Peter T Fretwell
@ptfretwell.bsky.social
330 followers 47 following 84 posts
Scientist at British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge and author. Interest include Science, nature, cartography, Polar regions and satellite imagery/ remote sensing.
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Reposted by Peter T Fretwell
magic.bas.ac.uk
Some of our recent maps were reviewed for Geology Today & we're pleased to see the positive opinions & appreciation of how much work goes into them 🎉 doi.org/10.1111/gto....

The maps include The South Orkney Islands, Alexander Island, and Bedmap3. Details available in our catalogue - bas.ac.uk/maps
The front cover of our South Orkney Islands and Signy Island map. There is a photo of the landscape on Signy, with a tall, crevassed glacier in the foreground (Orwell Glacier), and clouds and snowy mountains in the distance. The front cover of our Alexander Island map. The photo on the cover shows a faded red tent, with snow-covered, craggy mountains in the background. The front cover of our Bedmap3 map, which shows an extract of the map (without any of the labels). The terrain of the land beneath the ice is shown with a coloured hillshade, ranging from dark blue (deepest) to light brown and white shades (tallest).
ptfretwell.bsky.social
Shackleton Ice Shelf colony. Up well on the shelf this year
ptfretwell.bsky.social
Clarke Bay also known as Smith Peninsula colony
ptfretwell.bsky.social
Dolleman Island colony doing well
ptfretwell.bsky.social
They ones Drescher Inlet 😊
ptfretwell.bsky.social
The last three years have all been the lowest years on record for Antarctic sea ice. Critically impacting unique Southern Ocean ecosystems which use the ice the moult breed and forage.
Reposted by Peter T Fretwell
stanfordstravel.bsky.social
Dive into the fascinating world of penguins with The Penguin Book of Penguins, written by @ptfretwell.bsky.social and illustrated by @lisaefretwell.bsky.social! Thank you so much for visiting the store and signing copies of your charming new book, published by @vikingbooksuk.bsky.social✍️

#penguins
ptfretwell.bsky.social
Kosmi, can you email me directly about this find please
ptfretwell.bsky.social
Looks like the Halley Bay emperors are back at the McDonald Ice Rumples site. This colony has been particularly unlucky with the ice, lets see how they do this year. (image; enhanced Sentinel-2 20th Sept 2025)
ptfretwell.bsky.social
Dear Helen, having lived in Northamptonshire for 10 years I know Oundle well and would be delighted to chat. Please drop me a line at [email protected]
Best regards,
Peter
Reposted by Peter T Fretwell
kosmi.bsky.social
The Coulman Island penguin colony 🐧🐧🐧

Image taken by Sentinel-2 on Sep. 13, 2025.
Reposted by Peter T Fretwell
manchotempereur.bsky.social
Russian scientists at the Mirny research station recently saved a baby emperor penguin after it became separated from its colony and risked freezing to death. In footage shared by the Russian Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute on Tuesday...
🔗 uk.news.yahoo.com/stranded-pen...
#emperorpenguin
Reposted by Peter T Fretwell
manchotempereur.bsky.social
📙🐧✨ Image from Penguin Books' newsletter for the release date of “The Penguin Book of Penguins” (September 18, 2025)
@ptfretwell.bsky.social
@lisaefretwell.bsky.social
#PenguinBooksUK
Reposted by Peter T Fretwell
lisaefretwell.bsky.social
Our book, 'The Penguin book of penguins' will be in all good bookshops as of tomorrow! We have signed some copies for Toppings and Co in Ely, Cambridge.

