Latest news with #GoSouth
Euronews
18-05-2025
- Science
- Euronews
See magical new deep-sea photos of coral gardens and thermal vents
Scientists on board a deep-sea expedition to the South Sandwich Islands near Antarctica have returned with a treasure trove of photos of previously unseen marine life. They found coral gardens, hydrothermal vents and many suspected new species while exploring around the island chain, including in the deepest trench in the Southern Ocean. The same international team, aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel Falkor (too), made headlines last month with their world-first footage of a colossal squid. And in January, they were in the right place at the right time to explore the seafloor when a Chicago-sized iceberg broke away from an ice shelf in Antarctica. But there were many more 'magic moments' on the 35-day deep-sea expedition to this extremely biodiverse part of the ocean. 'The 35 days at sea were an exciting rollercoaster of scientific discovery; the implications of which will be felt for many years to come as discoveries filter into management action,' says Dr Michelle Taylor, head of science and expedition principal investigator at the Ocean Census - the world's largest initiative to accelerate the discovery of ocean life. These remarkable photos take us along for the ride. Located in the South Atlantic, the South Sandwich Islands are part of a rich mosaic of geologic features. These include hadal zone trenches (the deepest region of the ocean), underwater volcanoes, and spreading centres - features created by tectonic forces that have supported the evolution of species found nowhere else on the planet. It took eight days for the research vessel to travel to the islands from the port of Punta Arenas, Chile. On board were Ocean Census scientists, who led efforts to discover new species, and researchers from GoSouth, a collaboration between the UK's University of Plymouth, the British Antarctic Survey and Germany's GEOMAR, tasked with investigating the effects of geohazards, including tsunamis, volcanoes, and earthquakes. The GoSouth team, led by co-chief scientist Dr Jenny Gales, discovered two pockmarks in the mapping data of an underwater caldera - a bowl-shaped depression in the seafloor, left after a volcano erupts. Since pockmarks can indicate hydrothermal activity, the team deployed the vessel's remotely operated vehicle (ROV) SuBastian to map the pockmarks at a higher resolution. The robot confirmed the presence of hydrothermal vents - fissures from which geothermally heated water rises - finding three on the larger pockmark, and one on the smaller one. Located at a depth of 700 metres, they are some of the shallowest hydrothermal vents to have been discovered near the South Sandwich Islands. The tallest vent chimney was four metres - about as tall as a basketball hoop. 'Discovering these hydrothermal vents was a magical moment, as they have never been seen here before,' says Dr Gales, an associate professor in Ocean Exploration at the University of Plymouth. 'It's an incredible discovery that provides valuable insights into the area's tectonic activity. Making such a discovery is rare. It highlights the importance of ocean exploration and seafloor mapping.' Each vent was covered with an array of life dependent on chemosynthesis (producing food using inorganic substances without sunlight), including sea snails and barnacles. Thriving coral gardens and large sponges were also found in close proximity to the vents - an unusual observation, according to Dr Taylor. Meanwhile, Ocean Census scientists uncovered a range of potentially new marine life - including corals, sponges, snails, sea urchins, sea stars and benthic (sea bottom) ctenophores, which have gelatinous bodies. A thriving coral garden located west of Saunders Island at a depth of 120 metres is pictured in one of the most breathtaking photos from the expedition. The exact number of new species will be announced later this year when experts have had time to formally assess and catalogue the findings. But they include a possible new sea cucumber species - marine invertebrates so-named for their soft cylindrical bodies. These creatures play a crucial role in benthic ecosystems by recycling nutrients, and are well-adapted to the cold Antarctic environment. During a dive in the South Sandwich Trench - one of the coldest and most isolated submarine trenches on the planet - the team also spotted snailfish eggs laid on a black coral, a previously unknown behaviour. They also captured the first footage of Akarotaxis aff. gouldae, a species of dragonfish that was discovered only two years ago. And found large pumice blocks, indicating that the South Sandwich Islands are capable of explosive volcanism. Mother Nature threw everything she had at the expedition, says Dr Taylor, including a subsea earthquake, tropical storm force winds with hurricane-level gusts, eight-metre waves, and icebergs to navigate. 'The challenging ocean and weather conditions and the isolated location of the South Sandwich Islands capture the imagination of the boldest explorers - often the closest humans to the vessel were on the International Space Station,' says Schmidt Ocean Institute's executive director, Dr Jyotika Virmani.
