Aurora Australis to Undertake Scientific Voyage
07.12.2009 - Water & Oceans, Flora & Fauna, Other, Antarctic
Nearly 40 scientists have embarked on the icebreaker Aurora Australis for a six-week trip covering about 7,000 nautical miles of the Southern Ocean. The science trip, undertaken by the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD), will mainly focus on two key projects: the assessment of the impacts of bottom fishing and ocean acidification.
First, scientists will deploy new camera technology fitted to demersal gear on commercial fishing vessels to measure the impacts of demersal fishing on the bottom of the Antarctic waters. The joint project between the AAD, the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA), and industry partners Austral Fisheries and Petuna Sealord should, besides assessing the situation, allow the development of strategies to mitigate the impacts of the fishing on the marine benthos.
A second part of the project will then be devoted to the study of the impacts of ocean acidification, which impedes the shell growth of microscopic marine organisms. Although well-documented at ocean-surface level, the implications of this phenomenon deeper in the ocean are mostly unknown. Thus far, scientists believe that there are several times of the year when some organisms might actually make shells at depths between 40-100 meters. The aim of the study will be to capture microscopic marine organisms at these depths to have a better idea of how ocean acidification influences their shell-making process. This information will be used to determine a baseline for the health of these organisms so they can come back and assess changes in the future.
What the impacts of ocean acidification are further up the chain, however, remain unknown.
