Wintering Story
Every year, young scientists leave for the French scientific base at Dumont d’Urville to perpetuate the long-term monitoring set up in Antarctica. This monitoring, carried out by the CEBC (CNRS), makes it possible to assess the impact of human activities on the lives of living animals in this remote area, which appears to be untouched by our activities. However, global warming, fishing activities and pollution are visible there. This sentinel project, which has been running for more than 30 years, makes it possible to see the evolution over time of many parameters. Virgil Lecourteille was one of the two biologists to remain on the base for more than a year between October 2018 and early 2020.