logo
Antarctic marine life at anchorable depths. (Supplied: Matthew Mulrennan/Kolossal)

Antarctic marine life at anchorable depths. (Supplied: Matthew Mulrennan/Kolossal)

Skip to main content
1h ago 1 hours ago Mon 9 Jun 2025 at 4:01am
Undisturbed life at anchorable depths showing Antarctic sun stars, giant Antarctic octopus, huge sea spiders, and unique Antarctic fish. Supplied: Matt Mulrennan/Kolossal

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Zoe Kean
Zoe Kean

ABC News

time11 hours ago

  • ABC News

Zoe Kean

Damage to sensitive sea floor ecosystems sparks calls for tighter regulation of the tourist ship industry in the Antarctic region. 1h ago 1 hours ago Mon 9 Jun 2025 at 4:01am In 1953 Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary become the first two people to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Just under 10 years later, Norgay made his mark in another place of wild beauty — Tasmania. Sun 17 Nov Sun 17 Nov Sun 17 Nov 2024 at 8:19pm Huge patches of forest in Tasmania have rapidly turned brown over recent months, with many trees dying after a dry summer. As climate change causes hotter and drier weather, can we expect more tree deaths in the future? Wed 8 May Wed 8 May Wed 8 May 2024 at 11:19pm Shimmering blue seas below pink and green skies are all possible in Australia's southern-most state which is a nexus for glowing oddities. Tue 22 Aug Tue 22 Aug Tue 22 Aug 2023 at 1:08am Scientists say they can bring the extinct thylacine back from the dead within a decade, but does anybody want them to? The resounding answer to an ABC survey is "Yes". Sat 19 Aug Sat 19 Aug Sat 19 Aug 2023 at 9:33pm Should the thylacine be brought back to life? Professor Andrew Pask — leader of the Thylacine Integrated Genetic Restoration Research Lab at Melbourne University — answers your questions about plans to de-extinct Australia's only marsupial apex predator. Sat 19 Aug Sat 19 Aug Sat 19 Aug 2023 at 9:33pm How a tin miner living in remote Tasmania helped discover what may be the world's oldest and most mysterious clone that has excited scientists for years. Sat 29 Jul Sat 29 Jul Sat 29 Jul 2023 at 2:42am Welcome to Tattsmania. From mountains, devils, tigers, and tunes, why is it that tattoos are so popular in Tasmania? Thu 20 Jul Thu 20 Jul Thu 20 Jul 2023 at 9:32pm This simple task can help save you money and keep you warm in winter. You've just got to remember to do it. Sun 16 Jul Sun 16 Jul Sun 16 Jul 2023 at 11:50pm The death of a platypus found in a city suburb may reflect the fate of the entire species if we don't pay closer attention to how this Australian animal is faring. Fri 14 Jul Fri 14 Jul Fri 14 Jul 2023 at 8:12am How the pademelon often tricks the world into thinking it is the extinct thylacine, and seven other wild pademelon facts. Tue 11 Jul Tue 11 Jul Tue 11 Jul 2023 at 11:22am In 1805 black swans, kangaroos, and the world's last King Island emu lived amongst the sweeping lawns of the Château de Malmaison in Paris. So how did this creature make it to an empress' garden? Tue 27 Jun Tue 27 Jun Tue 27 Jun 2023 at 7:23am Tasmania's native bees aren't as notorious as the Tassie devil or the swift parrot. But these tiny, unassuming and strangely beguiling bugs are incredibly important to the state's forests and fields. Sat 20 May Sat 20 May Sat 20 May 2023 at 12:32am James Chung Gon arrived in Australia to try his luck on the goldfields of Bendigo. Legend has it that all he had to his name was a shilling in his pocket, but he turned it into a fortune. Wed 3 May Wed 3 May Wed 3 May 2023 at 7:54am Sometimes dubbed mermaid's purses, these strange and wonderful works of nature are a common find on Australian beaches and scientists want beachcombers to help them learn more. Mon 20 Mar Mon 20 Mar Mon 20 Mar 2023 at 5:48am In 1997, Tasmania became the last Australian state to decriminalise sex between men, and one activist believes that enduring homophobia can be directly traced to the penal colonies of the island's past. Fri 3 Mar Fri 3 Mar Fri 3 Mar 2023 at 12:02am First they discovered that wombats created their famously square poos in the intestine and not at "point of exit". Now, the same team of scientists has explained how wombats poo such "perfectly consistent" pellets. Thu 23 Feb Thu 23 Feb Thu 23 Feb 2023 at 3:28am We want to hear from you — should the Tasmanian tiger be brought back to life? And what will that mean for First Nations people, the environment, and the ecosystem? Fri 25 Aug Fri 25 Aug Fri 25 Aug 2023 at 12:53am The dingo fence does its job keeping the predator at bay — but that single change has cascading effects on the environment, right down to the shape of the sand dunes. Thu 9 Feb Thu 9 Feb Thu 9 Feb 2023 at 3:49am Long-spined sea urchins — the "single biggest threat" for reefs in eastern Tasmania — are arriving via an ocean current supercharged by climate change. So what can be done about it? Thu 2 Feb Thu 2 Feb Thu 2 Feb 2023 at 10:18pm Being an adult who does not drive can come with setbacks, judgement and unexpected benefits. Here are your stories. Thu 2 Feb Thu 2 Feb Thu 2 Feb 2023 at 3:17am Unusually dry weather is leaving the state's Wilderness World Heritage Area sensitive to fire. It's a prospect that threatens a living fossil that traces its history to the ancient super-continent Gondwana. Fri 27 Jan Fri 27 Jan Fri 27 Jan 2023 at 8:48pm Driving is seen as such a common skill that Rosie, Tim, and Sophie are often met with shock when they tell people they don't drive. Thu 19 Jan Thu 19 Jan Thu 19 Jan 2023 at 12:18am While spotting a badly-stuffed platypus in an overseas museum may draw a laugh from visiting Australians, scientists say poor taxidermy is a serious matter that can affect a species' survival. Thu 5 Jan Thu 5 Jan Thu 5 Jan 2023 at 1:26am Bushwalking can be about more than just the destination. For Bin Ling, it's also about the plants she sees on the way. Fri 16 Dec Fri 16 Dec Fri 16 Dec 2022 at 3:05am

