Kelp forests grow along coastlines worldwide, largely hidden from view. Like rainforests, they're among the planet's most important ecosystems: beautiful but fragile habitats for a wide array of plant and animal species. But scientists believe kelp forests are being threatened by climate change. Now, researchers from UCLA and seven other universities have an improved tool for tracking these shifting ecosystems, the largest of which is about 5 miles long.
The Argentine navy has stepped up its search of the South Atlantic for a submarine with 44 crew on board that remains missing two days after its last communication on Wednesday. ARA San Juan was in the western south Atlantic some 432 kilometers from the Patagonian coast close to the San Jorge Gulf, when it sent its last signal on Wednesday midday, naval spokesman Enrique Balbi said on Friday.
A Panama flagged merchant vessel with a crew of 42 sailing in the South Atlantic sent a distress call following “a massive intake of water” in one of its holds, but will attempt to reach the Falkland Islands on its own means, according to a Friday report from the Argentine navy.
The Falklands have added a new island. A representative of the United Nations Commission on the Law of the Sea, Lithuanian geologist Professor Loof Lirpa, has confirmed to Penguin News that a new island has emerged in the South Atlantic Ocean, about 150 miles north of Steeple Jason.
Foreign minister Susana Malcorra said fisheries licensing in the South Atlantic is of great concern for Argentina because of the “overall ongoing depredation”, and recalled that there is an item referred to the issue in the September UK-Argentine joint statement, which has yet to be addressed and that most probably it will follow on the identification of unknown soldiers buried in the Falklands and the additional flights issues.
China's Pingtan Marine has announced the launch of two new squid jiggers, bound for the southwest Atlantic and southeast Pacific oceans. The two newly-completed vessels should reach fishing grounds by late December, and sales of squid catches are then expected to begin in the first quarter of 2017.
Outstanding researchers and scientists from Argentina and Chile in the fields of marine sciences, fisheries Antarctica and technology innovation met this week in Buenos Aires for a day's work coordinating the scientific efforts of both countries.
A British-led team has recovered a $50m trove of silver coins that has lain on the seabed since the steamship carrying them from Bombay to England was sunk in 1942. The SS City of Cairo was torpedoed 772km south of St Helena by a German U-boat and sank to 5,150m. The 100 tons of coins, recovered in the deepest salvage operation in history, belonged to HM Treasury.
Argentina has its eyes set on the South Atlantic, and that includes undoubtedly the full recovery of our sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands and the adjoining maritime spaces, said Daniel Filmus head of Argentina's Office on issues relative to the Malvinas Islands.
The Uruguayan government considers the British occupation of the Malvinas Islands as a 'latent threat' according to a work-paper with basic points of the country's defense policy and which is to be made public this week, some excerpts of which were advanced by the pro-government daily La Republica.