Presidential address: Ecological aspects of Antarctic biology

[First paragraph(s)...]
A revival of interest in the Antarctic regions occasioned by plans for expeditions sponsored by more than a dozen countries makes it appropriate to reconsider some aspects of biological work in the Antarctic. It is true that most of the planning for scientific work centres on the vast programme of the International Geophysical Year, a project in which the polar regions are only a part of the total coverage, and it should also be noted that practically none of the expeditions now being planned has any adequate provision for sustained biological work except where transport vessels have the necessary equipment and allowance of time to include biological work in a programme of oceanographical stations.
Biologists need not, I think, be unduly disappointed at this picture. There have been more ample opportunities in the past and earlier expeditions have included a larger proportion of biologists and naturalists than is the case today.