Video of Antarctic sea floor damage by anchors a warning to tourism sector
Video of Antarctic sea floor damage by anchors a warning to tourism sector

ABC News

time12 hours ago

  • ABC News

Video of Antarctic sea floor damage by anchors a warning to tourism sector

Matthew Mulrennan was trying to find and film the elusive colossal squid in Antarctica when his underwater footage revealed something worrying in the deep. The footage revealed a sea floor scoured of life with "deep grooves" that suggested damage by anchor chains. "You could clearly see this delineation between where there was abundant marine life and where the chain and anchor had disrupted the sea floor," Mr Mulrennan said. It is the first video evidence of environmental damage in the sensitive polar region, Mr Mulrennan and colleagues report today in the Frontiers in Conservation Science. An estimated 4,000 species live on the Antarctic sea floor, with around 90 per cent unique to the southern continent's waters. Mr Mulrennan said most visitors might go there for the penguins, seals and whales, but the region's biodiversity was more like an iceberg. "Almost all of it is underwater," he said. "[The] animals that are there are very vulnerable. Some grow to extreme years of age including giant volcano sponges, which we found right next to the anchor damage." Mr Mulrennan, a marine scientist and founder of not-for-profit conservation group Kolossal, was on a tourist ship visiting Antarctica in 2023 when he took the footage. Concerned about what he saw, he contacted marine geophysicist and anchor chain damage researcher Sally Watson from the New Zealand National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research. Dr Watson confirmed the linear grooves and harsh gouges, recorded in the popular destination Yankee Harbour next to an Antarctic island, were consistent with damage caused by anchors and their chains. Mr Mulrennan and Dr Watson said the findings raised concerns about anchoring by research and fishing vessels, as well as a growing tourism industry in Antarctica. They said more regulation and collecting of anchoring data was needed ahead of a projected quadrupling of tourists to 452,000 people a year visiting Antarctica by 2033–34. Anchors can be metres wide, and crush the living things they land on, but it's the chain connecting the anchor to the ship that often does the most damage as it drags laterally across the sea bed. Many Antarctic seabed animals grow slowly in the same place over centuries, making them vulnerable to chains. Dr Watson said anchor chains probably had the second biggest impact to the sea floor after trawling by commercial fishers. Research into anchor impacts is growing in places such as the Great Barrier Reef and other tropical reef environments but Dr Watson said there was a "big gaping hole" in Antarctica. Mr Mulrennan surveyed 36 sites around the Antarctic Peninsula, and anchoring damage was only found at the Yankee Harbour site. Dr Watson wasn't able to access voluntary anchoring data kept by the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO), so she used ship tracking data to estimate anchoring activity instead. Eight vessels likely used their anchors in Yankee Harbour during the month Mr Mulrennan surveyed the area. Dr Watson estimated a minimum of 1,600 metres of seabed would be affected if each vessel anchored in water 30–40 metres deep. This figure does not consider the damage from the chain dragging side to side if the ships moved. Social scientist Elizabeth Leane of the University of Tasmania, who was not involved with the study, said there were sites more popular than Yankee Harbour that hadn't been surveyed. Professor Leane, whose work focuses on Antarctic tourism, noted Cuverville Island and Neko Harbour received more visits than Yankee Harbour. Lisa Kelley, the executive director of IAATO, said the group welcomed "research into all forms of human activity in Antarctica". "We acknowledge that this study represents a snapshot in time," Ms Kelley said."The insights provided will be shared with IAATO's relevant committees and working groups to support our ongoing commitment to safe and environmentally responsible operations in the Antarctic region." Greg Mortimer, who founded the Antarctic tour company Aurora Expeditions, said operators had become more aware of potential damage caused by anchors since the 2000s. He said tourist ships were able to visit Antarctica based on their impacts being less than minor or transitory. "If that's not the case, further action is needed," Mr Mortimer said. He said the "missing link" was knowing how much damage was being done and its significance. Dr Watson said collecting more data on anchoring, as well as surveys of marine life, will be crucial to planning sea-floor-safe Antarctic tourism. Mr Mulrennan said ships at times already operated safely in Antarctica without using an anchor. When sea ice is high, vessels cannot get to water shallow enough to drop anchor and rely on dynamic positioning systems — where a vessel uses its own propulsion — to stay put. Dr Watson said she recognised it wasn't possible to get rid of anchoring entirely. "I want to be really clear about the difference between anchoring when you have a storm, and you're trying to protect the people and ship, compared to cruising up to a harbour and dropping anchor willy-nilly," she said. In areas of high destruction, Mr Mulrennan suggested operators could agree on "parking lot areas" where all visiting ships anchor or that moorings be created in high traffic zones. Parking lots were a "sound idea" according to Mr Mortimer, who said most ships anchored in the same place anyway. However, he believes moorings would be vulnerable to Antarctica's extreme weather and iceberg damage. Professor Leane said she was hopeful tour operators would take the research on board and come up with solutions. "[Tourist operators] don't want a damaged environment as people are increasingly interested in seeing the undersea environment," she said.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store