Coral gardens and volcano vents: See what scientists found in the icy depths of the Southern Ocean
They found coral gardens, hydrothermal vents and many suspected new species while exploring around the island chain, including in the deepest trench in the Southern Ocean.
The same international team, aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel Falkor (too), made headlines last month with their world-first footage of a colossal squid. And in January, they were in the right place at the right time to explore the seafloor when a Chicago-sized iceberg broke away from an ice shelf in Antarctica.
But there were many more 'magic moments' on the 35-day deep-sea expedition to this extremely biodiverse part of the ocean.
'The 35 days at sea were an exciting rollercoaster of scientific discovery; the implications of which will be felt for many years to come as discoveries filter into management action,' says Dr Michelle Taylor, head of science and expedition principal investigator at the Ocean Census - the world's largest initiative to accelerate the discovery of ocean life.
These remarkable photos take us along for the ride.
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Located in the South Atlantic, the South Sandwich Islands are part of a rich mosaic of geologic features.
These include hadal zone trenches (the deepest region of the ocean), underwater volcanoes, and spreading centres - features created by tectonic forces that have supported the evolution of species found nowhere else on the planet.
It took eight days for the research vessel to travel to the islands from the port of Punta Arenas, Chile.
On board were Ocean Census scientists, who led efforts to discover new species, and researchers from GoSouth, a collaboration between the UK's University of Plymouth, the British Antarctic Survey and Germany's GEOMAR, tasked with investigating the effects of geohazards, including tsunamis, volcanoes, and earthquakes.
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The GoSouth team, led by co-chief scientist Dr Jenny Gales, discovered two pockmarks in the mapping data of an underwater caldera - a bowl-shaped depression in the seafloor, left after a volcano erupts.
Since pockmarks can indicate hydrothermal activity, the team deployed the vessel's remotely operated vehicle (ROV) SuBastian to map the pockmarks at a higher resolution.
The robot confirmed the presence of hydrothermal vents - fissures from which geothermally heated water rises - finding three on the larger pockmark, and one on the smaller one.
Located at a depth of 700 metres, they are some of the shallowest hydrothermal vents to have been discovered near the South Sandwich Islands. The tallest vent chimney was four metres - about as tall as a basketball hoop.
'Discovering these hydrothermal vents was a magical moment, as they have never been seen here before,' says Dr Gales, an associate professor in Ocean Exploration at the University of Plymouth.
'It's an incredible discovery that provides valuable insights into the area's tectonic activity. Making such a discovery is rare. It highlights the importance of ocean exploration and seafloor mapping.'
Each vent was covered with an array of life dependent on chemosynthesis (producing food using inorganic substances without sunlight), including sea snails and barnacles.
Thriving coral gardens and large sponges were also found in close proximity to the vents - an unusual observation, according to Dr Taylor.
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Meanwhile, Ocean Census scientists uncovered a range of potentially new marine life - including corals, sponges, snails, sea urchins, sea stars and benthic (sea bottom) ctenophores, which have gelatinous bodies.
A thriving coral garden located west of Saunders Island at a depth of 120 metres is pictured in one of the most breathtaking photos from the expedition.
The exact number of new species will be announced later this year when experts have had time to formally assess and catalogue the findings.
But they include a possible new sea cucumber species - marine invertebrates so-named for their soft cylindrical bodies. These creatures play a crucial role in benthic ecosystems by recycling nutrients, and are well-adapted to the cold Antarctic environment.
During a dive in the South Sandwich Trench - one of the coldest and most isolated submarine trenches on the planet - the team also spotted snailfish eggs laid on a black coral, a previously unknown behaviour.
They also captured the first footage of Akarotaxis aff. gouldae, a species of dragonfish that was discovered only two years ago. And found large pumice blocks, indicating that the South Sandwich Islands are capable of explosive volcanism.
Mother Nature threw everything she had at the expedition, says Dr Taylor, including a subsea earthquake, tropical storm force winds with hurricane-level gusts, eight-metre waves, and icebergs to navigate.
'The challenging ocean and weather conditions and the isolated location of the South Sandwich Islands capture the imagination of the boldest explorers - often the closest humans to the vessel were on the International Space Station,' says Schmidt Ocean Institute's executive director, Dr Jyotika Virmani.
