Latest news with #SouthSandwichIslands
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Deep-Sea Wonderland Found Thriving Where Humans Have Never Been
A deep-sea expedition to one of Earth's most remote island chains has surfaced stunning pictures of the vibrant ecosystems surrounding hydrothermal vents that scientists didn't even know were there. The 35-day journey aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute's Falkor (too) research vessel was part of the Ocean Census's race to document marine life before it is lost to threats like climate change and deep sea mining. This expedition took an international team of scientists to the South Sandwich Islands, in the South Atlantic near Antarctica, which boasts the Southern Ocean's deepest trench. Despite facing subsea earthquakes, hurricane-force winds, towering waves, and icebergs, the crew was rewarded with a trove of incredible new discoveries. You might have already watched the expedition's world-first footage of a live colossal squid, but some of their other finds deserve a moment in the spotlight. Like this vermillion coral garden thriving on Humpback Seamount, near the region's shallowest hydrothermal vents at around 700 meters deep (nearly 2,300 feet). The tallest vent chimney stood four meters (13 feet) tall, proudly sporting an array of life, including barnacles and sea snails. Like drones in a New Year's Eve sky, a fleet of shrimp whizzed round these submarine skyscrapers. These hydrothermal vents, on the northeast side of Quest Caldera, are the only South Sandwich Island vents explored via remotely operated vehicle (ROV) thus far; we can't wait to see what future expeditions uncover. "Discovering these hydrothermal vents was a magical moment, as they have never been seen here before," says hydrographer Jenny Gales from the University of Plymouth in the UK. But certain specimens deserve a close-up: like this exquisite nudibranch, unspecified, which blackwater photographer Jialing Cai snapped at 268 meters deep in the near-freezing waters east of Montagu Island. Nearby, a slightly more upsetting moment was captured: a grenadier fish with parasitic copepods – likely Lophoura szidati – tucked into its gills like horrid pigtails. And this stout little sea cucumber, recorded 650 metres below the sea surface at Saunders East, with a gob full of what we will informally dub a deep-sea puffball. Now, brace yourself for the first ever image of Akarotaxis aff. gouldae, a species of dragonfish that has evaded our cameras for two years since its discovery. Something else that nobody's seen before? Snailfish eggs on a black coral. Not even marine biologists knew this was a thing, until now. "This expedition has given us a glimpse into one of the most remote and biologically rich parts of our ocean," says marine biologist Michelle Taylor, the Ocean Census project's head of science. "This is exactly why the Ocean Census exists – to accelerate our understanding of ocean life before it's too late. 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." Look behind-the-scenes aboard the Falkor (too) research vessel here. Cockatoos Figured Out How to Use Drinking Fountains, And It's Amazing Extreme Skittishness in Your Cat Could Be a Sign of a Mysterious Disease Rare Black Iceberg Goes Viral – So What Is Going on Here?
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Coral gardens and volcano vents: See what scientists found in the icy depths of the Southern Ocean
Scientists on board a deep-sea expedition to the South Sandwich Islands near Antarctica have returned with a treasure trove of photos of previously unseen marine life. 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. Related What are milky seas? 400 years of sailors' stories are shedding light on ocean bioluminescence 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. Related Rare snail that can 'slurp up earthworms like noodles' caught on camera laying an egg from its neck 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. Related OceanXplorer: On board the billionaire's research vessel broadcasting from the deep sea 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.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
We've never seen footage of a colossal squid until now — and it's a baby
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The elusive colossal squid has finally been caught on camera, an entire century after it was first discovered. A team of scientists aboard the Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel Falkor filmed a not-so-colossal juvenile measuring 11.8 inches (30 centimeters) long as it swam through the ocean near the South Sandwich Islands at a depth of around 1,968 feet (600 meters). The video, which was captured on March 9 in the South Atlantic Ocean by a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) named SuBastian, shows the translucent baby squid gently swimming through the abyss of the deep ocean, with its tiny tentacles dangling behind it. "It's exciting to see the first in situ footage of a juvenile colossal and humbling to think that they have no idea that humans exist," Kat Bolstad, a squid researcher at the the Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand, who was an independent scientific expert consulted to verify the footage, said in a statement. "For 100 years, we have mainly encountered them as prey remains in whale and seabird stomachs and as predators of harvested toothfish." Colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) are bigger than even the famous giant squid (Architeuthis dux). They are considered the largest invertebrates on the planet, measuring up to 46 feet (14 m) long — as long as a semitrailer — and weighing as much as 1,100 pounds (500 kilograms). They have the largest eyes of any known animal, which can measure up to 11 inches (27 cm) across — about the size of a soccer ball. These bizarre creatures live deep beneath the Antarctic waters of the Southern Ocean. They live deeper and deeper with age, with the youngest and smallest squid being found down to about 1,640 feet (500 m), adolescents living between 1,600 and 6,600 feet (500 to 2,000 m), and fully grown adults living even deeper. This year marks 100 years since the colossal squid was formally identified and named, but in the century since, very few have ever been seen. The species was first discovered after two of its arms were found in the stomach of a sperm whale during the winter of 1924-1925. RELATED STORIES —Elusive 'octopus squid' with world's largest biological lights attacks camera in striking new video —Watch extremely rare footage of a bigfin squid 'walking' on long, spindly arms deep in the South Pacific —'She turns her siphon into a gun': Watch coconut octopus firing stones at fish in world-1st footage The new video is the first-ever live observation of this species in its natural habitat. Dying adult colossal squid have been filmed by fishermen, and the first complete specimen was captured in 2007 by a fishing vessel near Antarctica. Most of what we know about this species and its lifestyle comes from beaks found in sperm whale stomachs. Only 12 complete colossal squid specimens had ever been found as of 2015, and about half of those were juveniles. The scientists on the previous Falkor expedition in January also filmed the first-ever confirmed footage of the glacial glass squid (Galiteuthis glacialis), which had also never been observed in its natural habitat before now. "The first sighting of two different squids on back-to-back expeditions is remarkable and shows how little we have seen of the magnificent inhabitants of the Southern Ocean," Jyotika Virmani, Schmidt Ocean Institute's executive director, said in the statement. "These unforgettable moments continue to remind us that the ocean is brimming with mysteries yet to be solved."
