Antarctic Ocean

19 Stories

Antarctic Seafloor Mapped in Unprecedented Detail

New deepest spot revealed along with seamounts and channels

(Newser) - We have the clearest view yet of what's below the Antarctic or Southern Ocean , one of the most remote and harsh regions on Earth, thanks to a five-year mapping effort that, among other things, revealed a previously unknown deepest point. The Factorian Deep at the southern end of the...

Say Hello to Earth's 5th Ocean
Earth Has a Fifth Ocean
in case you missed it
Jun 12, 2021 6:30 AM CDT

Earth Has a Fifth Ocean

'National Geographic' recognizes the Southern Ocean, officially

(Newser) - To mark World Oceans Day on Tuesday, National Geographic officially recognized the Southern Ocean as the planet's fifth ocean, CBS News reports. Sometimes called the Antarctic Ocean or the Austral Ocean, the Southern Ocean is the body of water that surrounds Antarctica. All five of Earth's oceans—the...

Microplastics Found in One of World's Remotest Places

96 particles found in sample of Antarctic sea ice

(Newser) - Grim news from one of the remotest places on Earth: Microplastics have been found for the first time in a sample of Antarctic sea ice. Researchers say they found 96 tiny plastic particles in an ice-core sample that had been stored in Tasmania since it was taken in 2009, the...

6 Men Cross World's Most Perilous Passage in Rowboat

They made it across Drake Passage in 13 days

(Newser) - As freezing water thrashed their rowboat in some of the most treacherous waters in the world, six men fought for 13 days to make history, becoming the first people to traverse the infamous Drake Passage with nothing other than sheer manpower. They dodged icebergs, held their breaths as giant whales...

Search Crews Comb Antarctic for Missing Plane

Chilean plane was carrying 38 people

(Newser) - Search crews are combing the Antarctic for a Chilean military transport plane carrying 38 people that vanished en route to a base on the frozen continent and will tirelessly press ahead as the hunt gains widening international support, officials say. Gen. Eduardo Mosqueira says Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, and the US...

Freshwater Fueling Antarctic Sea Rise

Coastal waters rising faster than rest of ocean

(Newser) - Around 61% of the world's freshwater is locked up in Antarctic ice—but a new study warns that accelerating melting on the continent is helping push up the sea levels around it. Researchers found that between 1992 and 2011, sea levels rose more around Antarctica than in the Southern...

After 50 Years, Mysterious Ocean Quack Identified

'Bio-duck' is actually minke whale

(Newser) - A mysterious quacking noise in the ocean that has baffled scientists for decades has finally been identified, researchers say. Acoustic recorders placed on Antarctic minke whales have produced what NOAA experts say is "conclusive evidence" that the sound is their chatter, the BBC reports. The sound was dubbed the...

Ship Involved in Antarctic Rescue May Need Rescue

It's just the latest wrinkle in saga that started Dec. 24

(Newser) - An Australian icebreaker carrying 52 passengers who were retrieved from an icebound ship in the Antarctic was told to halt its journey home today after a Chinese vessel involved in the dramatic rescue became concerned that it, too, may get stuck in the heavy sea ice. The icebreaker Aurora Australis...

Living Bacteria Found Beneath Antarctic Ice

Discovery suggests life could exist elsewhere

(Newser) - Scientists drilled through a half-mile of ice into an Antarctic lake and found what is believed to be a first: live bacteria, reports the New York Times . The discovery is intriguing because if the cells can survive there, they could theoretically survive on a frozen planet somewhere. More research is...

Fire Destroys Antarctic Research Base

2 killed in blaze at Brazilian station

(Newser) - A fire has wiped out a Brazilian research station on an island near the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. Two soldiers were killed as they battled the blaze at the Comandante Ferraz base, which started in a machine room, the BBC reports. The station's dozens of scientists were safely...

