Penguin feathers reveal mercury contamination in remote Southern Ocean https://phys.org/news/2025-04-penguin-feathers-reveal-mercury-contamination.html
https://www.europesays.com/uk/15919/ CSIRO shines a light on Bass Canyon’s deep, dark underworld #BassCanyon #CSIRO #Environment #fish #MarineBiology #Research #RVInvestigator #Science #Sharks #SouthernOcean #SubmarineCanyon #SubmarineTrench #UK #UnitedKingdom
Scientists collect unique sea creatures during voyage to East Antarctica https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-03/nuyina-scientists-collect-antarctic-sea-creatures-denman-glacier/105130020
"The RSV #Nuyina is partway through a 60-day voyage to the edge of #Antarctica — it's first mission dedicated solely to marine science... research teams are analysing some of the unique #biodiversity found in the #SouthernOcean. These include #SeaSpiders as big as your hand, #SeaStars that grow to the size of a dinner plate and #octopus species endemic to the region... some could be new to science"
Drastic Antarctic sea ice loss could fuel extreme weather in years ahead | Live Science…
Vanishing Antarctic sea ice could lead to more storms in the Southern Ocean, new research shows... Live Science #antarctica #seaice #southernocean #extremeweather #earthscience #research
Mysterious, Repetitive ‘Quacking’ Noise in the #SouthernOcean May Have Been a Conversation Between #Whales
During a 1982 experiment, researchers recorded the unusual sound, termed “bio-duck.” Now, a researcher suggests they may have been listening in on animals talking to each other https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mysterious-repetitive-quacking-noise-in-the-southern-ocean-may-have-been-a-conversation-between-whales-180985545/
Iceberg #A68: The story of how a mega-berg transformed the ocean https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20241025-how-mega-icebergs-change-the-ocean
"The world's largest #icebergs – which can be larger than entire countries in some cases – break off the #Antarctica ice sheet. As they drift and melt in the #SouthernOcean, they create a unique environment around them... For its short, transient life as an #iceberg, A-68 became a frozen lifeboat for a wide range of species."
“This study really highlights the need for managers to ensure there is enough #krill left in the #SouthernOcean to feed current whale populations and also enough to support whale recovery,” said study co-author #CassandraBrooks, who earned a doctorate from Stanford’s Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources (E-IPER) in 2017 and is now an assistant professor in environmental studies at the University of Colorado Boulder.
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Krill harvesting threatens whale recovery 
Soaring human demand for #krill in the #SouthernOcean poses a challenge to the recovery of #whale species once hunted nearly to extinction. #Stanford researchers identify the growing food conflict and offer solutions.
Overlap between industrial krill fishing and foraging whales, such as the humpback whale pictured here, may threaten #BaleenWhale recovery around #Antarctica.
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Rare #whale species observed during recent #Antarctic expedition
During the latest expedition, on board the German #icebreaker #Polarstern in the southern autumn of 2022, an unusual species of whale was observed: the #ArnouxsBeakedWhale.
Because the #Arnoux's #beakedwhale is rarely observed, little is known about this species. During eleven previous Polarstern expeditions in the #SouthernOcean, conducted between 1988 and 2018, this species was never seen.
https://phys.org/news/2024-08-rare-whale-species-antarctic.html
First-of-its-kind analysis reveals importance of storms in air–sea #carbon exchange in #SouthernOcean
"By using data from profiling floats, we've learned that storms tip the scales in the air–sea exchange of carbon in the Southern Ocean, triggering the release of carbon," said MBARI Research Associate Magdalena Carranza, lead author of the study.
At the #ocean's surface, #carbondioxide ebbs and flows between the #atmosphere and the depths below.
https://phys.org/news/2024-08-kind-analysis-reveals-importance-storms.html
For >30 years, the world’s largest #iceberg was stuck in the Antarctic. 5X the size of NYC’s land area & >1k feet deep, the mammoth piece of ice became loose in 2020 & began a slow drift toward the #SouthernOcean.
