Group items tagged

Map Shows Vast Regions of Ocean Are Warmer.

Lava-covered piece of continent is an ancient remnant, left over from the break-up of the supercontinent, Gondwana, which started about 200 million years ago.

Marine microworlds: the private life of plankton.

India makes its claim for sulphide mining from the Indian Ocean.

The balmy islands of Seychelles couldn't feel farther from Antarctica, but their fossil corals could reveal much about the fate of polar ice sheets.

The balmy islands of Seychelles couldn't feel farther from Antarctica, but their fossil corals could reveal much about the fate of polar ice sheets.

Barcelona World Race leaders split paths.

Barcelona World Race leaders split paths.

Rising sea temperatures threaten survival of juvenile albatross.

Pirates, Slavers and Poachers: Violence on the High Seas.

In pictures: Australian Geographic's photo prize winners.

Detailed imaging of the seafloor used to search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is providing unprecedented insights into the geological development of the Indian Ocean.

Orcas live in stable, structured social groups. And their survival directly depends on it, as a CNRS and University of La Rochelle research team1 has just demonstrated. Between 1996 and 2002, half of the CROZET Islands orca population was killed off by an illegal fishing operation targeting Patagonian toothfish, with the orcas removing the fish from the line during hauling. The orcas' survival rate has yet to return to its former level. Using data from a photo-identification programme begun in 1987, the scientists were able to show that surviving orcas from a decimated family adopted "erratic" social behaviour, moving from group to group. The weaker these social ties, the greater the animals' likelihood of dying. As these orcas are probably not completely accepted by the new groups they join, they are likely to be given less access to food than the regular members of the social unit-and eventually die. These findings-published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (20 May 2019)-are the first to reveal the long-term consequences of events affecting the survival and social organization of a mammalian species.

When humpback whales shift their distribution and behaviour, it can lead to unexpected human encounters and new challenges.

Over 24 hours of intense work has left the inside of Louis BURTON's IMOCA Bureau Vallée in a mess but the third placed skipper confirmed this morning that his efforts, in collaboration with his shore team, have kept him in the race. Speaking on the 0400hrs TU call this morning, after he had just gybed at the Antarctic Exclusion Zone he said, "I'm pretty burnt out and I admit that I came close to having to abandon". True to the philosophy of many competitors BURTON was not giving everything away about his problems, other than having said earlier that he had automatic pilot troubles.

A research team led by Prof. CHANG Fengming from the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS), for the first time, reported the tectonic and climatic controls on sediment transport to the Southeast Indian Ocean during the Eocene.

The fin whale is listed as globally vulnerable, with ongoing threats to their population, yet little is known about the distribution and movements of the Southern Hemisphere sub-species, Balaenoptera physalus quoyi. This study assesses fin whale distribution in the Southern Hemisphere analysing acoustic recordings from 15 locations in Antarctic and Australian waters from 2002 to 2019. A seasonal acoustic presence of fin whales in Antarctic waters from late austral summer to autumn (February to June) with long-term, consistent annual usage areas was identified at the Southern Kerguelen Plateau and Dumont d'Urville sites. In comparison, limited vocal presence of fin whales was observed at the Casey site. In Australian waters, fin whales were seasonally present from austral autumn to mid-spring (May to October) on east and west coasts, with a decadal pattern of acoustic presence observed at Cape Leeuwin, WA. Two migratory pathways are identified, from the Indian sector of Antarctica to the west coast of Australia and from the Pacific sector of Antarctica to the east coast of Australia. The identified seasonal distributions and migratory pathways provide valuable information to aid in monitoring the recovery of this vulnerable sub-species. We suggest the identified distribution and dispersal from the Southern Kerguelen Plateau and Dumont d'Urville sites to the west and east coasts of Australia respectively, as well as the spatial separation between Antarctic sites, provide preliminary evidence of separate sub-populations of the Southern Hemisphere sub-species of fin whale.

As predators of bacteria and viruses and as food sources for microzooplankton, heterotrophic flagellates (HFs) play an important role in the marine micro-food web. Based on the global climate change's impact on marine ecosystems, particularly sea ice melting, we analyzed the community composition and diversity of heterotrophic flagellates, focusing on the Antarctic Cosmonaut Sea. During the 36th China Antarctic research expedition (2019-2020), we collected seawater samples, subsequently analyzing HFs through IlluminaMiSeq2000 sequencing to assess community composition and diversity. Notable variations in HFs abundance were observed between the western and eastern sectors of the Cosmonaut Sea, with a distinct concentration at a 100-meter water depth. Different zones exhibited diverse indicators and dominants taxa influenced by local ocean currents. Both the northern Antarctic Peninsula and the western Cosmonaut Sea, where the Weddell Eddy and Antarctic Land Slope Current intersect, showcased marine stramenopiles as dominant HFs species. Our findings offer insights into dominant taxa, spatial distribution patterns among heterotrophic flagellates, correlations between taxa distribution and environmental factors, and the exploration of potential indicator taxa.