometer installation, developed and operated, under NSF contract, by the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) of the Johns Hopkins University, USA.

Following a recent upsurge of interest in Australia's heritage and association with the Antarctic, plans were formulated in the winter of 1977 to place ashore a small expedition at Cape Denison to assess the state of the various huts left by the Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE) in 1912–13 (Davis, 1919; Mawson, 1915). Particular interest centred on the living and working hut and the party was to make recommendations as to whether it could be either renovated in situ or returned to Australia and re-erected in a place suitable for public viewing. The decision to send a summer expedition was reached after numerous enquiries from sources within Australia and overseas, dating back to a report in 1962 when the first Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition (ANARE) to visit Cape Denison found the hut in need of repair. All records since 1930 report the gradual whittling away of the surface timber, particularly on the windward side, and the gradual shrinking of the tongue and groove pine with which the roof and verandah are clad.

Two field experiments took place in 1978 as part of a project to study ocean wave attenuation in the marginal pack ice zone and the effect of ocean waves on floe break-up and ice dynamics. The main partners in the project are the Scott Polar Research Institute and the Electromagnetics Institute, Technical University of Denmark (TUD), Lyngby, with funding from the Office of Naval Research (ONR), Washington DC, and the Danish government. The first experiment was a pilot study carried out in co-operation with C-CORE (Centre for Cold Oceans Resources Engineering) at Memorial University of Newfoundland, St John's, and took place in the Labrador Sea. The second experiment was a major field study carried out in September 1978 from Mesters Vig, east Greenland. The project will be completed by a second main experiment at Mesters Vig in summer 1979, with supporting experiments in the Bering Sea and west Greenland in spring 1979.

Five main British Antarctic Survey stations were occupied throughout the year. These were Faraday and Halley (the two geophysical observatories), Signy (the main biological station), Grytviken (a multi-disciplinary sub-Antarctic station) and Rothera (the centre for air operations). The 1977 winter passed uneventfully and the stations were relieved in the 1977–78 summer, as usual, by the two Survey ships RRS John Biscoe and RRS Bransfield and two Twin Otter aircraft. However, ice conditions in the Antarctic Peninsula area were severe; although Halley was relieved without too much difficulty at the beginning of January, the ships were unable to reach Rothera until the end of February. By that time it was too late for major building operations, and the third and final phase of the development of Rothera (the construction of another large building) had to be postponed.

For more than 30 years the late Professor Harald Drever, of the Department of Geology, University of St Andrews, was intimately concerned with the people of the village of Igdlorssuit, near Umanak in west Greenland. Almost every year he spent some weeks in the summer visiting and working in the area. He always hoped that the villagers could maintain their traditional lifestyle by hunting seals and he made a lasting contribution to the preservation of one of their cultural skills when he initiated a kayak endurance race across 80 km of open sea from Umanak to Igdlorssuit. He provided the prize monies, and he donated a handsome trophy for the winner. With his death in 1975 this race was in doubt. However, in 1976 the Umanak Kommune formed a committee to run the race and started to raise support for future races. The Harald Drever Memorial Fund to help the race funds was begun the same year. A sum of about £1 700 (US$3 300) was raised from over 100 contributors and this sum has been matched by contributions from the Umanak Kommune and the Greenex Mining Company, which operates at Mârmorilik in the Umanak district. Thus a substantial basis for the financial future of the race has been laid.

Five main British Antarctic Survey stations were occupied throughout the year. These were Faraday and Halley (the two geophysical observatories), Signy (the main biological station), Grytviken (a multi-disciplinary sub-Antarctic station and centre for the Offshore Biological Programme) and Rothera (the centre for earth sciences programmes). During the 1978 winter, routine programmes were maintained by 69 men who also made preparations for the forthcoming summer season. The two BAS ships, RRS John Biscoe and RRS Bransfield, with assistance from two Twin Otter aircraft relieved the stations, as usual, and assisted summer field workers. With the early recall of John Biscoe to undergo a major refit, invaluable support was also given by HMS Endurance, especially in the Trinity Peninsula area. Apart from Rothera, relief was completed by the end of January 1979 and, in marked contrast to some years, Halley was reached without difficulty. Persistent sea ice late into the season in the southern part of the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula meant that Rothera could not be reached by Bransfield until mid-February. However, the season saw the completion of the new Rothera station, some major rebuilding at Faraday (originally constructed in 1954) and the installation of a new ionospherics laboratory at Halley. As with the design of the 1973 Halley station, the Rothera complex has aroused considerable international interest.

The purpose of this paper is to report on the present status of the small but growing population of the Antarctic Fur Seal Arctocephalus gazella in the South Shetland Islands (Fig 1). The previous history of the sealing of this species is well documented by O'Gorman (1961, 1963), Bonner and Laws (1964) and Bonner (1964,1968). The current status of this and other species of fur seals, and the species of sea lions and true seals in the Southern Hemisphere, has been summarized by Laws (1973a). Bonner (1968) has made natural history and population studies on Antarctic Fur Seals in South Georgia, and present research here is being carried out by Dr M. R. Payne and two other colleagues of the British Antarctic Survey (Laws, 1973b).

The object of the British North-Polar Expedition 1977–79 was for Allan Gill and myself to make the first circumnavigation of Greenland by dog sledge and umiak, beginning and ending at Thule in north-west Greenland (Fig 1). This 13 000 km journey estimated to take 16 months, was, I felt, one of the most interesting routes that a polar traveller could take; around the Greenland coast there is a greater variety of climate, scenery and physical obstacles than is likely to be encountered along a coastline of comparable length anywhere else in the world. I was convinced that as a literary and filming project this was an expedition that would justify not only the financial outlay, but also the good faith of all of those who had supported the project against the criticism that no polar journey is worthwhile unless it has a well conducted and acceptable scientific programme.

The 1978 Cambridge Spitsbergen Expedition was organized along similar lines to those of previous years by C. A. G. Pickton and was in the field from late June to mid-August. Expedition members were: W. B. Harland (leader), C. A. G. Pickton, I. J. Fairchild, P. F. Rawson, M. J. Hambrey and P. Waddams (geologists); T. H. Druitt, J. H. Barne and D. A. Waldron (geological assistants); R. Davies (engineer); N. Cox and J. Caner (boat captains).

The first permanent Polish scientific station in the Antarctic—the H. Arctowski station—was opened on 26 February 1977 on behalf of the Polish Academy of Sciences, by the 1976–77 expedition's leader. Assistant Professor S. Rakusa-Suszczewski. The station is built on the west coast of Admiralty Bay, south of Point Thomas, King George Island, in the South Shetland Islands, and is named after Professor Henryk Arctowski (1871–1958), an outstanding Polish scientist and member of the Belgian Antarctic Expedition in Belgica (1897–99) under A. de Gerlache de Gomery. Its location by the sea allows the possibility of oceanographic research, which should make up for the lack of such a centre in Poland. However, its main purpose is to carry out the biological studies necessary in order to formulate measures for the protection of the Antarctic flora and fauna, whose existence is being threatened by an increasing number of tourists and fishermen. It is also hoped that co-operation with other scientists and countries, and exchanges of information will occur, and that the station will be a stopover point for many scientific expeditions and other ships.