Researchers are using a new AI tool to detect icebergs in the Southern Ocean. This is the first step towards scientists being able to track the complete life cycle of most icebergs across Antarctica from satellite data. The study published in the journal Remote Sensing of the Environment points out a report from the British Antarctic Survey.
Since National Geographic began making maps in 1915, it has recognized four oceans: the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, and Arctic Oceans. However starting on June 8, World Oceans Day, it will recognize the Southern Ocean as the world’s fifth ocean. This is because the swift current circling Antarctica keeps the waters there distinct and worthy of their own name.
The government of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands have released a new coin to commemorate the birth of the famous explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton. Born on 15th February 1874, Sir Ernest Shackleton wanted to be an explorer from a very early age, inspired by faraway places that he had read about as a boy. At the age of 16, bored by the school curriculum, he went to work in the Merchant Navy.
A keystone prey species in the Southern Ocean is retreating towards the Antarctic because of climate change. Krill are small, shrimp-like creatures that swarm in vast numbers and form a major part of the diets of whales, penguins, seabirds, seals and fish. Scientists say warming conditions in recent decades have led to the krill contracting pole-ward.
The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) has again failed to take action to protect the Southern Ocean, with no progress made on the critical issues of marine protected areas, climate change, and transshipment.
A large iceberg in Antarctica has calved off the Larsen C ice shelf as of July last year and budged only a little from the coast until recently. In the past two months, the iceberg, known as 'A68', has taken a drastic 90 degree swing away from the Antarctic mainland and into the Southern Ocean.
Australia has intercepted in the Southern Ocean the fishing vessel Perlon, believed to have been operating under a false flag in defiance of international conventions, according to an official report from the Ministry of Immigration and Border Protection.
The Antarctic Wildlife Research Fund (AWR) issued this week its first call for proposals, inviting applications from scientific researchers who can aid in determining the impact of the krill fishing industry on the Antarctic marine ecosystem. Such research will serve to ensure ecosystem protection, while improving the management basis for the fishery.
The Antarctic Wildlife Research Fund (AWR) was unveiled at a ceremony in Australia, with the aim of strengthening the scientific basis for the management of the Southern Ocean and the Antarctic Region.
An Iceberg, the size of Manhattan in area, was derived from the Pine Island Glacier, and is currently moving through the Southern Ocean. To keep track of its movements and melting Professor Grant Bigg of UK's University of Sheffield has been awarded a £50,000 grant from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) for the 6 month project.