In February 2022, Greenpeace performed essentially the most southerly analysis submarine dive ever, within the Antarctic. There, they explored the Antarctic seabed, by no means earlier than seen by people.
The expedition befell at 65 levels south (for context, Paris is 48.9 levels south) and was supposed to determine susceptible ecosystems within the space. This work makes up a part of Greenpeace’s marketing campaign to guard at the least 30 per cent of the worldwide oceans by 2030.
The outcomes of their analysis are each unbelievable and surprising. They plan to make use of these findings to marketing campaign for protected standing for these waters.
What did Greenpeace researchers discover on the Antarctic seabed?
“Most individuals are stunned to be taught that there's a lot life underneath the waters round Antarctica,” says Dr Susanne Lockhart, lead scientist of the expedition and marine biologist on the California Academy of Sciences.
Accompanied by Greenpeace submarine pilot, John Hocevar, Dr Lockhart and the staff witnessed an “unbelievable abundance of life, together with corals and different susceptible species” on the ocean ground.
In response to John, the slopes, canyons and partitions of the ocean ground had been lined with brightly-coloured corals, sponges, feather stars and numerous different marine animals.
Nevertheless, the staff had been solely capable of witness these never-before-seen ecosystems as a result of dramatic ice soften within the Weddell Sea.
It could normally be utterly lined by ice, and subsequently protected and inaccessible. In lots of of those now-uncovered areas, the depths of the ocean have by no means seen daylight earlier than.
“There may be much less ice right here proper now than at every other time in recorded historical past,” explains John Hocevar, Head of Oceans at Greenpeace USA.
“Because the final file was damaged in 2017, an space of sea ice roughly the scale of Switzerland has disappeared.”
Is it troublesome to conduct submarine dives within the Antarctic?
The concept for this expedition took some time to return to fruition due the pandemic and numerous staff members contracting COVID.
However they knew they needed to press on because the analysis would assist the final word aim of attaining protected space standing.
In response to submarine pilot John, it’s laborious to efficiently obtain a number of consecutive analysis dives in any surroundings. Antarctica doesn't make it any simpler.
The staff anticipated that at the least a 3rd of their submarine dives must be cancelled on account of climate or tools issues.
In reality they had been capable of dive daily and accomplished 12 analysis missions over 10 days within the Antarctic Ocean earlier than travelling into the Weddell Sea.
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How can we defend Antarctic waters?
“The ocean round Antarctica is owned by nobody. It belongs to us all,” says Dr Lockhart.
“It's all people’s duty to do their half to verify this pristine and delightful, rugged surroundings and all of the life that lives right here is protected.”
Although proposed practically a decade in the past, Greenpeace continues to be combating to have the Weddell Sea declared a Marine Protected Space (MPA). At the moment simply 5 per cent of Antarctic waters are protected.
There’s already been some nice progress within the time for the reason that expedition. As a result of staff’s discoveries, seven of the websites have been designated as susceptible marine ecosystems, defending them from fishing.
There may be extra hope on the horizon too.
The subsequent, and doubtlessly remaining spherical of World Ocean Treaty negotiations will happen from 20 February to three March in New York. A World Ocean Treaty might be a significant step to creating bigger ocean sanctuaries free from human exercise throughout worldwide waters.
“Sanctuaries are one of the best device that we have now to rebuild depleted populations, to guard biodiversity and to present our ocean’s a combating probability,” says John Hocevar.
Watch the video above to see unbelievable footage of Antarctica’s never-before-seen ocean ground.
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