The requirement for an Antarctic component to the 2001 Australian State of the environment report initiated the development of a state of the environment system designed to remain current, yet minimize the resources required for maintenance. A series of environmental indicators was developed and refined by a group of experts during a period of 18 months. A simple descriptive template and data for each indicator were incorporated into a web-accessible database system called SIMR (System for Indicator Management and Reporting). The system captures indicator data either dynamically from sensors or by web input by indicator custodians. The system also prompts custodians for regular input of evaluations of indicator status. The system (http://www-aadc.aad.gov.au/soe) has been an effective framework for considering all aspects of state of the environment reporting and a practical tool in research and operational aspects of the Australian Antarctic Division.

An article by Walter Sullivan in The New York Times of 30 January 1969 speculated that a note discovered by a Russian party on Rudolf Island, Franz Josef Land, was evidence of defection by three members of the Fiala-Ziegler Polar Expedition, 1903–05. Sullivan indicated that the Soviet Novosti news service had reported that the partially decayed note, which was dated 2 July 1904, started: ‘We the opposition’ and was signed by ‘Tess, Veddy, and Ralliet.’ Examinations of the diaries of a member of the expedition and of expedition leader Anthony Fiala's book Fighting the polar ice show that it was impossible for these men to have been together on 2 July 1904, but that they were together a year later, and that they left a note then, at the place where Novosti reported the Russian party to have found one. Fiala and the diary show that the reported version of the note is not consistent with the circumstances at the purported time of the writing. When the note of 1905 was written, the trio was on a mission to assist Fiala. Defection and dissent by this group are contrary to available documents and publications, as well as the text of what is undoubtedly the original note, newly brought to light. In addition, the foundation for the issue of assassination and defection as raised by William Hunt, who referenced Sullivan's story in his book To stand at the Pole, is challenged.

The medieval King's Mirror describes Iceland and Greenland with a scientific accuracy that is remarkable. One of the very few exceptions is the hafgerdingar in the Greenland Sea. The term translates as ‘sea hedges,’ within which a mariner may become trapped at great peril. Many have believed that a real event was being described, although none of the proposed explanations has been totally satisfactory. The most common view currently is based on Steenstrup (1871), who explained the phenomenon as a tidal wave following a submarine earthquake. A simpler and more consistent theory is developed here: that the hafgerdingar are an optical phenomenon, specifically, a superior mirage. Such mirages, quite common in the polar regions, can produce an appearance fully consistent with the original description, as illustrated by several photographs and a computer simulation. Even the peril to seafarers has been corroborated, in the sense that such a mirage is frequently followed by a storm.

We used a top–down, multidisciplinary approach to examine the physical and biological environment of the pack ice of the eastern Ross Sea (approximately 125–170°W) during the austral summer of 1999/2000 from RVIB Nathaniel B. Palmer and its ship-based helicopters. The approach focused on pack-ice seals while incorporating studies of biotic and abiotic factors that may influence the distribution and abundances of these apex predators in the Ross Sea to yield a holistic understanding of the structure and function of this complex, large marine ecosystem. This research represented the US component of the international Antarctic Pack Ice Seal (APIS) program, which was designed to document the circumpolar distribution and abundance of Antarctic pack-ice seals. The eastern Ross Sea is one of the two major areas in the Southern Ocean where substantial pack ice exists throughout summer. We found that vast multi-year ice floes (>20 km diameter) and smaller floes north of the shore-fast ice front provide a unique habitat for seals and penguins (apex predators) to forage and haul out while molting in late summer. Farther north, more Ross seals were observed than in any previous surveys in the circumpolar pack ice, perhaps because they are attracted to the area in summer to molt on large stable first-year ice floes. Extensive fast ice along the coastline and drifting pack ice in the shelf–slope boundary zone provided haul-out areas for seals and penguins with access to feeding in the coastal shelf region. Distributions of potential prey for seals and penguins varied over the study area, as determined by nets, acoustics, and diving surveys. Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) were found throughout the survey region, overlapping the distributions of two smaller species, Thysanoëssa macrura (primarily off-shelf) and E. crystallorophias (primarily found on-shelf). In some locations, E. superba occurred at high densities underneath ice floes, where they foraged on the sea-ice microbial community. Two general fish communities, oceanic and shelf, were distinguished. Off-shelf fishes were members of the classic oceanic midwater fish fauna, whereas on-shelf fishes were Antarctic endemics. The abundance of pelagic fishes was relatively low throughout the study area compared with other Southern Ocean ecosystems. In contrast, benthic fish biomass and diversity on-shelf were high (41 species, 6 families). Hydroacoustic analyses indicated that densities of potential prey were highest in the coastal shelf region where large aggregations of euphausiids (primarily E. crystallorophias) and individual juvenile Antarctic silverfish (Pleuragramma antarcticum) occurred.

