Chilean Base Captain Arturo Prat

Arturo Prat is the oldest of the Chilean Antarctic bases and up until a few years ago, was staffed year round. Now it is a seasonal base used for atmospheric and weather research. This letter was cancelled in Punta Arenas: a Chilean port town in the Strait of Magellan from which a large number of Antarcitc bases and research operations are serviced.

Rothera Research Station... again

Another letter received today from Rothera. There were six stamps in the "50th Anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty" set and I used three for these two covers to Rothera. I used the other three stamps for another BAS station but I can't recall which - I believe it was Halley.

Rothera Research Station

I mailed this to the Philatelic Bureau in Stanley (Falkland Islands) in December of 2009, just after these stamps came out. Guess it took a good year for my letter to make its way down to Rothera and be processed for return. It was cancelled there a little over a month ago.

Rothera is the main British Antarctic Survey base, located on Adelaide Island at the tip of the Antarctic peninsula. It is a year round base maintained by a staff of over 100 in the summer and 20 in the winter. The base has a runway and is serviced by 20 round trip dash 7 flight from Stantley each year.

Christmas Island, Nova Scotia - Christmas Cancels

These cancels were available in red or green. Don't know why the stamp with the green cancel was also struck through with a pen. Perhaps the postmaster thought the green ink in of the cancel wouldn't be noticed on the stamp.

Happy New Year!

Marion Dufresne TAAF covers

I sent these covers down to la Réunion to be delivered to the captain of the Marion Dufresne for delivery to the postmasters at Alfred Faure in the Crozet Islands and Martin-de-Viviès on Amsterdam Island. The were decorated nicely, front and back, and signed before being returned to me. I sent both of these on 8 September 2010 and received them today, 15 December.

TAAF Cover - Europa

Île Europa is the largest of the îles Éparses (Scattered islands of the Indian Ocean) that are part of French Southern and Atlantic Lands (FSAT or TAAF). The island is a nature reserve and also home to a met station. It is uninhabited but routinely visited by scientists.

TAAF Stamps for 2011

Details regarding the 2011 TAAF stamp issues have been released on the TAAF website. These stamps will be available 4 Jan 2011

The Rest of the 2010 British Antarctic Stamp Issues

The Falkland Islands Philatelic Bureau has provided details regarding the 2010 British Antarctic stamp issues. All three were issued on 3 December 2010. Here are some enlarged images of the stamps.

British Antarctic Territory 2010 Stamp Issues

The BAT stamp issue topics for 2010 are Marine Diversity (set of 4 and a souvenir sheet), the British Antarctic Expedition of 1910-1913 (two sheetlets), and Antarctic Birds.

Palmer Station, US Antarctic Program

Palmer Station is a US Antarctic research base located on Anvers Island, just north of the Antarctic Circle. It is staffed by around 40 in the summer and less than 20 during the winter and the base is normally re-supplied by the RV Laurence M. Gould.

I sent this cover to the base via Punta Areans in mid September. The LMG arrived at the base on 12 October 2010 to 'open' the base for the 2010/2011 season and the Palmer cancel on the lower left corner of this cover bares the date Oct 13 2010. So it was processed during the staff turn over. But why was the stamp on this cover cancelled in Denver? My guess is that all outgoing mail was just loaded up in a sack and brought back to the Raytheon Polar Services Company in Centennial, Colorado (just outside of Denver) where it was then added to the regular mail stream.
 

Ross Dependency 2010

On 17 November 2010, New Zealand Post will issue a new Ross Dependency stamp issue featuring whales of the Southern Ocean. The issue will consist of five oversized (50mm x 30mm) gummed stamps which will also be issued as in a souvenir sheet. The whales featured on these stamps are Sperm, Minke, Sei, Killer and Humpback. For this release, New Zealand Post is also releasing a limited edition (and expensive) deluxe stamp pack that will consist of a booklet, signed FDC, imperf souvenir sheet, colour separations and the stamp set itself. More info can be found here

McMurdo Station, USA

Got this in the mail the other day which is odd because I don't recall sending anything down to McMurdo this year. I did send one down to the South Pole Station though. Wonder if I got the address wrong. It pretty much looks just like the letter I got from McMurdo last year. Same IPY stamp. The cancel is a bit different though. I'm certain I didn't send anything to McMurdo this year.