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After spending over a month in Antarctica, the first group of scientists and crew members left the Princess Elisabeth station and headed back to Belgium in time to spend Christmas with their families. We met with them in Zaventem Airport.

For the third year in a row, Alain Hubert visited the emperor penguin colony he confirmed the existence of two years ago. While counting the adult penguins and chicks in order to estimate the size and health of the colony, we had a startling encounter.Monitoring the penguin colonyAntarctica is a protected area and wildlife should not be disturbed. Only three people approach the animals to count the chicks and adults in order to evaluate the size and health of the colony, while keeping a safe enough distance so as not to disturb the colony.Information on the estimated population of the penguins is then relayed to scientists studying emperor penguin colonies in Antarctica.Startled by a leopard sealWhen we moved towards the edge of the ice shelf, our cameraman Jos Van Hemelrijck spotted a leopard seal swimming nearby. As a natural predator of emperor penguins, it was likely hunting for penguins in the area.Having probably never seen any humans in its life, the seal wasn't scared. When it spotted us, it jumped up on the ice to take a closer look. Even though we were very careful to keep our distance, the speed of the animal startled us all.

After spending nearly two months at the station, the first group of scientists and teacher Roger Radoux left for Novo. It's always an emotional moment for the team who stay and the end of a great adventure for those who leave.Everything is packed up and a big sledge hauled by a Prinoth tractor takes people and their baggage to the airstrip 2 km away from the station.After goodbyes and promises to return, our friends are boarding the Basler flight for Novo. From there, they will fly back to Cape Town. All of them will be back in Belgium in time to celebrate Christmas with friends and family!

After beeing delayed for a few hours, the loading of the Mary Arctica finally took place in Zeebrugge. The IPF team was there to supervise the loading and admired the precision of the dock workers loading the ship with massive containers. The loading of the two modified Toyota Hiluxes was the highlight of the evening.Soundtrack credits: Ash, Echelon, courtesy of Secession Studios youtube.com/user/thesecession

Denis Lombardi from the Royal Observatory of Belgium explains why he's been planting seismometers along the ice stream that feeds the King Baudoin Ice Shelf for the SMEAIS project < homepage.oma.be/lombardi/blog_smeais.html >Ice flows very gradually from the interior of the kilometres-thick Antarctic Ice Sheet towards the coast of Antarctica via ice streams. By measuring "ice quakes" in the ice streams, scientists can gain further insight into their mechanics and dynamics.

A project of the International Polar Foundation, Polar Quest 2 is a contest for secondary school students focusing on sustainable energy management. The teacher of the winning class has the unique opportunity to join the technical team at the Princess Elisabeth station in Antarctica, while his students carry out a project to improve energy efficiency in their school. In this video, you can meet the classes that participated in the contest and learn why sustainable energy management is important to them. You can also learn ways to better manage energy use from them!You can follow the Polar Quest 2 project on the EducaPoles website.The Polar Quest project is financially supported by the Brussels Capital Region and Wallonia.

De vlaggen trotseerden de felle wind voor het Princess Elisabeth Antarctica-station op Antarctica-dag. Les drapeaux envoyés pour célébrer le Jour de l'Antarctique ont bravé les vents violents à la station Princess Elisabeth Antarctica. The flags braved the fierce winds near the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica station on Antarctica Day. eng: http://www.educapoles.org/news/news_d... nl: http://www.educapoles.org/nl/news/new... fr: http://www.educapoles.org/fr/news/new...

After a delay of a few days caused by bad weather and a few mechanical glitches to fix, Jean Lennaerts and the ICECON team finally left Princess Elisabeth Antarctica for the coast. It doesn't sound like much when you say it like that but that is quite alot of gear and people leaving for the coast.We filmed the departure of the convoy so you can appreciate the size of the caravan, as well as how it gets lost in the immensity of Antarctica. It is an ever present feeling here: we constantly feel very small and fragile compared to the immensity and harshness of this place, even when driving big Prinoth tractors.

Antarctica is a beautiful place, but it can be very dangerous if you’re not careful. Even a minor accident can be serious, because there are no ambulances to come pick you up when you’re out in the field. Expert Swiss field guide Christophe Berclaz explains the importance of taking appropriate safety precautions an undergoing adequate field training to prepare for potential emergencies. Making sure everyone in the team has at least basic understanding of what to do in an emergency makes things much easier in case something happens.