At the close of 2002, the United Nations (UN), acting in accordance with its 1999 resolution A54/45, returned to the ‘Question of Antarctica,’ which is currently being placed upon the agenda of the General Assembly's First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) every three years. In 2002, the First Committee's discussions, informed yet again by a report produced by the UN Secretary-General (UNSG) updating members about recent Antarctic developments, reaffirmed the varying perspectives existing within the international community about the management of Antarctica. Following statements delivered by the Polish delegate on behalf of the Antarctic Treaty Parties (ATPs) and the Malaysian representative, the First Committee adopted another consensus draft resolution. Subsequently, the UN General Assembly, acting by consensus without a vote, formally adopted the First Committee's draft as resolution A57/51, which basically updated the wording of that adopted in 1999. Thus, the UNSG was instructed to produce another report to guide the next UN session on the ‘Question of Antarctica’ scheduled for 2005. Although the UN discussions on the topic in 2002 proved relatively brief and low key, the actions of Malaysia during the past year or so have raised a number of questions about the future course of the ‘Question of Antarctica,’ given its lead role in first raising the topic at the UN in 1983 and then maintaining pressure upon the Antarctic Treaty System.

Mites (Acarina: Arachnida) have not colonised Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic islands by ballooning on air currents. All acarine records from Pacific and Southern Ocean aerial plankton represent dead coastal (hemi)-edaphic species or phoretics dislodged from their flying insect hosts. The few sub-Antarctic records of mites capable of ‘ballooning’ on air currents are all verified as being attributed to anthropogenic introductions.

Svalbard reindeer were examined for their dependency on seasonal changes from January to May and their choice of certain vegetation types. Snow characteristics and accumulation appear to be the main factors for the changing use of vegetation types from open plains and wetland in January and February to slopes and areas with ridge and heath vegetation in April and May. The results confirm other studies of the grazing behaviour of reindeer and caribou on the Norwegian mainland and in North America.

From 1851 to 1855, the Baltic-German geologist Carl von Ditmar explored and made scientific observations of Kamchatka. This area had first been scientifically investigated by Georg Wilhelm Steller and Stepan Petrovich Krasheninnikov in the 1730s and 1740s. However, until the last decade of the nineteenth century, little was added to the studies by Steller and Krasheninnikov, despite almost all of the Russian circumnavigations having gone through Kamchatka. It was only in 1890 that Ditmar's detailed investigation of the natural history and peoples of the Kamchatka peninsula was published. Although Ditmar remains little known to the broader public, his investigations are still used by those investigating Kamchatka.

At three localities in Svalbard, there are unusual geomorphological features, where solifluidal sediment bodies were at first eroded at the bottom and not at the top, as should normally be expected. It is suggested that the thermoerosion of the refrozen solifluidal sediment is caused by water running down the valleys or gullies it blocks. Thermoerosion affects the lower part of the frozen sediment, whereas the upper part remains frozen, thus creating a bridge-like feature and, consequently, subsurface drainage over shorter distances. As all three localities have a similar lithology in common, this seems to be a significant factor.

Seven pack mules were taken from India to the Antarctic in 1912. Their preparations for the voyage and for use in exploration are described. The names of the animals and of their leaders are recorded from the account of their expedition from winter quarters to find the last camp of Scott's Polar Party.