site.bta Bulgarian Antarctic Base Researchers Conducted Seismology and Bathymetry  Studies on Wednesday

Researchers at the Bulgarian Antarctic Base St. Kliment Ohridski completed stages of several projects on Wednesday. Seismologist Gergana Georgieva continued the monitoring of a seismological project on a glacier near the base.

Geophysicist Kiril Velkovski conducted fieldwork in False Bay, close to the base in order to perform bathymetric measurements and create a precise navigational map of the sea around the Bulgarian base on Livingston Island.

Work also continues on the project to build a meteorological station together with scientists from the United Arab Emirates, as well as on the construction activities in the new laboratory.

The research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril I Metodii (RSV 421) carried out scientific and cargo loading and unloading activities in the area of Deception Island. During the day, physicist Oleg Vasilev conducted drone imaging along the eastern coastline of the island, surveying a penguin colony to determine the area’s suitability for subsequent sampling and fieldwork.

Port Foster Bay was also surveyed for rock outcrops and mineralization to assess the potential for sampling and fieldwork. The ship’s crew also carried out a cargo loading and unloading operation at the Spanish military Antarctic base Gabriel de Castilla, loading a small all-terrain vehicle and other cargo on board.

During the operation, the scientists were able to go ashore to collect samples. Meanwhile, seabed imaging with an underwater drone was conducted from a Zodiac boat in the area of Fumarole Bay near the Argentine base on the island, as part of a project by the Greek scientists Dionysia Rigatou and Eleni Kytinou.

Other scientists monitored the shoreline for microplastics as part of a project by Montenegrin scientist Vesna Macic. A traverse to Whalers Bay was also carried out, where sampling was possible at various locations, including within the framework of a project by microbiologist Snezhana Rusinova-Videva. In the bay, underwater drone photography was conducted, and scientists also collected samples from various depths.

RSV 421 departed for Antarctica from Varna (on the Black Sea) on November 7. After a month-long voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, the ship arrived at the Argentine naval base in the city of Mar del Plata on December 13, 2025. BTA has had a national press club on board since 2022 and another on Livingston Island since February 2024.

The news pieces of the BTA special correspondents on RSV 421 and Antarctica are freely available in Bulgarian and English on the agency's website. They can be used free of charge by all media with reference to BTA.