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WIRED
a day ago
- WIRED
How to Travel to the Most Remote Office on Earth
Jul 2, 2025 9:00 AM Commuting to Concordia research station in Antarctica takes days—it's more remote than the International Space Station. Here's how to get there. Photograph: ESA/IPEV/PNRA - B. Healey In November 2023, Jessica Studer, a 33-year-old research medical doctor and professional pianist from Bremgarten, Switzerland, prepared for her trip to Antarctica's Concordia research station. Most work trips require a flight and a few nights in a hotel; hers would involve several days of travel and a year at the most remote outpost in the world. Very few people have experience preparing for such an extreme journey. Concordia sits at 10,600 feet above sea level, with winter temperatures plummeting to minus 112 degrees Fahrenheit. It's accessible only by aircraft during the summer months, from November to February, and the station is more isolated than the International Space Station, 240 miles above Earth's surface. Studer spent a full year at the station conducting biomedical research for the European Space Agency. Concordia, operated by the French Polar Institute and Italy's National Antarctic Research Program, serves in part as a simulation of a space station. During her time there, Struder studied the effects of isolation and confinement on herself and her crewmates to better understand what could happen to astronauts on long deep-space missions. WIRED spoke with Studer about how she got to her very remote office. Concordia research station, which consists of two towers connected by a tunnel, can serve as a simulation of a space station. Photograph: ESA/IPEV/PNRA - B. Healey The journey started with a train to Paris, arriving at Gare de Lyon. I decided to take an Uber to the airport. That was super interesting, because Uber drivers always like to chat, and when you're sitting in the car and say 'I'm going to Antarctica for a year' they just look at you, with the three backpacks, like, You're not serious, right? At the Paris airport, I met some of the French crew for the first time. We flew to Christchurch, New Zealand, (with a layover in Singapore) and that's when I really connected with the other two women going to Antarctica. We sat next to each other, discussing things like, 'How is it going to be?' 'What did you pack?' 'Did you take more clothes than they're giving us?' 'Do you have special equipment?' It was a chat about everyone's strategies, what we did, what we had, if we took medical supplies from the lab. In the morning, we met in front of our hotel in Christchurch and took some small buses. The crew helped me carry my bags because I was still downloading data from my cloud to ensure I'd have it in Antarctica. So there I was, ready to go to the airport, still downloading. I was super stressed. At the airport, every bag is checked. They make sure you don't have more kilograms than allowed, as that's an issue for the plane. They also ensure you don't have anything not allowed in Antarctica, like seeds, food, or plants. Basically, they want to make sure the continent stays as it is. The plane is a Hercules C-130, super impressive. You arrive on this little bus, and you see this monstrous plane, and you enter through the back. Then you sit next to each other in these longitudinal seats. And then it's departure for a seven-hour trip without toilets, with a little snack, a lot of sound around you—just sitting until you see, for the first time, a bit of Antarctica. Concordia is more isolated than the International Space Station, 240 miles above Earth's surface. Photograph: ESA/IPEV/PNRA - A. Kumar You see these wonderful ice shelves from the little windows you have there. The first thing you see when you step out is just ice everywhere. You're really new to this environment, and sometimes it feels a little bit like being on another planet. There's an Italian station there, and we were supposed to stay for a day. But what we learned very fast is that, in French, we say, en Antarctique pas de pronostique , meaning, 'no forecast in Antarctica,' because the weather is super unpredictable. So, instead of staying one night, we stayed almost a week. This station is just a logistical one; it's not meant to host people, and everyone who stays there blocks others from coming in. It's a real logistical challenge for the people working there, so they want us to leave as fast as possible. But the weather is so unpredictable that you can't just take a plane and go inland. You need to wait until the weather is almost stable, and the pilot says, 'I'm ready to fly,' because he has the final word. 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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Antarctic summer sea ice is at record lows. Here's how it will harm the planet
On her first dedicated scientific voyage to Antarctica in March, the Australian icebreaker RSV Nuyina found the area sea-ice free. Scientists were able to reach places never sampled before. Over the past four summers, Antarctic sea ice extent has hit new lows. I'm part of a large group of scientists who set out to explore the consequences of summer sea ice loss after the record lows of 2022 and 2023. Together we rounded up the latest publications, then gathered new evidence using satellites, computer modelling, and robotic ocean sampling devices. Today we can finally reveal what we found. It's bad news on many levels, because Antarctic sea ice is vital for the world's climate and ecosystems. But we need to get a grip on what's happening – and use this concerning data to prompt faster action on climate change. Our team used a huge range of approaches to study the consequences of sea ice loss. 