Punta Arenas

Adaptive planning is needed not only in ocean management, but in real life.

After arriving at Punta Arenas, Chile, the team was expected to fly to King George Island on February 3. That was the initial plan. But then life happened. Francisco was diagnosed with a deep vein thrombosis, meaning he cannot fly anywhere for some time. As a result, the PLAnT team will stay in Punta Arenas for a while. This is the second adaptation the expedition faces, even before arriving in Antarctica (Catarina Frazão Santos, who was also expected to join Catarina and Francisco, had to stay behind on short notice). The team is making jokes about Agatha Christie's work, "And Then There Were None", that in the Portuguese version reads, "At The Beginning There Were Ten". Here, at the beginning there were three. 

Departing from Lisbon... to Antarctica!

On January 30, the PLAnT team started its first polar expedition to Antarctica ❄️🐧

Drs Catarina Pereira Santos and Francisco Oliveira Borges embarked on a 24-hour journey heading from Lisbon, Portugal, to Punta Arenas, Chile. From there, they will fly to King George Island, where they will stay at the Profesor Julio Escudero Station, a permanent Chilean Antarctic research base, until early March. 

This is PLAnT's first Antarctic polar expedition, PLAnT-PARTIMAP. Over the next 5 weeks, Catarina and Francisco will conduct dedicated, in-person interviews featuring a guided spatial survey implemented through SeaSketch. These will be used to trial the initial stage of a broad participatory mapping process, gathering insights into the perceptions of key Antarctic stakeholders on areas of use, areas of importance, areas of concern, and the social-ecological values associated with these areas. For now, interviews will mainly target scientists, research station managers and research station staff in Escudero. Other research stations are likely to be visited during the expedition, but are still pending confirmation. 

The mission is supported by the Portuguese Polar Programme, PROPOLAR, which provided all logistical support.