The team on board is using marine robots, drones, and satellites to map the ice. Scientists will use this data to build improved computer models, and these models will help predict the future of Greenland’s glaciers, as well as advancing the global models used to forecast climate change.

Led by the British Antarctic Survey, GIANT focuses on the giant glaciers that flow into Greenland’s fjords. When these glaciers melt, fracture and collapse into the ocean, they release vast amounts of freshwater into the North Atlantic💧

The SDA is currently sailing around the eastern coast of Greenland as part of the GIANT (Greenland Ice sheet to AtlaNtic Tipping points from ice loss) mission, which explores how the warming ocean is affecting Greenland’s huge ice sheet, and what this means for our future climate.

🛰️ Sentinel-2 is run by Copernicus EU 🌍The images are used for remote-sensing science 📐 Each pixel represents a 10 metre square 🚢The SDA could be represented by a total of 7 pixels!

We particularly love that you can (if you squint) make out the faint path the SDA leaves in its wake as it pushes through the sea ice ❄️

We’ve been papped… By a satellite! 🛰️ The RRS Sir David Attenborough is visible in some of the latest Sentinel-2 images of Greenland, as was spotted by some of the eagle-eyed team onboard.

Boaty McBoatface has returned from its first expedition under glacial mélange! Our friends at @noc.ac.uk sent the UK's favourite submarine on a 23hr mission from the RRS Sir David Attenborough. This data will help show how Greenland's glaciers interact with the fjords and oceans.

What if the ocean current keeping Britain warm started to slow down? ☔ The AMOC acts like a giant conveyor belt, moving heat from the tropics to our shores. Models predict that the AMOC could slow down or collapse – potentially leading to new extremes in weather. 🧵1/2

The data gathered will feed into AI-boosted climate models – including the next-generation UK Earth System Model – giving us better predictions of Greenland ice loss and its global impact. The team also aims to develop a prototype Early Warning System for rapid glacier change. 🧵4/4

To understand this, the teams on board are deploying the robot A-Team: DriX skims the surface to map the glaciers. Gavia & EcoSubs dive in formation. The famous Boaty McBoatface dives 1,500m beneath the iceberg-choked fjords to map glacier geometry. 🧵3/4

As the Arctic warms, Greenland's meltwater could disrupt the North Atlantic Subpolar Gyre – a whirlpool of currents that form part of the ocean conveyor belt keeping our planet's climate stable. A slowdown could bring serious consequences for European weather – potentially within decades. 🧵2/4

Today, the RRS Sir David Attenborough set sail from the UK 🚢 bound for Greenland as part of the GIANT project – an ambitious mission to study how rapidly melting fjord glaciers are affecting Atlantic currents, climate, and wider marine ecosystems. #ArcticResearch #ClimateScience 🧵1/4

In case you've not seen it: here's a map to blow your mind ⬇️ It shows global ocean circulation on a ‘Spilhaus projection' map. These global connections are why you've got polar scientists hollering at you about climate change! (fyi: blue paths = deep-water currents, red paths = surface currents.)

Pete's almost 40-year career has transformed our understanding of Antarctic ecosystems, with 750+ publications and 45,000+ citations. He said: "The medal represents the culmination of a career made possible by exceptional colleagues and the incredible SCAR community." #ScienceAward 🧵2/2

Congratulations to Prof. Pete Convey, terrestrial ecologist at British Antarctic Survey, awarded the 2026 SCAR Medal for Excellence in Antarctic Research! 🎉 SCAR awards this medal annually for significant contributions to Antarctic research. #PolarScience #Antarctica 🧵1/2

Happy #InternationalDayOfTheSeafarer to our brilliant crew on board RRS Sir David Attenborough. Our mariners work in one of the world's most challenging oceans. Crossing the Drake Passage & navigating sea ice, icebergs & unchartered waters is all in a day's work for them. 📸Rich Turner, BAS

Look, we're SWEATING in Cambridge today. But down at the UK's largest Antarctic research station, our team are also experiencing a heatwave. It's midwinter on the Antarctic Peninsula: it should be -15°C to -20°C at the moment. It's -2°C. There's almost no sea ice, and there has been rain.

Extreme weather is making headlines – and record winter warming is being felt in Antarctica. 🧊🌡️ 🧵1/5

In the depths of polar winter, our Antarctic teams have been quietly preparing for World Cup glory. England and Scotland – the reinforcements are ready ⚽ Far from home. With you in spirit. Good luck from the bottom of the world! #FifaWorldCup2026 #Antarctica

Can AI help us study one of the most challenging environments on Earth? As London Tech Week is shining light on the use of AI in society, find out how we’re using it to monitor the polar regions and the environment. This is AI for good. #AI #MachineLearning #polarregions #environment

The new Discovery Building is now fully operational at Rothera Research Station. Built at the end of the Earth. Built for decades of polar science. ❄️ #Antarctica #Environment #PolarResearch

We’re at the Great Exhibition Road Festival this weekend! Look out for the big orange Antarctic field tent in the Family Fun Zone, Kensington Gardens – you can crawl inside, dress up as a polar researcher, and find out what life is really like on the coldest continent on Earth. 🧵1/2

At sea, the RRS Sir David Attenborough tested its icebreaking limits, and gathered important data to understand ocean processes 🚢 Aboard the RV Polarstern, scientists braved 41m/s winds to collect sea ice and biodiversity data in the Weddell Sea. 📸 @awi.de 🧵8/9

In the field, the REWIND team drilled a 271m ice core to containing 1,000 years of climate data 🧊 Meanwhile, critical data from beneath Thwaites Glacier revealed warm waters are melting this unstable ice giant from below. 🧵7/9

At Signy, a remotely operated "drone-in-a-box" is revolutionising wildlife surveys 🤖 Piloted by scientists from our UK site, it has already created a 3D map of the island and been used to monitor wildlife populations! 🧵6/9

At King Edward Point, the ECHO survey measured how wildlife interacts across a changing ecosystem, including a project tracking penguins and krill 🐧 Scientists also responded to a mysterious washup of pink-shelled bivalves on a nearby beach. 🧵5/9

At Bird Island, the team tagged over 400 snowy sheathbills – a species of bird whose population, behaviours and migratory movements are still a mystery to science 🕊️ *cue Peter Andre's 'Mysterious Girl'* The tags will help reveal population size and where they go on their travels... 🧵4/9

At Halley VI (our station on skis on the Brunt Ice Shelf) our team continued to gather vital ice, atmosphere, and space weather data – before handing over to autonomous instruments for the winter. Here's field guide Vicki Warke carefully testing the ice cliff ahead of a shipping delivery. 🧵3/9

At Rothera Research Station, the new Discovery Building is open 🎉 Highlights include long-term ecological monitoring, and the POLOMINTS project – studying underwater tsunamis caused by calving glaciers to better understand ocean mixing and improve climate models. 🧵2/9

That's a wrap on the 2025/26 Antarctic science season! Our teams worked on 50+ projects across five research stations, in the deep field, and at sea – from climate science to wildlife monitoring. Here's a look back at (some of) what we got up to... 🧵1/9