Dale Andersen’s Antarctic Field Season (7–11 January 2026)

UPDATE #4
Dale Andersen’s Astrobiology Antarctic Status Report: 7 January 2026: Arrival In Antarctica

Originally written by Keith Cowing, published on Astrobiology.com here. Previous reports back to 1996 are available at https://astrobiology.com/dale-andersens-field-reports.

Keith’s note: I got this update by text from Dale early this morning:

Hi Keith, We arrived at the Ultima Airstrip 6pm UTC Tuesday evening to a bright, sunny windless day with air temps just over freezing. Our flight down was nice and the aircraft should return to CPT (Cape Town) later this morning or afternoon. Sorry I think my last couple of notes did not make it to you, it will take a couple of days to get our comms sorted out as we get organized. If all goes well we hope to start the traverse to Untersee perhaps over the weekend. As you can imagine our priority now is to get the snowmobiles up and running and to get our cargo sorted and organized, So, a busy couple of days. I hope the weather continues to be nice!

— Dale —

Keith’s note: I asked Grok to generate a weather forecast for the next week:

The following summaries are based on forecasts from nearby Novolazarevskaya Station, as Lake Untersee is a remote inland lake with similar coastal Antarctic summer conditions. Weather remains stable with low precipitation chances, high UV exposure, and variable winds. Forecasts are approximate and can change rapidly in Antarctica.

January 7, 2026: Mostly sunny skies throughout the day with clear conditions at night. High around 0°C (32°F), low near -8°C (18°F). Light and variable winds, no precipitation expected.

January 8, 2026: Abundant sunshine with clear skies persisting into the night. Temperatures reaching a high of 2°C (36°F) and a low of -5°C (23°F). Winds remain light and variable, with zero chance of precipitation.

January 9, 2026: Sunny in the morning transitioning to partly cloudy skies later. High of 1°C (34°F), low around -6°C (21°F). Southeast winds at 5-10 km/h, dry conditions prevailing.

January 10, 2026: Predominantly clear skies all day. Expect a high near 0°C (32°F) and a low of -7°C (19°F). East winds blowing at 5-15 km/h, no rain or snow anticipated.

January 11, 2026: Mostly sunny with occasional clouds. High temperature of 1°C (34°F), dropping to -6°C (21°F) at night. Southeast winds around 10 km/h, remaining dry.

January 12, 2026: Clear and calm conditions dominating. High about 0°C (32°F), low near -8°C (18°F). Light variable winds, with no precipitation in sight.

January 13, 2026: Partly cloudy skies with some sun. Temperatures with a high of -1°C (30°F) and a low of -9°C (16°F). East winds at 5-10 km/h, continued dry weather.

Keith’s note: Astrobiologist Dale Andersen is heading back in Antarctica at Lake Untersee in January-February 2026 for another field season of research. Dale’s work is coordinated through the SETI Institute. We’ll be posting his updates here. You can read about his prior exploits from this field season and past field seasons back to the 1990s.

Related Links

• Previous reports 2026-1996
• Astrobiologist Dale Andersen’s Antarctic Field Report: Preview: 2026 Lake Untersee Field Seas
• Keith: Dale and I have been proving research updates – from Antarctica – since 1996. We think we actually had the first webserver (located in my old condo) updated from Antarctica. More details here: Dale Andersen’s 1996 Antarctic Field Research Photo Albums

UPDATE #6
Dale Andersen’s Astrobiology Antarctic Status Report: 11 January 2026: Overland Traverse To Lake Untersee (Update)

Originally written by Keith Cowing, published on Astrobiology.com here. Previous reports back to 1996 are available at https://astrobiology.com/dale-andersens-field-reports.

Update: Dale and his team are now at Lake Untersee at S 71.260082° E 13.506017° at an elevation of 2,645 ft. Picture below.

Keith’s earlier note: This morning Dale Andersen and his team departed their arrival point at Ultima Air base and headed south to Lake Untersee. They departed around 6:30 am ET and expected to arrive at the shore of Lake Untersee at their traditional base camp location around 12:00 – 12:30 pm ET.

Dale has been doing research in the region around Lake Untersee for many years. As such they have worked out a standard path around terrain that they follow more or less – with weather altering the course slightly from one trip to another.

You can see the multiple tracks over the past few years on the Garmin tracker below – and the terrain they traverse on the Garmin map following that.

The image below was sent from 71.05436° S, 13.51273° E showing the rocky formations surrounding the Untersee region at 10:42 am ET during final approach. At 11;27 am ET Dale sent a text saying “Do you see our track? Getting close.”– Dale Andersen

• Previous reports
• Astrobiologist Dale Andersen’s Antarctic Field Report: Preview: 2026 Lake Untersee Field Seas