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Researching aquatic parasites on Antarctica a lifelong dream

31 March 2020 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Gerhard de Jager

Prof Linda Basson recently returned from a three-month research expedition in Antarctica. Here she is, relaxing on the ice with the ever-inquisitive Adelie penguins having a gander at these strangers in their snowy world.

Very little is known about the parasites of Antarctica, which is a highly productive part of the oceans. These small organisms can be used very successfully to determine the health of this fragile ecosystem.

“Our research data can make significant contributions to the biodiversity of parasites, for a start. The data can also be very valuable to indicate the overall health of this large ecosystem – an ecosystem that drives many of the life-giving processes on our planet.” This is the belief of Prof Linda Basson from the Department of Zoology and Entomology at the University of the Free State (UFS).

She is an aquatic parasitologist who concentrates on various parasites from a wide range of hosts, including vertebrates (fish and amphibians) and invertebrates (plankton, urchins, starfish, sea cucumbers and red-bait).

Prof Basson, together with PhD student Gerhard de Jager, was invited by Prof Isabelle Ansorge, Head of the School of Oceanography, University of Cape Town, to join her research team on the South African National Antarctic Programme (SANAE) Voyage 59 to Antarctica.

Widen the scope of research
“Our aim on this trip was to determine how we can collaborate with the various oceanographers to widen the scope of research normally performed on these voyages, in order to also include parasitological aspects. Once we arrived on the continent of Antarctica, we worked to collect a range of hosts from the Southern Ocean to screen these for the whole array of parasites,” she explains.

No research of any kind on aquatic parasites has ever been done in Penguin Bukta and Akta Bukta, the specific areas where Prof Basson was based with other scientists and the rest of the Agulhas crew.

She adds: “Our research will contribute to the wider knowledge of parasites in marine environments, but specifically in this area where little to nothing is known.”

A chance of a lifetime
“Antarctica was literally one of the top research destinations on my bucket list. Travelling to and working in Antarctica is a lifelong dream of mine. It was a chance of a lifetime that I could not miss out on,” says Prof Basson.

Sharing her experience, she says a typical day on board the SA Agulhas II in Antarctica will start with a cup of good, quality coffee and a look at the prevailing weather on the stern of the ship.

“One would always be amazed by the beautiful, ceaselessly changing water, the restless sea ice and the impressive ancient ice shelf in very invigorating temperatures, while an ethereal Snow Petrel swirls past and the occasional Adelie penguin comes to gaze and contemplate the presence of this large red structure floating in their habitat and obscuring their view. After tearing yourself away from this, the rest of the day would be spent either in the well-equipped laboratory working through collected samples, or else planning the next exciting collection in the intensely cold water.”

Remarkable journey
To eternalise memories of this unique experience of almost three months, Prof Basson says that, “One cannot go without a fully charged camera with a large SD card, ready to capture the many facets of this exceedingly fragile but enchanting world of ice and sky, ever changing and all in innumerable shades of white”.

“This truly remarkable journey will forever be associated with a myriad of brilliant highlights.”

Finding it extremely difficult to single out a specific highlight, she listed a long list of memorable events, but as a scientist she will always remember “realising the wealth and cornucopia of microscopic life present in the southernmost of our oceans and seeing this first-hand under the microscope”.

News Archive

Another boost for sport at the UFS

2005-10-13

A contract formalizing the appointment of Sports Plan (Pty) Ltd was signed by Prof Verschoor and Mr Morne du Plessis in the historic Main Building of the UFS Bloemfontein campus.

The University of the Free State (UFS) has officially appointed Sports Plan (Pty) Ltd, which has former Springbok rugby captain Morné du Plessis as managing director, to manage its Centre for Exercise and Sport Science Services (CESSS) on the Bloemfontein campus.

According to Prof Teuns Verschoor, Vice-Rector: Academic Operations, the appointment of Sports Plan (Pty) Ltd is another step in the implementation of the UFS’s wide-ranging sport strategy to improve sport facilities and elevate formerly marginalized sports such as soccer, hockey, netball, tennis etc.

Sports Plan (Pty) Ltd is the manager of the Sports Science Institute of South Africa and coordinates and manages the national basketball high-performance programme of SA Basketball, as well as the Boxing Academy on behalf of Boxing South Africa.

“It is also actively involved with the sports plans of several tertiary institutions like that of the University of Johannesburg and the University of Stellenbosch,” said Prof Verschoor.

“Sports Plan (Pty) Ltd was also appointed by the Ministry of Sport and Recreation to manage the allocation of sports codes to high-performance centres and to oversee the allocation of monies received from the National Lottery to these centres – this includes the CESSS at the UFS,” Prof Verschoor added.

In unfolding its national sports plan, the Ministry of Sport and Recreation has already identified the UFS-based CESSS as the high-performance testing centre for the national basketball teams whilst the national boxing teams are also earmarked to be trained at the UFS.

“We are glad to be associated with a company of this stature and look forward to work with them in the further development of sports at the UFS,” said Prof Verschoor.

According to Prof Verschoor, the CESSS will act as a centralised body that is responsible for the coordination and management of joint initiatives between professional service providers, research projects and KovsieSport.

“The centre will also coordinate and manage joint initiatives between various academic programmes in different academic subject fields such as sports medicine, bio kinetics, physiotherapy, dietetics, etc. ,” said Prof Verschoor.

These initiatives will help the UFS to become a centre and catalyst of sports development, to become internationally recognised in the field of exercise and sports science research and to become a centre for high quality sports performance enhancement.

Some of the objectives of the CESSS are:

To provide sports science services like to athletes, students, the general public and other stakeholders including certain national sport teams.
To provide the necessary teaching and training facilities and internship opportunities for UFS students in sports related fields of study will also be provided by the centre like human movement science.
To present skills-transfer programmes directed at the broader community like development of skills in various sporting codes.
To continue and extend the current chronic risk reversal programmes presented by the Department of Human Movement Science such as obesity management, cardiac rehabilitation and other lifestyle related conditions.

The centre was founded in 2003 and was until now managed by Dr Louis Holtzhausen, from Kovsie Health and a consultant, Dr Gary Vorster.

A contract formalizing the appointment of Sports Plan (Pty) Ltd was signed today by Prof Verschoor and Mr Morne du Plessis in the historic Main Building of the UFS Bloemfontein campus.

The manager of the centre appointed by Sports Plan (Pty) Ltd is Mr Charles Store, an alumnus of the UFS, previously employed at the Sports Science Institute in Cape Town and by the SANDF at 3 Military Hospital, Bloemfontein.

Media release
Issued by: Anton Fisher
Director: Strategic Communication
072-207-8334
12 October 2005

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