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FOR the past 25 years, an inhospitable and remote corner of the sub-Antarctic southern ocean has been an integral part of Somerset West resident Professor Steven Chown's life.

The Prince Edward Islands are the most southerly part of SA's official territory and were annexed in 1947 for strategic purposes.

It is here he has spent many scientific research visits over the years, honing his skills as a world class researcher in the field of invasive species, biogeographic and macroecological studies, evolutionary physiology, spatial ecology and, of course, Antarctic and sub-Antarctic biology and conservation. This despite the fact that the average day temperature on the islands is only 5.5 degrees Celsius. Added to that, they lie in the so-called "Roaring Forties' and receive more than 100 days of gale force wind per year!

Prof Chown, director of the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology at Stellenbosch University, still remembers his first visit to the remote and at best inhospitable Marion Island in 1983.

"I thought it was the craziest thing I had ever done, and wanted to get back onto the ship and just leave," he recounted his initial reactions during the recent launch of the Prince Edward Islands - Land-Sea Interactions in a Changing Ecosystem.

The book, of which Prof Chown is lead editor, brings together the highlights of 60 years of scientific research by South African scientists and their colleagues in fields such as botany, ecology, meteorology, geology and oceanography.

Sixty years of science have meant that the Prince Edward Islands are the most thoroughly investigated islands in the Southern Ocean and among the most comprehensively known anywhere.

The launch event was aptly held on the SA Agulhas that regularly ferries South African researchers to the Prince Edward Islands and Antarctica as part of the South African National Antarctic Programme (SANAP), a government-funded research initiative.

"What saved me were the words of Marthan Bester, one of the veterans of Marion Island research," remembers Prof Chown, who is also Chief Officer of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research's Standing Committee for the Antarctic Treaty System.

"He said that the only reason that you are here is to do research," Prof Chown recalls.

"Don't waste your time on irrelevant matters."

These days, Prof Chown does not have the luxury of extended year-long stays on Marion Island for research purposes, but takes every opportunity possible to board the SA Agulhas, when it sets off to the icy south to relieve the annual research and support team.

It is still fun to spend six weeks with your students and colleagues in the field," says Prof Chown, who is a world-class A-rated scientist (according to the rating system of the National Research Foundation). Much of this time is spent working with students in the cold, but beautiful environment.

The idea of the book is to summarize what is known about the marine and terrestrial systems and it was conceived on board the SA Agulhas in 2004, during numerous late night conversations with co-editor Prof William Froneman, director of the Southern Ocean Group at Rhodes University.

Until its publication by AFRICAN SUN MeDIA, the University Press of Stellenbosch University, a 1971 report by Prof EM van Zinderen Bakker Sr and his colleagues was seen as the "must-have" book for any Prince Edward Islands fundi.

"It still still remains a valuable item both for its scientific content and collector's importance," says Prof Chown.

A variety of scientific expeditions visited the area from the late 1800s onwards, but it was only in 1965-66 that the first formal geological and biological research expedition was undertaken.

It was on this visit that the book by Prof Van Zinderen Bakker, who was also the expedition leader, was based. Since then a vast amount of world-class data, research and insights have been gathered by South Africa's top scientists in various fields.

The enthusiasm for the idea of a new book was well-received, and the editors had no trouble signing up as authors many of the researchers that have made and continue to make substantial contributions to knowledge of the islands and their surrounding waters.

"The book shows just how much societal value can be derived from a well-run, well-funded science system such as the South African National Antarctic Programme," Prof Chown explained. "It is a fitting commemoration of the 60th anniversary of South Africa's annexation of the islands."

The Prince Edward Islands - Land-Sea Interactions in a Changing Ecosystem is published by AFRICAN SUN MeDIA, (www.africansunmedia.co.za) and sells for R300.

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