site.btaFirst Group of 34th Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition Leaves for Livingston Island

The first group of the 34th Bulgarian Antarctic Expedition departed for Livingston Island (Antarctica) on Thursday morning, the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute said in a press release. The polar explorers will first fly to Punta Arenas and the Strait of Magellan in South America, where they will board the Chilean Navy vessel Achilles. After crossing the Drake Passage and reaching the St Kliment Ohridski Bulgarian Antarctic Base, they will begin reopening the facilities after the austral winter and preparing for the start of the upcoming scientific and logistical projects.

The first group includes Assoc. Prof. Simona Georgieva, a biologist of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, and Dr Borislava Margaritova of Sofia University's Faculty of Biology, who will implement projects under the National Polar Research Programme funded by the Ministry of Education and Science, as well as the logistics team: Base Commander Kamen Nedkov, Dr Tsvetan Vasilev, mechanics Vladimir Gigov and Engr. Lyuben Lyubenov, electrical engineer Krasimir Krastev, boat operator Elka Vasileva, logisticians Anastas Abadzhiev and Aleksandar Naydenov, and cook Samuil Chelebiev.

The group will be joined in Punta Arenas by four more biologists: Prof. Jose Xavier and Dr Jose Seco of the University of Coimbra (Portugal), Asst. Prof. Emily Sparrow of Baylor University, and doctoral student Ariel Leahy of the University of Rhode Island (USA).

On Friday, the Bulgarian Navy research/survey vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii (NIK-421) will also set sail from the Port of Varna on a 45-day voyage to the southern latitudes.