S. Korean Ship Burning Off Antarctica
S. Korean Ship Burning
Off Antarctica
Jan 11, 2012 12:21 AM CST

S. Korean Ship Burning Off Antarctica

3 killed, 37 rescued after fire sweeps through fishing vessel

(Newser) - Three crew members were killed and several others severely burned when a fire swept through the living quarters of a South Korean fishing boat near Antarctica. The Jung Woo 2's sister ship managed to save 37 crew members from the stricken vessel, which is still burning and appears to...

Stunning Finds at Antarctic Deep-Sea Vents

Ghost octopus, 'Hasselhoff crab' among new species found

(Newser) - Stunned scientists taking their first-ever look at deep-sea vents in the ocean that surrounds Antarctica spotted new species clustered in vast numbers 8,000 feet below. A new species of yeti crab—dubbed the "Hasselhoff crab" because of its hairy chest—was found in huge piles near the outflow,...

Japan: We Will Hunt Whales This Year

Activist group will again try to disrupt them in the Antarctic

(Newser) - It could be a nasty December in the Antarctic: Japan says it will go ahead with its annual whale hunt and promises to ramp up security to protects its boats from activists, reports AP . The leading activist group, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, promises to be back in full force....

Monster Squid Turns Out to Be Lazy Blob

Legendary predator just waits for prey to swim by

(Newser) - Ferocious sea creature? Fuggeddaboutit. It may be longer than a school bus and have razor-sharp hooks, but the colossal squid is no monster, reports LiveScience . New research suggests that just the opposite is true: "Everyone thought it was an aggressive predator," one scientist says. "Our findings show...

Life Found Deep Beneath Antarctic Ice

  Life Found Deep 
  Beneath Antarctic Ice 
Hope for Extraterrestrials
Mar 16, 2010 5:32 AM CDT

Life Found Deep Beneath Antarctic Ice

Sophisticated creatures found 600ft below frozen sheet

(Newser) - NASA scientists probing 600 feet beneath an Antarctic ice sheet were amazed to find sophisticated life where they had expected to find a few microbes at best. The team put a video camera into the dark subfreezing water and found a shrimp-like creature clinging to the cable when they pulled...

Giant Iceberg Floats Toward NZ
 Giant Iceberg 
 Floats Toward NZ 
SO LONG, ANTARCTICA
Nov 13, 2009 2:56 AM CST

Giant Iceberg Floats Toward NZ

Chunk of Antarctica spotted unusually far north

(Newser) - A gigantic iceberg drifting unusually far north has been spotted by Australian researchers off an island south of Tasmania. The chunk of ice, 2,300 feet long and 1,000 feet deep, is floating toward New Zealand and could pose a danger to shipping when it splits into smaller chunks....

Melting Ice May Help Soak Up CO2

Icebergs may deposit nourishing iron into ocean, helping carbon-sucking plankton

(Newser) - Melting ice sheets may end up helping the planet battle global warming, the Guardian reports. Scientists say that broken ice in the Antarctic disperses iron, which fertilizes carbon-absorbing plankton and helps reverse some effects of climate change. “We see the rapid ice loss in Antarctica as one obvious sign...

Cruise Ship Stranded in Antarctica

Rescuers race to scene as luxury ship takes on water and leaks fuel

(Newser) - A cruise ship with 122 passengers and crew on board is stranded in Antarctica after cracking into ice, reports the Times of London. The Ushuaia, based out of Argentina, is not thought to be in danger of sinking, but is taking on water and leaking fuel. The crew reported two...

Ocean Census Surprises Scientists
Ocean Census Surprises Scientists
Nov 10, 2008 10:32 AM CST

Ocean Census Surprises Scientists

Effort to chart all undersea life by 2010 finds 5K new species

(Newser) - Somewhere under the Antarctic Ocean, brittle starfish completely cover a submerged mountain. In the Pacific, sharks congregate in a region with few food sources but plenty of opportunity for romance. Those facts, along with an accounting of more than 5,000 newly discovered species, are part of the results of...

19 Stories