The Guardian
16-04-2025
- Science
- The Guardian
Live colossal squid captured on video in wild for first time ever
The colossal squid, the heaviest invertebrate in the world, has been filmed alive in the wild for the first time since it was identified a century ago. Growing up to seven metres long and weighing up to half a tonne, the squid, Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, is the heaviest invertebrate on the planet. The individual captured on film near the South Sandwich Islands, in the south Atlantic Ocean, is a baby, at just 30cm in length. The video, taken by an international team of scientists and researchers on board the Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel, Falkor, shows the almost transparent juvenile, with eight arms, swimming in its natural habitat, the deep sea. It was captured on video by a remotely operated vehicle, SuBastian, while on a 35-day expedition searching for new marine life. 'These unforgettable moments continue to remind us that the ocean is brimming with mysteries yet to be solved,' Virmani said. For 100 years, the animal, a type of glass squid, had only been seen in the stomachs of whales and seabirds. Dying adults have previously been filmed in the nets of fishermen, but it had have never been seen alive at depth. Little is known about the life cycle of the colossal squid, which loses its transparent appearance as an adult. It took days for the team aboard the Falkor to get verification of the footage. The squid has sharp hooks on the end of its tentacles, which distinguish it from other glass squid species. 'It's exciting to see the first in situ footage of a juvenile colossal and humbling to think that they have no idea that humans exist,' said Dr Kat Bolstad of the Auckland University of Technology, one of the independent scientific experts the team consulted to verify the footage. The expedition was a collaboration between the Schmidt Ocean Institute, the Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census and GoSouth, a joint project between the University of Plymouth (UK), the Geomar Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research (Germany) and the British Antarctic Survey. This year marks the 100-year anniversary of the identification and formal naming of the colossal squid.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Colossal squid filmed in deep ocean for the first time ever
In the darkness of the South Atlantic Ocean, researchers captured for the first time footage of a live colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni). And while the elusive creature is known for its size—reaching lengths of 23 feet—this one is a baby and only one foot long. In 1925, fisherman first found the remains of a colossal squid inside a sperm whale. Over the next century, only eight adult colossal squids have been found, all postmortem. 'It's exciting to see the first in situ footage of a juvenile colossal and humbling to think that they have no idea that humans exist,' Dr. Kat Bolstad of the Auckland University of Technology, an independent scientific expert who was consulted to verify the footage, said in a statement. 'For 100 years, we have mainly encountered them as prey remains in whale and seabird stomachs and as predators of harvested toothfish.' A team of scientists captured the groundbreaking footage using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) on March 9 while onboard the Schmidt Ocean Institute's research vessel Falkor (too). The 35-day expedition was part of an Ocean Census expedition searching for new marine life, and a collaboration between Schmidt Ocean Institute, the Nippon Foundation-Nekton Ocean Census, and GoSouth, a joint project between the University of Plymouth (UK), GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research (Germany), and the British Antarctic Survey. The juvenile squid appears translucent as it slices through the water, but when it ages, it will become less see-through as its muscles thicken. Its large eyes—the largest of any known creature—can also be seen in the footage. Bolstad explains that the reason the squids have been so hard to find with cameras could be because of the sensitivity of their enormous eyes. 'Most of our deep-sea exploration equipment is large, noisy and uses bright lights if we are trying to film animals,' Bolsted writes on The Conversation. Dr. Jyotika Virmani, Schmidt Ocean Institute's executive director, summed up the breakthrough: 'These unforgettable moments continue to remind us that the Ocean is brimming with mysteries yet to be solved,'
