Mussels are the first-ever invasive species to take up residence in Antarctica, as found by a new study published last month in Scientific Report. According to the study, scientists found a colony of mussels, most likely transported accidentally to the frozen continent from Patagonia via ship, some 75 miles north of the Antarctic Peninsula.
The Institute for Cetacean Research (ICR), the body behind the Japanese government’s whaling program, announced the return of the Japanese whaling fleet from its Antarctic operations. It is the first time that the Japanese whalers have returned to the Southern Ocean to slaughter whales since the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled its whaling program to be illegal in 2014.