Now, #A23a, as it’s known, is spinning in place.
After leaving #Antarctic waters, the iceberg got stuck in a #vortex over a seamount….
#Climate #ClimateCrisis #GlobalWarming #ocean
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/07/science/a23a-iceberg-antarctica-spinning.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb
Giant waves, monster winds and Earth’s strongest current
#SouthernOcean is wild and dynamic. It experiences Earth’s strongest winds and largest waves. Home to city-sized #icebergs and biggest ocean current on the globe, as well as tiny turbulent flows that fit inside a teacup.
After decades of seemingly defying warming temperatures, the Southern #Ocean’s sea ice has dramatically declined in recent years. This puts ice shelves and the #ice sheet under even greater stress.
https://theconversation.com/giant-waves-monster-winds-and-earths-strongest-current-heres-why-the-southern-ocean-is-a-global-engine-room-233669
Nicolas Mayot et al.* assemble results of 10 Global Ocean Biogeochemistry Models from RECCAP2 to assess the climate-driven variability of the CO₂ sink in the Southern Ocean.
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2022.0055
*C. Le Quéré, C. Rödenbeck, R. Bernardello, L. Bopp, L. M. Djeutchouang, M. Gehlen, L. Gregor, N. Gruber, J. Hauck, Y. Iida, T. Ilyina, R. F. Keeling, P. Landschützer, A. C. Manning, L. Patara, L. Resplandy, J. Schwinger, R. Séférian, A. J. Watson, R. M. Wright and J. Zeng
Huge new synthesis out on the physical science of the #SouthernOcean - 38 researchers herded (incl me) into shaping a coherent picture of what we do and don’t know.
TL;DR => its big, amazing, remote, important for Our Planet now and in future, difficult to predict without more data, and its changing. #OpenAccess
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2022RG000781
Sound science delivers #whale symphony https://www.antarctica.gov.au/news/2024/sound-science-delivers-whale-symphony/
A passive listening device, recording whale calls and other underwater sounds off Heard Island, has provided insights into the #SouthernOcean soundscape, and allowed #scientists to estimate the size of sperm #whales in the area... The study was the first time an acoustic recorder, moored to the seafloor, was deployed for a long-term survey of #MarineMammals in the region.
Rebecca Wright et al.* separate the effects of anthropogenic carbon from decadal scale climate variability on carbon storage in the Southern Ocean.
https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GB007596
*Corinne Le Quéré, Nicolas Mayot, Are Olsen, Dorothee Bakker
This instrument is just one of many parts of the first-of-its-kind #OceanObservatory in the #SouthernOcean, launched in January in partnership with #UVIC, #SpanishNationalResearchCouncil & #OceanNetworksCanada.
The #observatory monitors temperature, water depth, oxygen & chlorophyll levels in the #ocean water. Paired to a #satellite, the observatory transmits #data every 30 mins to #researchers.
Floating robots reveal just how much airborne dust fertilises the #SouthernOcean – a key #climate ‘shock absorber’ https://theconversation.com/floating-robots-reveal-just-how-much-airborne-dust-fertilises-the-southern-ocean-a-key-climate-shock-absorber-225793
One-third of Southern Ocean productivity is supported by dust deposition https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07366-4
"When #phytoplankton die, they sink into the deep #ocean. This effectively locks away the #carbon for decades, or even hundreds of years. This is known as the biological carbon pump, and it helps to regulate Earth’s climate."
Fin #whales making strong comeback in the Southern Ocean https://www.hi.no/en/hi/news/2024/april/fin-whales-making-strong-comeback-in-the-southern-ocean/
Estimated summer abundance and #krill consumption of #FinWhales throughout the #ScotiaSea during 2018/19 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-57378-3
"For a long time, there has been great uncertainty about whether the #FinWhale has managed to recover after the industrial #whaling in the #SouthernOcean in the first half of the 20th century. Now #scientists can confirm the comeback of fin whales in a key region of the Southern #Ocean"