We are having a book launch at London zoo on Sept 28. Come and find us in the Garden room, anytime between 12 noon and 3.30pm. No need to book!
Reposted by Peter T Fretwell
wed-explorer.bsky.social
The dark patch marks the emperor penguin colony at Atka Bay. Nearby linear snow ridges are natural sastrugi, sculpted by polar winds—an image that contrasts living colonies with the harsh physical patterns of Antarctic ice.
ptfretwell.bsky.social
And here's a love;y image from yesterday of Neumayer Station and the nearby emperor penguin colony at Atka Bay. Most of the recent emperor penguin documentaries have all been made from this site.
Sentinel2 14/09/2025
ptfretwell.bsky.social
The emperor penguin colony at Cape Darlington, that we discovered in 2019, has moved 40 km south due to an ice shelf break off. Its current location is just south of Butler Island and it looks much better for the change of location.
Sentinel2 image 7/09/2025
Reposted by Peter T Fretwell
drmichellelarue.bsky.social
Wow I've been off Bluesky for so long I forgot about the emojis

If you're interested in a PhD about tracking Antarctic wildlife, consider joining my group... And, spread the word!
🧪🌍🦑🦉🦊
drmichellelarue.bsky.social
Join Mia Wege and me to study niche partitioning among three Antarctic mesopredators!

Fully-funded PhD opportunity at U Canterbury, please email [email protected] if you're interested!

Applications will be reviewed until filled.
Fluffy Weddell seal pup looks straight into the camera We are seeking a motivated PhD student to investigate how multiple mesopredators share space and resources in the Southern Ross Sea. The project will address questions about niche partitioning (both spatial and temporal) and foraging ecology in the Southern Ocean using three years of animal tracking data deployed on penguins (n = 60) and seals (n = 30). Specifically, we wish to uncover aspects of three-dimensional space use in Adélie penguins, emperor penguins, and Weddell seals at Cape Crozier, in the southern Ross Sea. There exists one of the largest colonies of Adélie penguins, a small colony of emperor penguins, and a small group of Weddell seals. We ask: How are these animals using the same space at the same time? How can that part of the ocean support hundreds of thousands of central-place foragers in a relatively small foraging halo, during the short summer window of time? Answers to these questions will provide fine-scale insights as part of the larger project which seeks to understand the metacommunity structure of marine mesopredators in the Southern Ocean and will inform conservation in the Ross Sea Marine Protected Area (one of the largest in the world). With the first 10-year evaluation of the MPA coming up, this project will have immediate real-world impact.
We cannot guarantee Antarctic field work as part of the PhD project.
Funding: Rutherford Discovery Fellowship ($27,000 NZD/year for three years + fees), plus potential school-supported (School of Earth and Environment) conference travel opportunities.
Requirements: Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Ecology, Marine Biology, Geography, Zoology or Statistics required; good communication skills (written and verbal), with previous publication experience a bonus; strong work ethic, strong initiative, and team attitude; previous experience handling biologging data (in any system), large datasets, and data wrangling a plus.
Reposted by Peter T Fretwell
magic.bas.ac.uk
We're very happy to share that three of our maps received awards at the @bcsmaps.bsky.social Annual Conference last week! Our Alexander Island and Bedmap3 maps were recognised in the Printed Mapping category, and our Ice Logistics Portal (www.icelogistics.info) in the Electronic Mapping category 🏆🎉
2 members of MAGIC are stood in front of a large geological map (William Smith's map) covering England, Wales and part of Scotland. The people are holding three certificates. A photo showing some of the maps that were entered into the awards. Our topographic map of Alexander Island can be seen at the front left of the image, and Bedmap3 can be seen at the back right.
Reposted by Peter T Fretwell
lauragerrish.bsky.social
#A23a iceberg continues its disintegration north of South Georgia in the South Atlantic, with a brilliant image from today finishing off this timelapse of Copernicus Sentinel-3 imagery over the last few weeks! It's always interesting to track these bergs out of Antarctica and into warmer waters 🌊🌴
Reposted by Peter T Fretwell
bcsmaps.bsky.social
Congratulations to our award winners and commended runners ups.
More details will follow on our socials over the next week.

Thank you again to our judges and sponsors, many of whom presented the awards today.
#carto2025 #awards
ptfretwell.bsky.social
Yes first is the new position of the Jason colony. It moved onto the ice sheet last year after the ice shelf broke away 😕