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Ocean warming is compounding Bright white sea ice reflects about 90% of the incoming energy from sunlight, while the darker ocean absorbs about 90%. So if there's less summer sea ice, the ocean absorbs much more heat. This means the ocean surface warms more in an extreme low sea ice year, such as 2016 – when everything changed. Until recently, the Southern Ocean would reset over winter. If there was a summer with low sea ice cover, the ocean would warm a bit. But over winter, the extra heat would shift into the atmosphere. That's not working anymore. We know this from measuring sea surface temperatures, but we have also confirmed this relationship using computer models. What's happening instead is when summer sea ice is very low, as in 2016, it triggers ocean warming that persists. It takes about three years for the system to fully recover. But recovery is becoming less and less likely, given warming is building from year to year. 2. More icebergs are forming Sea ice protects Antarctica's coast from ocean waves. On average, about a third of the continent's coastline is exposed over summer. But this is changing. In 2022 and 2023, more than half of the Antarctic coast was exposed. Our research shows more icebergs break away from Antarctic ice sheets in years with less sea ice. During an average summer, about 100 icebergs break away. Summers with low sea ice produce about twice as many icebergs. 3. Wildlife squeezed off the ice Many species of seals and penguins rely on sea ice, especially for breeding and moulting. Entire colonies of emperor penguins experienced 'catastrophic breeding failure' in 2022, when sea ice melted before chicks were ready to go to sea. After giving birth, crabeater seals need large, stable sea ice platforms for 2–3 weeks until their pups are weaned. The ice provides shelter and protection from predators. Less summer sea-ice cover makes large platforms harder to find. Many seal and penguin species also take refuge on the sea ice when moulting. These species must avoid the icy water while their new feathers or fur grows, or risk dying of hypothermia. 4. Logistical challenges at the end of the world Low summer sea ice makes it harder for people working in Antarctica. Shrinking summer sea ice will narrow the time window during which Antarctic bases can be resupplied over the ice. These bases may soon need to be resupplied from different locations, or using more difficult methods such as small boats. Anarctic sea ice began to change rapidly in 2015 and 2016. Since then it has remained well below the long-term average. The dataset we use relies on measurements from US Department of Defense satellites. Late last month, the department announced it would no longer provide this data to the scientific community. While this has since been delayed to July 31, significant uncertainty remains. One of the biggest challenges in climate science is gathering and maintaining consistent long-term datasets. Without these, we don't accurately know how much our climate is changing. Observing the entire Earth is hard enough when we all work together. It's going to be almost impossible if we don't share our data. Recent low sea ice summers present a scientific challenge. The system is currently changing faster than our scientific community can study it. But vanishing sea ice also presents a challenge to society. The only way to prevent even more drastic changes in the future is to rapidly transition away from fossil fuels and reach net zero emissions. This article is republished from The Conversation. It was written by: Edward Doddridge, University of Tasmania Read more: Invasive carp threaten the Great Lakes − and reveal a surprising twist in national politics The rising rate of type 2 diabetes in young New Zealanders is becoming a health crisis 'Completely unexpected': Antarctic sea ice may be in terminal decline due to rising Southern Ocean salinity Edward Doddridge receives funding from the Australian Research Council.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Sea ice loss risks more icebergs, threatens wildlife
Extreme sea ice loss in Antarctica over the past few years is leading to higher ocean temperatures, more icebergs and habitat dangers for penguins. The oceans surrounding the southern continent have already been trending warmer than average and researchers say the ongoing loss of sea ice is contributing as dark water absorbs more sunlight without a reflective frozen barrier. Species like the Crabeater seal and Adelie penguin rely on sea ice for habitat, with the latter reliant on large chunks during their "catastrophic moult" period when they need to stay dry for weeks at a time. Less sea ice will make it harder for the penguins to find a suitable spot to shed their feathers, leaving them more exposed to predators. Tougher conditions for ships supplying Antarctic missions are also a problem with low ice coverage, the international study led by Australian Antarctic Program Partnership researchers has found. Really low summer sea ice is also associated with more icebergs breaking away from the coastline. Years with the least summer sea ice have produced more than twice as many icebergs as the years with the most summer sea ice. Lead author of the study, the AAPP's Edward Doddridge, said up until about 2015, sea ice was around average or even a bit above. "But since 2016 it has been consistently low, and the last few years have been extraordinarily low," he said during a media briefing. The wide-ranging study into the consequences of sea ice loss lands as uncertainty clouds the future of global climate science under the Trump administration. Dr Doddridge said the US Department of Defense planned to stop sharing its global sea ice coverage satellite data with the international community. The uncertainty was "deeply concerning", the sea ice scientist said, but other country's satellites would continue to supply some information. Other Australian-based climate researchers have been alert to risks hanging over earth observation data and climate modelling, given the US has traditionally played a major role. Christian Jakob, director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for 21st Century Weather, was worried about the growing possibility of losing access to the satellite data that was key to global cloud coverage research. Cloud cover shrinkage is thought to be contributing to unexpectedly fast warming. "If those satellites were not renewed, if there were no successors to these satellite missions, then some of the information we have will disappear," Professor Jakob told AAP. Research into the impacts of sea ice loss highlights a number of knowledge gaps but report co-author Will Hobbs, also from the University of Tasmania's AAPP, said the findings supported a rapid transition to net zero. "Climate projections indicate that continued greenhouse gas emissions will accelerate the changes in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean that we're already seeing, and exacerbate the far-reaching negative impacts of sea-ice loss," Dr Hobbs said.
